Page 6 of Alpha Awakened

A door opened to their left and a target stepped out with a Glock in hand. In one smooth motion, Ice pulled a knife from the sheath on his thigh and sent it hurtling across the room to strike the target in the wrist. With a howl of pain, he dropped his gun. Ice took him down while he was mid scream.

If Hazard wasn’t busy taking out his own targets, his mouth would be hanging open in awe.

Hearing footsteps approaching from behind, Hazard spun around. Three Vengeful Claw members were running toward him. One got off a shot. Hazard quickly side-stepped and ducked behind a support pillar to avoid the bullet. At the same time, he squeezed the trigger on his own weapon multiple times,eliminating two of the targets. But the third was still there, shooting wildly at the pillar Hazard was using for cover.

Hazard was preparing to peek around the column to try and get off a shot when a blade sliced through the air next to his right ear. A second later there was a grunt, followed by gurgling. Exposing himself as little as possible, Hazard looked to see that the knife had found a home in the third gunmen’s throat. The man clutched at the weapon, but there was nothing he could do to save his life. He fell to the dirty warehouse floor, dead.

Hazard turned back, not surprised to see Ice standing there. The alpha spoke two words.

“You good?”

Hazard nodded. “I’m good.”

“Keep moving then.”

Once they’d cleared the first floor, the pairs split up. Ortiz and Jax took off in search of the leader of the group.

“On me, Corporal,” Ice ordered.

Hazard followed behind the captain, racing up the stairs to the right to ascend to the fourth floor. When they reached the room where the hostage was supposed to be held Hazard tried the doorknob first. It was locked. Ice pulled a sledgehammer from the holder on the back of his tactical vest.

“Jessica Doucette!” he called out loudly. “If you’re on the other side of this door stand back!” He gave her a few seconds to clear before he swung the sledgehammer against the doorknob. The lock broke under the force, and the door went flying back to bounce against the wall.

The entrance breached, the two of them moved inside with their weapons at the ready. A young woman dressed in hot pink and yellow workout gear stood on the far side of the room, her back against the wall. Her face was dirty and streaked with dried tears, but it matched the picture they’d been shown during briefing.

“Jessica Doucette, we’re here to take you home,” Hazard said.

“What’s the code?” she asked.

“Tuxedo cat,” Ice answered in his gruff voice.

The tension bled from her shoulders. “Thank you, Mother Wolf,” she whispered in relief. She took a step toward them but her knees started to buckle before she took the second.

Hazard leaped forward and caught her before she could fall. “Are you hurt?”

Jessica shook her head no. “A little light headed but I’m ready to go.”

“Okay. I need you to stay on your feet until we have you out of here. Okay?”

She took a deep breath and straightened her posture. “Okay.”

“Good.” Hazard got on comms. “We have the package, Major.”

Ortiz’s voice crackled to life in his ear piece.

“Good work. There’s no intel here and neither is the leader. We’ll meet you back at the entrance.”

“Roger that,” Hazard replied.

They moved out, Ice in front, Hazard in the rear and Jessica in the protected space between them. Jax and Ortiz joined them once they reached the ground level. While Ice collected his knives from his kills, the major gave Jessica a quick once-over. Seeing she was weak but uninjured, Ortiz got on the comms to their pilot.

“Major Ortiz to transport. We are on our way to the extraction point.”

“We’re ready and waiting, Major,” the pilot responded.

Jessica gasped when she got a look at all of the dead bodies littering the floor. But she didn’t falter in her progress through the warehouse and outside to freedom. She was clearlyweakened from her ordeal, moving slowly and sometimes stumbling as she ran. Hazard gave her encouragement to keep her going for the long run back to the helo.

“Almost there. You probably burn more calories and work harder in your aerobics classes than you are in this measly little run.”

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