Brothersong

by TJ Klune

  His smile twisted into something toxic and dark. “Yeah, I guess I was.” He looked back at the others gathered around him before he turned once again to us. “Got a bit of a promotion. And a new Alpha.”

  I nodded slowly. “I heard.”

  “I don’t see Robbie.” The wolves behind him laughed. “Where is he? Poor little lost boy. You don’t know how hard it was for me to keep from killing him every time he stood before me.” He spat onto the ground. “Thought we could take care of that now.”

  I shrugged. “Don’t think you’ll get that chance.”

  He didn’t like that. He looked to my mother and said, “I’m going to kill your sons. Green Creek will have a new Alpha. We’ll spare Gavin because that’s what our Alpha wants. But I’m going to save you for last. I’m going to take everything from you. And while they bleed out in front of you, begging for you to help them, Mommy, please, please, Mommy, I’m going to—”

  Jessie said, “Bored now.” The crack of gunfire was loud in the dark. Santos stared at us with wide eyes as blood trickled down his face from the hole in his forehead. He fell to his knees. His eyes flickered orange and then went dark. He was already dead when he landed face-first on the ground. Jessie turned her gun on the others, a lock of her hair falling onto her forehead. “Anyone else want to threaten her?”

  The wolves snarled in anger.

  “Yeah,” Jessie said. “I thought so.”

  Another man stepped forward. He looked impossibly young. A teenager. His light hair was cut short. He was tall and thin, and I didn’t like the look in his eyes, cold and knowing. He reminded me of Dale. He glanced down at the dead man between us before shrugging. The stench of magic was thick around him, even through the wards.

  Gregory.

  The witch who’d betrayed Aileen, Patrice, and the others. He stepped over Santos and stood just before the wards. He clasped his hands behind him, looking at each of us in turn.

  He said, “Santos always did talk too much. Pity, though. I liked him. This will be easy. Give us Gavin. Hell, I’ll even let you keep Robbie, though he doesn’t seem to be here. Hiding somewhere?”

  I said, “Gavin, huh? So we’ll give you Gavin, and you’ll… what. Go? Leave us be?”

  “Eh,” he said. “Sort of. A little more to it, but we can start there.” He waved his hand airily. “Give up the territory, Green Creek will be ours, blah, blah, blah.” He chuckled. “I would make threats, but that woman seems to be a little trigger-happy.”

  “Men,” Jessie grumbled. “Don’t know when to keep their mouths shut.”

  My mother snorted but didn’t speak. She was watching. Waiting. Taking these wolves in. Looking for weaknesses. We all were.

  I stepped forward. The wolves behind Gregory flinched, though they recovered quickly. To his credit, Gregory barely blinked. If anything, he seemed curious. I didn’t like that. He wasn’t scared of me. Fucking teenagers. “He out there?”

  “Who?”

  I snorted. “Yeah, okay. Can he hear me?”

  He narrowed his eyes. “He hears all. He knows all.”

  “Yikes,” I said. “That’s a little too cult-y for me. I have a counteroffer for you. Think hard about it before you answer. Can you do that?”

  He stared at me.

  I whirled my finger in a little circle. “Turn around. Head west as far as you can go. You’ll find the ocean. Keep walking until the water is over your head. Open your mouth. Take the water into your lungs. Don’t fight it. It’ll be better for you. Easier. I can promise you that.”

  Gregory cocked his head. “Can you?”

  “Yes.”

  “How so?”

  I nodded at the wolves behind him. “You outnumber us.”

  “I see that.”

  “You know how many times that’s happened to us?”

  “Tell me.”

  I grinned at him. “Every time. Wolves. Hunters. Witches. Doesn’t matter. You all come here with your numbers and your threats and we tell you to leave. But for whatever reason, people like you just don’t listen. You think in your tiny little brains that numbers matter. You, like everyone who has come before, forget one important thing. And it will be the end of you.”

  “What have I’ve forgotten?” Gregory asked, and there was a twitch just underneath his right eye. He was hearing me, really hearing me. Oh, he didn’t believe a word coming out of my mouth, but he was listening.

  “We’re the goddamn Bennett pack,” I said coldly. “And you’re in our territory. You come for us, it’ll be the last thing you do.”

  Gregory looked at the others behind me again. His eyes narrowed when his gaze settled on Gavin. I had to stop myself from crossing the wards and tearing out his throat. “It doesn’t have to be this way. You know that, right, Gavin? Your father only wants what belongs to him. You fight it. I get that. I may not know why, but I don’t blame you. Finding out about all of this must have been… trying.”

  “Jesus Christ,” Tanner said. “Why the hell do they all talk the same?”

  “It’s like they practice in the mirror,” Chris said, sounding bored. He puffed out his chest, deepening his voice as he mocked them. “I am death, destroyer of worlds. Bow before me or we’ll spill your blood upon the land.” He sighed. “You’d think they’d learn new material. We’ve heard all this before.”

  “It makes them feel better,” Rico said. “Gotta give them props for that. Kid looks barely old enough to drive. Remember when we were his age? Beer and boobs. That’s all it was.” He shook his head. “Millennials. Always trying to kill everything.”

  Mark sighed as if he couldn’t believe the pack he stood with. I didn’t blame him.

  “Gavin,” Gregory said again. “You have my word that if you stand down, the bloodshed will be minimal.”

  Gavin moved until he stood next to me. The back of his hand brushed against mine. They seemed in awe of him. I wondered what Livingstone had told them. I wasn’t worried. I knew where his loyalty lay. He was a Bennett in all but name. Livingstone would never have him again.

  He said, “Minimal.”

  Gregory nodded. “Yes. Your father knows how… important these wolves are. Convince them. Show them the error of their ways. You know what he’ll do if you don’t.”

  And Gavin said, “No.”

  Gregory’s jaw tightened. “No?”

  “No. I belong. Pack. This is my pack. Leave. Do what Carter said. Find ocean. Drown yourselves.”

  “He won’t stop,” Gregory said. “You know that. All those innocent people in the town. You’re willing to risk them all for these wolves?”

  Gavin flashed his eyes, orange and strong. Gregory’s expression stuttered as Gavin said, “I’m with them. Now. Forever. Carter is my mate. Pack is my pack. Touch them and I’ll eat you. I promise.”

  The wolves on the other side of the wards began to mutter among themselves. Gregory curled his hands into fists. “Mate,” he said incredulously. “You’ve mated with—”

  It came then. From everywhere. It rolled over us, the roar of anger from a great and terrible beast. I winced against it as the wolves before us cowered.

  I felt the strength of my father. Of my Alphas. Of my pack. Of Gavin. It was bigger than any fear. Bigger than any worry. They, like the others before them, had made a mistake. They’d come here, underestimating what they’d find. Ouroboros, like Gordo had said. A circle. A snake eating itself. They were already dead; they just didn’t know it yet.

  Which is why I was surprised when Gregory said, “I see,” as the sound of the beast echoed throughout the territory. “If that’s how it is, then so be it.” He turned around, and for a moment I thought they were going to leave. They couldn’t get past the wards. They were in foreign territory. We’d already killed one of their own.

  I should have known better.

  Gregory stopped.

  The wolves before him snapped and snarled.

  He said, “Oh, but there is one more thing. You see, once, before your
pack came to be as you are now, there were others. Wolves. Witches. Thomas. Abel. Richard. And Livingstone. He was the witch of this place, and he never forgot what it was, even when his magic was ripped from him. Even when he came back to himself. Even when he was bitten by an Alpha and died, only to become something more. A little god. And gods always remember.” He pulled back the sleeves of his jacket. Tattoos covered his arms. They began to glow brightly. “He gave me these marks himself. Told me one day I would know what they meant. He put everything into them. His history. They were his. And now they’re mine.”

  The wards lit up in front of us as Gregory turned back around.

  He raised his hands, fingers twitching.

  He said, “Once a witch of Green Creek, always a witch of Green Creek. Even if the vessel has changed.”

  Jessie was quick. Always. The gun was out again almost faster than I could follow.

  She fired.

  Her aim was true.

  Or at least it would have been had the bullet not stopped right in front of Gregory’s face, inches from his right eye.

  It spun in a lazy circle before it fell to the ground.

  “Well, fuck,” Jessie said flatly.

  There was a sharp crack as the wards shuddered.

  The ground rolled beneath our feet.

  I took a stumbling step back.

  A sharp lance of pain ripped through my head. Chris and Rico cried out as the wards flickered and snapped as if electrified.

  Far behind us, in the town through the trees, I heard shouts of warning. They sounded alarmed. Frightened.

  Gregory gritted his teeth, flexing his fingers as his tattoos burned brightly. Sweat trickled down his brow as the wolves began to roil around him, snapping their jaws in our direction.

  “Oh shit,” I breathed.

  And my mother said, “Run.”

  We did.

  As the wards splintered apart behind us, we ran.

  We hit the tree line as the first ward broke, shattering like so much glass.

  One of their wolves howled.

  A song of war.

  my mother/soap bubble

  By the time we hit the paved road, gunfire was steadily erupting from in town. The wards had broken almost completely, and the wolves would soon be coming.

  Chris and Tanner and Rico shifted, their clothes tearing as their paws hit the earth. They stood before me as I pulled little blinking lights from my pocket. I put one light against the inside of one of their ears and a magnet on the other side, holding it in place. I did the same for Dominique before she broke off from the group and headed toward the bunker. She growled over her shoulder at Jessie, and in my head, I heard her song of safe safe LoveJessieBeautiful stay safe stay before she was gone through the trees.

  Mom turned her face toward the star-filled sky, the sliver of the moon shining down upon her. Her eyes flashed as she dropped to the ground, her shawl fluttering in the wind. When she looked back up, she was the wolf mother, fangs bared. She nosed my hand before growling at Jessie, who affixed the same blinking light in my mother’s ear. She did the same for the large brown wolf who stood next to my mother. He licked the back of her hand.

  Jessie looked to me. Her eyes were bright in the dark. She had a twisted smile on her face, and I knew she was ready to hunt. She leaned over and kissed me on the cheek, lips smacking. “We can do this. It’s time to end it.”

  “And we’ll be free,” I told her.

  “Damn right we will.”

  She followed my mother and uncle into the woods, running full tilt, arms pumping. Chris and Tanner and Rico crossed the road and entered the woods on the other side. The last I saw of them was their tails before they too were gone.

  Gavin stood beside me on the empty road.

  Behind us, the wolves howled.

  In front of us, the people of Green Creek showed why no one fucked with our town.

  Gavin said, “You and me.”

  I looked at him. “You and me.”

  His eyes were orange. “Mates.”

  I kissed him. “Mates,” I mumbled against his mouth. He was smiling. I could taste it.

  He pulled away, gripping my arms. “Stay by my side.”

  “Always.”

  “Don’t leave me.”

  “Never.”

  And he said, “I love you. I know it’s hard. This. Us. Wolf brain and human brain are still together. But I love you. For a long time. Even when I was wolf.”

  I said, “You fucking asshole. What the hell? Why would you—”

  He kissed me again. “Stupid Carter. Questions. Always questions. Just know it. Keep it. It’s yours. From me to you.”

  “Thump, thump, thump.”

  He grinned at me. It was dazzling.

  “I love you too.”

  He rolled his eyes. “I know. You came for me.”

  “When this is over, we’re going to have a long talk about—”

  “Talk, talk, talk,” he muttered. “That’s all you do.”

  He lifted his shirt over his head.

  The scar between his shoulder and neck was on full display.

  I trailed my fingers along it, feeling the bumpy ridge, the mark of my fangs.

  He turned his face and kissed the back of my hand. He took a deep breath, and his muscles and bones began to move underneath his skin. It came quicker than it had before, and it was only a moment before a large timber wolf stood before me.

  He pressed his snout against my chest, right above my heart. I pressed the blinking light in his ear, snapping it in place with a magnet on the other side. The people of Green Creek would know who we were, even in the face of battle.

  He said, MateLovePack with me you stay with me together we’ll be together and nothing will stop us you are mine and i i i am yours.

  “Yes,” I told him. “Yes.”

  He tilted his head back and howled. It was a song of rage and hope, and although he was a feral wolf no longer, his howl was a terrifying thing. I knew his father would hear it, and I hoped it tore at him, knowing all he’d lost.

  I followed Gavin.

  THE WOLVES AT THE BRIDGE hadn’t been the only ones.

  There were others. They must have been on the opposite end of Green Creek.

  The moment the wards broke completely, they entered the town. And though their numbers were fewer than had been with Gregory, they were closer to the town, and enraged.

  And it was their downfall.

  As we hit the first buildings in town, I heard the sharp snap as one of the wolves hit a thin rope stretched between two trees. I didn’t need to see it to know what had happened. An animal screamed in extraordinary pain as the rope broke, the rigging that had been wrapped around the tree snapping, a pallet with large silver railroad spikes embedded through it swinging around the tree and into flesh.

  Behind us, other wolves fell into similar traps, boards breaking, bodies pierced by spikes of wood and silver. If it didn’t kill them, it would at least injure them enough to take some of the fight out of them. Will had been rightly proud. “Saw it in a movie once,” he’d said. “Figured it’d work here too.”

  It did, at least in part.

  It wouldn’t stop all of them. They’d be more careful as the wolves around them fell prey to what Will had done.

  The people on top of the buildings were firing under Will’s orders. On the other side of Green Creek, I could see a couple of wolves running toward us. Hillary, the woman standing on a roof next to Will, took aim through the scope on her rifle. I watched as she breathed in and then out slowly. She fired, knocking one of the wolves off its feet, blood arcing as it hit the ground roughly and skidded off the side of the road. It didn’t rise.

  “Got ’im!” Grant cried from atop the roof of Gordo’s. He lowered his binoculars and grinned across the street. “Motherfucker went down hard.”

  Gavin growled, pacing in front of me.

  Will looked down at me. “Got through, did they?”

  I nodd
ed. “Just like we thought they would. They’re coming behind us too. All of us are lit up. Make sure you don’t hit the wrong wolves.”

  The people on the buildings closest to us immediately turned around, facing the way we’d come from. The wolves that hadn’t fallen to Will’s traps hurtled toward us through the trees. They hadn’t hit the road yet. If they were smart, they’d circle around through the back. Jessie and Mom would be waiting for them to the north, Chris and Tanner and Rico to the south. I looked to the alleys on either side of the building. Men and women stood just out of sight, all of them armed.

  Gavin yelped as he got too close to the sidewalk, the silver powder burning his front paws. He jumped back, shaking his head.

  “Idiot,” I muttered. Then, “Any sign of Livingstone?”

  “Big wolf, right?”

  “Right. You’ll know when you see him.”

  “Not yet. Hillary, on your left.” It was said almost conversationally. Hillary raised her rifle again and fired. I looked back in time to see a wolf fall in the road and skid to a stop, eyes wide and unseeing as it bled out onto the pavement.

  “That’s three,” she said savagely. “Think I can get ten?”

  Will said, “I bet you—look out!”

  I whirled around, crouching low. A wolf leapt from between the buildings. It sailed over me, jaws snapping inches from the top of my head. It landed on its side but was already up and moving even before it came to a stop. I half-shifted, my vision filtering with sharp clarity. I roared at the wolf as it stalked toward me, head held low to the ground. It coiled its muscles, preparing to jump again. Before it could, Gavin crashed into it, fangs embedded in the back of its neck. He jerked his head viciously from side to side, and I heard the sharp crack of bone as its neck broke. Its legs skittered along the ground as the orange light faded in its eyes.

  Gavin rose above it, blood dripping from his fangs.

  Jessie shouted in warning from behind the buildings to my left. My mother snarled in anger, and another wolf whined before its voice cut off. I felt her fury, her savageness toward these wolves who would dare to come here.

  I grimaced at another flash in my head. It was painful, coming from Chris. Something had hurt him, but Rico and Tanner were there, and whatever had harmed him would never do it again.