Chapter Fifty-Eight

Kerry

The ground broke open beneath Kerry’s paws. Frantically, he searched the grounds for Demetria, seeing Claire beside her,while Ike wreaked havoc around them.

The hellhounds are almost gone, Alpha Davers said through the mind link.

Kerry glanced around at the wolves fighting the last two, while Roan fought Dom like he’d been waiting his entire life for it. Kerry would have unleashed hell on the siblings too if one of them turned him into a cat. Of all things to be turned into.

We need to bring Ike down, Alpha Davers said.

Kerry nodded. Walking over the cracks in the earth, his wolf stumbled to stay upright. What Kerry would do to have the balance of a cat right about now. Claire protected Demetria, but Kerry sensed Demetria’s anger growing by the second.

Cynthia clung to the porch railing of the pack house as the earth moved beneath them. If they didn’t get them away from the house, it’d collapse, and he was sure an earthquake caused by a deranged warlock wasn’t covered by insurance.

Alpha Davers circled around the back of him, while Kerry eased his way toward Demetria. Ike looked possessed, his body not his own, but Kerry knew that wasn’t true. Ike’s gaze snapped to his as he neared Demetria, and Kerry knew he wanted to end him.

Kerry had saved Demetria from the other realm, where Ike had her safe for his use. Kerry’s gaze moved toward Demetri’s missing finger, and his rage surfaced from where he’d hidden it.

The hellhounds are gone, Alpha Davers said.

Kerry made eye contact with him behind Ike and noticed the beast running his way.

“Watch out!” Demetria shrieked before Kerry could get anything to come out of his mouth. The beast lunged at Alpha Davers as he turned to defend himself. Kerry’s heart broke at the sound of his alpha’s cry.

His wolf woke from his shock and raced toward the scene unfolding in front of him. He felt Claire joining him, but his tunnel vision blocked out the movement from the front steps. The ground opened under him as he launched at the beast holding the alpha’s back in his mouth. Kerry landed halfway into the opening of the earth, heat scorching his fur.

Demetria’s scream pierced his chest, as Claire gripped his neck and dragged him out of the crack. Axel bit the back of the beast’s leg, making him roar, but as he turned to attack Axel, Kerry noticed the alpha’s lifeless body.

The dread that filled him came from the inside.

It was a dark depression that he’d never experienced.

It was the death of their alpha.

Axel’s howl signaled a chain reaction around the pack grounds, and he felt everyone’s pain at once. Kerry’s wolf wanted to mourn, but Kerry knew what he needed to do.

As acting alpha, he turned to Claire who grabbed the beast’s throat and ripped it out in one solid motion. Axel scurried upright, pain written in the depths of his wolf's eyes. The entire pack made a circle around Ike, who seemed amused at the death of Alpha Davers, and he chuckled.

“Look, the mutts have banned together. They’ve killed my beast and my hellhounds, what are we going to do Ivory?”

Kerry looked to where Ivory once sat against the base of the tree and saw it vacant. Her laugh echoed from the other side of the porch, where she looked sheepishly at Ike. He was still pissed at her, but he needed her help, and she’d give him anything he wanted.

“Do you sense it, Ivory?’ he asked.

She rolled her neck dramatically and braced her palms outward. Demetria mumbled nearby and shot a beam of light at Ike’s head. He shrieked at the bluntness of it and grabbed at his cheek. The bruise there surprised Kerry.

Attack at once, Kerry said through the mind link.

The wolves of the pack all but jumped at the command, dragging Ike from the front steps, his laugh searing Kerry’s patience in half. Ivory tried to run, but Roan caught her by the back of her neck and tossed her into the midst of the wolves.

It took four wolves to drag Dom from his hiding place around the side of the house. He didn't seem like he wanted to be there, but Kerry didn't give a damn. He helped hurt his family either way.

Though Kerry knew if the wolves tore them to shreds they wouldn’t die, which meant it was time for Cynthia and Demetria to end them.

Demetria rubbed her hand against the top of Kerry’s head. “I’m so sorry,” she whispered. “They’ll pay for this.”

Cynthia stepped off the porch, and off to the side, spinning her hand in a circle, she opened a portal.

It was obvious what the other side was, because fire licked up at the sky, promising to burn the bastards for eternity.

Ike laughed as a wolf nipped at his neck, keeping him pinned to the ground. “You think it’s going to be that easy, girls? I’m ashamed that I thought you’d put up more of a fight for us. You think you’ll cast us into Hell and then you’ll be finished—”

Axel leaped forward and grabbed Ike’s hair, pulling half out of his head. Ike roared, arching his back like a child throwing a tantrum. “You should have let me out sooner, brother. Look where this has us.”

“You shouldn’t have killed her!” he screamed. “Toss her first. I want to see her death."

Ivory’s heart broke. Kerry could see it written on her face.

Cynthia walked over and grabbed Demetria’s hand. “Come on. You deserve this.”

Demetria walked to the portal as Axel dragged a screaming Ike toward the fire. Cynthia put her hand out and restricted his movements once the wolves stepped away. “Do something, Ivory!” he shouted.

“How?” she asked. “This is all your fault. We could have kept the bloodline clean, but you loved that stupid poor girl!”

Hatred leaked out of Ike. That amount of hate deserved to rest in Hell.

Demetria waved her hand and lifted Ike from the ground. “I’m not going to miss you. Perhaps if you’d been nice, you could have gone to see Sabrina, because for some reason, I doubt she’s down there.”

A piercing roar reached Kerry’s eardrums. Kerry looked over his shoulder at the silvery-white dragon landing behind them, spraying the pack house with fire, its tail knocking down the oak tree in the front yard.

“You’ve got to be kidding me!” Roan shouted from the midst of wolves. “I thought I killed that thing ages ago. I didn’t sign up for this!”

Kerry’s wolf nearly pissed himself.

A dragon.

Ike chuckled, using Demetria’s distraction as a chance to take over. He curled his fingers and lifted Demetria from the ground. “Show me where the pendant is, you stupid witch, or I’ll send Demetria straight to Hell.”