Chief watched the pristine looking young lady before him, who seemed visibly shaken, clutching the wrist of a tall, lean handsome man who appeared grim. These two brought him back from death of which he was so sure of before he lost awareness 6 days back, which gave the impression that they are extremely skilled. Had he not been a Black wolves' Chief and they, the prisoners, he would definitely appreciate their good work, considering Dr Swara's young age and brief career..

It was Chief's first proper interaction with the couple. He addressed, " Well, Dr Bose. What's your opinion about their injuries? I hope you had examined them well by this time."
"Mmm.... The wounds are deep, moreover they had lost blood... some canines had ripped them apart.." She replied staring at the ground.

"What canines? I know there are animals in the jungle but they haven't attacked, ever! Would you care to elaborate? " He looked astonished.

"May be some wild dogs or.."She hesitated for a moment, "Wolves... May be they were rabid... In that case more attacks will continue to happen , I'm afraid.."

Chief's expressions darkened, few lines of worry appearing on his forehead, "You can leave and start their treatment."

"Excuse me, Mr... Chief !" Sanskar now interfered, his tone bereaved, " Few minutes before your people nearly got us executed. Swara, who operated and attended by your side for last 3 days, is this the way how your people chose to repay her? Her neck, once got strangled by your son and, today nearly sliced by a knife! What's the point of toiling hard for you folks, if all we get is extermination in return? "

The chief demeanour turned murderous, " If you don't want her getting killed at this moment, DO AS I SAY! We'll never give you rewards. Don't expect that from us. But I can assure you, you'll live as long as you serve our purposes. I hope you are smart enough not to deny this token."

************************************

Black wolves had gathered for an urgent meeting while Swasan was in the OT operating on Ariel. Pin drop silence was the appropriate phrase to depict the ambience .

"I hope you all are aware about the recent crisis. " Chief started.

"What to do now? Should we shift the camp?" Another member questioned, puzzled by this newly arised problems.

Kal indirectly supported him , "If the dogs or wolves whatever... are rabid... we'll have to pay hefty price."

"That's insane! This place is perfect. Well hidden, water source is nearby. Moreover there are storehouse, solar power, our helipad, shooting range, torcher cells everything!" Shamsher exclaimed in denial.

" We've set the mobile network too!Don't you remember how long we had worked for it, to set up the towers? One year! It took one LONG year! " Anuva voiced her disapproval too.

Chief looked thoughtful for a moment, " It is impractical and nearly impossible to move the camp in such a short notice. Increase number of people for the night patrols. Drive away the animals from the camp, may be they are lost from their pack too. And if they are rabid, we will kill them."

" But, Chief! More attacks mean having more injured members!" Agni stated. "What do we do with them? We weren't planning to keep the doctors for very long time."

" Kyu na hum Swara ko, I mean Sanskar ko bhi zinda rakhe? (Why don't we keep Swara alive, I mean... Sanskar too?) They will be be useful to us." Laksh suggested.

"Woh log humare prisoners, Laksh!(They're our prisoners, Laksh!) How long we'll refrain them from escaping, when we can't keep them tied. After that near death experience, don't you think they'll go for it?" Hades protested, with a hint of mocking in his voice.

"WOH death sentence tum logo ko bewakoofi tha!(That death sentence was an act of idiocy by you people!) I'm telling you, spare the doctors! Otherwise, you'll have to suffer!"clenching his jaw, Laksh declared.

************************************

Sanskar was filled with regrets as Swara got trapped in this deadly dangerous mission of his. He could feel her gloomy mood as they were operating on Ariel. He had handed her another tracking device to insert through the deep, ragged wound of the injured. Sanskar couldn't stand her distressed state any longer, so decided to distract her mind.

" Swara, you never told me why do you stay alone, without your family? I mean you have your mom and brother right?"

"When Papa died, me, mom and Sargam bhai shifted to London as My Nanaji(maternal Grandpa) and Mamu(Mom's brother) lived there. Dada Dadi(Paternal grandparents) ki toh pehle hi death huyi thi.(Dada Dadi had left the world very long ago) Papa was their only child. So no other close relatives of us was left in India ," Swara answered while cleaning and stitching the wounds. "Dadaji Doctor the, unki khawaish tha mein bhi unki medical school se graduation karu.(Dadaji was a doctor, he had desired to see me graduating from the same medical school he had attended) To keep his last words, I came back here. Uss wakt bhai ka ek accident hua tha. Toh mom reh gayi."(That time Bro had an accident. So Mom remained there.)

"Phir?"(Then?)

"Phir kya?(Then what?) I continued to stay in hostel. I know she had to arrange fees for both of my medical school and Bhai's law school. She couldn't get better paying job in other than the one she had in London. So I assured her that I can manage myself. Finally she agreed to stay back, but after lots of arguments." Her eyes expressed her smile for few seconds.

"Daring bhai behen! (Daring bro sis!) Sargam Bose, the criminal lawyer, and Swara Bose, the trauma surgeon! Tell me one thing, don't get me chauvinistic, haan! Female doctors are rare in this field, I mean trauma surgery, as least I never met one before you. What made you choose a speciality where you'll have to face results of violence and trauma everyday? You would have to handle lots of police cases and dangerous criminals, didn't you consider that?"

Swara suddenly looked distant, " It was because... We had a super hero... our Papa... He was a major of Indian Army, always brave. He always wanted us to work for law and order. Woh kehte the Army mein na sahi, do something jisme kisi ko justice mile, ya kisi ke sath kuch bura na ho.(He always said, join Army or not, do something where someone get justice, or protect someone from being harmed.) So Bhai got into Law school." Swara took a gap. "But I had to fulfil Dadaji's wish too. Toh socha training ki bad koi defence, police ya special force hospital me join karungi." (Then I thought I'd join some hospital for defence, police or special force after training. )

" Toh tum hamesha aise akeli rehne ki plan banayi! " (So you made plans to live alone forever!) Sanskar sounded astonished. "Again away from family?"

Swara's tone turned lighter,her eyes had a mischievous glint, "Akeli? Kisne kaha? Koi tall,dashing, handsome army man ya IPS officer ya secret agent ko shaadi kar leti! New family, hai na!"(Alone? Who said that? I would've definitely found some tall, dashing, handsome army man or IPS officer or secret agent for me to marry! New family, isn't it?)

Sanskar stilled for a moment hearing her to marry someone else. He couldn't understand why that idea looked so unfavourable to him.

On the other hand, she was no longer sad and tensed. That made him feel relieved. He teased in mocked hurt voice, "Ouch! Kaisi Mangetar ho tum? Mere samne koi aur se shaadi ki baat kar rahi ho? Arey ha! Army men ya IPS ko list se kat do... teesri option accha rahega, hai na?" Saying this he winked. (Ouch! What type of fiancée are you?Are you actually talking about marrying someone else in front of me? Oh yeah! Scratch the army men and IPS from your list. Third option would be the best one, right?)

"Sanskar!" Swara exclaimed. She thanked her stars as her tomato red cheeks were hidden by mask. She huffed in fake anger, " If I hadn't gloves on my hands, I would've killed you!"

All of a sudden, both of them then burst into laughters....

They both wondered how this OT was supposed to be the place of planning and plotting... Now had become another place for tending their bleeding hearts.

***********************************

The black wolves slept very late that night . Night guards' senses were strung high on a chord, watching out for the slightest movements of the lurking canines. Owls hooted to declare their rise from daytime slumber... It was way past midnight... The watchers spread around the area to shield more area. Some faint noise entered Yudh's ears, which sounded like someone's footsteps on dry leaves. He kept following the moving source, probing deeper and darker in the woods... As the steps got quicker he raised his pace..... He was frantically removing the branches that came in his way... He reached the part where the trees were placed very close, as like almost hugging sideways... Still the sound source managed to keep itself hidden in this prolonged hide and seek game... Yudh was nearly running now, when he heard some sound behind him... He sharply looked backwards but saw nothing.... As soon as he turned forwards, 4-5 towering black creatures jumped on him.

Yudh couldn't stood the sudden force and fell on his back. The canines aim their fangs and claws mercilessly at him. He attempted to shout at first, but tried to save his face by hands seeing one creature going for it. Failing to grab his face, the creature reluctantly went for his neck instead ...

The victim had fainted due to pain and massive blood loss, gradually. The canines had retreated their claws immediately after that, turning obedient and gentle. Their attention now shifted to a tall shadow that crept out behind a tree. They rushed towards there wagging their tails.

The shadow lit a small pen torch and sat down... 5 black German Shepherds now could be seen, competing for licking a man's face. The man took special affection to one of them and patted it's head, "Well done Zeppo! Good boy!" Zeppo returned the affection in equal fervor.

The man then looked at his watch, neared his lips to it and muttered, "SSR speaking... yes another down........ Lay low, keep shifting your positions ....... Yes, they did amazing job...... Feed them well, and Aah! Give the best bone to Zeppo. He avenged today on my behalf. Tooth for tooth! Throat for throat!"A devilish grin formed on his lips.

************************************

Swara and Sanskar were tied up in chair, facing each other. The room was shadowy, only a small bulb lit hanging from the roof. The black wolves had surrounded them, seeming more vicious than ever. Ragini pranced like a she-devil, pulled Swara by her hair and slapped; the latter winced in pain.

" You filthy scums!How could you dare to backstab us? We came to know about everything!" Chief clenched his jaws, words reeking with disgust.

"We know you are the ones behind the attacks only!" Now Hades was circling them like a leopard. He stopped in front of Sanskar, who said. "You are mistaken. Again you're misunderstanding us."

Hades punched at his face in anger, blood trickled down from his nose. Now it was Laksh who faced him and growled, " Oh, is it? We know exactly who you are, Dr Sanskar Oberoi!"

Then he taunted,his eyes red shot now, "Or should I say SSR?"

Swara gasped in shock. To her horror she heard Laksh to continue , "You and that b*tch girlfriend of yours will have to pay. Black wolves never leave betrayers!" Saying this he raised his gun and shot.

BANG!!!!!

"SANSKAR!!!"

************************************