Chapter 14 - Outnumbered

Author POV - 

Mark and Brian take up posts at opposite ends of the small camp while the others set about getting food and sleeping bags set up. Aria and Tasha set about gathering dry wood for the fire, Harry gets out the sleeping bags and Keith moves to help him lay them close to the fire. Georgina silently moves to take the food from the bags and Eric disappears, returning quickly with water to boil.

Everyone settles in for the night, knowing none of them will sleep well with the threat so close to them. Brian and Mark share a look as everyone settles down, and an understanding flows between them as they both acknowledge that the pull of the bond has strengthened since Mark opened up to Brian, letting him see a side of himself that not many others have ever known even existed let alone seen. Their want for one another had grown, but they both knew they would have to wait before they could act on their impulses, they turned away from one another, facing the forest for the best possibility of spotting an ambush.

Everything was quiet, the forest was calm, all that could be heard were the scurrying of the nocturnal creatures who resided within. Brian had chosen a spot to the south of the camp, where he could sit, a small bush blocking him from view of anyone outside of their camp but giving him a clear view of the surrounding area, Mark had settled onto the fallen tree trunk facing north, in plain view of anyone who might be approaching, he was also walking the perimeter of the camp every 30 minutes, he was hoping by remaining visible anyone who was considering attacking would try to circle around and Brian would be able to spot them before they were upon the group.

Brian and Mark had been keeping watch for around 4 hours when Brian scented a group of rogue wolves approaching, he silently gestured to Mark, getting his attention as they came into his line of sight, Mark walked over to Brian on silent feet and squatted down to remain invisible, they didn't want the wolf to know they had spotted him, he had done as Mark had hoped and approached from the south where Brian could see him but he couldn't see them. Seeing the group come into view as he got to Brian's side he turned quickly and woke the rest of the group as quietly as possible, they needed the wolves to think they were taking the group by surprise if they hoped to get out of this alive. Harry and Aria woke first and moved to wake Tasha, Penny and Georgina, while Mark moved to Keith and Eric.

Brian remained still and kept his eyes on the rogues, their smell getting stronger as they snuck closer and closer. With a shock of realisation, Brian was able to make out a total of 15 wolves edging towards them. Mark, Eric, Keith, Harry, Aria, Tasha, Penny and Georgina all gathered near Brian, remaining alert and readying for the attack and prepared to fight for their lives. 15 rogues would be a challenge for the 9 of them, they were confident they could win but with only 9 of them they had to factor in the chance that one or more of them could get seriously injured, rogue wolves were savage and unpredictable. 

All of a sudden a group of 10 more wolves burst through the trees behind them having observed the group and seen and understood their motives for the look out positions, they had anticipated the group reaction to the rogue wolves and had come up with a plan, using those rogues as a distraction. They had expected to attack once the fight had broken out, giving themselves the upper hand, but they were still confident that they would be victorious for their Alpha. Mark had not seen them as they had strategically covered themselves with mud and fallen leaves, but they had also smothered their scents using a unique blend of herbs that their Alpha had concocted for this very purpose. 

Surprised by the sudden attack from behind the group split in 2, Brian, Mark, Eric and Georgina turns to face the wolves coming from the north while the others charged through the brush towards the rogues, the fight was voracious, the rogues were unpredictable as Brian has expected, but the others were well trained and calculating in their moves. Brian paused after snapping the neck of one wolf to look about him, as the highest ranking wolf there he felt a responsibility to all of them, he moved quickly to slash another wolf across the stomach as it lunged at Penny, ripping his guts out and swinging around in time to see Mark fall to the floor unconscious. 

Everything seems to go into slow motion for Brian, there were 3 wolves dead, still in their wolf form which meant they must have been rogues, the others have shifted back to human form, turning he sees everyone is being held by the throat by 2 wolves a piece, 2 wolves were pulling Mark up, roughly, into their arms and the remaining 4 wolves were slowly approaching Brian as a roar forced its way up from his chest causing the trees around the clearing to waver in their places rustling their branches. 

Brian, seeing his mate, unconscious and at the mercy of the attacking wolves, falls to his knees and allows them to take ahold of him, his eyes leave his mate for a second to look at their group, Harry is fighting to get to Aria, Aria is fighting to get to Tasha, Penny and Georgina are clasping hands as they are being held close together and Eric has his eyes glued on Tasha, unblinking. Brian returns his gaze to his mate and has to hold in a sigh as he sees Mark open his eyes for a fraction of a second. Then he feels a tug at their bond and somehow he knows, he knows that Mark is fine, that he is faking, that he is pretending to be worse than he is. He knows Mark has a plan, or has the beginnings of a plan.

The attacking wolves march the group through the forest towards the mountain without speaking a word, they remain silent as they all begin to climb, always making sure there are at least 2 wolves for each prisoner and in Brian's case there are 3 wolves touching him at any given time. They are taken into the caves that Brian and the team had been tasked with exploring and Brian tries his best to count steps and remember turns as they progress deeper into the side of the mountain.

"You," says the wolf at the front of the group, pointing to one of the wolves holding Mark's left arm, "you go first, then make sure you catch him, then you follow" he says, pointing to Mark and then the other guy that was holding onto him. This is the first time any of them had heard a word from any of the captors, his whole group had also remained silent throughout the journey and he knew each of them was trying to remember paths, turns and anything else they could, in case they had a chance to escape. Though they had been trying to get to one another the entire time, but not one of them had uttered a word and the wolf's words bounced around the cave loudly after the silence from mere seconds ago. Brian knew that if any of them saw the chance to escape they would, and they would run, back to their packs for back up, not one of the group was stupid enough to try to rescue the others alone, except maybe Harry and Aria as they were mates and Aria's sister was among the group as well.

Each of the captives were thrown down a narrow, well camouflaged shaft, that would have been completely invisible to anyone who didn't know it was there, into another bigger cave where they were unceremoniously thrown to the ground before being pulled back to their feet, Mark still acting as though he were unconscious, Brian thought he had seen something like a small flash as Mark had been thrown down into the hole. Brian was the last captive to go down, followed quickly by the remaining 2 wolves who quickly grabbed ahold of his ripped shirt and hoisted him back to his feet.