Arrow Inferno
Chapter 79: Jeremy Stanton vs. Ryan Hicks ~ Feral attraction in the midst of hatred… Invasion!

***

Phillip, the acting alpha of Stanton Pack and his warriors stood at marked points around a large stretch of bare land. There were forty pack members, standing in groups of fives, with each group standing at a distance from the other. It was dawn and all was quiet. Apart from the alpha and his squad, there was no evidence of life on the land. After making sure that all the vantage points were covered, Alpha Philip raised a hand to signal someone in the group that was made up of four women and a man.

Deloris saw Phillip's signal and nodded. She had in her right palm eight coins, each representing a group. Their strategy was to first rescue Camilla, bring down the invisible barrier shielding the fortress, and then attack. Camilla had to be rescued first because should the clan see or sense any intruders, Camilla would be killed. Although they didn't know the exact powers that Ryan had, the squad from Stanwood Pack hoped to use it to their advantage. Deloris had assured Ryan that she'd never felt so much intense energy as she was feeling from him. She believed that Ryan could do anything he set his mind on. On their way to the Wyatt Clan's hidden fortress, Deloris had therefore taken the opportunity to tell Ryan about some of the magical possibilities that she'd seen and heard happen in her years on earth. Her main aim was to plant those thoughts and possibilities into Ryan's mind, so he could use them during their face-off with the Wyatt Clan. She encouraged him to simply believe in himself and feel confident to try anything.

Deloris' hope was that Ryan could somehow reach quietly into the invisible fortress and bring Camilla out before the real action began. It had been done before. And she just knew that Ryan could pull it off. If all went according to plan, The Wyatt Clan wouldn't know what hit them. The clan's oblivious state was the pack's strategic advantage.

"Ready?" Deloris's question was directed at Ryan.

"Let's do this." Ryan breathed, pulling up his hoodie to cover his white tresses.

"Try not to get hurt honeybuns," Gloria said softly.

"That's the plan." Ryan grinned at the woman he'd come to love so much. "Don't worry too much. Deloris has already seen to that, remember?"

Apart from casting a general weakening spell over the Wyatt Clan, Deloris had insisted on casting an immunity spell on Ryan, to protect him and in extension, Jeremy. The immunity spell did not only make Ryan immune to physical harm, but it also prevented him from being affected by spells, charms, and potions.

"I'll still worry." Gloria gave a tremulous smile. "That's what mothers do." She murmured as Ryan kissed her on the cheek.

"You look, gangster." Paige grinned at Ryan.

"And you look like a dominatrix." Ryan shot back, making Paige laugh. "Okay, I'm ready to penetrate this...whatever." He said gruffly.

"Stop saying penetrate." Paige drawled. "It's a rescue mission, not a sex act."

Katie couldn't hold in her laughter at Paige's words. "Seriously Paige." She laughed. "All the best, Alpha." The warrior addressed Ryan. If anybody had the power to do what Ryan was about to attempt, Katie knew that it was her alpha's mate. After all, she'd been at the end of that power some months earlier. As her wolf dangled in the air...that day she'd gone to challenge Ryan, she'd felt Ryan's power. And it was like nothing she'd felt before. "You can do this." "Thanks, Katie." Ryan gave Katie a smile.

"Remember, be conscious of your surroundings at all times," Deloris instructed. "Yes, we are taking them by surprise but we can't underestimate Reynard Wyatt. Now concentrate."

Ryan bowed his head and reached out to Camilla with his mind. His aim was to zero in on her exact location inside the fortress. That was really easy. He could see Camilla sitting on a narrow bed inside a dark room. He pushed his thoughts onto her.

'Camilla, it's me, Ryan.' Ryan said on the mind-link when he connected with Camilla, his mate's ex-lover who had once handed him his arse.

'Oh my god, Ryan...' She screeched. 'How...'

'Don't do anything to give yourself away Camilla. Are you alone?'

'Yes. I am.'

'Good. Just stay connected. I'll be there soon.'

'Oh no, Ryan don't.' Camilla gasped. 'These people are dangerous and ruthless. I don't want something to happen to you on my account. Jeremy will kill me. Just don't come here... "what the fuck?" Camilla gasped out loud when Ryan suddenly appeared beside her.

'Shhh...' Ryan still communicated on their mind-link. 'Okay, stand up. We just have to wait for your mother to bring the barrier down. Then we will teleport outside the fortress.'

"How did you get in if the barrier is still up?" She hissed, looking completely shocked.

'Don't talk out loud. I don't want them to get suspicious.' Ryan groaned. 'And I'm not here. I've astral projected here that's all. But when that barrier comes down, I can just teleport you out of here.' Ryan had projected his consciousness into an astral form outside his body, to enable him go through the magical barrier around the fortress, undetected just as Deloris had directed.

"What are you?" Camilla breathed.

'What's so difficult about not talking out loud?' Ryan looked both exasperated and amused at the same time. 'Sorry.' Camilla said. 'What now?'

'We wait.' Ryan said and then opened his mind-link to every pack member on the property. 'We're ready, Deloris.'

***

Outside the magically invisible fortress, Deloris turned to look at Ryan who stood beside her with his head bowed. She couldn't suppress her smile of admiration. She recited some words onto the coins in her palm and threw them all against the barrier with all her strength. And instantly, the fortress of the Wyatt Clan was revealed in all its gargantuan glory.

"Now, Ryan." The warlock commanded.

Camilla appeared before them instantly. She immediately threw herself into her mother's arms and held on tightly. But when Deloris hugged her daughter back, she flinched and groaned.

"Oh god, what did they do to you? Where does it hurt?" Deloris held her daughter at arm's length and stared at her with eyes filled with pain.

"You mean where doesn't it hurt?" Camilla drawled.

"They will pay for this," Deloris vowed.

And even as mother and daughter embraced, all the werewolves except for Phillip, Gloria, Paige, and Ryan, shifted into ferocious-looking wolves.

"Move!" At Phillip's command, the wolves charged onto the compound.

***

The jackal's head shot up from the herbs in front of him when he heard the name that fell from the boy's lips. He turned his head to stare at twenty-one-year-old Troy who was relaxing in a lazy chair with his eyes closed. The boy was an early riser. That was because of what he was...a werewolf. But he didn't even know that himself, thanks to the Lord Command. He was supposed to be down in the dungeon with the other prisoners but Reynard had instructed that he should rather live amongst the warlocks for closer monitoring.

According to the Lord Command, Troy had a really powerful aura around him and was therefore very important to him. Since he was kidnapped and brought in as a child, he'd mingled with the warlocks and been taught whatever he needed to know. The Jackal knew that the Lord Command would relish sacrificing Troy when the time suited him. He claimed that the more powerful the soul, the sweeter it was to absorb them. So Troy was bound to be sacrificed at a point but till then, he was one of them.

"What did you say?" The Jackal asked, watching as Troy stretched and yawned.

"Deloris," Troy repeated. "I just heard someone say, 'we're ready, Deloris'."

"Heard how?" The Jackal's eyes narrowed. In his line of work, there was nothing like a coincidence. He only knew one Deloris. And she was the warlock whose daughter he'd kidnapped to blackmail her into divulging information about her alpha.

Troy shrugged. "I just heard it in my head." He turned his head to look at the albino. "Why do you look like you've seen a ghost?" He never knew the albino could actually look whiter than he already did.

The Jackal stared at the boy, hoping that somehow, there was nothing to what Troy had said. Then he suddenly heard it... the growls and the screams.

"Wolves." The Jackal gasped. "Stay here." He instructed Troy and then dashed out of the room.