Sebastian followed Bjorn through the sixth and final door, counting six werewolves and one human, Marge barely getting the first word of her spiel out before there was a terrible roar and the sound of bodies clashing coming from the room next to them.
Bjorn raced back out the door, tossing the access card at Sebastian without a word and disappearing out of sight.
Marge looked startled, but after a quick second to pull herself together, she resumed herwe’re escapingspeech.
When she was done, she looked at Sebastian expectantly. He jumped when he realized she was waiting for him to open the cell.
“Sorry,” he mumbled, looking at the woman behind the bars with a wince. “We’ll get that thing off your neck, or at least your werewolves will.”
“That will be nice. Can’t say I’ve loved wearing it.” The woman smiled, looking exhausted.
“What’s your name?” Sebastian asked, concentrating on pushing the correct numbers on the keypad.
“I’m Helen. You?”
“Sebastian.”
The door opened and Helen rushed out, shooting Sebastian and Marge a grateful nod before crossing over to the cell opposite hers and standing right up against the bars. The werewolf inside reached out and pulled her tight, hands moving up to her throat with an angry growl. For a second Sebastian thought he was going to hurt her, but then he realized that he was reaching for the collar.
“I’m okay, my darling,” Helen said, stroking the werewolf’s arms and making soothing noises as he tore the collar off her throat.
The werewolf was the oldest person Sebastian had seen so far, his age anywhere from fifty to sixty-five, but despite the lines around his eyes and his silver hair, his body was no less fit or muscular than any of the other werewolves they’d freed so far.
“Can I…?” Sebastian nodded at the door, making Helen move back, the werewolf whining at the loss of contact.
Sebastian scanned the access card and keyed in the code, the werewolf glaring at him with intense suspicion.
The door opened, the werewolf rushing out and scooping Helen into a crushing bear-hug. Ignoring them, Sebastian moved down the line and opened the remaining cells, Marge standing next to him trying to explain to the werewolves that they were going to remove the moonrock from their backs.
The werewolves didn’t pay Marge any attention, too eager to get to their human. They huddled around her, sniffing and touching, Sebastian, Marge and Bart just standing back and watching the reunion.
A minute later, Bjorn walked back through the door. There was blood on his hands and around his chin, but he didn’t look any worse for wear. At Sebastian's worried look, he grumbled, “Max needs to learn some fucking diplomacy.”
Relieved that Bjorn seemed to be okay, Sebastian stepped back and handed him the access card. The newly freed werewolves shot Bjorn wary looks, pushing Helen behind them and baring their teeth.
Bjorn growled right back, advancing and flashing his teeth, the blood around his mouth making him look ten times scarier.
Bjorn won the standoff, the older werewolf baring his back first, the younger ones following his example.
With the hierarchy established, Bjorn got to work removing implants, starting with the apparent leader.
Of the werewolves in the room, only the silver-haired one managed to stay awake. His name was Hakim, and he was the alpha of their pack.
“They all had to fight yesterday,” Hakim explained, excusing his pack’s poor performance with a tired voice, rough from disuse. “It’s been a tough few months.”
Bjorn nodded, accepting the situation without complaint. “You’re the last group,” he said, gesturing for Hakim, Helen and everyone to follow him back into the hall.
Sebastian paused, surprised by the number of people. The corridor was filled with tired-looking werewolves and even more exhausted humans, all of them looking tense and ready to go out and fight.
“Max, I want you to stay here and guard the humans and everyone who didn’t wake up. Everyone else, we’re joining my alpha and we’re burning this place to the ground.” Bjorn bent down and gave Sebastian a brief kiss on the top of his head. “We won’t be long. Stay here and be safe, okay?”
“I will,” Sebastian said, looking over at Max and his brother. They were the only ones shifted into their bigger forms, making them tower over everyone else.
There was a fresh set of claw marks running down Max’s neck and toward his chest and another one on his flank, and Sebastian wondered with a start if Bjorn had been responsible for the injuries.
Max scowled, clearly unhappy to be relegated to babysitting duty, but he nodded his acceptance anyway.
Bjorn marched over to the exit, unlocking the door and leading every conscious werewolf but Max out of the room.
