Mate or Fate

by J. L. Berry

  “STOP!” The order bellowed out from Alpha Santos, “One more step and she gets a silver bullet.”

  Alpha Grey and the rest of their wolves froze. They must have marksmen in the trees too.

  “So you can listen to instructions,” Alpha Santos said sarcastically causing his enforcers to chuckle. The workers remained shoulder to shoulder in their circle formation, eyes down. “I must say your courage is impressive albeit stupid and pointless. I gave you your chance and you didn’t take it.”

  Alpha Santos barged his way out through his workers, only for them to retake their positions immediately after. He moved towards the collapsed wolf of Elijah at a slow steady pace seemingly unfazed by everything happening around him. His eyes fell on Cole standing a couple of meters in front of everyone else.

  “I’ll tell you what though. I’m a reasonable man...” More laughter. “And since you so kindly brought one of my boys back I’m willing to make a trade. Him, for all of your lives. Pretty generous deal really given the position you’re in. I suggest you take it.”

  “Your boy? He’s my son! I will not bargain away his freedom.”

  Alpha Santos’ eyes gleamed with mischief and he glanced up at Autumn hanging high above. “Oh I didn’t mean your son. I meant mine. Isn’t that right, Elijah?”

  Chapter 43:

  “What?!” Shrieked Autumn in disbelief.

  “I know! It’s surprising isn’t it,” Alpha Santos replied nonchalantly moving to stand over Elijah. “I mean how is it possible for an Alpha like me to produce such a pathetic piece of crap?” He spat on Elijah causing a series of growls to rumble from amongst the allies. Despite the recent revelation, Elijah had earned a lot of their respect from the way he helped others, both within the Raptors and outside. “Make him shift,” he snarled. One of the enforcers nodded and pulled out a wallet containing multiple syringes. He injected Elijah’s wolf in the back leg and moments later Elijah shifted back into his human form, immediately struggling against his captors.

  “You are not my father! We don’t even look anything alike.”

  “Pfft, you think I would lie? Tell me, can you remember any other home?”

  Elijah’s forehead furrowed. He’d always wondered why he couldn’t remember anything about his parents when every other kidnapped child could. Alpha Santos watched him with a smirk on his face as he crouched down to bring his eyes level with Elijah’s.

  “It didn’t take long to realise you were a waste of time. You were so much like your mother, you look like her too. Always helping people, wanting things to be fair. It made me sick. She wanted to keep you but I needed a strong son to groom.”

  “My mother?”

  “Dead. When I threw you to the curb the little bitch wouldn’t stop pining. It was just miscarriage after miscarriage. No point keeping a mate around if they don’t produce you an heir worthy of your name.”

  “You’re a monster!” Elijah surged to his feet lunging for his father. The enforcers restrained him quickly, forcing his arms sharply behind his back as his chest heaved in anger.

  Alpha Santos laughed. Actually laughed. “You have no idea, but you soon will.” He pulled a silver blade from his boot and grasped Elijah’s face firmly by the chin. Slowly, he sliced the blade down his cheek, watching the blood spill in droplets to the floor before he licked the blade clean.

  “RELEASE HIM!” Alpha Grey roared, his veins throbbing with tension as his alpha aura pushed out further to intimidate anyone within range.

  “Well, well. Looks like somebody made an impression, maybe your son’s not as useless after all,” Beta Harrison remarked from within the circle.

  “Don’t think that excuses your mistake Harrison. He should have been dead,” Alpha Santos snapped back with venom.

  Interesting, thought Alpha Grey, this is a divide I can exploit. “Maybe Harrison saw something in your son that you never did? Or maybe he let him go deliberately just to defy you?”

  Alpha Santos’ eyes bulged in his head as his face turned a deep red. His nostrils flared with anger as he balled his hands into fists and marched towards Alpha Grey. He hooked a punch straight across Alpha Grey’s nose causing the bone to crunch and blood to spurt out. “How dare you!! Nobody and I mean nobody defies me! My men are loyal; can you say the same thing about yours?”

  “Absolutely.”

  “Really? How about your little ally friends?”

  Alpha Grey’s brow furrowed as if in contemplation as he continued to try and buy them some time. Feeling like he was winning Alpha Santos smirked arrogantly, “Did it not seem strange to you that we knew you were coming? Lunar Forest is a fair distance away and yet we had plenty of time to set-up and gather everyone here.”

  “You knew we were coming....”

  “Of course I knew. I hear everything! My people are everywhere, involved in every decision that you and your little friends make. Nothing happens without me knowing, isn’t that right Maggie?”

  “Maggie?” Jess’ head snapped to the right where she saw her receptionist being brought forward by more of the Raptors’ enforcers. Beta Brogan and the rest of the Winding River pack present growled with fury at her betrayal. Maggie looked anxiously towards Jess but did as she was told.

  “I’m sorry Jess, I had no choice.”

  “No choice? There’s always a choice. You betrayed your pack and ruined any advantage we had.”

  “You don’t understand! I’ve been protecting our pack for decades. Did you ever wonder why you and your brother weren’t taken as children when so many others were? Why our pack was one of those least affected? It was me! I protected you all.”

  “By trading information? Maggie, you’re delusional! You’ve not protected us, you’ve just given them an even greater hold over you and sacrificed us all.”

  “Now, now,” interrupted Alpha Santos, “I hate to butt in on this unhappy reunion but I must disagree. I believe I did offer a way for you to all leave alive, with just one teeny tiny sacrifice which let’s be honest isn’t a sacrifice at all.”

  All eyes flew back to Alpha Grey, waiting for his decision. “It’s interesting that you keep offering us a way out, I was led to believe you were a man of action with no room for compromise.... That can mean only one thing, you know you will lose. My answer is no.”

  The crack of a gunshot rang across the area, and all hell broke loose.

  Autumn screamed in pain as the bullet cut through the rope suspending her in the air, causing her to slam into the ground. All around people shifted into wolves and began charging at each other as more of the allies emerged from the forest to pin the Raptors in the middle. More gunshots sounded as both sides used marksmen to try and eliminate their enemies. But the layout of the buildings and the sheer number of people made it a difficult task without risking hitting one of their own men.

  The workers barely moved but felt the repercussions of the battle going on around them as they were shoved to the side or ground whenever one of them got in the way. The allies tried their best to keep the fight out of their reach, still unsure on which way that tide would turn. The Raptors however had no concerns using them as protective barriers, realising quickly the allies would try and spare them. It wasn’t always working out that way though, many had fallen already and their bodies littered the floor creating more obstacles.

  Drake had run forward to free Autumn from the bindings of the net before immediately shifting to join the fight expecting her to be right behind him. Autumn stepped to join the fight when the scent of burning hit her.

  The prisoners.

  Her eyes darted around looking for the source but she was distressed to discover that the Raptors were trying to light fires under several containers at once. She wouldn’t be able to save them all by herself. Quickly, she made a decision and darted through the chaos towards the workers. She grabbed a woman who looked to be in her thirties by the shoulders and shook her.

  “Help them!” She begged, “If you don’t want to fight that’
s one thing but they’re going to burn innocent children alive.”

  The woman stared at Autumn almost in disbelief that she was being spoken to directly. Her eyes flicked to the containers, then the bodies falling all around her before coming back to Autumn once more as she chewed on her lower lip. She trembled in fear as she deliberated between what she clearly wanted to do and the repercussions she would face if she did it. At once it seemed like the life had been rekindled in her eyes as she watched the flames start to lick at the container closest to her. She nodded at Autumn and grabbed some of her fellow workers by the arms to run to the nearest container. The other workers were startled by this impromptu action but quickly followed suit now that the rule to stand and do nothing had been broken.

  “STAY WHERE YOU ARE!” roared Beta Harrison once he realised what was happening.

  Some of the workers faltered in their movement but they quickly recovered and carried on. Their enforcers were too busy fighting to be able to punish them at the moment and if they did nothing they would likely die in the crossfire anyway. For once they had nothing to lose and everything to gain. Within moments they had all scattered and the battlefield was open. The workers kicked dirt, carried water and pulled out wood to try and halt the flames while others went in search of anything to remove the locks from the doors. The worker children were herded by adults into the woods to get out of the way of the battle as quickly as possible.

  Without having to worry about hitting the innocent workers, the allies finally had an advantage and the battle started to move in their favour. Shots fired from up in the trees into the hulking masses of the enforcers, slowing them down enough so the allies could team up to rip them apart. Autumn saw Drake and Elijah working in tandem to bring down their enemies and relief flooded through her. Her father was facing off against Alpha Santos as she expected but he was not faring well. One of his hind legs was bleeding heavily and it was clear he was already becoming exhausted. Santos was attempting to pin him under his massive weight and slash away with his powerful legs. Alpha Grey was dodging admirably and moving with speed to try and come at Santos from behind but his legs just weren’t quite quick enough and he was struggling to find a way in.

  Autumn began to shift and run to aid her father but was tackled to the ground by Beta Harrison. “You.” He seethed his lip curling up as he sneered down at her.

  She kicked out at him in an attempt to free herself and shift but he grabbed her ankle and yanked it sideways with a sickening snap. Autumn screamed as the bones in her leg splintered. Involuntary tears sprang from her eyes and she could not focus enough to shift due to the searing pain. Instead she tried to scrabble backwards using her arms and remaining good leg as Beta Harrison stalked towards her. She found it strange that amidst all the chaos her only focus now was this one man. All the training hadn’t prepared her for this.

  Could she take down the Raptor’s Beta?

  She was ready to find out. Her wolf growled in agreement. Autumn gathered her good leg underneath her in a fighting crouch as she waited for the right moment to pounce. But before that chance came a wolf flew across from the side, its jaws latching around Beta Harrison's head as it twisted and then pulled. Harrison’s decapitated body fell to ground with a slamming thud as Autumn’s eyes met those of her father’s wolf. For a second she breathed one sigh of relief. Beta Harrison was dead, just Alpha Santos to go.

  Another gunshot went off with a crack across the clearing. Shots had been firing at intervals throughout the battle, but there was something about that one that made Autumns’ heart falter. The grey eyes of her father’s wolf widened in shock before he slowly sank to the floor. He let out a small whimper as he looked at her one last time. Then he was gone.

  “Noooooo!” Her scream rang out as her rage and grief overcame her.

  Cole’s wolf was by her side within seconds as he took in the sight of his father dead before them. He never got a chance to know him. The Raptors had taken everything.

  No more.

  He manoeuvred himself to Autumn’s bad side and nuzzled her. She gripped his fur and pulled herself to a standing position. Then she shifted, her broken leg shielded by her brother, and they sprang forward together. Only one wolf mattered to them right now.

  The enforcers were machines, they didn’t seem to tire at all and they were ruthless. They shredded wolves with their teeth and claws like they were tearing paper. The silver bullets being shot at them may have slowed them down but it didn’t begin to even the playing field. It was taking four of their wolves to take down one of theirs. Autumn’s cry hadn’t been missed by Drake and Elijah, they tried in vain to get to her but there were still too many Raptors in the way and all their allies were starting to tire. When they saw Cole and Autumn charging towards Alpha Santos they became desperate. With every ounce of energy they had left they twisted, scratched and bit to try and make their way to her.

  Autumn and Cole barrelled into the back of Alpha Santos while he was ripping an ally limb from limb. They latched on to his back legs, yanking as hard as possible to the sides like a tug of war but the two of them alone were not strong enough to detach them. The rumours had to be true. The Raptors had been experimenting with artificial or supernatural enhancements. There was no other possible explanation when the strength of two adult alpha offspring was still insufficient to rip him limb from limb.

  Alpha Santos dropped the dismembered ally with an almighty roar of rage when the Grey children latched onto his legs. He thrashed left and right snapping at them as he shook to detach them. Autumn did her best to land on her good legs when Alpha Santos finally shook her off. He was bleeding from their bite wounds as well as other injuries he had sustained so far but unlike the rest of them it didn’t seem to be draining him. Glancing quickly around she could see that her side were tiring and they had lost a significant number of wolves already. There were still far too many enforcers standing. If something didn’t change soon, they were going to lose.

  Gotta go for the head, Autumn tried to link her message to her brother. It had worked for her father against Beta Harrison, now she just had to hope Cole would be strong enough to do the same to Alpha Santos. Her grief was masking the pain in her leg but she knew it still limited her options. She hadn’t had much opportunity to train with Cole so the plan she was formulating in her head would be a risk but if they waited any longer they would continue to tire. The window of opportunity was closing fast. It was time to act and take a leap of faith.

  Autumn sent out a silent plea to the Moon Goddess as she made herself look as pathetic as possible, playing on her injuries. She whimpered and cowered dangling her broken limb in the air with a tremor. It worked. Alpha Santos’ eyes glinted with glee as he sensed an easy kill. Autumn looked for her brother and scrambled to line herself up with Cole as Alpha Santos let out a triumphant howl. He lunged for her, his enormous front feet tearing shreds into her body as they scraped down her side. His maw opened wide ready to bite and rip out her throat as Cole launched himself directly onto the centre of his back, all four feet gripping into him at once. His claws sank deep into Santos’ flesh as his momentum forced him to the ground. The weight of two alpha wolves on top of her pushed every last molecule of air from Autumn’s lungs. Her vision began to blur as the lack of oxygen along with the blood loss from her side made her dizzy as she fought against falling unconscious.

  Alpha Santos threw his head up in a howl of fury as he began to shake his body to unbalance Cole from his back. Seeing an open opportunity Cole clamped his jaws around Santos’ exposed throat. As Alpha Santos tossed him back and forth trying to remove him, he tore through his throat more and more. Finally Cole pulled free his jaw latched around a chunk of Santos’ windpipe. Blood gurgled from the opening and gushed from the surrounding lacerated arteries and veins soaking the ground as Alpha Santos’ body hit the earth for the last time. Cole issued a triumphant howl as he spat the mangled mouthful of Santos’ neck to the floor. He stopped the second he saw his sist
er’s eyes flickering closed before him.

  Cole nudged Autumn insistently to keep her from wanting to sleep as he stood guard over her. Autumn’s vision came and went a few seconds at a time. She saw Santos dead in front of her in a giant pool of thick red blood. Cole had done it she rejoiced until she looked up and realised the rest of the enforcers had not stood down just because Santos was dead. In the distance she saw Drake and Elijah fighting to get to her. Their injuries were severe. Drake was back in his human form and moving slowly, without his usual grace. There had to be silver somewhere in his body. Elijah was still in his wolf form but his white fur was coated in blood and as much as Autumn wanted to believe it was all someone else’s, the large gash on the side of his chest told her it wasn’t. His breathing was laboured and yet he struggled on, not leaving Drake’s side as they battled towards her.

  All seemed lost.

  They had killed a lot of the Raptors but they were injured and exhausted and judging by the lack of gunshots, out of bullets. The sound of an engine rumbled, growing louder with each passing heartbeat. Autumn’s heart sank. More Raptors coming to finish them off.

  Howls filled the air and there was an uplifting surge of energy from the remaining allied wolves. The wolves left to monitor the main camp along with the missing section of the elites had come to join the fight. Twenty-five wolves rushed in full of energy and fresh for the fight giving their tired friends a chance to breathe and regroup. The Raptors hadn’t been expecting any more of them, not this late in the fight. For the first time, flickers of fear could be seen in their eyes as their savage wolves fought to survive. None of them would surrender even though their Alpha and Beta had fallen they would fight until the bitter end.

  Tactics learned during the battle on how to best make kills were quickly linked to their friends as fresh teams were formed to take the last of the enforcers out. Rip off their heads. Tear out their stomachs. Draw them limb from limb. Slowly, one by one, the enforcers fell. The battle field was drenched in blood and littered with bodies and body parts from both sides.