by TJ Klune
“Richard Collins was because of you,” Kelly retorted. “Elijah was your doing.”
He arched an eyebrow. “Really. Elijah was my doing.” He chuckled ruefully. “I’m flattered how Machiavellian you’re making me out to be, but I had nothing to do with the hunters. I wouldn’t have been so inelegant. One could argue that I was indirectly responsible, given the spread of the Omegas, but I’m offended you would think I’d be so brutish as to enact a group as unrefined as hunters.” He sat back in his chair. “Richard, on the other hand, well. When a beast is caged for so long, you can’t expect it to be as forward-thinking as one would hope. Live and learn, I suppose.”
“How dare you,” Elizabeth breathed. “How dare you think—”
“Elizabeth,” he said with a grave nod. “Do you remember what we once had? Because I do. The Bennetts and the Livingstones have a long history, one that goes farther back than even you could imagine. We’re tangled together, these little snips and snarls that connect us all. We were pack. We were harmonious. There was a synchronicity that I don’t regret. Abel Bennett was a good man. I was saddened to hear of his passing. But you managed to survive. Even after everything that’s happened to you, you survived. You flourished. In the face of everything thrown at you, you still managed to be the queen you are.”
“I am,” Elizabeth said. “And it’s my burden. I know why I do what I do. I have lost many. But I carry them with me always. And if you think fear of what could be will stop me, then you’ve made yet another mistake.”
“Of what could be?” Livingstone asked. “Oh, my dear. This isn’t going to go how you think. What do you hope to achieve? I expect you’ll storm the compound, your misplaced indignation filling you with justification for your cause. There will be casualties, you’ll all tell yourselves, but it’ll be for the greater good. You’ll wash the blood on your hands away as if it’s nothing, and then the future will be bright and shining as the little prince becomes a king. Is that right? Am I close? Please. Tell me.”
“Yes,” Joe said bluntly. “That’s exactly it.”
Livingstone nodded. “As I expected. Foolish, but then you’re animals, so I’m not surprised. You think with fang and claw but neglect to consider that I care not for the fate of wolves. I only want—”
“What you did to Alpha Wells says otherwise,” Ox said, rage simmering just underneath the surface. “I was with her when she took her last breath. Don’t tell us you don’t care what happens to the wolves, especially since everything that has happened to them falls upon you.”
Livingstone looked incredulous. “Everything? Alpha Matheson, how can you be so blind? Oh, the stories I’ve heard about the boy who ran with wolves. The human Alpha who led a fractured pack. The boy who became a man even though his daddy thought he would amount to nothing. Look at you now. The Alpha of the Omegas. I am fascinated by you, by everything that you are. And yet you stand where you are, spouting the things you do as if you think I’m some kind of monster. I know mercy. I know kindness. I know love. Isn’t that right, Robbie? Tell them how much I love you. I kept you safe. I gave you a home. And it took over a year for your pack to remember they give a damn about you. Why is that? Why didn’t they love you enough to—”
“They did,” I said through gritted teeth. “They do.”
He shook his head sadly. “I wish I could believe that, but I know better. When I found you, you didn’t fight me. You wanted it. You were begging me to take you away, and how could I ignore such desperate pleas? I couldn’t. Though I should have realized just how much of a hold the Bennett pack had over you. How deep their claws had sunk into your flesh.”
“I didn’t give in,” I said weakly. “I wouldn’t… I wouldn’t do that.” I could feel the others looking at me, but I only had eyes for the man on the screen.
“You did,” he said gently. “I can show you. I can give you your memories back. I can give Kelly back his wolf. I’m asking you to think, to really think about this. Any element of surprise you had is gone. Come tomorrow, next week, a year from now, it doesn’t matter. You, in your righteous fury, and me knowing the real truth. It’ll all end the same. Or….” His expression softened. “Or we can finish this now, and all it would take is to give me back what belongs to me. I know mercy. I allowed Alpha Wells to crawl her way to Green Creek to show you just how serious I am and how far I’m willing to go to make sure you understand the importance of what I’m asking of you. This could all be over so easily. No one else will have to suffer. Who is missing from your pack currently? Jessie? Tanner? Chris? Are they reaching out to your little network? You’re going to find some of those calls going unanswered. While you were wrapped up safe and warm in your territory, pretending you haven’t stolen from me, I’ve done my due diligence to make sure I have your undivided attention, and I think you’ll find you’re very much alone.”
“What do you want?” Ox asked.
Livingstone smiled. “Ah. Thank you, Alpha Matheson. It’s simple, really. I want Robbie. I’ve grown fond of him.” He took a deep breath. “And I want my son.”
Mark snarled as my skin turned to ice. “Fuck you. You’re never going to lay your hands on Gordo ever again. I won’t—”
“Down, boy,” Livingstone snapped, and there was the anger I’d been expecting. His face twisted into something dark. “Your threats mean nothing to me. Gordo has made his choice, and as much as it pains me to say, I know nothing will change that. Gordo was lost to me a long time ago. No. I don’t want him. This isn’t about him. It’s about his brother. My second son. I will have him and Robbie. Give them to me and all of this will end.”
An absolute, stunned silence followed. It was as if all the air had been sucked from the room. Mark looked thunderstruck, and Gordo gaped at the screen. Ox and Joe turned to him, eyes wide.
“What the fuck are you talking about?” Gordo asked hoarsely. “I don’t have—”
Robert sighed. “Of course you don’t know. Yet another little secret the Bennetts have kept from you.” His smile was cold. “Your mother didn’t understand. I did love her, in my own way. But she wasn’t my tether. Wendy Walsh was different, unlike anyone I had ever met. She enchanted me. And when she became pregnant, I thought I could make it work. I thought I could have this. I was already a father, but this was a way to ensure my line would go on in the event of… complications.” His smile curved down as if his mask was slipping. “Abel Bennett found out, and he acted quickly. He went behind my back. He told her things she shouldn’t have known. Things I’d kept from her to keep her safe. About all of us. It scared her. And she listened to him. Abel, who only cared about his precious pack. He forced her to leave, to give up our child, and I railed against him. I told him he was making a mistake, that he would live to regret this.” His eyes widened dramatically. “But he didn’t, did he? Not for long, anyway. But by then it was already too late for all of us.”
“You’re lying,” Gordo whispered.
He shook his head. “I’m not. I swore to myself that when I was finally free, when I escaped my prison, I would find my children. I would bring them back into the fold and make everyone who had stolen from me suffer. And when Michelle found the strength within herself to free me from my captivity in exchange for the only thing she wanted more than anything else, I knew I would stop at nothing to get what I wanted. She became the Alpha of all. And I was free to search for my son.”
He ignored the roars of anger. The sounds of fury. The howls of betrayal. I couldn’t see Michelle, but I knew she was still there, I knew she was still listening. If she’d been standing in front of me right then, I would have torn her apart. Everything that had happened, all that I’d learned about the history of the Bennett pack, all that they’d—we’d—lost had been brought upon us because of Robert Livingstone’s escape.
Richard Collins.
Thomas Bennett.
Maggie Callaway.
The Omegas.
Kelly.
Me.
And no
w this.
Livingstone waved a hand at the screen in dismissal. “Yes, there it is. Such useless anger, hollow and empty. This was all because of the Bennett pack. If Abel had just let the chips fall where they may, we wouldn’t be here. All the death that followed would never have happened. But it has, and there’s nothing you or I can do to change that. I told you. I care not for the fate of wolves. I only want what’s mine. Wendy would have insisted upon it. I know it. Give Robbie to me.” The mask slipped further, and I saw the feral animal underneath. “Give me back my son.”
Gordo was enraged. “Who the hell are you talking about? We don’t have anyone! This is just another game to you, another trick to try to—”
Livingstone leaned forward. “Gavin. I know you can hear me. I can see it in your eyes. I don’t know what’s happened to you. I don’t know how you came to be as you are now, but I can help you. I can fix you. I can give you back your life so long as you return to your rightful place at my side.” His voice cracked, and his eyes were wet. “You are my son, and I have searched for you for so long.”
Nothing happened.
And then the timber wolf next to Carter rose to his feet. His claws clicked on the wood floor. Carter reached out for him, but the wolf shook him off. He stepped toward the screen, tilting his head as he looked at Livingstone. His muscles were tightly coiled, and his tail was stiff behind him. His shoulders shifted as he snorted, pawing at the floor.
“Yes,” Livingstone whispered. “You are a Livingstone. And it’s time you remember that.”
It wasn’t the Alphas who spoke.
It wasn’t the queen.
It wasn’t Gordo, who was staring at the timber wolf as if seeing him for the first time.
It wasn’t Rico.
It wasn’t Kelly or me.
It was Carter.
And he said, “No.”
Whatever spell had been cast over Robert Livingstone broke. He sucked in a sharp breath, and he narrowed his eyes as he looked at Carter. Carter, who stepped forward next to the timber wolf, Carter, who had a fiery look on his face, eyes shining violet, teeth bared, claws out. Carter, who looked as if he were ready to eviscerate the man on the screen if only given the chance.
Carter Bennett said no again, in such a deadly growl that I shivered. Carter was easygoing, aloof, cocky, and quick to smile. He loved his pack, and in the weeks since I’d come back, I had never seen him like he was now. Rage rolled off him in palpable waves, and though I was cut off from the bonds that stretched between him and the rest of the pack, even I could feel it. It wasn’t unlike what I’d felt from his mother, a great fire that threatened to burn everything down until nothing but charred bones remained.
He put a hand on the wolf’s back, fingers curling into its hair, holding on tight. He glared at the screen.
I saw the moment Gordo realized what it meant. He paled, looking between the two of them, an expression of utter disbelief tinged with awe on his face.
“You can’t have him,” Carter said, and his voice was quaking. “I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but I will never let you touch him. Not while I’m still standing. You want him? You have to go through me.”
The wolf growled from deep in his throat and snapped at Carter, teeth missing him by inches. It was meant to be a warning, but Carter wasn’t having it. “Oh, fuck you, man. You’re in so much shit, you don’t even know. And you can bet I’m going to deal with you later, you dick.” He looked back at the screen. “He doesn’t belong to you. He never has. He has a pack. He has a place. It’s here. With us.” His hand tightened in the wolf’s hair. “With me. And if you think you will ever take him away from us, then you’re out of your goddamned mind. I am done with this. With you. You’re no different than Richard Collins or Elijah. Than any other motherfucker who thinks they can come for us. You’re going to regret ever crossing the Bennetts. And I’m going to make sure of it. You want a war? Guess what, asshole. You’ve got one.”
Livingstone sat back in his chair, closing his eyes as he tilted his head toward the ceiling. He took in a deep breath and let it out slow. He opened his eyes again. The mask was gone. All that remained was barely contained fury. “Do you speak for your pack?”
“He does,” Ox said. He stepped forward on the wolf’s other side, putting his hand on top of Carter’s. The wolf hung his head, lips pulled back over his teeth. His nostrils were flaring, and his tail curled underneath his back legs. “But in case that’s not good enough for you, then hear me. I am the Alpha of the Omegas. I am one of the Alphas of the Bennett pack. And you can’t have Robbie. You can’t have this wolf. They’re mine.”
Livingstone nodded slowly. “I want you to remember this moment, Alpha. Everything that will follow, everything that comes to pass, all of it could have been avoided had you just given me what I wanted. The blood of your pack will be on you and no one else. You’ve played your hand too early.”
Ox Matheson said, “I’m going to kill you.”
And Livingstone replied, “You will try. Come, then. Bring your war. Let us end this, once and for all.”
The screen went dark.
No one moved.
We jumped when the door to the office flew open, Chris and Tanner barging in. They came to a stop, looking around wildly at all of us. “What happened?” Chris demanded. “What did we miss?”
we survived/never again
Shannon Wells burned.
Elizabeth insisted on it. We brought the wood ourselves, building a pyre on the other side of the clearing. Kelly told me quietly it was on the opposite end from where they’d said goodbye to Thomas Bennett, that the ground there was sacred to them and they wouldn’t ever build another fire in that spot.
I could only nod.
Gordo was doing as Gordo did and ignoring everyone and everything, including Mark. I could see the frustration on Mark’s face as he tried to talk to the witch but didn’t get a response. Mark shook his head at me when I tried to approach them, waving me off.
As for Carter… well. The roles seemed to have reversed. Wherever the wolf went, Carter followed, as if he thought the wolf was going to take off the moment he looked away. He muttered unintelligibly under his breath. It sounded vaguely like ominous threats, but I couldn’t quite make them out. Kelly stood near them, wringing his hands like he wanted to reach out for comfort but hadn’t quite worked up the courage. My heart ached for him. For both of them.
“This is so fucked-up,” Rico grunted as he carried an armful of wood. “Just when I think I’m starting to get my feet on solid ground again, there’s a fucking secret brother. I swear to god, witches and wolves are the most dramatic bitches I’ve ever known in my life. Like for once can we just have a normal day without stupid shit happening?”
We were outside of the clearing. Chris and Tanner were off to our left, gathering more wood for the pyre. Elizabeth said it didn’t need to be large, but it needed to be enough. I understood what she meant, and she’d nodded gratefully at me before disappearing with Jessie back up the stairs to ready Shannon for her final journey.
“You guys had no idea?” I asked. Then, “We had no idea?”
Rico snorted. “Nice save, lobito. And no. We didn’t know shit. How could we?” He frowned. “Though I suppose there were little signs, but we didn’t know what we were looking at. The damn wolf came with Elijah. When they first attacked us, there was a moment when the wolf caught Gordo’s scent, and I swear it hesitated, but I always thought I was seeing things. Then there was gunfire and explosions and it just slipped my mind. And after, it was all about him and Carter and how Carter’s a fucking moron who can’t see what’s right in front of him.”
“He’s figuring it out,” I muttered.
Rico sighed. “I know. And it couldn’t be coming at a worse time. What happens if….” He looked distant as he stared off into the woods. Eventually he shook his head. “It doesn’t matter. We survived the beast and the hunters.” He paused, considering. “We survived you. W
e’ll survive this too.”
“Gee, thanks, Rico.”
“Yeah, yeah. Let’s go. I think we’ve got enough.”
The pyre was crude and shapeless, more a pile of wood than an actual structure. But it was enough. As the stars began to appear overhead, as the sliver of moon peered through the fading light, we laid the Alpha to rest.
Elizabeth carried her from the house, her face stoic, her strides slow and sure. Shannon was wrapped completely in a white sheet, her head lolling against Elizabeth’s shoulder. I could make out the shape of her nose, and at one moment her arm slipped down, swaying with every step Elizabeth took. But Jessie was there, lifting Shannon’s arm back under the sheet.
Elizabeth carefully placed her on top of the pyre. Once that was done, she leaned forward and kissed Shannon’s forehead, lips moving but no sound coming out. She stayed hunched over her for a long, long minute, but eventually she stood upright and took a step back.
The wood was slick with lighter fluid and oil.
It caught quickly.
The flames burned bright as they leapt up the dark sky, sparks and smoke rising toward the stars.
We were all silent, lost in our own thoughts as she burned.
Rico spoke first. “She was an Alpha.”
“Yes,” Elizabeth whispered, eyes reflecting the dancing fire.
“What happens to her power if there’s no one to give it to?”
We all held our breaths.
Elizabeth said, “An Alpha, strong of heart and mind, mated to one they love most, can give their power away in order to save a life. To a Beta they return, never again to hold the power of an Alpha. Just a story, of course. Wolves pass along the Alpha power to their successors constantly, though usually not under the threat of death. I’ve never heard of bringing someone back from the brink in such a way. Regardless, it was too late for her. And stories are just that—stories.” She sucked in a sharp breath. “We come from the moon. And to the moon we return. Her line has ended. All that she was is becoming smoke and ash. It will rise, and she will hear her pack howling her home. There will be no more pain. There will be no more sorrow. She’ll run free and know only peace.”