Last to Love

by Alexa Whitewolf

  But the change is not yet done. Lucas throws his head back and roars again, the sound echoing across the ground and shaking the walls itself. Charon seems immobilized, his jaw slack and staring in the distance, though he cannot see. However, same as the rest of us, he can hear.

  “I’ll be damned,” Dominic mutters.

  Lucas’ roar becomes angrier, forceful, as if he’s in pain. A similar rippling sensation runs through my own body, causing me to stumble. I realize in that moment the iciness I’d felt before, when we were trying to rescue him, was truly because of our connection. I can deny it, I can fight it – but the bond between us is set. Our wolves knew it way before we ever did.

  Gulping, I stare at Lucas, wanting nothing more than to approach him. Cerebus’ proximity keeps me at bay, though. The three heads are fully focused on Lucas, watching as he paws the ground in agony. What more is there?

  I get my answer another second later, when the burn inside me eases. At the same time, a hunch protrudes out of Lucas’ back, gaining and enlarging like a pus-filled wound ready to burst. And it does – another head rips out through the rusty fur, two angry-looking horns atop it.

  The chimera! He’s actually fully morphed!

  Lucas rears his heads, now as tall as Cerberus himself. None of this should be possible. He doesn’t have the full blood of the monster in him, and yet... He is alive, he is whole, and the Underworld has not taken him.

  As if to prove it, Lucas slams his massive paw on the ground, and this time pieces of the ceiling drop down all around him and Cerberus – and us. Charon escapes one by chance, thus moving closer to Dominic.

  The vârcolac snaps to attention and in one quick move, has him in a chokehold. “Now, enough with the dirty tricks, old man. You’re going to let us leave, else your precious staff will be disintegrated.”

  Charon grumbles something, but puts up his hands in defense. The chimera’s appearance seems to have subdued him. Dominic still holds onto him while I keep the staff secure, chancing a glance at Lucas.

  He is majestic. What was not a fair fight is now fully one, and Lucas charges like the proverbial bull defending his territory. Each head of Cerberus’ that comes at him, he swipes at with a hooved paw, or flat out slams into.

  Cerberus may be older and wiser, but Lucas is young and fast. And he carries all the strength of his wolves in him, on top of the chimera change. Everything seems amplified, and he manages to back Cerberus closer and closer to Styx.

  Eventually, with one powerful punch, he tosses Cerberus to the ground, and the movement makes more cavern pieces fall on top of him. The massive dog is unconscious – enough to buy us time.

  No longer limping, Lucas heads over to us, transforms to human form and yells, “Let’s go!”

  Dominic tosses Charon away, and I hold onto the staff until we’re all running through the fissure. Lucas comes after me, and I toss the staff over his head, and hear it land in the softness of the sand outside.

  Then Lucas’ powerful punch hits the wall, causing a collapse of stone behind us, effectively stopping anyone from following. Even so, I feel Charon’s eyes on us until we are fully surrounded by darkness.

  Lucas

  Being back in human form after that transformation feels like my skin is too tight, my muscles too strained under my shirt. But I don’t have time to wonder about it, or complain. Nor do I have a moment to figure out how the hell it is I was able to master that transformation, and get out of there alive.

  Squeezed between two extremely tight walls has never made me claustrophobic. This time, it does. “How much longer?” I hiss.

  “Almost there,” Dominic yells back.

  He’s first in line, followed by Lucrezia, Monica, and me pulling up the rear. The order was unconscious, but I realize we both thought of putting our girls in the middle to protect them, lest anything attack us from up ahead, or behind.

  Monica. I reach ahead of me, and my hand touches her shoulder. Since we’re advancing painfully slow, my touch draws her attention.

  “You were amazing, tesoro,” I whisper. Annoyingly, it carries over and I know the other two heard it. Luckily, they don’t say anything.

  “Grazie,” she says back just as softly. “You... I’ve never seen anything like it.”

  A surprised laugh escapes me. “What, a shifter with two heads?”

  “Well, now we know why you always walked around like you had something up your ass,” Dominic retorts from up ahead.

  I scowl at the darkness, even though he can’t see me. Also ahead, I hear Lucrezia’s soft chuckle. “And you’re still an ass, amico.”

  “Takes one to know one.”

  I roll my eyes, but my tone comes out just as playful. “Indeed.” Even as we keep moving, my hand reaches for Monica’s. I can feel her eyes on me again, but she says nothing. A moment later, I intertwine our fingers and something feels...calm. My insides are soothed, and I can breathe almost easily.

  In silence, we keep walking until light escapes from up ahead. Dominic’s hand lifts up in the air, and he waves us through. “Easy, I think we’re crossing something.”

  I only notice it once Lucrezia goes under. A shimmering silver curtain in the middle of the path. Once she’s through, she disappears completely, but my gut says it’s only to reappear in the world of the living.

  Monica turns to me. “Ready?”

  I nod, and let her pass first. Then I glance behind. Maybe it’s a moment I need to say goodbye to Matteo and Mamma, or maybe just to pull myself together after the craziness of the last hours. But I take one last deep breath, say a quick prayer for my lost loved ones, and cross over.

  ∞ ♦ ∞

  My body hurts – I wiggle my fingers, my toes, then my eyelids flutter open. The first thing I see is the worn ceiling of the cell I spent the last days in. Then the stench of blood reaches my nostrils, and I jump up.

  Monica, Lucrezia and Dominic are stirring on the floor, their bodies seemingly also in pain. And just outside my cell door is a wolf – a vrykolakas. He’s dead, his limbs ripped apart and his blood coating the ground.

  I can sense something is wrong. And not just with this particular death, but with our people. It’s like the connection I’d had with my wolves has returned tenfold, clamoring for my attention.

  “Fuck,” Dominic mutters, groaning as he stands. He sees the dead carcass, and drops a few choice Romanian words. “Alessandro must have escaped.”

  “How much protection did you put on him?”

  “Our best, and some of my own,” Dominic says.

  “There’s a barrier here,” Lucrezia says as she stumbles to the cell door. “I think they must’ve locked us in here to protect us. It’s zmeu magic.”

  “Can you diffuse it?”

  By the time my question is spoken, she’s already drawn a rune in the air, and there’s a soft pop like a balloon. Lucrezia then pushes the door of the cell open, and turns to us.

  Dominic’s impatience is apparent in the way he’s bouncing off the balls of his feet, and I lift a hand to calm him down. “Alessandro and his fucking tricks.” I glance behind at Monica. She’s holding the side of her head like it’s pounding – I know the feeling well. “You’ve done more than enough. This isn’t a fight you need to join... I will understand if you choose to leave.”

  She gives me a look tinged with hurt. Merda. I hadn’t meant it like that, only that I want her safe, but it’s too late to take it back.

  Monica only says, “I’m in. What’s the plan?”

  “It appears our only option is a stealth attack.”

  I let Dom and Lucrezia go up ahead, and Monica follows. Once they’re past the stairs, I know I don’t have long. I grab her wrist and pull her towards me. She was halfway up one stair, so the movement destabilizes her and she falls into my arms.

  Exactly where she belongs.

  Cupping her cheek, I claim her mouth, not bothering to explain myself. It’s almost idiotic what that one kiss does to me, when we’ve do
ne so much more already. But it reaches deep in me, in my soul, with the soft promise within it.

  “Lucas!” Dominic’s furious whisper echoes down the stairs, and I pull back from Monica.

  “Later,” I whisper.

  She tries to smile bravely and says, “Try not to get killed. I’ll want an explanation of that...later.”

  I nod, and we rush up the stairs together. Four people against an army. Somehow, after Cerberus, the odds seem almost favorable.

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  ∞ Vendetta ∞

  “Before you begin on the journey of revenge, dig two graves.”

  -Proverb-

  Monica

  That kiss... If I didn’t know any better, there was way more to it than just a thank you. But, the battle waiting for us doesn’t leave much time for questions. The moment we’re out of the cellar, any chance of a stealth attack goes out window.

  Wolves line the walls – Alessandro’s. Almost as if expecting us. A quick count tells me five, but more could be around the corner. Lucrezia moves by my side. “We’ll take care of this,” she says to the guys. “Go!”

  For once, Dominic doesn’t argue, and I know part of it is because he now trusts I’ll have her back. I can only hope to do her justice. We quickly become separated, but what Lucrezia doesn’t have in size she makes up for in speed.

  Runes fly right and left, and wolf after wolf drops. I take care of two, and we hit the last one together then grin at each other. “Let’s find the rest.”

  We search room by room, figuring that Alessandro must’ve imprisoned the rest of our pack. Yet the more we look, the less we find anyone. It’s like they all disappeared. Finally, on the second floor, we get to Finn and Tristan.

  They’re both pacing the room, seeming ready to destroy the place. When they see us coming, they jump towards us – and smack into an invisible wall.

  Lucrezia approaches it gently, then turns to me. “Do you know the root of this?”

  I glance at the ground, and notice the ingredients no one else would. Salt, some kind of herbs, and a drawn pentagram. With unabashed joy, I kick them out of the way. The disturbance is enough to break the barrier, and the guys break free.

  “They took Dani and Elle somewhere!” Finn shouts, his cool demeanor long gone.

  Tristan’s already pushed past us and gone down the hall, alerted by some mysterious sense. When we rush after him, we’re surprised to find him immobilized at the end of the corridor. His awed murmur reaches us. “That’s my girl!”

  When I peer out the window that gives onto the opposite side of the house, I realize what he means. The entire East wing is afire, and only two girls could’ve done that. We take off even faster, battling wolves as we come across them.

  “What the hell even happened?” I ask Finn as we run.

  “Ana happened,” he mutters. “She managed to do some kind of blood magic, undid her bindings and before we knew what happened she had us. Elle and Dani weren’t around, so we didn’t know where they’d been taken this entire time.”

  Once we get out of the house and are running on the grass towards the girls, different kinds of shouts get to me. I let the others go ahead, and backtrack instead to –

  “Lucas.”

  There’s no way my senses are leading me wrong. Something warns me I need to be elsewhere, with one particular guy, and I listen. I let the others go ahead and emerge into the gardens, just as Alessandro lifts his gun, takes aim, and pulls the trigger.

  I don’t think, only jump – and then everything goes dark.

  Lucas

  One moment, I’m facing against my bastard father. He’d run away as soon as he heard us coming, heading to his getaway car. I was ready to face him – and then he pulled the gun. After what I’d just seen in the Underworld, what I’d realized, I’m not ready to die. But I don’t cower, instead staring at him and waiting to see if he’ll pull the trigger.

  And then he does. Only, there’s a blur of movement to the side and Monica’s there, taking the shot in the stomach. Everything slows down, and my vision narrows on her body jerking to the hit, then falling, falling...

  I lean forward and catch her before she hits the ground, and by so doing drop on my knees, cradling her in my lap. Behind me, Dominic lunges on Alessandro, immobilizing him.

  “Monica!”

  Her blue eyes are filled with pain, meeting mine for the briefest of seconds before they flutter closed. I’m not sure if she fainted or if that’s the last time I’ll... – I don’t want to know. If before I felt boiling rage, there is a coldness inside me that’s practically arctic, filling my very soul.

  “Dominic, leave him,” I order.

  He glances at me, his face torn between pain and determination, but eventually steps back. “Come get her, please.”

  As soon as he inches towards me, Alessandro takes off on a run. Dominic makes a move to follow, but I say low, “He’s mine, amico. Come take Monica. Please. I don’t want her to get cold.”

  Dominic does as I ask and I transfer her to his arms, caressing one lock of hair back from her face. Then I bend and kiss her forehead, before straightening to my full glory. “Whatever you hear,” I tell him, “don’t come. Tell the others.”

  It’s easy to find Alessandro. The scent of fear and cowardice leaves a trail I take no pleasure in following. I reach a garage on the far end of the property, and hear an engine starting and sputtering.

  When I round the corner, Alessandro looks up from behind the driver’s seat. Whatever he sees in my face makes him scramble for the keys, desperately trying to get the engine to work.

  I step closer still, until I’m right in front of the car. It’s an old Ford model, probably the least flashy car I’ve ever seen him drive. The bumper touches my legs as I get as close as I can, then slam my palms on the hood.

  Alessandro jumps, and I hear the clatter of the keys as he drops them. He’s no longer the alpha, and he knows it as well as I do. “Your reign is over, Papà.”

  His mouth opens as if to say something, but he doesn’t. “Get out,” I tell him. When he doesn’t move, an inferno of iciness pricks my skin, and my hands turn into claws. I dig deep into the hood, the metal bending and falling apart under the pressure of my grip.

  Smoke comes out of the engine, and I declare myself satisfied enough to straighten, and walk around to the driver’s door. I yank it open, then drag him out of there by the scruff of his shirt, my claws tearing at the material.

  “Luciano, mio figlio –”A groan of pain escapes him, and I faintly realize my claws must have dug into his chest.

  Not that I particularly care.

  Rather than kill him then and there, I keep walking, dragging him behind me, until I’m back to where Monica is still lying in Dominic’s arms. He’s surrounded by his vrykolakas, and Alessandro’s wolves are facing off against them.

  “Who is it you fight for?” I roar at them, and they stop in their tracks. Multiple pairs of eyes go from me, to Alessandro in my grip. Some dare raise their guns, which only makes me laugh. “Go ahead, try to shoot. We’ll see what happens.”

  No one actually pulls the trigger. “See, Papà?” I let him go, and he stumbles away from me, his shirt filled with blood, his eyes wide with fear. “Not everyone is as stupid as you are. Hurting the woman I love? Not your brightest moment.”

  “She is a wh—”

  I didn’t intend to punch him. It’s like my fist moves of its own accord, finding his jaw and watching as he falls to the ground, spitting out blood. My claws have ripped into the flesh of his cheek, leaving behind a grotesque scar.

  “This image is familiar,” I say softly. “Only it used to be me on the floor, and you standing over me feeling like a man for hurting a child. Doesn’t feel good, getting a taste of your own medicine, hmm?”

  He says nothing.

  “Alessandro!”

  A blur of blonde hair tries to pass by me – Ana. Without even thinking it through, my hand reaches for her and grabs
a fistful of her hair. She tries to spit out curses, to undo my hold, but it’s useless.

  I pull her to my chest, my claws at her neck, my eyes on Alessandro. Is that his heart breaking I feel? I doubt it. Nor does it matter, not after everything he did.

  “Your fucking spell,” I whisper in her ear, “put my brother through more suffering, all for your fucking greediness. In my pack, that is punishable by death.”

  “You can’t—” The rest of her phrase ends in a gurgle, and I remove my hand. Blood drips off my claws, as her inert body falls to the ground. Her slashed throat bleeds all over the grass, turning it a deep red.

  I step over her, inching closer to my father. He gulps, his eyes flickering from Ana’s corpse to me. Then he pulls out a handkerchief from his suit pocket and wipes his mouth. I recognize the move – he’s trying to find an angle to play. Then he stands, holding the material to his cheek to stop the bleeding. “Is that what you’re after, boy? An apology?”

  I laugh again. “Oh, no. An apology would not undo any of what you did. Like letting Matteo die so you could have your stupid deal. Like pushing Mamma to kill herself, because she wouldn’t bend to your will. Or bringing my younger brother back to life, only so you could use him as leverage to force me into doing your bidding.” Another laugh. “Didn’t work out, though, did it? They’re both gone, him and Mamma. Reincarnated. You cannot touch them – ever again.”

  Shock coats his features, followed by fear. “Sì, you have nothing on me, Alessandro. I went to the Underworld, and I came out victorious. Stronger than you could have ever guessed. Which means nothing stops me from taking your life. Here. Now.”

  He doesn’t get a chance to plead, and I don’t hesitate. I reach for his throat, and in one swift move crack his neck. He has killed enough, and now no one else will suffer at his hands. With a disgusted snort, I let his body crumple to the ground.

  Unseeing, I turn to the wolves who used to honor him. “You are dismissed. Consider this your freedom returned, to do with as you wish. I have no desire to be your alpha.” Some leave, then, but a few linger behind as if waiting to see how it plays out.