Chapter 36

“Good,” Carter screamed with a voice full of manic excitement and a crazed sort of glee. He was laughing too and as he did, globules of blood flew out and splattered against Russel’s face and upper body. “That’s what I like to see! Let him take control. Give in.”

Russel kept up his attacks, ignoring his father’s blood that splattered all over him. Ignoring his own pain even. Every few moments he stayed alive were moments he could use to win this fight. Or that was the hope at least. There was still too much of a massive power difference between himself and his father. Even if he let more of the wolf in and lost control, his father would just do the same and then overpower him again.

Carter ducked under a wild slash from Russel and then came back up with a slashing uppercut. Claws split skin. Russel’s head jerked back and he was lifted off his feet. The attack caused his vision to go white with pain and when it cleared he was on his back, staring up at the vaulted ceiling high above. He could feel the breath leave his body, his chest hitch and jerk trying to replace it. His face burned from the open cuts.

He struggled to get back to his feet but his father was already there, pinning his arms down by stepping on each one with a foot.

Carter dealt a dozen or so hammer-like blows to Russel’s head, and try as he might, Russel couldn't shake him off. The punches were like explosions going off, each one a tiny few seconds of misery each time it happened. Carter didn’t stop either. The explosions of impact were relentless. Russel felt parts of his face give way and cave in. His cheeks. His forehead. His jaw. Regeneration wouldn’t do him much good if he kept getting hit like that. He had to do something to get out from under his father.

But he was too weak.

“Come on, Russel,” Carter screamed enthusiastically. “Don’t quit on me now. We’re just getting started!”

Still, Russel was too weak and getting weaker by the second. Dimly, he could hear Lola screaming his name some more and his brothers cheering for his father. Blackness was creeping across his vision now but he let out a roar and forced himself to shove that away as brutally as he could. He felt a new surge of adrenaline push through him and he shoved with everything he had. He ripped both of his arms free. The act was enough to send his father stumbling a little and he took advantage of that by reaching up, grabbing his legs, and yanking. Carter started falling backward. Russel kicked his feet up as his father fell, slammed them into the small of his back, and kicked upward with as much force as he could (which was substantial). Carter was sent flipping head over heels backward and crashed headfirst into the stone ground a few feet away.

Russel got sluggishly to his feet. His wounds were severe and they made it hard to get his bearings. His head was a swollen, bloody, and gruesome sight. He tried not to think about it. Tried not to let the sudden dizziness send him crashing back to the ground. He felt the wounds he’d sustained starting to heal but there were so many and he was so exhausted, the process was taking way too long.

Carter got up, no worse off than before, laughing again. The bastard was getting so much enjoyment out of the fight. That infuriated Russel even more. He steadied himself and forced his broken, battered body into a defensive crouch, his hands raised in a guard position. He stared at his father, a low growl rumbling out of him.

He started to let go of the wolf inside him. He still kept his change up but the power and the sense of relinquishing control over to a beast began fading. Admittedly, it was a stupid move. He knew that. But his father was getting too much satisfaction of seeing him lose control.

And he would rather die than give the man what he wanted.

“What are you doing?” Carter asked. The laughing stopped as he stared at his son. The manic, gleeful smile disappeared off his face and was replaced with a scowl. He gestured at Russel with obvious disgust. “What the hell is this? You aren’t going to win at all if you stop yourself from becoming a full wolf. Where’s that version of you going, huh? That’s my real son. Not this broken, pathetic thing.”

His father’s last words came out in a wave of loud anger. All humor evaporated from the man now and he slammed a fist into one of the columns nearest him. A chunk of stone broke off and fell to the ground.

“Stop fucking around, Russel,” he said, his voice a deep, menacing growl.

Russel spit a gob of blood to the ground, his face seeming to warp and twist as it continued its efforts to heal.

“You know I won’t do it. I don’t care what happens to me, but I will not let myself turn into that again,” he said.

“I guess there’s nothing left to say then. You remain a…” He paused, his face twisting into rage. “A complete disappointment. I didn’t want to kill you. I wanted to beat the living shit out of you. Teach you a lesson or two along the way, but I was honestly going to let you live. Lick your wounds for a few days. Take time to get over that filthy pet’s death. Then come back and be stronger than before. I guess that’s just a father’s delusions.”

“You will not do a damn thing to Lola. Do you fucking understand that!?” Russel screamed.

“And what do you think you’re going to do to stop me?” Carter asked. He raised a hand up, his fingers poised to snap. “All I have to do is snap my fingers and her life is just gone. You can try to get to her but I can assure you, Zeo and Enok over there will be much faster than you. They will cut her throat before you can even take one step toward her.”

Lola struggled against her captors, Zeo and Enok apparently, but it was no good. They were strong and no matter how good she’d gotten at taking care of herself, she knew she was no match for the two of them. They would kill her without question.

“Why?” Russel asked. It was a burning question of his, but one he hadn’t had a whole lot of time to really consider. None of it made any sense. Why would the king of a werewolf nation have any reason to kill a human girl tucked so deep inside Alcroft, she could hardly be considered a threat to anyone?

And yet not one but two werewolf royals wanted Lola dead. Drake also tried to kill her. Had even wiped out an entire village to get the job done.

Just what was going on and why was Lola at the heart of the whole thing?

“Why?” Carter asked. “What other reason do you need from me except for the simple fact that I decreed it? You do not question my orders. You follow them.”

His gaze turned to Lola again and that look of pure disgust crossed his face again.

“And you couldn’t even do that much.”

Carter flexed and then did a little hop from one foot to the other and back again several times as if preparing himself for a fight. He cracked his neck again and then stood for a second to look at his youngest boy.

“At least you brought the bitch with you. It’ll make things easier on me. Less fun, sure, but easier.”

He advanced on Russel as his son’s face twisted with that rage again.

“I told you not to fucking talk about her like that again,” Russel said.

“And I told you to kill her. I guess neither of us is getting what they want today.”

Carter hurled himself at Russel, much the same way Russel lunged at him before. The attack was sudden and fast. Way too fast for Russel to track with his eyes. In just seconds, Russel found himself falling and stumbling backward. He rolled and rolled for several feet until he fetched up against a column. The back of his head smacked into it and the blackness to his vision suddenly came back. Again, he had to force it away. It was a close call this time, though. Much closer than he liked. A few seconds later he would have slipped into unconsciousness.

“He’s coming! Get up, Russel,” Lola screamed. There was a surge of panic in her voice. It helped spur him into action.

He shook his head to clear it…and saw a huge fist coming straight for his head. He jerked it to the side at the last minute and the fist collided with the column instead. He rolled out of the way and hurried to get away from his father. More powerful blows rained down but by some miracle, he managed to avoid those as well. Finally, he got to his feet.

“Quit fucking running, you coward. As if I needed another reason to cull you, boy!” Carter screamed.

Russel was still trying to get his bearings, his head still ringing. His vision was still blurry but there was no mistaking the giant form of his father coming for him again. There was a wilder air about him. His eyes were glowing with brighter, blue light and as he watched, his father was getting even bigger. More animalistic.

He was letting the wolf take control.

There were no more chances now.

If he didn’t do something, they would definitely die.