by Eden French
Calen took another step back and kicked at the panels. On the second kick, it swung open. Celeste pushed past him into the room and stopped short, her eyes wide when she realized what it was she was seeing.
Heather was lying on the bed, face down, crying. Her clamshell top was broken and thrown on the floor, her pants pulled down past her knees. Blood spotted the backs of her thighs.
“Calen, close the door,” Celeste ordered. She ran over to her friend and covered her with a blanket. “Heather, it’s Celeste. Can you hear me?”
Heather looked up at Celeste, terrified. She pushed herself up but collapsed. She struggled to pull up her pants but didn’t have the coordination. Celeste helped her pull up her pants.
She’s been drugged. I’m going to kill that bastard I’m going to fucking kill him!
Her wolf poked its head out of its cave. It pulled its lips back over its teeth and growled.
“Celeste…I…I…” Heather’s words slurred and stuttered.
Celeste snapped her attention to her friend who broke down into a full sob. She collected Heather in her arms. She motioned for Calen to give her his jacket. Calen removed the red ringmaster’s coat and wrapped it around Heather’s shoulders.
“I’m calling the police,” he said after Heather was covered. “That fucker is not getting away with this. He needs to go to prison.”
“No!” Heather screamed in a frantic voice. “No! Don’t call them, please!”
“Heather,” Celeste spoke calmly. “This isn’t up for discussion. We are calling the police, what happened to you will not go unpunished.”
Too bad the police will never make it on time, Celeste thought to herself.
“No!” Heather screamed again, this time her voice became panicked. “Celeste, please take me home, please! Don’t call the police! Then everyone will know. Please, Celeste, please!”
Heather became frantic. Her chest heaved. Her face drained of color. Celeste looked at Calen. The two came to a silent agreement they would get Heather home, though neither agreed it was the right thing to do. It was Celeste who spoke in a soft tone.
“Fine, Heather, fine. We’ll do it your way. We’ll take you home. Here, let me button up the coat, so you’re covered. No one will even notice. Do you think you can walk?” Heather nodded. “Okay, good. Let’s stand up now... ready?” The two women stood. Celeste holding the taller one up. “Calen, can you meet us two houses down with a car?”
“I’m not leaving you alone in this fucking place.” His voice was absolute.
“I’ll do it.”
* * * *
Celeste and Calen both turned to see Zev standing in the doorway. Zev was hit with Calen’s anger as it flashed throughout his body, but to his friend’s credit, he contained it. Heather needed him. She needed them all. Zev watched as Calen reached into his pocket and pulled out his keys. Why he had them on his person was beyond Zev, his friend should be nowhere near a car. But that was a conversation for another time.
“Here,” he said tossing them to Zev. “Meet us at the corner. I’ll stay and make sure they get out of here all right.”
Zev turned and ran back down the hall to the car, no questions asked. He wasn’t too keen on leaving Celeste behind, but he knew she was more than capable of taking care of herself, and Calen would be there as backup. He didn’t like it, but he couldn’t ignore that Calen loved her, and Zev knew his friend would do anything in his power to protect her.
When Zev drove up to the corner, the three were already waiting. Calen and Celeste helped Heather into the backseat, Celeste sliding in next to her. Calen sat in the front as Zev drove to the women’s apartment.
“Heather, you have to go to the hospital. You have to get checked out,” Celeste urged on the ride home.
“No, Celeste. It won’t make a difference anyway. He used a condom. I saw him toss it in the garbage on his way out.” Heather’s voice was cold, so unlike the warm sun usually accompanying her words.
“Heather still, they’ll want to check you internally, make sure you’re okay, to—”
“I said no! Take me home, Zev!” Heather began to breathe raggedly. “Take me home, take me home…please, Zev, take me home.”
Celeste wrapped her arm around her friend’s shoulder and tried to calm her.
“Okay, Heath, we’ll take you home. Right now, hon. Just breathe for now…just breathe.”
The car was silent for the rest of the drive back. When they reached the apartment, the three got Heather safely inside. Celeste helped her shower, brushed her hair, and tucked her into bed. She gave Heather a sleeping pill, and after her friend drifted off, Celeste joined Calen and Zev in the living room.
“It was Jake,” Celeste said as she entered the space.
“We need to call the police. I don’t care what Heather said, Jake Pierson needs to pay for this,” Calen said, standing.
“She doesn’t want to report it, Calen. Not tonight, anyway. She’s embarrassed, ashamed…in shock,” Celeste replied. “Let’s give her a night. I gave her a pill that will knock her out for at least fifteen hours. Tomorrow afternoon, maybe we can talk her into it.”
“And, what if between now and when she’s ready, Jake does this to someone else? What then, Celeste? He needs to be stopped. He needs to pay for what he’s done.” Calen was practically shouting.
“I know that, Calen! Don’t you think if anyone wants this douchebag to pay, it’d be me? He deserves a lot more punishment than he will ever get, but right now, Heather’s sanity is my first priority.”
Zev, quiet through the exchange, stood.
“I agree with Calen, Celeste. Jake does need to be punished.” His words were low, menacing. She knew what he meant.
“Zev, no, there has to be another way. You don’t have to do anything. This is my responsibility. She’s my friend.”
“There is no other way, Celeste. It’s what we were made for. It’s what we do. It’s what I do. There is no other way.” Zev walked slowly to Celeste, his dark eyes glowing yellow. He brought his palm up to her cheek and placed it gently on its surface. “Embrace it. Feel it run through your veins. Embrace your birthright, your power. You can do it.”
Calen took a step back, his jaw dropping, as he watched the yellow ring circling Celeste’s irises slowly grow inward until there was nothing left but two glowing yellow orbs.
“I…I don’t know if I can do it.” Celeste looked away unable to meet Zev’s gaze. “What if I can’t do it, Zev? I’m…I’m sorry.”
Zev kissed her forehead and took a step away.
“Don’t let her follow me, Red.”
He was gone before she knew what was happening. Celeste called out. “Zev, come back!” She lunged after him. Calen grabbed her around the waist. “Calen, let me go!”
Calen held on for dear life. Zev was going after Jake, and Calen knew that after tonight, Jake would no longer exist. He squeezed tight as Celeste thrashed around in his arms, fighting to be released. Calen’s grip was firm. There was no way he’d let go of her. He’d never let her go again.
* * * *
Celeste couldn’t let Zev go after Jake alone. She knew he would lure him into the woods somehow and attack him while in wolf form. But, things were different now. Now the woods were swarming with hunters, poachers that wanted the thrill of tagging the animal responsible for killing three university students. It didn’t matter to the hunters those students were the bottom dregs of mankind…rapists, abusers, and misogynists. To the public, they were promising, young men with their whole lives ahead of them, and the animal that attacked them was just an animal. It deserved to die.
Celeste’s wolf poked her head out of the cave. She saw her eyes filled with anger, revenge. Her wolf knew what needed to be done. It was her destiny, and there was no way she was letting her true mate go into those woods alone, with no one to protect him, as he fulfilled his duty. All Celeste had to do was accept her destiny. She couldn’t let Zev go out there alone.
Cel
este felt the pain in her stomach first. She doubled over as it took her completely by surprise. Calen, sensing a shift in Celeste’s movements loosened his grip.
“Celeste, are you okay?”
Celeste knew her wolf was fighting to come out.
Oh God, am I shifting?
Panic gripped her throat, and she knew it was happening. There was no way she wanted Calen to see it. Not her first time. With a power Celeste had only accessed once before, she broke free of Calen, knocking him down to the ground, and ran out of the apartment, down the stairs, and straight toward the woods beyond.
Chapter Seventeen
Zev had convinced Jake to meet him out by Old Grandmother Trail. It had been quite easy, really. Zev had told him he had scored two Delta’s who were loose and had a fantasy of fucking in front of another couple.
Zev appealed to his depravity, his lack of respect for women, his sadism. It was too easy. Jake would probably come to the forest skipping down the trail. Zev was confident Jake would be there at exactly two thirty. He was sure of it.
The woods were quiet. There was an eerie sense of silence that often accompanied Zev, just before he took a life. He wished Celeste was with him right now, that they could do it together, almost like last time, but she wasn’t ready. He needed to give her time until she accepted what was her birthright.
At two thirty, Jake Pierson turned the corner of Old Grandmother Trail and spotted Zev. Zev waved the bastard over.
“Where’re the sluts, man?” Jake said, looking around.
“They’re not here yet.” Zev smiled. “Don’t worry though, it’ll happen…soon.”
Jake smiled and grabbed himself in anticipation. Zev clenched his teeth in disgust.
“So, have you had fun so far tonight?” Zev baited. It wasn’t polite to play with your food, but he was curious as to what Jake would reveal.
“Ah, man.” Jake laughed. “It’s been epic. Started off with a tasty little dish, she was a little timid, played hard to get, you know, but I convinced her otherwise.” His mouth turned up in a smile as he remembered.
Zev took a few steps closer to the man until they were chest-to-chest.
“Man, what the fuck, back up okay? Why’re you so close?
“Better to hear your story.” Zev’s voice was low, menacing. Jake noticed.
He tried to push Zev back, but Zev didn’t budge. He stayed rooted into his spot. Jake’s brow furrowed, and Zev smelled his sweat as it began to bead up along his hairline. Jake tried to create some space between them, but stumbled back and tripped over a fallen tree. Landing on his backside, he looked up at Zev, whose eyes were bright yellow orbs in his head. They glowed in the night.
“Your eyes…what the fuck’s with your eyes?” The man’s voice was shaking.
“Better to see you with.”
Zev smiled at Jake and revealed his teeth which had started the shift to wolf. They were long and pointed, and glistening white in the moonlight. Jake’s eyes widened.
“Your teeth…your fucking teeth…”
Zev growled into the dark forest and let the shift take over his being. “Better to eat you with.”
Jake scrambled to stand, only to find his arms and legs weren’t working. They failed and stumbled about as panic flooded him. He began to scoot on his backside, desperately trying to push away from Zev who was in the midst of transitioning.
“Why me? Why me?” he yelled at Zev who was partially shifted, a grotesque half-man, half-wolf form.
“Because you have no respect for human life!” Zev growled.
“I’m sorry! I’m sorry!” Jake screamed as tears poured from his eyes, and snot trailed down his face. Zev could smell that the man had wet himself in his fear.
Typical. Just like a coward to do that. Zev smiled to himself as he realized he was going to enjoy this kill more than most. He opened his arms up to the sky and released a long howl as his shift completed.
* * * *
Celeste ran faster than she ever thought she could. She heard the howl come from the direction of the old trail. She knew Zev was alone with Jake. But, there was something else out there, too. She sensed them. The hunters. She cursed herself for hesitating earlier. She should be with her alpha. She should be there to protect him. She wondered if she would ever get used to the idea.
Now, Celeste felt an urgency to be with Zev. She needed to make sure he was all right, that he would return to her in one piece. She ignored the pain in her body as she ran, the twisting and reshaping of her insides that could only mean there was a high probability she’d arrive at the site as a wolf. She ran at such a frantic pace she didn’t even notice the poacher follow her into the depths of the forest.
* * * *
Calen wasn’t sure how he knew, but he had a good idea that Zev would lead Jake to Old Grandmother Trail. The two had often hiked there in the summer.
The final pieces fell into place as he headed out to the trail. It didn’t take a rocket scientist to put it together. Random animal attacks that seemed to be of a wolf nature. And the victims? All men with questionable moral judgment. Now, in light of Celeste’s confession, Calen was sure Zev had told him the absolute truth.
But, what about Celeste? Where did all this leave them? After what he witnessed in the apartment, Calen was one hundred percent sure Celeste would choose him over Zev if there were nothing otherworldly at play. Unfortunately for him, there was, and that was something he’d have to figure out. After Celeste was safe.
He took a shortcut through the forest at full speed desperate to get to the trail. Because once he did, he’d find Zev…and Celeste, and perhaps, there was still time to save her from this nightmare.
* * * *
Celeste entered the clearing just as Zev was finishing off Jake. The body was ripped into several pieces and spread out over the area. Zev stretched his body and licked his jowls. Celeste looked at her true mate, in wolf form, and felt excitement rush through her. Her chest filled with pride.
The revelation startled her.
She was proud of him and of what he’d done. As much as she wanted to think there was another way, Celeste felt in her heart Zev’s actions had been correct. There was no other way. This was him. And, her. And with that realization came something else Celeste was not expecting.
Acceptance.
* * * *
Calen entered the gory scene and stumbled to a halt. He saw the body—everywhere. The pieces of Jake were strewn about. His stomach lurched. A rustle of leaves caught his attention. Turning, he saw Celeste standing at the opposite edge of the clearing. She was staring at something near him. Calen followed her gaze and froze when he saw the wolf. The massive black wolf stood there, staring him down, alert.
Zev.
“Zev,” he called out to the beast as he entered the clearing. “What have you done?”
“He did what he had to do.” Celeste ran forward toward the animal. “Jake deserved to die.”
Her defense of Zev stung Calen, and he stopped.
“Don’t move!” a strange voice from the tree line yelled. The three turned their heads toward the voice. “Everyone stay right where you are and don’t be afraid.”
* * * *
The hunter took a few slow steps into the clearing, the rifle propped up against his right shoulder, ready to fire. He wrapped his finger around the trigger as he took each careful step forward.
Celeste’s heart stopped.
“No!” she yelled, eyes wide, fear shooting out from her mouth.
The man didn’t even give her a look. His eyes were solely focused on the wolf that stood surrounded by body parts and covered in blood.
Calen watched as the man took aim and tightened his finger around the trigger.
“No!” he screamed, running into the clearing.
Celeste watched in terror as her true mate and her true companion were directly in the line of fire. She heard the gun go off, then silence.
She looked back toward the two men that she
loved. Both lay slumped on the ground.
“No! No!” she cried as she approached the mound. “Calen! Zev!”
The hunter turned white as he looked at Calen’s body slumped over the beast. Celeste’s wolf became unhinged.
“I’ll fucking kill you!” Celeste cursed the man. “I’m gonna tear you to pieces just like the ones scattered in front of you.”
The hunter stared at Celeste as her eyes glowed yellow, her wolf ready to burst out of her skin. The man’s face turned pale, and he fumbled with his rifle dropping it to the ground. Celeste stalked toward him, her teeth shifting to sharp canines, her yellow eyes focused on one target. She grabbed the man’s shirt and pulled him up to her face.
“There’ll be nothing left to identify when I’m finished with you. Just know that.” Her voice was eerily calm. The hunter pissed himself as she suspended him in the air. She threw the man’s body against a tree. He hit it hard and crumpled to the ground like an old puppet.
Celeste no longer saw various colors. Everything went red as she jumped on the man and grabbed his head between her hands in preparation to rip it off his worthless body.
“Celeste! Don’t!” Calen’s voice rang in her ears. It instantly calmed her. She felt her rage subside as she turned to see Calen sitting up.
“Calen!” she screamed, releasing the man and running across the clearing. She threw her body on him and embraced him tightly, her kisses covering his face. “Oh God, you’re alive. Thank God, you’re alive.”
A small whine caught her ear. She turned around and saw Zev, still in wolf form, struggling to stand.
“Zev!” She reached over to him and ran her hand through his fur. Finding just a flesh wound, she released a huge sigh of relief before sitting on the cold forest floor and sobbing into her hands. Calen scooped her up and held her in his lap.
