Beast Within (Loup-Garou Series Book 3)

by Sheritta Bitikofer

  He gnashed his teeth as she came close and bent low beside him. With one last surge of willpower, he tossed aside his captors and rammed the woman, her body like fire against his skin.

  The sensation of sharp glass sliced into his front paw, breaking something against the ground as he made his escape out of range from the beasts. A coolness like moisture covered his pads, and it wreaked of the same magic that had summoned him into the world.

  The more distance he put between himself and the woman, the stronger he became. His enemies pursued him, but the female lagged behind. They fell upon him again, their fervor heightened to nearly match his own as fang and claws found purchase through thick pelts. Blood tainted the ground and filled his mouth, but he continued to fight. The human wanted to give up, but the beast never would until he drew his last breath.

  He sensed the woman drawing close again, her light rushing before her to alert him. The beast scrambled away, but his adversaries would not let him retreat. His body became sluggish, losing momentum as if he were wading through a thick quagmire.

  The woman was near, and the beast turned on her like a caged animal and bellowed, his fangs stained red and gleaming in the moonlight. She did not shrink away as she had before. The beast looked upon the woman, the blinding aura around her intensified and her eyes shone white in the darkness that was chased away by her spirit.

  In one swift movement, the beasts detained him, and the woman wrapped her arms around his massive neck. Her peace flooded over him, rippling from his black fur that had been caked in blood on this glorious night of conquest.

  It was short-lived. He failed, and the woman would have dominion again.

  He let out a cry—neither human nor beastly in nature—that shook the leaves on the trees of the forest for miles around. Slowly, the beast within him died away, slinking back into the prison of the soul he had been cursed with. The frail human crawled forward and took control of the body once more.

  As they passed one another in their transition, the beast vowed to the man that this was not the end. The day of reckoning was coming, and the world would know him. The woman could not stop him from fulfilling his destiny to rule over the creatures of the world with a mighty paw. Human, beast, and night-dweller would all bow to him in cowering fear. It was only a matter of time.

  Logan morphed between her arms. Thick black fur receded into skin. Bones and muscles shrank and twisted until something more human stood in front of her. Darren and the others backed away, releasing Logan to complete the change.

  Katey helped him to his knees as his legs gave way beneath him. Blood coated every inch of his arms, chest, neck, and lower part of his face and gave him a nightmarish look. Wide, blue eyes stared intently on her as his body began to tremble.

  Shaking hands gripped her shoulders. His mouth gaped open and snapped closed as if he were trying to catch his breath or form words that escaped him. Katey tried to smile through her own rattled nerves.

  “It’s okay. It’s all over, Logan,” she soothed, her fingers threaded into his short black hair that felt sticky from the blood that had splattered on him.

  His face contorted as his eyes were flooded with tears. “So many…” he whispered, punctuated by a shrill whine.

  Katey shook her head. “It’s all right now. Everything’s all right.”

  Logan shook his head as the droplets spilled onto his cheeks, mixing with the blood and dirt. “No. No, it’s not.”

  She pulled him in close and hugged him tighter, pressing their bodies together to feel one another’s warmth. Logan broke down and sobbed into her shoulder, wailing and sniffling like a child. He wreaked of death and sweat, but Katey held on even tighter, refusing to meet the eyes of her pack members who closed in around them.

  Darren, Dustin, and Ben pressed their muzzles against Logan’s back and shoulders, but still, he continued to cry as they gave what comfort they could. Katey rocked him gently as her heart broke within her chest.

  In the hunter compound, she didn’t get a good look at Logan’s loup-garou form, but when they found him in the forest, she knew it was not his usual form. The beast they faced was larger than Logan had ever been with a mad look in its eyes, fangs dripping with drool and fur nearly standing on end in agitation. It was how she had pictured a werewolf long before she knew the truth about their kind.

  It was the monster Logan feared he had become, the monster that the hunters hated and hunted. It was the kind of creature that inhabited nightmares of children when they watched a scary movie before bed, but this was no dream. Logan had become the thing humans feared, but Katey knew well enough that it was not the truth.

  That beast was not Logan. Whatever it was, though, it was gone now, and they could rebuild. A single tear slid from the corner of Katey’s eyes. It wasn’t a tear of grief or sorrow, but of joy that they could return home and put all of this behind them.

  The hunters were taken care of, and although there would be more in the future, there was time to fortify their defenses and next time, they would be ready for another strike. Logan had returned to normal, and although they both had trauma to work through, they could go home. Home to Florida where their friend would be. Nothing sounded more wonderful.

  Darren’s head lifted for a moment and looked to the east. The sun had not risen yet, but there was a silvery blue halo over the horizon that told them dawn was on the way. It wasn’t the sun that caught Darren’s attention.

  The breeze carried a scent to the group. She could smell the vampires miles away as they kept their distance from the conflict, but there was something else that made her muscles clench. Smoke and human sweat. It was so subtle, but in the hysteria, Katey wasn’t surprised they didn’t notice it earlier.

  Darren growled, and the others moved to surround them. They didn’t need to speak the same language to know danger was near.

  One dart flew out of the thicket and missed, but that was enough to get their attention.

  Katey exploded into action and lifted her naked fiancé to his feet. Logan curtailed his sobs and with weak effort, rose to his feet with her while Darren’s silver loup-garou body moved in front of them to provide cover.

  With one of Logan’s arms around her shoulders, Katey helped him limp away as Ben flanked them for protection.

  A short whimper prompted Katey to turn, just in time to see Darren crumble to the ground and convulse as the poison entered his system.

  “No!” she screamed, but Ben prodded her to continue.

  Dustin charged toward the trees where the hunters were lined up, their guns leveled on the loups-garous.

  Katey heard the soft firing of the dart gun, then Dustin’s whine. She did not turn to watch him die. She held tighter to Logan’s waist as her throat closed with restrained tears.

  They couldn’t escape fast enough.

  Ben fell next, and there was nothing to keep them going. Katey and Logan crumbled to the forest floor.

  Katey looked behind her and saw the bodies of her fellow pack members turn ashen, veins standing out purple and bulging against their skin. In the throes of death, they changed back to their human forms and lay naked amongst the trees. Just as the two loups-garous that died outside the mansion, it looked as if their flesh and muscle began to deteriorate under their thin skin.

  She saw the dart fired from a nameless point and pin into Logan’s spine. He grunted and went rigid in her arms. Katey yanked the dart out, hoping that it would save him somehow. The poison was already in his system and spread through his blood.

  With careful movements, Katey laid Logan on his back and covered his body with her own as if that would save him from the reaper who stood amongst them. His eyes and mouth widened, and he gasped for breath. His body jerked and shuddered for three, long, agonizing seconds and then Katey heard his heart stop.

  Logan lay lifeless in the dirt, eyes unblinking and lungs empty of air.

  Their bond, the constant tether that connected them in life, was severed. For a moment, K
atey couldn’t breathe. The complete void engulfed her, plunging her into a dark chasm. Her soul plummeted downward until it seemed like nothing was left but her own heartbeat.

  “No! Logan! You can’t leave me! You promised!” she yelled, beating her fist against his shoulder. “Don’t leave me like this! It’s not fair!” She wept and tucked her head against his chest, letting the blood that was still wet on his skin to smear across her own. She could feel his body begin to wither away beneath her.

  Now she was alone. There was no pack, no Logan, no family. Most of all, there was no love. The depression that had stolen away the better part of her senior year returned, and it was as if Logan had never existed. Her spirit no longer recognized him. There was no warmth and kindness in the shriveled corpse she had thrown herself upon.

  Her wolf howled in mourning and Katey was tempted to do the same, but she was the only one to grieve. The humans who approached knew nothing of her sorrow.

  Footsteps came closer, sounding loud in the silence of the forest, only accompanied by the pounding of her pulse in her ears.

  She pushed herself up and looked to the path of death that led from the hunters to where Logan lay. They kicked at Dustin’s body, and then Darren’s as they made their way to her, brandishing their guns.

  Numbness saturated her body as she turned to face Drake and his posse of murderers.

  “Did you really think you could run from us?” he asked, raising his pistol to aim at her head. Even a few yards away, there would be no time for her to dodge and part of her didn’t even want to.

  Darren, Dustin, Ben, and Logan were all she had, all she ever wanted in this life. They sacrificed themselves to make sure Katey lived, using their bodies as shields against certain death. Now that they were gone, what else was left for her? What held her to this world?

  The prophecy no longer mattered. The safety of the world didn’t matter. Nothing mattered if there was no love. It had become her strength, and now that it had been extinguished, she would freely give her life to the hunters. What good was the body if the spirit was dead?

  Something within her came to life. A new pulse rose from her core and beat in time with her own. She found the courage to stand, her front sullied with blood and eyes softened by woe. The presence built up within her until she felt it overflowing like a bubbling spring from the top of her head. The energy poured from her and a slow smile spread across her face as she realized what was to come. This was not the end.

  Drake stopped and pulled the trigger, ready to eradicate this pack and claim the retribution he deserved. The bullet whizzed through the air but stopped short before it found its target in Katey’s forehead.

  For a moment, he thought he had missed. He fired, and the silver bullet stopped short again, hovering in midair with its partner.

  From behind him, one of his associates shot a wolfsbane dart, but it had the same effect. It spun in place with the bullets, as if stopping to admire the delirious smile Katey had plastered on her face.

  Frustration consumed him, and he continued to open fire, emptying his last magazine.

  When the last bullet was fired, the collection of silver pellets in front of Katey dropped to her feet.

  Slowly, a light began to radiate from Katey, growing and with it came an intense wall of heat that nearly knocked Drake off his feet.

  It surrounded them, illuminating the forest until one could barely tell it was a chilly winter night. Her green eyes were taken over by a white film, but her gaze was locked on Drake. If he were a religious person, he would have thought Katey looked like an angel. That honor belonged to the ethereal entity that began to materialize behind her.

  A woman in ancient garb and adorned in golden jewelry appeared in a ghostly form. She towered over all of them in a majestic stance that pronounced her preeminence over them. Drake thought her beautiful, but he could feel her power and authority like the heat of a hot summer day on his skin.

  Her dark hair, long and untamed, flowed behind her and eyes shined a radiant green, just like Katey’s. In many respects, Drake could see their similarities and wondered what kind of magic this was that Katey could create some sort of astral projection of herself in the image of a queen.

  The other hunters cowered and dropped their weapons in surrender, but Drake kept a firm grip on his pistol as he faced down the spirit.

  Katey and the spirit moved as one and looked beside them to the desiccated werewolf drenched in blood. She stooped down and their hands passed in unison over his head and torso. Slowly, the evidence of the wolfsbane in his system disappeared, and his body filled out to its previous living state.

  Color returned to the werewolf’s skin, and air filled his lungs in a great gasp as his life was restored. Drake looked behind him to the three other bodies, and they recovered in the same fashion. The hunters jumped away from the creatures as they shakily rose to their feet and looked to Katey in awe and wonderment.

  “The damage you have done is great,” the two women said. Katey’s voice was outshined by the saintly voice of the spirit that spoke with a distinct accent that Drake couldn’t place.

  He looked back to the spirit and its host and felt his palms begin to sweat, knowing that judgment was just a word away. What kind of power did the entity wield? Could it kill as easily as it could gift life? For all, he knew this was nothing but an illusion and had no power whatsoever.

  “You’re the ones who have done the damage!” he shouted, his voice sounding so plain and mortal after the spirit had spoken. “My father is dead, and we’re all that’s left of our clan.” He jabbed his finger at the one named Logan, who was supporting himself on his elbows and gazing up at the spirit. “He killed them all! He’s the one you should be blaming, not me!”

  Katey and the spirit looked to Logan, but said nothing and turned their attention back to Drake. “That may be true, but he is repentant of his crimes. You are not.” There was a note of definiteness and truth that rang in their last words.

  Drake could feel a tendon stand out in his neck as he was ready to defend his guiltlessness. “We kill to keep the world safe and get rid of these – “

  “You do not keep the world safe,” she interrupted. “You use violence in the name of peace to destroy those who are innocent.”

  “Innocent? These beasts aren’t innocent!”

  “They are guilty of only one thing, and it is not a crime worthy of death. They live according to their instincts and have a right to exist as much as you do. There are some who have been guided away from the peaceful way of living, but a day will come when every wolf and vampire will live amongst humans without fear or prejudice. We will all be as one, and you will have no reason to hunt them.”

  Drake’s brows drew together. “Are you talking about a cure?” he asked, remembering his father’s last mission.

  Katey expression went hard. “There is no cure for the beast that dwells within every living creature on the planet. There is only a cure for hate, but until humanity is ready to accept its truth, you will know no cure. If you continue to live in violence, it will consume you, and you will become worse than the thing you hunt.”

  The words echoed in Drake’s mind, but they held no meaning. Humans were the rightful stewards of the earth, and it was the job of the select few to eradicate the evil that infected their world. The vampires and werewolves were the true monsters, not Drake. He might as well have been on a mission ordained by God Himself to defeat the minions of Satan, and this spirit was just another agent the devil used to confuse him.

  Drake took a bounding step forward, ready to test if Katey’s force field was restricted to deflecting bullets. After that, he couldn’t move. His body refused to respond to his demands. At first, he thought it was Katey that made him immobile. He looked to his comrades and saw they were just as helpless as he was. Only the beasts were free.

  “What are you doing?” he shouted at Katey. Then, figures emerged from the woods wielding their own weapons. He looked to meet th
e eyes of one of the vampires he had seen at the compound before it burned to the ground. His dark eyes pinned Drake, calm and ready to shoot without hesitance if needed.

  It was the mesmerizing powers of the vampires that captured them, and they were following the orders of the spirit. Drake let out a sound of frustration just as he felt his fingers begin to pry open against his will. His useless gun dropped to the ground and his arms raised in reluctant surrender against the unholy creatures that surrounded him and his clan. They were truly defeated.

  The other hunters did the same, and without ceremony, the vampires ushered them away from the spirit and the other werewolves who were still recovering from their resurrection.

  Drake continued to look over his shoulder at the spirit as his feet moved of their own accord and he memorized the serious but otherworldly look in her eyes. Soon, they were away from the light and heat of the woman who had overpowered them with mere words.

  He looked to the familiar vampire who seemed to be in charge and addressed him as one leader to another. “What are you going to do with us?” he asked. Drake imagined a gruesome and bloody end for him and the hunters who had followed him here. If he could request such a thing, he wanted to die first since it was his foolish decision to pursue Logan that brought about their downfall.

  The only consoling thought lay in the truth that if they fell tonight, more would rise in their place. There were more of them all over the country and overseas that would continue the fight against evil.

  The vampire shook his head. “We will not hurt you if that’s what you’re thinking.”

  Drake was caught off guard by the dense Russian lilt to his words. “Where are we going, then?”

  Ahead, he saw a break in the trees that led to the country road where their vehicle was parked. He felt a sharp blow to the back of his head, and as his vision narrowed, he heard the vampire say, “You won’t know when you wake up.”