Page 52 of Bloodbane

CHAPTER FIFTY-TWO

Mercy

{ R U B Y }

Grayson pulls open the door, and two large tan wolves tumble inside, obviously not expecting their wooden barrier to be revoked. The first line surges forward: the twins and Ash pouncing on the two intruders quickly as Thayne leaps over them and disappears outside. Grayson follows as fast as he’s able.

I dart around the pile of fur and teeth still locked in battle in the kitchen before clearing the railing and racing toward Thayne the minute my feet hit the ground.

Thayne finds a path between the three large remaining wolves, dodging between two and jumping over the third. Evander darts to the left and Thayne circles to the right. I can hear the silent terms being set: alpha versus alpha… winner earns the right to me.

Indignation swells inside me. I’m no one’s prize. But I know Thayne has chosen the wording purposefully, appealing to Evander’s ego, to goad him into accepting the terms—into fighting for me himself.

It works.

The three wolves—all that remain of the rival pack—form a line behind their alpha. Ash and the twins do the same for Thayne, bound by Command not to interfere. Grayson stands back, jaw set tight despite the tremors wracking his body.

The tension in the air is suffocating, and I swallow dryly around the fear for Thayne, threatening to choke me. I know how vicious Evander can be. I struggle to keep my mind calm, knowing Thayne can hear my thoughts. But even through the anxiety, my confidence in Thayne shines bright. He is a bigger, stronger wolf, and a more courageous, kinder, and better man. He’s going to win. He has to.

As if spurred on by my thought, Thayne attacks, flying at Evander, catching the scruff of his neck between snapping jaws. But Evander drops to the ground and rolls, forcing Thayne off him. They lunge at each other again, landing hard in the snow, kicking up clouds of white that cling to their coats.

My sharp vision follows the frantic movement as they roll—scratching, biting, tearing. The scent of fresh blood fills the air as they tumble, locked together in a desperate attempt to gain the upper hand. Eventually, Evander falls, panting in the snow, and Thayne opens his jaws wide, teeth glinting white in the moonlight before they disappear into Evander’s throat.

For one thrilling moment, hope floods me. Thayne did it. He won. Everything’s going to be okay.

Before my lips have finished curving up into a smile, the three rival wolves spring forward, knocking Thayne off Evander, attacking as one. Teeth and claws slash at Thayne as he struggles to get out from under them. It’s no use.

My lungs empty with a scream as I charge forward. The Command is like shackles, slowing my movements, like moving underwater. But the sight of Thayne on the ground, being torn apart, keeps me pushing forward until my hand disappears into the nearest wolf’s chest. Ribs splinter and slice at my skin, but I don’t stop until my hand curls around a thin, notched ridge. I yank my arm from the shifter’s body. The wolf collapses onto the ground, already phasing back to human form before I drop the severed spine to the ground.

The second wolf flies at me, but Grayson grabs its legs, swinging it high above his head before slamming it into the ground. He collapses over it, hissing as the lycan closes its jaws around his arm. Straining to keep hold of the wolf, Grayson rolls, tucking himself under the hulking form to expose its back. I mount it, anchoring my arms around half of its heaving body. Grayson mirrors my move, his hands reach out from under the wolf, clasping mine. Together, we squeeze, compressing the creature’s ribcage, crushing its chest cavity completely. The broken body falls limply onto Grayson.

The third shifter catches me off guard, knocking me off its now-dead kin. The world blurs as I’m sent flying through the air. My head collides with something hard, and my vision blows out, flaring white before I can blink the haze away. Twisting my neck, I see the scattered fragments of a massive stone, black with blood, and the brown wolf bounding toward me.

I roll as the wolf lands, tucking myself beneath the massive body, and spear my hands through bristly fur until warm becomes wet. Ripping through the soft underbelly, I carve the bastard from chest to cock. The skin sags to the side, peeling back as a mass of slippery red intestines spill from their furred, fleshy prison, cascading onto me and the frozen ground in a pool of blood. I roll again, escaping from under the wolf as it begins to collapse. Adrenaline is trembling through me as I stand, facing Evander before the fur returns to skin.

I should have known you were defective from the start. Always fighting me tooth and nail. Such a disgrace to your designation.

Evander’s voice slithers through my mind, the same cruel sound that has haunted my nightmares for too long.

I can show you how to do it—how to shift at will. You just need a firm hand, Arianella. Someone to submit to, someone to teach you your place. It’s not too late. You can come home with me.

Evander’s paws scratch at the ground, and for a moment, I’m certain he’s going to lunge. Instead, he moves slowly, arcing to my left—circling me.

“I am home. This is my family now, and I won’t let you take them from me.” I keep turning as Evander stalks around me, never showing him my back. I can feel the malice chafing through my brain as his cold words slither through my head.

Family is a funny thing, girl. It’s no good for anything but making you soft. You let them get close enough and they’ll slip a knife into your back, and you never even see it coming. Just like your father did to me.

“Shut up.”

He was planning to take my pack all those years ago. Did you know that? I must admit it tickled me to think he was coming for what’s mine, and I ended up taking what was his instead. It was fitting, don’t you think? I almost put you in the ground, too, but it seemed like such a waste to get rid of a perfectly good omega. My own, hand-reared breeding bitch. But then you went and escaped before you came of age, before you could serve your purpose and give me an heir. You always were such an ungrateful little whore, just like your mother.

I set my jaw as my feet come to a standstill. “You’re going to regret that.”

My only regret is that I didn’t put pups in you before you ran away. I should have bred you and bled you, and buried your worthless hide alongside your parents.

My world turns crimson.

Murderous rage boils through my blood as I fly at Evander. I smash into him at full force, and we tumble head over tail, limbs scrabbling for dominance. With a snarl, Evander strains forward, snapping down on my shoulder. Dark blood chases the retreating teeth as they tear deep grooves through my flesh.

The bite burns like acid. My scream of pain is met with a huffing bark—Evander laughing—before he drops his head and those massive jaws clamp around my leg. The bone splintering in his grasp sends pain shooting up my leg into my hip. My wailing cry is drowned out by the chorus of snarls and howls from my pack, all pawing at the ground, pacing around the fringes of the fight, unable to intervene, bound by Thayne’s Command.

In the back of my mind, the uncertainty of why I’m able to supersede the order is unsettling, but I’m grateful for it. I need to do this on my own.

Shifting my weight, I claw at Evander’s thick coat, finding purchase on the powerful muscles beneath. I drive my fingers as deep as I can before curling them and recoiling my hands, shredding muscle and tearing tendons.

Evander’s pained whimper dies quickly, but after all of the distressed sounds he has torn from me over the years, it’s the sweetest sound I have ever heard.

I push to my feet, keeping weight off my injured leg. I can already feel the bone mending—the strange pins and needles sensation I’ve come to associate with healing.

Evander twists, trying to lick his wounds, but the clumsy efforts don’t stop blood from flowing onto the snow. The sight fills me with a perverse satisfaction and a rush of conviction. I can do this; I’m strong enough now. I can fight back…

I can win.

As if sensing the mental shift, Evander rallies. The large wolf leaps at me, jaws wide. I turn my head away from the row of teeth at the last second, and they snap closed—much too close for comfort—as a heavy weight pins me to the ground. A large paw lifts and comes down swiftly, slicing through my chest.

I can’t stop the tears as my scream fills the air, drowning out everything else. Sharp nails gouge deep—cleaving through muscle, carving through bone—an echo of the metal impaling me all those years ago.

The familiar terror rises in my mind, the memory of my life leaving me, turning the world cold and dark. My body jostles on the ground as Evander tears at me, but my vision is filled with broken, glittering glass, twisted metal, and my parents’ slumped, lifeless bodies…

“ Ruby! ”

Grayson’s voice is a lifeline to the present, and I blink the horror away. Evander hadn’t killed me then; he’s not going to now. I don’t need to be saved; I’m going to save myself.

Ignoring the searing pain, I stretch forward, bringing my teeth together around the only thing in reach—Evander’s ear—and yank my head down. The thin flesh rips easily, coming away in my mouth. Teeth retract from my shoulder as Evander whines and paws at his head.

Putrid blood coats my mouth and images flash rapidfire through my mind. But from a lifetime of memories, particular fragments lodge like thorns in my mind: papers burning, my father shouting, a teapot, and blue, bell-shaped flowers…

Fury like I’ve never known boils through my blood.

Taking advantage of Evander’s new position, I let the ear fall away and lock my hands around his foreleg. With a violent shake, broken bone and severed flesh come away in my grasp. The anguished wail is a chorus of angels singing as he crumples, the bloody stump gushing red over the snow.

How?

Evander’s question echoes through my head, carried on a wave of disbelief.

“I’m more now. More than you ever thought I could be. You were wrong to come here, Evander.”

The wolf struggles to stand—whether to attack or flee, I’m not sure—but two hands fist the black fur and hold him in place.

Grayson.

Low growls rumble above the pained whimpers as the pack flanks me. There’s one notable absence. I cock my head, needing to hear the familiar rhythmic thumping of Thayne’s heart. It takes a moment, but I find the weak beat. Thayne’s alive. The only threat to him staying that way is staring up at me with hateful eyes.

I reach into my back pocket and pull out the now-crumpled blue flowers, I stare down at them as I stalk forward, my damaged leg healed enough to bear weight.

“I spent my childhood dreaming of freedom. It was a childish wish, I know. But I’m not a child anymore, Evander.” I come to a stop, looking down at the monster that has haunted me for as long as I can remember. “All I ever wanted was to escape. But there is none—not for me then, not for you now. If I let you leave this place, you’ll only come back, trying to hurt the ones I love. I can’t allow that. I can’t allow you to cause any more pain.”

Wedging my fingers between bone-white teeth, I pry Evander’s jaws open and shove the bell-shaped flowers into his mouth before cinching it closed again. The wolf struggles to break my hold, trying to pull back, trying to open his mouth and expel the death sentence sitting on his tongue. But with his nose covered and jaw held tight, Evander's throat works as he swallows—his base instincts taking over.

Black fur recedes, and the wolf shrinks in Grayson’s grasp, twisting and mutating until Evander is slumped on his knees, his severed arm soaking the snow.

“You fucking bitch,” he snarls, struggling to his feet. “You’re going to pay for that.”

Grayson grabs Evander’s arm, struggling to keep him from lunging at me. Cooper limps into place to bracket Evander, pumping his shotgun before placing it against the asshole’s head.

“Just give me a reason, buddy.”

Cold eyes size up Cooper before Evander scoffs. “You don’t have the balls to murder anyone in cold blood, boy.”

“Murder? Nah, the way I see it, it’s just animal control.”

A flare of satisfaction spreads through me as Evander blanches. There’s a not-so-small part of me that would love to see his blood splattered across the snow. But I motion for Cooper to lower the gun.

“Let him go.”

“Rubes…”

“A quick death is more than he deserves. Let him suffer. Monsters don’t deserve mercy.”