Werewolves and Wranglers

by Kristen Banet

  The human that had started running was now also screaming at the top of his lungs. Remy’s head snapped back in that direction and a snarl from him made her shake to her core. Pure, unadulterated fear was now pumping through her veins.

  He leapt into action, running after the human in a sporadic, zig zag sort of way, jumping off tree trunks to propel himself further. Nothing about it was natural.

  “Adalyn, ward,” Tobias ordered. “Adalyn, please.”

  “Against what?” she asked.

  “Everything.”

  “Let us go! If we stay here, that thing is going to kill all of us!” one of the humans screamed out, still trying to pull away from her shaman.

  “Easton, are you okay?” Valen asked behind her. She turned to see them holding their humans still. A scream in the distance marked the end of the human who ran. Easton’s eyes were all black. His face showed nothing. It was so blank that she was worried nothing was in there. “Easton?” Valen reached out for him.

  The Nephilim yanked away, gasping. He ducked down, grabbing his head with his hands and began to stagger away.

  “Stay away!” he roared. “Get away from me!”

  “What is going on?” she demanded. “Easton, are you okay?”

  “Oh no,” Tobias whispered. “Valen, Remy told us something. Remember? Their bond!”

  “Oh fuck,” Valen cursed, reaching Easton again. “You’re coming with me!”

  “NO!” Easton tore away and fell to his knees, screaming in pain. “Help Remy! Someone help Remy! He’s not in control! Please!”

  She could see Easton’s back now and threw a hand over her mouth as something pressed out, trying to grow, trying to expand. “Valen, he could kill you!” she screamed.

  “No, he can’t,” Valen reminded her. “I’ve got him. You stay here with the humans.”

  She could only watch as Valen dragged Easton, still screaming for someone to help Remy, away.

  “Tobias, that leaves us with Remy and the humans,” she said, turning slowly to see her shaman again. Then she looked down at the humans. They were still slowly scooting away in the dirt. She began to chant a spell, holding both her hands out towards them. The air around her glowed, and spectral chains flew from the ground. It was a complex spell and one she didn’t cast, ever. She only knew it in theory, thanks to her new role as sheriff. She had never practiced it before.

  The chains wrapped around their ankles as she finished the spell.

  “That should hold them, but now we need to deal with Remy.” With a deep breath, she nodded at her handiwork. “Yeah…should hold them.”

  “Okay. If he comes back around, let me take it.”

  “How did this happen? Shifters are supposed to be immune to werewolf bites?” She scanned the darkness, hoping to catch a glimpse of hellfire or orange eyes. She saw neither. Somehow, that was worse than seeing him. “He’s an out of control…were-hellhound?” She couldn’t find a way to define what their hellhound was running around as now.

  “Should be,” Tobias stressed. “But he was bitten a lot. I wonder if that had anything to do with it. He also took a bite from Lawrence to give up dominance. Lawrence broke the skin.”

  “He was scratching his neck,” she remembered.

  “HEY! We need to leave, you freaks! Let us go or get us out of here!” a human demanded.

  She turned and waved a hand, sealing his mouth with magic. “Shut up, all of you. Too much loud noise and he could come back.” That was why she and Tobias were trying to talk rationally. They had just dealt with normal werewolves. She didn’t really want to deal with were-Remy.

  “Good thinking,” Tobias commended her as she turned back to him. “Wards?”

  “Shit.” She threw her hands up and quickly pushed her magic out into the bubble of a ward around them. She did it a second time, covering both aspects that Remy would fall into. A wereanimal or a Hell-touched. Hopefully, between the two of them, it worked.

  “Now what? He could go attack Valen and Easton. And what did you mean about their bond?” she demanded. “Why do you know something about my deputies that I don’t?”

  “Remy told me that the bond Easton put on him to let him live comfortably in his human form could backfire. That if Remy loses control, there’s a chance Easton can get dragged with him. I think that’s what’s happened. If it is, that’s bad news.”

  “Nephilim have an angel form,” she breathed out. “And Remy’s loss of control could make Easton change into that form, and then he would be more angel than man.”

  “It’s the one real consistent thing about their kind.” Tobias nodded.

  “God damn. If I had known that, I would have sent Remy back. I would have taken us all home and dealt with this later.”

  “He didn’t tell us his exact symptoms. I should have put it together. The bites he took. The lack of confirmation on shifter immunity to the were curse. We all messed up.”

  “It’s not the full moon, though. Even if he is cursed, and he obviously is, then it shouldn’t have happened tonight!” She was scared, and it showed. She was terrified of what this could mean for her wonderful deputy.

  Tobias ran a hand through his hair.

  She threw her hands up. She started to put some ideas together on the fly. “He’s not a werewolf, though. He’s a hellhound, which is wolf-like but not the same. And he’s not even a full-blood shifter. Who knows what a werewolf would do to someone as unique as he is?” She wanted to pull her hair out. “He’s the only one of his kind. We shouldn’t have assumed the bites from the werewolves wouldn’t affect him.”

  “I did most of the development on our suppressant for the wereanimals. Maybe after tonight…” Now Tobias was joining her. “Maybe a daily regimen, something easy on him. I don’t know if he still has his original form, though…”

  A snarl interrupted them from their brainstorming. Adalyn looked out into the darkness, swallowing fear as she saw orange eyes glow in the night.

  A scream in the distance. Easton’s.

  Remy snarled louder and stepped into the light. Behind her, the humans were screaming again. She hated them, but she knew she had to defend them.

  Please, Remy, calm down. Gods, I hope the wards hold up.

  He advanced. Tobias stayed at her side, his gun drawn, but he didn’t raise it.

  Her stomach dropped as Remy stepped through the ward.

  “Oh shit,” she whispered. “It didn’t work.”

  “Maybe because he’s a unique combination?” Tobias didn’t sound good. “Adalyn, let me handle this.”

  “No—” Remy was hers. She could handle it.

  “You know I can do this.” Tobias stepped ahead of her, dropping his gun. Remy’s gaze snapped off her and to the revolver that fell into the dirt. “Woah, Remy.” Tobias lifted his hands and they began to glow. “Woah.”

  She knew it was a calming spell and that Tobias could get inside the mind of a beast.

  Remy growled, stepping closer to him.

  Adalyn slid closer to the humans, keeping her body between them and Remy. She had a duty to uphold. One she didn’t like, but she had signed up for it. They were in her custody and she couldn’t get them killed now.

  She watched Tobias work his magic, weaving the calming spell like it was second nature. He never touched Remy, keeping his hands moving in slow circles, drawing symbols in the air she didn’t understand.

  She knew it wouldn’t be complete until he dared to touch Remy. She could only wait, her gun in her hand. She had to be ready to keep not just the humans alive, but herself too.

  When he reached for Remy, it failed. He pulled back, snarling, with spit and blood flying from his muzzle. In a blink, he lunged forward to try and snap at Tobias, who jumped away, fading from his human form and into one she rarely saw. His spectral redtail hawk form. His spirit form. He flew a dozen feet away and reformed, waving his hands.

  “Here! Come get me!” he yelled . ”Remy!” He whistled.

  Remy fell onto
his front limbs and began to stalk him, not bothering to look at Adalyn or the humans she protected.

  She watched with fear as Tobias ran into the darkness, Remy bolting after him.

  “Damn it,” she whispered. She needed to be out there helping Tobias. Together, they might be able to make it work and bring Remy back. “Don’t move,” she ordered the humans, knowing they couldn’t. She felt better for telling them what to do anyway. She started to jog away, following Remy and Tobias into the dark.

  “You can’t leave us here!”

  She stopped and looked back at them. Her duty. Her duty was to protect the people of Redstone from threats, even when that included themselves or each other. If she was right, Remy would be too busy with her and Tobias to come back for them. “Watch me.” And anyway, it’s their fault this happened to him. I’m lacking much sympathy for their pathetic crying.

  She ran into the darkness.

  27

  Valen

  The Nephilim fought against Valen’s grip, as he kept tugging him deeper into the darkness, away from the others.

  “Come on, Easton. If you lose it, it can’t be near them!” He knew he couldn’t die to the Nephilim, but that didn’t keep anyone else safe. Again, he found himself desperately wishing to have all of his powers back and not be cursed to only use them in certain places. Tonight would have been a fine night to have them.

  “Let me go!” Easton roared, pulling hard. Valen could see how wings continued to push and stretch the back of the Nephilim. Easton tore from his grip finally and stripped his jacket and fell to his knees again. “HELP REMY!”

  “Tobias and Adalyn can help him,” he promised, kneeling in front of the man. “But you and I need to see you through this, too!”

  Easton’s eyes were back to that glowing sapphire. “You should get away from me,” he whispered, the pained sound of a man breaking apart. “Get away from me.”

  “I’m not scared of you,” Valen growled back. “I have very little reason to be. But I am scared for Adalyn and Tobias. Even Remy. You could kill them all.”

  “You have no idea,” Easton said, chuckling darkly. Then he groaned. He doubled over, his arms wrapped around himself as if he were trying to hold himself together.

  “Try me,” he snapped. “Give me a reason to be scared of you.”

  Easton looked up, and those sapphires were gone. Once again, they were pitch black. Valen had seen them before, and he had a strong idea of which angel sired this particular Nephilim. Not a Fallen, no, but not a good guy either. He wasn’t the son of Gabriel or Michael, that was certain.

  Death was neither good or bad. It just was. Like a bounty hunter, death bowed to no one. It just claimed what it was due.

  “Azrael,” Valen whispered. “Oh, Easton.”

  “Get away…” the Nephilim begged, his eyes going back to the sapphire blue. “Please. I don’t want to kill anyone. I don’t want to.” He began to rock. The wings strained harder against his skin. Valen was barely able to breathe as he saw black feathers beginning to erupt from the Nephilim’s back.

  “I’m not scared of death,” he said, gathering his strength. “Not scared at all.” He’d once been a guardian and master of it as well. He wrapped his arms around Easton. “Tell me how to keep them in.”

  “Hold them!” Easton screamed, his back bowing.

  “I need those two to get control over Remy, damn it.” Valen locked the Nephilim in a stranglehold. “I’ve got you, boy. I’ve got you.”

  Power ripped around them. Valen knew it would have killed Adalyn or Tobias if they were within ten feet of them. He felt like his skin was being flayed, but he could see there was no damage on his arms. He maneuvered to get Easton’s back to him, holding him to his chest. Now he could feel the pressure and pushing of the wings. If they got out, they would blow him back easily. It wouldn’t kill him. None of this could kill him.

  Thank the fucking gods for that part of the curse.

  A howl filled the night, a long, sad one. It didn’t seem good.

  “You don’t want to hurt anyone. You don’t want it. Don’t fall into that dark place. I’ve got you. I’m going to take you back to Adalyn the moment you’re in control again. I promise.” Valen now understood exactly why Easton felt the way he did. Why he was so closed-off and wary. To be the son of the Angel of Death was a terrifying thing. His dominion was death itself. Who could possibly love a man with that sort of heritage? Adalyn Lovett was the only woman who came to mind. “You can’t kill me. I’ll always be your friend. You aren’t alone anymore.” Valen pulled the words out of his ass now, trying to empathize with the Nephilim. “I know what it means to be alone.”

  “How?” the Nephilim cried.

  Valen moved, thinking of a new idea. He wrapped his legs around Easton’s abdomen before the Nephilim could fight. He got his arms around the man’s neck and began to squeeze, hoping to cut off his oxygen supply.

  “If we all survive, I’ll let you know soon,” Valen whispered, holding on tight. He squeezed, trying to hold the thrashing, agonized Nephilim. He knew the deputy wasn’t just fighting against him. The Nephilim was fighting for his control, to hold back the dangerous secondary form that would look like his father. A Nephilim in angel form was a terrifying sight. Their humanity was gone. He would be a vessel for his father’s work, and that, in Easton’s case, was death. He could, and probably would, kill everyone he could before moving on. Especially if he was feeling the feral rage from Remy.

  They both knew that and were trying to stop it.

  Finally, Easton’s struggles began to lessen, and he tried instead to pull Valen’s arm away from his neck. He only held on as Easton began trying to gasp for air.

  Eventually even that stopped, and the Nephilim sagged in his arms.

  Panting, he released the Nephilim slowly. Easton rolled off him and fell into the dirt, unconscious.

  Monsters. His little witch had fallen for real monsters, and coming from him, that was saying something. He sat up slowly, reaching to check Easton’s pulse. The Nephilim was completely out, but alive. Unlike him, Easton was killable. It was hard, but it wasn’t impossible. He reached down and lifted the Nephilim. He had no idea how far he wandered from the group, but started walking back with Easton tossed over his shoulder.

  “Fuck. I thought my secret was bad.” He nearly laughed in despair. Adalyn was surrounded by death and she had no idea.

  He hoped Tobias and Adalyn were having an easier time with whatever Remy was. He also hoped they had some explanation for whatever that was, because his own knowledge was completely failing him.

  28

  Adalyn

  Adalyn followed the scorched pawprints, hoping to catch up to Remy and Tobias. She knew better than to call out, but she wanted to. She wanted to see if Tobias was okay. She wanted to help Remy. She was worried about Easton and Valen and what they could be doing. Had Easton lost complete control yet? Would she know when he did?

  Would I live through it?

  She had no answers, and a lot of questions continuing to pile up.

  A growl made her stop walking. She looked slowly to her right, in the direction of the sound, but didn’t see anything. Not until it moved.

  “Remy…” She hadn’t been expecting him to wait in ambush. This is what I get for running out here.

  He stalked closer to her, growling viciously. He was a wereanimal now. She knew that the Remy she cared about was buried by vicious instincts and the need to claim territory, to create more, and to kill anything different.

  He prowled closer to her, his head tilting up to the sky to sniff the air. He snarled as his head came back down and orange eyes glared at her.

  Her hand was shaking, but she was ready to blast him back. She didn’t want to hurt him, but she knew it wouldn’t kill him. And she would keep breathing.

  “Remy, it’s me, Adalyn,” she murmured, trying to remain calm. She knew there was a chance to connect with the man inside. She knew Tobias would be able t
o connect with Remy. The calming spell was just part one. Gods, where is Tobias? Is he already dead? Did I let him die already?

  Remy snarled, drool and spit flying off his muzzle. The fire on his paws grew, damned near the size of campfires and just as bright. He stomped towards her, and she couldn’t resist a step back.

  “No,” she ordered, hoping to the gods he would recognize her. “No, Remy. You know me. It’s Adalyn. We make morning love together. We laugh at jokes Easton tries to make. Please. Remember Easton?”

  Something flickered in the orange eyes and his advance stopped.

  Don’t make me hurt you. Please Remy, I’m begging you. Don’t make me hurt you.

  “Adalyn?” Tobias called out. Remy snarled, turning in the direction of Tobias’s voice.

  “No!” she called back. “Don’t say anything! Remy, me! Look at me, Remy!” She waved her hands, trying to get his attention back. He did as she wanted, stepping closer to her again. “Me, Remy. Look at me. I love your orange eyes, did you know that?” She tried to be calm with him. “Please, baby.”

  He growled, but his head went down further. She extended a hand and he bumped it.

  “Oh, Remy…” She wanted to hug him. Terrible idea, Adalyn. Hug him when he’s human.

  Tobias appeared behind him and Adalyn shook her head slowly. She was tense enough as it was. If Remy saw him...

  Remy must have smelled him, because he snarled loud against her. She didn’t have time to react as she was shoved back and hit something as were-Remy turned and went for Tobias.

  She flung her hand out at the last minute. “Stop!” she cried, blasting the were-Remy with magic and knocking him from his target. Tobias wasn’t even there anymore.

  She watched the spectral hawk fly and reform into the man next to Remy, who was down for a moment. His hands glowed brilliantly as he grabbed onto Remy’s hide.

  “You are a shifter, Remington Coldwell. You control your form, not the curse!” Tobias roared. “Fight it!”