They’d left Terra in Yana’s care, donned medical grade face masks, and layered on all the clothes they could find that fit them.
The attackers unloaded from a side ramp. There had to be at least thirty of them. Many of them were wearing face masks, which likely was the sole distinguishing characteristic of shifters in the group.
Stewart quietly pulled his phone and sent a text to Ariel who always kept her phone close. He passed along the attacker's head count, explaining in detail everything
When each attacker was satisfied with his weapon and ammo check, they started toward the village as a group.
“Time to go,” Stewart whispered through his mask. Kent and Aggie nodded as they took a shorter route to get back to the village.
While the attackers were collecting all the white-covered wolves, wolves and bears with gas masks descended on them. The fight was bloody and gory. There was nothing much left of the attackers when they were done.
The bears trotted off with body parts dangling from their mouths. The wolves appeared with shop vacuums and soon the streets were free of white. The next rain would wash the remaining white off the houses and buildings.
Kent went to talk to Ariel and Jon.
Stewart tore a leafy limb from a nearby tree and used it to dust off a bench. He and Aggie sad down on it to wait for Kent.
“I want to become a healer. Do you think Aunt Heidi would teach me?”
“I’m sure she would. You’d be a great healer, Aggie.
They were silent for a few moments. Then Aggie laughed. She turned to her brother. “What do you think Kent will be when he grows up?”
“More dangerous?” Stewart offered with a chuckle. The cell phone in his pocket buzzed. He pulled it out and read the message on the screen. “Yana and Terra need help. Tell Kent where I went when he’s done.”
Aggie nodded and bit her lip. “Be careful, Stewart.”
He was running so fast that she doubted he even heard her.
Two attackers with weapons were standing guard outside the Healing Center. He had to get inside—had to. Bile rose in his throat. His face felt hot. Glancing down, he saw his hand had changed. Other body parts were changing too.
Stewart stood up and looked at the guards. He wasn’t good at weapons. He knew some carried silver bullets and some shot tranquilizer darts.
Whatever they had, he would still have to confront them to get inside. Taking a deep breath, he started forward. Two wolf cubs ran by him as fast as they could. Great. Now he had wolf cubs to worry about.
Stewart chose one guard to fight first. He ran quickly and was on the guy before he had time to react. He grabbed the male by the throat and slammed him into the building. He let go when the guy’s body hit the ground.
Then he turned on the second. The wolf cubs were dancing around the guy’s feet and snarling at him.
“Shoo,” he ordered the cubs. Then he snatched the guy’s weapon from his fingers and tossed it like a spear into the nearby woods. He picked the guy up and slammed him into the building just like he’d done to the other one.
The cubs ran into the building, yapping and growling to get Stewart to follow. He almost passed by Yana, who was tied to a chair. Stewart walked over and shredded her bindings.
Yana looked at him and shook her head. “You have nightmare form. Heidi has it too.”
His Aunt Heidi looked like this? Stewart shook his scraggly hair. It was hard to believe.
Together they made their way to Terra’s room. Terra was poking the attacker with one of her crutches to keep him away. Stewart’s howl of fury echoed in the room. The two cubs stopped and howled with him.
Yana clapped her hands. “You two are adorable,” she exclaimed.
Stewart grabbed the attacker by the neck and dragged him out of the room.
Terra huddled into a corner. Then she was sliding down the wall until her butt hit the floor. “Who were those guys? And what was that thing?”
Yana shrugged, but also grinned. The two cubs trotted forward and crawled into Terra’s lap to be hugged.
“Who are you two?” Terra asked.
When their heads turned to the room’s doorway, the freaky ugly wolf guy appeared in it. He hesitated, then walked inside.
“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?” he asked.
Terra stopped crying to stare. She sat the cubs on the floor and stood. Hobbling over to the ugly creature, she searched his gaze. “Stewart? Is that you?”
The creature lifted his arms. “I was supposed to be a wolf—like them,” he said, pointing at the two cubs. “It’s not fair.”
Terra gasped. “Oh, my… those cubs are Kent and Aggie?”
Stewart nodded. “It happened last night, but I wasn’t supposed to tell anyone.”
Terra stared and stared. “Wow—that’s the only word that covers this.”
She moved in closer. “Can I touch your face?”
“You can touch anything. It’s safe. I’m sure.”
Giggling, she ran her fingers over stretched cheekbones and felt his large nose. She giggled harder when he smiled wide to show her his fangs and teeth.
“You’ve been my hero twice. I guess that makes me your girlfriend.”
“You just want to tell the world that you’re dating a freak.”
“That could be true. Maybe,” Terra said with a giggle.
Kent and Aggie bounded over and ran between them, romping around their legs. Stewart looked down at them. They were too cute to describe.
He moved his gaze back to Terra’s. “Will it make me an awful person if I prefer them like this?” Terra’s laughter over his joke was his best reward ever.
The phone in his pocket rang. He couldn’t get it out with his claws. Finally, Terra did it for him. It was his Mom. She held the phone for him while he reassured his mother that they had taken care of the attackers. Then she asked the loaded question. Were there any attackers left alive for her to torture into talking? His sigh was long and heavy.
“I might have left a couple alive outside. I’ll get Aggie to check when she shifts back. What? Yeah, it just happened. She and Kent both shifted into tiny wolf cubs. Everyone keeps saying they’re adorable. Yeah, I miss you too. See you soon.”
He smiled his gratitude—or at least tried to—when Terra slid the phone back into his pocket.
“So what’s next,” Terra asked.
“I have to find Yana. I need her to help me tie up the guards outside. My claws are meant for shredding, not tying ropes.”
“Can I come watch?” Terra asked.
“Sure,” Stewart said. He looked down at his brother and sister. “You guys come too. You can keep an eye on Terra for me.”
Kent and Aggie ran out of the room yipping and yowling.
Terra laughed. “They sound like feral cats. Are you sure they’re wolves?”
Stewart heard himself laughing, but it sounded more like grunting, which made him feel less confident. It would take a very long time to get used to what he’d become.
19
Katarina stared at her smirking father who danced around the outer ring doing odd movements that loosely mirrored a martial arts warm-up. He’d already made her wait twenty minutes, and it looked like it would take thirty for forty before he actively engaged.
“Stalling will not keep me from killing you. I mirror you, Dmitri Volkov. I always have. Your genes made me strong.”
“Da. I wish you’d gotten more from your mother.”
“My mother did not deserve to die. Today you will pay for that… and for killing Yana’s mother too.”
“They all failed me and gave me no choice.”
Katarina lifted both hands in the air. “How? How did all fail you? They shared your bed and made children for you. You should have shown some mercy and sent them away.”
“That’s not how an alpha works. An alpha must be strong so he or she can make their subjects do the right things.”
“Subjects? You are not a king, Father. Kill
ing your mates was an evil thing to do.”
Katarina crossed her arms and paced within her circle. “An alpha helps people. They don’t harm anyone unless left with no choice.” She swept a hand back and forth between her and her father’s body. “You leave me no choice today. I must kill you before your evil spreads further”
Her gaze went to the wall when Edward sat up and groaned in pain. Could what the scientists did to Edward be reversed? Katarina could only speculate.
She turned to stare at her father again. He inched closer and closer to her line. One quick grab and tug would send him crashing to the floor in front of her.
Her eyes went to the exit when a tall, freakish beast wandered inside the room. The beast stared down at Edward until the male stopped struggling to get upright.
“Out,” her father yelled without looking.
Katarina stopped and stared. It was his eyes that spoke to her—Reed’s eyes. The beast strolled to the outer circle.
“I’m here to witness this fight to the death,” he growled out.
It was Katarina’s turn to smirk when her father nearly fell running away from Reed in ugly beast form.
“Who are you?” her father demanded.
Katarina held up a hand to stop Reed from answering. Really, with all those fangs, it was a wonder he didn’t cut his tongue when he tried to talk.
She turned to her father and smiled. “This is my new boyfriend. I like him a lot and he is very talented in bed.”
Her father swore viciously in Russian before glaring at her. “You’re abnormal—nothing but trouble. I should have ended you the day you were born.”
“How sad for you—a brilliant solution arrived at too late. Come into the ring with me, Dmitri Volkov. Come, fight me and meet your true destiny.”
Reed growled again. “I don’t trust him, Katarina. Can I kill him for you?”
“Only if I fail to do so,” Katarina replied. She giggled when Reed nodded his massive beast head. “He brought me to his challenge circle. I cannot refuse him. This is me fixing my biggest mistake, Temptation.”
“Only one thing will fix this, Katarina.”
“Da, I know, Temptation. I know.”
Katarina braced herself for the worst. Her father stared fearfully at Reed, but he wasn’t about to lose face in a challenge he’d begun himself. She could feel people staring at them, but she could not see where. Someone had lowered all the cages to the floor over her head, blocking her from seeing the others. But with Reed here… perhaps they were rescued.
Her father stepped into the circle with her. He walked to stand in front of her as if had no doubts about the outcome of this fight.
“If I kill you, perhaps my loins will try for better child. I left you alive for too long.”
Katarina chuckled. “I’ve thought the same of you—that I’ve let you live too long. I promise today one of us will check it off our list.”
“You’re irreverent and you laugh over foolish things. Your mother was like you. She was too much trouble to keep alive. I missed her for only four days. Then I get new mate. My bed has never been empty.”
“You are an evil male who must pay for what he’s done. I will punish you here and pray that Nicolai Vashchenko will kill you over and over in the afterlife.”
The door of the room opened to let Brand and Gareth inside. They joined Edward at the wall. Reed’s two grandson’s strolled in as well. They looked at their grandfather and stumbled. Walking backwards to keep him in sight, they finally bumped up against their own fraction of leaning space.
Katarina held out a hand and motioned him to engage. “I regret what I must do, but I cannot let you sell more of your pack’s people. I cannot let you abduct anyone from Reed’s pack.”
Lifting a shoulder, her father laughed. “They wanted your sister—and the mysterious children with many talents. Did I mention they’re being picked up even as we speak? No one in any pack is safe. Scientists. Governments. Military groups in higher numbers than you could believe. They all want to create versions of us before they kill the originals. It is modern logic to want the copy instead of the real thing.”
“It is flawed thinking. When this is over, I will work to end that too.”
The door to the room opened again. This time the room filled with several members of her father’s pack—members he’d sold to this scientific facility because he had no conscience. They filed in and glared at the challenge circle. Her father turned to them with a smile containing more evil that she knew he possessed.
“If I win,” Katarina whispered. “I will be their hero. I will be their alpha. This will happen, Dmitri.”
Her father shifted into his black wolf and lunged without warning. Katarina caught him and tossed him over her shoulder. She chuckled when her father landed hard. “Do you concede already?”
Her father put his legs back under him, then hunkered down to charge. Katarina shifted and snarled.
Then they were crashing together as wolves—rolling over the painted floor as they fought. Katarina felt herself go airborne, but she landed on all fours and swiveled to run back.
Accept your defeat. She sent the original command to her father and added an echo.
Why should I? You’re the one panting and out of breath, he sent back.
Katarina lowered her head and growled in warning as she stalked him. Her father danced back and forth, trying to distract her. She refused to let him succeed.
First chance she got, she put her wolf's muzzle close to his. He reacted exactly as she’d expected and lunged for her throat. She blocked the action by sinking her fangs into his shoulder and then tossing him over her head—the same way she’d done Edward.
Unlike Edward, though, her father was up almost instantly and running back toward her with fury in his eyes. Katarina narrowed her own eyes as she planned her strategy.
When her father rose in the air and positioned himself to pounce on her, Katarina twisted her wolf body away from his lunge. It was entertaining to watch him fall into the empty space she’d stood seconds ago.
Opening her jaws wide, she sank her teeth into the back of his neck and bit down hard. Her father howled in pain as she bit deeply enough to sever his spinal cord. Spitting his blood on the floor as she left his body, she walked slowly around her father until she was sure he was not getting up.
“Finish me,” her father demanded as he shifted back to human.
Katarina shifted back to human as well, blessedly with her clothes on this time. She looked upwards to stare at the ceiling. If a ghost had been hanging there, she wouldn’t have been surprised. Shifting with clothes on was a great gift in a moment like this. “Thank you, Nicolai.”
“Shut up and kill me, you weak bitch.”
“You will die today, but I would like you to suffer first. I want you to know what it’s like to be trapped and helpless. This is what you did to your own people. Shame on you, Dmitri. You sold me and then Yana. You killed both our mothers. What mercy for you is reasonable? None, Dmitri Volkov. You deserve none.”
Her father stretched his arms and tried to pull his body out of the circle.
“Do you concede?” Katarina asked.
“Go to hell,” her father said bitterly.
“I have been there all my life with you. I see heaven for first time only recently. In your pack, you were the only one who could be happy. Your reign is over. I claim your pack. Today I set them free of you.”
“Kill me and be done with it.”
“Nyet.”
Blood lust ruled her. She could feel many stares, but only one had the audacity to enter the challenge circle. The devil wolf was a man once more.
“This is bad time for me, Temptation. Leave the circle.”
“I can’t let you become the thing you hate. It would be one more burden for you to bear. Kill him and let him die.”
Katarina walked away. She put all the distance the circle allowed between them. “He hurt everyone. He sold his children, murd
ered their mothers, and betrayed his people for money. He deserves to hurt. He deserves to be punished.”
“Honey,” Reed said. “You already did that. You fought him and won.”
Katarina rubbed her forehead. She was calming at last. “I cannot kill him with so much hate in my heart. It is not a memory I want to carry through my life. I want his people—my original people—to be free to laugh and enjoy life. This is what a good alpha wants and works for. I will never think differently.”
Reed nodded. “Those are all good goals. They can happen. Brandi, Gareth, and the whole team have stopped the scientists. When we leave this place, it will be burned to the ground. Let’s kill him so we can go home. I’ll kill him for you. Mercy is the sign of the strong, not the weak and fearful.”
“Fine. Kill him for me. I accept your gift.”
Reed walked to where Dmitri Volkov lay dying. “The devil wolf was created to punish those committing crimes against a pack. By the power of my ancestors, I send you back to yours.”
He formed one of human hands into a devil wolf’s claw. He rolled Katarina’s father over, chanted a prayer, and then made a swipe to tear out his throat. It was brutal and bloody, but it got the job done. The evil man and his inner beast were no more.
Reed changed his hand back and wiped it on the dead man’s shirt. Then he stood and walked back to Katarina. “It’s over.”
“Thank you. We will leave his body here. If anyone finds it, they might learn valuable lesson.”
“Katarina?”
“That is my name, Temptation.”
“Will you live with me and be my mate?”
Katarina looked around. The place was appalling. “Could this request not have waited until we were somewhere more pleasant?”
“I’m being spontaneous. And trying to tell you that I love you,” Reed added when she lowered her gaze.
Katarina quietly huffed. “Such a declaration usually means something the night before, but means nothing once the sun rises. Don’t you want to think about this? I know how you love to think.”
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