Chapter 27: MIDNIGHT WOLVES — PART 2
The bar appears ahead. Lights off. Door closed. Looks normal.
But my Criminal Instinct screams. Danger. Multiple threats. Closing in.
I circle to the back alley. Find Siobhan arriving from the east. She's bleeding from her forehead. Limping.
"You hit?" I ask.
"Grazed. I'm functional." She sees my shoulder. The blood. "You're worse."
"I'm enhanced."
"What?"
"Long story. How many did you stop?"
"Four confirmed. At least six made it past. Maybe eight." She reloads. "They're professional. Moved in pairs. Covered each other. I couldn't pin them down."
"You did good. Where's Lucas?"
"Inside. With Sugar. They're holding the bar."
Gunfire erupts from the front. Glass shattering. Shouts in Russian.
"They're probing defenses," I say. "Testing responses. They'll assault soon."
"How many total?"
"Fifteen. Maybe more." I check my ammunition. Running low. "We're outnumbered three to one. Maybe worse."
"Great odds." Her voice is dry. Dark humor. "Any brilliant strategies?"
"Hold the bar. Kill anyone who gets inside. Protect the bunker entrance."
"That's not brilliant. That's basic."
"Basic works."
We enter through the back. The bar is dark. Lucas is behind the counter, shotgun ready. Sugar is near the bunker entrance, positioned to defend the stairs.
"About time," Lucas says. Sees my shoulder. "Jesus, Ben."
"It's helping more than hurting."
"That doesn't make sense."
"Trust me."
Siobhan takes position by a window. "Movement outside. Front and sides. They're surrounding us."
My Criminal Instinct pulses. She's right. They're not storming in. They're setting up. Professional siege tactics.
"Job," I radio. "Status report."
His voice crackles: "Fifteen hostiles confirmed around your position. Three more incoming from reserve. Olek is with the east group. I repeat—Olek is commanding the assault."
Eighteen total. Against four of us. With Carrie in the basement.
The math keeps getting worse.
"Can you call for backup?" Siobhan asks. "State police? County?"
"Twenty minute response time minimum," Lucas says. "We'll be dead or captured by then."
"Then we hold." I move to the center of the room. "Lucas, cover the front. Sugar, don't leave that staircase. Siobhan, take the side windows. I'll handle breaches."
"You're wounded," Siobhan protests.
"Which makes me stronger. Trust me."
She doesn't argue. Takes her position.
A voice calls from outside. Accented. Commanding. "Sheriff Hood! We know you're inside. We know you have Anastasia. Send her out. No one else needs to die."
Lucas and I exchange glances. They know. They know who they're looking for. They know we have her.
"Olek," I say quietly.
Lucas moves to the door. Shouts back: "She's under our protection. You're not taking her."
"You cannot win. We are thirty men. You are four. Be reasonable."
"Reason left when you brought an army to my town." Lucas's voice is steel. "Leave now. Last warning."
Silence. Then Olek's laugh. "American lawmen. So honorable. So stupid. You will die for her. She will not even remember your names."
"She'll remember we stood."
Another pause. Then: "Very well. We tried peace."
"Brace!" I shout.
The windows explode inward. Flash grenades. Smoke. Disorientation tactics.
I close my eyes before the flash. Anticipate it. The noise is deafening but I'm ready.
Figures pour through the windows. Front door. Side entrance.
Violence Mastery activates at full Phase 2. I see all of them. Eight attackers. Positions. Weapons. Intent.
I move.
First man through the side window—I'm there before he clears the frame. Break his weapon arm. Kick him back through the glass.
Second and third come as a pair. Professional. Covering angles.
Doesn't matter. I read their pattern. Knife for the second. He goes down gurgling. Gun for the third. Headshot.
Lucas is firing. Shotgun roaring. Bodies falling near the front entrance.
Siobhan's rifle cracks. Precise. Controlled. Each shot finds a target.
Sugar holds his position. Shotgun ready. Waiting for anyone who breaks through.
But they're not breaking through. They're dying in the doorways.
I take another round. Left thigh. The bullet tears through muscle.
Pain Conversion surges. The wound is ecstasy. Pure fuel.
I'm moving faster than before. Impossible speed. Impossible precision.
Four more attackers down. Five. Six.
They're retreating. Pulling back. Regrouping.
The assault lasted thirty seconds. Eight dead. No penetration.
We held.
"Reload!" Lucas shouts. "They'll come again!"
I check my leg. Through and through. Bleeding. My regeneration will handle it. Eventually. Right now, it's giving me power.
"How are you still standing?" Siobhan asks. She's staring at me. At the wounds. At the impossible speed.
"Later," I say. "Get ready. They're not done."
Job's voice: "Olek is pulling back. Repositioning. He's bringing everyone. All eighteen. Next assault will be everything he has."
"Good," I say. "Let him bring them all."
Lucas looks at me. "You're enjoying this."
Am I? Maybe. The wolf is feeding. The hunt is good.
"I'm doing my job," I say.
But he's right. Some part of me—the part that's becoming less human—is enjoying this. The clarity. The violence. The perfect execution.
"Ben." Lucas's voice is serious. "Don't lose yourself."
"I won't."
But I'm not sure that's true.
The radio crackles. Brock's voice: "State police just called me. Reports of gunfire. They're sending units. ETA fifteen minutes."
Fifteen minutes. We just need to survive fifteen more minutes.
"Copy," I say. "Acknowledged."
Siobhan is still staring. "You're not human. Are you?"
"I'm human enough."
"That's not an answer."
"It's the only one you're getting tonight."
Outside, Olek is shouting orders. Organizing. Preparing.
Eighteen men. Coming with everything they have.
I'm wounded. Bleeding from shoulder and thigh. Down to my last magazine.
But Pain Conversion is burning bright. My body is moving beyond limits. And Violence Mastery is reading every threat with perfect clarity.
"They're coming," Job warns. "All at once. Front, back, sides. Total assault."
"Positions!" Lucas shouts.
We take our spots. Ready.
The wolf inside me growls. Satisfied. Eager.
Eighteen killers outside.
Four defenders inside.
Fifteen minutes until cavalry.
The math finally doesn't matter.
Because math doesn't account for the monster I'm becoming.
The door explodes inward.
They come like a wave.
And I meet them with teeth and claws and a smile that isn't quite human anymore.
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