Chapter 12

Title: When you get knocked down…

Alec wasted no time and dragged the poor man back through the woods till he could see the outline of the buildings. With a scowl he looked at Max and ordered Zack's team to take the man into custody. When everyone had cleared their patch of forest Max rounded on Alec, her anger seething beneath the surface.

"What the hell are you doing here Alec? This is our mission. What, you think we aren't capable of doing a little recon without our mates to protect us?"

"Maxie, when will you learn not everything is about your insecurities, but while we're on the subject. What the hell were YOU thinking when you allowed Jondy to go into her instincts like that? Your first thought should have been on the mission, not on getting her incapacitated in the middle of it."

"I was going to get her out of it soon enough."

"Right, and what were you planning on doing with idiot-boy over there? Dammit Max you know mission goals come before everything else. You know how important this is for everyone."

"Hey, I can do this mission and if you'll let me get back to Jondy I'll get her back and we'll get back to it."

"Not a chance Maxie, I'm not letting you near Jondy right now. Biggs will take care of it. He'll calm her down. In the meantime we need to come up with a way to salvage what's left of this recon mission."

Max sent him a glare for making sense, and for being right. Not that she was going to admit any such thing. Getting Jondy to face her fears might have been taking a risk, especially while on a mission but she'd been fine till that idiot showed up. "Fine! But I'm not letting you off the hook for this."

Alec watched Max follow the trail left by Zack's team. He couldn't believe Max would use her own sister to experiment with. Using their abilities to make them better than ordinaries was one thing but letting their instincts rule them as Max was prone to do on occasion, that was an entirely different matter. Alec closed his eyes to ward off all the unwanted emotions raging inside him. He could understand Max asking her sister to back her up, especially since no one else was willing to be experimented on.

He had been more than willing to let the younger ones discover more about their inner predator, mostly since they weren't half as dangerous as an unleashed X5 could be. It was true that Max had learned a lot about what it meant to be a transgenic but they weren't animals, not now, not ever. He whispered just soft enough the Max wouldn't hear. "Neither am I Max, neither am I."

He prayed Jondy would let Biggs bring her back to her humanity. Jondy would be beyond rage at having her prey taken from her and Alec sensed she had a thing against men in general. That would make it that much harder for Biggs to calm her down since he wouldn't be let close.

Back in the clearing Biggs was eying Jondy warily. Before their departure Jondy seemed reticent but subdued and Biggs had hoped her instincts would be telling her all the things he was unable to put into words. That was the way it seemed to have happened to Max, after coming back she seemed to have had an instinctual knowledge that Alec would be good for her.

Alec's stories told him he needed to assert his alpha status and Jondy would come to him. Unfortunately that wasn't exactly what happened. Biggs had waited for Jondy to inspect him but she had stood her ground, growling as he made any attempt to approach her. He didn't understand but as long as she wasn't moving, neither was he.

Trying to look unencumbered he glanced at his watch, he had 4 hours till sunrise. At first it had seemed plenty of time but now it was starting to look like all of this would take a while. Why wouldn't she accept him? Not that long ago she'd asked him to stay and watch over her so she could feel safe. Why didn't she trust him now?

Across the clearing Jondy was struggling with her own thoughts. She was fighting to gain back control before her inner predator would rip Biggs to shreds, or at least seriously maim him. Praying that Biggs would hold his position just that little bit longer she needed, she drew her eyes closed until they were slits and fought hard for her composure.

While part of her was ready to tear everyone with a y-chromosome apart, another part of her was crying in despair. This was exactly why she would never have a family; she couldn't let a man come close enough to hurt her. The fact that Biggs had somehow passed her walls without her realising it just made things worse.

Then a whiff of something drifted past her nose and Jondy whipped her head to chase it. It was unfamiliar but laced with something, without warning she took of in the direction of the wind, leaving Biggs behind in a stunned silence. It didn't take him long to recover and he quickly gave chase.

The next morning Alec awoke to the soft rustle that marked the parting of a zipper. Rolling his eyes while still closed he reached out with one hand and closed his fingers around a soft ankle. "Where do you think you're going?"

He could feel Max frozen in her tracks and contemplating the answer that would placate him best. He fought the urge to snort; she still had a lot to learn when it came to circumventing orders. "I was going to check on Jondy since I didn't get the opportunity last night."

Alec let out a small sigh and cracked one eye open. "Biggs'll take care of her. Meanwhile it seems you and I still need to have a conversation about security and the concept of following orders."

'He could practically see the hackles rising on her back as she spat out "Excuse me?"

Determined to see it through this time, no matter the consequences he continued. "You heard me. Look Maxie," he paused and began to rub circles on her ankle to take the sting out of his words. "Being a cat burglar is what you do best. Hell, you're in a league of your own, but this… this is something entirely different." This is what I do best, he finished in his mind.

Alec took a long look at their tactical vehicle parked nearby and was still amazed at the ability of ordinaries to accept ridiculous explanations. According to their cover story the bus was the main transportation of a post-pulse band, which explained the number of people associated with it and the extra number of antennae attached to the roof. In reality it was stuffed with top of the line electronics and was filled with their best assault team.

Right now, hey were all inside waiting for his orders to begin the search for the access points to the cult facility. A cursory overview had showed only 2 access points and Alec was confident there would be at least one other located at the edge of the mountain. Today's missions would be to find that point and to get live surveillance to what was going on inside the mountain.

Having that last piece of information would provide them with everything they needed to move in and force the issue to come to a head. No matter the consequences the cult would cease to be a factor in their lives after this was over. It was just too bad that Max was suddenly so eager to but heads with him as well. Now that she was home and safe, why couldn't she be happy?

He shrugged the morose thoughts away and straightened his shoulders. Personal issues had no place inside that bus. They were all relying on him to make the right decisions, make the difficult choices. Schooling his features in an animated mask that would fool most, if not all, of them he headed in to face his responsibilities.

"Being contrary isn't always the best policy, Mole." Alec mock-admonished Mole as they were heading out last.

"It is when dealing with her highness, Alec. You should know that."

Alec chuckled, checked that Max was out of hearing range and shrugged his shoulders. So what if Maxie could do with some attitude adjustment at times, so could most of them.

Seeing Alec grin, Mole scowled and prodded a little deeper. "What am I telling you for, you actually like her this way. God, the princess has you wrapped around her little finger. Just know that I won't have her on my team. She's liable to rush of in some mad huff in the middle of the battle."

Mole saw in satisfaction that the last statement did penetrate and broke through the easygoing façade Alec was portraying, if the narrowing of eyes was anything to go by. He quickly saluted and pulled up the hood of his jersey before heading to the main parking lot.

It was time to move out, so a few calls and whistles broke the silence and the scattered groups came together and organized. Another whistle borke the air and Alec watched them fade from the parking lot into the forest. Quietly they disappeared from his sight and the blessed silence returned. Putting in the earpiece he sauntered into the forest as in going on a casual hike.

Smiling to himself he could feel a pair of hazel eyes following his every move but Max remained in formation and Alec activated his mike.

"We all know the plan so let's not dawdle. The objective is live prisoners to interrogate and make use of. Use terminal force in necessary and keep our exit open. I don't like nasty surprises," a chuckle, "they tend to hit me in the ass, and I'm not taking a bullet for anyone today"

Soon enough momentum was made to start taking on the outer perimeter, all were aware that once the first guard was taking out, there'd be a time limit on their element of surprise so all precautions were taken to eliminate most of them simultaneously and make the most of their time.

Though despising the need to lad from afar Alec awaited the the firt reports with a stony façade, feeling Max's restlessness pouring out of her. She was pacing along the edge of their temporary command post, clearly on edge. Once the sign came in that the entrance to the cave was clear she halted and froze, her eyes glued to Alec.

Alec could see the the hunter's glint in her eyes but didn't have the heart to refuse her, he nodded once and together they blended in with the bushes and sprinted to the entrance. There they joined the main assault teams and split up.

Exchanging a final glance, Max blew him a kiss and swiftly turned a corner her ponytail dancing behind her.