The shuttle was in sight when the first bullet was fired. Micha was not surprised that the cabal had them attacked, but that did nothing to lessen the irritation that she felt. That was just how it went when dealing with a pissed off member of a yakuza. Next to her Ni’yell stepped into the shadows and vanished; prisoner and all. Micha duked behind some crates and trusted the others to do the same. Ni’yell was able to rescue each of them as soon as he got rid of Black Heart.

  Now all they had to do was stay alive. Shots rang out around her as she waited. Micha closed her eyes and sighed. The arrival of the elderly grandpa had been a blessing none of them had expected. When the young man had burst out of the crowd to surround her and Black Heart she had had no idea how she was going to get everyone out alive, but was already prepared to sacrifice Black Heart’s black heart if it meant getting her boyz away from there in one piece. The loss would hurt the team, but they would have recovered. Finding someone to replace Renden was difficult enough without having burry and replace another member of the team.

  “Alpha?”

  Micha slowly turned her head to the right and looked at Ni’yell; who was holding a grenade launcher. She arched a slender brow.

  “Max says the grenades are for crowd control. Some kind of paralysis gas.”

  “Can you get behind them and lob one safely?”

  Ny’yell’s eyes looked like liquid mercury ran across the surface as he looked into the shadows and nodded. “Be right back.”

  With nothing better to do than wait she looked for Ipino and Desohta. They were both a short distance behind her and to her left. She locked eyes with Ipino and using two fingers pointed at her eyes, than in the direction the bullets were coming from. She started ticking the seconds on her fingers. She knew the second that he figured out what she was saying because he turned to his brother and murmured something.

  While she waited for Ni’yell to return, she considered the two brothers. Ipino and Desohta were shifters, which was not to be mistaken for part of the beast clans. Shifters made pacts with actual beast, like wolfs, and shared part of their soul space with said beast. This allowed the partnership to shift into the shape of the other. In the brother’s case their mother had forged a pact with one of the larger wolf species, but had never outright said which species. She had her suspicions for all the good it did. Regardless, the brothers’ wolves were massive when they shifted and as different as night and day.

  Ipino stood approximately six and a half feet tall on two leg, short auburn hair, pale green eyes and skin the color of cinnamon. His wolf form topped eight feet at the shoulder. His pelt a mix of soft blues and hues of grey, with a patch of white between the front legs and the tips of both ears.

  Desohta’s was the more lithe of the two. His wolf was not as big as Ipino’s, but was still impressive at seven feet at the shoulder. Desohta’s pelt was black and silver with copper hues on the lower front right leg and a patch on the snout.

  Micha was able to remember the day they had met as though it was yesterday. She, Ni’yell, Renden and Rennick had been a team for about six months when they were sent to the Rhukaabe System. Their target at that time had been a man known as Handover Slim. There was not much that the bastard would not do. If it had a price, he found a way to get in on the market. It was also their first mission as unit.

  She spent the month before leaving learning everything she was able to find about the monster they were hunting. His biggest income came from selling shifters and drugs; both of which the empire wanted halted. It was not that the empire was against slavery, because there were three types of legal slaves, but that the means were cruel and the victims had no way out of the imprisonment. Money might also have played a part. Who could say for sure?

  Handover Slim was as slimy as it got. Discovered he was not the meanest slaver out there nor was he the biggest fish in that pond, but his…tactics…left something to be desired. He was a small outfit with twenty henchmen and a security system that was no joke.

  She had had to agree to share the wealth with one Deynon Starwing in order to remove or capture her target. Since he had been the only one willing to work with her the deal had been a no brainer. She had often wondered who Deynon truly was. His race was a mystery no one seemed to have an answer for. Although the basic symmetry of his face remained the same, muchc of his features were in constant flux. If you did not know what you were looking for he was easy to miss.

  That said he was a true warrior through and through. It was no joke to say that his muscles had muscles. He was not quite as tall as Ni’yell and could crush a skull with his bare hands…or at least that was how he looked. When she needed to find him, she looked for his stunning black eyes with a jade corona.

  The deal was she was to set up the initial investigation and leg work while Deynon secured the means to get passed the insane security measure that were in place.

  Micha had had Ni’yell sell information to Handover Slim so that he was able to see inside the main warehouse. Micha took on the filthy role of vagabond and slept in the alleyway with the other bums. Ni’yell inserted Renden in the rafters of the warehouse than took up watch positions with Rennick.

  The Rhukaabe System had a sun smaller than the milky way’s by half and one planet twice the size of Earth. The planet was surrounded by a belt of asteroids. It was on one of the asteroids that Handover Slim made his home. On the surface he appeared to be legit. Just one of many that did business in the Rhukaabe System. Under the surface he was as shady as the underside of an asteroid.

  It was a long three months before Micha got the signal from Deynon. By that point she knew all the homeless living in the alleyway she was hiding in; include two of Handover Slim’s thugs pretending to slum it with the homeless, but unwilling to go the distance to actually blend in.

  Meeting up with Deynon, the two team leaders set the rest of the plan in motion. Ni’yell was to get Rennick and a member of Deynon’s team into the building after the rest of the two teams began the assault. Micha’s job was to take out the two wannabe vagabonds out of the equation than join in the assault.

  Once passed the security, the assault went as smoothly as possible with bullets being volleyed back and forth. Deynon led the assault with Micha taking out her two thugs a step behind him. She had prepared for Handover Slim to entrench himself, but he hid like a ninny while his henchmen did all the fighting.

  Deynon’s twelve-man team moved fluidly and, thanks to Ni’yell, was able to flank the target. Orders flew over the comms as the battle began to swing in their favor. Realizing they were outclassed the thugs surrendered.

  What they found in the hidden basement was enough to make an honest man vomit. Cages made to limit the victim’s movement left many with a fear of enclosed spaces. Both teams set to work releasing the prisoners. Renden found the brothers. Hollering for her, he frantically tried to find the release mechanism on the collars both bothers were wearing.

  The sight of the shifters was something she doubted she would ever forget. The collars trapped the shifters in an eternal shift between forms. It caused the body to forget which form it was shifting to and left the body in flux. If the looks on their faces was anything to go by it was painful to boot.

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  something in her went feral as the need to protect the shifters settled in her. When Deynon stepped up behind her, he found himself at the end of her rifle. Slowly he lifted his hands and let the key ring dangle. Remorse for aiming at an ally ate at Micha, but Deynon dismissed it. When she had tried to apologize, he told her,

  “Don’t apologize for protecting what you think is yours. As leaders we have seconds to decide the fate of others. You made yours.”

  Micha had taken those words to heart.

  Freed of the collars, the brothers were weak from the constant shift. Ipino had been freed first and his wolf had taken control to defend his brother. Dealing with feral animals was never easy, but that instant left Micha with a recourse few had. She was able to reason with the intelligent beast.

  Setting her rifle down she ordered the collar Ni’yell was holding snapped in half. Then she pointed to the still trapped shifter and held out the key. When the wolf backed up a step, she inched forward slowly and released the second collar. The man in her lap let out a sigh and went still to the whimper of the wolf beside her.

  Calmly she ordered, Ni’yell to fetch Deynon’s healer and lay him flat. Without hesitation she lowered her head and listened for the sound of his heart beating. Hearing nothing she fell back on the lessons she had been given before her abduction; two breaths in followed by chest compressions, rinse and repeat. It was difficult to keep track of time as she sank into the rhythm as she worked steadily.

  There was nothing but her and the man beneath her, then there was aid as Renden took over breathing for her. together they kept the motion until the healer arrived.

  “What are you doing,” snarled the healer.

  Without pausing, Micha replied. “Keeping him alive. I need you to start an IV drip now it needs to move fast. Once started I need you to administer adrenaline.”

  “Are you mad?” shock suffused the healer’s face.

  “There is no time to debate this,” Micha turned to face the healer. “It will work. Where I was born it is done all the time during cardiac arrest. But it needs to be done now.”

  “Do it,” the burly voice of Deynon ordered.

  “I can’t in good conscious…” the healer was slapped upside the head.

  “I said do it,” Deynon growled. “This is not a democracy.”

  Miha felt the ribs crack. From the look on the healer’s face, she was not the only one either. Still the IV drip was started and soon enough the adrenaline was administered. She halted compressions and waited to see if his heart was going to beat on its own. There. It was faint, but it beat.

  She sat back on her heals. “Make sure he is stable for transport,” she sighed.

  “How did you know that worked?” Deynon wondered

  “Before my abdution I was studying to be an emergency responder known as a paramedic. I had two years before I was able to pursue it as a career,” she looked up at Deynon. “One of the techniques used was cardiopulmonary resuscitation or CPR”

  “Your proud of that?” the healer was aghast. “You broke his ribs and might have given him brain damage!”

  Micha looked the healer in the eye. “He is alive. If we had done it your way, brain damage was guaranteed. My way gives him a fighting chance. Now, you need to make sure his blood pressure does not drop…or do you need me to do that too?”

  “Do not presume to tell me how to heal,” the healer snapped.

  Miha brushed the hair out of the younger shifter’s eyes and murmured. “You’ll be alright.”

  “And how do you supposed I check his blood pressure?”

  Micha never ceased to be amazed at how the dimension she lived in was so advanced and still so archaic in so many ways.

  Micha was going to have to adapt once more. She started my assessing the color and temperature of the skin. Since it was cool and pale she knew it was lower than it should be. “You need to increase his blood pressure.”

  The healer crossed his arms. “And you know this how?”

  Micha said nothing and set to work. She had Renden hold the IV drip high so that it infused quickly. As soon as there was a change in temperature she had Renden lower the fluid bag to reduce the speed of the drip. Skin no longer pallid and warmer to the touch she sighed. It was the best she was able with the limited supplies she had.

  “Ni’yell, get the shifters aboard the shuttle and make them as comfortable as possible. I need to clean up here so we can leave.” After Ni’yell lifted the unconscious shifter into his arms she adjusted the height of the IV fluids to ensure the right speed of intake. Once they left she turned to the healer.

  “I am all for answering questions, especially when it might save a life, but not in the middle of those life saving measures.”

  “You could have killed him.”

  Micha was tired of people acting like they knew better than her the risks or what needed to be done. She turned to Deynon. “Thank you. For everything. Did you get what you wanted?”

  Deynon nodded. “The rest of my team is ensuring everything of value is aboard the shuttle. We will divide it on the way back to base.”

  With a nod. She turned to Rennick, “Good job. Let’s do a final sweep to be sure we missed nothing and get out of here.”

  Blinking she snapped back to reality and winced. The shifter brothers were alright. It had taken time, but it had been worth it to see the younger brother smile. Leaning her head against the crate she wondered, not for the first time, how she had gotten so lucky as to have the team members she had.

  The pop-hiss of the grenade being launched was almost missed in the chaos. She counted the seconds. When she reached five, the first cough reached her. In seconds bodies started dropping like flies.

  Standing she left the safety of the crate and went to check on her team. Desohta had beat her to it and was already treating the few minor injuries. Ipino growled something about being gentler to which Desohta replied.

  “Quit being such a baby.”

  Micha smiled.

  “What?” growled Ipino. “What’s so funny?”

  Micha raised her brows and frowned as she shook her head. “I was just thinking things had come full circle.”

  Ipino rolled his eyes. “Don’t go soft on me.”

  Micha smirked. “Too late. Let’s get back to the shuttle. Mama needs a shower.”

  Black Heart lay still. He was aware he was alone aboard the shuttle. If he was going to complete the assassination, he was hired to complete he needed to appear weakened. Sacrificing his companions had been a no brainer. They had become a liability anyway.

  This way he was going to be paid by the Council of War and Peace and get a fresh start. He had been promised a clean slate for the little female’s death. It seemed overpriced for the job, but he was not going to pass up the chance to start over. Not that much was going to change. It simply meant he was able to do his work without the military breathing down his neck.

  Occasionally, he was able to hear someone moving around in the pilot’s cabin. So, he did the math in an attempt to calculate how many people she had with her. He remembered seeing the shawling and the panther and two more joined as they walked away. Add the person in the pilot’s cabin and Black Heart wanted to laugh.

  She was either bold or foolish to come after him with such a small team.

  Not that it mattered. She was going to die and the rest of her team were collateral.

  Quietly, he stood and made his way to the weapon’s locker. The shawling had been in a hurry. If Black Heart was lucky the locker was unlocked. A pull on the door told him the shawling had been on the ball, but the locker was locked. With a shrug, he made his way to the door he suspected everyone to enter and waited.

  Micha tucked her hand in her pockets. “Alright, Desohta. You can deal with the rest of the injuries aboard the shuttle.”

  Desohta nodded and stood. Offering a hand to his brother, he helpd Ipino to his feet. “Can you walk or do you need me to carry…”

  “Piss off,” Ipino rolled his eyes.

  Rennick snickered.

  together they made their way back to the shuttle their two prisoners still cowed.

  Black Heart

  There was an obvious hum when the ramp of the shuttle lowered or retracted. It made a vibration at the very core of a person. There were other signals that warned of approaching bodies, but black Heart found the hum the most telling without looking around. It allowed him to take up a position that was out of sight of those entering and gave him the first move.

  He would have deal with the pilot after, but that was fine.

  As the door retracted into the roof, he readied to strike.

  Laugher entered the cabin first. something about someone always getting hurt? Its not like it mattered in the long run. They were all going to end up dead shortly. The panther entered first; hands tucked calmly in his pockets. Mai-Roon came next; her mousy disposition a carefully orchestrated act—most of the time. Thannen stumbled through the doorway a step behind Mai-Roon; his long frame barely fitting through the opening.

  Next came two males similar in looks with a hint of wildness he would have’ loved to harness under different circumstances. One held a bandage to his arm and kept checking the wound. The other told him to leave it be.

  All that was left was the woman and the shawling. When they did not appear he frowned. Then the ramp retracted and the door slid shut. What was going on?

  “Buckle up everyone,” a whiskey soto commanded.

  Black Heart turned; slowly. The woman he was supposed to kill was seated in the farthest seat from the door. To get to her he was going to have to cross paths with the other members of her team. How had she gotten past him?

  The smirk on her ace told him she knew what he was thinking. She never took her eyes off him.

  “Did you think I was unaware of the risks of leaving you unattended aboard the shuttle?” her eyes danced with mirth. “Surely you did not expect me to be of such low intelligence?”

  Black Heart stood up; uncoiling his muscles until he appeared to be relaxed.

  “Sit,” she motioned to the seat next to him. “We have plenty of time to get to know each other,” with that said she closed her eyes as though he was inconsequential.