Chapter 4 - The Hunted HunterBefore Julian could wipe the spit from his face, a deafening blast shattered the steel door at the top of the bunker stairs.
The underground chamber shook violent violently, shower dusty concrete down upon them. Alarms began to blare—not digital sirens, but ancient, hand-cranked horns echoing through the subterranean complex.
"What was that?!" Elena yelled, pulling her handgun from its holster.
"Reinforcements," Victoria cackled, her face twisted in desperate triumph. "Did you really think I didn't have a backup plan? The satellite tracker in my pocket activated the moment my heart rate spiked above 150 beats per minute! My private security force isn't just a few guards, Julian. It's a private military company!"
Heavy tactical boots thundered down the concrete steps. Flashbang grenades bounced into the room, exploding in blinding flashes of white light and earsplitting concussive blasts.
"Ahhh!" Alex screamed, blinded and deafened, swinging helplessly from his chains as chaos erupted around him.
Automatic rifle fire erupted in the tight, enclosed space. Bullets ricocheted off stone walls, sparking violently in the dark.
Julian grabbed Elena by the vest, pulling her behind a heavy steel workbench as returning fire chewed through the wooden roof beams. "We move to the escape tunnel now!" he roared over the noise.
"Not without the codes!" Elena screamed back, aiming her Glock toward the doorway and firing three rapid shots into the smoke.
"Forget the money! We survive first!" Julian barked. He grabbed a fire axe hanging from the brick wall, swung it with terrifying force, and sheared through the lock mechanism on Victoria’s iron chair.
Victoria didn't wait. Despite her gunshot wound, she lunged sideways, grabbing a combat knife from a dead guard who had just fallen beside her. With a slick, practiced motion, she drove the blade upward into the throat of the private contractor who had just breached the door, using his dying body as a shield against incoming fire.
"Alex!" Victoria screamed over the deafening roar of automatic weapons.
Alex blinked through the blinding smoke, his ears ringing incessantly. "Victoria! Help me! Unchain me!"
Victoria ran toward him, blood dripping from her hands. She raised the dead contractor's rifle, aiming it straight at Alex's face.
Alex froze, his soul leaving his body. "Victoria, please—"
BANG! BANG!
The bullets didn't hit Alex; they shattered the iron links of the chain hanging above his head. He dropped like a sack of bricks onto the hard dirt floor, gasping for air.
"Get up!" Victoria shouted, grabbing him by his collar and hauling him to his feet with unnatural strength. "If you want to live, you move now!"
"Why are you saving me?!" Alex sobbed, stumbling behind her through the smoke and crossfire.
"Because you're going to sign those paper transfers before anyone kills you!" she yelled back. "You're useless to me dead!"
They burst out through a side ventilation shaft into the blinding, freezing night air. The woods were now a war zone—flares illuminated the snowy canopy in blood-red light, and the sound of heavy machine-gun fire echoed across the mountainside.
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Behind them, a terrifying screech echoed through the trees. It wasn't human, and it wasn't a wolf.
Alex turned back into the woods and saw hundreds of glowing eyes surrounding the clearing. Fenris wasn't just a pet wolf. He was the alpha of a massive, ravenous pack of genetically altered hybrid beasts—and the scent of fresh blood had driven them into a feeding frenzy.
