Page 3 of Eclipse of the Pack

As the officer’s attention shifted from Jonathen to the street behind them, Jonathen slid around the corner of a hollowed-out building and into a deserted alleyway. As he rounded the corner, he burst into a full-on sprint, leaping over boxes and debris.

It wouldn’t be long before the PEACE officer reported the lone civilian on the streets, and when they realized no one had shown up at the medic tent, they’d come looking for him.

Jonathen reached the end of the alley quickly, stopping only to catch his breath and peek around the corner.

As he was about to take off up the street, he caught movement from the corner of his eye, and pressed himself against the wall of the alley to wait until the coast was clear.

Two wolves prowled up the street, and Jonathen knew immediately that the shifters weren’t in the area at random, and they definitely weren’t the wolves he’d seen earlier.

They were looking for something, and seemed to find it in the caved-in doorway of an old bar. As both wolves slunk inside the building, the PEACE officer Jonathen ran into came into view.

Jonathen braced himself for the gunfire and shouting that was sure to come, but it never came.

Instead, the officer hurried into the building after the wolves, casting a glance over his shoulder as if he were concerned about being followed, and then disappeared into the darkness.

5

IVY

The sky was a swirl of pink and indigo when Ivy set foot back on base. An early start to the day was the best way to avoid Todd while playing the part of an agent putting in overtime to correct her “mistake”.

Ivy had just entered the cafeteria in search of a coffee when Agent Hollis intercepted her. Hollis was definitely better than Todd, but anywhere one of them was, the other wasn’t far behind.

“Good morning, Jenks,” Hollis said cooly, offering her the other cup of coffee in her hand.She was waiting for me,Ivy thought to herself.This is definitely not good.

“Good morning, Agent Hollis.” Ivy replied, taking the cup and matching her superior’s stride as they moved towards headquarters.

“I’m glad to see you here early, Agent. After our chat yesterday, I was afraid your enthusiasm for the cause had ebbed.” Hollis maintained an even, diplomatic tone, something an outsider would view as tentatively friendly- but Ivy knew different.

It was an effort to keep the sarcasm from creeping into her voice as she replied, “Absolutely not, Agent Hollis. A couple shifters getting away isn’t enough to stop me.” She’d had all night to rehearse her tone, but the words still felt like bile in her mouth.

“Good,” Hollis cooed, her tone bringing real bile crawling up the back of Ivy’s throat, “Because we have more to discuss.”

Ivy and Agent Hollis stepped into the headquarters building and beelined for the conference room. It was no surprise that Todd was already in the room as Ivy entered and took a seat across from him and Hollis.

Todd’s beady eyes narrowed at Ivy, but he didn’t say a word- Hollis must have him on a tight leash after his outburst yesterday.

“Since you already know I favor direct communication, Agent, I’ll cut to the chase. Your other assignments have been suspended as of this morning.”

Ivy’s body went cold as her grip tightened on her cup- if she’d lost her standing as a PEACE agent, then there was no way she could complete the mission Malcom had given her.

“Your top, and only, priority is to neutralize the threat you’ve loosed upon Los Angeles.” Hollis finished, her eyes glinting.

She was just as cruel as Todd, just smarter and better practiced.I fucking hate bureaucracy,Ivy seethed to herself.

Ivy gave a curt nod and stood up from her chair, anxious to leave before she had an opportunity to lose her cool.

“By any means necessary, Jenks.Any.” Todd followed, speaking in a measured tone that Ivy was sure had taken just as much rehearsal as her role as a PEACE agent.

“I’m sure that I’ve misunderstood,” Ivy said, allowing some venom to sneak into her voice, “But you aren’t insinuating that I abandon PEACE procedures and endanger civilians, are you?”

Ivy counted three red, mottled blotches in Todd’s face before Agent Hollis’ voice broke the silence.

“We would never purposefully endanger civilians,” she said carefully, “However, these wolves are bigger than any one civilian. You’re going off the books to complete this mission.”

Ivy held her gaze, barely keeping her rage contained. They weren’t as bad as she’d thought- they were worse.

“Understood.” She forced out, before turning on her heel and leaving the conference room. It was all she could do not to sprint out of the building.

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