A/N… I know, I know, I know… It's been forever.
We left off in Alaska at Aunt Kate's. Kim Min-Jun has men heading their way. And yes, Jasper's been shot, which means Edward is out there essentially alone.
I'll let you get to it.
~o~H&E~o~
Chapter 27
BELLA
"Two down. I'm going after the rest of these assholes."
My eyes met Alec's, and we both understood just how pissed off Edward was at the moment. It wasn't just the job. It was the fact that this particular enemy didn't know when to quit. Kim stepping foot in Alaska had made this personal, because too many of us had been hurt – not to mention the loss of Felix – and everyone associated with Kim had to die. We had no choice. No one could leave, knowing what or where this place was.
The whole property had kicked into gear when Edward had called in Jasper's injury. Alice was livid, and I think if she could've used the military's smart bombs, she would've blown up half of Denali just to end this shit. Emmett and Mickey dropped their food into the garbage, shoved as much equipment and ammo as they could into bags, and got right back on the ATV. Austin and Junior had handed off the horses, geared up, and set out on foot, double-timing it back out into the woods.
That left Carlisle, Dean, Boris, and Eleazar and his men left to guard the property inside the fence. Ned and Harry were holding the front gate until they were needed elsewhere. Ji-Yun was already in the bunker inside the woods. However, Alice was using Sammy's skills at flying the drone, and we hadn't sent the kids into the barn bunker yet, but Alec was about to change that.
He stepped closer to me. "Bella, they're about to unleash hell. They don't need to see this shit," he whispered to me. Once I nodded in agreement, he turned to Bethy. "Bambina, get everyone out to the barn. Take Esme and Aunt Kate with you."
"Aw, man," Sammy groaned but handed the controls of the drone over to Alice, who immediately set it to fly automatically via IGOR. "C'mon, Bethy."
"Guys, come here," I called to them, kissing their foreheads. "Please do what Gamma tells you down there."
"Okay, Mom. Love you. Be safe," they both said at the same time.
"We'll be fine," Esme said from the doorway of the computer room. "Aunt Kate isn't going down there, but Miranda and I will take care of the kids."
I glanced around her into the kitchen to see Aunt Kate and Boris setting up a sniper rifle that rivaled anything Jasper had ever used. My eyebrows shot up because I'd completely forgotten that Aunt Kate's late husband, Garrett, had taught her how to shoot. I also didn't know just exactly where she'd be setting up. It was clear she and Boris had their own plans outside of ours.
Before Esme could walk away, I turned to the table in the computer room and grabbed an earpiece. "Here," I told her, handing it over. "Take this. You'll be able to hear what's going on… That is, you might be able to if you get a signal down there."
"I'll check in once we're settled, Bella," she said, tucking it into her ear.
I turned to my kids. "Earpieces, please." I held out my hand as both of them started to argue. "No, not this time. I'm sorry. Gamma will let you know if something happens."
Bethy frowned, but Sammy did as I asked.
"I don't mind you wanting to help your dad, uncles, and Poppy, but this isn't a game. This will be too much. You, too, Bethy. Hand it over."
Reluctantly, she gave it up, leaving with her brother and the rest of the kids. Katelyn wasn't happy about it, but she was the youngest. Some of the kids were old enough to bring something with them – phones, games, books. Miranda and Esme were bringing drinks and snacks. We had no idea how long they'd have to hide, but we needed them out of sight.
In a few moments, Esme's voice rang crystal clear over the earpieces once everyone was in the barn's bunker.
"Bella," Carlisle called over the radio. "Look out the window."
I glanced up, my heart clenching just a little. Goliath was at the back gate with Noah in tow. I knew Edward had sent the horses down the mountain trail, but both horses there meant that they were on foot out in the woods, and that meant they were vulnerable. There was no quick escape. And with Jasper's injury, that was fucking dangerous.
"I'll get them," Rose started, but I shook my head.
"Absolutely not," I hissed. "You take over here for just a minute. I'll go get them at least into the barn."
The last thing I needed was to have the possibly pregnant woman handle already spooked horses. Goliath was a moody thing when calm. When he was nervous, he could be dangerous. Edward usually handled him when he was like that, but since he wasn't there and Tom and Aunt Kate were busy, I figured the big black horse would be okay with me. I ran to the gate, slowing down to approach Goliath.
"Hello, boys," I soothed as I opened the gate.
Goliath was snorting and twitching, his eyes a bit wild. I held a hand out for him, but he shifted a little. Noah was even more nervous, but being tied to Goliath kept him from bolting.
"Easy, big guy." I tried to be as patient as I could, considering all the activity I could hear over the radio.
Mack and Alice were keeping an eye on the other group moving in from the visitor center trail. Edward and Jasper were working together in order to sandwich Kim's men between them, and in doing so had eliminated two more and were working on a third and fourth, who seemed to have holed themselves up in an abandoned cabin.
Goliath finally eased his nose to my hand, and I softly glided up to grasp hold of his reins. He fought for a split second, but then he gave in and allowed me to lead him and Noah back into the yard. After closing the gate, I led them both back to the barn, where Tom was waiting for us, along with Dr. Sharp. Tom took the horses, walking them to two empty stalls. But Dr. Sharp looked concerned.
"I heard about Jasper. I can help," she said, lifting the heavy bag with a red cross on it. "If he stays out there too long without medical attention, he could go into shock…or bleed out." Before I could argue, she went on. "I am military trained as well as a doctor, Bella. I can take care of myself out there. I can fight and help Jasper."
I nodded, thinking it over, but I couldn't send her out there alone. She didn't know the trails, and she wouldn't have someone to watch her back while she worked on Jasper. And Jasper was watching Edward's back. It was like that touchy game of stacked blocks – pull one away and the whole thing could tumble down.
Letting out a frustrated breath, I tapped my earpiece. "Carlisle, come in."
"Go ahead."
"I think we have a change in plans," I started, turning to the weapons cache in Aunt Kate's barn. I threw open the doors, grabbing a bag, some Kevlar vests, and one of Edward's spare baseball caps.
"Talk to me, sweetheart. What are you thinking?" Carlisle asked, and I could hear his skepticism already.
"The doc says we need to relieve Jasper of his position ASAP. Someone's got to take his place," I grunted, grabbing ammo and grenades and guns. I passed some of that stuff over to Dr. Sharp.
"Oh, Christ," he said through a deep sigh. "Somehow, I think I'm gonna fucking hate what I'm about to hear."
I cracked a smile at Dr. Sharp as I put on the cap and pulled my hair through the back. "Oh, probably," I snarked back at him. "Everyone, listen up. Dr. Sharp and I are going to get to Jasper."
I heard Edward swear softly over the radio, but he was in no place to yell, since he was tracking Kim's men in the woods. At the moment, he was positioned outside that abandoned cabin, waiting for someone to make a mistake and show themselves.
"Alec, I need you to take info point with Rose. Alice, I need you to watch our backs on our way to Jasper. And Jasper!"
"Ma'am?" he replied, sounding weak and tired. The fact that he wasn't arguing his ability to stay and fight told me more than anything. He was done, and he needed help.
"Stay put and stay sharp. We're coming to you."
"Ten-four," he muttered.
Once I'd checked my weapons, pulled the bag across my shoulder, and shut the door to the weapons' closet, I added, "And Emmett, we're going to need a way to get Jazz off that mountain."
"Roger that, Bells. We'll meet you there."
Looking to Dr. Sharp, I said, "The fact that Eleazar isn't saying anything tells me you've already told him what you're doing."
She smirked and nodded as I handed her a vest. "Doesn't fucking matter. Even if he said no, I'd go anyway. I can't let an injured man die when I could help him."
When we ran by the house, Aunt Kate called out, "Bella-child!"
She and Boris were standing on the front porch, holding the sniper rifle. "I'll take Jasper's position. You'll head in to help Edward."
"Okay," I agreed easily, looking to Boris.
He smiled, holding up an automatic weapon of his own as he took a stance at the front door. "I'm no good in the field anymore, so I'll be here with Alec."
Aunt Kate was not a young woman, but she kept up with Dr. Sharp and me just fine as we left the farm and took the trail Edward and Jasper had taken. We weren't running at top speed, but we weren't walking either.
The trail steepened, and as we rounded a bend, aiming for the spot I had seen on the map, Mickey came into view. Lock came bounding to me, and I ruffled the top of his head.
"Em is getting him," she said, jerking a chin toward our largest and strongest friend, who had Jasper draped across his shoulders.
Jasper was a pale and bloody mess, but Edward had done an excellent job of wrapping that wound up to stem the bleeding.
"Set him down," Dr. Sharp told him softly, putting her bag down next to Jasper.
"Where was he?" Aunt Kate asked, and Emmett led her away to the overlook Jasper had been using.
I looked to Mickey. "Shall we?" I asked wryly, smirking at her evil grin.
"Goddamn, how many times we gotta save Pretty Boy's ass?" she countered with a teasing lilt to her voice, and we both grinned at Edward's scoff over the earpieces.
Before we left, I checked on Jasper, kneeling next to him as the doc worked on that leg of his.
"You're gonna live to keep driving Alice crazy."
He huffed a weak laugh but nodded. "Take the trail on the right. Cross over the creek, and you'll find that cabin a click or so in."
"Thanks, Jazz," I whispered, giving his hand a squeeze and looking to the doc.
"Edward did a good job here. I'm going to rewrap his leg and take him back to the farm," she explained, pointing to the ATV.
Emmett stood up, saying, "I'm going to meet up with Junior and Austin. They're hunting the other group coming in from the mountain trail."
"Roger that," I said, tapping my earpiece. "Edward, Mickey and I are heading your way. Stay put."
"Ten-four, sweetness."
"Lock, on me," I called, waiting until the husky met me at the start of the trail, and then the three of us took the direction Jasper had suggested.
~o~H&E~o~
EDWARD
Load panted heavily next to me but otherwise stayed quiet. I ran a hand over his head as I kept an eye on the dilapidated cabin in front of us. I listened to the chatter over the earpiece but didn't chime in unless necessary.
Jasper was loaded up and was being taken back to the farm by Dr. Sharp. Emmett was now on foot in route to meet up with Austin and Junior on a different trail. Mickey and Bella were heading my way. But most importantly, my kids – all the kids – were safe and out of harm's way in the bunker, which allowed me to focus on the task at hand.
A shadow shifted inside the cabin, and I lowered down behind the boulder in front of me, readying my weapon should one of these assholes decide to make a run for it or someone inside decided to stand and fight.
The glass in the windows and the front door were gone, leaving just open spaces. The damn thing couldn't have had more than two rooms inside. Trees grew too close or were sprouting from the roof. The shingles were practically nonexistent beneath the moss. I was assuming this motherfucker used to be white, but with all the weather, foliage, and lack of care, the cabin was slowly turning green to match its environment. The forest surrounding this place was essentially eating it alive, swallowing it up whole over time. It was nature's camouflage; I'd almost missed it when I'd been tracking these last two.
Load's ears perked up when a frantic whisper came from the cabin. I smiled at the fact that one of the men inside was panicking.
"He should be fucking scared," I muttered to no one in particular, but Load glanced up at me with his toothy, tongue-hanging-out-the-side grin. "It's a shit-hole place to die, but oh well…" I shrugged a shoulder, checking that his Kevlar vest wasn't too tight.
"Edward," Bella called over the radio, sounding highly amused. "We're approaching the creek. We're not far from you."
"Copy that, sweetness," I whispered, giving the cabin another glance when footsteps thumped inside. I shifted back quickly when the glint of gun metal showed through the window.
Shots pinged all around Load and me – the boulder, the tree trunks on either side of us, and shrubbery. Shards of tree bark hit my neck, cutting my skin a bit.
"Shit," I said softly through a hiss.
I couldn't wait to kill the last of these assholes. I pulled my hand away to see a bit of blood on my fingers; it wasn't enough to worry about, but holy fucking shit, if I wasn't tired of seeing not only my own blood but everyone else's. And I really was going to make every last one of them suffer for all the lives they'd taken – the hostages at the towers, the men at my mother's mountain cabin, military personnel, and the seamen at the Port Angeles harbor. The loss of Felix alone was enough to make me want to skin the man alive, but Kim didn't have enough men for me to kill to make up for all the death he'd brought our way. And I wanted his death to be slow and oh-so-fucking painful. If given the chance, I was going to take my time.
The thought made me smile to myself as I stayed low behind the boulder. I scanned the woods around me, searching for Bella and Mickey, but I found nothing. The two were small, easily concealed behind trees and bushes. Both women were stealthy as hell when they needed to be.
Everything went still for a moment as I leaned back against the boulder with the cabin behind me. The men inside had gone still and ceased radio communication. Load's ears perked up and his eyes were sharp on the woods in front of us, and he even stopped panting so he could hear better. He huffed frustratedly at me, pawing at my arm and whining softly. Glancing in the direction he was staring, I smiled a bit. It was Lock I saw before the two fiercest brunettes I'd ever met stepped around a tree just enough for me to see them. I grinned at Mickey's middle finger aimed my way.
Using hand signals, I told them to stay silent, that there were two men inside the cabin, and that we were going to surround the building. We needed a distraction to send them into the woods and out of their shelter. Mickey nodded and then led Bella around the cabin, using the foliage to stay out of sight. They were taking Lock with them. It took them a few minutes because they had to move silently and slightly away from the cabin in order to get around it without being seen.
"We're in position, Edward," Bella called over the radio.
"Roger that, sweetness," I replied as softly as I could, turning to face the cabin but still using the boulder for cover. "On you, wild child. Turn the lights on."
"Oh, hell yeah," Mickey said with a chuckle. "Time to exterminate the roaches."
I didn't have to wait long. Mickey moved quickly and quietly to a window in the back, tossing a smoke bomb in through one of the open windows. Red, acidic smoke vomited out of every opening in that cabin, and the two men inside panicked. One ran out the door, and the other sort of spilled out of one of the windows, falling onto the ground with a thud. Both were coughing and teary-eyed.
Load moved when I did, teeth bared and a growl rumbling from his chest. He landed on the closest man, latching those sharp teeth onto the man's hand holding his weapon. Screams rang out, but before the other man could move, I shot him. Load's victim, on the other hand, was reaching for a grenade strapped to his belt.
"Grenade! Load, clear!" I ordered, and the dog immediately reacted, running several yards, spinning, and dropping down on his stomach to the forest floor.
The soldier had grabbed his weapon, pulled the pin, and I kicked it as hard as I could, which meant toward the cabin.
"Incoming!" I yelled, dropping to the ground.
The cabin, as old and rotted as it was, completely evaporated with the explosion. Wood, plaster, moss, and branches rained down all around me. My ears were ringing, but I could still hear the dogs barking and the asshole with the grenade start to run.
I sat up, covered in cabin debris and reaching for my gun as the asshole tried to get away. Lock and Load were already barreling down on him with the girls right behind them. Bella called out a warning; Mickey was already aiming.
I wasn't sure what this man was thinking. The dogs seemed to scare him more than Bella and Mickey, and I shook my head as I stood up. The motherfucker was going to stand and fight. I recognized the small triangle of white T-shirt and the sniper rifle on his back.
"What an idiot." I snorted softly to myself, picking up his discarded nine mil and readying my own weapon as he rounded on Bella.
My wife kicked him in the teeth before he could even think about attacking her, and Mickey did the same to the man's kidneys. If I was going to let him live, he'd be pissing blood for a week, but since he'd been the one to shoot first, his life would end in these woods. Blindly, he threw a roundhouse punch, barely connecting with Mickey's deflective maneuver. Bella sent another kick, this time to the side of the man's head. Fucker was getting so frustrated, he launched himself at the closest target, which just happened to be my wife.
As I ran to them, Mickey landed on his back, gripping his hair and putting her gun to his temple, and somewhere along the way, Bella had put a knife to his throat. The fight left him instantly.
"Get him up," I stated, shaking my head and giving Bella a glance as I offered her a hand up. "I pity the man who ever tries to mug you, love."
"Shut up, Edward," she said through a huffy laugh as she took my hand and pulled herself up. Her brow furrowed, and she touched my neck. "I'm fine."
"Do we need this asshole, pretty boy?" Mickey asked, tapping his temple with her weapon to get the man's attention.
"No. We don't have time for the bullshit of questions and translations and lies. I just need all these motherfuckers gone. That's the one who shot Jasper." I turned back to Bella as Mickey ended the last guy in the group I'd been following. "You shouldn't have left the farm, sweetness. But I understand why you did it."
Bella nodded, standing up on her toes to kiss my lips. "As many times as Jasper's saved our asses, I couldn't not get him help when he needed it."
"Like I said…I get it." I nodded, reaching down to strip the man of his weapons and ammo. "Go get the other one's shit." I tapped my earpiece. "Home base, come in."
"Edward, Edward, Edward," Alice chanted. "Everyone okay?"
"Yeah, we're okay. Can you verify that the men in the first team are gone?"
Typing met my ears as I pulled out my phone. Bella, Mickey, and I all took in the map Alice was sending us. She was blending our GPS location with the thermal view of the woods around us. From where we were, there was a few small hotspots toward the farm. Northwest of us was where shit looked like it was about to heat up.
The mountain trail that came in from the visitor center had a large cluster of heat moving in on Austin, Junior, and now Emmett, who was bringing up the rear.
"We should head that way," Bella said, looking up at me.
"You're probably right, but hang on," I told her, scrolling back toward the farm and beyond it.
Two heat sources were at the front gates, and I knew that was Ned and Harry. There was a new cluster of heat coming in from the main road.
"I see it, I see it, I see it," Alice chanted.
"Papa Bear, come in," I called over the earpieces.
"Go ahead," Dad replied.
"You've got company coming in from the main road. And we've got that group coming in from the north trail. Please advise."
"Shit," he hissed, but it was Eleazar who piped up.
"My vote is that everyone fall back to the farm; we could stand our ground here."
"Goddammit," Emmett grunted. "Seriously? What the hell? What numbers are we talkin' here?"
"Stand by, Emmett," Rose answered him.
The girls were working feverishly on the other end. And having watched them do this shit, I knew it wasn't easy. They were trying to fly the drone, distinguish each heat source, and keep an eye on each of us. They probably could've used Bella's help, but I couldn't say I wasn't happy she was standing with me at the moment or that she'd gotten Jasper the help he'd needed.
Looking to Mickey, I asked, "How long until sundown?"
"Late, like eleven, because it's summer. Why?"
"Because we work better in the dark," Bella muttered to herself more than us. She gave a glance around us, finally meeting my gaze. "We've got a few hours before we can take advantage of the dark and knowing this place better than our enemy."
Nodding, I tugged off my cap, ran a hand through my hair, and then pulled the cap back on. "Exactly, sweetness," I said softly, tapping my earpiece. "Do we allow them to come? Or allow them to pass by the two teams out here?"
"I see," Eleazar mused on the other end. "Right now, they could essentially sandwich us inside this farm. And we'd still probably stop them. But if you guys stayed invisible until they were by you, then you could take some of them from behind."
"Sounds fun," Mickey teased, dodging my playful push.
"I like it." Dad's voice was firm. "Edward, get your team into position on the main road side of the farm. Emmett, get yours to the mountain side of the farm. Both teams get low and stay down until each wave has gotten past you. Kate, bring it in closer to the farm and find a good spot to cover."
"Copy that," I said, and Emmett and Aunt Kate called in their own acknowledgements. Turning to the girls, pointed to the map on the phone. "Not far from the main road is a deer stand in a tree. It would be the perfect place for us to stay out of sight."
"What about the dogs?" Bella asked, rubbing Lock's head and checking his Kevlar vest.
"They'll stay low if they're told to," I answered as I studied the map, my eyes narrowing on the smaller heat sources not far from us. "Okay, let's move out. We're taking this trail, but watch your step because this way is a pain in the ass. I want to check these two hotspots. You two take the lead with Lock. I'll watch your six with Load."
"I'm sure you will," Bella said at the same time Mickey muttered, "Freak."
Grinning, I shrugged a shoulder, giving my wife's ass a soft pat. "I can show you freak, wild child. Move out."
Bella's eyeroll was practically audible – and identical to our daughter's expression – and she shook her head at me, saying, "Lock, on me."
"Load, on me," I countered with a chuckle and another pat to her sweet ass. "Watching your six is the best job ever," I whispered in her ear, kissing her temple when she snorted into a laugh.
The direction we headed didn't have a true trail, although it was clear someone or something had used it recently. It was steep and rocky, winding around a bit. I wasn't a hunter, really. Hunting humans in every terrain imaginable over the last several years was enough. My tracking skills were from years of seeking out enemies, lost or missing persons, or even playing hide and seek with my kids. I'd been trained in the military and taught by my dad and several of his mercenary friends – Alec being one of them – on how to notice the small details when someone needed finding. Or in this case, whether it was human or animal. Honestly, I'd have been a bigger help in the air with a bird's-eye view on shit.
The heat source we were closing in on didn't look big enough to be a bear – at least not grizzly, possibly a black bear. I also didn't think it was human either, but I wanted to make sure. Having come in behind Kim's men, I didn't have a count as to how many I'd been chasing. So far, I'd ended four by myself and two more with Mickey and Bella.
Lock led the way with Bella by his side. Mickey took the middle, keeping her eyes constantly searching our surroundings. Load's ears were perked up, his blue eyes sharp. I had my eyes on the closest hotspot on my phone's map. We were zeroing in on it quickly. I gave a soft, sharp whistle to bring the girls to a halt and then gave hand signals that there was something just around the next bend, which was difficult to navigate.
A grunt and some rustling in the brush caused both dogs to growl, with flashing teeth and fur on end. Bella's eyes locked with mine briefly, before all three of us readied our weapons. It wasn't a bear or wolf or any animal, for that matter. My guess had been wrong; it was another of Kim's men, but he wasn't looking so good.
"Well, how do you think…" I started and then studied the whole damn scene.
The bastard was somehow impaled on a sharp shard of a tree branch, and he was bleeding out, hardly caring that we were the enemy. Giving our surroundings a glance, I saw that the area was rocky, covered in slippery moss. The man had to have been rushing through the trail and lost his footing. Apparently he was the last part of the team I'd been hunting.
Pointing a gun to the middle of his forehead, I stripped him of all his weapons and ammo, handing them back to Mickey. He was too weak to resist, barely protesting in Korean.
Giving the girls a glance, I jerked my chin toward the guy who was just about gone. "So…I don't have to tell you to watch your fucking step out here, right?"
Bella sighed, shaking her head at me, but Mickey snarked back, "Always the damn gentleman."
"Always," I countered sarcastically, sounding like Bethy when she'd say, "Duh!"
Before moving on, I checked the map one more time. The thermal showings were minimal – mostly little furry creatures moving about in the underbrush. Nothing was human or bear size. Keeping the farm on our right, we moved quickly as we could through the woods. The ground leveled out, making the hike much easier.
Inside the trees, it was darker, making it feel a bit later than it actually was. Just as we moved beyond the farm, an eerie sound stopped all of us in our tracks. The howl of a wolf echoed in the distance, followed by one seemingly closer. Lock and Load stood rigid, a low growl emanating from the latter.
"Well, hell," I sighed, glancing around us. "The scent of blood is going to draw in every motherfucking predator. Keep moving. Go."
"Guys, guys, guys," Alice called over the earpieces. "Did you know bears can smell a bloody carcass within a mile radius?"
"Sweet baby Jesus," Mickey said through a deep sigh. "We do now!"
"Edward, you lead the way to this tree fort thing," Bella ordered, pulling and tugging at me to move me ahead.
"Deer stand."
"Whatever."
Grinning, I walked by her, muttering, "You just want to watch my six."
My wife huffed a laugh. "Wolves and bears, Edward. Move it!"
"Keep playin', pretty boy. If a bear comes near me, I'm pushing you at it," Mickey threatened.
"Okay, okay," I said soothingly because both women looked a little unnerved. "We're not far."
Just about a click past the farm, we ran into a small trail I'd been familiar with as a kid. Uncle Garrett, Ned, and Harry liked to hunt back then, and sometimes Dad and I would go with them, but really it had been a trail I'd hike in my teens. It was almost grown over, but I found my way just fine as another long series of wolf howls echoed all around us.
The deer stand was still in good shape, minus a broken tree branch or two. I climbed up, cleared the space out, and then came back down.
"I want both of you up there. Stay low and as quiet as you can. I'll stay down here with the dogs." I glanced down at my phone, checking the status of the group moving in from the main road. They hadn't really moved. Tapping my earpiece, I said, "Papa Bear, come in."
"Go ahead," Dad answered back.
"My team is in position; our target is still in the same location."
"Roger that. Emmett, what's your status?" he asked.
"We'll be in position in less than two minutes."
"Excellent. Both teams lie low, and we'll let them come to us."
I checked on the girls, getting a thumbs-up, and I took the dogs a few yards away to conceal them and myself. As I leaned back against a tree trunk, I wondered which team had Kim Min-Jun, because I couldn't wait to wrap my hands around that man's neck.
~o~H&E~o~
A/N… Everyone's in position and on alert. Jasper's been taken back to the farm and out of danger. Now it's down to the last two waves. Not to mention the animal predators milling around out there.
I do apologize for the time it's taking to update this. It's work. It's life. It's general bullshit. To answer the major questions… No, I don't know how much longer or how many more chapters. No, I haven't abandoned the story. And no, I can't seem to find the time to write much faster. So it seems it's coming when it can.
Until next time… Mooches, Deb ;)