Stronger than Truth

by Dakila Reed

  Wayne knew he was reaching his last round. He quickly threw the guns and charged with bare hands. He grabbed one man, snapped his neck and threw the deadweight back at them. Alphas in their wolf form found themselves thrown into the air, their pained whimpers joined the howls of the wind. A few more grappling, legs breaking, bones jutting out from sockets, and Wayne was a huffing, snarling mess. Any hits he received barely registering to his brain.

  “Get the fuck out of my way!” he growled, feeling the burn in his gums. He glanced over his shoulder and jumped to the awning of The Prey Ground’s main entrance. From a distance, Wayne could see movements from faraway. Tiny dots moving. Tiny dots still fighting, trying. He glanced over his shoulder, the arrival of the establishment’s backups pounding into the walls.

  He threw one last angry glare at the heaps of carcasses he made and jumped. He landed on all his paws, his claws digging deeply into the snow. The freezing wind was catching up, it brushed by his thick silver coat. He howled into the air, bit and took the small thermal kit dangling off a broken arm. At full strength, he barreled to the burning coldness and expansive sucking dimness. Hoping, praying that Liam and Laurent were still alive.

  * * * *

  The cold seeping into his nerves was nothing. The heavy fog of mist, darkness, and the air blowing mercilessly weren’t even the cause of the spreading pin pricks into his chest. Wayne shook the frostings clinging heavily to his coat. Every step forward weighed by ten inches of powdery snow. He tossed a glare at the dim sky. This wilderness was suffocating enough to suck one’s sanity. Was he going into the opposite direction? All Wayne knew was he had to find Liam and Laurent in this freezing hell.

  He huffed, his breath scalding against his nose. He trudged into a steeper portion of the landscape. The last few chaotic paw prints he’d been following had long since disappeared. The scents that would have been a great help were overpowered by the expansive wetness. The fast falling of snow was smoldering, concealing scents beneath it down to the ground. Still, Wayne held on to the traces, hints, and scents left in the floating moisture. The fact that he was scared… made everything so fuzzy. His senses were hyper yet shitty at the same time. This vast white, this snow-covered expanse was so huge and endless he knew. Yet feeling it that way was obstructive, intrusive to his hunting.

  Let them survive. Let them survive… Wayne chanted in his head. Five steps forward and he noticed a light brown female wolf almost buried into the blanket of snow. Wayne bowed his head in front of the female omega. She tried her best. She was a really brave one.

  Goddamnit! It was obvious not all had survived. Not all would survive. Please. Let most of them live… they deserved better than this!

  Wayne continued trudging away. His left front foot abruptly stopped mid-air. His hackles rose. His chest rumbled. And before he knew it he was speeding towards a hill of frozen snow. It was Liam. And another disgusting scent of an alpha on the same trail.

  He forced his tense muscles to move. For a long while now the scents of Liam and Laurent with that sharp alpha scent have already been stagnant. Wayne’s mind was procuring morbid thoughts after morbid thoughts.

  No. No. No…

  “I’m cold.”

  “Baby I know. Just close your eyes, think of warm things.”

  “Warm things?”

  “Yeah like… a really huge fireplace or your favorite milk and cereal. Or that warm chocolate we shared the other day.”

  “I like chocolate.”

  “I know… I know. We’ll have lots of chocolate. It will be warm soon enough. Everything will be alright.”

  For a moment Wayne thought he was hearing things. That he’d gone insane from the burn of this freezing desert. Yet the soothing voice, that soft hum, he would know that everywhere. He would recognize that anywhere.

  Carefully, Wayne climbed the frozen inclined plane. And at the edge he almost fell. The relief of seeing Liam with Laurent didn’t even last a second. Liam had plastered his back against the freezing rock. Where he was standing was just a few inches wide. And below was a dark, sickening abyss of cold blackness.

  Wayne gave a soft whine. Almost immediately Liam looked up. And the tearful flood of relief in those eyes stabbed Wayne hard in the chest. He gave another soft whine and stepped a few feet back. He dropped the thermal kit he’d been biting the entire time and shifted back to his human form. It took a couple of minutes longer than when releasing his wolf. The pain in his body was staggering. But he forced himself to pry the thermal kit open. A black cold resistant cloak fell off the narrow kit. A pair of thin thermal footwear also dropped to the ground. Wayne picked and wore them in record breaking time. A few minutes later he was back to the edge, carefully sizing how long the frozen snow would hold his weight.

  “Liam?”

  The man looked back up with a small smile. “You did find me. You’re slow though.”

  “Jeez,” Wayne grumbled, trying to lighten the engulfing fear hammering in his chest. “Sorry, my gown doesn’t fit well enough.”

  Liam laughed. He actually laughed out loud, beside a deathly cliff, with his child in his arms. And Wayne was laughing too. The cold must have frozen a part of their brains.

  The little bundle in Liam’s arms squirmed. Even in a quiet voice, Wayne heard him. “It’s Uncle Regem right? Can I open my eyes now?”

  Liam kissed the boy’s ear. “No Laurent. Keep them close.”

  Wayne tried to move an inch forward while flattening himself at the edge. “I really salute you Liam. You got me. Wearing a coat by some random guard’s, it didn’t even cross my mind. Obviously anyone would think someone’s already captured you. That filthy smell is wrapped all over you.”

  “Yeah? I stole it from one of the men hunting me earlier. What can I do? We need to compensate for muscles,” Liam said as he tried to move a bit. Little rocks rolled off the edge. The sound of the rocks rolling and rolling to oblivion told them falling down was not an option. “Although finding ourselves over here isn’t in the actual plan…”

  Wayne moved a little bit more, sensing the strength beneath him. He looked left and right. There was nowhere to leverage himself where Liam stood. “Hang on there. I’ll look for something—”

  “Wayne,” Liam cut in. His tone calm and collected. “You have to take Laurent now. I can lift him up to you.”

  Swallowing, Wayne ransacked his brain for something more. Anything to solve this.

  “My arms are tired. My hands are numb,” Liam cheerily said. “At this rate I won’t be able to hold on to any rope. The snow beneath me is softening.” He darted to his son. “So Laurent, I have to lift you to Uncle Regem so I can rest my arms for a bit. Alright?”

  “Then you’ll follow up?” the boy’s voice croaked hopefully.

  Liam smiled. God, Wayne’s eyes began to fog. He quickly wiped the wetness that fell down his cheek.

  “Yes. I’ll be right behind you.”

  With Wayne’s heart hammering out of his throat, he waited at the edge. Liam very carefully lifted his child with arms shaking from obvious numbness and fatigue. “Keep your eyes closed Laurent, you’re almost there.”

  Even in the cold, Wayne saw the gleam of sweat dampen Liam’s forehead. Liam was trying his hardest, biting down hard on his lower lip as he tried lifting Laurent into Wayne’s waiting hands. Liam huffed and blew out a strangled laugh. “My baby has grown so much. I can no longer carry you.”

  The boy with his eyes closed smiled proudly. His little mitten-clad hands still tortuously half a meter away from Wayne’s hold.

  After a few more failed attempts, Liam pinned Wayne’s gaze with something akin to fierce determination. Liam would do anything to get his child away from this place. And somehow Wayne knew, he could see it in Liam’s eyes. Liam would risk throwing Laurent with the last of his strength to Wayne’s direction. But a force like that inevitably would pull Liam off balance. Liam would fall.

  Wayne shook his head, his throat closing painfully. “Wait a godda
mn second Liam—”

  “Take care of Laurent.”

  It happened so fast. Liam heaved his child upwards. Moving by reflex, Wayne instantly pulled the kid into his arms. His eyes growing wide as he watched Liam stagger. And something inside him broke seeing Liam’s grateful smile as he began to fall.

  Laurent squirmed free from Wayne’s crushing hold. The kid looked left and right, sweeping the vast emptiness and finding his father nowhere. The kid’s eyes watered. His lips trembled. Wayne would never forget how loud and heart breaking it sounded.

  “Papa! Papa! Papaaaaaa!”

  The boy was sobbing against his chest. Shaking, whimpering. All the while Wayne was engulfed in a numbing empty silence. The wind picked up, whipping them further from the edge. The icy winds coursing through the forests of pines from a distance howled as they sought their own freedom. He couldn’t understand why the winds were so pained. So sad. He was confused by this empty feeling. And then he realized he was the one howling. He was the one so pained he didn’t know what to do with it.

  Against every fiber of Wayne, he gently scooped Laurent in his arms, stood and began to walk away.

  He glanced over his shoulder one more time. He shut his eyes tight.

  Heart bleeding, Wayne refused to mourn for the second cruel time around.

  “Wow… why is the sun still up there?” Laurent asked, shielding his squinting eyes with his hand.

  “Because we’re not in Sierra Via anymore,” Wayne replied. “We’re in Sierra Fonte. It’s less cold and it’s not dark winter all the time.”

  The boy nodded, looking at the front with a serious expression. Wayne couldn’t help but glance down with worry to the little boy walking beside him. The kid refused to hold hands, defiantly said he could walk on his own. With the kid’s strong demeanor, Wayne could see the cracks in between. How Laurent would crane his neck when seeing a father and son walking on the streets through the car windows. How Laurent would unconsciously tug at the yellow scarf around his neck. And how in his sleep, the boy would call for his father. This kid was obviously afraid of many things, but despite that Laurent refused to be clingy. And for all that Wayne wanted to watch over him all the more.

  In front of them was a high-rise. Walls of fiberglass glinted blue with the bright skies. The little dancing fountain in front of the building made the kid smile. The water was gleaming under the midnoon sun, the resounding rush cooling and warming at the same time. Laurent ran to the railing, extending his little hand out. The drops of water made the kid giggle and Wayne realized he was chuckling with him. He moved behind the kid and ruffled his brown curls.

  “Let’s get going?”

  Laurent looking up asked, “Inside the building?”

  “Yes.”

  “Why?”

  “I’ll meet my boss.”

  “Your boss?” Laurent, losing interest with the fountain began to match Wayne’s pace. Obviously Wayne was walking much slower for the kid’s sake. “You’re working here in Sierra Fonte?”

  Wayne frowned a bit, pushing the bluish revolving doors so he and Laurent could get in. It was hard to explain. “Hmmm… my work has a lot of bases. Here is one of their headquarters. My boss happens to be here. So I have to report to her.”

  “Is she nice?”

  Wayne laughed as he pushed his thumb into the print sensor. It beeped thrice before flashing a green light. He took the boy’s hand this time and Laurent let him. They walked into an empty hallway where the sounds were muted. Right at the end, a huge lobby greeted them. People in all ages, ethnicities and build, were walking in all directions, whispering into their phones or reading files as they went along.

  “My boss? She could be nice if she wanted to.”

  He led Laurent into the elevator. Silently, they both waited for their stop. Laurent was staring at the blinking numbers in front of them, awed and somehow looking overwhelmed.

  “You’re not leaving me here, are you?”

  That quiet question made Wayne blank for a second. He turned and hurriedly knelt in front of the boy, tugging the boy’s shoulder gently. He looked deeply into the boy’s worried blue eyes. He hoped the kid could see that the thought never even crossed his mind.

  “No. We went in here together. We’re leaving together.”

  Laurent chewed on his lower lip before nodding. “Okay.”

  This time, as they exited the elevator to floor twenty, Laurent was the one who held on to Wayne’s hand first. Wayne took it gently, protectively, still shocked and marveling at the sensation of how fragile and little the hand he was holding felt.

  Gray carpet silenced their steps. The smell of strong coffee prominent and was going stronger the closer they got to their destination. The hallway was quiet though somewhere, a phone was ringing. Muted television in a news channel added into the whispers of little noises in the air.

  At the end of the hall, a door was ajar. Wayne pushed it open and led Laurent first inside. There were a few lined black couches by the wall. Plastic green plants in between added a splash of color to the otherwise monochromatic hues. In front of them was a smaller almost bare office made of glass walls. Wayne directed Laurent into one of the huge seats. He bent a little and threw a thumb over his shoulder.

  “You see that lady in that glass room? That’s Arabella, my boss. I’m going to talk to her privately. Stay here for a few minutes.”

  Little Laurent glanced over Wayne’s shoulder. Apparently the kid was impressed by the glass walls and the very minimal room. The woman was behind her white table. Her huge silver laptop took one side and beside it was a green bonsai the shape of a heart. The room was all white, not a painting, not a clutter visible. Laurent’s eyes were wide and his mouth was in a little ‘o’.

  “She’s pretty,” the kid breathed out. “She’s your boss?”

  “Yup. And she might scold me big time and I will be very embarrassed if you hear her chewing my as— scolding me.”

  Perplexed, the kid cocked his head to the side. “You’re huge. Why would she scold you?”

  “Because… of a lot of things. Wait for me here.”

  “Okay.”

  Once by the office, Wayne knocked his knuckles lightly to the spotless glass doors before entering. It looked almost invisible to the naked eye. The woman in a black suit raised her chilling green eyes off her computer and raised a brow. Her lips were bloody red, going even redder with the flash of her white teeth as she smiled. Wayne could still see sharks instead.

  “Regem Wayne,” the woman started, clasping her hands just below her chin. “Pleasure to meet you. In person again.”

  Wayne took a step closer to the pristine table and dropped his necklace. “Just came here to deliver this directly as instructed. The scenes I captured will back up the report I’ve sent ahead before arriving here.”

  Arabella, head of the AD Shadow Corps, thoughtfully picked the necklace off the surface. She dangled the brown, thin leather cord around her dainty fingers, letting the pendant with the micro recorder move like a pendulum. Her eyes never left Wayne though and in her gaze were a storm of queries that Wayne had been anticipating.

  His undercover mission had been complete. Technically, it was a success. His goal of gathering evidence was attained. For some reason though, Wayne felt like an utter failure. Only a few escapees from The Prey Ground reached far out enough of the border to meet an AD rescue group. A group that was apparently informed by his mysterious informant ‘Sweetie’ at the last minute. The blizzard at that time pushed the group further back, arriving later than they would have wanted. Add the fact that Wayne had failed to see who might be the SA guest that was present in the gathering. On top of it all, Liam Bridges was still missing, or his body still not recovered. While his mission for that undercover did not include saving omegas or stopping the whole establishment’s operation, Wayne felt restless. It was just that data gathering. And he fulfilled it. The proof was now in his superior’s hand. But he was empty. Residing in his chest was
an engulfing, suffocating type of void.

  The woman tucked the necklace into a small safe under her table and asked, “How are you Wayne?”

  Wayne stilled. Of all the things he was expecting it wasn’t this. Arabella was a ruthless boss. She didn’t care for feelings as long as the job was completed. There were times an ice would have been warmer than her. But her green eyes looked genuinely concerned that whatever sarcasm in his tongue slipped away unuttered.

  “Fine. But I could be better,” he grunted. Wayne studied her expression before adding, “I’d like you to make my status unavailable. For how long I don’t know.”

  “Oh…?” Her perfectly shaped brows rose expectantly.

  “I just can’t go back… yet.” He threw Laurent a look and the boy raised a hand and waved enthusiastically. The boy’s dangling feet a few inches off the floor were also swinging. “There’s that kid and I…”

  “Laurent, yes,” Arabella repeated in a quiet voice. “He’s the son of the man in your report. Honestly, this Liam, he sounds like an amazing person.”

  Wayne just stared back. What was he supposed to say? His report was already filled with Liam’s name from the front page to the very last.

  She briefly glanced at her computer and said, “We’re still looking for him.”

  “Yeah? Any news?” Wayne asked though he already knew the answer.

  The woman shook her head once. “I’m sorry Wayne.”

  Snorting, Wayne rammed his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. “What are you sorry for? This is weird. I’ve prepared myself for a beating actually. Why are you being out of character?”

  The woman glanced at the little boy outside. Wayne followed her line of gaze. She gave a small wave and when Laurent shyly waved back, the woman chuckled softly. “He’s a beautiful kid. Are you going to adopt him?”

  Stunned, Wayne opened his mouth but no words came out.

  “Realistically speaking, in case Liam Bridges is now dead frozen in the snow.” That was the usual Arabella.