by TJ Klune
It whimpered as my claws sunk into its hair. Into its skin.
Blood spilled over my hands.
“No!” Gordo cried.
The gray and black wolf fell to the ground, my claws still inside it.
It looked up at me with orange eyes.
I stared down at it.
A tatter of clothing hung on its chest.
I watched as wolf blood spilled over the patch with my name on it.
I slowly pulled my claws out.
The wolf whimpered.
I stood as blood dripped from my fingers.
The black Alpha tilted his head back and howled. It rolled through the destruction around us, echoing into the forest.
For a moment nothing happened.
“Yes,” Ezra said mockingly, “because your wolfsong will do you any good so far from home—”
There came an answering howl.
And then another.
And another.
And another, until the forest was alive with wolves. Flashes of violet lights began to fill the forest. Wolves stood on the remains of the bridge overhead, peering down at us, their eyes glowing.
Violet.
We were surrounded by Omegas.
“Curious,” Ezra said, sounding unafraid as he turned his gaze upward. “I’ve often wondered how you did it, Alpha Matheson. Taking what I created and making it something else entirely. Is it just you? Your pack? The territory? No matter. It’s—”
The gray and black wolf was moving, even as it bled.
It jumped for Ezra.
Ezra caught it by the throat. His tattoos grew brighter until I could barely look at him. “A lesson, I think. You will learn what happens when you try to take from me.” He shook the wolf like it weighed nothing. The wolf tried to snap at his arm, his face, but it couldn’t reach. “Yes, you will learn very well. Let’s see what happens when your wolf is stripped from you.”
The wolf lost its shift. One moment it was scrabbling, jerking side to side, and the next he was fully human, nude, with blood coating his side. Kelly.
It was Kelly.
What happened next was over in a matter of seconds.
He cried out as the tattoos on Ezra’s arm crawled over his wrist and hand. Ancient symbols appeared on Kelly’s face. Kelly’s head rocked back, teeth grinding together.
The symbols twisted as if alive, rising up and attaching themselves to his lips, little tentacles that pulled on his mouth, forcing it open.
And then they poured down his throat.
Kelly made no sound as his body shook. His hands flexed and closed. Flexed and closed.
His skin lit up, pulsing once, then twice.
His eyes flickered orange.
And then the orange disappeared.
Ezra tossed him to the ground.
He lay on his back, blinking up at the dark sky. The wolves surrounded him, hackles raised, growling loudly.
Ezra sighed. “It didn’t have to be this way. All I want is what belongs to me. Surely you have to see that. All this fighting. All this death. What has it brought you in the end? I may have underestimated the bond between you all, and that’s my mistake. But it’s one I won’t make again. Robbie, if you please. Come with me. I have much to tell you. Would you hear me, dear?”
Yes.
Yes.
Yes.
“He’s lying,” Gordo snarled, cradling the brown wolf’s head in his hands. “My father is lying to you—”
“Father,” I whispered.
Ezra said, “I am Robert Livingstone. It’s lovely to meet you again, Robbie. Now come. We have work to—”
A small figure landed on his back, half-shifted, claws sinking in.
It was a boy.
And his eyes were violet too.
“Brodie, no!” a woman screamed from above us.
Ezra grunted as he was knocked forward toward the wolves. The Omega was fierce behind him, hands moving up and down quickly as he scraped into the witch’s back.
Ezra reached up behind him and grabbed the boy by the arms, lifted him up and over his head, and threw him at the Alphas.
And for the first time since I had known him, I saw fear on his face.
And I smelled it.
He looked around wildly, taking us all in.
He held his hand out for me.
I stepped forward to take it.
A hand wrapped around my ankle.
I looked down.
Kelly panted up at me. “Don’t. Please don’t go. Please. Stay with me.”
The moon and the stars shone down on the scar on his neck.
“Robbie?”
I turned to look at Ezra again.
He held his hand out for me, his fingers trembling.
I hesitated.
He nodded slowly as he dropped his hand. “I see,” he whispered. “You too. Just like everyone else. How you betray me.”
The Alphas snarled as they took a step toward him.
“You think you’ve won?” Ezra said as Omegas filled the coming night with their fury. “This is just the beginning. And I won’t stop until I have what belongs to me. I will tear the world apart.” His tattoos flared to life once again.
“Get down!” Gordo screamed.
And without thinking, I collapsed on top of Kelly, covering his body with mine.
He whispered, “I found you.”
And then the world filled with a bright flash of light, and everything exploded.
like an echo/a door
I was lost in the dark.
Voices rose around me.
“He’s not breathing, oh my god, he’s not breathing—”
“Carter, would you stand the fuck back? You need to let me help him!”
“What did he do? What the hell did your dad do to him? He doesn’t smell like wolf, he doesn’t smell like—”
“I don’t know, okay? You’ve got to let me at him, you’ve got to let me—Ox! Get your ass over here now.”
“Kelly? Kelly! Come on, man, open your eyes. Please, god, open your eyes, please, please, please—let me go, Joe, you fucking let me go right now or I’ll kick your ass. Let me—Ox! Ox, you have to help him. You have to—”
I felt my heartbeat in my eyes as I drifted away.
* * *
My head was pounding as I burst through the veil that had fallen over me.
I blinked slowly up at a bare ceiling.
My mouth was sour.
A human had told me once what it felt like to have a hangover. Alcohol didn’t affect wolves like it did humans. Our metabolism burned through it too fast. But Jesus Christ, did it feel like I’d nearly drunk myself to death.
I groaned, putting a hand over my eyes. The light around me wasn’t bright, but it still hurt.
“Hello.”
I dropped my hand and turned my head.
A woman sat on the floor of a large room. For a moment my vision blurred and I swore it was Alpha Hughes, and I wondered what had happened. What I’d done. If I’d hurt anyone.
But it wasn’t the Alpha of all.
She was older, for one, and so beautiful that it took my breath away. She was dressed simply, wearing loose-fitting pants and a shirt with an oversize neckline that hung off one bare shoulder. Her long, light hair was up in a messy bun, strands hanging around her face.
No, this wasn’t Michelle.
For one, she was smiling quietly, and it looked like she meant it. She was tired, but her back was ramrod straight, her head tilted toward me. Her hands were folded in her lap.
A wolf.
A powerful one at that, though she wasn’t an Alpha.
“Hello,” I said. My voice came out rough and weak. I cleared my throat. I was thirsty.
Her smile widened briefly. “How are you?”
“I don’t know.”
She nodded. “That’s okay. It’s to be expected, I think. Many things have happened. Not knowing is perfectly understandable. Can I tell you something?”
I nodded. If it w
eren’t for how shitty I felt, I would have thought this a dream.
“Your hair is long.”
“That’s what you want to tell me?”
She chuckled. “No. It’s just… an observation. Different, but not in a bad way. What I want to tell you is that you’re not a prisoner, no matter how it looks at the moment. Do you understand?”
“No.”
“We have to be careful. Precautions. We don’t know how much of a hold has been put over you, and while I don’t think this will be permanent, we need to hedge our bets.”
“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
She pointed toward the floor in front of her.
A line of gray powder went from one side of the room to the other, separating us.
I inhaled.
It burned.
I said, “Silver.”
“Yes. So if you feel like attacking me, don’t. It would only end badly for you. And no one wants that. Especially no one here.”
I sat up. I was on a small cot, a scratchy blanket covering me. I pushed it off and put my legs on the floor. My feet were bare. The floor was cool. I only had on a pair of sleep shorts. My stomach grumbled.
“Hungry?” she asked.
“A little,” I admitted begrudgingly.
“I’ll take care of that in a bit. I’d like to have a chat, you and I. Your glasses are on the floor under your bed with your backpack.”
I narrowed my eyes at her. “I don’t need the glasses.”
She bit her bottom lip like she was trying to keep from laughing at me. “Oh, I know. Funny to hear that coming from you, though. I always thought they made you look handsome.”
“You act like you know me.”
“It’s not an act, Robbie.” Her smile faded. “No, it’s not an act at all. And though I may not know exactly the man before me, there are still bits of you I recognize. Like looking through a fractured mirror.”
I pulled the blanket into my lap. “Please don’t stare at my bits.”
The smile returned in full force. It took my breath away. “There you are. I wonder… is it like an echo? Somewhere deep inside, locked away. What makes a man when so much has been taken from him?”
“Where am I?”
She said, “In a moment. Firsts things first. My name is Elizabeth. I am a wolf, as you’ve no doubt figured out already.”
“Not an Alpha.”
“No, though I’ve known a few in my time. Most of them are good. Some… some were not.”
“I know you.”
She looked startled and strangely hopeful. “You do? Tell me.”
“You look like him.”
“Who?”
I swallowed thickly. “That… man. On the bridge. The Alpha.” I frowned. “And the other man. The one who….”
I found you.
I bent forward, sure I was going to vomit. I gagged, my nose bumping against my knee.
The woman watched me.
The dizziness passed. I coughed and grimaced. “Shit.”
“Shit,” Elizabeth agreed. “The Alpha is my son. Joe. And the other man you refer to is also my son.”
“Kelly.”
“Yes. In fact, my eldest was there too, though I don’t think you got to meet him properly. There will be time for that later. Why did you help him?”
I snapped my head up. “What?”
“Kelly,” Elizabeth said. She looked down at her hands. Her nails were short and neat. “You helped him.”
“I didn’t mean to.”
She laughed but didn’t say anything else.
“You’re a Bennett.”
“I don’t know that I appreciate the derision in your voice. It’s a nice name. One I’m proud of despite everything.”
“Joe is your son. Which makes him a Bennett.”
“Yes. That’s usually how it works.”
“Which means Kelly is a Bennett.”
“It’s good to know your talent for stating the obvious remains remarkably intact,” she said dryly.
I stood quickly, the blanket falling to the floor.
She didn’t flinch as she looked back up at me. She wasn’t scared. If anything, she was curious.
“What do you want with me?”
“Ah. I want many things with you, Robbie. But we’ll get to that in time. You’re under a sort of thrall. Or so I’m told. You do stink of magic. It’s almost unbearable.”
I took a step toward her.
She remained still.
“You want to kill my Alpha.”
She said, “Michelle Hughes.”
I nodded.
“Then yes. I do.”
I snarled at her.
She shrugged. “I’m not sorry about that. Alpha Hughes has taken something that doesn’t belong to her. Many somethings, in fact.”
I rushed toward her.
The silver line burned. “Ow, ow, motherfucker!” I hopped back, looking down at my toes as they blackened before beginning to heal. “That hurt!”
“I should think so,” she said. “You’re a wolf. It’s silver. It’s supposed to hurt.”
I glared at her. “You said I wasn’t going to be harmed!”
“Yes. I did. But I can do nothing when you do it to yourself. You always were a little eager.”
“Lady, I don’t know who the fuck you are, and I don’t know who the fuck you think I am—”
“You’re Robbie Fontaine,” she said. “Born January 21, 1991. You’re twenty-nine years old. Your father was a hunter. Your mother was a lovely woman. She died protecting you. In fact, her last act was to ensure your survival.”
“Oh, so you can read a file. I’m sure you’ve got all that shit on me—”
“You hate Brussels sprouts,” she said, and I gaped at her. “You think they stink. Same with pickles, though you do like cucumbers because of the way they crunch in your teeth, especially when you’ve shifted. You like to read. Weirdly, and endearingly, you have an affinity for romance novels from the eighties. You’re computer smart and a little real-world stupid, though it comes from your desire to see the good in everything and everyone. You like trees. You can spend hours lying underneath one, just staring up at the sky through the leaves.” She blinked rapidly against the sheen in her eyes, but she never looked away from me. “You’re a good man. A lovely man. And I’ve missed you so.”
“What is happening?” I asked hoarsely.
“Something that should have happened a long time ago. And I’m sorry that it didn’t. We were… we were confused. Angry. At what, I don’t think we knew. Not exactly. But….” She sighed. “I can’t promise you it’s going to be easy. I fear the days ahead will provide us with more questions than answers. And with all that we have to face, I don’t know if we have the time.”
“Where am I? Why are you keeping me here? What the hell do you want from—”
A door opened.
Another woman walked through and closed it behind her. She was muscular and tan, and her head was shaved on one side. On the other, her brown hair was parted over the top of her head, hanging in sharp spikes on the shaved side. Her green eyes were bright and wide as she glanced at me before looking at Elizabeth on the floor.
Human. She was a human.
But she smelled like wolves. Overwhelmingly so.
She crouched next to Elizabeth, their shoulders bumping together. “How’s it going?”
“It’s going,” Elizabeth said.
“That good, huh?”
“He thought about attacking me but burned his toes.”
The woman shook her head. “Men. They never learn.”
“No, I don’t suppose they do.”
“I’m standing right here,” I snapped.
“Observant,” the woman said. She eyed me up and down. “He’s bigger. Wider, I think. Looks like he’s finally gotten some muscle. Still short, though.”
For reasons I didn’t care to think about, I covered my bare chest with my arms. “Would you stop ogling
me!”
They ignored me. “Needs a haircut,” the woman said.
“Eh. I kind of like it long.” Elizabeth frowned. “Huh. That’s not the first time I’ve said that. Interesting.”
The woman slowly turned to look at Elizabeth. “Did you just make a sex joke? Oh my god, I’m going to tell everyone.”
“Robbie,” Elizabeth said, “this is Jessie Alexander. You met her brother, Chris, during your little bridge adventure. One of the wolves.”
I scowled at them.
“Yeah, that sounds about right,” Jessie said. “Good to know that dipshit look on his face hasn’t changed. Kelly’s asking about him.”
That caught my attention. “He’s awake?” I demanded. “Where is he? What happened to him? What did Ezra do to him?” The silver was once again singeing my toes, but I didn’t care. There was a pulse in my head, and it was Kelly, Kelly, Kelly.
Elizabeth cocked her head. “Interesting. Yes, Robbie. Kelly’s awake. He has been for a while now. We were waiting on you. It’s been six days since the bridge.”
My knees weakened, and I took a stumbling step back. “No. That’s not… that’s impossible.”
“I think you’ll find many things you thought impossible are now reality,” Elizabeth said, not unkindly. “I don’t know what will happen, Robbie. I don’t know if anything can ever go back to the way it once was. This… world. This life. Sometimes I think we’re cursed. After everything we’ve been through, everything we’ve done, there’s always more. Mistakes were made, and I—”
And then I said, “To my beloved. Never forget.”
The wolf mother moved quicker than I could follow. Her eyes blazed as she stood before me, just on the other side of the line of silver. Her claws were long black hooks that gleamed in the low light. “Where did you hear that?”
My shoulders slumped. “There was a book. In Michelle’s office. I found it.”
“What is it?” Jessie asked. “What’s he talking about?”
“A gift,” Elizabeth said. “To my late husband. It would seem Alpha Hughes has kept something else that doesn’t belong to her. Good to know.”
She turned and stalked from the room.
“Well, shit,” Jessie said, staring after her. “Way to go.”
“I don’t know why I said it.”
“Yeah. You usually don’t. It’s part of your charm.” She shook her head. “Look, Robbie, I know you have questions. Probably a lot of them. And we’re going to answer them. I swear. It’s just….” Her expression hardened as she looked at me. “It’s just a lot to take in right now. We never thought we’d see you again.”