A Wolf at War: Chapter 12 Pt. 2

A Wolf at War

Chapter 12: Choices Pt. 2




“We’ll kill them all…”." Gordon nodded slightly before slumping back in his seat, doing his best to hide the tears I knew were there.  What seemed like hours later the halftrack ground to a halt and the engine died, standing I stretched my stiff limbs slightly only to realize Gordon remained still.  I threw off the steel helmet I had dawned and replaced it once more with my red barrette with the silver cross.  Gordon seemingly reluctantly rose to his feet, gathering his Bren before walking to the steel door, throwing it open, and walking outside.  Following suit I was taken aback by how calm the night air was, the surrounding forest felt soothing, a wolf thing I guess.  Ahead of us, the betas were standing with the human captain from the motor pool, a large map unfurled in front of them.  

"...follow the coast till you reach the Spanish border and you will be home free."  The man folded the map before shaking beta McKinnon’s hand.

"Thank you sir, best of luck to you."

"To you too captain" the beta said as the man climbed back into the lorry’s cab and seconds later the truck ground into motion.  One of the men in the back stood up as the truck rumbled down the dark dirt road and shouted.

"Give em hell lads!"  Just before the truck disappeared into the forest though the sound of the engine remained, their journey would be difficult but I prayed they would make it back to England.  Wallace and McKinnon strode up to us, McKinnon broke the silence saying.

"We are going on foot from here on out, the rendezvous is at first light and only three kilometers from here so we will have some time to rest.  Let’s move out." He said casting Gordon a wary look before tuning and walking through the underbrush of the forest, I followed quickly behind.  I strode next to beta McKinnon in silence as Wallace and Gordon walked a few meters behind.  I could hear snippets of conversation Wallace was having with Gordon and I knew what it was about, though thoughtful Wallace may be doing more harm than good.  As we walked a thought I had had on the boat resurfaced.

"This man we are meeting, how do you know him?" I asked, he looked sharply at me with a deep set grimace.  

"Jean-Pierre Desedan... He is an... acquaintance Wallace and I made during the First World War.  He is an arrogant, childish, thieving, bastard who currently possesses some of the Thule Society's most closely guarded secrets."  He growled low in his throat, the beta rarely expressed anger but the mere mention of this man’s name was enough to provoke a response.  I decided to change the subject, for my own wellbeing.

"What is in these crucial documents?" I asked, not really expecting a response considering my low rank in the brotherhood and being very surprised when I actually got one.

"We are not entirely sure, just before our agent was caught she mentioned something about a weapons program code named 'Uranprojekt'..." The name struck a cord, I had heard it before but I couldn't for the life of me remember where.  I decided to dwell on it another time, we walked in silence for quite some time eerily calm compared to everything that happened at the harbor.  The moonlit fields and hedgerows would have been a great place to transform and roam.  Transforming back at the safe house was a relief but was no replacement for the feeling of the wilderness.  The scents were natural and welcoming, freshly churned earth, a light hint of salt from the sea, and an increasingly strong scent of strawberries all made me sigh with content.  

"We're getting close." McKinnon said quietly, sniffing the air as we crossed one last field and made our way into the depths of an imposing forest.  The trees here were ancient, their sinister looking limbs creaked with age as they swayed heavily in the early morning wind.  After ten minutes trudging through the light underbrush we happened across a small clearing, a small brook bubbled through it with a wooden crate sitting by its banks.  Cautiously we made our way forward into the open, I was sniffing the air for any sign of an ambush but all I could smell were strawberries.  McKinnon lowered his weapon and strode forward, flipping a screen off of the top of the crate to reveal it was filled to the brim with bright red strawberries.

"This is the rally point, an old tactic we call a 'scent drop'.  It's an easy way for wolves to be able to indicate location without alerting humans or vampires, though it does have its drawbacks."  McKinnon finished as Gordon and Wallace strode up to join us, Wallace slinging his submachine gun over his shoulder before plopping down heavily on a stump.  

"So what now?"  I asked absentmindedly taking one of the red fruit and taking a bite, my stomach rumbled in response… I forgot how hungry I was.  McKinnon nodded as he sat down next to Wallace and pulled out a pack of cigarettes, lighting his up before responding.  

"The rendezvous is here at dawn, knowing Desedan he will be late so get comfortable because.." His next words were lost as a knife thunked into the side of the box making me almost jump out of my skin.   Gordon raised his Bren and pointed it in the direction of the trees not sure where to shoot as I fumbled for my Sten.  To my surprise the betas seemed unperturbed by what had just happened, before either of us could shoot McKinnon growled.

"Save your bullets for something worthwhile."  Standing up, he bellowed into the woods.

"Alright Desedan you've had your fun!  Get your ass out here!"  Gordon glanced over to me, i knew he was looking for targets but I couldn't find any myself.  I shrugged in reply, the woods seemed empty to me.

“It’s about time you found me mon ami, I thought you never would.”  From behind a tree less than ten meters away stepped a very pale man, it took only seconds to realize who the man was.  Desedan, the man in the photograph the Betas had shown us on the boat with the same exact grin stretching the corner of his mouth.  He wore civilian clothing with a leather bandolier around his waist and a German MP40 submachine gun hanging from a strap on his left side.  Striding into the clearing he glanced at Gordon and I momentarily before beta McKinnon was standing in front of him, his arm outstretched.  

“We don’t have all day, the documents… now.” McKinnon snapped, Desedan simply stared at the beta for a few seconds, seemingly sizing him up before saying.

“Ah George! You’ve gotten fat since the last time I saw you, tell me how is Claudette?” In the blink of an eye McKinnon slammed the Frenchman into a tree, his knife pressing into the man’s neck.  A savage growl that sent shivers of fear up my spine tore through the betas throat, slowly he growled out in a feral predatory voice.

“Don’t ever mention her name again….the documents, hand them over now.”  Desedan shrugged his shoulders comically and in a flash was out from Beta McKinnon’s grip and was standing in front of Wallace.

“Wallace mon ami, it is good to see you again!  It’s been so long since the Somme.” He said shaking the Beta’s hand jovially as Beta McKinnon fumed a few meters away.  I was dumbfounded, things had just gone from extremely hostile to friendly in under ten seconds and neither Wallace or Desedan seemed disconcerted.

“It is good to see you too Jean, I wish it were under better circumstances however.”  The vampire offered the Beta a cigarette and even lit it for him before replying.

“What better circumstance than war? All the bloodshed and destruction just gives me a fuzzy feeling inside.” Wallace laughed at this but I could not tell if the vampire was joking or being serious, but from the tone of his voice I was leaning towards serious.  

“You haven’t changed a bit Jean, but we have business to get down to so let’s save catching up till after the war over a pint.  Do you have the documents?”  Desedan lifted the messenger bag from over his shoulder and handed it to Wallace who pulled from within its depths a bundle of documents held together by twine.  I was too busy trying to get a glimpse of what was in the documents I didn’t even notice Desedan glance at Gordon and I.  

“Is your order that desperate for cannon fodder Wallace? Sending kids on vital missions seems rather unprofessional I must say.”  I felt my face flush but I held my head high, I was not just some kid… I was a knight of Saint Christopher and a soldier of Poland.  I was going to retort but Wallace responded for me.

“Almost all of our brothers are tied up overseas in North Africa, the Balkans, or managing the underground network.  And say what you will but these two are the top of their class, Gordon here is a crack shot with a Bren gun and a prodigy at hand to hand combat. Jakub here is a veteran of the Winter War, a natural leader, and an accomplished swordsman…. Do not underestimate these two.”  Desedan nodded before tilting his head at me.

“A bite in huh? First Order bite in I’ve seen in quite some time, tell me boy have you fully integrated yet or do you have still have the second sight?” I was rather stunned by this question, he must have been referring to my time spent in the other ‘plain of existence’ with my wolf.  It seemed weird that the first person to mention these visions was a vampire but I was relieved none the less because of two things.  First I was not insane and talking to myself, second it may one day pass, I opened my mouth to respond but it seemed as if McKinnon had had enough.

“Enough small talk, Wallace, Gordon, Jakub, let’s move.”  He hoisted his bag over his shoulder and began to walk away, I wanted very much to stay and talk to Desedan but McKinnon seemed determined to get as far away from here as possible.

“So you are not interested in saving your comrade then huh?” I froze in my tracks as did Gordon, now Desedan had my complete undivided attention.

“James is alive?” Gordon blurted out before he could help himself, Desedan shrugged his shoulders and turned away.

“Maybe, but seeing as you have much better things to do I will leave you to your business.”  McKinnon dropped his rifle and stormed towards Desedan only to have Wallace grab him firmly by the shoulder.

“Desedan are you saying that one of our knights have been captured and you know where to find him?” Wallace asked making Desedan’s smirk drop slightly.

“Oui, I am not sure if it is this ‘James’ you are looking for but from the blood scent I knew he was definitely a wolf.  My troops have been keeping an eye on the Iron Claw barracks on the outskirts of Nates, keeping track of troop movements and whatnot.  When you and your friends blew up St. Nazaire, you drew most of them out however when they came back they were missing quite a few of their comrades and brought one newcomer back gagged and bound”.

“Ok Desedan, how far away is this base?”  Wallace asked quickly, Desedan lazily lit a cigarette before replying.

“Thirteen kilometers southeast, shall I lead the way?” Gordon nodded quickly and strode to join Desedan however he was stopped by a disgruntled McKinnon.  

“Even if James is alive there must be dozens of those Iron Claw bastards, how can five men take them out before they execute their prisoners?” He growled to which Desedan simply grinned, moving the cigarette to the corner of his mouth he let out a long high pitched whistle which made me cringe.  There was a rustle in the underbrush a few meters away, looking quickly I saw a portly man in a French military helmet and trench coat step out from behind a tree.  Then another not too far from him, then another and another, soon at least two dozen men and woman had made their way into the clearing.

“This may even the odds mon ami, you’re fighting with the Marquis now!” He said with a grin when he was suddenly grabbed once more by Beta McKinnon who pulled him close and growled, low so nobody but us could hear.

“Why in the hell are you teaching humans to mask their scents Desedan?”

“I simply told them the Germans were using guard dogs to try and sniff us out, not too far from the truth eh?” He replied quietly before pushing the beta off of him and walking casually through the crowd of partisans, shouting over his shoulder.

“Come on my furry friends, we want to strike while they are still licking their wounds.”  And with that he was off, followed closely by Gordon and his entourage of rebels, Wallace and McKinnon glanced skeptically at each other then at me before finally following.    
It took us a little under two hours to reach the Iron Claw headquarters which was little more than an ancient looking two story house, sitting snugly on the border of where sleepy farmland met forest.  Little would distinguish the building from any ordinary French home except for the two guards standing watch outside and the strong scent of wolf, which could be smelt kilometers away.  The approach was slow, not wanting to alert the hypersensitive hearing of the guards but over the course of half an hour our entire outfit had managed to creep to the edge of the tree line undetected.  Flat on my stomach I readied myself for the fight to come, beside me Gordon looked most anxious of all but if everything went as planned we would have James back and be gone in under ten minutes.  I felt a tap on my shoulder, the partisan next to me held up two fingers I nodded and passed the message along to Gordon.  Two minutes till Desedan and another partisan would take out the two guards, when that happened the four of us would breach the house and clear the basement where James was more than likely held.  Meanwhile the partisans would secure the perimeter, cover our advance, and clear the ground floor and upper stories, all the while searching for possible intelligence which they would hand over to us afterwards.  Suddenly the rumbling drone of an automobile could be heard in the distance, instantly it made me grow tense as I realized it was growing steadily louder.  The two minute mark passed and nobody fired as two cars rumbled into view, one appeared to be a German officers car and the other was a civilian car, both vehicles ground to a halt in front of the house.  Just then a figure stepped out of the house, he was wearing a disheveled and bloody officer’s uniform, clearly souvenirs of the battle at the port.  From the first car stood a figure dressed in a black SS uniform flanked by two soldiers who climbed the stairs to the door where the Iron Claw officer saluted.  From the civilian car stood four men, one of whom wore the blue and red uniform of a French policeman and the other three wearing long grey trench coats and low pulled hats giving them the appearance of spies from the movies.  

The group of men quietly moved towards the house but stopped suddenly when the Iron Claw officer raised his hand.  Gripping my Sten close I tried my best to control my breathing as I watched the officer sniff the air cautiously, our scent had betrayed us.  

“Zu den Waffen!”  The officer quickly yelled, quickly reaching for the pistol on his belt.  Before he could release the pistol from its holster two shots rang out in quick succession.  Instantly the werewolf officer dropped taking a shot directly to the forehead, the guard to his left stumbled having only been hit in the shoulder.  A split second later the group of Marquis opened fire as the surviving Nazis and collaborators dove for cover.  A hail of bullets riddled the cars as the Iron Claw guards grabbed the SS officer and pulled him into the house, seeing this I raised my Sten I opened fire myself aiming for the doorway a moment too late as the officer disappeared from view.  Suddenly a wailing alarm sounded from within the house as the French men and SS guards behind the cars returned fire.  The civilian car suddenly burst into flames, the gas tank exploding from the countless bullets shot by the Marquis.  The collaborators behind the car scattered to avoid the fireball but were quickly cut down by the tidal wave of merciless gunfire.

“Move up!” Wallace bellowed, before standing up and charging across the open field.  McKinnon was hot on his heels as were Gordon and I, Iron Claw in the upper floor smashed out the windows and opened fire but we had already made it to the safety of the front of the house.   Wallace backed up a few meters from the wall and tossed a grenade into one of the second floor windows, the explosion sent glass showering down upon us as McKinnon yelled.

“Gordon, get that door open!”  He nodded, stepping over the body of the Iron Claw officer he sprinted up the stairs and delivered a firm kick to the doorknob, which sent it flying open.  The rest of us quickly ascended the stairs and stormed into the house, but something seemed off.  The interior of the house was in a deplorable state with paint peeling off the wall and deep gouges in the wooden floor but more importantly, there were no enemies in sight, the house seemed eerily still as we cautiously made our way through the halls dusty halls.  

“Where the ruddy hell is everybody?” Wallace grumbled in a low voice, no one replied… we were all thinking the same thing.  I was incredibly tempted to transform just my ears to pick up any possible signs of people though the sound of the Marquis swarming into the house and thundering up the stairs quickly put an end to that idea.  

“There is a blood trail at your feet.” Desedan said, appearing suddenly behind us and pointing to a point on the wooden surface.  Sure enough, small droplets the dark scarlet liquid stained the scratched and dirty wood beneath my feet, it must have been from the wounded Iron Claw guard.  Gunshots from upstairs followed by a loud thud made us freeze in our tracks, after a few seconds no more shots were fired so we continued.  The trail stopped at the base of a plain white wall just outside the decrepit kitchen, it was a dead end.  

“Fake wall… huh, I thought they would be more original than that.  We could try finding the lever or we could improvise…mind softening it up?” Wallace said scraping the wall with the nail on his thumb before taking a step back.  

“Sure thing.”  McKinnon said before snatching the submachine gun from my grasp and firing an entire clip into the wall.  Dim light could be seen through the other side, as the dust cleared Wallace charged full force into the fake wall shoulder first.  With a loud crunching noise he went straight through the thin plaster, creating quite a large Wallace shaped hole in his wake.

“Desedan, you’re on point.  Jakub, go with him.” McKinnon muttered, handing me back my gun with only a slight hint of venom in his voice.  Desedan shot him a brief look of annoyance before moving forward, I followed closely behind, passing through the improvised door and moving carefully around Wallace’s hulking form.  The brick room was very small gave way to a spiral stone staircase, shoulder to shoulder Desedan and I crept forward, listening intently for any signs of the Iron Claw or humans for that matter.

“After you bit-in.”  Desedan said nodding towards a stone walled spiral staircase, gritting my teeth I moved forward.  Planting my back against the stone wall I took a grenade off of my belt, arming it quickly I waited two seconds before tossing it down.  The grenade clattered down the silent stairs, ‘maybe they had all escaped’ I thought but no sooner had I thought it a voice very close by yelled ‘Scheiße!’ and was quickly followed by footsteps.  Quickly raising my Sten I turned just in time as three Iron Claw rounded the top of the stairs, without a moment’s hesitation I pulled the trigger making sure this time to aim for the head not the chest.  Two of the men crumpled under the fire but the last tried to backtrack down the stairs only to run headlong into the exploding grenade.  The man’s body was thrown backwards and slammed into the wall, I cringed as his severed bloody hand landed centimeters from my left foot.  Keeping my back planted against wall I tried my best not to look at the bodies as I descended the stairs with Desedan, the Betas, and Gordon following closely behind.  

After a few tense minutes the stairs abruptly ended in a large well lit room that would put most mansions to shame.  An ornate chandelier hung overhead illuminating the couches and card tables that took up much of the rooms space, in the corner a record player was spinning, creating a ghostly repetitive scratching thud, the only noise in the room.  

“What the hell?” I muttered to myself as I moved forward, the others fanning out across the rooms expanse and looking for any signs of life.  There were two doors at the far end of the room and after sweeping the room we regrouped in the center.

“Ok we don’t have much time so we need to split up.  Wallace, you and Gordon take the door on the left.  Jakub, you and I will take the door on the right.  Desedan, go back upstairs and keep a leash on your men.” McKinnon growled, moving towards the door.

“My men do not need a leash puppy, I will be sending several of them down here to scavenge for supplies so watch were you’re shooting eh?” Desedan scoffed before turning and marching out of sight.  I could almost see the vein in the betas head throb as he watched the vampire ascended the stairs, without a word McKinnon strode to the door on the right and booted it open.

“Good luck.” I said to Wallace and Gordon, ready to follow the beta but no sooner had the words left my mouth then several shots rang out.  Instinctively I spun and raised my Sten only to see beta McKinnon stumbling backwards, bullets splintering the doorframe but thankfully it didn’t seem as if any had hit their mark.  

“Bastard!” McKinnon roared stacking up on one side of the doorway while I quickly planted my back against the other.  Gordon and Wallace kept their distance but trained their weapons on the door, ready to shoot at a moment’s notice.  A voice echoed through the door in excellent English thought with a heavy yet familiar accent.

“Stop don’t come any closer!  There are explosives down here and I’ll set them off, I swear I will!”  A Mexican standoff was not something we had time for right now, lord knows where the other Iron Claw were or when the German garrisons would get word.  

“What does it matter to us if you kill yourself?” McKinnon yelled, reaching for a grenade on his belt.

“Yo.. you’re Order aren’t you? If I die your man dies too!”  The man stammered out quickly, this made all of us freeze and made the situation much more volatile.  

“You have our man?  He is still alive?”  Gordon stepped forward but stopped when McKinnon raised a hand.  

“Yes, yes he is! But I..I’ll blow us all to hell if y..you try and come down here!”  The Mexican standoff had just become a hostage situation.  Suddenly like a bolt of lightning the realization hit me, the man’s accent wasn’t German… it was Polish!  Leaning towards the door I yelled in Polish.

“You are from Poland right? So am I, we can resolve this peacefully!”  McKinnon gave me a confused look as a long silence followed my words.

“I-I am Polish, from Silesia! What are you doing here?” He yelled back in rapid Polish, I let out a slight sight of relief, at least the situation was starting to cool down.
“I could ask you the same! My names Jakub, I just want to get my friend ok? If you let him go no harm will come to you, I promise!”  There was an even longer silence as the man contemplated my words.

“How do I know I can trust you Jakub! I want to go home, I want to see my wife and daughters!” Another thought crossed my mind, squatting on the ground I flipped my backpack in front of me and rummaged through its contents.  After a few seconds I found what I had wanted, standing back up I shouted back.

“I want to go home too, that’s why I want this to end peacefully!  Now if you let me and only me come down there and retrieve him, you have my word I will not harm you.  You can keep your weapon and… ” I threw the drastically dwindled but still sizable wad of British Pounds Magnus had given me down the stairs.  

“What was that? What did you just throw down!”  The man said, his voice wavering with fear.

“It’s money, British Pounds! It’s all yours, you can buy your daughters something nice when you get home! Do you trust me now?”  There was a faint shuffling, followed by another long silence but slowly the man replied.

“ O…o-Ok Jakub I trust you… you can come down. But no funny business or I shoot!”  I was scared, scared he would shoot me the moment I stepped into view but from the sound of his voice, he was just as afraid as I was.  Dropping my backpack and Sten on the ground I slowly peeked around the corner.

“Jakub what are you doing!” McKinnon whispered vehemently, I quickly shot back.

“Saving James.”  Now, standing fully exposed I saw that through the door was yet another staircase however this one was straight down.  The stone here seemed older, the air was damp and only a few bare light bulbs hung overhead, keeping my hands raised in front of me I slowly, step by step made my way down.  A figure stepped out of the shadows at the base of the stairs, rifle trained right for my head.  I stopped, for a split second I thought he was going to pull the trigger but he never did.  Gingerly I continued down till I was only a few meters from him, he moved further from the wall and under the dim light.

“Ok just get him and go, quickly!” He growled but could not rid the fear from his voice.  He was a bald man and looked to be in his mid-thirties, though being a werewolf he was probably much older.  His pale face was covered in sweat as he took shallow breaths, his hands nervously gripping at his rifles wooden frame.  

“Ok ok relax, everything is ok…” No sooner had the words left my mouth than a single rang out and the man’s head exploded in a red mist.  As the man slumped against the floor, blood pooling around his crumpled corpse I whipped around to see McKinnon standing at the top of the stairs.  My heart was racing, though the man was an Iron Claw I still couldn’t believe they had just shot him like that!  

“Jakub that was insane but good work flushing him out.” McKinnon said, the barrel of his rifle still smoking as he descended the stairs quickly followed by Wallace and Gordon.

“What the hell’s wrong with you, I gave him my word we wouldn’t harm him! I had the situation under control!” I yelled incredulously, anger quickly filling my voice.  McKinnon threw me a quick warning glare before saying quietly.

“I didn’t promise him a damn thing….”  I could only glare at him as he passed me and made his way into the room beyond.  I looked back down at the dead man at my feet, kneeling down I muttered ‘I’m sorry’ before reaching over and taking the wad of bills from his still warm hand. I felt a pressure on my shoulder, looking up I was surprised to see Gordon.

“Come on Jakub nothing you can do for him now.  Let’s find James and get the hell out of here!” He said quickly, clearly eager to find James.  He was right, silently I rose to my feet, unable to shake the feeling of guilt as I followed Gordon into the dank room.  Thought the room was not very large it was stacked wall to wall with large wooden crates, if the Iron Claw was to be believed they were filled with weapons and explosives.  We fanned out, trying to find any sign of James but the room appeared to be just a munitions stash.  

"There." Wallace suddenly said, pointing to a metal square partially obscured by a wooden crate. Quickly we raced to his position to help him pushed the heavy crate aside and it became clear that the metal square was a trapdoor.  My heart was racing as I opened the rusty latch with loud creek and I instantly froze as a terrible scent reached my nose, a mingled cocktail of blood, sweat, and death.  I jumped down into the hole without a second thought, the drop was short and after giving my eyes few seconds to adjust I gasped.  In the low stone lined pit were two people shackled with their arms spread eagle to the wall, but what shocked me most was what was directly in front of me.  

Two headless and limbless torsos sat in the middle of the room, scattered all around them were fingers, toes, and other unidentifiable chunks of flesh.  The sickening aroma of rotting flesh hung so heavily in the air I almost threw up but I covered my mouth with my sleeve and wretched my attention away from the terribly mutilated corpses to the two people in the room who were still breathing.

My eyes were drawn to the man on the right who only had a single arm shackled to the wall, his head hung limp and his chest was rising and falling very slowly but even though I could not see his face I knew it was James.  

“James?” I whispered, causing him to shakily raise his head.  His eyes were hollow, he stared at me but it seemed as if he were looking through me.  That was when I caught sight of it, the stump just below his shoulder where his right arm had once been.  

"Jakub is everything alright?" Wallace called down, my throat constricted as I tried to speak but after a couple of seconds I cleared my throat, not taking my eyes off of James for a moment.  

"Uh yes I am fine... I found James, but he is badly wounded and chained up.” I called back out, instantly I heard Beta McKinnon order Gordon to search the man he had killed on the stairs for keys.

It was then I turned my attention to the other occupant of the dungeon for lack of a better word, a young woman no older than twenty with shorter black hair that was matted with blood.  Small cuts and bruises dotted her thin face but besides that she seemed to have all her limbs intact.  Suddenly something heavy landed next to me and from the noise he made upon seeing the scene in front of him I knew it was Beta McKinnon.  

"Jesus." He said quietly and strode over to James, quickly unlocking the shackles on James' neck and remaining arm I quickly made my way to his side but he held out his arm.

"I have him, take care of the girl."   He said gruffly as he stuffed the keys into my hand.  

It was then I turned my attention to the other occupant of the dungeon for lack of a better word, a young woman no older than twenty with shorter black hair that was matted with blood.  Small cuts and bruises dotted her thin face but besides that she seemed to have all her limbs, unlike James she was awake and frantically struggling against her restraints.  She looked about wildly, her vision in the low light enabling her to see me by she could obviously hear me approaching.

"Dieu merci! Aidez-moi s'il vous plaît!" I set a hand calmingly in her foot but she cringed away from the touch with a gasp.  I had no knowledge of any French but I decided that speaking in a calm voice would calm her down despite the language barrier.  

"Everything will be alright, just let me unshackle you and we leave."  She grew silent for a few seconds and grew stock still as I leaned over her, and slid the key into one of the locks.  Her breathing quickened as I freed her right hand with a soft metallic click, her other hand was quick to follow.   Before I knew it she launched herself into me, grabbing my shirt and pressing her face into my chest as she sobbed.  I awkwardly draped an arm around her as she clung on as if her life depended on it.  A cry of pain from James rattled me to my senses and I began to move pulling the young woman with me but she pulled me back gasping frantically.

“Non! Il ya des loups-garous là-haut.”  I heard beta McKinnon freeze in his tracks, looking over my shoulder he was staring directly at the poor girl.

"Jakub bring her here, be sure to avoid the bodies." He said in an eerily calm voice.  I was afraid for her but I followed orders and slowly coaxed the woman to her feet, letting out a quite whimper she took one step before collapsing.  Hoisting her off the ground I carried her to McKinnon who helped me carefully hand her up into Wallace's waiting arms.  

"What did she say?" I asked the beta as he watched the poor girl disappear out of sight.

"Boost me up will you?" McKinnon said flatly giving me a quick 'I’ll tell you later' glance as I lifted him up before jumping up myself.  The basement was full of Marquis, busting open every crate they could find to pillage anything of value.  A thin woman, her brown hair up in a tight bun and a rifle slung over her shoulder grabbed me by the shoulder and said in rapid French.

“Prenez-les à Desedan.” After a few seconds she rolled her eyes and with a sigh pointed to an open crate filled with rifles, then to the ceiling.  Nodding I slung as many rifles over my shoulder as I could and made my way to the stairs as the woman yelled.

“Vite! Vite! Nous avons seulement quelques minutes, puis nous brûler la place!” I could hear the Marquis quicken their actions as I rapidly ascended the stairs, eager to check on James and the mysterious girl we had rescued.  McKinnon was at my side holding one MG42 over each shoulder, quickly exiting the building I found Gordon and Wallace bent over James, who was sprawled in the grass.  Quickly handing off the rifles to the closest Marquis, I jogged over to where they were to see McKinnon putting fresh bandages on the stump where James’ arm had been, James just stared blankly at the house, his chest rising and falling rapidly.    

“I have good news and bad news mon amis.  On the bright side we have five Iron Claw, two SS, and four Vichy scum dead with only three wounded on our side, not to mention the weapons!  On the other hand the SS officer and most of the Iron Claw escaped… and took any valuable intelligence with them.  Those were some impressive moves back there bite-in, I'll give you a ring when we liberate Paris eh?" I looked up at him, and quietly said.

“Thank you.” Desedan’s grin fell as he looked upon James.

"Savages, that is how they interrogate prisoners.  First they start with a finger then another, once they are all gone, they work their way up the arm.  They continue till all your limbs are gone then they cut out your tongue, manhood, and finally your head.  We are lucky we got to him when we did, otherwise they may have started on his other limbs…. But we must take our leave.”  Desedan turned and yelled to the stream of weapon laden Marquis.

“Le temps de quitter!  Erick, brûler vers le bas!”  Desedan left us, but immediately walked to another figure sitting on the ground a few meters away.  Craning my neck I could see it was the girl from the dungeon who was being tended to by a female Marquis.  I stood up, about to go check on her when the heavy smell of smoke made me turn around.  Thick black smoke billowed out of many of the buildings bullet riddled windows and soon after pillars of flame roared into view.  Looking back to the girl I saw Desedan and McKinnon having a heated argument though I couldn’t make out what they were saying.  Suddenly, Desedan scooped the girl up off the ground bridal style and threw McKinnon an obvious smirk.  The result was instantaneous, the beta let out a roar of fury and marched forward, seemingly ready to tear Desedan apart.  Desedan didn’t even so much as flinch though the girl cringed away from McKinnon, holding closely to Desedan’s chest.  The beta froze, giving her a long look before letting his shoulders fall in defeat and trudging towards the forest.  

"Where is she going?" I asked quickly, an uneasy feeling suddenly coming over me.  

"With the resistance, we can’t drag her all the way to England she is too weak.  Besides, Desedan needs to take care of her."  I whipped around to face the beta who was watching the building burn.

“Take care of her? What the hell does that mean!” I yelled but Wallace gave no sign he had heard be, after a few seconds of silence he replied quietly.

"In the pit, she said that she was being held by werewolves.  We only have two options, kill her or change her.  She is too weak to come with us but Desedan has offered to change her into a vampire, something he can conceal from the humans in his group."  I looked over to the woman who was looking back with pleading eyes as she was carried away.  I couldn’t let him do her harm, I had saved her and she was my responsibility! I would carry her to England if I had to but I wouldn’t let her be taken by that man.  I took a step forward only to be stopped by a melancholy Wallace.  

"Beta we can't let him change her!" I said angrily though quiet enough so none of the humans could hear.  Wallace gave me a sorrowful look.  

"We don't have a choice, the council’s law is absolute.  She will be safe, take comfort in that.  Please help Gordon with the stretcher, Lannion is quite a ways away."  Wallace said before walking towards the woods, in the same direction beta McKinnon had gone.  Something was telling me to go after her, my instincts told me that she was in danger and that only I could save her from danger… but for once I ignored them.  ‘You will regret this later, go after her’ The wolf whispered in my ear as she disappeared into the underbrush followed by the stream of Marquis.

“I know I will… but I don’t have any choice.” I muttered turning to see Gordon hoisting James to his feet, wrapping his arm around him for support.  We stared at each other for a few seconds, Gordon giving me a knowing look, James staring blankly at the ground.  Without saying a word I walked to James’ other side and rested his stump over my shoulder, wrapping my arm around his side to keep him steady we awkwardly made our way away from the towering inferno, three brothers in arms.  The wolf whispered back as quietly.  ‘We always have a choice Jakub, always…’