Chapter 106 The Combat
CALLUM
The first shot cracks the dawn silence. Silver bullet from Parliamentary hunter. It misses. Hits a wall behind me. Brick explodes.
Then chaos.
Gunfire erupts from both sides. Vampires charging with supernatural speed. Wolves meeting them with claws and fury. Fae warriors entering the fray with ancient grace and deadly efficiency.
Blood. Screaming. Death.
The battle begins.
I'm fighting immediately. Vampire hunter charges me. I shoot him. Silver bullet through the chest. He goes down.
Second hunter. I stake him. Wooden stake through the heart. He crumbles to ash.
Third hunter tackles me. We go down together. His fangs at my throat. I grab my knife. Stab him repeatedly. Silver blade into vampire flesh. He screams. Dies.
I'm on my feet. Moving. The battlefield is pure chaos.
To my left, Tom's fae warriors are cutting through vampire hunters like wheat. Thirty Seelie knights. Each one worth five vampires. They move like death itself. Beautiful and terrible.
To my right, our wolves are fighting desperately. Marie shooting silver pellets. Danny coordinating despite his wounded arm. Valentina firing with precision. Every shot a kill.
Dead bodies everywhere. Vampire ash. Wolf corpses. Fae warriors bleeding silver.
The Hermetic Order mages are on the periphery. Not fighting directly. Chanting. Magical barriers containing the battlefield. Keeping civilians away. Hiding the war from human eyes.
Dragons in human form are throwing fire. Literal dragon fire. Incinerating wolves who get too close. The smell of burning flesh fills the air.
And Cormac's pack. Thirty wolves fighting against their own kind. Betrayal made manifest.
I see him. Across the battlefield. My twin brother. Leading his enforcers. Killing packless wolves with efficient brutality.
Our eyes meet.
He smiles. Cold. Empty.
This is what he wanted. Me and him. Finally facing each other. No more political games. No more manipulation. Just violence.
I move toward him. Cutting through the battle. Killing anyone who gets in my way.
Vampire hunter. I shoot him.
Dragon mercenary. I throw holy water. He recoils. Tom stakes him.
Pack enforcer from Cormac's crew. I recognize him. Beta Marcus. Used to be Cormac's friend.
"Stand down," I tell him. "You don't have to do this."
"Alpha's orders," Marcus says. Attacks.
We fight. Claws against claws. He's well-fed. Strong. Fresh.
I'm wounded. Exhausted. Running on adrenaline and desperation.
He gets me down. Going for my throat.
Valentina shoots him. Silver bullet through his head. Marcus drops.
"Keep moving!" she shouts. "Get to Cormac!"
I'm up. Running. The battlefield is hell.
Wolves dying. Vampires dying. Fae dying. Dragons burning everything. Hermetic mages watching from safety.
And through it all, I'm moving toward Cormac.
He sees me coming. Stops fighting. Waits.
His enforcers form a circle around him. Protecting their Alpha.
I break through. Stake one. Shoot another. Break the third's neck.
Then it's just us.
Callum and Cormac. Twin brothers. Mortal enemies.
The battlefield continues around us. But here, in this space, it's personal.
"Hello, brother," Cormac says. "Took you long enough."
"You led extermination against your own kind."
"Against criminals. Against exiles. Against wolves who chose rebellion over pack." He circles me. "You're not my kind anymore, Callum. You're mistake I should have killed two years ago."
"You tried to kill me. Prison. Exile. Frame-up. None of it worked."
"Because I was too merciful. Thought the system would destroy you. Should have done it myself." He shifts partially. Claws extending. "Fixing that mistake now."
We charge simultaneously.
Brother against brother.
Alpha against Omega.
Everything that's broken between us exploding into violence.
His claws rake my chest. I feel ribs crack. Blood flows.
My fist hits his face. Bone crunches. His nose breaks.
We're both shifting. Half-human, half-wolf. The form that's strongest for combat.
Teeth. Claws. Fury.
I bite his shoulder. Taste his blood. My twin's blood. Tastes like mine.
He claws my back. Deep gouges. Agony.
We break apart. Circle each other.
Around us, the battle rages. Wolves screaming. Vampires dying. Fae warriors cutting through everything.
But we're focused only on each other.
"You could have been great," Cormac says. "Father's favorite. Second-born but more beloved. You could have been the best Beta in pack history."
"I didn't want to be Beta."
"You wanted to be Alpha. That's why I framed you. Saw the ambition. Had to remove the threat."
"I never wanted Alpha." I'm bleeding heavily. The silver wound in my side reopening. "I just wanted family. Brother who didn't see me as competition."
"Family is weakness. Competition is reality." He charges again.
We collide. Grappling. Both of us trying to reach the throat. The killing blow.
I'm stronger. Born wolf advantage. Better genetics.
But he's well-fed. Fresh. Not carrying weeks of injuries and exhaustion.
He gets my throat. Fangs at the jugular.
I grab silver chain from my pocket. The one I used before. Stab it into his side.
He screams. Releases me. The silver burning him from inside.
I stagger back. We're both wounded. Both bleeding. Both ready to die.
"This ends today," I gasp.
"Yes. One of us doesn't leave this battlefield."
"Good."
We charge again.
The combat is brutal. Vicious. No honor. No restraint. Just twins trying to kill each other.
Blood everywhere. His. Mine. Can't tell the difference.
Bones breaking. Claws ripping. Teeth tearing.
This is fratricide. Public. Witnessed. No more pretense.
Everyone can see it now. The Alpha and the Exile. The twin brothers at war.
Neither of us winning. Both of us dying.
But fighting until one of us stops breathing.
Because that's all that's left.
Violence. Blood. Death.
Brothers destroying each other.