Cutting Ties

by C. M. Torrens

  “Because she’s sick. Dante can’t have her here. He just can’t.”

  “Not even for you?”

  Jesse studied him a long moment, took a deep breath, and let it out slowly. “He might try for me, but it wouldn’t work. The trouble that would cause…. As much as I love my sister, I know there’s nothing Dante can do for her. Nothing. He might try, and it would only end up putting the rest of the pack in danger. Dante can’t have her here, but mostly I can’t have her here, at least as she is now, because the pack is more than just me. If there’s another way, maybe that can change, but until then, no.”

  That had to be rough. George remembered Nathan when he went off the bend, and they had been as close as brothers. It had been brutal watching his reality break down around him and not be able to do a damn thing to help.

  “I’m sorry.”

  “Thank you.” Jesse finished his coffee and pulled out some money to pay the bill. “Are you ready to go?”

  “Sure.”

  They left the café, and Andrew, the pack’s doctor, met them at Nathan’s. He was an older male with an easy smile and gentle disposition. He put Mrs. Sawyer at ease almost immediately.

  Nathan was slightly confused by the appearance of Andrew, but the pack doctor got him to respond to several questions, which was more than George had been able to get out of him. Andrew gave Nathan a thorough exam, made some notes, and gave them to Mrs. Sawyer to give to the shifter doctor if she decided to take Nathan there. Andrew didn’t pressure her either way or give her false hope, but he did give her a few exercises to try to help Nathan work on recovering some of his motor skills. He even gave her his personal number to call if she had any questions or problems. He told her he’d be back to check on him monthly if she wanted.

  George walked Jesse out after Andrew left. “Andrew’s very kind. Will he really come back?”

  Jesse smiled. “Of course. He’s a doctor. He just wants to help.”

  “Victor wouldn’t have allowed it.”

  “Many changes have taken place since Victor was alpha. It’s impossible to say what he would have done.”

  He caught a dark glimmer of something in Jesse’s eyes, but it was brief, and George suddenly wondered if he really believed that.

  “You and Dante are like mates, right?”

  “Yes. Why?”

  George smiled. “Just getting it all straight in my head. Thank you, Jesse, and thank Dante too.”

  Jesse started to leave but paused by the car door. “Maybe you can thank him yourself someday. But our debts are done. Have a good day, George.”

  “You too, Jesse.”

  23. Out of the Darkness

  DANTE LEANED over his desk and stared down at the map spread out across the surface. Michael stood across from him, and River hovered near his side as they discussed the newest bit of information they just received.

  Michael ran his hand over the map. “Well, I thought for sure we’d find something in Oregon, but no one’s found a thing. We should probably mark the state off the possibilities list.”

  “I don’t know. They could be underground or something. We’ll mark it as searched and put it in a different column,” Dante said.

  They had gotten their most recent updates about the states that were swept by strays and packs, even a few Nephilim, and gathered in the study to check the maps and try to narrow down the location of the nest.

  River went to the corkboard on the wall and started rearranging the states listed there.

  “We’ll never find the nest,” Ivory said from the couch.

  Dante rubbed his temples and sighed as he turned to his sister. “Why are you being like this?”

  “Because it’s true. We won’t find them. This is all just a waste of time,” she said.

  Her blond hair spilled out across the dark fabric as she stared up at the ceiling.

  “Then what do you suggest we do, sister?” Dante asked. “Sit on our asses and just wait for them to come for us?”

  She shrugged. “Better than sitting around stressing over what you’ll never find and can’t change.”

  “The Nephilim are helping us look—”

  “And that was a brilliant fucking idea,” Ivory huffed. “We can’t trust them, Dante. Look at Ricco and tell me you can trust them.”

  “The Nephilim had nothing to do with that. Pack did that. Caster is dead, and the issues we did have with the Nephilim and Ricco were solved by Odin last year.”

  Ivory shook her head. “We’re all going to be slaves again. You know that’s where this is going, right? That’s what they want. Everyone in chains.”

  “We aren’t going to let that happen,” Michael assured her.

  She rolled her eyes. “What are you going to do? What are any of us going to do? We could barely manage Caster. This is so much bigger it’s not even funny.”

  Dante pushed away from the desk and turned to stare out the window. He hated that she was right. That maybe he wouldn’t be able to protect them.

  “Ivory,” Michael said, his voice pleading. “Don’t do this.”

  “Do what? Say what we’re all thinking?” she said. “August is going to come for Dante, and we will all be dead.”

  Dante winced and stared out through the woods. “Do you want to leave the pack?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

  “No!” River shouted. “No one is leaving.”

  He held his hand out to still River and turned to look at Ivory. She was sitting up on the couch, staring into the cold hearth. She didn’t respond, just stared.

  “I asked you a question, sister. Do you want to leave the pack?” Dante pressed.

  She was silent, and the tension in the room grew. “I don’t know.”

  “Ivory!” Michael snapped. “Are you insane? What the hell is wrong with you?”

  Dante stared at her, his anger and disappointment growing. “You know what? Fuck you, Ivory. You’re notorious for this childlike bullshit! You can’t grow up to save your fucking life. You are alpha female of this fucking pack, but do you even try to act like it, or try to help protect our pack and family? No. You sit there and bitch and moan about the end of the world and don’t do a gods-cursed thing to stop it.

  “You want to run away from home, like a hurt little cub, be my fucking guest. I have been working my ass off to protect our family, and what have you done? When was the last time you did anything for anyone but yourself?” He glared at her and headed for the door. He was so angry he had to leave before he reached over and beat some sense into her. “I’m so fucking done with you!”

  He left the room and slammed the door behind him. He went out the front, away from the cubs, and paced the front yard, trying to calm himself. He didn’t want to shift when he was so angry, half afraid he wouldn’t be able to contain the rage with his beast.

  Angry… and hurt. He was trying his best at keeping everyone safe, and she had no faith in him. And worse still, she might be right. August would come for him eventually, that much he knew. Dante had no idea how many his twin would bring with him when he did, and all he could do was hope he had enough heavies and strays to beat him back. There was absolutely no guarantee he could, and with guesstimates as high as they were, odds didn’t look good.

  He wanted to scream. Instead he found a quiet place behind the garage, pushed the pack away from his senses, and turned his eyes toward the mountains, wishing he had a solution. But he didn’t have one. No one did. Short of finding the nest, which they might never do, he couldn’t do anything more than what he was doing.

  Creation, he missed Victor. He didn’t want this anymore. He just wanted to let someone else take over for once. Let someone else tell him what to do and not have to worry about the lives he held in his hands.

  The soft sound of footsteps approached, and Michael peeked around the corner of the garage.

  “You okay?” he asked.

  Dante winced and shook his head. “I’m trying, Michael. I’m doing everything I can, a
ren’t I? I know what danger this pack is in, but I can’t think of anything else to do.” His voice cracked, and he took a deep breath and looked away.

  “Ivory’s just scared. You know how she can get. She didn’t mean it.”

  Dante sucked in a breath. “But she’s right. August will come soon enough. Maybe… maybe she’s right. Split the pack up and—”

  “No. No one is leaving you, Dante.” Michael leaned against the garage beside him. “A pack is only as strong as the people in it. Splitting up is a stupid idea. Neither of us would have the heavies to protect the cubs, and I can’t weave like you, we both know that. You’re doing fine. I swear it. There’s nothing more that can be done, and if that means we still fail, well, we did our best. You did your best. No one knows the future, Dante. And that hasn’t changed. If it wasn’t August, there would always be other packs, or hunters, or something that could do just as much damage.”

  Dante scrubbed his hands over his face. “I won’t be enough against August. We both know that.”

  Michael shrugged. “Maybe not, but the alternative is sure death for everyone if we split. At least together we tried and spent the time we could with those we love. No one is ever guaranteed tomorrow. Nicky could fall off a cliff, Lex could get in a car accident, Cory could get sick. Those things are all out of our control, and now that you’ve done all you can to protect this pack, all we can do is wait and try to find them before they’re ready to come find us.”

  Michael opened his arms, and Dante slipped into Michael’s embrace. For a moment Dante allowed himself to be just a brother needing comfort from another brother and let the stress melt away.

  Michael kissed his head and rubbed his back. “You wanna go inside and watch a little TV with the cubs?”

  Dante smiled and pulled away. “Yeah, maybe.”

  Nicky bounced around the garage and frowned at them. “What are you two doing out here?”

  Michael smiled at him. “Catching up on some brotherly time. What do you need?”

  “I was thinking about taking River with me to town. Wanted to know if you needed anything.”

  Dante shook his head. “I’m good.”

  “More marshmallows for the cubs,” Michael said. “Thought we might do a fire tonight, just relax a bit and make some s’mores. Why are you taking River?”

  Nicky frowned. “Well, as soon as you left, those two started at each other like a pair of alphas fighting for a pack.”

  Dante shot him a hard look.

  Nicky flushed. “Well, you know what I mean. Anyway, I stuck her in the Jeep before they contemplated bleeding each other.”

  “You should have let them be,” Michael said and glanced at the house with a heavy sigh. “Some things only they can work out.”

  “But not in the damn house,” Dante added.

  Nicky grinned. “Yeah, don’t want that to happen again. We’ll be back soon.”

  They watched Nicky leave and headed toward the house. Ivory was nowhere to be seen, but Dante could sense her having a run. He was glad. He didn’t want to have to deal with her right now. Michael wandered into the backyard to chop some wood for the fire.

  His gaze fell on the cubs ringed around Ricco in the middle of the floor. They were all coloring in books or on paper. No matter what Ivory said, the Nephilim weren’t to blame for Ricco’s condition. A pack did it to him, and he would never be the same. His memory was gone. Ideas, thoughts, memories just slipped his mind, leaving him confused. Tristan had to ban him from the kitchen because he forgot pots on the stove. If he went anywhere, someone had to go with him because he could forget what he was doing and freeze in the middle of traffic. He couldn’t drive anymore, and Dante generally kept him home where someone could help keep an eye on him. He was much better around the pack. Stress made things worse, but what was probably the hardest of all was Ricco knew what was going on. He knew he couldn’t remember things, and that often made it terribly hard on him.

  Dante wandered over to Ricco and the cubs and smiled. The trio had convinced him to draw with them. There was nothing wrong with Ricco’s motor skills, and he still trained regularly, but what lay on the piece of paper was not a child’s drawing.

  Dante blinked down at the image Ricco had drawn in colored pencils and grinned. “Did you do that?”

  Ricco tossed him a bashful smile. “Do you like it?”

  He grinned back at Ricco. “It’s amazing.” Ricco had drawn a picture of River and Nicky, their faces sketched in clouds with their beasts underneath, playing together in a stream. “This is really beautiful, Ricco. I didn’t know you could draw.”

  “I’ve been practicing. So you really like it?”

  “Yes! It’s beautiful. We should frame it and hang it somewhere. When did you learn to draw?”

  “I always drew a little. But… I was very busy with Victor before, so I didn’t do it much. The cubs like to draw, so I draw with them. I’m getting better. Nicky’s nose is still too big, and River’s beast doesn’t have that thick of a body. She’s very lean and fast. I’ll do another, and you can put that up and frame it. Not this one. It’s not good enough.”

  “I think it’s amazing,” Dante said. “Maybe we should pick you up some paints or something. If you want, we could even portion off part of the playroom for you to draw in.”

  Ricco smiled. “You don’t have to.”

  “Of course I don’t have to, but I like seeing you happy, and this seems to make you very happy.”

  Ricco smiled again. “You’re a good alpha, Dante. Even if you think you aren’t sometimes.”

  “I’m just being a good brother, Ricco.”

  “A better brother than me.”

  Dante frowned and shook his head. “Let’s not go there.” He reached out and stroked Ricco’s cheek. “You’re a fine brother.”

  He sat with Ricco and the cubs for some time, watching as they drew pictures and chatted happily.

  Trevor and Jesse returned after a visit with Lloyd at the apartment complex. Lloyd was one of the strays he had taken under his wing last year. Lloyd was often a wealth of information and had alerted Dante the moment the hunter stepped into the city.

  “Something happen while I was gone?” Jesse asked, concern written on his face. “You were angry.”

  “I had an argument with Ivory. I’m okay,” Dante assured him.

  Michael returned from outside. “Come on. Let’s grab a couple of beers and go start a fire. It’s almost dark, and I promised the cubs toasted marshmallows.”

  Jesse grinned. “Ah, so you’re the reason they’re constantly amped up on sugar. Good to know.”

  Michael snorted a laugh. “Ha! They’re cubs. They naturally have sugar running through their veins.”

  Faith, the youngest of the cubs, looked up from her drawing with surprise and held out her arm, looking at the veins visible through her skin. “I have sugar in there?”

  Dante chuckled. “No. He’s just joking.”

  He scooped her up, and they wandered into the backyard as Jesse and Michael started a fire. Evan lounged as beast in the last spot of sun in the yard before it set down behind the trees. Faith wiggled out of his arms, rushed over to Evan, and started to braid his fur. His beast had longer fur than most, which she adored. She loved playing with hair and fur. More than once Dante had awakened with braids woven into his hair.

  Dante sat back in a chair by the fire and closed his eyes. He took the time to stroke the weave that bound him and his pack together. He could sense them all and enjoyed the warm rush of response from each. He smiled to himself and paused. Something tickled at his senses, and he spun his head around to look at Kent. He was the oldest of his cubs and almost thirteen. Still very young, especially for a pack cub. After his first shift, all that would start to change. Speaking of which…. He studied Kent; the sense of him through the weave was starting to vibrate.

  “Come here, Kent,” Dante called.

  Kent smiled and rushed up to him, holding a marshmallow and a
gooey stick. “Can I have another one?”

  “In a minute. Look at me.”

  Kent looked at him, and Dante could see the night shine in his eyes, but something else as well. His eyes were gold around the outer ring. Dante smiled and stroked his cheek. “How are you feeling, my boy? Feeling a little achy, maybe?”

  Kent made a face. “Maybe a little. My shoulders hurt some.”

  Dante smiled and pulled off his shirt. “Let me look, okay?”

  Kent nodded, and Dante ran his hands over Kent’s shoulders. They were warm to the touch.

  “Hips hurt too a little?” Dante asked.

  “A little,” Kent said and spun around, grinning at him. “Am I going to shift?”

  Dante smiled. “Maybe soon.” He turned to the house. “Tristan! Tristan, could you heat up some lavender oil?”

  Tristan popped his head out of the house and looked them over. “Really?” He grinned at Kent. “I’ll be right back.”

  “I’ll get some blankets,” Michael said and rushed into the house.

  Kent shuffled from one foot to the other nervously. “Will it hurt?”

  Dante stroked his cheek. “It’ll ache a lot until your body knows what to do. It has to figure things out, but once you get over the hump, it doesn’t hurt at all. It’s a little tingly, and then you’ll have your beast. And once you know how, your body doesn’t forget. So this only happens once. And then you’ll be a cub no longer, my little cub.” Dante could feel him growing nervous and pulled him closer within the weave to help keep him calm. “You’ll be just fine. I won’t leave you.”

  Michael returned with some blankets and set them near the fire along with a bottle of water, and Tristan came with warmed oil in a metal bowl. He set it by the fire to keep it from getting cold.

  He looked up as Ivory came back from her run. She managed to mutter an apology and plopped down on the far side of the fire. Michael sat down beside her to talk.

  Kent tugged on his arm, catching his attention again. “What do I do?”

  Dante smiled and glanced around for the crackers but only found the bag of marshmallows. “Nothing until the ache starts getting so it’s hard to walk and move. Want another marshmallow?”