Chapter 36

Swamp Fever: No Romo RAPTOR SQUAD

Shit. Shit. Shit.

Dakota scrambled up and turned, looking for the source of the voice, finding it on the top of the boat's cabin.

"I didn't expect you to already have forgotten about us."

"Shit. Hunter!"

Shit. Shit SHIT SHIT SHIT.

"Put your guns down!" The pack leader shouted, stepping in front of Nick's pistol.

"What, you know these people?" The gambler frowned, lowering the gun.

"Are these those hunters you were talking about, Dee?" Ellis side eyed the hunter.

"I dunno, are we~?"

"You need to explain quick like."

The pack leader quickly had all eyes on her, including the piercingly cool eyes from the hunter sitting on the top of the boat's cabin.

"Look, one night when you guys were all asleep a pack of hunters came to talk to me a while back. They said they needed to meet me in the plantation house. I forgot to tell you." Dee motioned to the hunter. "This is the leader of that pack."

"What about?" Cas relaxed again.

"I don't know, but I'm gonna find out."

"You know exactly what I'm here to talk about."

Dee glared at him.

"Well, why don't you guys hurry up and finish your conversation, he's giving me the creeps." Rochelle frowned. "Too many hunters... too many confusing rules of infected people." She mumbled, sitting down.

"Where's the rest of your pack?" Dakota asked, looking upwards.

"Hunting."

"For?"

"A fruit basket. I was also getting irritated at Aries's harmonica playing."

"Aries?"She tilted her head.

"Aries and Curt are the others in my pack. That and Omega. But we don't talk about him." The hunter grinned. "I'm Vincent."

"Are we gonna cut to the chase, Vincent, or just ramble on?"

"And here I was having fun talking to you."

"What does Captain want with my team?"

"To protect you."

"From?"

"The military."

"Where is Captain?"She crossed her arms.

Vincent shrugged, "Busy."

"Doing what?"

"I'll have to get back to you later on that one,"Vincent sat up from his lounging and moved to stand up. "My stop's coming up, so I'll make this quick."

"Go on..."

"Captain wants the little Alpha. Captain will protect the little Alpha's pack. All of them. It's just up to you whether or not you want to accept the offer. Captain doesn't like forcing someone to do something."

"I'm gonna see you guys again, right?" Dakota watched Vincent look at the tree branches that they were passing. "Because I just have a sinking feeling that I will."

"We'll have a goodie basket ready next time. How do you feel about Granny Smith Apples?"

"Perfect."

Vincent reached up and grabbed a tree branch, quickly disappearing from sight.

"Has the raptor talk stopped yet?" Nick grinned.

"Fuck you, Nicolas," Dee growled, going to Virgil to explain the hunters presence, and her own pack.

"What the fuck is she doing there!?"

"She's sleeping, Red," Nick answered from his bunk. The former conman was leaning on Gamma, said hunter was passed out.

"She's cuddling with Ellis. MY ELLIS!" the Alpha was whisper-yelling. She was pissed, but didn't want to wake anyone up. After all, her and Nick were the only one's awake. "Bitch, that is MY SPOT!"

Iggy was curled up with her head on Ellis' chest in Dee's bunk. She was livid. She came down from speaking with Virgil to sleep, but after changing she found this. Her body was shaking.

"Red, come on. She helped us out today and she was freezing-"

"That is MY mate, Nick. Mine! No one lays at his side but me!" the Alpha had a very predatory snarl in her voice and on her face.

"No romo!"

Dee and Nick twisted their heads to see that Iggy was awake and gazing at them nervously.

"No what?" Nick said after a moment.

"No romo. I-I'm Ace… I don't get attracted to people that way… I was just cold, I didn't mean to fall asleep on him!" She rambled, looking very insecure in her too large clothes, borrowed when Rochelle began cleaning the dirty ones. She was already shivering again.

Dee snorted after a minute, anger deflating. Rolling her eyes, she pulled Iggy up before laying in the once occupied spot. After situating Ellis against the wall and assuming the spoon position, Dee yanked Iggy back to the bed, being the barrier between her and Ellis.

"Not a word, either of you," she snarled at Nick and Iggy, who had already relaxed (somewhat) and was dozing off again. Ellis had never even flinched.

"You're such a softie, Red!"

"Choke on cock, Nick."

"You two will stay here and make this place secure before catching up to us," the Alpha said, walking them around the abandoned burger joint. "Board up the lower halves of the windows, gather some supplies –guns, ammo, medkits, snacks, tank tops, hoodies, ductape, any body cleaning stuff- the usual stuff, okay?"

Beta and Gamma nodded, already moving to find what was listed despite looking a little put off at being left behind. Dee sighed as she sat down on a counter and began to brush and re-braid her hair, looking like Katniss Everdeen before she pulled her hood up. She surveyed the group for a moment, trying to decide who to leave with her boys that wouldn't slow them down once they finished making this place a temporary fortress. Ellis came to stand between her legs, greeting her with a sweet peck on the lips before turning around to watch everyone.

"Wha' 'bout Cas?" he said as she put her head on his shoulder, arms lazily wrapped around his middle. "She's tiny an' Beta can carry her ta us."

"Mmm," was the reply. Cas was an obvious choice. She was a good sniper and could keep Beta in line. Nick couldn't stay with his Hunter, though. He wouldn't let Gamma carry him. Rochelle was out; she flailed when carried in any way, Coach was an obvious no, and she wanted Ellis where she could see him. That left - "Confetti Girl…"

"Hmm?" said human looked up to see the Alpha's amber eyes on her. She found it a little disconcerting how they all could look so relaxed in posture, but when you looked into their eyes you could see the predator just beneath the surface.

Though, that look might be just for her. Dakota had taken watch on Virgil's boat all night after finding Iggy curled up with Ellis. She had not been very happy when Iggy had seen her the next morning. The Alpha was civil, but Gamma had explained (in ever improving English) that after the Delilah incident, she was possessive of all of them.

Iggy would be the first to admit that she was impressed with how Dee had reacted after what she had been told, or rather the control she had exercised. It was apparent that she was a person who was ruled by emotion, but she had let Iggy stay next to Ellis. She was just cold after falling off the dock trying to get to the boat and Ellis had offered his body heat after Rochelle had dug a spare hoodie, boxers, and shirt from one of their supply bags for her to wear while he's were washed and dried. She meant to get up and make her own sleeping area, but had fallen asleep by accident after sitting next to Ellis. He was so warm! Her shivering was bad enough for her teeth to chatter before she had changed, but once it had stopped Iggy had already been on her way to dream land.

"Come 'ere!" Ellis waved her over with his ever present smile, noticing how Dee flexed the hand over his stomach –cracking her knuckles - and placed the other over his heart. He grabbed the hand over his heart and kissed the back of it, tossing a boyish grin over his shoulder at her when she kissed his neck in return, before turning to Iggy. "My girl's gotta job fer ya!"

"A job?" Iggy looked at the Alpha in question, a little intimidated by the blank expression she wore. It contrasted with the fire in her eyes.

"Yes. Everyone pulls their weight in this pack." The threat wasn't hidden in the timbre of Dee's voice – know your place or you don't stay.

"Well, what can I do?"

"You'll stay here with Cas, Beta, and Gamma and help them secure supplies and make it safe for when we signal Virgil," she said, jumping off the counter and adjusting the laces on her shoes and the knife on her thigh. "Once that's done, you'll all catch up with us."

"You're trusting me to be alone with them?"

"No." Dakota stood up straight, cracking her stiff neck. "I'm trusting them to keep an eye on you. I don't know you and I've seen people pull the Innocent Act. I might eventually, but for now I don't trust ya as far as I could throw ya."

"Dakota!" Ellis knew she was blunt, but that was a little rough. She shrugged, tossing the med packs that were behind her to the other humans.

"To be honest, she could've been worse, Ellis," Cas chimed from the kitchen, sorting through what supplies they had found in the area. "She'll warm up to ya eventually, Ig."

Iggy just nodded, looking down at her feet. At least they weren't straight up abandoning her like her last group did. Ellis patted the top of her head as he passed to load up.

She had noticed that everyone seemed to be paired up, Dakota and Ellis being the ones with beyond obvious amounts of sexual tension. She was happy they had been tame when they woke up that morning.

Hopefully, being around the Hunters and Cas would be less like teasing an angry wolf like being around Dakota was.