“I didn’t grow up on a ranch, so I’ll need some work.”
“Okay, thanks for everyone’s honesty. We’ll start with some basic tactics against the humans. We’ll assume that they will be carrying guns like they did before. Zach, why don’t you explain your encounter to the group.”
He told them about the fake phone call luring him to the climbing site. “They seemed nice and quite ordinary. When I turned around and told them to follow me, they shot me. I don’t remember much of anything after that—other than the brutal cold.”
“Thanks. Bottom line is we need to be vigilant at all times,” Liam said.
“Seth and I wear our guns when we are riding the range, but don’t when we go to town. Should we from now on?" Trevor asked.
That was a tough one. “We don’t want to tip anyone off. For now, let’s leave the firepower at home,” Alex said.
“For today’s drill, we’re going to show you how to take down an opponent should he attack you from behind,” Liam said.
Alex and Liam demonstrated with each other. Liam played the role of the attacker, and Alex played the victim. He showed them several ways to disarm and defeat the other person.
“What if there are two attackers?” Benson asked.
“Like what happened with the Franklin Clan. That was two wolves against one, but the theory is the same with humans. If you are fighting two humans, footwork is the key. You want to maneuver so that one of the attackers is between you and the other person—just like when you’re battling wolves. You’ll be constantly repositioning yourself to keep the second guy from reaching you. Just make sure that you don’t go to the ground. While kicks won’t kill you, if they have a gun, they’ll have a better chance of shooting you in the heart,” Liam said.
“Your goal is to get them in a Muay Thai clinch,” Alex said. “We’ll be showing you how to do that. Then you can knee the man who's closest to you in the balls and kick the other one. Depending on your level of comfort, and whether they have a gun or not, that’s when I’d try to get the hell out of there.”
Preston was experienced in hand-to-hand combat. “Preston, if you’ll join me and Liam, we can demonstrate.”
“Sure thing.”
They went through the moves a few times and then broke the others into groups of three. Each person had the chance to be one of the attackers and then the victim.
“Since they know we’re werewolves,” Trevor said, “why not just shift and take them down. I bet they’d run if they saw us transform.”
Alex and Liam had debated that very question. “Let’s say these guys run away? Do you want them to rally the troops and say that werewolves are real?”
“You aren’t convinced they knew I was a werewolf when they shot me?” Zach asked.
“Do I believe they knew? Hell yes, but we can’t be certain,” Alex said.
“What are we doing to find these people?” Trevor asked.
Alex, Liam, and Zach detailed what they knew. “Mason will be listening to any recordings at Tawny’s rescue center from the bugs he planted. Maybe we’ll get lucky and overhear someone talking. If these people bugged Tawny’s place, I’m thinking they might have some affiliation to the center.”
“Do you have any reason to believe they’ll attack her?” Seth asked.
“We hope not. However, we don’t know if they realize that females don’t shift,” Alex said.
“If this is vengeance against our family, they won’t care,” Seth said.
“One of her employees is a shifter. Tawny told him she had a stalker and to watch out for her.”
Seth shook his head. “I don’t like it.”
“What do you suggest?”
“I need to think on it.”
Liam stepped forward. “In case we are totally off base here, and this isn’t a bunch of renegade humans who for some unknown reason are targeting the Grangers but rather are being led by some werewolves, let’s go outside where we can practice our wolf skills.”
Alex held up a hand. “Since Benson and Preston need to head back to work, avoid biting their faces.”
They all laughed, though Alex could tell they understood there was nothing funny about the situation.