Page 46 of Beast

I swept the glasses to Beck’s position.Nothing moved, and I couldn’t see the men, but I didn’t doubt they were there.I changed my focus to Nokita and Labyrinth’s location.Same.Everything was still.

Then, in the west, I caught movement.They were bringing in the hounds.I followed the scene carefully, noting the soldiers’ formation.Six men spread out around a large group of hellhounds, easily two hundred of them.It was hard to make out the whistles in the soldiers’ mouths, but the slight movement of their cheeks gave it away.The hounds stayed in their group, avoiding the soldiers entirely as they were herded.

The larger column of soldiers in front of the outpost split down the middle, creating a path for the hellhounds to pass.Every one of them was blowing a whistle.That solved one mystery: the hounds avoided the sound, and that’s how the Federation controlled them.

I lowered the glasses and turned to Ryan.“Be sure to grab any whistles from downed soldiers,” I said.

He nodded, his eyes narrowing as he scanned the valley.

I raised the glasses again, studying the enemy’s movements.My jaw tightened.Those whistles would be ours before this was over.

I offered a quick, silent prayer that King had figured out whatever Smythe was planning.

We set out at a fast jog, picking up speed as we raced down the mountainside.Staying low to avoid attention, we kept as much cover as possible between us and the enemy.The last thing we wanted was for the rotary cannon to turn on us.This was going to be a gunfight, not me standing in a window as a sniper.I wasn’t ready.Not by a long shot.

When we were a hundred yards out from Smythe, I lifted my hand for the men to halt.

Smythe was talking to one of his men near the vehicles.I watched as he climbed onto the back of a truck and took over for the soldier manning the rotary cannon.My stomach twisted.I wasn’t sure how I knew what he had planned but I did.Smythe wasn’t just giving the orders.He planned to fire on his own men and he wanted to be the person doing it.

With the bullet spread of a rotary cannon, there was no way to choose who lived and who died.Everyone in its path would go down.Smythe didn’t care, and that cold reality hit hard.

I silently thanked King for forcing me to learn my weapons and, for once, wished I hadn’t complained so much about it.

I lifted my rifle, and the Warriors around me followed.

Ryan leaned close; his voice low.“Kamin, Elright, and Eagle have the best sniper skills.”

“Move them into position,” I ordered.“Tell them to take out the soldiers on the trucks first.”

That meant I wouldn’t hear Smythe’s last breath, but if it kept my men alive, I could live with it.

I raised my hand, signaling the team, and brought it down sharply.

I didn’t even glance at Smythe, there wasn’t time.Instead, I lined up my first shot and fired, then fired again.

They returned fire immediately, though we had the high ground.Soldiers scrambled for cover behind the trucks, but there weren’t enough to cover them, and they were practically ours.

“Take out the tires on the trucks!”I yelled.

I didn’t want them driving out of here.If we could disable the vehicles without destroying them, the outpost could salvage the trucks and hopefully some tires would survive.With most vehicles sitting idle for years, tires were often dried out and useless.I’d rather lose a piece of rubber than a single man.

My breath came fast, adrenaline coursing through me as I prepared for the next move.Smythe had to go down, but first, we had to hold our ground.

Ryan’s snipers did their job, and soldiers without cover dropped one after the other.I caught a slight movement near one of the intact tires and waited.When it happened again, I fired, and the man went down.

Lifting my field glasses, I scanned below.Hellhounds tore through the fray, and red stripe soldiers were breaking formation.A shot zipped over my head, but I stayed focused.

“We need to go in hard,” I said, lowering the glasses.“Can your men lay down fire and get us closer?”

Ryan gave a subtle nod.“Yes.Who do you want on the team?”

“I’ll rush with twenty Warriors,” I told him raising the field glasses again.“We’ll run full out and fire as we go if you can keep shooting over our heads.”

A claw pressed into my arm, and I turned, startled that Ryan had actually touched me.

His expression was serious.“You’re our leader,” he said firmly.“We need you here, calling the shots.I’ll take the men in, with your permission.”

He was right.Charging in myself would be rash, and I knew it.I thought of King, how badly he must want to fight but held back to lead his men.I needed to do the same.

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