by Lexy Timms
His eyes whip up to mine, and I know exactly what he’s thinking.
“You are the prophecy,” Chief says. “You’re going to save us.”
“Maybe. Maybe not,” I growl as I roll us back over. “But that isn’t for you to determine. That’s for the humans who want to transform to determine. And I can guarantee you that they don’t want that. They aren’t ready for it. The world it isn’t ready for it.”
“And who are you to make that decision?” Chief asks.
“Clarissa.”
My eyes pan up to Theo, and I can see the hurt in them. The betrayal. The anger. The hatred. But most of all? I can see the worry. He’s worried, but not for Chief.
He’s worried for me.
“As one of your experiments, I think I’m more capable of making the decision than you are. And as far as Kyle and I are concerned? There’s one thing the experimentation didn't take into account,” I say.
I sink my teeth into Chief’s neck, and I can hear Theo screaming. His bellows of anguish rock the ground we’re standing on and I’m thrown off Chief’s neck. I pumped him with saliva, but not enough to kill him humanely. I want this war to be over, but I don’t want people to suffer. He’s choking. Sputtering on his own blood. Dying a pointless, painful death for something he isn’t even sure about.
I can see Sebastian holding Theo back as I roll over and walk back to Chief.
“You forgot about pheromones,” I growl as tears rise to my eyes. “Kyle is repulsive to me now.”
Chief’s eyes go wide, and his claw comes up to my face. But instead of slashing it like I think he’s going to, he cups it. I can feel the sorrow dripping from him as he holds the wound in his neck. I can smell the guilt pouring from his body. It makes me sick. This man is dying. Morphing into his human form and staining the ground below him.
I can hear Theo’s bellows as his heart breaks at the edge of the woods.
“Tell him I’m sorry,” Chief says.
“Who?” I ask.
His eyes flicker around before a small smile appears on his face. His eyes grow unfocused, and I can’t watch it any longer. I dip my jaws to his neck and tear through the rest of his artery, killing him instantly. It doesn’t matter who he wants me to apologize to. I’ll apologize to them all. To Kyle. To Theo. To Sebastian and Vlad. I’ll apologize to all the men who are caught up in this because of me. Who are throwing themselves into battle because of Chief. Because of the Council.
I back away from his dead body as my eyes rise up to meet Theo’s.
I don’t know if he will ever forgive me. The look in his eye is nothing I’ve ever seen before. My heart aches for him, and I don’t know if our relationship will ever be the same. I hear the final snap of General Tera’s wings, and I look over. I see Vlad tearing Tera’s only ability away from him before he snaps his neck. So much blood. So much death. And for what? Greed? Desperation? A want to continue existing to matter the cost?
I look over and see Sebastian at Theo’s side, but their eyes are trained on the horizon.
I turn around and my eyes bulge. Hoards of Primals are coming our way. Marching underneath the flag of the Council.
And Toshi is in chains in front of them.
We’re sorely outnumbered. Toshi looks as if he’s been beaten. Tears fall from my eyes as Vlad approaches my side. I look over at him, and I don’t know what to do. My anger is blinding, but I know my actions might cost Toshi his life. I don’t know what they have planned for him or how to set him free. For all I know, those chains are lead, and they will weaken any of us who try to break him free.
“Theo will never forgive me for this,” I growl.
I feel Vlad caress me with the fur of his side and I lean into him.
“Fight now, talk later,” Vlad rumbles.
Then, as if Theo can hear the question rolling around in my mind, the ground shakes violently underneath us and a shadow is cast over my body. I look up and watch Theo morph in midair, his clothes falling into tatters on top of Vlad and me. He lands in front of us in his full bear form, his shoulders strong and his stance tall and his dedication unwavering.
“They won’t touch you,” Theo bellows. “I’ll make sure of that.”
And my heart soars before all of us take off toward the crowd.
We have to meet them halfway. Otherwise, there’s no protecting the village from their assault.
Chapter 25
Theo
We’re outnumbered, and I fear for our safety. But most of all, I fear for Clarissa’s safety. And her unborn child’s. I love her. More than I can stand. And watching her go into war confirms that for me. The fear of her dying. The fear of her getting injured, it pushes me forward. My feet pad along the ground as my hands thrust me forward, my body in front of everyone else as we race for the hoard of Primals.
Their spears are in the air, and I know we have to dodge them. I know we need to get rid of them. We barrel into the crowd. My large hands are swiping, digging into every sinewy flesh I can catch. Skin is tearing, and blood is spilling onto the white snow beneath our feet. My heart is pumping a rush of adrenaline through my veins. I see Clarissa from the corner of my eye, tossing Primals left and right and sinking her teeth into their veins.
She’s strong.
Incredibly strong.
And watching her in admiration knocks me off my game.
A Wolf goes for my neck, but not before Sebastian lunges. He tackles the Wolf from my body, and I rise quickly enough to duel with another Bear. My teeth sink into his shoulder. His paws. I dodge his swipes and kick with my legs until he’s bleeding and writhing underneath me. I reach down and grab his throat, then lift him toward the sky.
I snap his neck and drop him to the ground before I turn and face Clarissa.
She’s looking at me with worry and pain in her eyes. And I know what it’s from. She feels guilty for killing Chief. At the very least, she’s wondering what it has done to me. To us. But she doesn’t have to worry, and I hope to live long enough to tell her that. Chief’s death hurts, and knowing he died at the teeth of Clarissa makes it sour, but he made a choice. Clarissa allowed him the chance to change sides. To fight for her and at our side. And he chose to lash out. He chose to strike Clarissa. To hurt her instead of fight to save her.
His death was recompense for his decision, and I understand that.
I swipe my claws in the air and drive them into the underside of a Deer’s jaw. In a way, fighting Primals is easier than humans. Their faces all look the same. All animalistic with no etch of feeling. There’s nothing but anger in their eyes and bitterness toward Clarissa, and it makes it easier to kill them. To leave them bleeding in the snow. If they were in their human forms, I’m not sure I could participate. I’m not sure I could look them in their faces and watch the life drain from their eyes.
But seeing their angry, animalistic forms?
It makes it easier.
Even though it pains me to admit it.
I see a Rat lunging for Clarissa’s side, and I run toward her. The damn thing sinks its teeth into her side, and she howls. I grab the little rodent and take him in both my hands. Then I pull until there’s nothing but two pieces of a bloodied carcass in my hands. Clarissa is stumbling around, and I fear for her safety. The safety of her child.
I reach over for her and press my paws against her wound. It’s small but filled with saliva. Rats pump an incredible amount at once into their small wounds, and it’s what makes them so dangerous. I close my eyes and call on the healing of my ancestors to flow through me and have mercy on this pregnant woman.
And when I remove my hands, nothing remains but a bit of blood-stained fur.
I lift her off the ground, and she nuzzles her head into my chest. A small “thank you” for healing her on the battlefield. I wish I had a way to communicate with her like Sebastian did. In her mind’s eye. She had no thanking that needed to be done. I would heal her and love her a thousand times over. Protect her at any cost and kill an
yone who set out to harm her.
Like the Bat flying around trying to dig its claws into her back.
I swipe at it and catch one of its wings in my grasp. I toss it off to the side and watch as Vlad catches it between his jowls. He crunches down, and the squealing of the Bat is a terrible noise. Then Vlad releases the dead Primal from his mouth, and I watch.
I watch it slowly turn back into a human.
And the sight sickens me.
A young woman. No more than twenty-two, maybe. Caught up in a war that has nothing to do with her. I look out over the devastation and the fighting and the blood being spilled, and it makes my stomach turn. The ground is littered with dead Primals in their human form. Naked. Bleeding. Vulnerable. Gray clouds are looming over our heads, threatening to spill snow over the battlefield and erase the horrors of what’s taking place.
But a voice pierces my troubled thoughts.
“You think Wolves enjoy this, but we don’t.”
I look over at Sebastian as he walks up next to me.
“I don’t know how anyone could enjoy this,” I say.
“She’s strong.”
“Clarissa?”
“Mhm.”
“She is. But that saliva gets her every time,” I say.
“Yeah. I saw that.”
“How are we going to win this?” I ask. “How are we possibly going to keep this hoard away from the village?”
I look back and see Vlad and Clarissa defending the edge of the woods. Toshi isn’t in sight, and I don’t know what else to do. Sebastian and I take off for the back of the hoard, tearing them and ripping them to shreds to try and keep any of their forces from pushing past Clarissa and Vlad.
But they’re too much, and we’re not enough. Some of them escape into the woods.
“Should we go after them?” I bellow.
“No. The humans wanted to fight this war, and we’ve done our part,” Sebastian growls.
“But what if they can’t hold their own? We promised them,” I say.
“We also have one of ours that still hasn’t been found.”
I reach for a Deer and rip its spine from its body. I toss it across the field, and Vlad looks up at me and grins. A Bear’s strength on the battlefield should never be underestimated. But it isn’t like we enjoy making a show of it.
“Had enough of a breather?” Sebastian rumbles.
“Let’s go,” I say.
We charge the back of the pack as Clarissa and Vlad fend them off from the woods. But on my count, at least ten Primals have escaped into the dense foliage. Snow is pouring from the clouds, quickly covering the dead bodies strewn all over the ground. Covering the red-stained snow and trying to act as if nothing has happened here today.
Trying to act as if this horrendous occasion hasn’t occurred.
“We have to go to the village!” Clarissa howls.
“Come on guys,” Vlad growls.
“You go on,” I bellow. “I’ll be there in a little bit.”
“What are you doing?” Sebastian rumbles.
My eyes take in the sheer number of bodies before I turn my head to face him.
“They can’t stay here like this,” I say.
“You can’t carry all of them off somewhere,” Sebastian growls.
“I’m not,” I say as I pick up a spear.
I shove it into the first carcass I can reach, and I watch the body sizzle. Shrink. Bubble and rot. The body visibly sinks into the ground, becoming one with the earth beneath its bleeding skin. I look up into Sebastian's eyes, and he nods his head, then the three of them take off into the woods.
But I stay behind, picking up spears and digging them into the bodies so they can be buried where they last stood.
And I send a prayer up to Chief’s ancestors before I place a coated spear directly through his heart.
Chapter 26
Joel
“J osie! They’re coming ! Get the kids to the cave.”
“I’m staying with you and fighting. The other nurses can handle the children.”
“I told you to go. I meant it,” I say. “I can’t risk my best nurse being killed on the battlefield because those animals didn’t do their damn job.”
“I told you they would bring this fight to us, and you didn’t listen to me. You let your blind lust for some—”
I whip around and grab Josie by the arm. I pull her to my face, and the look in her eyes is a mixture of fear and anger. I know she’s upset. I know she feels I should’ve listened. And I didn’t, so now we suffer the consequences. But I’m not going to allow my sister to be harmed for my mistakes. She’s needed with the children to keep them calm and to patch people up once this war is over.
“Go,” I say. “And when the war is over, work as quickly as you can to save as many as you can.”
Then I toss her off to the side and listen as she scurries away.
I can see two Primals bounding through the woods, and I head for the edge of the village. Hundreds of men and women stand behind me, providing defense for our most important houses. Crops that have taken us years to cultivate and houses that have nothing but our medicines and cures for poisonous saps and illnesses we encounter. I recognize Vlad, with his steely gray coat and his gnashing teeth. But I don’t recognize the Primal next to him.
Not until she runs up to me and stands by my side.
Clarissa.
In her true form.
I can’t stand to look at her.
“How many?” I ask.
“Ten. Maybe twenty,” Vlad growls.
“How many dead?” I ask.
I force my gaze over to Clarissa, but she doesn't look at me.
“A lot more than that,” she rumbles.
“All right, guys!” I yell as I turn around. “This is it! Our home is compromised, and our children are at risk. The lives we’ve been given and the knowledge we have all comes down to this one moment. We have a chance to rid this world of the Primal Council and all its disgusting experiments and human slavery. You fight with honor, fight with me, and I will do everything I can do get you back into the arms of your children!”
“For our land!” the men shout.
“For our families!” I yell.
“For our future!” they all shout.
“And for those that died in chains. May we never know the persecution they suffered because of our efforts here today.”
Then I whip my sword around in the air and cut right into the bowels of a Deer leaping over my head.
Clarissa looks at me in shock, but I don’t care. I know the Primal’s weakness. I know they can’t handle lead. Our weapons are dripping with it. Tipped with it. Coated in it. Solid upon liquid and decorated with nothing but it. It slashes through their skin and pierces their hearts quicker than a hot knife to a stick of butter.
Lead is what our weapons are lined with. Lead is what sits at the heart of our swords.
We will win this war, and we will keep our secrets in the process.
Vlad fights beside me while Clarissa leaps over my head. She’s making her way toward the middle of the city in case they get that far. But I know she isn’t protecting us. She isn’t protecting our children. She’s protecting that husband of hers. A man she can’t approach or touch or even stand the sight of.
I’m repulsed by her Primal form, but I am taken by her dedication to a man she can’t even touch.
My sword slashes through the army of Primals coming. Their spears are flying at us, slaying men at my feet. Good men. Fathers. Brothers. Cousins. Men gurgling on their own blood and eviscerating before my very eyes. Their skin boils, their blood seeps, and soon they disappear into the ground. Becoming one with the very earth that provides us food and shelter and a stable life.
They have brought this war to our doorstep like they promised they wouldn’t, and now children will go on without their fathers because of it.
I scream out into the void, and my vision drips with red. I slash left and right, no longer
caring who I hit or what kind of harm I do. These disgusting creatures will get no further. They think us to be rancid, but they’re a plague. A plague that needs to be wiped from the face of the earth. I look up and see a Bear tearing through the woods. I poise my sword, ready to strike at its beating heart.
And then a Wolf gets in front of me and snarls.
“That’s Theo,” Vlad growls. “Calm yourself.”
I watch the Bear leap into the air before he comes crashing down on an Opossum.
My nostrils flare as I look up at Clarissa. A few of the Primals have breached us and they are headed straight for her. Theo is clamoring to get to her and Sebastian is already standing at her side. Vlad takes off, and they all surround her, providing protection for her as much as our village. I watch them slaughter their own. Taking lives and leaving bleeding human bodies on the ground. Every single time they morph into dead humans, it makes me want to retch. The blood dripping from Clarissa’s fangs makes me wonder what in the world I ever saw in her.
How I could have ever convinced myself she was human.
I slash and stab and slice through the few Primals that are lagging behind. They are bloody and hurt and absolutely no match for me. I take them to the ground, pinning them and jamming my sword straight into their heart. No mercy. I will have no mercy on any of them. And if one of those mangy animals turns on me that we’ve been harboring, I’ll kill them as well.
“Joel!”
My ears perk up at the sound of my sister’s voice.
“Joel! The cave!”
I take off in a dead sprint, past the Primals in the middle of the village. They’ve gotten to the cave. To the children. To our secrets. We cannot let them penetrate it. They can’t see what’s inside. They can’t behold the only treasure trove of information that gives us any leverage over their own population.
I leap into the air and bring my sword down into the skull of a Rat, then look up and see Josie fighting her own battle. She’s fighting off a rabid Wolf that is foaming at the mouth. I jam my sword into its ass, staking it and tossing it off to the side. The children are crying, and Josie is sweating, and the nurses are huddling in front of the children to keep their eyes off the carnage.
