William fought through the haze of his sudden sleepiness. He flooded his body with testosterone and adrenaline. It was obvious to him that he was being drugged or gassed by something. He thought it would be better to let their captors assume he was caught in the trap. He let his eyes close and he slumped back onto his cot. Closing his eyes was dangerous, but playing possum was a better option than trying to fight a group of armed men when he was trapped in this small room, effectively making him nothing more than a fish in a barrel.

  He waited long moments, forcing himself to breathe deeply and evenly. It seemed like an hour had passed before the door to the closet opened and William could hear footsteps and voices. The best he could make out was that either three or four men had entered the room. The men talked in their native tongue and he had no idea what was being said. He stayed where he was, slumped over on his cot.

  The men left as quickly as they had come. Then the door shut loudly and he heard the grind of metal on metal as, what he assumed, was the outer hatch to the room being closed and locked. William waited a few more moments before he opened his eyes.

  The room was empty, save for himself and Aceso, as he had expected. Aceso was still sleeping under the cot that she had curled up under. William wouldn’t be able to wake her. Judging by the amount of chemicals he had had to flood his own body with just to stay awake, he was sure that Aceso would be out for another twelve hours at least. There wasn’t anything he could do for her now.

  Standing up, he carefully checked the glorified closet for any sort of cameras of vents. There were vents all over the place, this was a ship. But he found nothing that made him think he was being watched. Then again, there were hundreds of places to put a hidden camera. He could search for a whole day and still not find one. But that’s not to say they weren’t there.

  He jerked his head to the right as he heard a sudden sharp noise. He couldn’t really identify it but if he had to guess it sounded like gunfire? He hoped that whoever was shooting was either a really bad shot or that it was Katherine, Nicolas, or Charles doing the shooting.

  After a few moments staring at the wall he decided that it was time for him to get out. He glanced back at Aceso as she slept. He felt bad having to leave her here, but he couldn’t exactly carry her through the ship either. He took a deep breath and allowed himself a small smile as he shifted.

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  He flooded his body with adrenaline and gripped the heavy metal door with his enlarged werewolf claws. He yanked hard on the metal and wrenched the portal turn wheel till it broke off. He then grabbed the side of the door and yanked and pushed and yanked and pushed. He felt the metal slowly give way under his assault. It took a monumental effort from his body and the chemicals which he flooded his body with to feel no pain and augment his strength.

  Suddenly the door flew open and twisted the top hinge, popping it off, as the door hung at a crooked angle. William breathed deeply from the exertion. It had been a long time since he had tried anything like that, and he felt more drained than he should have. Knowing that he couldn’t run around the ship as the seven foot tall monster that he was, he shifted back into his human form.

  He wasn’t sure if what he had heard a few moments ago was gun fire or not, but he knew these sailors were armed and he really didn’t want to be caught on the wrong end of a barrel of an AK-47 either. These men had proved themselves to be no better than pirates. If he had to kill, he wouldn’t feel any remorse. However, if he had the choice he would rather not. These men deserved justice for what they were planning on doing. They had taken Ansuya and Amanda, and he was going to get the two women back. He only hoped that his other three pack mates were ok.

  *   *   *   *   *

  Charles exploded out of the engine room. He shoved the door open so hard it actually slammed back against the bulk head, resounding loudly throughout the narrow through way. He looked back and forth, there was no one there. He gripped his weapon calmly as he headed aft to the stairs and then up towards the bridge.

  He ran as fast as he could while trying to make his footsteps as silent as possible. He had no idea where any of the ship’s crew was. But the brain of the ship was the bridge. He wished there was some way to close off the engine room. But if the crew destroyed the engines, then they’d all be here adrift at sea. The bridge was the one place he had to be.

  He raced up the gang way and up to the deck level. He immediately ducked back down the stairwell he had just climbed. There were four armed crew men at the far side of the through way. Charles listened for any sign that he had been seen. There was no indication by sound that the men had seen him or even that they were going to move from their spot.

  He looked down at his weapon. He could take them out swiftly with a short burst. He eased his mind of any lingering guilt and slid up the stairwell. He crouched down so only the barrel of the weapon and his eyes were above the deck plates. He aimed as carefully as he could and he squeezed the trigger.

  The AK swung up as it kicked with the belching of rounds down the walk way. Charles released the trigger and re-aiming, squeezed again. The men at the far end ducked, screamed, fell over or fell silent. In a few short seconds it was over.