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CHAPTER 29

S ilas

I died staring into the eyes of my brothers, knowing I had failed them.

I draw my next breath in front of those same brothers, now looking at me like… well, like I’ve risen from the fucking dead. My father has the same look on his face—stunned silence behind a piece of shattered wall.

Calla collapses behind me and I call my wolf, feeling the first gasp of life since the knife went in my back.

“Well, what are you waiting for? No leaders, right?” I growl across our mental link. “Do we need to vote or can we just start killing these motherfuckers.”

“It’s you!” Caleb says, so much emotion in his voice, I can sense it, even across the link.

“Welcome back, brother,” Knox says, turning and tearing into a peace officer.

“Calla gave us a way out, let’s use it!” Jace snarls, turning toward the daylight on the other side of a mass of rubble.

I go after the closest peace officer. Blood in my mouth. Seeping past my teeth. I’ve fucking missed this. Hunks of flesh, torn from the bone, from something that truly deserves it. The peace officers have shock batons and rifles, but they’re confined here. They don’t have open ground to their advantage. We make good use of that, cornering, weaving, and tearing limbs away from weapons.

Dad pushes past the peace officers, with the boy who betrayed Calla behind him. I want vengeance, but I let them go, because I can’t abandon my brothers. I can’t abandon Calla. I stand guard near her, evening the odds for my brothers as needed.

I love my brothers, but I’m bigger. Faster. I’m the fucking Alpha , leader or no leader. I destroy what I bite. I shatter what my claws hit. By the time Gideon starts to stir, we’ve painted the room crimson, and the only things left are the gasps of deaths echoing around us.

“Check on Calla,” Vance says, shifting and rushing to her side, moving a few strewn pieces of flesh from her body.

“She’s going to be weak,” I transmit, then shift and say my first words as a man. “She isn’t strong enough to use the power she called. I’ll carry her. We need to move quickly, because Dad will be sending more of those so-called peace officers after us.”

“Okay, what the fuck did I miss,” Gideon asks, hopping across the broken wall. “Silas?”

“Gideon,” I chuckle, hoisting Calla up.

“Is Calla okay?” he asks, glancing at the woman in my arms as I wrap her in a blanket.

“She will be, if we get her out of here,” I say. “So shift, brother. Let’s finish this.”

Gideon shifts and shakes off the effects of the shocks he took. Then he takes the lead, and I hang behind Knox, clutching Calla close to my chest. I can feel her heartbeat. Her gentle breathing. She’s pulsing with The Aether, something I know well. I’ve been a lost soul, surrounded by it. A suffocating haze, until she stepped through for the very first time.

I felt the longing, even after death. What I feel now is different. I’m at peace. Content. Able to breathe and breathing her in is better than tasting oxygen again.

We push across the broken wall, dodging a few shots and taking out the peace officers. There aren’t as many now, so we might be working our way through whatever reinforcements were nearby. There’s daylight ahead. We’re almost free.

“Keep going,” I say, holding Calla closer. “Kill everything.”

My brothers tear apart the peace officers. There’s not enough of them to put up much of a fight now. We push outside, and I see more of them. I also see our father and the boy who betrayed Calla. They’re behind the peace officers, like they expect their forces to win this battle, even after everything they’ve seen.

A shot rings out, and I turn, putting Calla on the ground behind some rubble before I shift.

“Those are live rounds!” I transmit as a few more ricochet around me.

“Good, don’t let them get a clean shot!” Gideon growls.

I guess Dad doesn’t care about subduing us anymore. Not after a woman erupted into golden fire and started blowing up his lab. He doesn’t realize that bullets hurt, but it’s a lot harder to get a kill shot. We demonstrate that easily as we weave through his soldiers, gnashing, tearing, and biting chunks of flesh.

“I’m hit!” Knox calls out, and I see him go down with an eruption of blood and platinum fur.

Live rounds can kill, but Knox is okay. He’s just hurt. The bullet went in his hip, based on his whimper and limp as he ducks behind some rubble. I catch a bullet in my front leg, but it passes through without doing much damage. Several graze Gideon’s fur, but it doesn’t slow him down.

“Caleb, watch out!” I yell across our link when I see a peace officer taking aim.

Caleb spins, ducks the shot, and lunges, tearing the peace officer open with a bite. “Thanks, Silas. I’ve fucking missed you.”

Vance is staying close to Calla, making sure no peace officers get to her. I take advantage of the help and take out several peace officers. Their ranks are thinning, but they aren’t stopping. They remind me of zombies. Zombies that don’t know how to do anything but follow orders.

“Switch back to the electro-rounds!” our father calls out. “The bullets aren’t stopping them!”

The boy who betrayed Calla bolts. I start to go after him, but Gideon is too fast. He nips both Achilles tendons. A scream echoes as the boy collapses, still crawling away. Gideon leaves him there to suffer and goes after more peace officers.

“All I wanted to do was make you better!” our father yells, then he turns and runs.

“Don’t let Dad get away!” Knox calls out. He starts moving toward our old man, but he can’t get enough speed, and almost gets zapped by an electro-round.

“I got him,” Caleb growls, peeling in the direction our father is running.

“Go!” I yell, ushering everyone forward, and moving to protect Knox.

Vance is still by Calla’s side. There are no peace officers threatening their position, but he’s putting our mate’s safety first. She’s safe now. There aren’t many left.

“Finish them,” Gideon orders, dodging an electro-round and tearing through the arm of the peace officer who fired it.

A flurry of crimson erupts as we kill the last of the peace officers. We’re all panting and soaked in blood. As soon as I catch my breath, I turn in the direction Caleb went. Some smoke clears and Caleb appears, dragging our father by the arm. Our old man is screaming and trying to free his arm, but Caleb’s teeth are clutching bone like the bleeding flesh isn’t there. Caleb throws him at our feet and Gideon shifts, hauling him up.

“I’m your father! Please, Gideon, I love you!” the old man pleads, his eyes radiating with fear.

“No, we’re nothing but lab rats to you,” Gideon growls. “You never loved us.”

“Silas!” our father says, turning his attention to me. “I’m so happy to see you, son. Talk to your brother. Please!”

“I think we’ve done enough talking,” I say. “I vote we kill him. Any objections?”

The silence might as well be deafening. It’s broken by our father, begging and pleading for his life, but Gideon throws him to the ground. Nobody interferes as Gideon raises his enormous foot and slams it down on our father’s throat. He shakes, coughs, and blood runs from his mouth as he starts to choke on it.

“I’ll take care of Calla,” I growl, turning toward her.

Vance moves out of the way, giving me a nod as he joins our brothers.

“They may still have peace officers around the tunnels, but we can take them,” Gideon says, looking around.

“Easily,” I agree, scooping Calla up and making sure the blanket is secure. “Knox, are you okay to travel?”

“Yeah, yeah,” Knox mutters, wiping blood away from his hip. “I’ll survive.”

“Wait,” Jace says. “Clyde.”

“Right,” Vance mutters, looking in the direction of the trail of blood leading into an alleyway. “I got him.”

Vance runs into the alley. There’s a scream, several thuds, then silence. Vance emerges wearing more fresh blood. Enough to make it clear there’s nothing left of the boy who betrayed Calla.

“You know you’ve fucked up when Vance has no problem tearing you apart,” Caleb chuckles. “Alright, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

My brothers shift and I follow, keeping up with them the best I can on foot. Knox stays at my side, mostly because he’s struggling. The others slow down enough to let us catch up when we fall behind. The streets aren’t full of people, but there are some around. They mostly scatter and scream as five wolves and a naked man clutching a woman in a blanket run past them.

We turn a corner, then another, and we’re in a different part of town. More people, but the same screams and scattering as we blow past. I see some peace officers, but they aren’t armed like the others. Their uniforms are different, and not made out of armor.

“Wolves!” one of them screams, but that’s his last breath because Caleb clamps down on his throat.

The other peace officers suffer similar fates, getting torn apart by my brothers. I kick down the door, cradle Calla, and we push into what appears to be an old store. The shelves are bare except for a few boxes. Gideon leads us into the back room, and I see the hatch. The others shift and open it. Gideon goes down first.

“Take Calla,” I call out, leaning down to lower her to my brother. Once I’m sure he has her, I let go. “Alright, everyone else down.”

Knox has the most difficulty, but he makes it. Once we’re all in the tunnel, I take Calla back in my arms. The tunnels are clear, and it’s an easy path to the exit. I halfway expect an army to be waiting on us when we push through the hatch, but the only thing we see is The Tangle.

“We took care of that asshole Clyde, our father, and the peace officers,” Jace mutters. “Hopefully that’s enough to stop their slavery business for a while.”

“We’ll make sure of it,” Gideon says firmly. “Like Calla said. We’ll patrol the roads. Keep an eye out for any slavers moving women through The Tangle.”

“And if that’s not enough?” Caleb asks.

“We can cross that bridge when we get to it,” Knox sighs, clutching his hip. “Vance, I need redwort.”

“Let’s move,” Vance says, gesturing toward The Tangle. “We’ll find some on the way.”

“Yes, we should talk while we walk,” Jace urges, moving toward the mass of vines.

I follow my brothers, holding Calla close. She’s still unconscious. Still breathing softly. I’m amazed by her. Amazed by everything she is. I thought all hope was lost. Even The Aether lost faith in her. That hopelessness was like another knife in the back. The wound was still bleeding when Calla reached across the barrier that separates The Aether from this world.

She’s not strong enough to wield that kind of power. Maybe one day she will be, but it doesn’t matter. She wielded it once, and that was enough. We’ve escaped. We’re safe. Our bloodline can continue, and the world can be healed.

Jace pauses and turns around when we reach a clearing. The towering wall of Haven North is still on the horizon.

“No activity at all,” Jace mutters. “I half expected them to send an army after us.”

“I doubt they even have one, other than the peace officers,” Gideon says. “If our father had something stronger, he wouldn’t have been begging for his life at the end.”

“Fucking asshole,” Knox grunts. “I knew we were never more than experiments to him, but I didn’t realize he was so callous and cruel.”

“Before the Great War, we were obedient dogs,” I say. “They gave us a little freedom, so we wouldn’t feel like we were in cages, but we always were. They were just bigger.”

“I see some redwort,” Vance calls out. “If they’re not sending anyone after us, we should stop, rest, and treat our wounds.”

“Calla needs it too,” I say, moving some leaves out of the way and placing her on the ground. “Her shoulder is in bad shape.”

Vance gathers redwort and grinds it into a paste. I open the blanket so he can treat Calla. Knox is next. Everyone has scrapes and bruises that could use some attention. Even me. It’s strange to feel pain on the outside again. All I’ve felt since I died is internal despair. The crushing pain of being a lost soul with no way to move on.

Caleb moves closer to me. He knows a lot about internal despair, too. He’s carried his grief since I got stabbed in the back. He’s blamed our brothers. I’ve felt his pain, and his burden is almost as big as the one I carried to the grave.

“You’re really back?” Caleb asks, his eyes flickering with uncertainty. “This isn’t some trick, right? You’re not going to disappear as soon as we get back to the den.”

“No, brother.” I smile and shake my head. “I was never at peace. Never able to move on. Calla pulled my soul across the divide that separates our world and used the fabric of creation inside her to breathe life back into me.”

“Does that mean she can do the same for the others? Our brothers and sisters?” Vance asks, moving closer.

“I don’t think so,” I sigh. “I’m still connected to The Aether, but not like I was when I was dead. I can feel the hope pulsating from these vines around us. The Aether is trying to heal. You can feel it, Vance. You’ve always been able to sense what is in The Tangle.”

Vance closes his eyes and concentrates. His ears twitch slightly, and he nods. “You’re right. The souls… they’re not just screaming now.”

“It’ll take generations to fully heal The Aether, but the process has already started. Our brothers and sisters will eventually be able to move on. It was different for me. I didn’t just feel the pain of never finding our mate. Never finding a purpose.” I look around at my brothers. “I carried the weight of my mistakes. The ones that cost lives, even before the knife went in my back. I left the pack broken. So broken that you barely trusted each other.”

“We all carried that weight,” Gideon murmurs. “That’s why we agreed we wouldn’t have a leader anymore. But now that you’re back…”

“No,” I state firmly. “This pack doesn’t need a leader. I should have listened to everyone, rather than making decisions that jeopardized us. Being bigger, stronger, and older may have made me the Alpha of the pack, but all of you have that inside you. I was holding you back.”

“I don’t understand,” Vance says, tilting his head inquisitively. “After you died, Gideon started changing. And after the others got Calla’s scent, they started to follow him. Begrudgingly, but a natural hierarchy was emerging. We could all feel that, even if some didn’t want to admit it.”

“Because it was all you knew,” I explain, looking down at the dirt. “You never learned to truly work as a pack, despite trying to make decisions as a group. Once our pack starts to grow, and we become more cohesive, you’ll all start to grow. This pack doesn’t need an Alpha because you’re all Alpha wolves. Like Calla, there’s more power inside of you than you realize.”

“Damn,” Knox says. “Then I guess it’s time we started acting like it, huh?”

“Yes,” I chuckle, pushing myself to my feet. “Don’t worry. Fatherhood will change all of us. It’ll bring us closer together. It’s what our pack needs to continue healing and for all of you to reach your full potential.”

“As long as we don’t turn out like Dad,” Caleb mutters as he stands up.

“We won’t be anything like him,” I growl, shaking my head.

“That evil is still inside us,” Jace says. “He made us what we are.”

“Not exactly.” I shake my head. “During my time in The Aether, I saw a lot I couldn’t see while I was alive. Our father experimented on himself, sure. He blended wolf DNA with his own and did the same thing to our mother, but that was never the true source of our strength. Not after we learned to call our wolves.”

“I don’t understand,” Gideon says.

“Long before our time, druids and druidesses had a strong connection to The Aether. They achieved harmony with it, much like the harmony meant to be shared between The Aether and our world,” I explain, knowledge lost for centuries pouring out of me. “They walked on two feet in the daylight and ran on four paws in the darkness, when the moon shined brightest. Our mother was a direct descendant of those druids. One of the last ones left.”

“This would have happened to us regardless?” Caleb asks. “Was our mother able to shift? Could she call her wolf?”

“No, brother. As generations passed, the call of the wild was quelled. Forgotten,” I continue. “What was left inside our mother was a trace. Something no scientist could ever see. When The Aether could no longer contain the lost souls, nature itself was upended. That’s what caused the solar flare, the heat storms, and brought The Tangle to life. It awakened what was inside us—because it needed us again.”

“What it really needed was Calla,” Gideon sighs. “We were broken, just like everything else, until she healed us.”

“Indeed,” I confirm, patting Gideon on the back.

We needed her.

And she needed us.