Cutting Ties

by C. M. Torrens

  She heard Dante’s snarl, and the hybrid flew out of the van and across the parking lot. His massive black head looked her over briefly, and she could almost hear him asking her if she was okay. They weren’t words, really, just a wave of curious concern through the weave.

  Another hybrid smashed into the van, rocking the whole vehicle. There was no time to respond to Dante’s question. Dante moved quickly, grabbed her by the scruff with his teeth, and pulled her from the van as it started to tip over on them both. They scrambled out of the way and Dante snarled, intercepting a hybrid as it rushed toward her.

  She spun around at the sound of a hiss that didn’t belong to pack, and a hybrid leaped at her. River’s training kicked in automatically. She ducked under the lashing claws and sank her teeth deep into the inner thigh of the creature before leaping out of reach. She choked on the bad blood as it clogged at her throat. Her heart raced as the hybrid came at her again. She jumped into him this time, using her weight to throw it to the ground. Digging her claws in, she snapped her jaws, ready to close in on its throat. It blocked her path with its arm. She snarled and jumped away, taking the arm with her.

  She heard it crack under her jaws, and the beast howled. Trevor was suddenly at her side and ripped open its throat with his teeth with one quick bite. She felt Dante tap the weave and spun around as he called them to him like a tingling beacon that connected them all. It was an instant driving desire to find their alpha. Evan plowed into her, pushing her along as more hybrids rushed toward them.

  The Nephilim were trying to regroup as they intercepted a group of the monsters trying to force their way inside the other side building, but River couldn’t tell if they were having much success in the madness around them. Yips, snarls, curses, and screams filled the air. The sickening scent of hybrid blood and shifter had her blood pumping and instincts twitching for a fight.

  Angel’s heavy, Lazarus, barreled through a large crowd toward them as River raced toward Dante and Angel. They had taken up a new position with their backs to the building to help keep them from being attacked from behind. Trevor and Lazarus rushed in front of them, clearing a path through the chaos to Dante and Angel.

  Screams swept over the battlefield. Many Nephilim lay bleeding on the ground around them, but she couldn’t tell if they were mortal wounds or not and didn’t really care.

  She raced past Angel and skidded to a stop behind Dante, his beast far more intimidating than hers. She could feel Dante working the weave as he communicated with Trevor and Evan, the pair responding to his careful orchestration of their movements by ripping into two hybrids attacking a pair of young Nephilim. She couldn’t sense Angel, but clearly he was doing the same as Lazarus and his second heavy, Santana, worked to clear the area around them.

  The window shattered behind them. Glass, blood, and hybrids flew through a second-story window and dropped down among them. River yipped as a claw lashed through the air and sent her flying. She rolled to keep from hitting the ground too hard and looked up to see two hybrids running toward her. She scrambled to her feet and raced away.

  “Here!” a voice shouted.

  River turned to see Velasco, Odin’s son, waving at her from the doorway of the estate. She made a sharp turn and leaped through the door after Velasco. He slammed the door behind her, and a hybrid smashed into it with a thump. She backed away from the door, and the hybrids beat at it again and again.

  Velasco locked the door and propped a chair under the doorknob to help keep them out.

  “It won’t hold for long,” Velasco said. His eyes were black with emotion, and River scanned the room.

  They were in the kitchen, and she could hear fighting coming from a different part of the building. A Nephilim lay dead on the ground a few feet away, its stomach and chest clawed open in a bloody mess. Nephilim blood had an oddly earthy scent. Velasco stared down at the body a long moment as if suddenly immobile. She wasn’t sure if he was in shock or grief, but she had to get him moving again.

  She nudged him with her muzzle, but he didn’t move. The pounding on the kitchen door grew more intense. She reached out and grabbed his hand in her mouth. Biting down hard enough to clamp on, she tugged him toward the doorway that led deeper into the clan house.

  Velasco blinked, and the vacant stare faded. “Yeah, sorry.”

  She felt Dante’s question and responded back, telling him she was okay. He would find her when he could.

  “You’re River, right? Dante’s sister,” Velasco asked.

  She blinked at him in response. She couldn’t speak as a beast.

  “We need to find my father. Can you find him?”

  River paused and smelled the air, trying to catch the Nephilim’s scent. She was getting better at distinguishing their scent, but it was hard. They didn’t have much of an odor; it was as if they took it from the air, but not all Nephilim took the same combinations away.

  A hybrid slammed into the door again, and she growled in annoyance as she tried to concentrate on finding Odin.

  She led the way out of the kitchen, trying to catch a better trail. Velasco shut the door off to the kitchen behind them and moved a large shelf of china into the doorway. She picked her way through the halls until she finally found a trace that was distinctly Odin. It was so faint she almost missed it. She gave Velasco a small whine to show the right direction.

  “What is it? Did you find his trail? Can you, like, bark or something for yes and no?”

  River shot him a dark look. Shifters did not bark.

  “Okay, then.” He cleared his throat. “Right or left?”

  She looked left. He started to take the lead, but she moved quickly to block his path. There were hybrids down there.

  “Hybrids? How many?”

  River smelled the air: three distinct scents. She touched her front paw to the ground three times.

  The hybrids from the kitchen suddenly broke through the china toward them. They didn’t have any choice but to go forward. River called to Dante as they ran.

  They rounded the corner, racing down the hall. A door opened to her right, and she slipped on the blood-slick wood floor and fell into the child Nephilim. He blinked at her with surprise. His eyes were black, blood thick on his clothes, but he didn’t seem harmed. A dead Nephilim and a dead hybrid lay inside the room with him.

  Velasco snarled behind her, and she spun around as Velasco went down under the attack of two hybrids.

  River leaped, claws out, using her weight to help tear the second one off Velasco. They slipped and fell in the blood on the floor, the hybrid landing on top of her. The sudden weight took the air out of her lungs. She gasped for breath and heard a snarl of someone pack echo through the hall.

  The hybrid lunged at her with its gnarled teeth. Its rank breath choked her, and it snapped its teeth inches from her muzzle. She clawed at the creature, trying to get her feet under her to lever the thing off.

  A massive paw whipped out, and the hybrid fell away. She scrambled to her feet and blinked up at Lazarus, the hybrid dead at his feet. He was so much bigger than she was, his fur a swirl of black and dark browns. She had never seen a beast quite like his before. More hybrids were closing in, and Lazarus turned to face them.

  Velasco tossed aside a dead hybrid and scrambled to his feet, darting down the hall toward the growing sound of battle ahead. River raced after him. Lazarus was a trained heavy, but Velasco fought like a cub, slow and unsteady.

  She could sense Dante growing closer and Odin’s scent as well. She stopped them in front of a large set of windows and dove at Velasco, tackling him to the ground mere seconds before Dante crashed through the window and landed inches in front of them. His snarl echoed off the walls. Evan and Trevor were seconds behind, each taking a hybrid in the tight confines of the hall.

  Someone shouted from down the hall to the left. Velasco jumped to his feet and bolted toward the sound. River growled with annoyance and raced after him. There were still three hybrids in that direction, and
there was no way he could handle them alone.

  She reached his side just as they came through a back door into the Council room they had been in earlier. Odin was barely keeping three hybrids at bay. Velasco snarled and charged over to help his father.

  There was a sudden shout from another corner of the room, and River turned. Another figure battled a group of hybrids. She raced toward the figure and leaped on the back of the nearest hybrid. She dug her claws in and clamped her strong jaws shut on the back of its neck. Blood squirted down her throat as the hybrid tried to dislodge her, but she clamped her jaws down tighter until bones crunched under her teeth.

  She jumped free of the dying hybrid as Dante and her brothers spread out through the room.

  Dante shot her a hard look, telling her to stay back, and she scrambled away to let the heavies take care of the rest of them. Lazarus was nowhere to be seen, and she wondered if he was okay.

  The sounds of battle died down, and she sat on her haunches as Dante moved toward her.

  She ducked her head and flattened her ears. The sense from him was both angry and relieved; she wasn’t sure which would manifest when he finally reached her.

  He let out a heavy sigh before batting her down. River dropped and rolled to her back, staring up at him. His face twitched into a smile, and he licked at her face before letting her back up. She had no delusions it was over, but he was much more relieved than angry, which was a good thing.

  She triggered her shift, but Dante shifted much more quickly and was standing over her by the time she was finished.

  “What did you think you were doing?” Dante asked.

  River flushed under Dante’s angry stare. “Helping the Nephilim cub.”

  “Nephilim don’t have cubs, and he’s three times your age.”

  “Yes, Alpha, but he’s still a cub.”

  Dante didn’t correct her, and she suspected he thought the same thing.

  “Did you get bit?” he asked.

  “No, Alpha. Just a few bruises and scratches. Nothing serious.”

  “She did well, Alpha,” Trevor said.

  She glowed with pride from the praise.

  Dante shot her a hard look, and she snuffed it quickly.

  “See?” came Odin’s voice, booming angrily through the Council room. “This is how it started before. If something doesn’t happen, we’ll end up with a bigger mess on our hands.”

  River turned to see Odin glaring at the Ancient Shimon from what might be considered a safe distance away. Shimon narrowed his eyes dangerously, and tensions in the air spiked. Dante bristled, his eyes locked on Shimon.

  River took a half step back into Evan, and her brother gently guided her behind him.

  Shimon glanced around the Council chamber. “This proves nothing. And a price will be paid, boy, if you keep up this nonsense. That’s a promise.”

  Odin said nothing, and Shimon left.

  River let out the breath she didn’t realize she was holding, and the room relaxed. People were picking up bodies and carrying them away. Broken chairs, tables and glass cluttered the room, and many Nephilim seemed to be wounded. River wasn’t sure if she should try to help, but they appeared to have things under control, Odin and others giving instructions to those around them. Dante was focused on their wounded and fussed over her cuts and scratches. She was a little relieved when Odin came over to join them.

  Dante nodded in the direction Shimon disappeared. “What did he mean about a price?”

  Odin shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. It changes nothing. My position hasn’t changed. Are your people okay?”

  Out of them all, only Evan suffered a bite, and River tended to Evan and Trevor’s injuries while Dante spoke with Odin. The fighting had ended, but the injuries and deaths were numerous. They had killed over fifteen hybrids, and ten Nephilim had been killed. No shifters were seriously injured or dead, but Master Angel was angry as he paced the Council room.

  She finished tending to the wounded among the packs and sat back to listen as Odin and several others discussed this new attack. Aalise smiled at her and handed her some clothes. “I found these for you. I hope they fit.”

  “Oh, thank you. I’m sure they’ll work until I get to our host pack. That’s where our bags went when we landed.”

  “No one else has clothes either?” Aalise asked.

  “Well, we were kind of in a rush to shift, so we just ripped them off. Dante probably has clothes. Trevor’s very good about keeping a bag with him just in case. But he won’t bother dressing until he’s sure the danger’s passed. Trevor won’t dress at all unless he has to.”

  “Did Dante yell at you? He didn’t look happy.”

  River shook her head and put on the simple summer dress Aalise had found for her. It was a little bit big, but it would do. “He was just worried. Dante rarely yells. He doesn’t have to.”

  “And why is that?”

  River shrugged. “I don’t know. Because he doesn’t.”

  Aalise smiled. “How old are you?”

  “I just turned twenty.”

  “That’s young for a shifter, isn’t it?”

  “Yes,” River admitted. “How old are you?”

  She chuckled softly. “That’s going to take a bit of thought. Uh… seventeen… no, eighteen hundred years old.”

  River stared at her. “Eighteen hundred?”

  Aalise laughed. “Yes. I’m Odin’s oldest daughter.”

  River couldn’t imagine what it must be like to live so long. “Don’t you get bored after so many years?”

  “Sometimes.”

  A sudden thought occurred to her. “Did you have shifter slaves?”

  Aalise studied her a long moment. “Anyone over four hundred years old had shifter slaves. It was just how things were.”

  River gave her a distasteful look. “We won’t be slaves again. Not ever.” She suddenly felt very uneasy near the Nephilim woman.

  “River,” Dante called. “Stay close.”

  River moved quickly to Dante’s side. Slipping carefully under his protective sphere, she looked over at Aalise. Shaking herself, she pulled her attention back to the shifters around her. Dante shot her a worried look, but he was busy in the middle of a conversation with Angel and a few of the Nephilim Elders.

  River ducked under Trevor’s arms while Dante was occupied and pulled his arms tight around her. She had a sudden need to feel close to her pack and relaxed as Dante’s warmth rushed over them. His soothing presence washed away her fears. Trevor kissed the top of her head and held her gently as Dante and Angel finished up.

  She was relieved when they were finally leaving, and Dante pulled her aside once they were away from the Nephilim. “You were upset. What did the Nephilim woman say to you?” he asked.

  River frowned and shook her head. “She didn’t really say anything, just…. She had shifter slaves once.”

  “And you know this how?”

  “I asked,” she said.

  Dante nodded. “All Nephilim had slaves once, River. Sometimes it’s better not to know the answers to questions you really already know the answer to.”

  “Odin had slaves once too, right?”

  “Yes.”

  She frowned. “I keep remembering when the darklings came for Ricco and how he ached when they didn’t come. How he needed them. That’s probably how it was for all of our people back then, right?”

  “I don’t know,” he said softly. “For some, definitely.”

  “That won’t happen again, will it?”

  “No.”

  River scanned his face, searching for more meaning behind his simple answer. “Do you say no because you don’t believe it can happen again, or that we’ll have to fight to keep it from happening?”

  “More the former than the latter, I think.” He kissed the top of her head and stroked her cheek. “Let’s get away from this death. The scent alone is enough to bring on grim thoughts.”

  They all smashed into an SUV Odin ha
d given them and started away from the estate. The farther they got away from the Nephilim, the better she felt. At least they would be with pack soon. Not their pack, but pack nonetheless. Too many memories about the darklings coming for Ricco still haunted her. He almost died because of his addiction, and she couldn’t help but wonder if that was what this Sleeper woman, Eveline, wanted. River was not going to let that happen to the packs, not if she could help it.

  9. Dante’s Pet

  GEORGE SAT back in the quiet bar on the outskirts of Alpha Dante’s territory. The bar was a frequent watering hole for passing strays either looking to gain permission to enter the alpha territory or just moving from one place to the next.

  These strays were generally harmless, but a few crazy ones popped in from time to time. He wasn’t here to hunt; he was just having a moment. He and Mrs. Sawyer had a mild row when he visited Nathan the day before and mentioned the doctor Dante told him about. She was fine with Nathan staying exactly as he was. She didn’t want his help. And while he could kind of understand her fear that any bit of help might trigger the madness again, having Nathan almost bedridden for the rest of his life seemed a harsh way to keep him sane.

  He sipped his beer as an eclectic mix of music played from the jukebox, everything from honky-tonk country to Lady Gaga all in the same set. The front door opened as a pair of shifters stepped inside the bar.

  There were subtle difference between them and humans. They walked with a natural grace and their shoulders tended to be more rounded and hunched, but their hands were what really gave them away. Their fingers were thicker and shorter, especially around the nail, where their retractable claws extended from.

  The pair began to argue in hushed whispers. George wasn’t sure if they were stray or pack, but they kept glancing his way, so he was pretty sure they were arguing about whether or not to approach him. They were an interesting pair, one tall and thin, with a mane of red hair, and the other broader than the first, with brown hair that fell just past his shoulders.