by TJ Klune
“Dere alive,” he said quietly as he wiped his fingers on his jeans. “He’s contained dem. Trapped dem here.”
“Can you help them?” Jessie asked. Chris and Tanner, still shifted, pressed against her sides.
Patrice shook his head. “Not now. Take more time den we have, if I could even do it at all. Dis is deep magic. Deeper den I ever seen. Dis is black. All black. If we remove dem, we might kill dem.”
Gordo looked like he was going to touch Sonari’s face, but Mark took his shirt in his jaws, pulling him back. Gordo barely put up a fight, still looking at Sonari. “He did this,” Gordo whispered. “He did this.”
Ox went to him as a human, stepping carefully in front of him. “Gordo.”
“Ox,” Gordo said in a fractured voice.
Ox nodded. “I know. And we’ll fix it. All of it. But we have to finish this first. Focus. I need all of you. Can you do that?”
For a moment I thought Gordo was in shock, but he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. When he opened them again, they were clear. “Yeah. I can do that.”
“Good,” Ox said. He looked at me. “You with me?”
I tore my gaze away from Sonari, whose tongue still hung from her open mouth, dripping sap. “Yes.”
“Are we almost there?”
“Yes.”
“Show us.”
I pushed through the trees, Ox’s voice in my head a low and constant thrum.
I knew them, these trees. Those encased inside. I could feel them. There were no children, though that knowledge didn’t bring any relief. It only meant they were inside the compound.
The air was thick and heavy. It rested on my chest, making it harder to breathe. I wanted to tear into the trees, to rip apart the bark and pull them out, but I knew that Livingstone would expect that. He wanted that. The wolves’ blood would be on our hands.
It took longer than it should have to reach the compound, the trees getting thicker the closer we got. We had to push aside branches, and every time we touched the wood, there was a low, dark pulse from inside the tree, a moan, a quiet scream. They were aware.
I was devastated.
Kelly knew. He whispered, “We’ll take care of them. I promise.”
I wished I could believe him.
We reached the wall at the south end of the compound. The others gathered behind Ox, Joe, and me. Ox looked up, brow furrowed. “I know you told us about this, Robbie, but it’s bigger than I thought it would be. Have these always been here?”
Elizabeth shifted, pulling herself to her full height. She stepped up between Ox and Joe, pressing a hand against the wall. “No. Thomas, he… always believed that this place should be open and free to anyone and everyone so long as they came in peace. He learned that from his father. This isn’t like it was before. This is Michelle. Yet another thing she’s taken from the wolves.”
“Maybe it was Livingstone,” I said before I could stop myself. “Maybe she didn’t have any other choice. Maybe she—” I closed my mouth, almost biting my tongue.
“We can’t take that chance,” Joe said quietly. “If she’s here, if she’s with him, then she has to be dealt with. We don’t have a choice. You heard what he said. That she was the one who let him out.”
“Yeah,” I muttered. “But he lies about everything. He could be controlling her just like he did to me.”
“I dunno,” Rico said. “I’m all for shooting first and asking questions later. Seems safer that way.” He grimaced. “Except for the kids. Fuck him for using kids.”
Ox looked up at the top of the wall again. He raised his voice so all could hear him. “We don’t kill the children. No matter what. Subdue them. Contain them. Use force if necessary. But keep them alive at all costs.”
Kelly sighed. “This is such a clusterfuck.” Carter nosed at his hand, and Kelly rubbed the top of his head between his ears.
“How do we get inside?” Jessie asked. “March through the front gate?” She looked at me. “Unless you know of another way inside.”
I shook my head. “Two entrances, one in the front and back. They’ll know.”
“He already does,” Gordo said. “He knows we’re here.”
“We go up and over,” Ox said.
Rico groaned. “I knew you were going to say that. And I should point out the walls are concrete and at least fifteen feet high. Some of us are human.” Then, “Oh god, you have an idea I won’t like, don’t you?”
“Chris,” Ox said, “you’ve got Rico. Kelly, you’re with Robbie. Elizabeth, Jessie. Gordo, Mark. Patrice and Aileen, with me and Joe. Tanner, Carter, bring up the rear. Gavin, you stay with Carter.” He turned to look at all of us, this group of wolves and witches and humans who all knew full well what we were about to walk into. “Stick to the plan like we discussed. Spread out. Smaller groups. You leave Livingstone to the Alphas and Gordo.”
Chris pulled out of his full shift to a half-shift. He grinned at Rico through a mouthful of fangs. “Climb on, buddy.”
“I hate all of you,” Rico mumbled. “So, so much. I’m a man in my forties. I should not be getting a piggyback ride from my naked friend.” But he moved toward Chris.
“Ready?” I asked Kelly.
He nodded.
I reached out and touched his cheek, fingers trailing to his jaw. He turned his face and kissed my palm. His eyes were bright, and I knew that if this was it, if this was the last moment we’d ever have together, I was loved.
“Now,” Ox growled. “Move now. It’s time to finish this once and for all.”
Kelly jumped on my back, arms around my neck, knees digging into my hips. His breaths were light and quick in my ear. I half-shifted, claws sprouting from my fingers and the tips of my toes.
Kelly whispered, “Pack. Pack. Pack.”
We leapt toward the wall. Ox and I hit it first, our claws digging into the stone with loud cracks.
We began to climb, muscles straining as we pulled ourselves quickly up the side. The others followed, and by the time I reached the top, everyone was moving.
The sight of the houses around the lake caused my heart to twist. For a moment I thought nothing had changed—that it looked like it always did, an idyllic scene of houses surrounding a lake.
But it was a lie.
Even as I pulled Kelly and me over the top of the wall, I could see the signs of battle. One of the houses had been burned to its foundation. Whatever had happened to it hadn’t spread to the other houses, though they hadn’t made it out unscathed. Windows were broken. The porch of one house had been destroyed. Doors hung off their hinges as if they’d been kicked in.
I jumped from the top of the wall, the air whistling around us as we hurtled toward the ground. Kelly grunted in my ear as I landed in a crouch. He slid off my back, wobbling a little before shaking his head.
“Good?”
“Yeah. Good.”
The others landed around us.
I was ready to follow through with Ox’s orders, to spread out and see what we could see, when Rico said, “Where is everyone?”
All of us stopped. The wolves tilted their heads, listening for any movement.
There was none.
“Maybe they’ve gone,” one of the Omegas said, eyes flashing. “Run away.”
A child laughed, the sound carrying across the lake.
“Goddammit,” Rico said. “This is why I never want kids. They cost too much money and also can be taken over by a dick of a witch and turned into killing machines. Fuck kids. Fuck them all.”
“Layout the same?” Joe asked me.
“Yeah. As far as I can tell.”
“Go, then,” Ox said, and I felt his power rolling through me as his eyes filled with that familiar swirl of red and violet. “Don’t stop until it’s over.”
We went.
We spread out through the compound, breaking off into smaller groups. Kelly and Rico and Chris fell in behind me. Chris shifted back into full wolf, while I stayed half-shifted. I couldn’t
cut myself off from Kelly, needing him to be able to hear me. Rico and Chris were tuned in with the pack. Kelly wasn’t. I couldn’t stand the thought of him stumbling blind.
They stayed close as we moved between the houses. The quiet was eerie, the only real sound coming from the lake lapping on the rocky shore. Kelly stayed close, his hand grazing my bare back. He and Rico had pulled their guns, eyes narrowed and darting side to side.
The houses on either side of us were empty. The one to our left had holes in its side, ragged and small, and it took me a moment to recognize it for what it was. It looked like they’d been chewed open, leaving a space wide enough for a child to slip through.
Rico was right. Fuck kids.
“What the hell?” Rico whispered, looking around wildly. “This is some goddamn horror movie shit. I don’t like this. I’m a minority. Everyone knows minorities die first in horror movies.”
“No one’s dying,” Kelly snapped at him.
Not while I could help it.
We rounded the lake, making sure to keep enough distance between us and the water so we wouldn’t be trapped if suddenly surrounded. I could see the others moving behind us and across the lake. Elizabeth and Jessie were quick, going from house to house, stopping only for Elizabeth to check to make sure each house was empty before moving on.
It took nearly ten minutes before we joined up again on the northeast side of the lake.
Elizabeth was staring up at the largest house, prowling before it, a low growl in her throat.
The wolves looked confused. The Omegas were shifting from side to side. The other Alphas were snarling quietly, lips pulled back over their fangs.
I knew why.
I felt her too.
I stepped toward the house. Kelly tried to stop me, but I shook him off as his brother and the timber wolf came to stand on either side of him.
“Michelle!” I shouted up at the house. “Come out now! You’re surrounded!”
Nothing happened.
I balled my hands into fists. “You fucking come out!”
Still nothing. I was about to storm into the house and drag her out when Ox put his hand on my shoulder. I glared at him, but he was serene and calm, sending waves of it washing over me.
He squeezed my shoulder before dropping his hand. He turned to the house and raised his voice. “It’s over, Alpha Hughes. Or at least it soon will be. This has gone on long enough. This can end peacefully. Surely even you want that. Your people have suffered enough. You are an Alpha, and an Alpha always puts their pack above all else.”
I thought it wasn’t going to work.
I thought she would ignore us.
Instead, the door opened.
Michelle Hughes stepped onto the porch.
She wore a long, flowing dress, the hem swirling around her bare feet. Her shadow stretched behind her in the morning sun. Her hair rested on her shoulders, and her eyes were red.
I felt a pull when she looked at me, quiet and soft. A whisper of what once was and would never be again. She frowned at all of us, taking us in. The porch creaked underneath her. Her mouth twisted at the sight of humans. At Carter and Mark, their eyes flashing violet. She glanced off toward the trees, a complicated expression crossing her face.
“Alphas,” she said as she looked back at us. “You came.”
“You knew we would,” Joe told her.
“I did, little prince,” she said. “I wouldn’t expect anything less from the Bennett pack. Always sticking your noses in the business of others. You never learn from the past.” She shook her head. “Thomas understood. He would never have—”
Carter managed to stop his mother as she rushed forward, teeth snapping, eyes ablaze. Michelle barely flinched as Elizabeth snarled at her, claws creating divots in the grass and dirt.
“I seem to have struck a nerve,” Michelle said mildly. “My apologies. I never….” And for a moment her countenance split. She seemed lost. Confused. But then it was gone. She squared her shoulders, and regardless of what else she was, regardless of all she’d done, she was still an Alpha, and a powerful one at that.
The Alpha of all.
“Stand down,” Ox said, voice even. “Stand down now and this can all be over.”
“If only it were that easy,” Michelle said. “You shouldn’t have come here. You could have stayed in Green Creek and we would have—”
“Jesus Christ,” Jessie said. “Lady, I don’t know what kind of power trip you’re on, but if you think we’d just let packs be destroyed, then you don’t know the first thing about us.”
Michelle cocked her head as Jessie glared defiantly. “Human. I never understood the attraction. What could you possibly bring to a pack of wolves? You’re so… breakable.”
“Yeah? Why don’t you come down here and we’ll see who’s breakable.” Jessie tilted her head side to side, popping her neck as she smacked the end of her crowbar against her hand. “I think you’ll be surprised.”
Michelle laughed bitterly. “I’m sure I will. You have a warrior’s heart. I can see that. It won’t be enough, but I see you. Jessie, isn’t it? The schoolteacher. And Rico. The roughneck from the garage.”
“Fuck you too, bitch,” Rico growled.
Her gaze crawled dismissively over the rest of us until it fell upon Kelly. I stepped forward, but it wasn’t enough. “And you. Kelly Bennett. This is because of you. You just couldn’t let him go. You just couldn’t let things be.”
“You stole from me,” Kelly said coldly. “And I’m going to make sure you never touch him again.”
“Are you?” Michelle asked. “And just how are you going to do—”
Kelly moved, almost quicker than I could follow. He stepped around me, raising his gun. A sharp crack of gunfire caused my ears to ring and my eyes to water.
Had it been anyone else, the headshot would have been true.
But he was dealing with an Alpha.
She jerked her head to the side and the silver bullet embedded itself in the door behind her.
The sound of the gun rolled over the lake and echoed throughout the compound.
Michelle’s expression twisted, her face elongating. “You shouldn’t have done that.”
“Behind you!” Aileen cried.
I glanced over my shoulder.
There, standing on the path that led away from the Alpha’s house, was a thin man.
He stood stiffly, as if all his muscles were tensing at once. His mouth hung open. A line of spittle fell from his bottom lip onto his chin. His eyes were completely white. He breathed, but it was harsh, chest heaving. He took a step toward us, but it was unnatural, his knees barely bending. He looked as if he were attached to unseen strings, like a puppet.
And I knew him.
Once he’d given me the truth, though I hadn’t known it then.
You. Are. Wolf.
You. Are. Pack.
You. Are. Bennett.
“Dale,” Gordo snarled. Mark roared as he stood next to his mate, tail curling around Gordo’s waist.
Dale didn’t respond. I wasn’t even sure he was Dale anymore.
He raised his hands, fingers twitching.
“Move!” Patrice shouted.
There was a beat where nothing happened.
Then all hell broke loose.
Michelle leapt from the porch toward the Alphas, dress tearing as she shifted. Joe shoved Ox to the side, and Michelle landed on the ground where they’d been standing, the tatters of her dress falling off her back and onto the ground. Her wolf was larger than I remembered, rivaling Ox and Joe and the timber wolf. Her eyes were on fire.
Before she could move again, Elizabeth jumped onto her back, claws digging in. Her head moved viper-quick, and Michelle yelped when fangs sunk into the back of her neck, Elizabeth’s head jerking side to side.
Gordo shouted in warning as the ground underneath our feet began to break apart. I looked back in time to see bright colors swirling in front of Dale as magic gathered at his fi
ngertips. His mouth was still open and his eyes were still white, but he fell to his knees, slamming his hands onto the ground.
There was a deep rumble as the ground split, columns of dirt and rock shooting up around us. The people around me cried out as some of them were knocked off their feet. Kelly raised his gun and fired again, this time aiming for Dale, but the bullet ricocheted off an unseen barrier in front of Dale with a sharp whine.
I grabbed Kelly by the hand and pulled him out of the way just as another column rose where he’d been standing, dirt and grass and rock showering down around us.
Then the children came.
They ran out from between the houses.
They fell from the rooftops.
A couple of them crawled from the lake, water dripping from their little bodies, eyes alight in Omega violet. They weren’t shifted, but hair sprouted and receded along their faces, and their claws were wicked sharp, like little needles.
We broke apart, our group moving in opposite directions. I turned in time to see Michelle knock Elizabeth off her back, the wolf mother landing on the ground with a terrible crash. Joe and Ox both shifted, black and white, yin and yang, and charged Michelle.
Gordo’s tattoos were as bright as I’d ever seen them as Mark charged Dale. For a moment, I thought he’d get there and tear out his throat, but Dale raised his head, eyes wide. Mark stopped in his tracks with a surprised whine before he rose off the ground, levitating a few feet in the air. His body contorted painfully before he slammed into the side of a house, the siding cracking before giving way.
“Oh,” Gordo breathed, “you should not have done that.”
I grabbed Kelly by the hand and pulled him away from the house as Rico followed us, gun raised. “Who do I shoot?” he was screaming. “Who do I shoot?”
I didn’t know.
Rico couldn’t shoot the children as they swarmed the wolves. Patrice cried out in pain when a little girl sunk her claws into his leg. One of the Alphas lifted a child—a boy named Caden who’d smiled brightly whenever he’d seen me—and hurled him into the lake. He landed with a splash and breached the surface, sputtering, already moving back toward the shore.
