by R. E. Butler
The lights flickered and then went out completely. Sydney’s hand tightened against his fur. The generator kicked on and the lights in the den slowly came back on one by one. His fur raised on his neck. There was no storm billowing outside to cause the power to go out. The only reason it would go out tonight was because someone had cut the power. And there wasn’t anyone in their baro that would do such a thing. Which meant that at least one wolf knew they were inside the house.
Chapter 11
The floor above them creaked once and Sydney’s blood went cold. Someone was walking around in the house.
Alyssa tensed next to her. Sydney drew her free arm around Alyssa and they held each other. Crux chuffed at her and moved silently towards the steps. He’d made it about halfway up them when there was a strange sound from the top of the stairs, like a circuit being shorted.
Alyssa let out a quick breath. “I think someone just disabled the lock.”
Sydney held her breath, unsure what was going to happen. She waited for the door to burst open and wolves to flow down the stairs. But there was nothing for several minutes. The den was entirely silent. Crux was still midway up the stairs, his ears pricking as if he was picking up minute sounds that they couldn’t hear.
Boom!
Something hit the door to the basement, hard. The sound was loud enough that her ears rang.
“Do you have your phone so we can call the police?” Sydney asked. Her phone was upstairs in the bedroom on the dresser.
Alyssa cursed. “No, damn it. Is there a landline down here?”
“In the office I think,” Sydney said, bolting off the bed as the loud thuds against the door increased in pace. She didn’t want to believe that it was her former mate up there, hitting the door with something big and heavy, trying to get down to her. But she was really afraid that it was.
Alyssa was on her heels. Sydney snagged the phone off the desk, put it up to her ear, and heard nothing. After pressing the button a few times, hoping a dial tone would come on, she finally hung up.
“Dead.”
A cracking noise came after a particularly loud thud and both women looked at each other. The door wasn’t going to hold. Where were the others? She didn’t believe for a moment that they were all dead. More likely, they were chasing the wolves away from the house.
Mason and Crux came racing into the office. They barked and growled, tossing their heads back towards the hallway. Without needing real words, Sydney knew that they wanted them to follow, so they did. Mason nudged open the bathroom door and Sydney went in first and turned on the light and Alyssa joined her. Crux stared at her, his eyes glowing and his teeth bared.
“Be careful,” she whispered and he nodded once. She shut the door and locked it. Alyssa sat down on the toilet lid and rubbed at her extended belly, and Sydney sat down on the floor with her back to the door.
“They won’t let anything happen to us,” Alyssa said. From the tone of her voice, Sydney figured Alyssa was saying that as much for Sydney’s benefit as her own. And she did believe that. She’d seen the truth in Sterling’s eyes earlier. He would die for her safety. And he wasn’t the only one.
When the door gave way several minutes later, the cracking sound reminded Sydney of the time that her former mate had broken her arm. It was a sickening sound, sharp and painful, and knowing that it was most likely her former mate who had broken the door just made the parallel that much closer to the truth.
Snarls came first. Then growling that was low and deep. And then the sounds of fighting. Something tipped over and broke. She strained to hear each sound, her heart pounding in her chest and her face wet with tears.
A yelp sounded, and something told her that it wasn’t her former mate that was injured but either Mason or Crux, since she hadn’t heard that sound ever before from a wolf.
Straightening, she moved to the cabinet under the sink and pushed open both doors, staring at the contents. Her fear was as real as anything she’d ever experienced, but she wasn’t going to sit in the bathroom while her mate was killed by her psychotic ex. If Crux was going down, then she was going to go down with him. Or take his place if she could. Because as much as they would go to their grave for her safety, in that moment she knew that she would go to her grave for them.
All she saw under the cabinet were cleaning products. She didn’t think she could hurt her former mate with scrubbing bubbles or a Magic Eraser. But then a black spout caught her eye and she reached for it, pulling out a can of ant spray.
Alyssa said, “They had ants down here when they first put the basement in. What are you doing?”
Turning the nozzle into the open position, she pointed it away from them and pressed the button on top. A thick mist whooshed from the can. Already she could smell the chemicals and her eyes teared up. Letting up she looked at Alyssa. “You’re the sister I wish I had, and the friend that I’m so glad to have met.”
Alyssa grabbed her hand. “What are you doing?”
“I’m going to fight.”
“We’re supposed to stay here,” she protested.
“You stay. This is my fight, too.”
Swiftly kissing Alyssa on the cheek, Sydney unlocked the door and scooted through quickly, pressing the lock on the handle before pulling it closed. It was now or never. She was going to go out there and face her former mate and…do something with the ant spray in hopes of buying some time for the others to realize what was going on.
Easing down the short hallway, she looked into the main room and saw serious destruction. The kitchen table and chairs were turned over, lamps were broken, the bed was in disarray. One wolf and one hyena fought — another hyena was lying to the side, trying to lift his head. She recognized Crux as the hyena that was still fighting, and the wolf in question was most definitely her former mate. His back was to her but she knew his markings.
They lunged at each other, wounds visible on both males, their coats dark with blood in places. Crux rolled over top of her former mate and snapped his jaw around his throat, but the wolf was too fast and kicked away, causing Crux to lose his grip. If Crux saw her he didn’t let on, his eyes entirely focused on his opponent as they both panted for breath.
Creeping forward, she settled her body low and kept her finger on the button of the ant spray. Her only hope was to blind her former mate. Gathering her courage, she ran forward and leapt onto the wolf’s back, squeezing the button of the spray directly in front of his eyes. She held her breath as the chemical cloud bloomed in front of his face, holding on tightly as he bucked under her like a bronco, whining and coughing. He tossed her off and she hit the floor, her head cracking hard, making her vision go fuzzy for a moment. Even partially blinded, he knew where she was. Her former mate stepped towards her, his head low and his growl a warning that she was not going to make it out of the den alive. But Crux snapped onto his back leg and jerked hard. Her former mate went down to the floor and his jaws snapped in surprise, but it didn’t last. The wolf leapt onto her, his paws bracing her shoulders, his thick claws digging in. She went to throw up her hand to protect herself and found she was still holding the can. He clearly couldn’t see right, so when he snapped his jaws at her, she shoved the can in his mouth, his fangs scraping the top of her hand. He flexed his jaws on the can and it crunched slightly, and she shoved against his chest with all her might, hoping to unseat him, but it was no use. The can clattered to the floor next to her, and the dark growl came back.
Closing her eyes, she wished she’d told the guys that she loved them. That she hadn’t waited all this time to share her feelings for them.
A guttural grunt sounded and her eyes popped open to witness Crux tearing her ex’s throat out. Blood welled from the gaping wound. She shoved against his chest again and he went down. His eyes were wild and blood bubbled up from the wound. Crux went for his neck again and before he latched onto it, Sydney looked into her former mate’s eyes and said, “Goodbye forever, asshole.”
There was a cracki
ng sound as Crux broke his neck, and the light went out of his eyes.
Sitting back on her heels, she put her head in her hands and wept.
Hands touched her and she shrieked in alarm, but it was Crux in his human form. “Baby, are you hurt?”
She latched onto his neck with both hands. “No! Yes! I don’t know!”
He lifted her off the floor and carried her over to the bed, which had a long tear in the center of it. “He’s dead, love. That’s all that matters. Alyssa!” he called loudly. “It’s safe, come out.”
The bathroom door clicked open and Alyssa came racing out, looking around wildly and then crying out when she found Mason.
“Are you hurt? I saw blood.” Sydney demanded as he sat next to her.
“I’m good. Don’t worry about me.”
She laughed and the tears poured from her eyes. “Can’t help it. I love you.”
He went very still and then pulled her into his arms. With his lips against her ear he said roughly, “I love you, too, Syd.”
Relief flooded through her, battling with the residual fear. From up above, voices shouted in alarm, but Sydney knew it was her other men returning. Heavy footsteps pounded down the stairs rapidly and when the cluster of men stopped at the bottom of the stairs and witnessed the destruction, they froze for a brief moment. And then the groups split up, Alyssa’s clan joining her where Mason had shifted and was trying to stand up from the ground, and Orion and Sterling racing to her, while Nyte and his clan looked down at her former mate’s dead body.
She made the motion to stand up, but Orion and Sterling dropped to their knees in front of her. They both sported bruises and cuts on their faces and bodies like Crux, but they were smiling in spite of the grim scene.
No one in their group spoke for a long moment, and then she said, “I was afraid I wasn’t going to get to tell you both that I love you.”
Although worry remained in their eyes, they both grinned simultaneously. She felt like crying all over again, but for an entirely different reason, when they told her they loved her, too, and were glad she was safe.
“She’s not only okay,” Crux said with pride, “she’s a warrior at heart.”
Sterling growled, darting a glare to Crux. “Why wasn’t she locked away in the back and out of harm’s way?”
Sydney leaned forward and draped her arms across Sterling’s shoulders, pressing her forehead to his. “I was with Alyssa in the bathroom but then I heard someone get hurt and I didn’t think about myself, I just wanted it to end.”
Nyte said from the center of the room, “What’s up with the bug spray?”
She started to laugh, burying her face in Sterling’s neck as Crux related her bug-spray defense to the room.
Sterling’s hands moved slowly up and down her back. “Are you really okay, Little One?”
“I am now.”
Orion said, “Let’s get our sweetheart out of the basement.”
Sterling stood and took her with him, cradling her against his chest. Over his shoulder, she saw that Mason was standing with the help of his brothers and Fade had grabbed a blanket from the back of the couch and covered up his body. Sterling carried her up the stairs and through the broken door. He had smashed through the bottom of the door, underneath the steel bars, after disabling the alarm system, and came down into the den in his shifted form.
She heard Orion tell Crux that they had found the males, all in their wolf forms, in the woods near Dante’s home and they smelled her scent on one of the wolves. They assumed it was her former mate and had given chase deep into the woods.
“Sterling nailed the bastard, but when we searched his body, we found strips of cloth tied around his legs that smelled like Sydney. We knew we’d been duped into following the group away from the house. Sterling and I came back here as fast as we could, and found the den door broken.”
While Orion and Crux talked about the wolves that had shown up, Sterling squeezed her a little tighter. “I thought we’d lost you, Little One.”
She shivered and hugged herself closer to him. “I was afraid to lose you, too.”
He sat down on the couch in the family room and settled her on his lap. The others filed into the room, Orion and Crux joining them on one couch, and Dante and his clan on the other. Nyte sat on the edge of the coffee table, his brothers behind him. “It’s finished,” Nyte said solemnly, looking at Orion.
“What?” Sydney asked.
Orion turned his head slowly and reached for her hand. Kissing the top, he looked at her and said, “They’re all dead. There were six wolves in the woods that we killed, and then your former mate in the basement.”
She frowned and Crux asked what was wrong.
“I was just wondering who came with my former mate.” Pressing her lips into a thin line, she looked at her three mates. It was funny what a near-death experience had taught her about what was important. Like not wasting time. Or holding in emotions. Or honesty. “I’d like to see the wolves that are dead.”
Orion reeled back as if she had struck him, and Sterling and Crux both bared their teeth in displeasure. She put up her hands. “I need to see who came with him. If his father isn’t among them, then he’s going to retaliate and we need to be prepared. But honestly, I don’t think he would have let him come up here alone, and I fully expect to find his mangy carcass.”
Crux chuckled. “See? I told you she was a warrior.”
Dante cleared his throat. “Sydney, it’s the tradition of our people to burn the bodies of those that have come against us. It not only honors our ancestors, but it keeps things simpler where human police are concerned.”
“I understand.”
He nodded. “Good. We need to get the bodies to the fire pit. If you want to see them before they’re burned, you can do it when we put them in.”
Dante’s and Nyte’s clans left and Sydney was alone with her guys again.
“Are you sure, sweetheart?” Orion asked.
“I need to see it for myself.”
Sterling stood, lifting her in his arms as if she weighed nothing, and said, “Let’s get this done so we can put our mate to bed.”
“Bed?” she asked.
He growled, his eyes flashing. “For rest. We still have a lot of talking to do before anything other than sleeping happens between us.”
“Yes, Sterling,” she whispered, and he groaned.
By the time they walked through the woods to the fire pit, a pile of dead wolves was on one side of the clearing and the hyenas stood on the other. Alyssa and Mason were missing, because Mason was still a little beat up and Alyssa didn’t want to see wolves’ bodies burned, even if they deserved it. Sydney understood. She didn’t really want to see it either, but she felt compelled to watch them come to their end.
The fire in the pit had died. With her men surrounding her, she walked to the dead wolves and looked at them in the light of the moon. Her former mate, who no longer held any claim to her body, lay at the front of the wolves, his throat torn open and his eyes open but unseeing. Just behind him lay a gray and white wolf. She said, “That’s the alpha behind the one who mated me against my will. My former mate was the only heir and relation to the alpha, so there will be no one to avenge either of their deaths. The others are the best fighters and guards.” In a way she knew all the wolves like family, but they were still strangers. There hadn’t been any friendship or kindness offered to her. They had known of her brutal treatment and never raised a hand to help her. They were her former mate’s friends, highly ranked in the pack, and valued in the alpha’s eyes for their own brutality. She hadn’t ever wondered if others in the pack were treated as she was, because she had felt alone for such a long time, but now she wondered if the mates of these men had been treated as she had. If so, then they were free, as well.
Lifting her head, she howled at the sky. Around her, the other males lifted their voices, joining her in celebration of the first real day of her new life.
Free. Tru
ly free.
Several hours later, as she sat with the guys on the back porch, she tried to hide her yawn behind her hand, but Sterling saw it. “Time to go to bed, Little One.”
They’d come back to the house after the wolves had been tossed into the fire pit, drenched in accelerant, and then topped with more logs. Orion had given her a long piece of kindling and a lighter, allowing her to start the blaze. After lighting the kindling, she touched the pile of bodies and wood and the flame spread fast, licking at the accelerant. Within minutes, the fire pit was blazing so hotly that they had to move away from the heat. She hadn’t been able to take her eyes off the bodies. Although gruesome to watch, a part of her mind wanted this final proof that they were dead. Him. His father. If Katharine hadn’t given up, she would now be free, too. But she had found her own freedom, and although it made her sad to think of now, Sydney understood.
The clans were taking turns watching over the pit. When a wolf was killed in its wolf form, it stayed that way forever. If a human happened to stumble upon the fire pit, it would just appear they were burning animal carcasses. Which in this case was an apt description. There really wasn’t anything human about the males that had come for her.
Through the trees she could see a faint orange glow. It was mesmerizing. Sterling lifted her into his arms and carried her inside their home.
“I’m not tired,” she said, punctuating the statement with a yawn.
“Sure you’re not. So humor me and let me take care of you.”
“If you insist.”
“I do. And so do my brothers.”
When a bedroom door opened, she realized that they had taken her into Orion’s room, which was the master. Orion pulled back the covers and Sterling laid her down. “Sterling and I are going to take a shift at the fire pit. Crux will stay here with you and we’ll be back in a few hours. Try to rest, sweetheart.” Orion leaned over and kissed her gently, and then Sterling kissed her and they were gone.