Fight, Flight, or Freeze: The Healer's Story
Chapter 338: That Was Before

Chapter 338: That Was Before

The longer it took Rip to get to ground zero, the more he felt his grip on reality shift. He had been running through the corridors of the different military buildings, following Fan Teng Fei to where their woman had been taken.

But with every step he took, the edges around his vision started to blur. Cracking his neck from side to side, he wondered just how offended the human man would be if he just picked him up and carried him.

"She will be fine," grunted Bin An Sha as he easily kept up with Rip’s pace. "And we will find out who took her."

"I need their blood," growled the Reaver as yet another link on the chain, keeping him sane, snapped.

"And you will. But she is going to need you more than anyone once this is resolved, so you need to fight those urgers more," replied Ye Yao Zu as he pushed himself to run next to Rip. He knew that if Fan Teng Fei wasn’t the pacesetter, the monster would have been gone. "You are her anchor."

"You don’t understand," hissed Rip as he fought to make complete sentences. "I’m not her anchor; she is mine."

"Well, let’s get you two back together and then back to the hotel, yeah? We can forget all about today and maybe burn down this base," suggested Si Dong, running just behind Rip and Bin An Sha. His smile was firmly on his face, but the lines of stress were starting to show.

"Are we going to find Mommy, Daddy?" asked Wang Chang Ming as he clutched to Cheng Bo Jing’s shoulders. This was not the first time that the man had wished that babysitting was a thing. There were a lot of things in the world that a child didn’t need to see, but he also couldn’t trust anyone to look after him.

"We are," grunted Cheng Bi Jing as he ran beside Si Dong. He had toyed with the idea of locking the boy in an empty room, but he knew that it would also distract him, not having eyes on the child.

But the one thing that he wasn’t willing to do was bow out and let the others save his Little Rabbit, not after what Bai Long Qiang had done.

Fan Teng Fei slowed down as they reached the floor where General Bai Shou Shan had his office. He had only been here maybe a handful of times, but it wasn’t something he would forget.

However, before he could take another step forward, he felt a deep voice growling behind him.

The hairs on the back of his neck rose as he felt the threat. Even the master inside of his space was encouraging him to disappear, to get away from the malevolence behind him.

"Reaver," hissed the creature, his body bent practically in half as he sniffed around the hallway. "Reaver? Familiar?"

"Does anyone know what he is saying?" asked Si Dong, taking a step away from Rip. However, the subtle movement caused the creature to turn around and look at him. It cocked its head to the side and took in another deep breath.

"Familiar," it nodded before gliding past Fan Teng Fei and toward a closed office door.

"Fuck me," murmured Bin An Sha as he watched the creature creep forward like a jungle cat. This was what a pissed-off Reaver was down at its core. And there was no way it was still human.

"Please don’t tell me we are going to..." Ye Yao Zu’s voice trailed off as the five men stared forward, watching Rip.

"I don’t think we would stand a chance against that," murmured Bin An Sha. Rip’s head spun around, his eyes narrowing as if he could hear the conversation going on around him.

"Won’t," answered Rip before anyone else could open their mouths. He closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, his mouth open as if he wanted to taste the air, too. "Alpha. But not Alpha."

"Oh, fuck me," repeated Si Dong, the smile falling off of his face. "Please don’t tell me that the Alpha of Camp Hell is still alive and well..."

"And with Little Bird," hissed Rip as he took off down the other end of the hall and slammed through a door that didn’t open fast enough.

None of the men spoke again as they sprinted after the Reaver. But by the time they had gotten to the emergency stairwell, Rip was long gone. And they had no idea where to go next.

"Okay," grunted Cheng Bo Jing. "Once again, we are going to have to slit up. That is the only way that we can cover enough ground to find her. And if Alpha has her, there is nothing guaranteeing that she is..."

"You will hold your tongue before I cut it off," sneered Bin An Sha, his knife shining in the darkening light. The day was coming to an end, and that was going to make everything infinitely more dangerous.

Especially if the Alpha brought back up.

"Um," interrupted Wang Chang Ming as he gently pulled on his Daddy’s sleeve.

"One second," smiled Cheng Bo Jing as he and Bin An Sha glared at each other. "Do you have a better idea?"

"Anything is better than splitting up. Wasn’t that how we ended up in this situation in the first place? We need to stick together," replied the assassin calmly.

"This place is too big for that. They could be anywhere," replied Cheng Bo Jing, shaking his head. He really wished that he had a hard copy of the base map.

Wait, maybe he could check in one of the offices. As the commanders, they should have access to that information. But that didn’t guarantee that it did. After all, electronic maps were the way to go.

"Um," started Wang Chang Ming again, this time reaching over to grab Si Dong’s sleeve. "Scary Daddy?"

"Yes?" asked Si Dong, looking over at the boy.

"If we are looking for Mommy, why don’t we just ask Squirt?"

Silence descended in the hallway as the five men turned around to look at Wang Chang Ming. "We would if we could," murmured Cheng Bo Jing softly. "But Squirt always stays with Mommy, remember?"

"Yeah, but that was before."