Once Upon A Midnight

by Stephanie Rowe

  "I can't stop seeing it," she said. "He—"

  "I know what he did," he interrupted, trying to keep his voice gentle enough not to startle her, but strong enough to drag her from her memories, "but can't you see how it affected him? It's broken him. He didn't do it on purpose, any more than you killed your mother."

  Her gaze snapped to him in anguish. "What? My mother? You bring her into this?"

  He knew that was a tough place to go, but he also knew that she had to go there. "You still blame yourself for her death, but it wasn't your fault. If you can forgive Jace, you can forgive yourself. Let go."

  Tears brimmed in her eyes, but her hands were still shaking. "I didn't mean to kill her."

  "I know, babe. I know you didn't." He held out his hand. "If you kill Jace, it will hurt just the same. You're scared of him, and you should be, but you know in his heart, he's a good man. Don't do it to yourself or to him. I'll keep you safe, but you have to do the forgiving. Forgive him, and forgive yourself, for the deaths that neither of you were responsible for."

  The sirens on his security system began to wail, and she jumped again, swinging back toward Jace, who hadn't moved.

  Drake ran over to the computer and checked the screen. He looked up at Cash. "They're coming. Some in the tunnel, others outside."

  Damien had already arrived.

  Cash swore, unable to move while Bryn still had the gun aimed at Jace. "We will all die if we don't work together," he said. "Shoot him later, but give us a chance first."

  "Shoot me now," Jace said.

  "Shut the fuck up, Jace," Drake snapped.

  Cash swore, but Jace repeated his request, staring at Bryn when he said it. "Shoot me," he said, pain etched in his voice. "No one is safe with me. I couldn't stop myself before. It could happen again. End it."

  Tears were streaming down Bryn's cheeks, silent rivulets of pain, and terror. Cash heard engines outside, and car doors slamming. Son of a bitch. They were out of time.

  Chapter Eleven

  BRYN COULDN'T TAKE her gaze off Jace's face. There was so much guilt in his eyes, so much pain, so much regret. She felt his anguish deep inside, because it was what she lived with every second of every day. Over and over and over again she relived the car crash, and the sickening thud of her mother's head hitting the dashboard. Over and over again she dreamed of that horrific moment when the car had slid out of control, her own screams, so loud she couldn't hear her mother's, that moment when the car became still, and she looked over at her mom and realized she'd killed her.

  The face she saw in the mirror every day looked exactly like Jace's did in that moment, raking across her heart like razor-sharp claws. "It doesn't ever go away," she whispered to him. "It never goes away."

  Anguish flashed over his face. "I might do it again," he said, his voice low and tormented. "Don't let me."

  Bryn was vaguely aware of Cash talking to her, and she could hear beeping in the distance, but all she could see and hear was Jace's face and his words, and the past that was gripping her so tightly. So much blood. Her mom's. Jace's victim. So much loss that had never stopped eating away at her, and she could see on Jace's face that it was killing him the same way.

  He carried so much pain, that she knew, she knew deep in her heart, that he hadn't done it intentionally, any more than she'd killed her mother intentionally. She'd suffered so much. She'd tried to kill herself once when she was eighteen, but she'd been rushed off to the hospital and saved. She'd always been grateful she'd been saved that day, even in her darkest moments, but seeing Jace like that before her made her see that she hadn't come far enough. Cash was right. She still tormented herself, and suddenly, she didn't want to live like that anymore...and she didn't want him to suffer the same. It was too horrible to live like that. Too horrible to die for a mistake that could never be undone. "We can't do this," she said quietly. "God help us, Jace, we can't live like this."

  Slowly, her hands still shaking, she let the gun drop.

  Disappointment flashed over Jace's face, but she didn't care. When Cash's arms went around her, she turned into him, pressing her face into his shoulder, and sucking in a deep, trembling breath. She felt as though a thousand lifetimes of pain had finally loosened its grip on her, allowing her to breathe for the first time since the night of the car accident.

  Jace's suffering had set her free.

  "You're okay, babe." Cash wrapped her up tight in his arms, his strength pouring into her. "You're going to make it now."

  "I know." She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to will away the tears that wanted so desperately to fall. She needed to collapse, and mourn, and cry, drained beyond words, but she knew they didn't have time.

  Time was up for all of them.

  * * *

  Cash breathed deeply, his body shuddering with relief as he held Bryn. Jace was down on his hands and knees, his head down, his shoulders shuddering as he fought his own inner demons that only he could battle. But he'd survived the first hurdle: he was still alive.

  "Cash. Come look." Drake was at the computer, scanning the screens.

  Keeping his arm around Bryn, Cash walked over to the table. Together, the three of them examined the screen. There were three wolves sprinting through the tunnel, but he didn't recognize any of them. The front was a massive black wolf, rippling with muscle, its body utterly relaxed as it moved so gracefully that it almost didn't look like it was touching the ground when it ran. The two flanking the black wolf were smaller gray ones, still large, but dwarfed by the sheer size of the black one. He watched the black one, a bad feeling settling on his shoulders.

  He tightened his arm around Bryn, and set the gun back in her hands. "You know them?"

  She wrapped her fingers tightly around the handle, her jaw jutting out as she watched the trio advancing.

  "I've never seen them." Drake braced his palms on the table, his face tense as he studied the screen. "Jace? You know them?"

  It took Jace a few seconds before he took a deep breath and lurched to his feet. His jaw was taut as he walked over, stopping on the far side of Drake and away from Bryn. His entire body was tense, and Cash felt his fear, a fear of not being able to control himself and hurting Bryn, or turning on Cash and Drake. Instinctively, he moved Bryn to his far side, and Jace's dead eyes watched him do it before his gaze flicked to the computer screen.

  He studied the monitor, his brow furrowed in a frown. "I can't see them well enough to make out their features. They're not of our pack, though." He leaned forward, his eyes narrowing. "The gait of the black one looks familiar. I know I've seen it before. See how he's positioned himself relative to the other two? He's alpha. Not just their alpha, but alpha to anyone he meets."

  Cash's wolf began to pace again, and his skin became hot. He pulled Bryn closer to him, trying to appease his wolf with her. "Alpha?"

  "Yeah." Jace gritted his jaw, the muscle in his cheek flexing. "Damien must have aligned himself with him."

  "They're planning to take over our pack," Drake said. "That's what this is about."

  Jace said nothing, but his face became even more haunted as the depths of his trusted pack mate's betrayal sank in.

  "The black wolf must be the one who controlled you," Cash said. "Damien isn't powerful enough. This one is. Look how he moves. He's more than simply a wolf."

  The four of them watched as the wolves loped easily along the passageway, heading toward the cabin with almost languid purpose.

  "You think he's controlling Damien?" Jace asked. There was no hope in his voice, however. Just resignation.

  Cash thought back to his interactions with Damien. The man had been clear and lucid, consistent with his usual character. "I don't think so," Cash said. "I think Damien is working with this other wolf willingly. He wants power, and this is how he's decided to get it."

  He looked over at Jace, and saw his anguished expression as he watched the trio closing in. The man he'd chosen to protect his pack was betraying them, which meant Jace had
failed his pack. As the alpha, his duty to protect his pack trumped all others. He was the one who was ultimately responsible. He'd failed his pack by putting Damien in charge, and he'd failed to protect an innocent woman from himself. The stricken expression on Jace's face said it all.

  "We'll fix this," Cash said. "He's not going to win."

  "Fuck yeah," Drake agreed.

  Jace said nothing, but Cash had the sense that, despite his anguish, his mind was working on a solution. He might feel he'd failed his pack, but he still had a chance to save them, and he'd give his life to make it happen.

  Cash's phone rang suddenly. He pulled it out and looked at it. Damien's name flashed on his screen. He showed the others, and hit speakerphone. "Yeah."

  "Join us," Damien said. "Swear your allegiance to Grigori. We can do so much together."

  "Grigori?" Jace repeated the name, and Cash saw understanding flash across his face. He looked at Drake and Cash, and Cash knew that Jace knew the other wolf. Jace took the phone from Cash, his voice hard, edged with steel. "Tell Grigori I'll meet him outside in four minutes. Alone. Just the two of us."

  There was silence for a moment, then Damien replied. "He agrees. We'll stand down."

  Jace hung up the phone, his face even more tense than it had been. But there was no longer apathy. It was a fierce, deadly focus that was ready for a battle to the death.

  The wolves in the tunnel immediately changed direction and began racing back toward the exit, suggesting that the black wolf in the tunnel was Grigori. Cash watched them go, silently calculating the wolf's pacing, and strength, trying to get a feel for his movement. If it came down to a fight, the smallest detail could be the difference between dead and alive. "You know him, don't you?" he asked Jace.

  He nodded, watching the screen as intently. "Grigori was the son of my alpha when I was young. His father was a depraved bastard who killed for fun, and Grigori was the same way. I left when I was five, knowing even at that age that something was wrong with that pack. They were in the Norwegian forest at the time. Years later, I heard Grigori and his father were eventually killed by some wolf hunters."

  "The Norwegian pack?" Cash and Drake exchanged looks. They'd heard of the Norwegian pack before, bloodthirsty wolves who hunted local people mercilessly, turning the area into a nightmare. Many hunters had been sent into the forest to stop them, and none of them had ever returned. Grigori was death itself, a ruthless predator who broke the laws of nature and hunted simply for pleasure. "And now he's here."

  "And now he's here," Jace agreed.

  Drake whistled softly, and Bryn's fingers wrapped around Cash's wrist. Grigori was in their territory, ready to prey upon their wolves, upon his woman. Cash growled softly and set his hand on the back of Bryn's neck. "How do we stop him?"

  "He'll never stop. He's blood-crazed." Jace looked at them grimly. "He has to die."

  There was something about the way Jace said it that made Cash ask the next question. "Can he be killed?"

  "No."

  * * *

  Icy fear gripped Bryn's spine as she watched the black wolf racing down the tunnel toward the exit. He was pure malevolence, merciless evil, and unbelievable power. She wiped her hand on her jeans, trying to dry the sweat from her palms, even as perspiration trickled down her back, like the steady, insidious approach of death.

  Cash touched her back, drawing her attention. His face was grim. "There's a second tunnel," he said, setting a pair of car keys in her hand. "It's still secure. Go through the tunnel. I have a truck at the end of it. Get in and get away from here. Give up on the trial. Just go."

  Relief rushed through her at the realization that they weren’t going to stay and fight him…until she registered the meaning of his words. "You want me to go alone? Leave you behind?"

  He cupped her face as Jace and Drake strategized, making preparations. "This is too dangerous, Bryn. Wolves are going to die tonight. Many wolves. You can't be here. I can't protect you." His words were gentle, but his tone was hard and stubborm. He'd shifted from being her lover to being a warrior, one that had no space for her.

  "No!" She gripped his wrists, fear hammering at her. "I just found you. I'm not losing you again—"

  "Grigori doesn't simply kill innocent people." His face was grim. "He does things worse than death, especially to women. He's a depraved, sick bastard. He'll kill you, sweetheart, but not soon enough."

  Her throat constricted. "If you can't defeat him, you have to leave!"

  He shook his head. "I can't walk away from my pack."

  "What about me? You can walk away from me, though?" She shoved at his chest, anger surging through her. "You don't get to sacrifice yourself like that, Cash! You made a promise when you made love to me, a promise that, at the very least, includes not throwing your life away in a battle you can't win just because you want to go out a hero!"

  Pain flashed across his face, and he caught her wrists. "Bryn." His voice was soft, stripping her of her anger, leaving behind only a stark terror of losing him.

  Tears filled her eyes. "I don't want you to die," she whispered.

  "I know, sweetheart." He brushed her hair back from her face. "I'm not giving up, but if I fail, if we fail, you have to be far away from here. I have to know that if Grigori wins, he'll never find you. Do you understand? You have to disappear."

  She searched his face. "You make it sound like he'd hunt me down. Why? I'm not a wolf—" Her heart stuttered, and suddenly she understood what Cash wasn't telling her. "I'm the trophy, aren't I? He is going to hunt me down, isn't he?"

  He hesitated, and then he nodded. "If Damien knew about this cabin, then we can assume he took the time to research me thoroughly. For all we know, Jace's murder of that woman was specifically timed to occur when you were there to witness it. You might have been targeted all along."

  She bit her lip. "Because you're the real threat to him, aren't you? He knew that getting rid of Jace wouldn't give him the pack. He had to destroy you as well, didn't he? You're the real alpha, more than Jace even."

  He put his finger over her lips. "Jace is my alpha," he said firmly, and without hesitation. "I don't want that job. But I have his back, and everyone knows that. You're mine, and that means taking you defeats me, so yes." His fingers tightened on her arms, his voice becoming more urgent. "You need to go, Bryn."

  She wanted to go. God, how she wanted to go, but her gut was telling her that wasn't the answer. "How do you know the second tunnel hasn't been compromised? If Damien knows you so well, won't he think you'll send me away? Aren't I safest here with you?"

  Jace walked up to them. "All three of you go," he said. "I'll delay them long enough. Get out. Start over. Fight them when the odds are in your favor. We won't win today. There's too many." He looked at Cash and Drake. "That's an order, as your alpha. Take Bryn and go."

  Bryn tensed at Jace's expression. It was hard, cold, and stern, the face of a leader. She knew, they all knew what he was doing. He was going to sacrifice his life for them, because he wanted to die, because he had to do something to atone for what he'd done. She knew that, because that was how she lived too.

  "No." Cash glared at Jace. "We stand with you."

  Jace's gaze was unyielding. "I knew you would take over someday, Cash. Now is that time. Go. Drake is your second. Protect the rest of the pack from Damien and Grigori. When the time is right, you'll take them down. Today is not that time. If you stay, we all die, and no one will be left to protect the others." His gaze flicked to Bryn, then back to Cash. "An alpha owes his allegiance to those who count on him for protection, which is your pack and your mate. Go."

  Cash bunched his fists. "I won't abandon you."

  "But you'll abandon your pack, your best friend, and your mate?" Jace walked over and grabbed Cash's shoulders. "If you stay, you betray me. I swore to protect the pack, and this is the only way."

  Cash's jaw flexed, and Bryn glanced at Drake, who looked equally stunned. She felt their loyalty toward Jace. Leaving
him behind meant leaving him to die. They all knew that, and she knew it went against the very fabric of Cash's soul...but so did abandoning the pack and her. Dammit. Why did it have to be like that? Why did someone have to lose? She was so tired of someone losing—

  Jace moved suddenly, so fast she didn't have time to react, snatching the gun out of her hands. Cash lunged for it, but it was too late. Jace had control. He pointed it at Cash's forehead, inches away. "Get the hell out of here," he said in a low voice. "If you won't, I'll shoot you, and it will be up to Drake to do what's right. I won't let my pack fall to these bastards. I won't."

  Cash tensed, and she felt his skin get hot. "You're a piece of shit," he snapped.

  "It's called being an alpha," Jace said. "When you take the job, it's not your life anymore. Get the hell out. Now."

  Cash went utterly still, and the temperature in the room began to rise quickly. Drake didn't move, and Jace didn't either, but all three men were close to shifting.

  "Hey," Bryn didn't dare move. "You guys need each other! If you turn on each other, we're all screwed!"

  Cash's phone rang, but no one moved.

  "I'll get it." Urgency coursed through her as she raced over to the table and grabbed Cash's phone. She had to stall Grigori somehow, or everything would fall apart. She hit speaker. "Hello."

  There was a pause. "Is this Bryn?"

  She froze as the male voice crept over her skin, terrifying and creepy, like a predator inching its way into her mind.

  Cash leapt across the room and grabbed the phone from her hand. "Grigori."