Henri - 27

 

Henri - 27

 

::We're in place,:: Taegan told Henri from his perch on the roof above the room they would soon be entering. ::We can't see much from where we are, other than the door to the room and across from it, three cages. Two hold what appear to be humans. There's a wolf in the third one, who looks very sedated.::

 

::Then we were right. Thank God. Okay, I'm going in.::

 

There was a moment of silence, then Taegan heard Henri shouting, "Xavier, you wanted me. I'm here if you dare to face me."

 

::So far, nothing,:: Taegan told him. ::Okay, I was wrong. Two men are going to the door. From what I can tell from here, one of them could be Xavier.::

 

::It is,;; Ransom put in. He was perched at the other skylight where he obviously had a better perspective on the men. ::They're at the door. Everyone shift and in. That includes you, Henri.::

 

Taegan sent Henri an image of the room, shifted into his timber wolf form, and entered, landing on all four feet, inches from the cages. He saw the two red wolves, Allyn and Miranda, across the room, while Ransom's gray wolf appeared two feet from Xavier. Henri, in his coywolf form, teleported in to join them seconds later.

 

Xavier spun, chortling manically. "Do you really think you can stop me?" he asked, raising the gun he was holding.

 

His assistant, a huge, muscular man, was also armed—with what Taegan realized was a tranquilizer gun. The man fired, just as two men in lab coats appeared through the interior doorway which—Taegan presumed—led to the lab. Springing to one side, Taegan felt the dart graze his shoulder without penetrating it.

 

Low growls came from the two cages which had, seconds before, held men. Now they were coywolves—very angry ones, from all appearances.

 

::Guess his experiments worked,:: Henri said, from behind Taegan. ::You take the idiot who tried to shoot you. I'll deal with Xavier.::

 

Taegan took a second to check how the others were doing. Allyn and Miranda were stalking one of the newcomers. He held a rifle, swinging it between them, as if trying to decide which one to shoot first. Ransom, looking slightly groggy, was going after the second man and Taegan saw a dart protruding from Ransom's flank. It slowed Ransom down enough that the man was able to evade him, making it to the cages, where he unlocked and opened the doors of the two holding the angry wolves.

 

At that point, Taegan had other things to occupy his attention. To wit, Xavier's assistant, who now held a taser. Taegan knew if the darts hit him, he would begin to shift uncontrollably. He backed away slowly, tensed his muscles, and leaped.

 

* * * *

 

Henri was having problems of his own. He had managed to avoid Xavier's first shot, but in doing so, had ended up cornered between a cabinet and the wall which separated the area into the holding cages and the lab. Just as Xavier fired again, Henri jumped to the top of the cabinet.

 

Xavier grinned evilly. "Think that will save your mangy hide, Henri?" He pulled a second weapon from his belt. "I've found this very useful for controlling my test subjects," he said, aiming a very lethal looking stun gun at Henri.

 

An agonized scream filled the room. Xavier turned his head to see where it had come from. That was what Henri needed. He sprang, his jaws locking around Xavier's arm.

 

::One down. Two, if you can deal with Xavier,:: Allyn said. ::Oh, shit!::

 

That didn't bode well as far as Henri was concerned but he had other things to worry about at the moment than what Allyn's words had meant. He shook his head, his fangs tearing deeply into Xavier's arm as he flung the man against the cabinet.

 

Henri barely heard Taegan's muttered, ::Well, I'll be damned:: over Xavier's panic stricken shout, "Attack them, you bastards!" Henri didn't take the time to see who Xavier was yelling at, although he had a sneaking suspicion he knew what was happening. Instead, he put his forepaws on Xavier's chest, forcing him onto his back. He released his grip on Xavier's arm, snarling viciously before biting into the man's throat.