Darkest Wolf

by Rebecca Royce

  Did you see it coming? Rex had avoided any kind of communication with his wolf knowing it would only bring his pain more to the forefront of his mind.

  Now, however, he knew he’d have to deal with things if he were to ever get down from the ceiling. The police had arrived outside—he could smell the humans and he could hear the muted sounds of their alarms—which meant someone had called them. All of this meant it was time for him to make some kind of move. If he intended to at all.

  Being bound, naked, and vulnerable to his father’s abuse was not his idea of a good time. But neither was facing the future without his mate in it. Gods, how could he be such an idiot?

  Do you want an answer to the question you asked me?

  He turned his focus back to his wolf who Rex could see as if he lay in front of him, his head down on his outstretched paws.

  Sure.

  His wolf sighed. No, I did not see it coming and it’s depressing as hell.

  So much for his wolf giving him a pep talk.

  With a snort, his wolf answered his thought. You’re on your own this time, buddy.

  In the back of his mind, he could feel a tingling, and he knew it was Elizabeth trying to reach out to him telepathically. It would be so easy, like breathing really, to open his mind and let her travel the path that connected him into his mind. The ease of the opening was exactly why he couldn’t allow himself to do it. His body hadn’t realized what his heart and mind knew—she wasn’t to be trusted.

  Now, if only he didn’t want to tear apart the world every time he thought about it he might make some progress toward getting off the ceiling. One way or another he was going to have to figure out a way to channel some of this anger into something productive. Like it or not, he wasn’t the giving up kind.

  The door swung open and his father sauntered in like he didn’t have a care in the world. “Your mate seems to have called the police. Foolish girl. The women who are beholden to me at my compound know better. I’m going to have to teach my mate how to better control her people.”

  Rex raised his head to look at his father. He knew this game. Their father had strung Gabriel up like this many times as punishment. It had never been how Kendrick had treated Rex, but perhaps the old man couldn’t tell the difference between any of them anymore. Or maybe the evil bastard just didn’t care to differentiate anymore.

  Rex had to clear his throat to speak. “Your mate?”

  “Correct.” Kendrick walked closer to Rex. “Surprised?”

  “Confused.” Rex made an attempt to shrug. “But I’ll be honest, I don’t care much.”

  “Liar.” His father laughed like Rex had made a joke. “You always were amusing.”

  “Guess I should say thank you?” He wanted to rip out the other man’s heart and feed it to his wolf.

  I don’t want it. Indigestion.

  Well, it had been a thought.

  “Your mother was not my mate. I needed her; she was the perfect candidate to keep the bloodlines pure. A seer had told me she could produce a daughter, and it had been one thousand years since anyone in the Kane family had a female. They’re rare and very important.”

  Rex shook his head. He couldn’t remember his sister Angel, but Tristan had daughters, so producing a female couldn’t be as difficult as Kendrick seemed to think it was. “What is it a Kane woman can do other wolf-shifters can’t?” His father rubbed his chin. “They can communicate with the dead. Sometimes they can even bring them back. Imagine it, Rex, a whole army of undead wolves for me to command.”

  “You already have it. You make zombie wolves all the time. I’ve killed about a hundred of them myself.”

  “You’ve just made my point. They can be killed. The already dead can’t be defeated and they’ll be mine.”

  Rex’s blood went cold, as his father’s plan seemed suddenly so clear to him. “You need Westervelt to bring out the zombies. You needed Angel and Westervelt. That’s why the attacks are more intense now. She’s there.”

  Kendrick clapped. “You are amazingly astute, considering you are not my flesh at all. Yes, your mother got Angel to the island; got her to do just what I needed her to do and now all is as it should be. It will all be over soon. Maybe I shouldn’t kill you. Maybe I should keep you like I did Gabriel.”

  Rex felt like he’d been stabbed in the chest. For a second, he was certain he’d stopped breathing all together. “Gabriel?” His brother who had taught him to fight, taught him to defend himself, to never be weak. Gabriel had been acting odd lately but he was not a traitor. Never. He wouldn’t believe it. Kendrick could sling words of malice all he wanted. It would never change the absolute fact Rex knew Gabriel as well as he knew anyone and Gabriel was not a traitor.

  “I’ve had him by the hook for years.” Kendrick shook his head. “But that is neither here nor there. I was telling you about you.”

  “No need. I know myself pretty well.”

  “Again, you are so amusing.” Kendrick patted him on the cheek. His hand felt greasy. “Drea was my mate. I’d known it since the moment I met her. We bumped into each other on the street. She was helping out with the war effort, working as a nurse.”

  “The Civil War?” Rex couldn’t remember how old his father was, but he was older than Cullen Murphy who was really, really old.

  “Right. Good, I’m glad you’re paying attention.”

  His father’s involvement in the Civil War was not what interested him. A Kane had fought in every major war since time began, it seemed. Human entanglements they couldn’t seem to stay out of. But it was Drea being alive so long that interested him.

  “How have you kept Drea looking so good?” The woman didn’t seem a day over forty. Wolves might live a long time without aging—alphas even longer—but their mates eventually aged. Particularly if they weren’t wolf-shifters themselves, the category Drea belonged in.

  “Magic. The woman is incredibly talented, as you can tell. She came up with the spell to make the wolves. She kept your mother bespelled. I never could have done any of this without her.”

  “Why not just mate with her, then?” His father’s dark eyes seemed very far away like he was seeing another time, another place. Rex hoped the man got lost in his memories and never returned.

  “As I said, I wanted a Kane woman. Nothing would work without a purebred wolf-shifter Kane woman. And Drea wanted her children to have power, real witch power. Not the subdued, half-breed type.”

  “Our mother never knew, did she? She thought you were really her mate.” Kendrick nodded. “Except for a brief period of time. For some reason, she could, every once in a while, throw off her spell and see things more clearly. During one of those episodes, I believe she conceived you.”

  Well, he had always wondered about his parentage. Hadn’t he asked his wolf a million times?

  And I’ll answer you now as I asked you then—does it really matter?

  “Who was he?” His voice sounded hoarse to his own ears.

  “A thorn in my side. The spell should have kept him from knowing he was mated to her, too. Somehow they always were drawn to one another. I had to keep throwing him off the island to do errands. One time, however, they must have been clearheaded at the same time. And then you were born.”

  “Who was he?” He wasn’t going to let Kendrick avoid his question.

  “You never knew him. When you were conceived I had no choice but to kill him. I couldn’t have him looking at you and remembering something. No one understands the power of bloodlines better than me.”

  “His name.” Rex may never have met the man, but someone would know him.

  Cullen, Michael, someone. There would be someone left on Westervelt who could tell him about his true father.

  “Rafael Dole.” Kendrick paced away from him. “When he was around, he stirred up endless amounts of trouble. Questioned me like he had the right. He could quote old laws giving pack elders the ability to question the sanity of their alpha. I wanted to eat him alive. Instead
, I had my first batch of made wolves do it. He died screaming your mother’s name.”

  Even though Rex had never met the man, he knew he would live to avenge him. It was the least he could do. Rafael had loved his mother. Had managed to break through the spell of a powerful witch. Rex would guess he fought all the way to the end.

  Now?

  Rex knew what his wolf asked. Almost. “How could our mother have gotten Angel to the island? She’s dead.” If he was going to get this information to Tristan, he needed all of it. Every last word out of the pompous lips of the man who had tormented so many for so long. It would be Rex’s pleasure to bring him to his knees.

  “I got her one more time before she died. One more spell. She still hasn’t thrown me off. Stuck in the middle place, endlessly, until I release her. She has no choice but to do what I tell her. The twins hurt Angel, and that sent her to Westervelt, but I’m the reason she’s stayed. She thinks your mother wants her there helping.” Kendrick started to laugh, a full-bodied cackle of a man used to being completely in charge. Rex knew the man wasn’t the least bit afraid. Why should he be? All he could see was a weak wolf tied to a ceiling. It was time to give the man a different perspective.

  Nodding to his wolf, he gave his consent. Now.

  The white light moved around Rex. Faster than usual, he shifted into his wolf form.

  The binds around his wrists couldn’t hold against the power of the shift. His father should have known that even if Drea didn’t. Or maybe he didn’t realize just how fast Rex could break any hold he was put in. Thanks to Gabriel, who had taught him as a child, in case he should ever need the skill.

  On all fours, he growled. He could taste death in his mouth. His father’s, not his own. Usually, he wasn’t bloodthirsty. Killing was for prey and for circumstances where there was no other choice. This time? He knew he’d enjoy it.

  “A fight to the death, then?” Kendrick lost his smirk. “I hadn’t thought you had it in you, boy. Maybe you are actually mine.”

  No, he was Rafael Dole’s. He could feel the truth of it with absolute certainty.

  Go.

  His father shifted and they tore into each other. Flesh meeting flesh, blood mixing in the midst of their trauma. The hotel room had been a warm up and Rex had been distraught. Not now. All he wanted was death.

  Time held no meaning. It could have minutes or hours. They were well matched even with Kendrick being so much bigger than Rex. Everything seemed clear.

  Until the door slammed open. Her scent hit him hard even in the middle of his fury, like a gut punch.

  Damn it.

  Elizabeth had an uncanny habit of getting in the middle of bad situations and making them harder on him. Kendrick must have realized the same time he did that it meant she had arrived. Turning faster than Rex could catch him, he leapt onto Rex’s mate.

  With a gleam in his mouth and a snarl in his throat, Kendrick let Rex know his intentions. Elizabeth’s death. And from the scream released from Elizabeth’s mouth, she knew what he meant to do, too.

  Rex’s heart fell. She was a betrayer. But he loved her. Would always love her. Even now, in the midst of everything, he could feel the gentle part of her soul filling him inside.

  Whatever she’d done she had done because she thought she had to. He could see it very clearly. With no time to contemplate anything, Elizabeth’s reasons passed before his eyes. She hadn’t wanted to mate him, had been very honest about it in the beginning.

  He’d taken her, pursued her, and ultimately she’d believed she’d had a bargaining chip.

  It wasn’t her fault he’d all but forced an unwanted mating on her. She wasn’t wolf.

  He was mated, not she. And he would love her forever.

  For a split second he opened his mind to her. Like a bomb going off, their consciousness fused together in a split second of absolute glory.

  Forgive me my shortcomings, Elizabeth.

  Rex, no.

  He shut down her scream in his mind. There was no way he could do what he had to with her in there with him. Her humanness would protect her. She wouldn’t have to follow where he went if she didn’t choose to. For the first time ever, he felt gratitude he’d not been loved as he could have been. He could die without subjecting her to the same fate.

  He spoke to his wolf. Goodbye, my friend. Rex felt no sadness as he shifted into his human form, simply absolute resolve. “Take me.” He looked at his father before glancing at Elizabeth. “It’s time for you to run.”

  I go where you go. His wolf sounded resolved, and he knew they were on exactly the same page.

  “Rex, don’t you dare do this.”

  Elizabeth’s agony hit him at the same time Kendrick’s claws tore into his skin. He would never help Tristan but he would save Elizabeth. She would live the life she should have.

  “No!”

  Elizabeth yelled in a tone he’d not heard from her before. Her voice seemed to resonate off the walls, bounce off the ceiling, and fill the entire room. The pain that had dug into his chest and neck, ceased as Kendrick’s body flung off his like he’d been ripped away. Stars crossed Rex’s eyes, as he was blinded. Kendrick screamed, and Rex leapt to his feet. What the hell was going on?

  Damned if I know. His wolf seemed as clueless as he was.

  Elizabeth caught his attention. Light surrounded her, brighter than any he had ever seen. Her skin glowed a radiant gold and her eyes burned a deep black.

  “Elizabeth.” He called out her name but she didn’t respond, her entire attention focused on Kendrick in front of her.

  “You will not touch him.” She pointed at the wolf who he had thought was his father. “I will not allow it.” With the point of her finger, she raised Kendrick’s wolf form off his feet. “I will put you down, wolf. As you should have been long ago.”

  “Stop.” Drea’s voice interrupted the scene, but Elizabeth did not drop Kendrick.

  The evil witch continued. “If you hurt him, I will end her.” Rex didn’t have to look up to see who it was. Drea had a woman who had to, simply by the close family resemblance, be Elizabeth’s mother by the throat. “It will only take a split second. One dose of spell right into her artery. She’ll be dead before she hits the ground.”

  “Don’t bother with me, Elizabeth. Live your life.”

  Rex wasn’t going to let anything happen to Elizabeth’s mother. If Elizabeth had Kendrick, he’d take care of Drea.

  “Don’t even think of it, wolf. I’ll have her dead before you can try.”

  “Elizabeth.” Rex regarded her. She wasn’t meant to kill. Not with her kindness. It would change something in her he didn’t want altered. “Don’t do it. Leave it to me.”

  “You will go.” Elizabeth spoke through gritted teeth to both Drea and Kendrick. Rex knew if she’d talked to him like that he’d listen. Her tone bore no dispute. “And you won’t come back here or I’ll tear both of you limb from limb until you’re nothing but carnage. I can do that now.”

  “Yes, I can feel you can.” Drea nodded. “You took it from me. I don’t know how but you did. I’m still capable, little girl. Don’t think I can’t take down Westervelt. I still can.” Of this Rex had no doubt.

  “Wait.” With a flick of her finger, Elizabeth pointed at two figures who had tried to hide in the hall. Penny and Charra. Rex raised an eyebrow. What would she do?

  His question was answered seconds later. Both girls dissolved from their human forms into small kittens. Hissing, they began to run in circles, chasing their tails. Drea screeched, running after their escaping forms as Kendrick took off after her. He shot Rex a look on the way out. His meaning clear: he was not done with him. Not by a long shot.

  They would meet another day.

  Before him, Elizabeth began to shake. Her glow lessoned. Rex was beside her in a heartbeat, grabbing onto her arm. “I don’t feel well.” Her mother nodded, grabbing onto her other arm. “You just took the power of the whole coven. Violently. I would imagine you’re going t
o faint, daughter.”

  “Faint? I’ve never in my whole life.”

  Rex shrugged. “There’s a first time for everything, witch.” She groaned before she slumped against him. Gently, he laid his now powerful witch down on the floor. Silently he memorized her face, knowing he would never see her again. “Ma’am.” Rex had never spoken to Elizabeth’s mother before. He could see her beloved features in his mate’s mother’s face. Older, weathered, the resemblance was distinct.

  “I owe you a debt, Rex.”

  He nodded. “I would argue but I can’t imagine it would matter. There is something you can do for me.”

  Her mother stroked Elizabeth’s hair. “What?”

  “I am returning home now to a fight I don’t believe we can currently win. I would not risk anyone against Drea and Kendrick. They are too powerful together.” Certainly no one in Elizabeth’s coven had ever been able to take Drea even by herself.

  “We would help you.”

  He nodded at the sincerity in her gaze. “I know. I appreciate the offer but I would not have you all die, which is what brings me to my favor.”

  “Yes?” Elizabeth’s mother rose to her feet from where she knelt next to her daughter.

  “She mated me. I don’t believe she wanted to. She saw no other choice. I would not have her pay with her life for something she had to do to save her loved ones. When I die, see she doesn’t. See that the spell binding her to me, if it even worked, doesn’t take her too. Her life is how you can repay me and how I can thank her for all she did.” Rex kept himself straight, his face impassive even as his wolf howled and his soul died.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Elizabeth opened her eyes, and the bright light of the sun coming through a window assaulted her. She felt like she had the worst headache in the world. Had she drunk too much alcohol? Suddenly, the whole experience came back to her and she jolted upward, nearly falling off the bed as she did.