Page 50 of Wolf Revealed

And right in the middle of everything was Nick Chapman. The man was currently busy pawing through the desk in the largest office, and looking damn pissed while he did it.

Gesturing to Xander and Khaki to fall back, Mike followed until they were all behind the broad concrete staircase.

“We’ve got a situation,” he said into his radio. “You’re right about there being at least a dozen people in here, but they’re not Roman and his crew of supernaturals. It’s Chapman and Sentinel.”

“How the hell is that possible?” Gage demanded. “Wayne told us they saw Roman coming in here a couple hours ago. What the hell is Sentinel doing here?”

“They’re searching for something,” Khaki answered. “Digging through desks and filing cabinets, opening individual folders. Whatever it is, it’s something small.”

Mike could vaguely hear Gage attempting to get Wayne over the radio on the other channel, asking the other cop how this could have possibly happened. Mike didn’t hear Wayne’s reply, but in his own defense, he was too busy replaying the last few moments through his head as his inner wolf shouted at him that something was seriously off about this whole situation. There was no way Wayne could have missed Chapman and Sentinel coming in here.

But he had no chance to think about it for too long, because at that moment, a man in black tactical gear suddenly rounded the bottom of the staircase, stopping when he caught sight of Mike, Khaki, and Xander.

The four of them stood unmoving for all of a single heartbeat before each of them lifted their weapons and squeezed the triggers.

The guy from Sentinel was clearly well-trained and possessed reflexes nearly on par with a werewolf. He was firing off an entire magazine of 9mm rounds even as he threw himself back the way he’d come, seeking to put as much distance between himself and them as fast as he could.

Moments later, the man was joined by three of his buddies, and the number of bullets tearing through the air increased drastically. Mike fired back with his M4, realizing then that all of the men were wearing the same high-quality tactical gear. One of the guys got hit in the chest with a three-round burst of automatic weapon fire, only to get back up. These people were serious, and there were enough of them to be dangerous, even to a group of werewolves.

Mike and his pack mates were forced back beyond the staircase by the onslaught of gunfire, even as more Sentinel goons ran toward them. Mike and Xander fought back while Khaki shouted into her radio, yelling for Gage and the other guys to come help.

Over the radio, Mike heard Gage tell Wayne that they needed backup ASAP. But Wayne didn’t respond. Had Roman’s men somehow doubled back around and taken out Wayne and the other cops?

Mike couldn’t stop to think too much about that, though. Just when it looked like he and his pack mates were about to be overrun, he heard gunfire from the north side of the building and suddenly, the number of rounds coming their way slowed.

The cavalry had arrived. Or, more precisely, Gage and his team.

He lifted his weapon to take aim at the Sentinel terrorist closest to him when a flash of movement caught his eye. He glanced at the staircase to see Chapman and two of his men racing up the steps.

Mike wasn’t sure why he cared that Chapman was trying to flee, but he did. Between one breath and the next, Mike turned and sprinted for the stairs.

“I’m going after Chapman!” he shouted into his radio. “He’s heading for the second floor!”

Xander might have shouted something about being careful, but Mike was too focused on avoiding being shot to pay attention.

Mike was running full speed by the time he reached the top of the stairs, which ended up saving his butt. Chapman and his two goons were waiting in ambush for him to arrive, blazing away at him at full automatic the second he appeared.

As fast as he was moving, Mike practically flew off the top step, sailing ten feet in the air and saving himself from the bullets flying all around him. He tucked and rolled across the floor, finding cover behind one of the concrete support columns. Then he popped up on one knee to engage with Chapman and his men.

Chapman, Goon One, and Goon Two spread out, moving like they’d done this a hundred times. Within moments, they had him in a crossfire. This time, the support column wasn’t able to protect him from all three of them. Mike retreated backward, darting from column to column while trying to get a shot lined up at one of his attackers, and avoiding getting hit himself.

“Go for the legs!” Goon Two shouted, bullets tearing into the concrete around Mike’s feet. “Carlyle will pay a three-million-dollar bonus if we bring one of these things in alive.”

Mike cursed.

Chapman hadn’t been running this way to escape. He’d come up to the second floor in the hopes of luring Mike or one of his pack mates away from the others.

Mike darted behind another concrete column, only to slip quickly around the other way to fire a three-round burst at Goon Two, who chose that moment to charge his way. There was a wet thud of bullets impacting something solid, and suddenly, Mike only had two men to worry about.

In his earbud, he could hear Gage and the other members of the Pack still fighting downstairs. There was a lot of gunfire, but it sounded like his pack mates were holding their own.

“So, if you two are hired muscle working for the Carlyle Medical Group, what are you doing at Roman’s hideout?” Mike asked conversationally as he moved behind another column before Chapman or Goon One could get a shot at him. He didn’t figure he’d get these guys to tell him anything useful, but it didn’t hurt to try. “You couldn’t have known my pack was about to move on this place.”

“We had a tip from someone inside your department,” Goon One said with a laugh, before popping out to pepper the concrete column Mike was hiding behind with automatic weapon fire. “We had a general idea when you’d arrive.”

Mike’s stomach plummeted. He couldn’t be talking about Wayne, could he? It would certainly explain why Wayne hadn’t answered that call for backup. But why the hell would he do that?

“If you were planning to ambush us, why did we catch you snooping through Roman’s desks and filing cabinets?” Mike asked as he dived across the floor toward another column to avoid more gunfire.