by Ryan Michele
“Mom!” She darts off quickly and I watch as she runs into her mother’s arms. My heart constricts for two reasons. One, the possibility of Natalie losing her mother, and two, I want to have pups someday. I’d love to have a litter of them to raise and show what a great mom is. Not that I had a good example, but I know I have love to give. Xavier taught me that.
“Clarisse, Alpha X wants to see you,” Max bellows from the hallway then looks at me. “You too.”
I nod and head that way. Clarisse gets Natalie settled and falls in step with me. I say nothing. As much as I hate this, it is Clarisse’s decision and not mine. I had all of my choices taken away from me and I won’t do that to others. No matter how much it pains me.
I don’t knock. I walk right in. ‘I’m here!’ I think cheerily and it gets me a smile. Xavier pats his knee, giving the silent command to come and take a seat. I do, not because he said so per se but because I like it. I feel comfortable and safe here. He rubs his nose and mouth against my temple, making me melt. I love that.
“Clarisse, have a seat.”
‘You could have said please have a seat,’ I chastise and get a tight, hard squeeze.
“The battle. I want to give you the choice to stay back with the children. It seems that Natalie is still having a very hard time with her father’s passing and if something were to happen to you, it would devastate her. So, I want to give you the option.”
Clarisse’s jaw drops so far I can see her wisdom teeth. She rights herself and pulls her shoulders back. Please say you’ll stay with Natalie. Please.
“While I appreciate your offer, I will not sit back and let my pack fight without me. I am stronger than that. The eldest wolves will keep Natalie safe,” Clarisse states, her words filled with conviction. My heart sinks.
‘Dammit.’
To that, Xavier gives me a soft kiss on the shoulder. “As you wish. You may go.”
She leaves the office and I sag into him. “This sucks.” The whole entire damn thing.
After bringing in the guys and going over the battle plan, Xavier takes us back to the bedroom for a quickie, stating that he needs me. Well, I need him too.
AS THE NEW DAY breaks, my nerves get the best of me. Tomorrow is the day. Tomorrow, either we defeat my father or we die. There’s not a single ounce of pressure there. No nerves at all.
Dishes this morning haven’t helped relax me like they normally do. Sex is fantastic, but not curbing the stress. We go over all the plans with the entire pack most of the afternoon so everyone knows their positions and what the main goal is. Take out my father, his beta, and gamma then the enforcers. Then anyone that remains. The pack will be non-existent after we are finished. It seems to be the only way at this point because any remaining wolves could follow in my father’s footsteps. I still don’t know exactly how I feel about wiping out my old pack, but I don’t have time to process it quite yet.
I’ve gone through every single pack member, even the eldest, and haven’t gotten anywhere. I tried calling Maggie back, but she didn’t answer. To top it off, the crystal I had is still missing. Max hasn’t found it yet. Life is a big ball of shit wrapped in barbed wire.
Needing a breather, I stand by the window looking at all the beautiful leaves on the trees and watching them rustle in the wind. I miss being outside. In my old pack, I only went out when I was told I had to. With this pack, I’d be honored to be a part of their runs. I’d be honored just to be asked.
‘Zara,’ my brother’s voice comes through my head and my stomach drops to my knees. I haven’t spoken to him in years. After I watched my father repeatedly beat him for months, he disappeared. When I got out of the cage, he was gone and no one would tell me where he went. I tried tapping into him, but he had blocked me. I knew nothing.
At first, my brother fought for me. He tried to reason with my father, but it was of no use. It was all wasted breath. I appreciated it nonetheless. I could see in his eyes as he lay there on the floor in pain, that he would take it, for me.
I move quickly to Xavier, having the gut feeling that whatever my brother is about to say is going to knock me on my ass. Why else would he allow me to hear his thoughts?
“My brother,” I whisper and Xavier’s eyes shoot up as he hushes the room.
‘Father is planning to ambush you today. Not tomorrow as your Alpha planned. They want to catch you off guard. They have not packed up yet, but they will be soon and then we are coming. You need to prepare everyone you are with for this. Father is pissed and I will not fight with him, but it has to look like I am or he’ll slice my throat. Heavens, I hope you are listening to this. Father would gut me where I stand if he knew I was talking to you. In about an hour, there will be a black van rolling up to your gates. It is on a remote detonator. Once your man comes close, it will explode. This will give the pack their in. You have to be ready for this. Father has an arsenal. And he is not going to stop until he’s killed you all or he’s dead.’
Holy fucking shit. My breath leaves me in a whoosh.
‘Just know that everything I did was to protect you. I had to pay for that, but I wouldn’t change the fact that I tried. I will more than likely die today but I want you to have a happy life. You deserve it. Oh, one more thing. Father knows you tried to contact Nana O. He’s pissed. Gotta go. Love you.’
“Love you too,” I whisper, my heart constricting, and I turn to Xavier. “They’re coming today. In about an hour. Get everyone here who’s out on errands. There will be a black van, do not let anyone go up to it. It will blow and let them enter the gate. We have to be ready.” My words come out so fast, my body pulses in rapid beats. This is it. Really it. I found my mate and now only a few short days later, everything could be wiped away.
“You believe him?” Xavier asks me, the intensity in his eyes fierce.
I think hard. Never once have I doubted my brother or his feelings toward me. Never. “There is no way that Zane would set me up. He saw what was done to me and I saw what was done to him. I believe him.” Xavier nods.
“You heard her,” Xavier orders Max. “Alert everyone and no one goes up to that van. They will blow it no matter what. It will be better if the gatekeeper isn’t there at all. Let them think we are completely relaxed. Okay. Battle plan has changed. Everyone in the living room in ten minutes. Only ones gone are the pups and the elders who are taking care of them. Everyone else is there,” he commands and pulls me down the hall.
“What are you doing?” I call out but he ignores me and keeps on going, opening the door to our room, and then plastering my back to it.
“Gotta fuck you before we do this. Can’t do it unless I feel you.” He makes quick work of both of our clothes, shredding them from our bodies. He fucks me against the door until we both scream out our releases. Unfortunately, it does nothing to eliminate the pull in my gut.
“I MOVED THESE UP here so we had better response time.” Gary points to twenty little screens all hooked up to one computer. Surveillance. “The entire area around the den is monitored. We will see them the moment they breach it.” Sure enough, every inch around us is on those screens. Both males and females pace the floors, some chomping on their nails, ready to go. Some are lying on the couch like they haven’t a care in the world. Some of the females are in the kitchen making food. Not because we need it, but because it gives them something to do. I head back there.
“I can’t believe we have to battle because of her.” Marissa’s cattiness rings loud and clear.
“She is our Alpha. You respect that,” Rose warns with Clarisse standing beside her.
“Or you could just challenge me and get it over with,” I say, stepping into the room, grabbing a small tomato and throwing it in my mouth. This level of confidence is surprising to me, but I’m loving it. I’m embracing it. I have to. Marissa says nothing. “Or do that. Nothing. It works best on you.” Marissa huffs but says anything else.
Stella comes in weary-eyed. “Nothing. Not a damn thing. It’s like the pag
es haven’t been written yet. It’s like they don’t exist. I don’t get it. I went through all fifty-seven books and while I know my history better, I found nothing about the future.”
“It’s okay, Stella. Let’s focus on today. We have to be strong and put-together today,” I tell her.
Stella nods, heads over to the coffee pot, and pours some into a cup. “There just has to be more books.” She’s obviously not letting this go yet.
“Like I said, we worry about that another day.” I wrap one arm around her shoulders and give her a hug.
“Black van!” someone yells and we all drop everything and dart into the living room.
It’s starting…
WE WATCH THE monitors, seeing many of my old pack scattered through the woods and some close to the front entrance. Xavier has wolves surrounding the property, but this is going to be an uphill battle. The numbers are pretty even.
“We need to go,” Xavier commands. Rapidly, the remaining wolves in the den enter the small alcove outside the main door. I’m shielded from anyone’s view, but I have no doubt that they smell us.
We quickly take our clothes off, gearing for battle. I tap into the pack, but still get nothing but radio silence.
‘You be safe. Stay near the back. Do you hear me?’ Xavier demands.
‘I will be by your side. That is what the alpha pair does. Stands and fights right next to each other.’ Xavier grabs my hand, pulling me to him, and crashes his lips to mine.
‘Be safe,’ he says right when a huge explosion rattles everything around us, dust and debris scatter.
‘Zara, we are entering. You need to have your Alpha and his wolves get out here before we get too close,’ Zane warns in my head.
“My brother says they’re coming. We need to go,” I relay, and we all step out of the confines of the alcove, in front of our den.
I can see them moving in through the dust, my father leading them and my mother at his side. She really wants her daughter dead, huh? I would never be that kind of mom, even if my mate, Heavens forbid, was a greedy, power hungry male. I know we can’t choose our mates, but I would do anything for my pups. Anything.
Sad thing about my father is I know he wasn’t always like this. Power. Greed. Is it worth all of this?
“This is it,” I whisper to the Heavens. Each of us shifts, taking strides closer to our prey. My father’s pack is already in wolf-form, ready for battle.
‘You need to kill Father and his two henchmen right to the left of him,’ my brother infiltrates my thoughts. Like I didn’t already know this.
Just like that, it’s like a rubber band that snaps from being stretched too tight. Everything around us explodes. Xavier stands in front of me as wolf after wolf tries to get past him to me. During the commotion, each wolf on our side takes on someone on their side. We are lucky that the numbers are pretty evenly matched, but my father has anger backing him. That emotion will give him a surge of power and adrenaline. I need to tap into mine.
I join in the fight while Xavier is fighting a male wolf. I take on a female, Danielle. I thought she was my friend, we grew up together, but I guess not. She comes in with her teeth snapping. I swipe her face with my paw, slicing into her neck, and she yelps. She comes back at me, getting ahold of my shoulder blade and biting down hard. Fuck, that hurts. With my other paw, I slice into her stomach as far as I can and she stumbles back. I waste no time grabbing her throat and throwing it to the ground, hacking up her tainted blood.
Xavier is fighting off two males and, luckily, Max already took out his opponent and is heading over to help him. I search for my father but do not see him. Surely, he isn’t hiding.
‘Hey there, little bitch.’ My father’s voice comes from behind me and has me doing a quick one-eighty. How did he get there? ‘Call this shit off right now and come with me.’
Oh, hell no. There is no fucking way. I crouch down, ready to attack, growling at the man who hurt me for far too long in my life. I take a step toward him. I know I can’t win against him, he’s too strong, but I refuse to go with him. I will not be one of his pawns ever again. I will die before that happens.
Yelps, crashes, whines, and breaking limbs sound behind me, but I stay focused on my father.
‘You think you can take me on? Think you can win against me? No fucking way. You’ll only get hurt, and I need you well for what I have planned.’ Him winning is not an option. I can’t let that happen.
My father charges me, expecting my immediate submission, but I have another thing coming for him. I claw and bite with everything I have in me, getting a few good licks into him, but his are better. One to my snout, another to my gut and back, and they are deep. I feel them in every cell of my body, pain slicing me, but I keep going. I am not a quitter. I will not give up.
‘Zara!’ Xavier screams in my thoughts. ‘I’m coming.’ My father wraps his teeth around the back of my neck and holds me in front of him, his sharp claws digging into my belly. With each movement, the pain is worse. I fight, kick, and scratch, but get nowhere in this position mid-air.
‘You want me to gut you in front of your fucking mate?’ My father’s harsh voice is terrifying even in my head. ‘If I can’t have you, Zara, he won’t either.’ His claw moves further down my stomach and I yelp.
‘He’s going to kill me,’ I whisper to Xavier through our link. ‘You have to know that I love you.’ Tears leak from my eyes.
‘The fuck he is.’ Xavier starts barking out orders through the pack link. ‘Max, now,’ he demands.
A second later, my father is pulled away from me and I am lying on the ground in a heap. My energy is draining. Xavier stands over me. ‘Are you okay?’
‘Tired. Really tired,’ I reply weakly, the pain is intense as blood coats the ground beneath me.
‘Need to get you to the healer. Stella’s out here somewhere. I feel her,’ Xavier thinks.
‘My father.’ My thoughts start to get a little hazy. Two wolves from my father’s pack are heading toward us. I have no fucking clue where my father is, but I’ve lost too much blood and have no doubt parts of my body that should be inside are protruding outside. Wolves heal fast, but when the wounds are this deep, they take longer.
Xavier doesn’t leave my body, standing over me, protecting me. The two wolves attack at the same time and Xavier retaliates. Watching Xavier fight is a beautiful sight, too bad I may not be around to see it again. My man is beautiful, magnificently so. He fights off the attackers, getting them to step back as he stands guard over me. Suddenly, two wolves, my brother and Clarisse, join in the battle, striking the two that were coming after me. They both fight with all their might and when a piercing scream from Clarisse comes, all I can think about is Natalie. Her mother wasn’t supposed to leave her. Dammit.
Xavier jumps in and rips the throat out of one of the wolves and my brother does the other. Xavier growls at my brother, ready to take him on, too.
‘My brother,’ I think to him and he sniffs the air. He’s not convinced that he’s not going to hurt me yet and pushes my brother back. ‘Clarisse?’ I ask him.
‘Gone.’ No. No. No. No. My heart breaks for little Natalie. This was not supposed to happen. She was supposed to stay with Natalie in the den where she was safe. My chest tightens and the sadness crushes me, taking away what little energy I had left. My wolf whines and cries out.
‘You stupid fucking bitch,’ my father calls and it takes every bit of me to turn to the voice. I do so, scratching my head on a rock in the process. Max has my father totally subdued with the help of Gary.
Our wolves slowly form a circle around my father and panic hits.
‘Where are the rest of my father’s pack?’
‘The others are taking care of them,’ Xavier says.
‘Please don’t kill him,’ my mother’s thoughts filter in. ‘He didn’t mean to do all that stuff, Zara. Save him,’ she pleads, but it’s a little too late.
‘My mother wants to save my father, but that canno
t be. None of them can survive,’ I tell Xavier. As much as it pains me to take out a whole other pack again, this time it is a necessity. If those wolves in the pack believe they can follow in my father’s footsteps, I can’t allow it. We can’t allow it.
Through the pack link, he orders some of the wolves to take care of my mother. I should feel sad. I should cry, but she stood back for years and let him hurt me. Let him slowly kill me. Even though my father broke her, too, I expected her to fight more. Fight for me. So, I am done with her.
Yelping and whining go on behind me, but I don’t look. Instead, I lay my head on the hard, dusty surface.
‘Your call, Zara,’ Xavier says, still standing above me for protection. ‘Kill him or cage him?’
‘What?’ I didn’t even know there was an option in this. My heart is so heavy from Clarisse’s death, I can’t think straight.
‘You heard me. Want him to feel the way you did or do you want this over?’
‘Over.’ The thought is instantaneous as Xavier steps away and Thor comes to stand over me. I can feel parts of my body rejuvenating but not quickly enough. Max and Gary release my father and he gets up on all fours, facing Xavier. Shit. They walk around each other and I know my dad won’t back down. He’s too tough for that.
In a blur of motion, Xavier and my father go at it. Biting and clawing ensues. It seems to go on forever, until the moment Xavier catches my father’s throat, and I know this is it. He will never hurt me again.
‘Fucking bitch! Good luck finding your precious Nana!’ he screams through his thoughts, just as Xavier tears this throat out before spitting it on the ground. My father’s wolf body crashes down in a heap. Oh my Heavens, Nana O?
Stella rushes over, now in human form, and places her hands on me. My body glows from her touch, repairing itself. Heat radiates from every cell and this time, I can feel it coming. The pressure is too much.
‘Xavier, tell them to get down. The light is coming out!’ I scream at him right before the light leaves my body. It doesn’t hurt, but it is quite a jolt to me, and I’ve never done it in wolf-form before. The light dissipates and my body is totally and completely healed. I feel better than I did when I was a pup. I shift back and look around to my pack, who are all on their asses. Maybe that’s what the light is. I can heal myself. Wow.
