Pack

by Cassandra Chandler

  I did this for you. I can protect you. I will protect you.

  His skin tingled almost like he was changing again. Bright blue light covered the queen’s head and body, devouring its flesh and leaving nothing behind. Even the blood and gore in Marcus’s fur was vanishing, making his skin prickle.

  He threw back his head and howled.

  Chapter Eighteen

  What the fuck had just happened? Had Marcus really pulled off a Redcap queen’s head? Killed it with his bare hands?

  Tessa couldn’t even say he’d used his claws. He hadn’t needed them.

  “Holy shit,” she said.

  “What’s going on?” Vaughn’s panicked voice cut in. “Too much happened underground. I couldn’t see, even with my borrowed satellite. Is everyone okay?”

  “We’re okay, Vaughn.” Mostly, anyway.

  Pain was starting to register. Some of the cuts on her legs were deep. Her dwellers secreted something that made her heal quickly, but until her wounds were closed, she didn’t feel much like moving.

  Dexter still had his arms around her shoulders and they were both on the ground. She was trembling so bad, it felt like the earth was shaking.

  Wait a minute…

  “Look out!”

  Her warning came too late, as not one but two Redcap queens burst out of the ground, flanking Marcus. They each grabbed one of his arms, wrapping their strong tendrils around him, snapping at him with their pincers.

  Marcus snarled and flexed his arms, trying to pull himself free. The queens slid a little closer at first, then were able to stop.

  As Tessa watched in horror, they started undulating backwards, away from Marcus. He couldn’t get leverage to fight, couldn’t claw at them with his arms held tight. The queens were going to tear him in half right in front of her.

  “Shit, shit, shit.” Vaughn’s words echoed her thoughts. “Somebody, do something!”

  Tessa shoved away from Dexter and scrambled for one of his swords, then rose to her feet.

  Part of her realized that this was the best chance she would ever have to kill Marcus. He was helpless. She was armed with silver.

  Marcus met her gaze, and she knew he could see the doubt in her eyes. He knew what she was thinking.

  Her mother would tell her to end him. One less werewolf. He was sure to lose control eventually and innocents would die. He would spread his infection. Make more of his kind. Tessa was duty-bound to destroy any dweller she could. Even herself, when the time came.

  She ground her teeth together, tightened her grip on the sword.

  Fuck that.

  She ran at Marcus, sword raised—and brought it down on the tendrils holding onto his left arm. The sword was sharper than she’d thought. The queen shrieked as the tendrils holding onto him fell to the ground, twitching and writhing before the blue glow claimed them.

  She shifted the sword to her left hand, then grabbed onto the nozzle of her flamethrower and pointed it right at the face of the queen she’d attacked. “He’s mine.”

  Then she pressed the button to activate it and held on.

  Flames poured out at the queen. It shrieked more, undulating backwards, trying to get away from the fire, but Tessa followed, her pace steady, keeping it aimed at the queen’s head. It backed up as far as it could—cars caging it in—and started shuddering. With a final shriek, its head exploded, spraying Tessa with boiling gray ichor.

  Whatever material her jacket was made of, it couldn’t protect her enough. The ichor melted through the thick material.

  Tessa screamed and stumbled backwards, letting off the flamethrower and dropping her sword. She ripped the harness off and peeled her jacket from her arms so she could scrape the stuff off of her body.

  More hands were suddenly on her. Human hands. Dexter—helping her to wipe the burning stuff off of her until it finally glowed blue and vaporized. Her body was sending her so many signals, she couldn’t sort them out. Stinging, burning, and worst of all, the writhing beneath her wristband.

  She swatted Dexter away, grabbing her right arm and looking at her skin, searching for signs that her dwellers had escaped. Splotches of red, crinkled skin covered her arm in a few places, but the burned spots seemed to have missed her wristband.

  She let out a shaky breath. That had been way too close.

  Dexter wrapped his arm around Tessa with surprising gentleness. He steered her around so that he was standing between her and the clearing.

  Very calmly, he said, “Tessa, Porter is on the way. But right now, we need you to run. Just run.”

  She wanted to give him crap about the pronoun thing again, but he was so damn serious. Deadly serious.

  She followed his gaze across the clearing, where Marcus was still ripping apart the other queen, even though it was obviously dead. He was covered in gore. Slowly, he turned toward them, head low, lips curled away from his teeth.

  “You need to run,” Dexter said. “We’re not sure if we can take him. We’ve never seen him like this before.”

  She shook her head. “He won’t hurt me.”

  In her earpiece, Vaughn said, “He might not think of it as hurting you. You’re injured. He may try to infect you to help you heal.”

  She let out a bitter laugh before she could stop herself. “It’s too late for that.”

  “What do you mean?” Dexter said.

  “I’m already infected.”

  Dexter turned toward her—his expression filled with pain and worry—and in that moment, he looked so much like Brock that she felt as if her heart was breaking.

  She lurched away from him, heading for Marcus. Her legs ached and her skin burned as her body healed.

  Vaughn was right about the risk. She wasn’t sure Marcus was in control enough to remember that if he tried to infect her, it wouldn’t take. Not while she was already occupied.

  She kept her right arm between them, lifting it to his face as she neared, making sure he could catch her scent.

  “You can’t infect me,” she said. “It’s too late for that. But I’m starting to believe… Maybe it isn’t too late for me. You were going to give me hope, Marcus. Remember? Please, give me hope that I’ll be able to control myself when I change. That I won’t infect people or hurt them. I need you to help me believe.”

  Behind him, the body of the other queen flashed a bright blue, an outline of its form lingering for a few seconds before vanishing completely. The remains worked into Marcus’s fur, his claws, his…teeth…started to glow as well, vaporizing. But it didn’t stop there.

  He dropped to his knees in front of her, head bowed. The light covering him intensified, consuming the fur, working into his muscles as his body shifted back, his face returning to normal.

  No, not quite normal.

  His features were distorted with pain, even though he didn’t seem to be injured. He dropped forward onto his hands, panting. The light faded and he sat back on his heels, looking up at her.

  For the second time, she grabbed his head and pressed it against her stomach, holding him close. An alpha werewolf. A prime target for a hunter. Enemy to humanity. Her sworn enemy.

  At least, that’s what she’d been taught.

  There were some lessons she needed to unlearn. If she only had more time—if she didn’t have to keep running.

  Marcus wrapped his arms around her waist. Warm, real, present. At least, for now.

  Until I have to run again.

  Light poured out of the holes where the queens had emerged. Enough that Tessa was certain all of their brood had died.

  Four Redcap queens.

  “Is that it?” Vaughn asked. “Is it over?”

  “It’s never over,” she murmured.

  Dexter headed toward the bikes. She heard the Redcap repellers shut down. And waited.

  Nothing stirred. Nothing attacked them.

  In the quiet that followed, she held on to Marcus, to that moment of calm. It was probably all she was going to get.

  Unless…r />
  Unless she was willing to risk everything. Willing to put her faith in the Blades and all their promises.

  Kyle made promises.

  But that was different. These people were different.

  Porter was a doctor and he knew about dwellers. She sometimes gave herself shit about cutting off her arm, but knew it was bravado. She’d never have the guts to do it. But Porter could actually remove it safely. Surgically.

  And Vaughn—with all his amazing inventions—could probably build her a new one. Hell, he could load the thing up with useful tools. Weapons, lasers…bottle openers.

  She let out a little snorting laugh, running her fingers through Marcus’s dark hair. It was so much softer than his pelt. His breathing had slowed and he seemed absolutely content to stay there, kneeling in the dirt—totally naked—while they embraced. It didn’t make sense, and she didn’t give a damn.

  She could have a home. Safety. Friends. A family. She could have Marcus.

  If she was brave enough.

  Dexter returned, carrying Marcus’s clothes. He didn’t toss them on the ground, as she sort of expected. Instead, he held them out to Marcus.

  “We made enough noise that we shouldn’t stick around,” Dexter said.

  Tessa finally let go of Marcus, though he seemed about as reluctant to end their embrace as she was. He stood and took the clothes, putting his earpiece back in place first thing. Marcus started to dress as Dexter dove into the dreaded topic.

  “How long have you been infected?”

  “It’s going on seven years,” she said.

  Had it really been that long?

  Seven years of running—of constantly looking over her shoulder. Seven years of nightmares and granola bars when all she wanted was a steak. She almost laughed, but knew the sound would come out a little crazed.

  “And I’m not really a dweller,” she said. “Not exactly.”

  “Then what exactly is going on?” He glanced at her arms. “Your wounds are already healing.”

  “Yeah. That’s one of the perks of being occupied.”

  “Occupied?” he said. “How is that different than being a dweller?”

  “They haven’t fully integrated with my body yet. The infection is contained.” She held up her wristband.

  “Multiple dwellers,” Dexter said. “What kind?”

  Tears filled her eyes. Goddammit, she shouldn’t let Edgar have that much power over her. But then, that was what her life was all about now. Running from him. Running from what he’d done.

  She had to clear her throat before she could speak. “Ghoul.”

  Marcus pushed his feet into his boots. He actually smiled as he straightened his shirt.

  “Ghouls aren’t so bad,” he said.

  “Apex. Apex ghoul.” Her voice had grown so small.

  “Is that like being an alpha werewolf?” He actually looked happy about it.

  She hated to disillusion him, but had to. “When the dwellers in my arm are fully activated, they’ll spread through my entire body, devouring it and remaking it in their image. They’ll multiply. I’ll become a Hive Mother.”

  “Werewolves are similar,” Marcus said. “The dwellers spread through our bodies, infecting every cell and changing our DNA on a fundamental level.”

  She had to swallow before she could force out more words. “This is different.”

  “You’ll still be you.” Marcus was ever the optimist.

  “I’m hoping I never have to find out.” She could hear Vaughn typing again, probably skimming through his database or taking notes.

  “What are the characteristics?” Vaughn said.

  “Hive Mothers and Fathers are where ghouls come from,” she said. “They—we—have little maggot-things inside us. If one of those gets into a human host, they become a ghoul.”

  “Ghouls are necrophages.” The distinctive thumping of his fingers on his custom keyboard continued along with Vaughn’s narration. “They only eat the dead and are pretty benign as far as dwellers go.”

  “Apex ghouls aren’t.” She let out a sharp sound that was more a release of pent-up terror than laughter. “He called it…green meat. When I change… What I’ll need to eat…”

  The tears finally spilled over her cheeks. How could she have ever thought she could control this? Knowing what she knew, seeing what she had seen?

  Marcus grabbed her and crushed her to his chest, wrapping his arms around her and smoothing down her hair. She couldn’t remember when it had come out of its bun.

  “We’ll find a way to stop it,” he said. “You’ve kept them at bay for seven years already, and that was on your own. Vaughn and Porter will find a way.”

  “I’ve never heard of a dweller taking that long to activate.” There was a breathy quality to Dexter’s voice, as if he was having trouble forming words. And he’d dropped the “we” again.

  It didn’t seem important anymore.

  “I do things to keep them dormant, like not eating meat,” she said. “Anything that comes from an animal riles them up. Makes them want to get to my stomach to share in the snack.”

  “That sounds gruesome,” Vaughn said. “And painful.”

  “That’s why I’ve been avoiding it. I managed to escape right after the Hive Father infected me. He told me the dwellers he put in me needed time to study my DNA before he activated them fully.” She shivered as memories surfaced that she wanted to keep buried. “I’ve managed to stay far enough ahead of him to avoid that.”

  “He’s still chasing you?” Dexter said.

  “Yeah. I’ve managed to escape him so far, but my luck is bound to run out. He’s been getting closer every time I slow down. At first, it took him a few months to catch up. Then a few weeks. Now he catches up to me in a matter of days. It’s why I never stay anyplace longer than three days. Somehow, he always finds me.”

  Marcus started to growl. “Why doesn’t he just pick another person to infect? If he’s so intent on making another of his kind…”

  Tessa shook her head. “It’s personal. He told me my mom killed his wife and child. She probably did—she was a hunter before settling down and starting a family. He says that’s why he killed my family and took me. It’s his way of ‘balancing the scales’. A child for a child. When I didn’t play along with his warped version of family life…”

  She bit the inside of her cheek hard enough to draw blood. She had to get through this. They needed to know what Edgar had done to her—what she was facing. It was the only way they’d understand when she asked for the extreme help she needed.

  “He and his ghouls caught up with my mom and I when I was fourteen. She couldn’t… There were just too many of them.” Tessa forced the words around the lump in her throat. Her stomach roiled. “He took me with him. Told me he was my foster father. I was with him for years. Years. The things I saw…”

  She shook her head harder, as if that could rid her of the memories. “When I turned seventeen, he came into my room and said that since I didn’t want to be his daughter, I could fill the other role. I could become his mate. Then he bit me.”

  Marcus gripped the back of her head, holding her even closer against his chest. She could feel the steady growl he was putting off.

  Why couldn’t she have been attacked by a werewolf? She couldn’t believe she was jealous of another person’s dweller. But Marcus could get by eating raw steak. Her dwellers would force her to eat creatures that were still alive. She could only hope they didn’t have to be human.

  She didn’t think Edgar had even bothered to try other animals. He didn’t seem to mind his dietary needs at all.

  She clenched her eyes tight and buried her face against Marcus’s chest, wrapping her arms around him. She tried to let herself feel safe, knowing he’d do anything to protect her. The problem was, she was probably too late to save. She wasn’t sure her crazy idea would work, even if she could convince them to help her.

  “Who infected you?” Dexter said. “What was his n
ame?”

  “He calls himself Edgar Eaton.”

  She expected Dexter to respond. When he didn’t, she looked over at him, blinking to clear her eyes.

  His knuckles had gone white on the hilt of his sword. Muscles were straining on both sides of his jaw. She might have just signed her death warrant. At least if he knew how dangerous she would eventually become, he would be sure to burn her body.

  It was a small comfort.

  “Guys…” Vaughn’s voice was tense in her earpiece. “Porter just freaked out.”

  “Freaked out how?” Marcus shifted slightly, putting more of himself between Dexter and Tessa.

  “I’m monitoring him remotely in his lab. I didn’t think he was paying much attention to the mission, but he just picked up a chair and threw it across the room. He’s smashing his monitors now and… There went the camera. I lost the feed.”

  “Lock down the ops center.” Marcus turned so that he was completely blocking Dexter’s view of Tessa.

  “I’m guessing you know the guy?” Tessa said.

  Dexter ignored her question. Instead, he asked his own. “Is there anything else I should know?”

  They were probably trying to figure out ways to destroy or contain her. She couldn’t blame them—especially if they’d encountered Edgar before.

  Everybody had a reason for entering this kind of life. Even the creepy twins. She hoped Edgar wasn’t the one who had pushed them into joining the Blades.

  “I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner, but I didn’t think I’d be around long enough for it to be an issue.” She still wasn’t sure.

  “And now?” Dexter said.

  “Now, I have a plan.”

  “I can’t wait to hear it.” Dexter spoke in a rough, cold voice.

  She shook her head. “Later. Right now, I need…”

  Shit, what did she need? A new life. Her family back. Her body hers and hers alone. She didn’t even need all of it.

  She just wanted to be free.

  “I need to talk to Marcus,” she said. “Dweller to…‘dweller-to-be’.”

  “That’s not a good idea,” Dexter said.