Graham sat by the living room window, his eyes flickering from the ck and whiteputer screens rolling through the cameras he had set up around the house many months before his n had been put into action, back to the vast expanse of farnd outside of the property. He had spotted the Oak Ridge scouts as they came to find out about his defences, they had arrived quicker than he had expected, but it made no difference, he was ready for the attack. Flicking his eyes toward the stairs, he battled with himself about going up to check on Felicity, she had been very quiet since they arrived. She had always been timid, reluctant to assert herself, she was well trained by her controller.
Shaking his head, Graham returned his gaze to the screens, he couldn''t afford to becent, not with his enemies so close by, he wouldn''t risk them taking Felicity back from him and if that cost lives? Well the will of the Goddess would decide that. ''Graham?'' came Felicity''s quivering voice from the top of the stairs.
''Get back in your room!'' Graham roared angrily, listening as felicity''s hurried footsteps raced back to the bedroom, the door shutting behind her.
Taking a deep breath, Graham calmed his wolf down again, he could not allow her to distract him, that would give the enemy the inlet they were looking for. He had to maintain his focus, his entire n rested on these next moments, he had to make sure that no- one from that Goddess forsaken pack would evere looking for him or his wife again.
*******
Having spent the night sheltered within the derelict building, the Leaders deciding that an evening attack would be dangerous with the amount of hidden protections Graham had ced around his hide out, the teams set out at first light toward the distant farm house, the scout group already shifted and tracking the area to point out hidden defences.
As they crept through the fields that surrounded their target, splitting up into four teams, Justin, Sebastian and the teenagers edged down a long hedge, using the greenery to cover themselves from the distant house. As they walked forward, Daniel suddenly gasped as a small ping broke the silence, Vaya grabbed hold of the Beta''s cor yanking him backwards as spikes shot through the greenery where Daniel had just been stood.
Clutching his chest, Daniel held on to his mate as Riley carefully pulled back the foliage to reveal a board that had spikes sticking out of it, looking behind they could see that they had been spring loaded, ready to release as soon as the thin wire that was tied a foot from the floor was broken. Justin growled angrily as Vaya hugged the Beta too her, her eyes wide as she realised how close he hade to being injured.
''I told you not to get hurt'' she snapped at him angrily as he smiled weakly up at her.
''Hey, I got you watching my back babe, I''m always safe'' Daniel replied, forcing a grin.
''You could have died'' she growled, her fear evident, ''I could have lost you! What would I have.. ''she stuttered, working herself up.
Pulling her into his arms, Daniel held her tightly as she calmed down in his embrace, ''I''m fine babe, going to take more than that to take me away from you?'' he said gruffly as Vaya''s breathing slowed and she regained herposure. Pulling away, her face grim, Vaya spat, ''lets get this son of a b***h, he just made this fight personal!
Chuckling, Daniel released her, ''this Graham bloke has no idea what he just started does he?'' he teased her as she shook her head angrily.
''I''m going to twist his arms from his body and shove them up his a*s'' she growled, signalling Justin to start moving again.
Keeping their eyes to the ground for further traps, they continued to advance, reaching the edge of the hedge just as a loud explosion smashed through the air, the scream of a warrior deafening as the group peered around the branches.
Far to their right, one of the scouts was bleeding heavily, her leg mangled, sharp metal shrapnel sticking out of her charred skin as another warrior tried to drag her by the arm to safety. A small smoking crater in the ground was all that was left of the man madend mine that had been hidden in the dirt waiting for someone to step on it.
''What is wrong with this a*s hole'' Vaya demanded, ''who does this to their own kind!''
Shaking his head Justin turned his eyes toward the house, the group spreading out as they picked their way across the grounds toward the fortressed house.
More screams filled the air around them as booby traps took out warrior after warrior, stepping forward Isabe froze as her foot pressed down on a hidden pressure te, looking over at Riley her face conveyed what had happened. Riley''s breath stuck in his throat as his eyes travelled down his mates body to the foot that was nted squarely on the ground.
''Don''t move baby'' he said walking slowly over to her, waving the others away as he slowly, painfully lowered himself to his knees next to her. ''Keep going'' he shouted at the rest of the group when he realised they had stopped to watch.
''Get out of range'' Isabe begged them as tears pricked her eyes, ''you too babe'' she said softly her eyes caressing her mates face as he stared up at her.
''Never going to happen Be, i''m not leaving here without you'' he replied stubbornly, ''I''m with you for eternity, no matter how long that is!
Gently brushing the earth from around her foot, Riley uncovered the small te that rested under Isabe''s foot. Taking out his knife from his belt, he dug carefully around the te, trying to see the device underneath.
Spotting the maic connection, he looked up at her and whispered, ''I need to find something to rece your foot, do not move, i''ll be right back!
Nodding as tears slipped down her cheeks, Isabe watched as he picked his way back to the hedge, scrabbling around underneath until his fingers closed on arge piece of stone. Hurrying back, Riley ced the stone by Be''s foot pushing it against her toes whilst encouraging her to slowly back her foot away from the te.
Slowly, inch by inch, the pair pushed the stone onto the te until Isabe''s toes were barely on it. Suddenly, Riley rammed the stone against her foot andunched himself at his mate, throwing them both away from the danger, as the explosion rocked the area, dirt and shrapnel showering down onto them, as Riley protected Isabe''s body with his own.
As the dust cleared, Riley sat up slightly, checking Isabe''s face, ''are you OK baby?'' he asked worriedly.
''Yes babe'' Isabe replied with a soft smile, ''I''m always OK when I''m with you, my big bad Alpha mate!
Sitting up, Riley winced as he looked at his arm, seeing arge shard of metal protruding from his body. Seeing his injury, Isabe gasped as she ripped a strip from her shirt, wrapping it around the wound as Riley slowly pulled the fragment from his skin growling in pain. Inside the house, Graham watched the c*****e through the window, studying his enemies tactics as he kept his finger on the trigger of his most deadly defence. A twinge of regret pierced him as he saw the Alpha teenager trying to save Isabe, he hadn''t wanted to bring the girl to harm. Stamping on the feeling he shook his head to rid his mind of the thoughts, all this was coteral damage, he hadn''t had a choice.
Turning his head back to the screens he watched as wolf after wolf fell to one of his traps, he had spent many years designing and perfecting his defences, his dedication was paying off.
Out of the corner of his eye he spotted one of the Oak Ridge warriors sneaking up on the back door, having carefully picked his way through the hidden mines. Reaching out for the door handle he froze in ce momentarily before his body started to jolt with the electricity that was coursing through his body from the battery Graham had wired into the knob, his body bing part of the circuit as soon as he touched the metal. Reaching over, Graham quickly cut the wire to the battery, breaking the connection, allowing the warrior to fall unconscious to the ground outside. Doing a quick head count he figured he had taken out seven of the group, and at least two more were busy dealing with the wounded.