Page 14 of Dark Captivation

I fell into the recliner, summoning my power.

“It’s a beautiful day. Why not go into town and talk to your people instead?” Jeffrey said.

“No. I’m working.” I got comfortable and closed my eyes.

“This is why I’m your only friend.” He squawked, flapping his wings, flying a few feet in the air before returning to his stand.

“I don’t need more friends. I have you, Ferina and now Sunny is here. My circle is complete.”

“A bride is not a friend, neither is your sister,” he complained.

My energy swelled; and my connection to the ‘unconscious zone’ strengthened. Like a master pulling a puppet’s string, I entered the body of a wolf named David from the Fingerwood wolf pack.

A picture came into view, deep in my mind’s eye as my vision synced with his eyes. I assumed full control of his body and tested the strength of the connection by doing a few jumping jacks.

His legs moved in and out as his arms waved up and down. Everything was working perfectly. I was in the woods just outside the alpha’s cabin. I’d instructed David to be here when I synced with him, and he wisely obeyed.

David made a deal with me a year ago, and in exchange for all the wealth he could ever want, David gave me secrets on his pack and allowed me to use his body to spy on his alpha for a few hours every week.

Two heavily armed beta wolves stood guard at the door of their alpha’s cabin. It was a grand structure, a four-story tall wooden fortress skirted by trees and shrubs.

The alpha opened the door, briefcase in hand. He saluted his betas before following them into the car that was parked out front. One of the guards drove and the other rode shotgun as the alpha sat in the backseat.

They drove away, heading towards the nearby town.

For the next few minutes, the alpha wolf’s cabin would be completely unguarded. I’ve been watching his movements for days. The replacement guards usually arrived ten to fifteen minutes after the alpha left. Now was the perfect time to strike.

Checking that the coast was clear, I sprinted to the front door and tried the knob. It was locked, so I kicked the door. Had I tried this in my own body, it would have been done with a single blow. But in David’s much smaller one, it took six kicks before the door fell.

I cautiously entered. When no alarm sounded, I ran through the hallway that connected all the rooms on the bottom floor. Downstairs, I only found the bedroom, so I flew up the stairs and checked all the rooms until I finally found just what I was looking for.

Every alpha wolf’s home had a situation room, and I’d just found it. This was where Fingerwood discussed matters of pack security with his most trusted advisers. He held one of the largest packs in the southern United States, presiding over seven thousand shifters. So he had to spend a considerable amount of time here, planning how to keep me at bay.

So far, he’s been successful. With other packs, I’d infiltrated and toppled their leadership in mere days. But Fingerwood was smart. He kept a tight circle and guarded his secrets well. It took me months just to find out where he lived, as very few people were privy to that information.

The big oval table in the center of the situation room was bare, but the south-facing wall was covered by a map depicting the entire Fingerwood territory.

This was what I came for. I had no idea the full shape or size of the territory held by Fingerwood. Without an understanding of his borders and what protected them, a ground assault with my armies would be futile.

He had thousands of highly skilled young wolves in his army, primed and ready to fight me when I’d invade. Hitting them where they least expected and overwhelming them before they even knew what hit them was key to my victory.

I took a mental picture of the map, paying closest attention to the borders.

Fingerwood’s territory is a peapod shaped garrison, much larger than I thought with beta and sentinel stations at strategic locations in the forest that surrounded their territories. They even had manned guard towers spread out every couple miles to make spotting intruders easier.

I kept searching until I saw it to the southeast, one weak link in an otherwise impeccably strong chain. The Nagara River runs through the area and is famously teaming with the aggressive and seriously endangered spikebacked crocodile.

There were almost no guards stationed near the river. If I sent a few men in, armed with tranquilizer guns, we could use the river as a gateway and swarm the place before they even knew what was happening. By the time they responded, it would be too late.

A few grunts and the pounding of boots hitting wood let me know I’d been discovered. “Stay where you are and surrender yourself for arrest. We have the cabin surrounded.” A voice barked from down the hallway.

A tear gas can flew down the hallway, a white mist spewing into the passage and situation room.

I slammed the door shut, barricading it with a chair.

I took one last look at the map, burning the image in my mind's eye before surrendering control of David’s body back over to him.

I felt David’s confusion as he regained control of his body and heard the voices barking orders angrily. The channel between David and I broke, and my consciousness made a swift retreat to my body that laid in my study.

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