Markus struggled for words, just as Cain had. “I…that’s…most of us. Seventy? Eighty? Oh, my God.”
One hundred wolves. Gone.
The city must be fucking terrified. Holy shit.
Then he thought, that pack started at one end and just ripped their way across the city. Every wolf they must have come across.
How many shifters had died who weren’t part of either pack? Would the other group have killed everyone or only those who they were really after?
Destiny didn’t know. If he’d had more time to observe them out by that recycling building he might be able to make an educated guess, but when the reality of it all was like this, he had no fucking clue.
“Police are pretty fucking freaked out.”
“No shit,” Destiny said, harsher than he meant to. He wanted to howl and howl for everyone, to drop down and scream until it didn’t hurt anymore. It felt like everything inside him was being tortured, and he just wanted it to end.
But it was up to him to make it end. He knew that. It wouldn’t just stop. It had to be finished.
“Dusty,” Cain said, “I can’t do this. I tried. I gave it my very best. I made sure that everyone practiced fighting, that they knew where all our safe places were just in case something happened. As far as I can tell, no one who was attacked managed to get very far. It was all for nothing. I can’t do it anymore. I’m not a leader. I’m terrified. And Ralphie is terrified. I need to be with him so I can protect him. The pack needs you.”
Destiny turned on Brock, who had covered his face with his hands like he was trying to hide from the world. “And you?” he demanded. “Brock Tremors, the fucking leader of Lethal Freedom. You are a leader. What are you doing here? Why aren’t you pulling your pack together? Why aren’t you out there? You’re here in my place, licking your wounds. Why?”
Brock dropped his hands down from his face, harrowing his cheeks with his nails as he did so. His expression was twisted, a chaos of pain. “Because!” he shrieked. “I fucking disbanded the pack! There is no more Lethal Freedom!”
No one spoke.
Markus seemed to stop breathing, just staring at his brother with his features similarly twisted with shock and horror. “What?”
“There is no more pack. No more LF motorcycle club. We’re done. We’re finished. I failed. I fucked up. I was wrong. I’m the one who caused the fight between us. I’m the reason all this happened. If we had joined together, if we had fought together, none of this would have happened. It’s all my goddamn fault. I shouldn’t be in charge of anyone.”
“But your wolves need you!”
“What wolves?” Brock said hollowly. “They’re all dead. Even if they’re alive, they’re dead. I did that.”
Destiny closed his eyes. He didn’t have any idea what to do or what to feel. There was just too much going on around him. Too much pain. Too much death. He couldn’t handle it. It was going to crush him. Here he had just been thinking about a peaceful future with himself and Markus and their baby, and now everything had been turned upside down.
A small hand on his arm brought him out of his stupor. He turned his head and found himself staring right into Markus’ sweet brown eyes. Markus’ gaze was filled with his own pain, grief, and fear.
“Dusty,” Markus said. His voice shook. “Dusty. If Brock abandoned his wolves, if Cain can’t do it, it’s up to you. You know that, don’t you.”
It wasn’t a question.
Destiny trembled, feeling the enormous weight push down on him again. “Markus,” he whispered. “What if I can’t, either?”
Markus shook his head. He was being the same stubborn omega he always was, yet there was a different reason for it this time other than just a need to be ornery and get his way. It was like he had made a resolution to see this all the way through instead of giving up on it like he had so many other things in the past. He reached out, grabbed onto Destiny’s hands and held them tight between his. “You can. I’m with you. We’re going to see this through together. When it’s all over, then we can focus on having our family.”
When it was over, they were supposed to discuss being together. Now when it was over, they were going to focus on having a family. It suddenly seemed to Destiny that it would never be over. Maybe there would keep being issues on top of issues and it would never stop. He could feel the years stretching out ahead of him, so long and so short, and…
Slow down.
The voice wasn’t his own. It belonged to Markus, a soothing echo inside his head.
Destiny slowed down. He squared his shoulders, stood up straight, and prepared to face the hardest challenge that had ever come his way. “Let’s do this shit. We’re going to get these fuckers. I have a plan.”
He also had a plan for what would come in the aftermath of all this, but that would come later. One step at a time.
14
Destiny stood in the middle of the clearing, a stupid smile plastered on his face. “Hello, fuckwad.”
For a moment, none of the wolves in the clearing seemed to know what to do. There were just as many of them as before, when Destiny and Markus had snuck up here and settled down to watch after following one of their members. They all glanced around at one another from their individual hiding places sequestered in the shadows of the filthy clearing.
Then, one of them stood up. He was massive, though with that lean and hungry look to his face. Anubis, the man who passed for the leader of this ramshackle group of murderers. “Who the fuck are you? What are you doing here?”
For the past week, as Destiny planned this attack, he had been imagining this moment. It always sent a shot of pure fear straight to his heart, and each day that passed only made that fear worse, like stage fright taken to terrifying new heights. There had been so many ways that he envisioned this encounter happening, so many conversations that he had planned for when he finally came face-to-face with this asshole.
All through the ride here, with his pack at his side, with the remaining members of Lethal Freedom who had been convinced to join in on the invasion, he had been so afraid. It was the pants-pissing terror of a little boy about to walk into his closet to confront the family of monsters who must live within. Each step he had taken through the thick ribbon of trees made his bowels feel looser, his muscles tighter. His thoughts had grown so chaotic that he had stood on the border of the clearing for upwards of a minute, incapable of moving.
Markus had pushed him from behind. He followed his omega’s whim and moved forward, and all of his fear had gone away. He was in the moment. Nothing else mattered.
So, when he grinned now, flashing his fangs, he was really feeling it. “My name is Destiny,” Destiny said. He cracked his knuckles, letting all the names of those who had died race through his mind. He grinned wider, and now it was a snarl of pure fury unlike anything that the world had ever known. “I’m here with a message for you.”
Anubis narrowed his eyes. He gestured with his hands like a maestro conducting a reluctant symphony. Movement came from behind him, ranks of men shifting into enormous wolves. They emerged from the shadows, black, white, gray, brown, pelts bushed out, claws sharpened, fangs bared, and eyes murderous. Their bodies were covered in scars and other marks of fierce past battles. Together, they formed the most monstrous militia the world had ever seen.
With the ranks of his fighters at his back, Anubis looked much more confident. He folded his arms, smirking. Even though he was outnumbered, he knew that his pack members would fight so viciously it would easily make up for the difference. They had no qualms about killing, wouldn’t settle for mere dominance any longer.
This had never been about stepping in to take over the remnants of two broken packs, to unite them. This was about power. It was a dictatorship in the making.
“I know who you are,” Anubis said. His voice was slurred by a mouthful of fangs. “You’re the leader of the Shadow Claws. What’s your message? Do you surrender?”
Destiny smiled. Beh
ind him, his own wolves were shifting, readying for the battle. They had no reason to be afraid. They might be injured in the fight, but they wouldn’t die. There was insurance against it, which was the whole reason that it had taken a week for this battle to happen.
“Message is this,” Destiny said. He put his hand down by his crotch and grabbed it, a crude gesture that sent disgust rippling across the other leader’s face. “Suck my cock, you fucking bastard.”
Anubis snarled. That seemed to be the only signal that his wolves needed. They were bloodthirsty, frustrated after having had a taste at warfare. Moving as one, they all leaped forward. Anubis stood in place as they streamed around him, his snarl instantly fading to be replaced by a serene grin.
Destiny could see in that instant why he was the ringleader in all this. Easy calm, a face which might have been charming in a different time. Everyone here must have believed in him so much, only to become disillusioned when it took so long to get the result he promised. Now that Anubis had finally given his pack what they wanted, their faith in him had been restored, and they had no problem with doing as he commanded.
From behind Destiny, his own wolves leapt forward, two clashing waves from two conflicting seas. Snarls and howls and guttural barks crashed together, a chaos of sound.
Anubis shifted. He had been aptly named, his wolf form being a sharp-featured alpha with brown fur and a black-gray back and tail that made him look exactly like a jackal. He seemed to grin, and then he was swallowed up by the battle.
Destiny closed his eyes. He took a deep breath, reached for his fury, and let the red wash pour over him. His heart started pounding. His blood pumped faster through his veins, sending the fire of rage burning through his entire body.
He shifted, hit the ground on all four paws, dropped his haunches down, and shoved himself into an enormous leap that carried him up high over the battle and back down right into the thick of things. Hot, writhing bodies surrounded him, claws nicking his skin, fangs slicing through his skin. Fur choked the air, flying around in great clumps as the two sides fought for their lives.
Whipping his head around, Destiny searched through the chaos for that distinctive pelt. All around him, wolves were battling, locked together, jaws grappling between them. Omegas and betas darted in and out of the fight, using their superior speed to get the advantage, while alpha wolves faced the challenge more directly.
Destiny pushed his way through the battle, shoving past the fighters using his wide chest and shoulders. When anyone came his way, his complete disinterest in their attacks actually made them reconsider and turn away. If they didn’t, he shoved them away, and other wolves from his side would race in to distract them so he could keep moving.
He was like the eye of a hurricane, one which was able to move indiscriminately through the storm.
He caught a glimpse of a black-tipped tail. Lowering his head, he charged in that direction and came right up on Anubis.
Anubis jerked away from him with surprise. He flattened his tan ears against his skull, turning away to try and escape. Just like any general, he knew that it was his life that was the most important. He couldn’t guide his troops to victory if he was captured. Or dead.
Destiny lunged around to his other side, sending several other wolves—some of his and some that weren’t—careening away from the force as he ran into them.
Anubis snapped at him, spinning away in a different direction.
Destiny shoved his way there, too.
It was like a perverse game, and it gave Destiny a sick sort of thrill to see the other alpha’s expression warp into a grimace of fear. He couldn’t escape. He couldn’t hide in the shadows and let the other members do his dirty work for him. Their presence around him, protecting him, was quite literally doing the exact opposite of what he wanted.
That was one of the reasons Destiny had wanted to bring the fight here, where the tight quarters would dictate a tighter battle. From all the crashing and snapping sounds, some of the wolves had taken the fight out into the forest. Most of them wouldn’t want to do that, since it was harder to see the opponent. In doing so, they made it harder to see their enemies anyway. It was an ironic consequence that Destiny found satisfying to see in action.
And there was another reason. One which was even now lying in wait until the moment when it could be put into action.
Cornering Anubis against the bodies of his pack members, Destiny snarled and advanced on him. He held his head down low, darting in for a bite. Anubis flinched away. Too slow. Destiny got his jaws around the other wolf’s foreleg and yanked as hard as he could.
Staggering forward, Anubis tried to get his paws underneath himself, but his injured leg gave out. He hit the ground and Destiny was on top of him, jerking his head down for a bite aimed right at his throat.
Anubis was prepared for him, the fall having been a farce. Thrusting all four paws up into the air, he caught Destiny in his claws and shoved him away.
Fuck!
The force was so fierce, paws slamming into his stomach and chest, that all the air rushed out of his lungs. His body went limp from the pain and shock of it. He landed hard on his side, the ground having come up to meet him, and now it was Anubis who fell upon him with his sharpened nails ripping and slashing.
Snarling from pain, panting, Destiny shook his head to clear the oxygen-starved black speckles from his vision. Writhing on the ground, he felt his pelt tear and Anubis lost his grip.
Lurching up to his feet again, Destiny felt Anubis climb on top of him and start to shred him from above. Warmth spattered his flanks and started to flow to the earth with a sound like a waterfall. Fighting against the weight of the other alpha, Destiny reared up on his hind legs and fell backwards as hard as he possibly could manage.
Something snapped underneath him as he crushed Anubis under his weight. The alpha shrieked, spasming. His agony made him sound like an injured child, a pitiful creature.
Destiny wrenched himself around and pinned Anubis with a paw on either shoulder. He saw that one of the wolf’s shoulders no longer lined up properly with the cavity it was supposed to be in. That probably sucked, not that he really gave a shit.
Lowering his head, Destiny snarled and slavered right into Anubis’s face. Saliva spray scattered into his eyes, making him blink and squint. During one of those blinks, Destiny lunged down and bit as hard as he could on the canted shoulder.
Anubis squealed and writhed under him, trying to dislodge him, but Destiny only clung harder to him and bit deeper. The more that Anubis struggled, the more he was injuring himself. To Destiny, deep back in the rear of his mind where he was still capable of thinking, that summed up the situation pretty damn well. The deeper a hole this bastard dug himself, the harder it was going to be on him when he tried to withdraw.
Destiny did not intend to ever let him get away
He bit harder, hard enough that his jaws started aching. He felt his teeth click together as he bit straight through, adjusted his grip, and went back in. Wrenching his head around, ripping at the flesh and muscle in his grasp, he started to lose himself. The red fury pulsing in his mind was all-consuming, robbing him of everything that made him human, everything that separated him from this murderer and made him better. He didn’t care, didn’t have the human in him to care. This wolf deserved all the pain that he got. Death was too good for him.
Then he was too far gone to care about such things. He was animal. He was going to kill Anubis.
He loosened his jaws and aimed for Anubis’s throat, which was already so covered with gore that it looked like someone had beat him to the act.
Just before his dripping maw contacted with Anubis’s throat, he suddenly found himself looking at a man. Anubis had shifted back, cowering underneath him. His body shape had transformed so Destiny wasn’t even really holding onto him anymore and was more or less just crouched over him. Anubis could have slipped away if he had tried, if he had been capable of moving quickly enough with his inju
ries. The fight would have begun anew again. Destiny almost hoped for that. Another excuse to hurt this wolf more?
Yes. Absolutely. Any time. Any day.
“Wait.”
Destiny paused, a little confused. The voice seemed to be coming from several different places all at once, although he could only see Anubis’s mouth moving.
“Please,” Anubis begged. “Wait, please. Don’t kill me, man.”
Destiny stared at him, stared through the red fog, tried to see this murderer as just a regular person who didn’t want to die. He wasn’t able. This whole situation had escalated far beyond that point. His jaws opened. He lowered his head again.
“No!” Anubis screamed. “Don’t!”
While Anubis was screaming, Destiny heard those other voices again, commanding him to wait. One of those voices was incredibly familiar, belonging to Markus. That was the only reason that he paused again.
“Dusty!” Markus said. “Don’t! Wait!”
Destiny looked around, struggling to see. At first there was only red and more red, and then he caught a glimpse of curly brown hair. He focused in on that, realizing that this meant Markus was not only a human but he was also a human in the midst of a battle between wolves.
What the hell? he thought.
Some of the red ebbed away, and he realized that there were many, many humans standing around. His own wolves, the wolves they had been attacking…and the police.
Destiny closed his eyes, tried to focus, to remember the plan. He had gone to the police a week ago, asking to speak to members of the force with special knowledge. The cop at the front desk though he was crazy at first, and then he had gone back to speak to his superiors about what this strange man needed. Luckily, his superiors knew exactly what Destiny wanted and had brought him back to an office to talk. They had knowledge of shifters, knew that the case involving all the murdered bikers was related to shifting.
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