Chernobyl Werewolf (Team Greywolf 3)

The bear stood and roared, sounding like a cross between a lion and a movie sound effect of T-Rex.

Rachel dashed inside and grabbed a small pot. Like that would stop a cabal of men and a fierce bear. Did her abductors carry guns? None had threatened her with one. If they had, wouldn’t they at least shoot at the bear? Endangered or not.

What Rachel heard next chilled her more than the cold mountain air. The growls and yips of men, sounding like a pack of wolves. What the…?

The bear bellowed and someone or creature, yelped.

The wolfish growls intensified.

She looked out the entrance and gasped. Two giant wolves fought the enraged bear. Abandoned clothing littered the trampled snow covered ground. The other men stripped in near zero degree temperatures.

Had Madam Montfort spoken reality about the wolf men? Crazy lab experiments. Crap, I fucking love science, but fucking hate the unknown.

A wolf slammed to the ground near the cavern entrance. The body shimmered. Wolf—Man—Wolf. Man.

The guard who only minutes ago had been in the cave watching her. His head nearly decapitated. No doctoring could help him now.

Shit.

I’m out of here. Rachel slipped out the entrance while the battle of beasts continued. Not a clue where, but away from cultish kidnappers, genetically-altered wolf men, and one angry non-hibernating brown bear. Her only hope was Lev. Where the hell was he? She patted her pockets. Of course, they took her mobile. Could she figure out how to get back while the storm turned into an all-out blizzard?

Without looking back at the horrific scene, she scrambled away. Move fast before the sun sets. There had to be other trekkers along the way. Shit. Some vacation. She didn’t come all this way just to freeze to death.

Lev’s bear form faded to his wolf form. The wind picked up. He must get Rachel to safety before she froze to death.

The alpha and his pack shifted, surrounding him.

As the betas stripped, Lev noticed an odd tattoo on their upper back, on the shoulder blade. A flaming wolf print pentagram. No recognized pack had this.

The werewolves growled. He had already killed two; three more wouldn’t be a problem. The alpha stripped, the same symbol, yet perhaps because of his status, another one on his chest. He growled and joined his betas.

The betas circled and one sunk his teeth into his thigh, almost hamstringing him.

Lev bellowed and swiped a lethal paw, killing the beta while the other distracted him with a flurry of fierce nips.

The alpha leapt on his back and sunk his fangs into his neck. The alpha’s deep lacerating bites blinded Lev with agonizing pain. The remaining betas bit into him. Enough! He twisted and bit off the alpha’s snout.

Lev ended the alpha’s misery with a swipe to his throat, severing the carotid. The dead alpha shifted to human form. Revealing again the odd tattoo. A flaming wolf paw over a pentagram.

The enraged betas paused in momentary shock, but continued their attack.

In a fury of fangs and lethal claws, Lev easily ripped the betas to shreds.

Lev shifted to human form and ran into the cavern. Gone!

“Rachel!”

She couldn’t have gotten far. He grabbed the alpha’s clothes and donned them. He didn’t want to explain to Rachel why he ran around the Himalayas as naked as a newborn baby. That is if she didn’t notice his two feet shifted to wolf paws.

Rachel, already out of breath, didn’t look back. She struggled to retain her footing as the fresh snow covered the terrain and the clouds rolled in. Finding shelter suddenly took priority. But how? Could she even retrace back to the cavern? The cavern would be her only means of survival. She glanced behind. Shit. Her footprints were already disappearing. Just as well not to return. The creatures were there waiting to tear her apart.

Can’t believe I miss Louisiana’s balmy weather. Rachel’s winter gear worked for base camp, but she’d been taken higher. No goggles or heavy duty gloves. Her sunglasses provided some protection, but not enough for these conditions. Blindness would hit before freezing to death.

“Rachel!”

She clung between two rocks and stilled. Lev had found her. Or was it wishful thinking? Either way, whether mad abductors or even a crazier Russian hero, she had no choice but to call out. “Here!” She waved.

The sound of what might be an airplane coming in for a landing shook the ground. Not an airplane, but the mountain cracking.