Cutting Ties

by C. M. Torrens

  One free, dozens to go.

  Lloyd raced to the next one as Jax rushed the cub from the room. He wasn’t strong enough alone to pull the spike free. The battle outside was getting closer. The snarls and roars of fighting shifters were occasionally punctuated by gunfire.

  “Go,” a soft voice said.

  Lloyd jumped and spun to look behind him. The alpha on the wall lifted his head, his face bloody and battered. One eye was swollen shut, and his body was tattooed with bruises and claw marks.

  “We’re dead as soon as they get here,” the alpha whispered.

  Jax reappeared, and he and the alpha stared at each other a moment.

  “Help me get the others free.” Lloyd jerked hard on the chain once again. He finally managed to free another connected in a small group, but whatever drug had been pumped into them was preventing them from moving much.

  “No,” Jax whispered.

  “We can’t leave them here!” Lloyd shouted.

  “Yes. Must leave. Now.”

  Lloyd opened his mouth to protest, but Jax pounced on him. Jax grabbed him and threw him out of the room. Lloyd hit the wall in the hall, and the air left his lungs. He gasped for breath, and Jax was on him again. Claws ripped into his skin as the hybrid grabbed his arm. Jax jerked him to his feet, and his arm snapped under Jax’s sudden surge of strength.

  Lloyd cried out in pain, and Jax dropped him, surprise and panic written on his face.

  Lloyd scrambled away from him, holding his arm.

  “You are fragile.” Jax looked around in a panic. The battle was almost outside the building. “We must leave!”

  “Traitor!” snarled a voice.

  A misshapen hybrid whipped past him and smashed into Jax, sending them both into the kitchen. Another hybrid appeared seconds later, locking its eyes on Lloyd.

  “Shit!” He jumped to his feet and ran toward the kitchen and the only exit left to him.

  The swinging door opened up into a battle and blood-smeared floor. The hybrid Jax was battling had him pinned to the ground. Lloyd slipped in a patch of blood and smashed into the pair, breaking the grip the hybrid had on Jax.

  Lloyd landed beside Jax, his head swimming. Jax grabbed him and threw him toward the door. “Run!”

  Lloyd fell hard, his vision blurring. The pain turned his stomach sour. He gasped for air, and struggled to clear his senses, and sweat beaded his brow. He blinked, but everything was drifting in and out of focus. He forced himself out of his stupor.

  The kitchen was still, and the scent of blood was overwhelming. He was lying against the back door, his arm throbbed, shooting vicious spikes of pain from fingertips to shoulder. He swallowed hard and reached for the knob. The door gave way, and he fell through as the latch opened. He tumbled down the back steps. Something grabbed him, lifting him off the ground. A second later the world exploded.

  THE SOUND of gunshots filled the air, and Dante scattered his heavies, sticking to the tree line as they raced toward the sound. They needed to take out the gunmen to keep causalities down among the packs. Trevor and Seth raced to the lead, finding their targets, and he released his hold on all of his heavies. They knew what they were doing. Seth and Lex followed him around the group of gunmen, and they dove at their targets from behind. They were all humans, but Dante had already warned them to go for the throats and not try to get through their armor. Their screams were short, but Lex and Seth were grazed by rounds before the group was dispatched.

  Some Nephilim took out two towers, and Velasco cut the fence, giving Dante access inside the compound. The rush struck them, hybrids pouring out in force. Blood filled the air, and snarls and screams echoed through the trees. Dante pushed through the wave with his pack, rushing toward the nearest building. Patrick’s team broke through the waves with him, and they ran as one group toward the first of the many buildings littering the grounds. The goal wasn’t to clear it yet, but drive the masses back and let Odin’s band handle them while they cleared the grounds.

  They closed in on the building, and Lex leaped at him out of nowhere, tackling him to the ground. The night suddenly lit up as buildings, including August’s own pack house, exploded.

  Dante blinked in horror as they watched as building after building sent fire and debris in all directions. He couldn’t be sure how many were caught inside. The sound of young screams added to the madness, and Dante caught his breath. August’s people had blown up the pack house, and he wasn’t sure he wanted to know who was inside.

  35. Cutting Ties

  AUGUST SLIPPED through the woods as they closed in on their target. The little part of his soul that was left would die tonight, and the Mistress would finally have what she wanted. He wasn’t sure if he was relieved everything would be gone after this, or if he should grieve its loss. He decided not to think about it as the scent of pack finally hit him. He touched the weave, and his people fanned out. The faint screams of the dead echoed in his head, and he ripped his sense away from them. Another tie cut. Soon there wouldn’t be any left.

  The sound of Jesse’s voice drifted from the darkness. “No, no, tell the cubs I’ll be right there. They’re keyed up because Dante’s gone and can feel the energy he’s putting out. I’ll get one of the books from the truck and read to them. I think that’s where Michael said they were.”

  “If they aren’t there, Michael will be back from patrol any minute. You can ask him when he gets here,” another voice said.

  August narrowed his eyes as Jesse started toward him through the woods. He held his breath, willing Dante’s little pet closer. He calmed his makeshift pack, those of which the Mistress approved. He urged them to wait and listened as his heart beat a steady calm rhythm in his chest.

  “Oh hell!” Jesse said and stopped midstep. “Ivory, did you lock the truck? You did, didn’t you?” he called back to the cave.

  “It’s a habit,” Ivory called back.

  “For the love of life, who is going to steal from the Pack?” Jesse shot back and started toward the cave again. “And we’re in the middle of the woods! Those damn shape-shifting squirrels start by stealing nuts and end up carjacking the Lincoln.”

  “Ha-ha. And Dante has the Lincoln.”

  “Yes, and it’s also the only one worth stealing,” Jesse said and suddenly caught his breath.

  Barely a half second later, he felt an alert from his pack. Michael must have run into someone on his way back from patrol. August cursed and released his hold on his pack.

  Jesse shouted and raced for the cave as August’s pack rushed inside after him. One of his heavies battled with Michael on the far side of the catacombs, and he sent another to help. Michael had to die. As Dante’s heir he was one of the most important people in the pack.

  August stood up as he shifted back to true form and followed his pack casually into the cave. Next to Dante was Jesse, and Jesse was his. The rush of his pack through the cave triggered a trap, and rocks fell, killing two of his pack under rubble. It barely slowed the rest of them down. Within seconds the pack was overwhelmed, and the sounds of fighting turned into the sounds of dying.

  JESSE SCRAMBLED through the cave and grabbed Kent, trembling in a corner as beast. He held Kent tight to his chest and ran for the back entrance. “When we hit the back, you run, Kent. You run and you don’t stop until Dante finds you.”

  He could just see the back entrance, and a beast leaped from the shadows, slamming him and Kent to the ground.

  Jesse snarled, scrambling to his feet to face the heavy. He was no match against a heavy, not on his best day, and having no time to shift, he knew it was over before it began. But there was Kent behind him, a terrified young cub, and he was not going to let them kill either of them without a fight.

  Jesse snarled and launched himself at the heavy. “Run, Kent! Run!” Jesse shouted.

  Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kent bolt for the back and disappear into the dark.

  Jesse lashed out with claws and gasped as the claws of his attack
er ripped down his side. He snarled and lashed out again and again, taking two strikes for every one he delivered until one dropped him to the ground and he couldn’t manage to find the strength to get back up.

  He lay on the ground, each breath growing harder than the next. Tears brimmed in his eyes as he felt the rage and pain ripping through Dante. He tried to soothe his love with each breath and only felt Dante’s howl of pain grow more intense through the weave.

  “You’ll be okay, Dante,” Jesse whispered. “Be okay.”

  Footstep approached, and Jesse turned to look as August came into view. His face was hard, and his eyes held no emotion. So different than Dante. He forced himself to breathe around the pain. His lungs burned, and he coughed. Blood filled his mouth and tainted his lips.

  Jesse stared up at him. “Why?” he asked and wrapped his hand around a large splinter of wood.

  August looked down at him. “Because I don’t have a choice.”

  “Always a choice,” Jesse whispered, gasping for air.

  August jerked him up from the ground, and Jesse choked with pain. He swung his arm, stabbing the wood deep into August’s side. August snarled and dropped him to the ground. He grabbed the piece of wood and jerked it free.

  Jesse watched the wound, barely bleeding, begin to heal in front of him. “Creation, August, what have you become?” Jesse asked.

  “Death, Jesse. I have become Death.”

  August drove his hand into Jesse’s chest. Jesse looked down. Thick blackened claws disappeared through his skin and burrowed around his heart. He closed his eyes and reached for Dante. He touched the weave, sending his love, and then there was nothing.

  36. The Silence

  THE SILENCE was deafening. Dante gasped for breath and felt his legs give out from under him. The world tilted, and his vision grayed. Trevor barely caught him before he hit the ground.

  “Dante, breathe!” Trevor shouted.

  He was trying. His chest hurt with every breath. He whimpered and tried to think, but his brain, there was something wrong with it. He panicked, his mind scrambling to find the bits of his weave being ripped away. Pain, a burning vicious pain shot through his skull, and his stomach twisted. His whole body trembled. He couldn’t hear, he couldn’t see as one by one everything he wanted to keep safe was plucked away.

  Everything was gone.

  A crashing grief hit him, taking his breath away. Jesse. He felt his love’s last breath and his warm love fade. He reached for it, trying to make it stay. Trying to keep it with him, but the last spark of life disappeared from his grasp, taking a part of his soul with it.

  A roar ripped from his throat as every bit of pain and grief erupted from his soul. Someone held him, rocking him. He tried to drag his mind back, but pain choked him.

  “I’ve got him,” Trevor was saying. “Go! Finish this.”

  Blood seeped from his nose, and he brushed it away, staring at the crimson on his hand. Sights and scents were a blur as the world spiraled. The pain was so intense everything hurt. He grabbed his head, his skull feeling like it was about to explode under the sudden pressure.

  His hands trembled, grief settling in his chest. Jesse. The cubs. He choked and forced himself to breathe. It was almost impossible to process it all.

  “Dante!” Trevor shouted, but it seemed like the voice was far away, as if down a long corridor.

  He screamed his rage, and a seething black haze blinded him. Trevor grabbed his face, forcing him to look at him. “Focus, Dante. Focus on us. Focus on the living!”

  His mind reached for the empty space where his pack had been. The cubs, so young and small. Innocent and so new to the world. He tried so hard to keep them safe. He failed them all. His precious cubs, his lover, his brothers and sisters, he failed them all.

  The pain was unimaginable, as if his soul had been ripped out, shredded, and left there in tattered ruins. Tears rolled down his face, blurring his vision. He stared into nothing for a long time. He wasn’t sure how much time passed before he brought himself out of the pit of grief. His brain was starting to work again, and he knew this was a bad place to break down. He focused on the weave. As small and fragile as it was now, they were his. All of them. He pulled them tight to his weave, needing them close.

  Dante breathed as a panicked young cub held to the weave. Kent. His clingy little cub. So young and still wanting to be so big. He forced himself to set his mind on keeping him alive. He reached out again, feeling for what was his. Another spark of life came to him, but so much was lost.

  He turned to Trevor as the tears dried and his mind started to clear. “Find Nicky,” Dante whispered. “He’s here.”

  “And… and who’s at home?” Trevor asked.

  Dante winced, and the grief began to morph into anger. “Kent. And—” His voice cracked. It was hard to speak. “Find Nicky. Now.”

  “Yes, Alpha,” Trevor whispered and scrambled to do as he was told.

  The battlefield was laid out in front of him. The fighting continued, and roars of pain and screams from the dying filled the air. The scent of blood filled his lungs, awakening the predator in him. Grief slid away, and his gaze fell on Patrick as he emerged from the woods, his face pale and nose bleeding. He didn’t need to ask. He was sure that blank look was the same one on his face.

  Movement caught his eye, and he locked on a hybrid. He was moving before thoughts even registered. He snarled, ripping and tearing into him. He found another and another, rage building with each kill. Blood filled his mouth and soaked his skin. Dead-dead-dead. That all-consuming thought was the only thing would make the pain and silence stop. The manic anger was so intense it washed away everything around him. Death. He was going to kill everything. They would pay. All of them. If it took him the rest of his life, he was going to skin every last one of them alive.

  Someone called to him, and he forced the rage back, shaking with the effort.

  “Dante!”

  He turned to the sound of the voice, and Lloyd raced toward him holding a little ball of fur.

  He blinked several times, and the breeze made him suddenly aware of blood coating his skin. He stared down at the body under him. A hybrid lay on the ground, gutted and torn into barely distinguishable pieces. His claws ached from biting through bone, and another creature’s chest lay open and exposed a few feet away. It wasn’t enough. There would never be enough death to pay for what they had done.

  “Dante?” the voice called again.

  Lloyd. Lloyd and Nicky and River. He struggled to focus.

  “Dante, we tried to save them, we tried,” Lloyd said. “Madison, I think. And… and August’s pack.”

  Pack? The thought helped him start to form thoughts again. August’s pack. His gut burned, and anger boiled again. He killed his own pack. The madness of that act was almost impossible to wrap his head around.

  He struggled to absorb what Lloyd was saying. “We? Was Nicky with you?” Dante asked.

  “No… and I really, really need you not to, like, do anything, okay?”

  Dante’s eyes fell on a hybrid standing behind Lloyd. He snarled, his anger growing as he raced and reached for the creature. He ripped into the beast with his claws and threw him to the ground. He was going to kill this one slow.

  “Dante, stop!” Lloyd shouted. “Please! Shit—!”

  A blur of fur suddenly leaped up and landed on the hybrid’s chest. Dante froze, staring at the very tiny cub. A very tiny beast cub. He had never seen a cub so small as beast before. The little one smelled of August and stared up at him with big, fearful eyes.

  Tears stung his eyes, and he took several deep breaths before backing away. Lloyd rushed to the hybrid’s side and scooped up the cub. “He was helping, Dante. Without him none of them would have survived.”

  Dante glanced at the hybrid. Grief burned at him as he stared at the creature.

  “Dante? Dante, what’s wrong?” Lloyd asked.

  He couldn’t speak. He shook his head and glanced at the
cub.

  “They’re dead,” Trevor said, moving to Dante’s side.

  “Who?” Lloyd asked.

  Trevor winced, tears brimmed his eyes. “Almost everyone.”

  Dante fought to regain control as every breath stung.

  “What do you want me to do with the hybrid?” Trevor asked.

  Dante cleared his throat trying to find his voice. “Give it to Lloyd.”

  “And the cub?”

  Dante stared at the cub in Trevor’s arms, almost killed by his own alpha and sire. “He’ll come home with us. What’s his name?”

  “His name is Colin,” the hybrid said.

  Dante nodded and scooped up the cub from Lloyd’s arms. “Keep your hybrid as far from me as possible. I can’t promise that the very scent of him won’t drive me to kill it.” Dante held the cub in his arms and looked down at the beautiful little thing. He looked scared. “It’s okay, little one,” he soothed.

  Lex and Blaine appeared with an unconscious Nicky.

  “Any sign of River?” he asked them.

  “No, Alpha. We lost her scent in some tunnels.” Lex said. “And, um, the Mistress is gone.”

  Dante nodded as he listened to Lex’s report on the chaos. All of this for nothing.

  He needed to get to Kent. He held the fuzzy young cub close as he grew numb to the pain. Four young cubs had died. August’s own cubs. What kind of madness was that? What type of monster did such things?

  Angel and Odin found him a few minutes later. Angel wasn’t exempt from the attack. His face said it all.

  “We can’t stay in the States anymore. We don’t have the strength to hold territory against another wave,” Angel whispered.

  “This is our home. Where the hell do you expect us to go?” Dante snapped.

  Angel’s jaw worked as he fought to contain himself, and Dante took a deep, calming breath. Angel was in just as much pain as he was. Snapping at him wasn’t going to help either of them.

  “Where?” Dante said finally.