Cutting Ties

by C. M. Torrens

  “I’m going with you,” Jenny said.

  He didn’t have the time or energy to bother arguing, and really, with the way things were, the packs and their secrets were doomed. The world had just unraveled. There was no hiding anymore.

  25. First Shift

  DANTE STAGGERED in the gravel and struggled to catch his balance. The burn of a dozen wounds was starting to eat at his strength. He cursed and shoved the pain and exhaustion aside as another hybrid rushed toward him. Andrew intercepted, smashing the hybrid and dropping it to the ground.

  Floodlights suddenly filled the night and a van tore over the gravel road and smashed through the saplings as it plowed into the front yard. Gunshots filled the air, and the scent of gunpowder mingled with blood and sweat. Hybrids fell, and a path cleared.

  The van barreled through the mass of creatures and skidded to a stop in front of his group.

  “Need a hand?” George asked. The sliding door opened, and a woman motioned them into the vehicle while she shot at hybrids through the door.

  “Get in,” Dante ordered, and his group piled into the van. He grabbed Lex by the scruff and tossed him in behind Andrew, and he and Trevor jumped in last.

  Dante crouched on all fours, willing away the pain as George drove the van away from the masses. The van bounced over the gravel road, and Dante closed his eyes and tried to catch his breath.

  “Is this all that’s left of your pack?” George asked.

  “No. The others are safe,” Dante said. “I got them away before the second wave hit. We can’t risk going to them, or they might follow us.”

  “Jesse?” George asked.

  Dante looked up and cocked his head curiously at George. “Jesse is fine. Your infatuation can continue.”

  George cleared his throat quickly. “I didn’t mean it like that.”

  Dante hummed but said nothing more, turning his attention to the bundle under his jacket. With extra care, he peeled his jacket back.

  “I need somewhere safe and quiet,” Dante said.

  “A kid!” the woman gasped.

  “A cub?” George said.

  “My eldest cub,” Dante told them and stroked Kent’s sleeping face. “Very soon not a cub.” He pulled Kent free from the bindings and examined every inch of him to be sure he wasn’t hurt.

  “Dante,” Andrew said. “I need the boys to shift so I can tend to them.”

  “Jenny, come up here, and don’t freak out,” George told the woman.

  The woman climbed into the front seat with George. Trevor and Lex shifted to true form. Dante heard her gasp but was too tired to care. Everything had changed tonight.

  Lex lay panting as he stared up at the ceiling of the van. “Holy fuck, I thought we were done for.” He shooed Andrew away as he started to check him over. “Tend to Dante first.”

  Trevor took Kent from Dante’s arms, and Andrew ripped the clothes free of Dante’s back. The worst of the damage was down his spine and shoulder, and Andrew rushed to patch him up the best he could.

  He closed his eyes and assured the pack he was fine while George drove. The rest of the pack felt safe and secure, and Dante watched as the van hit the highway, heading toward the city.

  “Where are we going?” Trevor asked.

  “Nathan’s place. He has a safe room. It’ll work until this blows over… if it blows over.”

  “River and Nicky are out there somewhere,” Lex said, worry clear in his voice.

  Dante gave Lex’s shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “They’re fine, but they’re being pushed back. The wave of hybrids is between them and the mountains. River has things handled for the moment. Lloyd is with them.”

  “And the rest of the strays?” George asked.

  “What are strays? Monsters?” Jenny asked.

  Dante shot George a hard look. “School your apprentice, Hunter.”

  George looked over his shoulder at him. “She’s not my apprentice, but she is the woman who helped saved your ass. There hasn’t really been time to explain anything with hybrids pouring out of the woodwork,” he snapped back. “Your strays, Dante. Can they help?”

  Dante shook his head. “Strays are not in my weave, so I have no idea. River was taking care of it, but she’s busy. I can’t tell if they’re with her or not. I don’t think so, though.”

  “Is River alpha?”

  Dante glared at him. “That is none of your business, Little Hunter.”

  George rolled his eyes and turned off the main street into the city. The streets were dark and still, fires burned in the distance, and the ghostly wails of alarms pierced the silence.

  Dante stared out the window and shook his head. Homes had been invaded, doors ripped off their hinges, and windows shattered. Bodies of men, women, and children lay thrown around like dolls. Cars were tipped over, and power lines lay like coiled metal snakes over the ground. They passed a fire hydrant spraying water in all directions with a car on its side where it had hit it. Fear clenched at his gut. What would the humans do now?

  He shoved the thought aside. He couldn’t worry about that. He had other things to worry about.

  Dante took Kent back into his arms and stroked Kent’s sleeping face.

  “Is your, uh, cub okay?” the woman asked, her voice wavering with uneasiness.

  “For the moment,” Dante whispered and rubbed his cheek against Kent’s.

  The van came to a stop outside Nathan’s place. George led the way inside and down to the basement.

  Mrs. Sawyer opened the door and hesitated. Her eyes fell on George and Andrew, and she ushered them all inside before bolting the door tight behind them. The room was packed with enough food and medical supplies to last a winter.

  Dante bent his head low to Mrs. Sawyer. “Thank you. I am in your debt. My cub needs space. It’s his first shift. May we occupy the rear of your room?”

  Mrs. Sawyer gasped as she stared at Kent in his arms. “Of course. There are blankets and pillows in the trunk under the bed.”

  “What’s a first shift?” the woman asked.

  Dante ignored her, and George whispered for her to be quiet.

  Trevor grabbed mattresses and tossed them to the floor. Andrew grabbed blankets and spoke with Mrs. Sawyer. Dante laid Kent gently on the makeshift pack bed.

  “What’s wrong with him?” the woman asked.

  “Nothing,” Dante said. “Now be quiet. He can’t be under undue stress, or it could cause complications. If you could step back to the other side of the room, it would be better. The scent of humans when I wake him might cause him to panic.”

  Dante stripped the wraps binding Kent to him off and began to rub his arms and legs, paying special attention to all the joints. Lex moved close, putting himself between the humans and Dante. George whispered to the woman in a hushed tone across the room, but Dante was too busy with Kent to pay much attention.

  Andrew handed him a bottle of oil. “The rest of the oil is in the truck with Michael. That’s all I have on hand.”

  Dante made a face. “It’ll have to do.”

  The pack gathered close around Kent as Dante slowly released his hold on Kent. He whimpered groggily, and confusion rippled across his young face. Bright golden eyes blinked in his surroundings.

  “Humans!” he squeaked suddenly and grabbed for Dante.

  Dante cuddled him close. “Shh, it’s okay. Something happened, but we’re safe,” He rocked Kent gently in his arms, and little claws bit into his back and shoulders. “Relax, Kent. I would never let anyone harm you.”

  He buried his head in Dante’s shoulder. “I hurt,” he whimpered.

  “I know, it’ll pass soon,” Dante assured him, laid him back on the bed, and began to rub the oil into his shoulders and hips. “Close your eyes. I’m right here.”

  Andrew stroked Kent’s forehead. “He’s got a fever. Nothing serious yet, but we’ll have to be very careful.”

  Dante watched Kent closely, and he whimpered a bit more. He had put Kent to sleep as soon
as he got the call from Lloyd that the territory had been breached. There was just enough time for everyone to shift and set up a defense to beat back the first wave. He just hoped Kent was sleeping deep enough not to be affected by the stresses of battle.

  Lex grabbed a bottle of water. “Drink something, Kent.”

  Kent’s eyes were glassy, and he was panting. Dante sat him up so Lex could give him some water, and Dante examined his jaw and teeth.

  “He’s close,” Dante whispered and rubbed Kent’s shoulders. “Look at you, you’re so big,” Dante said as he rubbed him down with oil. “So brave. You’ll be a fine adult. I’m so proud of how brave you are.”

  “Papa, I don’t wanna get stuck.”

  Dante pushed back his own worried thoughts, concentrating only on his cub and what he needed. “Shh, that won’t happen. I’m right here.”

  “Can we go home soon?”

  Dante rubbed his muscles down again. “We’ll go to the rest of the Pack soon enough.”

  “And then we can go home?”

  Dante stroked his cheek. It was such a dangerous time for the pack right now. He honestly couldn’t say when they would go home again. “We’ll see. It’s very dangerous now. But I’m here and I won’t let anything happen to you. My big cub. So big and strong.”

  Kent winced and whimpered on the blankets. “I ache.”

  The shift was so close now. Dante could see it just below the surface. Kent’s jaw was clamped tight, showing his teeth, and canines began to lengthen.

  “It’s getting close.” Dante soothed and nuzzled Kent. “Can you feel your beast? It’s a beautiful beast. It’s calling to you. Can you hear him?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Dante could sense Kent starting to panic and urged him calm through the weave. “Calm down. Close your eyes. The beast is there and wants out. Close your eyes and see him. He is you, your other half. There’s nothing to be afraid of. You are him and he is you. He was always there, just waiting until you were old enough to hold him. You can hold him now, Kent,” Dante said and pulled away to give Kent a little space. “I’m right here.”

  Dante triggered his own shift, and Kent rolled unconsciously to all fours. Through the weave he soothed Kent and nuzzled him gently, urging him on.

  Kent gasped as the shift triggered. Ever so slowly his body began to change, and his young little body shook with the effort. It was so painfully slow Dante had to fight to keep his worry in check. Finally the last stages of the shift took over. Fur sprouted and from head to toe Kent was now beast.

  Exhausted and shaky, Kent looked down at his new form and tried to move. He staggered a bit and fell over into Lex before shaking himself and climbing on all fours again. Dante used his muzzle to help him back up.

  Within minutes Kent was steady on all fours and had finished examining his new body. His beast was beautiful, tawny fur tipped with black along the back, his muzzle was pale like his belly, and his fur was long and thick. Dante’s chest filled with pride, and he grinned happily down at Kent.

  Dante checked over every inch of him to be sure everything was perfect. And he was. From the tips of his ears to the tip of his tail, Dante’s perfect little cub was now a perfect little youth.

  Andrew poured the water into a large bowl, and Kent drank up before exploring the room a bit, well away from the humans. He sneezed a few times, probably from the overwhelming scent of humans, before trotting back over to them and snuggling against Dante.

  Dante triggered his shift again and lay down, and Kent curled up as beast on his chest. “I need to rest,” he breathed.

  Trevor nodded. “Do that. We’ll take care of the rest.”

  Closing his eyes, he drifted off to sleep with Kent wrapped in his arms.

  26. Burning Cities

  ODIN WATCHED as the city burned like a massive flaming ball in the middle of the desert. The glow from the city could be seen for miles, and black smoke stretched up, disappearing into the night sky.

  He sighed heavily and ran his hand through his hair.

  “What now?” Velasco asked, moving to his side.

  Odin could only imagine the massive death toll. And Vegas wasn’t the only city struck. Over a dozen were overrun by hybrids. It looked like Eveline had her army, and far more massive than he expected too.

  He glanced behind him at the gathered group of humans, strays, and Nephilim; many were wounded, some dying, others seriously injured. He wasn’t sure how he managed to have such a group with him, but the usual rules didn’t apply anymore.

  “We can’t stay here,” Odin said softly. “But it looks like they’ve finished what they wanted to. Take the humans to the nearest outpost and tell the Nephilim to retreat to El Paso if the city is still there.”

  “And the strays?” Velasco asked.

  “They can do whatever they want, but they might want to follow the Nephilim. The war is here, and we still haven’t found the nest. Meet me in Boulder. I need to see if Angel’s and Dante’s packs still live.”

  “The radio says Boulder and Albuquerque both sustained serious damage.”

  “Yes, well, I don’t count those two out just because the cities are gone. Meet me in Boulder in three days, okay? And take Aalise with you.”

  Velasco nodded. “All right. We’ll meet you there. But you shouldn’t go alone.”

  “I won’t. I’ll take Kiyoshi with me. I’m sending Baardsen to deal with El Paso.”

  Baardsen made a noise and moved to Odin’s side. “Actually you might want to reconsider that. I’m a lot less intimidating to the humans. I can take them to their nearest rally point and meet Velasco and Aalise in El Paso after I’m done.”

  Odin thought it over a long moment before nodding. He didn’t have to worry about Baardsen being able to handle himself, even if he did look like a teenager. He’d been around more than a millennium. “Fine. Let’s get on with it. We have a lot to do and no time for chatter.”

  They split up, and Odin climbed into the car with his eldest son. “Albuquerque first?” Kiyoshi asked.

  “No, Flagstaff. We have business there first. I need to look into something. If the top packs are dead, they’re dead. There’s nothing I’ll be able to do if I get there tomorrow or the next day.”

  GEORGE SAT upstairs, staring out the front window of Mrs. Sawyer’s house with shotgun in hand. The city went quiet around dawn, and the radio was spouting guesstimated death tolls in the hundreds of thousands. A dozen cities had been left to burn, including Boulder and half of Denver. The Red Cross and Army were supposed to come through soon, but no time was really given. Rumors of humans suddenly changing their minds on who to help and how led George to believe that darklings might be involved. More of them than just this mistress he’d been told about. One darkling using their Voice was dangerous to any human within earshot, a dozen or more was a downright terrifying thought.

  Dante slipped up beside him. He hadn’t bothered to dress before he scanned the destruction outside.

  “Is this what the packs were afraid of?” George said.

  “I don’t think anyone expected this in our worst nightmares,” Dante said softly. “Her army is….” Dante sighed. “An army now.”

  George was worried. If they could destroy cities like this without a single weapon, what happened if they were armed? Were there even good enough packs and darklings to fix this mess? He was beginning to have serious doubts.

  “What are you going to do?” George asked.

  “Find her and kill her and her mate,” Dante said.

  “Can you?”

  “We’ll find her,” Dante assured him.

  “I meant kill her.”

  Dante said nothing for a long moment. “I don’t know, but I know someone who probably has a better chance than I do.” He glanced at George and cleared his throat. “I want to thank you for what you did last night. You saved my cub.” Dante winced. “He’s so young and innocent. Things could have gone very badly.”

  “I’m glad I w
as there to help,” George said and looked away, not wanting to make Dante uncomfortable. “I’m sure you would have figured out something.”

  “I don’t need my ego stoked, Mr. Keung. When it comes to my cubs, I don’t have one.” He turned and motioned to the phones. “Are the phones still down?”

  “I’m not sure.”

  Dante picked up the phone, and a few seconds later, he was dialing a number. “It’s me. How’d you fair?”

  George couldn’t make out who was on the other end of the line or what they were saying, but Dante nodded as he listened.

  “I have two people heading north. They’re caught in the retreating masses. They might get swept up, but I’m hoping they’ll find the nest this way,” Dante said and paused a moment. “River, Nicky, and at least one of my strays.” He listened a long moment longer. “Any word from the Nephilim? … Okay…. Good. Yes.” Dante winced and nodded. “I know… I said I fucking know. Tell me how to run my pack again, and we’ll have more than words. Find out if Madison’s still with us, and find out soon. I’ll call you later.” Dante hung up and glared at the phone a long moment.

  “Who’s Madison?” George asked as he got up and poured them both a cup of coffee.

  “The only safe haven my lost people might have between them and the countless hybrids out there. He has a pack up north. I think my people will try to go there until I can get them.”

  “And who did you call?” George asked, handing the mug over.

  Dante drank down a hefty portion of the contents, made a face, and stared at the cup a moment as if debating whether he should finish it or not. “Another alpha.”

  “Do alphas have hierarchy?”

  “Of course we have a hierarchy.” Dante shot him a dark look. “Do you ever stop asking questions?”

  George grinned. “I’m a curious kind of guy. So where do you sit in alpha hierarchy?”

  “High enough I can remind people who they’re talking to, but not high enough to tell a male like that where he can shove it.”