The Lycan Rebirth (The Flux Age Book 3) by Steven J Shelley Read Free Book Online Page A

other side. But for at least a minute they’d be vulnerable to air attack, which was the aquilan speciality.
    There was no other choice. Get mown down right there, or sprint for safety.
    Florence’s blood had gone cold. The aquilans’ planning had been nothing short of elite. They’d guessed correctly that the lycans would head south from the St Claire property and from there could be herded towards the cleared area. A zone that would now be filled with lycan blood.
    “Run!” she shouted above the din of gunfire. “Now!”
    Florence didn’t wait to see if her trainees were obedient - the only way to do this was lead by example. She burst into the open and loped along the uneven ground. The felled trees slowed her progress considerably. The aquilans’ plan couldn’t have been more perfect in every facet.
    Despite the slow going Florence was glad to hear the sound of several werewolves at her heels. She hoped that Julian was somewhere back there too.
    Florence began to sweat as she negotiated log after log. A cry resounded from the skies, an aquilan call of war. The bullets began to fly, peppering the ground all around her. She risked a look over her shoulder and saw seven or eight aquilans swooping in from the south. All of them had machine guns.
    An alarmed grunt told her that one of her comrades had fallen. She turned to see a trainee being peppered with lethal silver bullets as she tried to crawl under a fallen log.
    Her anger rising, Florence forced herself to focus on the task at hand - survival. A very large trunk had been felled some thirty yards from her position. She made a beeline for it and slid into a semi-protected gully underneath the huge trunk. From there she waved and shouted at her friends, cajoling them to join her if they could.
    Julian appeared through the chaos carrying an injured lycan. He joined Florence in the gully and laid the body down. The trainee died before their eyes, its beautiful lycan eyes losing their lustre like a light being switched off.
    Four trainees, including Wilson, Richie, Miss Garvey and a short, young man known as Mouse all made it to the hollow. Emmaline followed not long after, breathless and terrified.
    There didn’t seem much point waiting for the others - Florence knew they were all dead.
    “Along the hollow,” Florence ordered, passing under the fallen trunk and heading east along the gully. Above them bullets rained on the trunk, shredding the soft wood into pulp. The thunderous sound filled Florence with such anxiety that she was trembling when she reached the gully’s eastern end.
    “We’ll have to run that last stretch,” Florence said, working incredibly hard to mask her fear. “Let’s do it in twos to disrupt their line of fire. Julian and I will go first.”
    No one dared argue and Florence realized she must have looked fearsome. Looking out from the hollow, Florence estimated there was around twenty yards to jungle cover. She burst from the hollow like a panicked rabbit and loped powerfully over the last few logs. Bullets cascaded around her and she was was certain she would get pounded. But then she skidded in the cool darkness of forest cover on the other side, glad to see Julian tumble through the bracken unharmed.
    Wilson and Miss Garvey thundered through the undergrowth uninjured. Emmaline appeared a little to the south, exhausted but safe.
    “Mouse?” Florence demanded. “Richie?” Wilson shook his head. Any attempted rescue would be suicide.
    Florence hung her head, her face a rictus of pain.
    “Those were my lycans,” she said quietly, barely able to process what she was feeling. “I’m responsible for all of this.”
    Julian held her by the shoulders. “I’m sorry, Florence, but you couldn’t be more wrong. Thousands, maybe millions of Flux creatures will die for what they believe is right.”
    The aquilan was right. Florence was only looking to enpower her people and bring lycans back to a position of strength. It wasn’t her