by Dean Murray
It didn't much matter whether I fought the werewolf on two legs or four. I'd die just the same in either form, but I didn't have it in me to just passively wait for it to kill me. Mindful of my difficulties transforming earlier that evening, I reached for my beast with all of the rage I could muster and felt the change rip through me with a level of violence and power that I hadn't realized was possible.
For a split second that seemed to last forever I felt sharp stabs of pain as my bones were forced into new shapes, shapes that they'd never been meant to hold. It was just like the first few times I'd transformed, back before habit and exposure had desensitized me to the agony. I stumbled slightly and then shook my head as I stepped forward.
I was on my second step before I realized that I was still on two legs rather than four. Everything was wrong, my point of view was too high to be a wolf and my nose wasn't sensitive enough. Alec had caused my body to fail me again. I opened my mouth and the scream of rage that escaped was wrong too. My voice was deeper, almost alien in timber.
I was between Ben and the werewolf so I looked down for a split second and took in the massive, hybrid body that had replaced my normal form.
A flicker of movement was the only warning I got. I threw myself forward, desperate to intercept the werewolf before it got to Ben.
I was fast, much faster than I'd been as a wolf lately, but the werewolf was even faster and I didn't have any of the right kind of reflexes for this fight.
I hit the werewolf with all of the force I could muster, clipping it on the left side as I drove the talons on my right hand into its chest. The answering blow from the werewolf opened up the right side of my back but I succeeded, against all odds, in knocking it to the ground.
I latched onto its arm with my fangs and left arm, and then tried to use my grip on its chest to control it, but it seemed unfazed by the pain and it was simply too strong for me to control by brute force.
I felt bright ribbons of pain tear through me as its fangs latched onto my shoulder and then our positions were reversed and it was on top of me. There was noise from out in the hall, but I was too concentrated on the wicked, double-edged claws slowly descending towards my throat to worry about anything that far away. I got both legs up so that they were between the werewolf and me, but it wasn't enough to do more than just slightly slow its progress. I was still only seconds from having my throat ripped out.
James came out of nowhere, hitting the werewolf in a blur of motion that pulled its claws back away from me without actually managing to bowl it over.
The werewolf used the force of James' attack to rock back on its feet, lifting me with one hand in an almost unimaginable display of strength as James fought to keep its left arm immobilized. With my right shoulder still being ground to pieces by the creature's fangs, I wasn't in any position to use my right arm, but I sank my feet talons in even deeper and pushed in an effort to keep it from bringing its right arm around to savage James.
It was a poor kind of stalemate, one that could only last a few seconds until blood loss weakened me too much to continue the fight, but Dominic hit the werewolf a second later as it spun around to drive James into a wall.
Dom was incredibly small against the vast bulk of the werewolf, but she clawed her way up its back nearly to its neck before it threw itself backwards, impaling her on a broken two-by-four from where it had come through the exterior wall.
We hit so hard that the sliver of wood was pushed all the way through Dominic and into the werewolf.
Dominic let out a low hiss of pain as the werewolf started to pull itself off of the improvised spear, and then suddenly a slender figure stepped into my view and put a pistol up against the werewolf's head.
Three shots rang out in less than a second and then we all collapsed into a bloody heap as the werewolf's jaws finally relaxed and released my shoulder. A second later Kristin was trying to pull me back to my feet.
"We've got to get it off of Dom or she'll suffocate."
James had taken a pretty good beating too, but he was in better shape than I was, so once I'd managed to roll out of the way, he and Kristin pushed the dead werewolf off of Dom. As James pulled Dom off of the two-by-four she convulsed and then melted back into her normal shape.
The change slowed the bleeding, but we needed to get her to Donovan soon or she wouldn't make it. Kristin didn't waste any time unhooking Ben's IV.
"I don't know where Jasmin is, but we need to get Ben out of here right now or she'll never see him again."
I found that my voice was working again. "How did you know to come help us?"
"I've spent the last hour or so reliving this attack again and again. Dream Stealer shoved me into some kind of endless loop and kept me there until after the attack started so that I couldn't warn anyone."
Kristin finished disconnecting Ben from the machinery around his bed and then motioned me over. "Look, I don't know who you are, but can you at least pick him up and help carrying him out? If Jasmin's not here then she's either dead or hurt somewhere and we don't have very long to find her."
James' chuckle was darkly humorous. "Let me make introductions. Kristin, this is the new and improved Jasmin. Don't piss her off; her bite just got a whole lot worse than her bark."
Chapter 25
Jessica Engel
Graves Estate
Sanctuary, Utah
Wyatt had just returned from Salt Lake and the attack interrupted a truly spectacular fight. One second Wyatt and I were yelling at each other in a way that we both knew would lead to an equally amazing make out session and the next thing I knew Carson had charged into Wyatt's room.
"Alec just announced that an attack is imminent, we need to get you both to the garage!"
Somehow I hadn't believed that we could really be attacked, not now that Alec had so many shape shifters here at the estate. I was so shocked that I followed Wyatt and Carson nearly a dozen steps down the hall before I remembered Andrew.
"Wait, I need to get my dad! He probably doesn't even know that we're under attack."
Wyatt didn't hesitate, turning back towards me, but Carson grabbed his shoulder.
"We can't risk it. I'll send Grayson to get him, but you're too important to be running around like this. If Puppeteer has sent a couple dozen werewolves they'll kill almost everyone here before Alec even gets his people organized."
For all that I'd been thinking just a moment before that an attack was impossible, there was something about Carson's statement that rang true. He was right; anyone not at the garage by the time the attack got here was probably going to die.
For a split second I almost started back down the hall towards them. Andrew was my father, but he was also the next best thing to a stranger. A few months of awkward conversations wasn't enough to create a real family bond and I was the most scared I'd been since the last werewolf fight I'd been in.
The fear was incredibly real, it had me shaking, but I set all of that aside and shook my head. "I'm not leaving it to Grayson, who knows if he's even as close as we are to my dad's room. I'm going."
As I turned and headed the other direction, I saw Wyatt remove Carson's hand from his shoulder and start towards me.
The house was a complete zoo. People I barely knew were running everywhere, some trying to get to the garage, some trying to make sure a loved one was safe. We were still thirty seconds away from Andrew's room when I heard the first few werewolves enter the house. Between the sound of walls buckling and the screams from people who hadn't made it far enough away in time, it was impossible to miss the arrival of the creatures that'd been sent to kill us.
This wing of the house had a series of large open rooms that each of the bedrooms opened off of. Andrew met us just outside his room in the open area where he and I had spent so many hours over the last few months trying to get reacquainted. His face was white and I suddenly realized that he was more worried about me than he was himself. I got only a glimpse of his expression before the lights we
nt out, plunging the entire room into darkness.
There was another crash, this time from the direction of Andrew's room, and Wyatt and Carson transformed in a roar of power as they stepped between Andrew and whatever was in his room. A second later Grayson appeared out of the room, but my momentary relief at seeing him was quickly soured by the expression on his face.
"We need to move. I heard two of them coming around the corner of the house just before I ducked into Andrew's room."
I grabbed the back of Andrew's wheelchair and started pushing him back the way we'd just come. Carson slipped by me and took point as Wyatt and Grayson caught up to us. Before we'd even made it all of the way through the next open space, another crash sounded behind us and Grayson swore.
"Keep moving, I'll try to delay it."
I pushed harder, trying to squeeze a little more speed out of my tired body, but Andrew's chair wasn't really built for speed and my two-legged form wasn't much better. We dodged around an artfully laid out loveseat and couch and then I heard the one sound that was guaranteed to make our escape impossible.
There was another crash, this one coming from ahead of us, and then I heard the heavy footprints of another werewolf stalking back towards us as its dark, earthy scent preceded it. Grayson swore again and then I heard him pushing Wyatt ahead of him.
"It's the one I smelled a couple of seconds ago. Puppeteer is controlling them, maybe not completely, but enough to trap us."
Carson didn't say anything, he just grunted and charged the werewolf ahead of us. It was a long shot, but I figured that if I could help Carson keep the werewolf occupied that there was a chance that Andrew could slip past it.
I abandoned Andrew's chair and jumped forward, letting a transformation explode out of me while I was still in midair without bothering to strip out of my clothes first. I hit the ground with all four feet underneath me, and sprang towards Carson, hoping the whole time that I'd get there in time.
Before that instant I would have said that there wasn't any single hybrid who could stand up to a werewolf, even a small one, and live. Seeing Carson in action I suddenly realized that, while he wasn't quite the werewolf's match, he was closer than I ever would have believed was possible.
Carson moved forward in jerky fits and starts, slashing the werewolf's arms before ducking backwards to avoid its ripostes. It wasn't until I was mid-leap that I realized that there was a method to his retreats. He'd always backed away to the left, which meant he'd gradually turned the werewolf around, which was the only reason that I had even a tiny chance of landing my current lunge towards the werewolf's flank.
The werewolf whirled around, almost faster than I could follow, but I managed to get a piece of its left arm. Its right arm came around in a blur to scrape me off, but Carson stepped in closer and sank his claws into its arm. It wasn't a disabling attack, in fact it barely even slowed the werewolf down, but that fraction of a second was all I needed to relax my jaws slightly so that the werewolf's own spin knocked me free, but not before I'd ripped a healthy chunk of flesh out of its triceps.
Despite the failing lights, I caught a flash of the other fight as I sailed through the air, and it didn't look good. The other vacuum had both Wyatt and Grayson on the defensive and while it was bleeding from a couple of pretty good slashes, both of them were bleeding even more profusely.
I hit the wall hard enough that I saw stars, but I managed to land right side up and I spun around just in time to see Carson take a wicked blow to the right side of his chest. My follow-up spring bought Carson enough time to dart back out of range, but it was obvious to me that we didn't have much longer.
I didn't manage to put teeth on the werewolf this time, and it raked a claw along my side as I tried to evade its follow-up attack. Carson attacked again, this time ducking under a swipe and then lunging forward, sinking his talons into the werewolf's legs. Carson scaled the werewolf, climbing up it like some kind of massive, moving tree, but he'd mistimed his initial move and he didn't make it far enough around. Werewolves had the same weakness to attacks from behind that hybrids had, but Carson was far enough out of position that the werewolf was able to connect with its elbow as it threw itself back into one of the large marble columns that helped support the vaulted ceiling.
I heard Carson's ribs break from more than a dozen feet away. He lost his hold on the werewolf and dropped to the ground as I tried to get in and latch onto something vital for the third time.
Carson yelled out in pain as I managed to tear another chunk of muscle out of the back of the werewolf's left leg. Carson rolled back to his feet, but there was a hitch to his movements that told me some of the ribs had separated and were digging into his lungs. The werewolf's backfist was more fist than claws, but it still sent me tumbling head over paws into a couch that was nearly destroyed in the process.
Carson didn't instantly dart in for another exchange and the werewolf seemed happy to catch its breath as well. As I pulled myself back to my feet I noticed a stabbing pain every time I breathed. None of us had made it through the last minute or so unscathed, but the werewolf was winning by points. It was just too massive and tough. It would kill us long before we'd manage to wear it down enough to create the kind of opening we'd need to end the fight.
Carson circled slightly and the werewolf honored the greater threat he represented by turning slightly so that it still faced him, but I knew it didn't really matter. Our opponent was just too fast for me to get inside its defenses.
Carson's expression changed slightly, his broad face settled into something that I thought was calm, but I wasn't sure. It was so rare to see a hybrid in a state of peace that I could have been mistaken, but a second later Carson threw himself at the werewolf in an explosion of violence that brought it down onto one knee. He hit the leg I'd injured earlier with both sets of talons, and then grabbed onto its left arm with his claws and fangs.
It was the perfect setup for me and I took it with reflexes that I'd finally buckled down and spent the last two months rewiring. I sailed through the air in what felt like slow motion, expecting the whole time that the werewolf would shrug Carson off and then rip me out of the air, but it didn't happen. Carson kept hold of the werewolf despite the claws that were turning his chest into gruesome ribbons.
A split second later my jaws latched onto the werewolf's neck and I hit hard enough and at just the right angle to snap its neck.
It was unprecedented, and I felt a flush of pride wash through me right up until I realized that Carson wasn't pulling himself back to his feet. I heard a scream of rage and loss and then turned just in time to see Wyatt throw himself at the second werewolf.
It was almost like Grayson was anticipating Wyatt's suicidal attack. The massive hybrid stepped in, taking a nasty set of slashes across his shoulder as he sank his claws into the werewolf's throat.
A second later the werewolf was collapsing in a spray of blood and Grayson was dragging Wyatt back out of range of its death throes. Andrew was next to me, somehow having managed not to be taken out by the flying debris.
"Check on Carson, I'll keep moving forward while you guys triage."
I stumbled over to Carson, melting back into my normal form as I went. Carson had abandoned his hybrid shape as well, a reflexive, last-ditch attempt by his body to heal the damage and keep him alive, but I could tell even without checking his pulse that he wasn't going to make it.
His face was still calm, but he pulled me down to my knees with surprising strength so that he could whisper into my ear.
"You have to keep Wyatt alive. Everything depends on it now. Be patient with him, eventually he'll tell you the truth, he's too good of a man to do otherwise."
I watched the light go out of Carson's eyes and then stumbled back to my feet, wading through wreckage and blood motivated only by the hope that Wyatt's injuries weren't likewise fatal.
Chapter 26
'Ash' Hunt
Graves Estate
Sanctuary, Utah
/> The various lights scattered about the estate, some working, some not, gave the landscape an unearthly feel. The lights that were still working flickered occasionally, sometimes because of a nearby werewolf, sometimes just because of the sheer damage that had been done to the manor house.
A dull red glow gave lie to the idea that portions of the house might be saved still. We didn't have the manpower to fight a fire, not while we still had to worry about an attack from the Coun'hij at any moment. Firefighters were out of the question as well. Alec had gone silent just after the attack started, but I knew he wouldn't want to expose any more innocents to harm than we absolutely had to.
There weren't many people who would be able to watch thousands of years of history go up in flames, taking with them the multimillion-dollar structure that had housed them, and not feel compelled to do something to save it all, but for Alec money really had been...was...just a tool.
I saw hulking figures approaching through the near darkness and I flipped the selector on my rifle to full-auto. It was probably Isaac and the others that I'd sent back into the house for survivors, but I couldn't be sure, not at this range, not with the breeze blowing their direction. Besides, if Alec wasn't with them, then my authority was going to evaporate like so much smoke.
I'd have given responsibility for this mess over to someone else in a heartbeat if I'd thought that they had a prayer of getting us all out alive, but the pack leaders were either missing or injured and the rest of the survivors weren't likely to do any better than me when it came to keeping everyone in one piece.
If I had to shoot Isaac to keep everyone else in line then I'd do it and deal with the consequences and regret later.
Less than a minute later the figures had gotten close enough to confirm that it was Isaac and the others and I relaxed slightly. Every one of them was bloodied and obviously exhausted, but he hadn't lost anyone and it looked like they'd found some survivors. I waited until they were close enough that we stood a chance of not being overheard before I spoke.
