Chapter 19: Possessed

"That's not Erica," I whispered.

Cole's eyes went full black. Claws out. "Who are you?"

The thing in Erica's body laughed. Multiple voices together. Male. Female. Old. Young. All at once.

"You don't know me, Alpha? I'm hurt." She tilted her head weird. Wrong. "We met before. The night James Dillard died."

My blood went cold.

"You killed my brother?"

Those red eyes looked at me. "Pretty little wolf. So new. So weak." The voices got louder. "James was weak too. Thought he could protect you. Thought he could stop us."

"Us?" Cole moved forward slow. "How many are you?"

"Many. We are legion." Erica's body stood. Tyler's blood dripped from the knife. "We've been waiting. Watching. Getting stronger."

"Demon," Andres said. "You're possessed."

"Smart boy." It smiled with Erica's mouth. "We've been in this pack for months. Hiding. Feeding on your fear. Your anger."

"Erica would never let a demon in," Alex said. But he sounded unsure.

"Wouldn't she?" The demon laughed. "She was desperate. Angry that Cole chose a human. We offered power. Revenge. She said yes."

"Liar," Cole growled.

"Am I? Ask her." The red faded from Erica's eyes for just a second. Blue came back. Terrified.

"Cole," Erica's real voice. Weak. Scared. "Help me. I didn't know. They promised."

Then red came back.

"Pathetic. She's been fighting for days. But she's tired. Soon she'll be gone and this body is ours."

"Let her go," Cole commanded. Alpha power filled his voice.

The demon flinched. But stayed.

"Your command doesn't work on us. We're not pack. We're not even of this world."

"Then I'll send you back to hell."

Cole shifted. Full wolf. Massive.

The demon smiled. "Violence. Predictable."

It moved fast. Too fast.

The knife flashed. Cole dodged but it caught his shoulder.

He howled. Pain and rage.

The pack shifted. All of them. Wolves everywhere.

But the demon was faster.

It moved like liquid. Like shadow.

The knife found Alex. Cut his side deep.

Then Marcus. Slash across his face.

Then Stacey. She went down. Blood on floor.

"Stop!" I screamed. "You're killing them!"

The demon turned to me. Red eyes locked on mine.

"That's the plan, little wolf. Kill the pack. Break the Alpha. Take what's ours."

"What do you want?"

"You." It pointed the knife. "You're the key. Human and wolf. Weak and strong. Perfect vessel."

My wolf stirred. Angry.

"You want to possess me?"

"We will. Your body. Your power. Your connection to the Alpha." The demon laughed. "With you, we control the pack. Make them our army. Take this city. This world."

"Over my dead body."

"That works too."

It lunged.

Something inside me snapped.

Heat flooded my body. My bones shifted. Faster than before. Easier.

I was changing.

For the first time fully.

Pain ripped through me. But I welcomed it.

My body reformed. Fur. Claws.

Seconds later, I stood on four legs.

A wolf. Finally.

The demon stopped. Eyes wide.

"Impossible. You can't shift yet. Too new."

My wolf didn't care.

It only cared about protecting the pack.

I jumped.

Faster than I thought I could. Stronger than I knew.

My jaws closed on Erica's arm. The one with the knife.

She screamed. Knife fell.

I tasted blood. And something else. Wrong. Rotten.

The demon tried to throw me off. I held on.

Cole was beside me fast. His massive form pinned Erica down.

Other wolves circled. Growling.

"Get out of her," Cole's voice came in my head. Through the pack bond. Clear. "Leave this body. Now."

"Never," the demon hissed. "This body is ours!"

"Lita," Cole's voice in my head. "Bite deeper. Demon blood weakens them."

I bit harder. The taste was awful. Like death.

But it worked.

Erica's body shook. The demon was fighting to stay.

"No! We won't go!"

Black smoke poured from Erica's mouth. Nose. Eyes.

The smoke took shapes. Multiple forms. Twisted. Wrong.

They screamed. A sound that hurt my bones.

Then Andres was there. Human form. Holding a book.

Old. Leather.

He started reading. Words I didn't know.

Latin maybe. Or older.

The smoke demons shrieked louder. Tried to get back in Erica.

But the words held them back.

Andres kept reading. Faster. Louder.

The smoke faded. The demons were being pulled away.

"This isn't over!" the voices screamed. "We'll return! The girl is ours!"

Then silence.

Smoke gone. Demons gone.

Erica's body went limp.

I let go. Shifted back. Naked and bloody.

Someone threw a blanket over me. Stacey. Bleeding but alive.

Cole shifted. Went to Erica. Checked her pulse.

"Alive. Barely."

"Tyler?" I asked.

Alex was beside the young wolf. "Dead. They killed him before we got here."

Quiet. Heavy with grief.

Tyler was young. Nineteen. Just joined six months ago.

Gone.

"We need a funeral," Marcus said quietly.

"We will," Cole said. Voice rough. "But first we check for more demons. More possessed pack members."

"How?" Stacey asked. "How do we know who to trust?"

"Andres, what's that book?" I asked.

He held it up. "Grimoire. Demon stuff and exorcisms. My grandmother gave it to me. Said every pack should have one."

"Can we test for possession?" Cole asked.

Andres flipped pages. "Yeah. Salt water. Demons can't touch it. Burns them."

"Then we test everyone. Now." Cole looked at the pack. "No exceptions."

"And Erica?" I asked.

"Lock her up. Keep her sedated until we know demons are really gone." Cole's face was hard. "She let them in. She's responsible for Tyler's death."

"She was desperate," Stacey said. "Hurt. They used that."

"I know. But pack law is clear. She endangered everyone."

My phone buzzed. Still in my pocket somehow.

Text from unknown number.

Enjoying the show? This is just the beginning. You destroyed my reputation. Now I'll destroy everything you love. Starting with your pack.

My mother.

I showed Cole.

His eyes went black.

"She did this. Brought demons here."

"How?" Andres asked. "Demons don't just show up."

"They can be summoned. Invited. Given permission." Cole looked around. "This building is on pack land. Protected by old magic. Only way demons get in is if someone with power invites them."

"Your mother's a wolf," Alex said to me. "From a bloodline. She'd have power."

"She sold us out to demons?"

But deep down, I knew.

My mother would do anything to win. Even deal with hell.

"We end this," Cole said. "Tonight. We go to your family's estate. Confront your mother. Finish this war."

"She'll be ready," Andres warned. "Defenses. Maybe more demons."

"Don't care." Cole's voice was pure command. "We end this. Now."

The pack howled agreement.

But I kept thinking about the demon's words.

The girl is ours.

Why did they want me?

What would happen when we faced my mother?

I was about to find out.