Death of a Succubus

by Kim Schubert

  He opened his mouth to contest what I had said, but we both knew I was right. He sold me to Selena. He sold my innocence, my youth, my hopes and dreams. I wasn’t sure I wanted to forgive that.

  I drew a breath. “Look, right now we need to focus on gathering the supplies. I’ll hold to my end of the agreement and get you two out.”

  He grunted, not looking at me.

  “To the unicorns then?” Doyle asked, taking a large chunk of beef jerky.

  “The unicorns,” The Magician agreed.

  We finished eating in silence before stowing our gear and heading out of the steep jungle. The mud from the previous night was now a dusty reminder that I tried to slap out of my clothing, hair, and face.

  I gave up after the dust settled into my eyes and mouth. I walked side by side with Doyle over the red fucking clay, The Magician behind us, I assumed.

  “You should be kinder to him,” Doyle reprimanded me softly.

  I snarled.

  “It was not easy giving you up,” he continued on.

  “Of course not, but once I was gone, how long before he was back to himself?”

  “That is not fair. Our world here is difficult.”

  “Everyone’s world is difficult, Doyle. The difference is in how to solve difficult. He waited for years on the slim chance I’d come back and free him. If he was serious about finding me, he’d have already found a way to my world, and nothing would have stopped him.” That’s what I would have done for my child. Or Logan for his.

  Doyle was silent for a breath. “You have a point, but the anger in your heart will only consume you.”

  “It already has.”

  …

  Logan rolled over to an empty bed in a strange place. He had dreamed of Olivia, her soft skin, her warm embrace. The cranky mess she was waking up. The way she would walk for hours bouncing Ginny without complaint. Olie had protected her before Ginny even arrived in this world, had kept Lorraine from poisoning the growing life inside of her.

  He knew Olivia’s love of family was the reason she had suggested he give Lorraine another chance to be a mother to Ginny, but Logan couldn’t. He could never let his small, innocent child be around the monster who tried to kill her.

  He bounced his head against the pillow, shoving himself out of bed. No good would come of dwelling on Olie and how much he missed her.

  He stepped out of the shower to a knock on his door. He opened it, not bothering to look at Hudson as he continued towel drying his hair, ill-fitting sweat pants slung low on his hips.

  “I have procured us new clothing,” Hudson said, bouncing onto Logan’s abandoned bed with a shit eating grin.

  Logan took the plastic bag, dumping the contents next to Hudson.

  “I gotta say,” Hudson continued, “I can’t believe you passed on that fine piece of tail.”

  Olivia would have ripped Hudson apart for that comment. Logan just shook his head because at one point, he was the same way. A beautiful woman and no-strings-attached sex had been all he was looking for. He thought about trying to explain to Hudson the value of having a steady partner, but he shook his head. Logan had been alive long enough to lose interest in one night stands, even if it had taken a couple attempts at choosing a life partner to get it right.

  With Hudson, it would all be a waste of breath.

  Another knock and Jerry and Mark came in. “Free breakfast ends in thirty minutes. Let’s move it, people.”

  Logan nodded. “Have you checked on Patti and Dillion?”

  “Yes, they are getting dressed,” Jerry informed him.

  Logan pulled the tags off his clothing, changing in front of everyone.

  Jerry laughed, prompting Logan to look down at the t-shirt he had just put on.

  Hot! I ain’t lion.

  He raised his head, looking back at Jerry.

  “That,” Jerry said as he pointed, “is divine intervention.”

  Logan looked at Mark, who was also laughing behind a cough. Hudson just grinned from ear to ear. Logan thought about asking where he had found it, but his stomach made other demands.

  “Let’s go, I’m hungry,” Logan commanded. Besides, they all needed a laugh.

  Patti and Dillion were waiting for them in the hallway.

  “Breakfast?” Logan asked. Patti had washed her hair; the dirt and grease gone, it bounced around her shoulders in thick curls. She smiled at him and nodded.

  Dillion ran to him, hands outstretched. Logan obliged him, hoisting him up and resting him on his hip.

  “You hungry, buddy?” he asked.

  “I’m sorry, he’s not usually so friendly.” Patti cast a worried glance around with her son out of her arms.

  “He’s a natural alpha,” Hudson explained. “He’s drawn to Logan, to mimic his behavior.”

  Patti’s step stuttered. “How can you tell?”

  “He doesn’t look away from my eyes,” Logan stated. “Even shifter children feel the force of my beast and can’t hold my gaze for long. He does it easily.”

  “Is that a good thing?” she whispered.

  “Alphas carry far more responsibility than submissives. You are an alpha, also. It’s hard to judge how powerful, but you will carry extra weight in the packs,” Logan informed her.

  “If I don’t want to?” she asked.

  “It’s like a calling,” Hudson explained, “to protect the others, to keep our packs safe. You can try not listening to it, but it will feel natural to help.”

  Patti nodded as they entered the elevator. “You explain it far differently than he did.”

  Dillion pulled at Logan’s hair. “Brown!”

  He smiled, “Good job.”

  Dillion pointed to his mother’s hair. “Brown.”

  “Very good,” Patti crooned to him. “You must have children.”

  “A daughter, she’s seven months.”

  The doors opened and Logan inhaled the sweet smell of syrup and potatoes. Dillion wiggled and Logan set him down. He ran to the food, jumping at the counter. Patti was right behind, doing her best to wrangle him.

  “Driving or flying?” Jerry asked around a mouthful of food, after they had sat down with heavily loaded plates.

  Logan rubbed the back of his neck. “Patti, do you feel comfortable flying with Dillion back to St. Ann? I will have Alec, the Compass Alpha for the region, meet you.”

  She chewed on her lip, meeting Logan’s gaze. He saw the terrified woman, but he also saw her beast step forward. “If you trust Alec, then we do as well.”

  Logan nodded, watching her turn her gaze away. He pulled out his cell phone, texting the information to Alec.

  …

  Logan waited until the plane crested the clouds before nodding to Jerry that they could leave.

  The drive passed slowly. Logan was anxious to get back to Olivia and Ginny. His anger at his inability to fix Olivia was being taken out on Ginny through his absence, and it wasn’t fair.

  After passing the Kansas state line, they traveled another hour, arriving outside of the small town of Fort Dodge. It actually wasn’t even a town, just a loose grouping of buildings. Jerry followed the directions spat out by the GPS until they were three miles from the soon to be departed.

  “Same plan?” Mark asked, getting out of the SUV and stretching.

  “Yes,” Logan agreed, his beast anxious to be done with this. He rubbed his breastbone; something felt different.

  He sniffed the air, pulling the scents deep into his lungs, sifting through the traces of blood, dirt, and power. The alpha for the rebels was here.

  Logan smiled, straining his ears.

  “What’s so funny?” Jerry asked.

  “I believe I’m evolving,” Logan murmured.

  “Evolving? What the hell is that?” Jerry asked.

  Hudson and Mark shared a concerned look.

  “It’s a legend, just like mate marking. In times of great stress, our beasts will develop honed senses, far beyond those of a normal shifter,” Hud
son supplied.

  Jerry grunted, “It’s probably the succubus blood. All the vampires go fucking gaga for it.”

  Logan stilled in the tall grass, the flat land allowing a breeze to bring even more scents to him. He flexed his hands at his side. He needed to stay human to deliver the same warning as in Nebraska. Then he could free the animal inside of him.

  “Stay behind me,” he warned the others, before marching toward the compound.

  Through the pack bonds, he felt Hudson’s concern and Mark’s determination. He idly wondered about what Jerry had said. He doubted it, though. Olivia’s blood had been within him for months, and he physically felt no different.

  Logan’s sight picked up the dim outline of a fortress ahead, laid out in a square with sentry towers at each corner. He picked up none of the rancid odors from the first compound. It appeared the alpha was gaining funds, no doubt from his expanding pack. He’d never be able to maintain it, though. The tithe system only worked when an alpha allowed his pack the freedom to work.

  There was no freedom here.

  Logan could hear safeties being unclicked in the closest tower as the building solidified in his sight. He kept walking.

  “Halt!” a voice boomed out. He kept walking.

  “We will shoot!” A warning shot dislodged dirt by his foot.

  Still he kept moving. He was Alpha and ruler of the packs for good reasons.

  “Hear me well, if you fight me, we will kill you.”

  “Who the fuck are you?”

  “The Alpha.” He could hear the hushed whispers before him, the whisper of his backup moving behind him as he continued forging ahead. Without breaking stride, he shifted into his lion, shredding his pants.

  “I didn’t bring enough clothing,” Jerry groaned behind him.

  Shots rang out, but Jerry uttered a word and Logan’s lion never felt the sting of the bullets. He charged and felt Hudson shift into a buffalo next to him, passing him to smash into the large wooden double doors. Hudson reared back, delivering a second blow, and they splintered against his massive weight.

  Wolf shifters flew out. Hudson stepped back, a wolf between his teeth, the sound of its rib cage being crushed feeding Logan’s carnal beast. Hudson shook his head, ripping the wolf apart before turning his attention to the others attached to his hide.

  “Shit,” Jerry said, before muttering another spell.

  Logan cleared the distance between himself and the crushed doors, landing firmly inside the dimly lit fort. A wolf growled, lunging for his throat. Logan turned, snapping his jaws around its head, destroying the feeble attempt.

  Another wolf lunged for his hindquarters and Logan kicked out, knocking the animal outside. It wasn’t a killing blow, but he had time to rectify that.

  Mark shifted and was defending him from the back while Jerry kept throwing magically charged bombs that sent the waiting wolves into the walls. Logan had no time to admire his handiwork as he took down wolf after wolf. Young and untrained, they fell easily at his feet, his paws becoming saturated with blood.

  Logan huffed, his wounds healing, but his soul uneasy with the kills here. He turned to survey the damage, wanting the shifter responsible for this disaster.

  If the pathetic excuse for an alpha thought sheer numbers would overwhelm him, he was wrong.

  Hudson, make sure no one leaves here. I want the alpha, he sent through the pack threads.

  On it, Hudson responded, before turning to check the perimeter.

  Body after body fell, shifting human. They were younger and younger. It didn’t stop him, though, didn’t delay his life-ending paw swipes.

  Turning and scanning the wolves hiding in the back, he shifted, blood dripping from his chin.

  “Submissives, where is your alpha?” Logan boomed.

  A few showed their teeth before cowering, none meeting his gaze.

  Jerry limped up from behind him. “We should have brought Patti, at least she might have been able to talk sense into them.”

  Logan grunted, hindsight was always 20-20.

  A wolf shifted back to human, panting from the change, unused to it.

  “Patti?” he rasped out. A wolf snapped at him.

  Logan leaned forward and snapped its neck.

  “D-Dillion?” the submissive asked, chancing a look into Logan’s caramel eyes.

  Logan narrowed his eyes. He wasn’t about to give away information on the two he had saved.

  “Dillion is my son, is he alive?” the submissive asked.

  “Yes, but the only way you live to see them is to show us the alpha,” Jerry negotiated.

  Logan growled. “Sorry, Logan,” Jerry smiled. “I get all power hungry throwing magic around.”

  Logan turned, raising an eyebrow to the submissive as another wolf peeled back its lips, ready to pounce on him. Logan backhanded it across the room.

  The submissive nodded, standing uncertainly. Mark went to him, still in his wolf, offering him support and a barrier to the others trying to attack him.

  With the cracking of bones and a wail of distress, another shifter turned human.

  “He will kill us all!” she screamed at their helper. “He is lying about Patti and Dillion! You are a fool!”

  “Jerry, do you have a phone?” Logan asked.

  “Yep.” Jerry followed his train of thought, already dialing Alec. He put it on speakerphone.

  “Hello?” Alec answered.

  “Are Patti and Dillion with you?” Logan asked.

  “Yeah, we are grabbing an early lunch. This kid is always hungry. Let me put you on speaker.”

  The submissive made a strangled noise, covering his mouth.

  “Pepperoni!” chanted Dillion.

  “Alright, how about some veggies?” Patti asked.

  “Sausage!” Dillion added to his chant.

  “Patti, I have a man here claiming to be Dillion’s father,” Logan began; it probably wasn’t his brightest idea to do this in front of Dillion. Olivia would have known that. Dammit.

  “Peter?” Patti asked, hopeful.

  “Patti?” Peter asked, drawn to the sound of her voice.

  “You’re alive!” Patti squeaked.

  “For now,” Peter answered, casting a look to Logan.

  “Don’t fight him, Peter. He won’t hurt you. He’s taken great care of Dillion and me—food, clothing, even explaining about dominants and setting us up with a job and home.”

  Peter took another hesitant look at Logan, searching his face for betrayal. Logan found Olivia’s voice haunting him.

  They are terrified, Logan, having known nothing but pain and lies at the hands of this alpha. Show them why we follow you.

  His own ego must have shoved its way in there. She’d never admit to following him.

  “I’m not here to harm you. I gave my warning to the others. I want your alpha dead. I do NOT treat my people as he has done. We are pack, we are family, and we honor those bonds. So either make your peace with a new Alpha or make your peace with death.”

  Jerry patted him on his back, ending the call with Alec.

  Several others began shifting back, the woman who called out to Peter lunging for him. Mark ended her swiftly.

  The others bowed their dirty heads, panting from the pain of the change and kneeling, acknowledging him as leader.

  “Alright, everyone follow us,” Logan stated.

  He nodded to Mark, who pulled Peter gently toward the door. Peter looked down at him, nodding, before turning. “This way,” he announced in a trance.

  Logan nodded. “I’ll bring up the rear,” Jerry said, giving Logan a look. He nodded, feeling a tug at his heart. Jerry wasn’t officially pack, but he might as well be. He defended Olie and Logan both without fail. She had a gift for picking up the outcasts.

  Peter cast a look behind him, waiting for everyone to follow them.

  “Can I ask you a question?” he asked Logan.

  “Yes,” Logan grunted, wanting to get rid of the alpha.
<
br />   “The al—” He stopped himself. “The guy who turned us said that I should be a dominant because I’m male.” Shame laced his words heavily.

  “It doesn’t work like that. Many factors contribute to whether a shifter is a submissive or dominant; gender is not part of it.” He reached out a supportive arm to Peter’s shoulder. Peter jumped, looking back in fear. “There is no shame in being submissive. Our society is constructed to allow all members to have jobs that meet their desires.”

  Peter gave him a tentative smile and Logan knew Olie would have been proud.

  “Patti and Dillion are going to be alphas. Alec will be setting her up with a job that matches her skills.”

  “Who is Alec?” someone from the back asked.

  Peter turned right, ambling along and not checking corners. Thankfully, Mark was.

  “Alec is the Compass Alpha for the East. He reports to me,” Logan explained.

  “I was a metal smith before all this,” Peter admitted.

  Logan nodded. “Olivia is going to be so excited,” Jerry muttered from the back.

  “Who is Olivia?” another voice behind Logan asked.

  “My mate.” His words were clipped.

  “Oh.” Peter looked back, sorrow in his eyes. “I’m so sorry. We heard she died.”

  “Nope, not dead,” Jerry quickly answered. “Healing.”

  Peter nodded, surprised, looking back at the others. His steps slowed and he dropped a hand into Mark’s fur before making the next turn, visibly shaking as he pointed down the hall to a steel door.

  Logan pulled Peter behind him.

  “It’s operated by a switch from the inside,” Peter whispered.

  Mark growled, looking at Logan, feeling what he was going to do.

  “Relax, Mark.” Jerry threw a small bag at the door. “Cover your eyes!” he yelled as an afterthought.

  Logan tossed Mark behind him, covering him and Peter with his body. Shards of metal sliced into his back. He hissed, straightening out, turning his back to the others. The metal fell out, clicking against the linoleum floor.

  “Stay here,” Logan commanded.

  “Is he going to be okay?” Peter whispered to Jerry.

  Jerry chuckled. “Don’t let his kind demeanor fool you. Logan is the baddest beast there has ever been.”