Alessio's Fall

by Fel Fern

  “And the other option?” Kelias asked.

  “I’m pointing that barrel at you. Better for the Order to learn you died trying to right your wrongs, than knowing you failed them.”

  Just like Seb. Kelias hadn’t been surprised, so he only nodded, biting his lip. This would be a long drive, and an uncomfortable one. He could ask for no better. “I understand, Master.”

  Rayne shook his head. “You disappointed me, Kelias. The others warned me. They told me not to take you in, because you don’t fit in, that someday you’ll betray us.”

  “Because I’m half-demon?” Kelias couldn’t keep the years of bitterness in his voice.

  “No, it’s because you’re too human,” Rayne corrected. “We hunters cut bits and pieces of our humanity voluntarily so we have an edge against our faster and stronger supernatural enemies. You on the other hand, hold on to your humanity too tightly.”

  To that, Kelias had no answer. Why refute what was true? It only took one night for Alessio to remind Kelias of his human weakness, but he meant every word he told Rayne. He loved the furry bastard. Only a fool would go back to man who’d swore he’d kill Kelias if he ever showed his face again.

  Chapter Eight

  “Beta, a sedan approaching town with two known members of the Order has been sighted by our spies,” reported Jared in a quiet voice.

  Alessio stole a quick look around the meeting room where the pack meeting would commence in half an hour. The Darkfall Mountain Pack held their meetings in two-story residential property they bought with pack funds a few years ago. It served as a place of meetings, gatherings and parties, and a safe house for shifters in need of a place to stay for a while. So far, only one or two pack members were in attendance. Sergio spoke to Michella in the corner of the room, no doubt going over meeting plans, the way he did with Alessio earlier.

  “Who else knows?” Alessio asked Jared, keeping his voice soft, not wanting Sergio to overhear.

  “No one. Michella said you want to deal with this on your own.” Jared’s tone remained neutral. He’d also been with Alessio the night Alessio met Kelias in the bar. Alessio wondered how much the enforcer knew. While he trusted Jared, Alessio didn’t know if Jared would put the needs of the pack first. Any enforcer would, and Alessio himself taught Jared that the pack would be their number one priority.

  “Follow me.” Alessio began to head out of the meeting hall when Sergio called after him.

  “Ales, where are you going? The meeting’s about to start.”

  Alessio met Sergio’s gaze evenly. Fuck, did he hate to lie to his brother, but Sergio didn’t understand. He should though. Sergio placed his needs first when he claimed his mate. He nearly started a war between another rival pack, too, but luck had been on his side. Alessio hoped lady luck would be on his, too, because this was the moment he’d been waiting for.

  “Need to sort out a little shifter trouble at Mark’s bar,” Alessio said smoothly.

  Sergio frowned, and Alessio didn’t miss the curious way Michella studied him. “Can’t you let one of our enforcers handle a fight?”

  “Let him go, brother. We can start first, and Ales can join us after,” Michella said. Giving her a silent nod of thanks, Alessio headed out, with Jared by his side. He got into his car.

  “This new side of you takes getting used to,” Jared muttered, riding shotgun. Alessio didn’t mind the company. Personal experience taught him not to underestimate these human hunters. Besides, Kelias came back here to kill him.

  “Who else is with Kelias?”

  “Rayne. He’s—”

  “I know who Luke Rayne is,” Alessio interrupted with a growl. The veteran hunter had earned a reputation for his number of shifter kills. Unlike the flunkies Alessio dealt with before, it looked like he had an actual fight on his hands. “Looks like the damn half-demon bought the big guns.”

  “Michella also mentioned you requested information about Kelias,” Jared said, hesitating. “Information wasn’t cheap. These fanatics are tight-lipped about their own.”

  “Go on.”

  “Rayne is Kelias’s teacher. He adopted Kelias when he was kid, and trained him, according to rumors.”

  A chill crept down Alessio’s spine, reminding him he knew very little about his mate. “Anything else?” Alessio asked, voice hoarse.

  “I have all the info on file.” Jared paused. “Alessio, what do you plan to do?”

  “Nip this fucking problem in the bud. Did the spies mention if Kelias bought backup?”

  “Only one car was sighted. After the attack, we’ve been tight with security.”

  “Good. Time to get personal.” Alessio flicked a glance at the young enforcer. Jared was like a younger brother to him, but it was Sergio who gave Jared and his younger sister the gift of the wolf bite. “Are you going to help me, or will you be a hindrance?”

  “Fuck, Ales. Michella and you placed me in a difficult position.” Jared expelled a sharp breath. “But you forget. I was also there, with Sergio and you, when Sergio took his mate.”

  “You were,” Alessio answered carefully. They rolled past the town center and started on the main road. Woods blanketed them on either side. He put the car to a stop and got out. Jared followed. If Rayne and Kelias didn’t bring backup, they’d avoid rolling into town. They’d take advantage of camouflage and the environment.

  “Promise me something,” Jared said. They stripped, setting aside their clothes in the car. “If the time comes for me to find my mate, will you do the same?”

  Grinning, Alessio slapped the younger man on the back. “Of course. Come on. Let’s not waste time.”

  They shifted. Once on all fours, Alessio set out toward the cluster of trees. Like every wolf in the pack, he’d run across the length of the woods a thousand times. He didn’t need a map to navigate, to point him in the right direction. They kept near the road, using the trees and foliage to keep themselves hidden. Sighting an abandoned sedan up ahead, Alessio emerged from the trees, ignoring Jared’s bark. It might be a trap, but Alessio didn’t care.

  The need to see Kelias, to let the half-demon tell his side of the story, consumed him. Warily, Alessio circled the vehicle, keeping his distance. Empty. He took a step closer, and his front paws tangling on something. Looking down, Alessio spotted a barely noticeable thin wire. With dismay, he saw the little device stuck on the bottom of the car. A timer. Jared let out a warning snarl, but Alessio didn’t need a reminder.

  Sprinting, Alessio dove for the woods again, just as the bomb went off. The explosion rang through his ears, sending bits and pieces of plastic and metal flying. Fragments hit his side, making Alessio snarl. He tumbled into the ground, body rolling on a downhill slope. Pain flared all over his body. With a shock, he realized the shards were silver. They cut into his fur and skin, spreading poison. Jared came beside him, teeth bared.

  Laughter echoed from somewhere in the woods.

  “Stupid animals always fall for the same trick, don’t they, Kelias?” A man dressed entirely in black body armor emerged from between two tall pines. He was his late thirties or early forties, iron haired, but he had the honed and muscled body of a twenty-something hunter.

  Why didn’t Alessio or Jared smell him? With a pang, Alessio realized Rayne must had concealed his scent with that new formula that rumors mentioned hid a human’s scent from the supernatural. Jared flattened his ears, growling, but Alessio forced himself back on his feet, locking his jaws on Jared’s fur before he leaped blindly at the hunter.

  Metal glinted under the sunlight. Rayne held something on his right hand, pointing it straight at them. Alessio’s heart nearly stopped. It was a mini-Uzi, capable of dishing out 1,200 rounds per minute. If that monstrosity was loaded with silver bullets, they were dead.

  “Master, wait,” a familiar voice rasped. Alessio’s gaze found Kelias’s limber form, climbing down from the branches of the nearest tree.

  “Kelias, I told you to stay hidden,” Rayne snapped.

&n
bsp; Kelias, Alessio couldn’t help but notice, was dressed like his teacher—completely in black. Embroidered on the left breast pocket of his bulletproof vest was the insignia of the Order of the Knife. There was no mistaking what he was now—the enemy, and there was no place for banter or teasing now. No room for intimacy or the remembered fever that took over their bodies when Alessio took him home.

  “This ends now, Kelias. After we kill these mongrels, we move on to the next. I hear the Alpha and Gamma of the pack are in residence,” Rayne said, hand still steadily pointing the gun at them.

  “How? Rayne, that’s suicide,” Kelias whispered.

  “Easy, we use these mutts as baits. Lure them out here, and gun them one by one. Too bad they won’t know their Beta is dead.” Rayne’s hand moved to the trigger.

  “Master, please. Let me do it.”

  Alessio heard the desperation in Kelias’s voice. That gave him hope, certainty Kelias didn’t come here of his own accord to kill Alessio. Still, anger festered in Alessio. The permanent scar across his chest pulsed, remembering the moment Kelias plunged his blade under his sternum. Red-hot fury pulsed in his veins, mixed with remembered desire. God. Alessio didn’t know whether he wanted to kill Kelias or fuck him.

  Rayne hesitated, and Alessio saw something he didn’t think possible. The veteran hunter felt something for Kelias. Maybe even saw Kelias like his son—a weakness Alessio could exploit. Then the lines of Rayne’s face contorted to one recognizable emotion. Anger. He spat on the ground, turning his hate-filled gaze on Alessio’s pathetic form.

  “See what you have done, beast? My own student has turned against me, and the teachings of our house.”

  “I haven’t,” Kelias insisted. “Allow me to amend my wrongs.”

  Rayne shook his head. “I will not fall for your trick, Kelias. Did you say the same thing to your brother Seb, before you killed him to save your fucking animal?”

  Those words sparked something inside Alessio. He recalled the other hunter, who told Kelias to finish the job. Seb, Kelias called him, and he was dead now? Alessio had too many questions he needed answers to.

  “It’s becomes clear to me which side you chose to stand.” Before any of them could react, Rayne drew a second revolver from his back. Without warning, the gun roared. Kelias fell backward with a shocked cry, red spreading across his leg. “I’ll deal with you later.”

  Alessio took that opportunity to move. With a snarl, Alessio willed his body to move. His muscles screamed in protest, but he ignored the pain. Rayne pulled the trigger with a yell. Alessio prayed Jared dodged. Bullets sprayed out, hammering through the air. One lodged itself into his side, but he kept on going.

  “No!” Kelias yelled, hooking one hand on Rayne’s ankle. He tugged, and the Uzi went wild, hitting random targets. Rayne twisted, and stopped firing. Alessio was on him in seconds, ripping out the hand clutching at the Uzi. Rayne screamed as flesh ripped.

  “Alessio, wait,” Kelias rasped, but Alessio didn’t stop. Tearing out Rayne’s throat would render him irredeemable to Kelias’s eyes, and he needed Kelias to be able to forgive him. Instead, Alessio ripped opened Rayne’s vest, revealing what his nose picked up earlier.

  “What—oh, Master,” Kelias whispered.

  Cylinders held together with leather straps peered back at them, so did a timer. Twenty-five seconds.

  Jared roared, telling them to start running. Before Alessio got off Rayne, he clawed at his knees, preventing the hunter from going after them. He jumped off Rayne, pushing at Kelias’s stunned form with his head.

  “Why did it have to end this way?” Kelias whispered. He clutched at a handful of Alessio’s fur, silently demanding answers, but Alessio had none to give. Another nudge sent Kelias running, following after Jared’s direction.

  Exhausted and worn out, Alessio stumbled.

  “No you don’t get the easy way out,” Kelias hissed, he tried to get Alessio back on his feet, but Alessio was too heavy.

  “Here,” Jared said, in human form. With his help, the three of them tried to escape from the radius of the blast. Another explosion went off, smaller than the first. The three of them collapsed on the ground, breathing deeply.

  Alessio felt Kelias pulling him close, hugging him like a huge furry stuffed toy. He should have felt insulted, but he felt the taste of Kelias’s grief, so he left Kelias hold him. Alessio licked at the tears on Kelias’s face, until the woods fell silent again.

  “Ales needs medical attention, and soon,” Jared said.

  Startled, Kelias looked at Alessio, assessing him. “Oh God.”

  “You can’t come with us,” Jared said apologetically, ignoring Alessio’s growl. “Once you take a step on Darkfall, you’re dead. Our Alpha doesn’t know yet, but—”

  A furious spine-chilling howl sounded through the woods, cutting Jared off. Alessio recognized the sound. It was his brother, and he forgot the last time Sergio sounded so furious. Alessio froze when snarls and growls answered Sergio’s call—more of their brothers and sisters.

  “Oh fuck,” Jared muttered. “We’re dead.”

  Alessio had to agree.

  Chapter Nine

  Kelias whipped his head as the growls and snarls grew louder. His spine prickled in warning, but he knew a lost battle when he saw one. Even injured, Alessio used his big furry body to shield Kelias. Golden eyes appeared from between two bushes. Lithe predators with different coats followed.

  Then the wolves of Darkfall came out, muzzles snapping with sharp teeth and saliva. Each one told Kelias without a need for words, they didn’t come here for peace, but to settle old debts. They saw an enemy—him, the bastard responsible for nearly killing their Beta and Gamma.

  A dozen of them formed a rough circle between Alessio, Jared, and him, teeth bared. Kelias only tasted pure undiluted fear when the largest wolf he’d ever seen, with fur the color of night, came forward in a lazy trot toward him. The others made way for him, and Kelias knew without question this was Sergio, Alpha of the Darkfall pack. He swallowed, aware of Alessio pressing close to him, reminding Kelias this monster, no matter how frightening, shared Alessio’s blood.

  One rumbling brassy growl sent Jared backing way, ears flattened, but Alessio firmly stood his ground. A slender female wolf, her coat a shade lighter than the Alpha, like Alessio’s, intervened. Sergio let out a harsh growl. The female didn’t back away. She held her ground, but didn’t interrupt further, respecting the Alpha’s decision.

  To Kelias’s unexpected shock, Alessio shifted, turning back to human. He winced seeing the blood stark against his skin. “Sergio,” Alessio rasped. Not looking like he could stand, Alessio remained on his knees, and it hurt Kelias to see the proud Beta beg. Alessio didn’t beg, not for anyone. “Leave Kelias out of this. He’s under my protection. Whoever lays a fucking paw on him has to deal with me.”

  Alessio’s proclamation made the others tense. Kelias didn’t know much about shifter laws, but he could tell what Alessio did was unheard of. He swallowed, hand closing over Alessio’s shoulder. “Alessio, you don’t need to protect me,” he whispered.

  Turning, Alessio gave him a snarl. “I’ll deal with you later, little demon. We have a score to settle. For now, shut up. I’m trying to save your life.”

  “Are you fucking crazy? I just tried to kill you. Twice,” Kelias said, flabbergasted.

  What the hell was Alessio thinking? Kelias couldn’t understand his motives, but he admitted he still couldn’t forget the mind-numbing fear that swept through him when he saw Rayne’s suicide vest.

  For a certainty, Kelias knew he couldn’t let Alessio die. God, their close brush with death gave Kelias refreshing insight. He didn’t want to die either, because what good was being dead? After defying all his beliefs and freeing himself from the clutches of the Order, Kelias went downhill from there. He’d already taken the first step toward independence and the freedom to make his own choices. Kelias deserved to be selfish, to want it all, to make amends so Alessio and
he could go back to where they left off. Could they?

  “Not voluntarily. Go on, Kelias. Lie to my fucking face. Tell me you hate me so much, you want me dead,” Alessio hissed, challenge in his golden eyes.

  Despite the inappropriate situation, Kelias couldn’t help but be drawn to the ferocity in Alessio’s gaze, or the savage but fucking gorgeous way he looked, naked and bloodied. Proud, but he had every right to be. How could he not? Alessio was Beta of his pack. He did what he could to protect those who mattered to him, even to go as far as defying his Alpha.

  “I can’t,” Kelias whispered. He was aware they had watchers witnessing their little argument, but they had faded in the background until all that mattered was Alessio and him.

  “Why is that?” Alessio’s gaze dipped lower now, focusing on Kelias’s cock, hidden under the bulge of his pants. Kelias groaned when Alessio reached out, pinching him through the fabric, as if to say “his.”

  “Because I fucking love you.” Christ. Did Kelias just utter those words, profess his love, in front of a bunch of shifters, the folks the Order considered their enemy? Heat colored his cheeks. Frustration welled inside him at Alessio’s cocky grin.

  “Not hard to admit, was it?” Alessio reached out, hand closing on the back of Kelias’s neck, bringing him close to a kiss.

  Kelias wished he could tell Alessio how often he dreamt of this moment. To taste the Beta’s lips again, to feel his sweat-soaked body grinding against his, Alessio’s gorgeous massive dick, hard, the tip glistening, rubbing against his belly. Kelias knew his own cock swelled beneath the denim, eager to be free. Alessio tore his mouth away from Kelias, leaving Kelias hanging, hungering for me.

  To his shame, Kelias uttered, “Please.”

  Alessio gave him a small smile, and then cocked his head. “Does that convince you enough, Sergio?”