A giant, white werewolf hovered over him. It stood on two feet, roaring violence at both Aareth and Kimberly, as well as the pack of werewolves around him.
Jack had seen enough interaction between animal packs to understand that this was the pack alpha. His heart filled with hope that the alpha was also his father, and that his actions had not been in vain.
A moment passed where nothing happened. Jack could only see the back of the gigantic white werewolf, so it was still too soon to know for sure if it was his father or not.
The white werewolf finally came down on all fours and the menacing sounds of destruction coming from its throat ended. Everyone else stood or crouched, unsure of what to do next.
The werewolf who had saved Jack finally turned to face him. His eyes were yellow now, his face nothing like it had been before, but somehow, somewhere, deep down in his soul, Jack knew this was his father.
The werewolf stared deep into Jack’s eyes before nudging him playfully with a snout as large as Jack’s foot.
Jack winced past his pain and struggled to a seated position. Fear was a secondary thought to his relief as he extended a hand and placed an open palm on the werewolf’s long jawline.
The white werewolf pushed into his hand, long, hot breath coming out of his mouth.
Kimberly and Aareth joined Jack’s side, close enough to be seen out of his peripheral vision, but not so close as to disturb the moment.
“I knew it was you,” Jack said as he finally moved to regain his feet. Tears streaked down his cheeks as he stared into his father’s eyes. “When you died, it was like losing both parents. I never knew Mom; you were all I knew, and you were always there for me. When you died, I was lost. I didn’t understand how much I loved you until you were gone. I’m sorry, Dad. I’m sorry that all of this has happened to you.”
Jack fell to his knees. He wasn’t sure what would happen, but before he could second-guess himself, he wrapped his arms around his father’s neck. In that moment, he felt like a child again.
His father rested his furry head on his shoulder in return.
“I … I don’t know what you’re going through in there”—Jack pulled himself out of the hug—“but I need you, Dad. I need you to do whatever you have to, to come back to me. Fight it, come to grips with it, make peace with what you are. Whatever you have to do, do it. Please, without you, I can’t do what needs to be done.”
Tears formed and then fell from the white werewolf’s yellow eyes. It took a step back and began to change. White hair fell in clumps around the beast as it transitioned from monster to man.
One moment, there was a gigantic white werewolf standing in front of Jack; the next, the father he had come to love and respect slumped naked on the ground.
Jack took off his long, brown coat and draped it over his father before wrapping him in another hug.
“I can’t believe you’re back,” Jack repeated, over and over. “I can’t believe you’re back.”
“I’m here.” Marcus held his son close. “I’m sorry I couldn’t control the animal inside sooner. Seeing you is exactly what I needed.”
“I don’t want to ruin this sappy moment”—Kimberly took a step forward—“but should we be worried about the rest of the pack?”
Jack looked up to see the rest of Marcus’ werewolf pack looking to one another in indecision. Some rested on all fours, content to let their leader make his decision, while others stood on their hindquarters, sniffing the air as if the answer was on the wind.
“They’ll obey me for at least the time being.” Marcus rose, wrapping Jack’s coat around him. “There are those in the pack who will see this as a weakness and make a play for the alpha position, but I think we’re okay for now.”
Jack wrestled his gaze away from the dozen werewolves who looked at him with half curiosity and half hunger. It was only then that Jack realized Aareth was lying down. He had been so fixated on his father that he hadn’t taken the time to notice that both of his friends had sustained serious injuries.
Kimberly was a mess of scratches and cuts, and one of her wings was bent at an odd angle. Although the gargoyle hid it well, it was obvious she was in a fair amount of pain.
As bad as Jack and Kimberly were, Aareth was worse. His black fur was a mass of crimson red, and part of his body had been completely ripped open. It seemed in the fight he had taken the brunt of the attack.
“Aareth!” Jack ran forward and skidded to a halt beside the werewolf. The forest floor dug into his knees, but all of that was secondary to the scene in front of him. “Aareth, can you hear me?”
Aareth didn’t say a word. Instead, he transitioned back into a human, and he lay on the forest ground, naked and covered in his own blood. Kimberly limped over, bringing his own coat from her bag and covering his wounds.
Jack was no doctor, but life in the Outland meant you were familiar with injuries and knew life-threatening damage apart from minor cuts and scrapes.
“Good … good to see you, Marcus.” Aareth grunted past the pain. “You … you take care of Jack now. Tell my wife—”
“Shhh…” Marcus joined Jack at Aareth’s side as the two examined his wounds. “Save your strength. You’re going to tell her yourself.”
Aareth was turning pale. Blood slipped down the corners of his mouth and into the short, black beard that ran over his cheeks. He was shaking now, teeth gritted to stave off a scream.
Jack lifted the black coat covering his body. He tried in vain to mask his face, but it was impossible. Aareth was covered in angry bruises and bloody bite marks, but one in particular caught Jack’s eye: the bite mark that wrapped around Aareth’s right side—it covered his tan skin from chest to torso, and the open wound was a mess of raw meat and torn skin.
“He needs a doctor.” Marcus motioned for Kimberly to give him the satchel of clothes she held in her hand. “First, we have to stop the bleeding to buy him some time.”
“There’s a doctor in Term.” Kimberly grunted as she extended her arm and handed Marcus the bag of clothing. “At least there was one when we left, but that was before Term was an occupied city. There’ll be a vampire garrison there now.”
A dozen different scenarios rushed through Jack’s mind, each one ending with Aareth dead if they decided to do nothing. A tiny voice in the back of his mind kept reminding him that this was all his fault.
Aareth only came to help you, the voice poked at him. If it wasn’t for you, he’d be fine. Now, he’s going to die because he helped you save your father.
“We have to try.” Marcus pressed Aareth’s shirt into the wound to stop the bleeding. “I’m sorry, Aareth. This isn’t going to feel pretty.”
Aareth screamed in pain as the makeshift bandage was pressed into place.
Then Aareth went limp. His chest still rising and falling, but his body finally giving in to the pain and falling unconscious.
“We have to go into Term.” Jack looked at his father, who was already nodding along with his words. “If Aareth doesn’t get help soon, he’s going to die.”
Chapter 16
Jack
The blood coming from the scratches on his face, the pain throbbing from the tears on his chest were all an afterthought. What mattered most now was getting Aareth some help.
The sun had risen while they made Aareth as comfortable as possible. He was lying under a tree, his minor cuts washed with water, the major wound on his torso bandaged as best as it could be.
Jack now stood at a crossroads. Who was going to stay with Aareth, and who would enter the vampire-controlled town of Term to search for the doctor?
The werewolves who were so eager to tear them to shreds not so long ago roved around the forest, licking their own wounds. The glances that some gave Marcus and Jack weren’t as heartening as Jack would have liked.
Kimberly sat beside Aareth. Her wounds weren’t as bad as Aareth’s, but still worse than Jack’s. She had donned her white cloak and sat in the shade of a giant fir that
sheltered her from the morning sun’s light.
“Kimberly can’t go with you.” Marcus’ eyes, so full of hope a moment ago, were dark once more. “She’s hurt more than she’s letting on. She has to take her stone sleep to recover. I can’t go with you, either.”
“The pack.” Jack looked around the clearing again. “We can’t trust them.”
“They’ll obey me well enough while I’m around,” Marcus agreed, catching the eyes of a few of the massive creatures, who looked away under his stare. “But they’re still struggling to tame their own beasts. I can’t be sure they wouldn’t turn on Aareth and Kimberly if I left them.”
“It’s okay.” Jack placed a hand on his father’s shoulder. “Keep Aareth alive. I’ll be back with help.”
“Are we ready to leave yet?” Kimberly interrupted the father and son as she limped up to stand beside Jack. “Our black wolf man doesn’t have a lot of time left. We must be off.”
Jack shook his head, admiring Kimberly’s will to go on, but unwilling to allow her to be further injured. One of her wings had obviously been broken. With the long, white cloak on her now, it was hard to say what else was wrong, but she was limping.
“You can’t go,” Marcus told her. “I admire your strength, but—”
“I’m not asking for your permission, Old Wrinkly Wolf Beast Man,” Kimberly growled. “I’m going. Jack needs to know the best way in and out. He’ll need to know what building the doctor is in. Term is my town. I know it better than any other.”
Marcus and Kimberly stared at one another for a moment longer, when a third option struck Jack. It was so obvious, it had to be the answer.
“Dad—” Jack captured his father’s attention. “There can’t be that many vampires still left in Term. I mean, the main force is with Leah Eckert about to make their assault on Azra. How many do you think she left. A dozen, maybe two?”
Realization glazed over Marcus’ eyes.
“You’ve raised yourself a smart man child.” Kimberly grinned. “Jack and I can carry Aareth on a stretcher. You and your pack can clear the city.”
Marcus nodded along with the plan. He ran a hand through his once-brown hair now more of a cross between grey and white. “I think we might be able to manage that.”
* * *
The plan was set. Kimberly and Jack made a crude stretcher from Jack’s coat Marcus didn’t need anymore and long branches they cut off trees. Marcus had turned back into the giant, white werewolf, snapping and growling at his pack, motioning with his head and scratching the ground with his paws.
From what Jack could tell, most of the pack seemed to be in line with his wishes. They looked attentively at him and bowed their heads. All except for one—a large, brown female that stood off to the side. Without warning, the brown female began to change. Her thick hair fell off her shoulders and head, and long, shapely legs took form leading to a thick waist and shoulders.
Jack blinked a few times, reminding himself to focus on her face. She was breathing hard. Her first transition from werewolf to human had not been easy.
“Why do you get to tell us what to do?” her voice was clear. The sneer on her lips spoke volumes to the way she felt about Jack and his friends. “We should have an alpha whose main priority is the pack, not his son and two friends. How does it impact the pack one way or the other if the black werewolf over there dies or not?”
Marcus rose on his two feet, towering over the woman by nearly double her height. For a moment, Jack thought his father had given into his beast within once more. He thought for sure he was going to reach down with one massive paw and end her life. Instead, Marcus also transitioned back to human form.
“This is my pack, and I am the leader here.” Marcus glared at her through dark brown eyes. “I am thinking about the betterment of the pack. The more allies we have, the stronger we are. There’s a war happening around us, if you haven’t noticed. There is strength in numbers. If you don’t like it, you can leave.”
The woman let a smug smile play over her lips. She wasn’t saying anything, yet her body language told Jack she already had a plan in place. Instead of looking at Marcus, she directed her attention to the rest of the werewolves waiting to see what would happen.
“Marcus and I were the first ones to learn how to change back into being human. I can teach you how to do the same. This cost comes with my being your alpha. We can worry about ourselves instead of these outsiders. We can join whatever side of the war we want, or let them kill themselves and be done with it. I was once an officer in the New Hope army, but things have changed. I say we look out for ourselves now.”
There were a few scattered yips and howls of affirmation, but the majority of the pack seemed undecided. They looked from Marcus to the woman and back again.
“Teaching you to turn back into humans is something either of us can teach you.” Marcus placed his hands on his bare hips, glaring at the woman. “Keep the rest of the pack out of this. If you want to be alpha, you know what you have to do. The strongest should lead, not the one most able to manipulate. If you want it, come and get it!”
Brown fur sprouted across the woman’s body once more as she called on the monster that raged inside. Muscles rippled as her face changed from smug to terrifying.
Marcus wasted no time, already lunging at her as she transitioned into the lupine monster now as much a part of him as anything else. The two werewolves crashed into one another with such ferocity Jack felt the ground tremble underneath his boots.
Marcus was larger than the female werewolf, but she was much faster and that, in and of itself, came with its own advantages. She twisted out of his grasp, and her sharp teeth found his rear left leg. She bit down hard.
Marcus let out a roar of pain that twisted into anger even before it died in his throat. He tore his leg out of her jaws, sending a splattering of blood through the air that painted the ground in crimson droplets.
The combatants circled one another like a pair of heavyweight boxers in a championship fight.
The rest of the pack howled and growled around them. The other werewolves in the pack had formed a circle around the two alphas.
Before Jack realized what he was doing, he felt pain in his hands. He was clenching his fists so tightly, his nails were digging into his palms.
Come on, Dad, he said to himself. Hurry, Aareth doesn’t have much time.
Chapter 17
Sloan
She was smug. Leah wasn’t the type of enemy to overreach. If she was confident in taking on Sloan and her squad of vampire soldiers with only her and the man beside her, then there was much more to her companion than met the eye.
He was well-dressed, maybe even handsome, if it weren’t for the devilish grin that twisted his lips. He stood on Leah’s right-hand side; no wand that Sloan could see, just a malevolent stare in his eyes. Sloan was sure she had never seen him before, but she had a feeling that somehow he was different.
“Oh, I’m being so rude.” Leah motioned to the man who stood beside her. “This is my friend, Dominic Drencher. I’m sure you’ve heard rumors of the Fallen? Well, this is one of the humans they’ve chosen to do their bidding on Earth.”
Sloan had heard whispers of the Fallen but they were nothing more than bedtime stories. Tales of angles cast out of heaven to live on Earth. They chose humans to do their bidding for them and granted the abilities.
What he was doing interfering in their war was beyond Sloan, but one thing was certain: it couldn’t have been good.
Sloan drew her sword and flipped the switch on the handle that bathed the blade in a dull red light. Out of the corners of her vision, she saw the rest of her squad take up positions beside her. They were red-eyed and ready to charge at her command.
It was difficult to tell who was more deadly. Should Sloan take Leah and leave the rest of her squad to handle the unknown entity Leah had brought with her, or should she attack this Dominic Drencher? At least leaving the rest of her squad facing Leah they kn
ew what they were in store for.
The decision was made for them a moment later as Dominic shrugged off his coat and stepped forward.
“This would usually be the part where the villain says he’ll give you one last chance to give up. But I don’t really want you to give up, this is going to be fun.” Dominic opened his hands where balls of flashing light began to form. “I want you to think you have a chance before you die, too, so I’ll take it easy on you at first, and then I’ll kill you.”
Sloan had seen her fair share of witches and wizards using magic, but whatever Dominic had in his hands was not anything what she was used to experiencing. Magic in their world looked like fire. Different wizards and witches used different colors of magic when they fought, but they always looked the same, like fire, maybe even energy.
What sparked in Dominic Drencher’s hands now was something like an explosion ready to go off, a swirling mass of static and sparks that looked as unstable as a bomb.
Sloan’s heart beat in her chest like a war drum. Years of training kept her head clear despite the adrenaline that came in the presence of a fight.
“Let me see how he’s going to attack first,” Sloan said just loud enough for those beside her to hear. “When you understand how to best counter his form of fighting, attack him from the sides.”
“If we can move this along?” Leah looked at the placement of the sun in the sky. “I have an army to get back to and an invasion to finish.”
Sloan stalked forward, her sword trailing in the forest ground behind her. The mage-powered blade cut a line through the dirt in her wake. Sloan was breathing easy, her entire body like one giant spring ready to take action in any direction.
Dominic winked at her before hurling his first attack her way. As Sloan expected, the conjured balls of energy in his hands were, in fact, explosives. Dominic hurled them at her with speed she wasn’t anticipating.
House of Wrath: The Vampire Project Book 5 Page 7