by Jessica Ryan
Abaddon had managed to get his arm up in defense, stopping Aster from crushing his throat with his powerful jaws, but that didn't prevent Aster from crushing his forearm between those same jaws. As Abaddon cried out in pain Aster began to claw him in the face, blinding him with his long nails.
"No!" Leena cried, curling her fists and stepping forward. "No, please stop! We relent! We'll leave your town forever. Just let him go! He has your word, right, Abaddon?"
The human figure that lay beneath Aster just gurgled, blooding shooting from his mouth. The shadowy figure that hung in the sky, the actual Abaddon, finally spoke. "Let my vessel live and I promise to never return to Bucklin. I will sign a pact with no loopholes. Your people will forever be safe."
Aster turned and looked up at the demon, studying the shadowy figure. He had no doubt the demon would sign the pact; demons were very good at self-preservation. But that didn't mean anything to Aster. He would still lose Leena for a second time, and he had no intention of doing that.
The shadowy figure recoiled, like a snake trying to slither away. Abaddon the man opened his mouth to scream, but no sound came out. At the same moment Aster growled and bit down onto Abaddon's throat, crushing it between his jaws and ending the life of the monster who had tortured him for the last ten years.
The only sound he could hear after that was the screaming of the demon possessing Leena as she watched her mate's vessel die at the hands of her current vessel's mate.
Aster expected explosions and shaking as the demon returned to hell. Instead it just began to swirl around the room, like a tornado being sucked into the ground. The face in the swirling black cloud was twisting in agony, but no sound came out. Its connection with the mortal world had been severed—it no longer existed on this plane.
With ease Aster shifted back to his human form, wiping the blood from his chin as he looked down at his fallen enemy. He had won; he had defeated Abaddon once and for all. The only thing that remained was saving his former love… who had nothing but murder in her eyes right now.
Chapter 17
"You son of a bitch!" Leena screamed as she lunged at Aster. "You're going to pay for this!"
Aster didn't want to hurt the body that his beautiful mate would again inhabit, but at the same time he had to protect himself. He was still on his knees over Abaddon's fallen body, leaving himself open to the strength the demon would demonstrate. Nobody had restricted Leena's demon, and she was at full power. Aster braced himself for the impact and tried to swivel his hips to throw her as she came in.
He expected it to be like trying to stop a brick wall from falling over on top of him, but instead he easily caught her and flung her, sending her flying across the room with ease. She slammed into a cabinet that hung on one wall, destroying it and knocking it over on top of her as she limply hit the ground.
"What the hell," Rain said from inside the cell.
Aster's eyes grew wide and he looked up at his part-time surrogate daughter. Her eyes met his and she instantly recognized the confusion he was feeling. "She's a lot stronger than that, Aster! I've felt her strength. There's no way you should be able to do that."
Aster stood up and slowly walked to where Leena was lying in a heap. She was struggling to stand, the pain of the throw overwhelming her senses. Aster smiled. "Fight, Leena. The demon isn't as strong without its mate! You can return to us."
The demon just responded with a groan, still trying to gather its senses. Another voice drew Aster's attention away from Leena.
"Aster!" Rowan called. "Open this cell door! Abaddon had the keys. Free us before she recovers or reinforcements show up."
Aster immediately sprang into action, rolling back across the floor and grabbing Abaddon's discarded jeans. The keys were hooked to his belt loop. Aster didn't even bother to unhook them; he just yanked, bringing a piece of the denim with him as he tossed the keys to Rowan. "You know which key is which, brother."
He turned around and began to approach the demon, who was finally up to her knees.
"It's over, hell spawn," he said. "You can't win this fight."
"Fuck you!" she growled, spit flying from her mouth. "It's never over!"
As Aster tried to process what was about to happen, the whole situation went to hell. All at once the door flew open with several wolves rushing in, guns in hand, while the cell door swung open and all of Aster's allies poured out. The distraction was enough for Leena to charge forward, driving her knee into Aster's most precious area and bringing him to his knees. She didn't stop to survey her handiwork or gloat; instead, she ran across the room, hopped a desk and shoved an armed guard to the floor as she disappeared from the jail.
"What the fuck is going on here?" a familiar voice asked. Aster looked up to see his packmate Eden standing tall with Satan's Angels and the Oakdale pack members.
"You just burst in on the wrong party," Rowan said, cracking his neck and snarling at the reinforcements.
"Hold on a second!" Eden said, still not fully grasping the situation. "Where the hell is Empusa going? And how the fuck did you idiots get out?"
So Empusa is your name, demon, Aster thought. Good to know.
"Why don't you tell me what the fuck is going on, Eden?" Aster asked, rising to his feet and walking to stand over the dead body of Abaddon. "I see you've switched packs."
"Aster!" she said, shocked that he was present. She hadn't seen him when she first burst in due to him being on his knees. "You're alive."
"Of course I'm alive, you traitorous twit! Now start talking!"
"You're in no position to be making demands," Eden said, puffing up and pointing her gun at Aster. "This is what you get for trying to cast me aside when I was willing to be your perfect mate. Forrest knew what was up. He knew a good thing when he saw it."
"Until I nearly cut him in two," Beorn muttered.
"You'll pay for that!" Eden said, pointing her gun at the bear. "You and your skinny little girlfriend."
"You're in no position to be making demands," Aster said, smiling as he echoed Eden's earlier words.
"Excuse me?" she asked, laughing. "Is that the best you can come up with? We outnumber you and we have guns. You better get back in that cell until I figure this out."
"By my count there are four Satan's Angels with you and eight members of the Oakdale pack."
"So what?"
"The Oakdale pack still recognizes the old ways, do they not?"
Everyone stood in silence as the Oakdale members nodded in agreement.
"Again," Eden said, rubbing her temple with her free hand. "So fucking what?"
"Oakdale members," Aster said, pointing at Beorn. "That man killed your alpha and I've killed Abaddon. If you need proof, then just look at my feet. He lays dead at my hand."
The Oakdale members all lowered their guns and began to look at one another. Aster continued, "If you truly believe in the old ways, then you know Beorn is now your true alpha and I have proven myself to be the strongest wolf in the area. You must fall in with your command."
"Oh, shit," Eden said, lowering her gun.
"Oakdale pack!" Beorn roared. "Kill Satan's Angels!"
The bikers never had a chance. They tried to lift their guns in defense, but the wolves were on them in a flash. Guns fired into the air, but did no damage as each member of Satan's Angels was savagely dragged to the floor and ripped to shreds as the Oakdale pack shifted and attacked.
Eden started to back away, trapped between her former allies and her current allies. She didn't notice anything until she backed right into Rain, who had stepped up to meet her.
"I see your arm has healed, alpha bitch," Rain said.
As Eden turned, she was met with a thunderous blow from Rain. Aster's eyes grew wide as he watched blood and something else fly from Eden's face. As the objects fell to the ground with a clatter he realized they were Eden's teeth. He noticed a blood-soaked object in Rain's hand. It was one of the clubs the sher
iff's deputies carried. Rain had grabbed it when she was walking up and had unloaded on Eden with it.
Eden fell to the ground, landing on her hands and knees as she tried to gather her senses. She looked up at Rain, who slammed the club down onto her back, sending her to the floor. Rain hopped onto her back and pulled the club around Eden's throat, lifting her up in an awkward position as she talked into Eden's ear.
"This is what you get," Rain said. "You've been picking on me my whole life and now you've betrayed everything and everyone. You deserve to die."
"Please," Eden said, gagging as she tried to speak.
"Rain, stop!"
Aster looked up from the scene, which he had to admit he was enjoying, to see Rowan's girlfriend step to the forefront of the crowd.
"Stop, Rain!" Eva pleaded again. "You're not an animal. Don't kill her. You're better than this."
"She deserves to die," Rain said. "She betrayed her own pack. Is there any worse sin?"
"Fuck your pack!" Eva screamed, forcing all the wolves to look at her in confusion. "I'm serious. You all live in a goddamn city and you have a fucking mayor! You're not werewolves; you're humans who happen to be able to turn into wolves. The old ways are dead and you've all said it repeatedly. You don't kill someone because they've crossed you. I'm tired of all this violence. I can't take it anymore."
Rowan tried to comfort her as she began to sob, but she slapped his hand away. "You all need to make a decision. You either need to be wolves and return to the forest or be humans and live here. I don't think you can do both."
"You can," Beorn said, crossing his arms. "If you can connect the two entities inside of you, but I don't think any of you wolves are cut out for it. You've been domesticated for too long."
"Please, Rain," Eva said, dropping to her knees in front of her friend. "There's been enough bloodshed today. Let's just go save Leena."
Everyone became silent and took note of what had just been said. Aster knew she was right. They shouldn't live in the city if they weren't willing to completely forego the wolf side of themselves. Beorn had managed to achieve a balance that a lot of other shifters had achieved, but the Bucklin wolves had gone about it in the wrong way. They'd spent their lives trying to deny the wolf, effectively turning it into a feral caged animal. They had committed too many mistakes in the past, and now was the time to atone for them.
"You're right," Rain said, releasing Eden and letting her unconscious body collapse to the floor. "We have to save Leena above all else."
"Yes," Aster said, feeling a renewed sense of vigor. "Someone get me some clothes, then let's rescue my mate."
Chapter 18
Everyone gathered in front of the courthouse five minutes later, Aster was clothed in an old sheriff's uniform that Rowan had found in his locker. As he walked outside he caught his reflection in a car window and smiled.
I look pretty good in this uniform, he thought. Leena would love it. Maybe if things had gone just a little differently she would have seen me in it every day.
Aster looked at the ground and closed his eyes. Ten years of pain and suffering were about to come to an end, but a lifetime of pain and suffering could begin if they couldn't rescue Leena from the demon Empusa.
"Beorn," Aster said. "Can you lead the Oakdale pack in rounding up the rest of Satan's Angels and removing them from our town?"
"It'd be my pleasure," Beorn said with a sadistic gleam in his eye.
Aster started to turn to walk away, but he caught Eva giving him an exasperated look. Sighing, he turned back to Beorn, "Oh, and Beorn. Try not to kill any of them if possible. There's been enough bloodshed in my town."
Beorn looked like someone had run over his favorite pet. "Yeah, okay. I gotcha."
Eva gave Aster a satisfied smile and Rowan clapped him on the back in congratulations. Aster leaned over to whisper in his old friend's ear. "You know you're really something, to commit your life to a pacifist. You've twisted off and killed a lot more people than me."
"She makes me a better man and wolf," Rowan whispered back.
Aster had no response; he could only smile and return the pat on the back to his friend. Rowan had found something special in Eva, something that Aster was hoping to rediscover with his lost love. No man was perfect, but they always came a little bit closer when they had a good woman at their side.
"I want to go with Beorn," Rain said, stepping up to interrupt their moment. "He's my mate now, Aster. I don't know if you or Rowan figured that out, but he is and it's not changing."
Rowan and Aster exchanged glances before looking over at Rain, who was standing with her arms crossed and her face twisted in defiance.
"You're serious?" Rowan asked.
"Yes," Rain said. "He's perfect for me and that's not going to change."
Aster looked up at Beorn. He was standing behind Rain with the same defiance on his face. He had no problem making eye contact with Rowan and Aster as Rain spoke. That was the only convincing Aster needed. Beorn was the right man for their ward.
"Well, hold on a minute," Rowan said, putting his hands up. "You're only eighteen. Have you thought about your future? You can't even have children if you mate with a bear."
It was hard to see Beorn's face behind his giant beard, but Aster could tell he was turning red. Rain opened her mouth to protest but Aster cut them all off.
"Enough," he said with finality in his voice. "Rowan, she's an adult and she can make her own decisions. Besides, I think this is a good match."
"You do?" Rowan asked incredulously.
"Yes I do," Aster said. "Now drop it."
Rowan looked back and forth between the three people who were defying him before finally throwing his hands up in the air again, this time in submission. "Okay, if you all think it's best. But I'll be watching."
"Watch all you want," Beorn said, pulling Rain over into a hug. "You may get an eyeful of something you don't want to see."
Rowan's mouth gaped in horror as Beorn spun Rain around, lifted her off the ground and planted the biggest kiss Aster had ever seen on her lips. The two began to furiously kiss to the point of it being inappropriate. Rowan looked ready to explode while Hawk and the humans tried to look away.
"Alright," Aster said loudly. "You two know what to do. Clear the town of the bikers. We're going to find Leena."
"Right," Beorn said, putting Rain down. "Oh, and Aster?"
"Yes?" Aster asked.
"Thank you for everything."
"My pleasure," Aster said. He held his hand out and shook the large bear's hand.
"Now what?" Rowan asked as Aster led his troops across the parking lot, away from Beorn and Rain.
"We find Leena," Aster said.
"And how are we going to do that?" Hawk asked, running to catch up. "I can't smell her anywhere. The demon is covering its tracks."
"I have an idea of where she ran to," Aster said. "We need a vehicle."
Rowan stopped beside his old, beat-up truck. "How about the humans hop in with me and you two ride in the bed?"
"Fine by me," Aster said.
Rowan started to climb into the front seat before turning back to Aster. "Where are we going?"
"My house," Aster said.
Rowan gave Aster a knowing look before climbing into the truck. Hawk situated himself on one of the tire wells while Aster stood in the back, leaning over and placing his hands on the top of the cab. This was his rescue mission and Leena was going to see him coming.
She's there, he thought as Rowan roared down the street at a speed that wasn't safe even for a wolf with lightning reflexes. Aster knew the two human women inside the truck were probably scared to death, but he didn't care. This was the moment of truth. I know you're there, baby. I hope you're fighting it. Please be fighting it.
The trip only took a couple of minutes due to Rowan's bandit-like driving, but to Aster it felt like it took another ten years. Ten years of misery, ten years of loneli
ness. Aster hoped it would all end right now. Leena had found her way back into his life and he couldn't go on without her.
As they began to climb the hill that led to his house, Aster felt his stomach twist into a knot. He had never been nervous before in his life, but right now his nerves were threatening to rip him apart. His grip on the cab was tenuous as his hands shook. Sweat was forming on his forehead and he felt like he needed to throw up. He hadn't eaten in over a day, but his stomach threatened to expel whatever it could find from deep within.
As they crested the hill he saw her standing just inside the gate to his property, as radiant and beautiful as ever. As his gaze landed on her he almost passed out from the pressure, but instead he tried to remain strong.
What's that in her hand? he wondered as he looked down at his lost love. His wonder quickly turned to fear as the sun reflected off the metal barrel. She was holding a gun.
As the truck screeched to a halt she lifted the gun and placed it against her temple. "Don't come any closer or her body dies!"
Aster was frozen in the truck bed, unable to move or be forced to watch the death of his one true love.
"You think you've won?" she asked, tears starting to fill her eyes. "You think you can banish my mate like that and get away with it? It's over for your mate, Aster. If I can't have mine, then you can't have yours."
"You'll be banished to hell too if you destroy that body!" Aster said, fumbling desperately for any words that would slow her down.
"So what?" she said. "It doesn't matter anymore, does it? Abaddon is gone. Why wouldn't I want to join him in hell while punishing you?"
"Fight it, Leena," Aster said, lowering his head. This wouldn't end unless Leena fought it. "Don't let her do this to you."
"Shut up!" the demon screamed. "I'm tired of your…ahhhh!"
Just as she began to step forward with the gun she collapsed in what appeared to be great pain, grabbing at her forehead and dropping the gun to her side. Aster didn't wait for any signal. He vaulted over the cab of the truck, hitting the hood and jumping off before sprinting across the yard in a few short steps. When he was a few feet from Leena he dropped to his knees and slid the rest of the way, grabbing her in his arms.
