Chapter 2 - Goddess

Two women stood in the room where the goblins Jarwink and Sputnick died. Their bodies were no longer there but the blood was. Goblin blood tended to stick around for a while and stain whatever it touched.

One of the women, a slender, hauntingly beautiful woman with streaks of grey shooting through her dark hair, bent down and examined the blood. Her emerald green eyes were narrowed in anger and she trailed her delicate fingers through the already drying blood. She brought their tips closer to her nose and breathed in deeply.

The other woman stood there watching with evident boredom. She twirled her long, blonde hair in her fingers and waited impatiently for her companion to be finished doing whatever it was she was doing.

“What are you doing, My Lady?” Deanna Shade asked, curious despite herself. The next question she asked, she asked mostly out of a sense of self-preservation because the woman in front of her had a very nasty temper that could flare up for any reason, no matter how trivial. “Do you require my assistance?”

The other woman didn’t respond. She didn’t even seem to hear Deanna. She was too focused on finding out who had the audacity to murder her subjects.

She breathed in once more and finally caught a whiff of a different scent. A scent she was all too familiar with. Her eyes widened a bit before narrowing with her anger. The answer she found only fanned the flames of her rage.

She took another deep sniff to ensure she was correct but there was no mistaking that earthy musk.

It belonged to him.

She hissed loudly and her eyes flashed a cold white color. Traces of black, spidery veins sprouted from the hollows of her eyes.

She got up and stood with her back stiff and rigid. Her hands clenched into tight fists, the pale skin of her knuckles going almost bone white. Her pretty, youthful faced turned to Deanna, who had to work hard not to show any fear.

“Lady Bendis? Is everything all right?” Deanna asked in a very nervous voice. She’d been on the receiving end of one of Bendis’ tantrums many times and wasn’t eager to repeat the experience.

Bendis didn’t respond. Instead, she stormed out of the creepy, dank room. The door slammed hard enough to knock it off its frame. It fell to the ground in a loud, ear-splitting crash that caused Deanna to whimper.

“Come with me!” Bendis shouted from outside the room.

Deanna jumped slightly but hastened to follow.

Kendra walked out of an elevator, thoughts of goblins and mystery saviors still running through her head. It didn’t matter that the goblin attack happened two days ago. She couldn’t stop thinking about how close she’d come to losing who she was to the wolf.

She stepped through a pair of glass doors and into her office building’s spacious cafeteria. She stopped there for a second and looked around. She spotted Conor, Felix, and Jenna with ease near the middle of the room, talking animatedly while they ate. She grabbed some food and joined them.

Her friends were deep in conversation about the newest episode of Supernatural. Conor and Felix loved the show while Jenna constantly called them idiots for liking it.

“Come on,” Jenna said, exasperated. “You fight monsters like that all the time and on top of that you are a monster. You can’t honestly sit there and tell me it’s that easy to kill a wendigo? That’s way beyond ridiculous.”

“It’s not about accuracy,” Conor replied. “It’s about the fact that the show is badass. You can’t hate something just because they get the facts wrong. Then you won’t like anything. And again, I’m a werewolf, not a monster.”

“Whatever,” Jenna responded. “TV rots your brain anyway. I think spending my free time training is much more productive.”

“Well, maybe you spend a little too much time training and not enough time just having fun,” Felix replied. “You’re too wound up. All the time. It gets irritating after a while. I should know. I’m your partner.”

Jenna threw a French fry at Felix. He flinched as it smacked dead center on his forehead, bounced off, and then plopped into his pop.

“Really?” he asked, sarcastically. “That was real mature, Jenna. Now my damn pop is gonna taste like French fries.”

“So? Suck it up. Not the end of the world,” Jenna smiled broadly, which made Felix even angrier.

“What about you Kendra? How do you feel about the show?”

Kendra looked up from her half-eaten food. She hadn’t really been paying attention to the conversation. Her mind was still wrapped up in the mystery of the goblins. She wanted to know why they tried to force her to kill a scared little girl to awaken her blood hunger. She remembered almost every detail and kept coming back to the she the two goblins had been talking about. Obviously, whoever that was had a mega-sized grudge against her. She couldn’t think of why or who would hate her that much though.

“Kendra?” Jenna said, snapping her fingers in front of her friend’s face.

Kendra jerked out of her thoughts. She looked up at Jenna.

“Huh?” she asked.

“What do you think of Supernatural?” Jenna went on.

“Cute guys on that show. That’s about it,” she replied absentmindedly.

“Hey?” Jenna asked. “What’s the matter?”

“Just thinking about what happened. Can’t seem to get it out of my head,” she told them.

“We’ll find out who sent the goblins. Don’t worry about it, okay?” Conor reached over and grasped her hand, trying to comfort her.

Kendra didn’t look convinced, but she nodded her head in agreement anyway.

“Did my dad give you any answers?” Jenna asked.

Kendra shook her head. She had talked to Elijah Bishop, the head of the Defaeco Knights and her boss, but he didn’t have any clues. He’d told her that goblins were mostly solitary, reclusive creatures that stuck to their subterranean lairs. The only time they came out was to hunt for food. The fact that they could use magic made them dangerous and very hard to control. He couldn’t figure out how anyone would be able to manage it.

“He didn’t have a clue,” Kendra told her.

“Give him some time, maybe he’ll find someone that knows something,” Jenna said.

“Maybe, but I’m not holding my breath,” Kendra picked at her food some more. Thoughts of blood and killing innocent people made her stomach uneasy. She just sat there staring at it, trying to muster enough of an appetite to actually eat something. She gave up a second later, pushing her food away.

A pair of scents suddenly drifted over to her through the thousands of other smells in the cafeteria. Her eyes widened slightly in alarm. She looked to the cafeteria’s entrance and spotted the source. Conor smelled them too and they both got up, leaving Jenna and Felix at the table. They walked over to where a pretty, red-haired woman was carrying a small baby strapped to her chest with one of those baby backpack contraptions.

“Deirdre?” Kendra asked.

“What’s the matter?” Conor chimed in.

“Nothing, nothing. I just thought me and Patrick could stop in and say hi. He gets so fussy in the afternoons and the only thing that calms him is a walk,” Deirdre answered. She had a slight British accent to her voice. “The park Pat loves to play at is only a couple of blocks away. Say hi to Auntie Kendra and Uncle Conor, Pat.”

The baby gurgled and then burped. He stared at Kendra and Conor with eyes the same exact shade as his father, Patrick Dugan Sr.

“Hi, Pat. How’s my favorite boy?” Kendra cooed, letting the baby grab hold of her pinky. She smiled happily at him, but guilt still tore at her every time she saw him.

Patrick Sr. had been brutally murdered by Merrick, her older brother. It hadn’t really been his fault because a fire mage named Jonah Washburn took control of Merrick’s mind and forced him to awaken his blood hunger. In the end, Kendra had been able to take Jonah down, but the damage had already been done. Merrick was so wracked with guilt that he refused to come anywhere near his former pack, Kendra included.

“Did you miss me?” Kendra asked the baby.

Pat smiled big and sort of clapped.

Kendra laughed.

Deirdre smiled happily but then her face turned serious. She looked at Kendra and Conor both, her lips pulled down in a slight frown.

“Have you found her yet?” she asked, a hard glint to her eyes.

Kendra took a moment, trying to phrase her response appropriately.

“No. Everyone is looking for her but your sister is really good at staying hidden,” Kendra responded. “But don’t worry, she can’t hide forever. We’ll find her and we’ll make sure that she pays for her part in what happened to Patrick. Okay?”

Deirdre’s eyes glittered with angry tears.

“No, dammit. It’s not okay. Because of her, my boy doesn’t get to know his father. She’ll live to regret the day she betrayed us, even if it takes me centuries to find her,” Deirdre said.

“She’ll be found. It’s only a matter of time,” Conor said, reassuringly.

“How’s the rest of the pack?” Kendra asked.

“Fine, I guess. Most still don’t agree with your treaty with the knights and mages but some of them are coming around. I thought it was a mistake at first too, but Carson and George are actually good company, once they got past the fact that I’m a werewolf,” Deirdre explained. “George will even use his magic to build sandcastles for Pat sometimes. You should see Pat’s eyes just light up.”

“I’m glad things are starting to smooth out now,” Kendra replied.

“It was a great idea,” Conor told her as he rubbed the small of her back, his hand even going underneath her shirt. Kendra wriggled away from his inappropriate groping and shot him a questioning look. The only response she got was a vague shrug and a weird look in his eyes.

Deirdre looked at Conor, took a quick sniff in Kendra’s direction, and then started laughing.

“Uh…what’s so funny?” Kendra asked.

“Oh, you’ll find out. I’m sure,” Deirdre replied, giggling some more. She stepped in and gave Kendra and then Conor a hug. “Will I see you guys at the mansion tonight? Your dad’s cooking, Conor.”

“Maybe we’ll just grab some take out then. If you were smart, you’d do the same. Dad’s been known to burn water, so be careful,” Conor advised as his hand reached over to caress Kendra’s back again. This time, his fingertips found their way underneath the tops of her black dress pants. Kendra jerked like she’d been shocked and smacked Conor on the shoulder.

“Stop that! I work here,” she hissed.

Conor didn’t look apologetic at all. In fact, as he looked at her, she could see a burning lust lurking in the backs of his eyes.

Deirdre watched them and laughed softly again as baby Pat gooed and gawed incessantly, smiling the whole time. She turned and was about to leave when something made her pause. She turned around and looked questioningly at Kendra.

“Do you feel that?” Deirdre asked.

Kendra didn’t respond, but she didn’t have to. It was written all over her face. Conor’s too. They both felt it.

Every instinct Kendra had was screaming fiercely at her.

Something was coming.

She turned and searched the cafeteria. She didn’t find anything out of the ordinary but when her gaze swept over Jenna and Felix; she could tell they felt something too. Both of them had gotten up and were walking over.

“There’s something in the air,” Conor said, his voice gruff. He narrowed his eyes and searched the building.

“It’s some kind of magic,” Felix said when he got to them. He closed his eyes for a moment and breathed in and out in measured, controlled breaths. “Ancient, very powerful magic. More powerful than anything I’ve ever felt before.”

“Should we be worried?” Jenna asked.

As soon as the words were out of Jenna’s mouth, all the bustling, busy, and loud people in the cafeteria went completely still. Each one froze, like they all decided as one to impersonate statues.

“What’s going on?” Kendra asked, worried.

“I think we’re under attack,” Deirdre commented. She hugged Pat closer to her, trying to offer what protection she could.

“As sharp as ever, sister,” a voice rang out.

They all turned toward the far side of the cafeteria to a pair of double doors that led out onto the patio. A figure stood silhouetted there, her back to the midday sunshine.

“Deanna,” Deirdre growled. She reached around and undid the baby backpack. She kissed the top of Pat’s head and then turned to Felix. “Hold my baby.”

Felix gaped at her, shocked.

“Hold…?” he asked, dumbfounded as Deirdre slid the straps over his shoulders and buckled the baby in.

“You let anything happen to him, I’ll kill you,” Deirdre commented. Then she turned and exploded into her wolf form, bits of her clothes still clinging to her reddish fur.

“Now, now sister, control your temper. We haven’t even started the festivities yet,” Deanna admonished.

Deirdre howled and charged forward. Her massive form weaved around tables cluttered with statue-like humans and barreled completely through the empty ones in her eagerness to rip Deanna’s throat out.

“Deirdre, stop!” Kendra shouted, her voice ringing with authority.

The giant red wolf suddenly halted in her tracks, her claws scraping and scratching over the tiled floor. She came to a stop about ten feet away from Deanna.

Deirdre’s huge wolf head turned around, her luminous amber eyes glowing with rage and hate.

“Get back over here, now!” Kendra commanded.

The big wolf obviously tried to resist the urge to obey Kendra, but in the end, she failed. She stalked back over to her Alpha’s side and shifted back into her human form. She turned to Kendra, anger and rage twisting her usually beautiful features.

“Why’d you do that?” Deirdre asked.

“Because it was obviously a trap,” Kendra replied, calmly. She shrugged out of the shirt she was wearing over her halter top and handed it to Deirdre so she could cover herself up.

“I could’ve taken her, and you know it,” Deirdre replied, still not wanting to let go of her anger.

“I see Kendra’s quite the smart little cookie,” Deanna mocked, walking further into the cafeteria. “Hello Kendra, dear. We haven’t formally met but I believe you’ve heard of me?”

“What are you doing here?” Kendra said.

“Under orders. You see, you’ve managed to piss off a very powerful, scary person. Not really your fault, though. It’s because of where your blood comes from. Quite unlucky to have had Merle Bane as a father,” Deanna explained. “She doesn’t just want you dead, Kendra, she wants to unravel you. She wants to make you suffer and suffer until you are begging for death.” Deanna paused for a moment, glancing around the room. “I think I’ll start the torture by killing every last human in this disgusting place. Of course, you can spare them by surrendering yourself to me.”

“You won’t last two seconds against us,” Jenna yelled. “You really think you have the power to make good on your threat all by yourself?”

“It was stupid of you to come here, Deanna,” Conor added.

Kendra would have agreed, except she knew Deanna wasn’t that stupid. A cold feeling washed through her body as Deanna’s lips twisted into a cruel, vicious smile.

“Did I mention the nice benefits package from my employer?” Deanna asked sarcastically. “Silly me. I must’ve forgotten.”

She stepped forward slightly and lifted up her right hand, the palm facing them.

“Shit,” Jenna hissed.

Conor sucked in a breath of shock.

Kendra growled, her mouth pulled into a vicious snarl.

Sitting in the middle of Deanna’s palm was a three-spiraled, red tattoo.

“The alpha mark,” Kendra whispered.

Elijah sat at his desk, poring over business reports, projections, and sales sheets when he felt the first stirrings of magic hit him. He stiffened. His back turned rigid and his hand clenched into a white-knuckled fist.

He looked up as a swirling whirlwind of sand appeared in the middle of his office only to coalesce into the form of a thin man wearing a designer three-piece suit. He had a pointed silver goatee with grey hair styled professionally.

“Abraham?” Elijah asked. “What’s going on?”

“Something breeched the building’s defenses,” Abraham responded. “I came to warn you.”

“Do we know by who or what?” Elijah responded, getting up from his chair and heading over to a full-sized, disturbingly real, suit of armor sandwiched between two bookcases.

He reached behind the suit to a hidden button on the wall and pressed it. The armor suddenly slid back and to the right soundlessly, revealing a small hidden room. White lights came on and revealed roughly fifty different weapons ranging from handguns to ridiculously huge broadswords. There were even a few grenades inside. Elijah went inside and came out with a Glock in his left hand and a gleaming broadsword with a well-worn leather hilt in his left.

He turned and looked at Abraham, waiting for an answer.

“At this point, all we have are conjectures. None of them good,” the mage replied.

“Where is the breach’s point of origin?” Elijah asked.

“From what I can tell, the cafeteria.”

Elijah was in the middle of buckling the huge sword onto his hip. He looked up, his eyes narrowed.

“Kendra,” he said. “She went down there ten minutes ago.”

“We’ve gotten reports that she was abducted last night. It seems someone came to finish the job,” Abraham commented.

“Jenna told me about it this morning and Kendra asked me some questions about goblins. Apparently, someone was commanding the pair that kidnapped her. This, as you know, is practically unheard of. Goblins are not easily controlled.”

Elijah holstered the gun and started walking toward the doors to his office, Abraham following behind. He pushed them open and went into the hallway beyond.

Natalie sat at her desk, her hands hovering motionlessly over her keyboard. Her eyes were focused on the computer screen. She wasn’t moving at all. Elijah spent a couple of seconds trying to snap her out of whatever trance she was in but it did little good. Eventually, he gave up and went into his firm’s main room. Every single person there was as still as Natalie and in various poses of whatever they had been doing at the time the spell hit.

There was Johnny Milligan laughing soundlessly on the phone.

Janice Tompkins and Anna Banowitz were discussing thumbnails of various logo concepts.

Jong Ok Lee was writing code for a website.

Monica Smith was drawing different versions of a tiger mascot.

Tyler Dawson was clearly turning on the charm for Carrie Vega.

Carrie Vega loved every frozen minute of Tyler’s attentions.

Everywhere they looked, people were just…stuck.

“What is this?” Elijah asked, waving one hand in front of Jong Ok’s face.

“It appears to be a massive immobilization spell. The amount of energy needed to pull something like this off is staggering,” Abraham responded.

“Why aren’t we affected by it?” Elijah inquired. He pushed through the doors which led into the hallway outside Bishop Media Solutions’ offices.

“From what I can tell, you aren’t affected because whoever cast the spell doesn’t want you to be. I’m not because I am currently expending valuable energy to shield myself. The question is why does our mystery attacker want you walking around?” Abraham countered.

“Let’s go find out,” Elijah answered.

He pushed open the door to the stairwell.

“Very good, Kendra,” Deanna mocked. She acted like she was talking to a child. “I wonder. Did anyone tell you that not all wolf packs fight to protect humanity? Some of them, the ones that are more fun if you ask me, have indulged in their more…. basic natures.”

Deanna’s eyes were intense and filled with anticipation.

“My employer was kind enough to present me with the opportunity to kill the alpha of one of those packs,” Deanna told her. “There’s nothing better than killing, Kendra. To have blood soaking my claws and fangs. Of feeling the rush after I gulp it down. Killing an alpha is like that, only on a much bigger scale. His pack was little more than animals. They preyed on anything with a heartbeat. They’re feral, ferocious, and quite lovely. What more could a girl want?”

As soon as she was done talking, fourteen people filed into the cafeteria and stood next to her. They all looked dangerous and wild. Their eyes glittered with insanity.

Kendra stared hard at Deanna, her hands clenched. She could feel that immense swirl of energy whirling around inside of her, eagerly waiting for her to release it.

“Then what are you waiting for? I’m right here, Deanna. Come and get me,” Kendra snarled.

She finally let the power warring inside her take control. Her body expanded and fur sprouted out of her skin. Her mouth and nose elongated into a wolf’s muzzle while her mouth filled with fangs. Her eyes pulsed and glowed with amber fire. She reached up with a clawed hand and ripped her torn clothes off as the alpha state transformed her from a beautiful woman into a terrifying monster.

“In due time, dear girl,” Deanna laughed. “I’m just waiting on the last guest. Another one that has irritated my employer.”

As if on cue, Elijah and Abraham burst into the cafeteria from the building’s main lobby. Elijah had his broadsword in one hand, the silver so bright it practically glowed.

Abraham was poised and ready, his eyes glowing a steady, constant green. His head flicked in the direction of Deanna and without another thought, he thrust out a hand. A chunk of concrete underneath the wood flooring was ripped out of the ground with a hideous screeching sound and launched itself at the woman.

Deanna laughed riotously as the projectile came hurtling toward her. Her eyes flashed bright yellow. She slashed a clawed hand through the air as the concrete got closer and closer to her. Her hand connected with it and the cement chunk shattered into dozens of smaller bits and a cloud of dust exploded into the air.

“Come on now. Is that the best you got?” she asked, mockingly.

“Well, at least the real fun can start now. Welcome to my party, Mr. Bishop. I’ve been waiting for you. I hope you didn’t think your crafty pet could help you get out of this building alive.” She turned and looked at the rest of the group. “Or any of you. They can’t help you. No one can. All of you will die. And, my lovelies, it will be very painful.” Her eyes went to Kendra next and her smile widened. “Except you of course, dear. Your end will be much slower and more...torturous. I have my orders on that regard. But I’m sure it will be so very exciting to watch all your friends writhing as their blood gushes from their torn throats.”

“Has she always been this crazy?” Jenna asked Deirdre.

“Never this bad,” Deirdre replied.

“Destroy them! Kill everyone!” Deanna shouted. Her voice morphed into a howl as her body exploded into a giant, blonde-haired wolf that charged through the cafeteria, intent on ripping anything human apart.

The other fourteen people shifted too and let out simultaneous howls of their own. They ran toward whatever unfortunate people happened to be the closest to them.

“Protect as many people as you can,” Kendra said, her voice deep and frightening.

Conor morphed into his hybrid wolf features. He let out a roar and ran full out toward a tawny-haired werewolf. It was getting ready to tear into a table full of motionless people. It leaped into the air; its insanely long claws stretched out. Saliva dripped from its open maw and its eyes gleamed. Conor hurtled into it when the wolf came within inches of striking one of the humans. He wrapped his arms around its torso in mid-air and slammed it into the ground, putting all of his strength and effort into the hit. The wolf whined piteously as its ribs creaked and then snapped with loud cracking noises. Then Conor slashed at it with his claws, his mind lost in a berserker rage of fury and battle lust. Blood sprayed out as his claws tore through major arteries.

He could feel that blood soaking his face and clothes…and he loved every minute of it. Part of his mind cried out in horror and screamed at him to stop but it was lost in a haze of red.

“Conor!” he heard someone yell his name. It evoked the humanity lurking in his soul and he snapped out of his trance. He looked around and spotted Jenna and Felix (who was still holding Pat Jr.) coming toward him.

“Snap out of it!” Jenna yelled.

“We need you focused,” Felix added.

Conor gave them a shaky nod. He took a breath, trying to center himself. Then his head jerked up and he abruptly came at the two of them with his claws out.

Jenna’s gun sprang to her hand like magic, its barrel pointed at a spot dead center on Conor’s forehead. Felix’s eyes widened in fear and he hurriedly whipped up a cyclone of wind around his slight frame. The baby gurgled happily as the playful wind tugged at his sparse hair and the clothes he was wearing.

Before the two could react, however, Conor squeezed between them and jabbed his claws into a black-furred wolf sporting numerous scars. It was less than a foot away from Jenna and Felix and was just about to rip into them with fangs and claws.

Conor let out a grunt of effort, lifted it up, and then threw it into a wall. The wolf smashed against it and crumpled to the ground.

“You’re welcome,” Conor said to Felix and Jenna, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

Felix abruptly thrust out a hand and sent a spinning disc of compacted air sailing forward. Jenna’s pistol barked out three loud shots. Then a thud sounded from behind Conor. He turned his head to look and found a still-twitching wolf lying in a pool of its own blood.

“You’re welcome,” Jenna had a self-satisfied smile on her pretty face. “Now let’s go.”

Conor gave her a slight nod and then took off, heading for his next target.

He fought hard to control his darker side. The smell of the blood around him was…hard to deal with. It brought back flashes of past memories he preferred stayed buried forever.

He tried to push those thoughts out of his mind. Felix was right. He had to be focused.

Kendra needed him.

Elijah’s first instinct when the insane wolves attacked was to run to Jenna and try to protect her, but he knew that was foolish. His daughter was a full-fledged member of the Order of the Defaeco Knights. It was something she had sought to obtain, completely on her own, since she was old enough to know the stories. She’d gone through extensive training. She went through the hours-long process of desensitizing herself to the natural fear all humans have of the kinds of creatures they fight. It was one of the more brutal trials of being a knight, but she had handled it with surprising ease. His daughter’s immense force of will simply refused to bow down to fear. He knew she could take care of herself.

The frozen, defenseless humans on the other hand, were a different matter altogether. They had no way to protect themselves and so they had to be his first priority. It was, after all, why he had become a knight in the first place. To protect those who didn’t have the means to protect themselves.

“Try to contact the Order, Abraham. Do whatever you have to do to get through to them. We need backup and we need it now! I’m going to bring as many of these beasts down as I can,” Elijah ordered.

“They’ll tear you apart!” Abraham argued.

“Just go!” he yelled as his silver sword whipped out in a broad arc. The tip cut a line across a charging wolf’s face, slicing open part of its skull and one of its eyes. The wolf’s roar of pain was loud, but not loud enough for Elijah to miss the satisfying sound of its flesh burning from the silver in his sword.

Another one attacked right on the heels of the first, but he lopped off a chunk of its muzzle right before his other hand shot a semi-automatic pistol filled with silver bullets directly into its face. It slumped to the ground and didn’t get back up.

The air stank with the smell of burnt fur.

Elijah waded into the fray, trying to get closer to his daughter, Kendra, and the rest. The wolves, however, weren’t making it easy. They circled him at one point. One would come at him, its jaws snapping viciously. While he tried to fend that one off, another would attack him from the back. He gained several slashes to his legs and his back before he threw down a flash grenade while covering his eyes.

The whole cafeteria lit up with bright light and the wolves howled in pain. With his vision unimpeded, Elijah was able to pick off each of the three wolves threatening him. He put a bullet in two of their heads and lopped the third one’s off with his broadsword.

Before he could even catch his breath, another wolf launched itself at him. Elijah got off a hurried shot but the bullet went slightly wide. Instead of hitting the creature in its head, it just blew off a chunk of its ear. Elijah backed up as the werewolf slashed at him with its claws. Its slightly yellowed fangs dripped thick lines of slobber onto the floor.

Its claws dug into the floor, then it let out an ear-splitting roar and sprang forward. It slashed with claws or threatened him with its snapping maw, but Elijah dodged each attack or blocked them with his sword. The wolf, however, was amazingly strong. It was only a matter of time before either the claws or the fangs were going to find their mark.

It retreated a few steps and then launched into an even more frenzied attack. Its massive claw-tipped paws were so fast they were little more than blurs.

To his credit, Elijah managed to deflect 90% percent of them, his movements fluid and graceful. But that remaining 10% finally became too much. He was bleeding from several slash and bite marks, most of them deep and very painful. The loss of blood was sapping his energy and it became increasingly difficult to keep his focus.

Sensing the weakness in its prey, the werewolf went in for the kill.

Elijah wearily watched the thing come at him, both hands gripping the hilt of his sword. Somewhere along the way, his gun had been knocked out of his hand. He didn’t remember how or when that happened.

When the werewolf was about three feet from Elijah, it jumped at him, intending to bear the knight to the ground and sink its fangs into his neck.

Elijah yelled out harshly, his screams rising above the sounds of battle.

Jenna heard her father’s cries and turned to look at him.

“Dad!” Jenna shouted just as a wolf jumped at him.

Abraham retreated to a much quieter section of the cafeteria. He needed a lot of concentration for the spell he was attempting. He wasn’t even sure he could do it. He had to spend most of his valuable energy warding off the spell that was keeping everyone in a continued state of suspended animation. On top of that, whoever was creating that spell was incredibly powerful. Their magic was like a blanket made out of titanium that was reinforced with carbon fiber. It was hard to get his magic to punch through.

But he would give it his all.

He closed his eyes, tuning out the distracting sounds around him. He focused on the magic welling up inside of him. The very power of the earth itself. Immeasurable. Infinite. It was as steady as a mountain. It was as strong and unyielding as a diamond. It was life.

A series of low growls brought him out of his meditations. He slowly opened his eyes, his heart rate speeding up a bit. He’d undergone the knights’ desensitizing training too, but he’d never quite lost that primal fear of monsters that humans had been born with since the dawn of time.

He gulped noticeably, his sharp Adam’s apple bobbing up and down. His hooked nose twitched.

“Stay back,” he told them, waving his arms in front of him. His hands were glowing. Then the light traveled up both of his arms.

The wolves looked frightened for a couple of seconds, but their need to kill overrode their common sense. They came at Abraham all at once.

“I warned you,” he muttered.

He slammed his open hands onto the ground. The green light he had wreathing both arms seeped into the cafeteria floor. Veins of that same colored light flowed through it for a second or two before large, deadly spikes sprang out like a twisted mind’s version of a Jack-In-The-Box.

All the wolves trying to attack him were impaled and left there to wail out their pain.

Abraham turned his back on them and returned to what he’d been doing, trying to go a little bit quicker this time.

With any luck, I can get through to someone before I become puppy chow, he thought to himself.

Already he could hear other wolves coming toward him.

He shoved those thoughts out of his mind. Instead, he concentrated on what he needed to do. He let his magic build and build until the spell was sufficiently strong enough, in his estimation, to breach the blanket of magic covering the building.

With a string of archaic words, he let the spell flow out of him.

There was a brief second of weakness followed by a bout of nausea, but that was something Abraham had grown used to. It was a side-effect of wielding magic. One of the greatest rules of using magic was that energy couldn’t be created from nothing. It had to come from somewhere. For mages, it came from the element they were in tune with. Air. Fire. Water. Earth. When that wasn’t enough, the mage could draw on the energy from deep inside of themselves.

It was a risky move. If you took or used too much, then you died.

As simple as that.

Game over.

Abraham knew enough to not let it get that far, however.

He reached out with his senses and felt the magic of his spell hit the magic barrier. He thought all was lost when it appeared his magic wouldn’t be strong enough to break free. He felt agonizing defeat. He pushed harder, though, using every bit of power he could muster, from the strength and unflinching power of the earth to the well of energy inside himself. He came very close to the point of no return and just as his vision started to dim, he felt his spell break free.

He breathed roughly for a second or two, his head dizzy.

Good, Abraham said to himself with a feeling of pride.

“It’s done,” he shouted to Elijah.

But Elijah didn’t hear. A wolf landed on the big man’s shoulders and chest, bearing him to the ground. Abraham lost sight of him. There were too many people and too many tables for him to get a clear look.

“Elijah!”

Abraham sprinted over, running as fast as he could.

Kendra didn’t see where her friends went. She heard a couple different commotions as several battles broke out. She forced herself to concentrate on what was really important. Taking Deanna down. With their alpha incapacitated or dead, the other wolves would be weak. They would scurry back to their holes with their tails between their legs. Kendra was more than happy to help with that.

For Merle. For Merrick. I’m gonna kill you, bitch, Kendra thought. The dagger-like claws on her feet dug inch-deep gouges into the wooden floors while her bright, amber hued vision picked out Deanna in exact detail.

“You’re going to think twice about attacking me here, Deanna. I promise you that,” Kendra said. Her voice came out harsh and terrifying.

Deanna didn’t respond. She was already in her wolf form. It was huge. Much, much bigger than the other werewolves that Kendra had become accustomed to. Becoming an alpha made a werewolf stronger, faster, bigger, and exceptionally deadlier. As if that weren’t enough, it also made their pack 100% loyal to them. They would obey orders without question. They would die to protect their alpha. And they would viciously attack any and all threats. On top of that, Deanna had specifically killed the alpha of a bunch of blood-hunger-driven psychopaths. They would attack her friends and the humans in the cafeteria with narrow-minded focus until either everyone in the place was dead or they were killed or crippled themselves.

It wasn’t a situation Kendra wanted to be in, but she was an alpha. She was a leader and she wasn’t going to let some crazy bitch with a gang of lunatic werewolves come in and take her or her wolves out.

Kendra let out a howling roar that echoed through the room. The rushing energy inside her filled her entire body with unbridled power. This might not have been a battle that she’d sought out, but she sure as hell was going to finish it.

Kendra and Deanna ran at each other almost at the same time. They collided in the middle of the cafeteria in a titanic boom of noise and sound. Both of their claws flashed out and it quickly became apparent they were pretty well-matched.

For the first ten minutes, no one was able to draw any blood. Kendra would block an attack and then lash out with her own, only to have Deanna stop it cold. Then Deana would explode toward Kendra in a flurry of barely visible slashes and snapping bites that were batted away by Kendra.

The minutes ticked by with no one being able to best the other until Deanna actually managed to draw blood on Kendra. She went straight for Kendra, snarling viciously. At the last second, she dashed to the left side and swiped out a huge paw. Her claws sliced into Kendra’s thigh. Kendra went down on one knee as pain flared up in her left leg. She could feel the familiar itch of her body healing itself already, but it wasn’t fast enough.

As soon as Kendra went down, Deanna jumped onto her back, her claws digging through fur, skin, and muscle. Her muzzle snapped down on the side of Kendra’s neck and bit down. Immediately, blood began to flow, and Deanna felt it sing through her veins. Her body flushed with an overwhelming sensation of warmth and vitality as the predatory instincts of her wolf nature overrode everything else. The only thing she cared about was killing and guzzling down more of her prey’s precious blood and flesh. She needed it, not just wanted it.

And she would have it.

Kendra fought hard to throw Deanna off her back, but the bitch-wolf was tenacious. Her teeth were clamped onto her neck and shoulder with the crushing strength of a crocodile and her claws were buried a couple inches deep into the muscles of her back. The harder Kendra tried to shake her off, the harder Deanna dug in.

She felt her body losing more and more blood. And the more she lost, the weaker she got.

She gave one more enormous effort but instead of simply trying to shake Deanna off, Kendra decided to go a different route. She bent down, the muscles of her legs bunching up. The pain in her thigh was already gone, but her neck, shoulders, and back were riddled with more injuries. She could feel each one’s pain as if they were all clamoring for attention, but she ignored them.

When she was ready, she hurled herself straight up into the air. The two of them rose a good eight or nine feet before gravity set in and they started coming back down.

Deanna was lost to her blood hunger and was barely aware of what was going on. She was gulping blood and chunks of flesh down her throat and was only vaguely conscious of the fact that Kendra had even jumped into the air. If she had more control over her blood hunger, she would’ve jumped to safety. Instead, Kendra let her body go almost completely horizontal. With the added weight of Deanna on her back, it wasn’t all that difficult. Picking up speed, they both hit the unforgiving floor a couple of seconds later. Kendra let out a yelp of pain as the claws in her back dug in even deeper. She could feel them working their way through her muscles and it was probably one of the most horrifyingly painful experiences of her life.

But whatever pain Kendra felt, Deanna got it about twenty times worse. The full, crushing weight of Kendra’s massive alpha state landed squarely on her. The air rushed out of her lungs while most of the bones in her body snapped like dry twigs. A fragment of her ribcage tore a massive gouge through her heart. The bones in her muzzle shattered and several teeth popped out. They clattered onto the floor when Kendra got up.

Deanna lay there, gasping for air, whining pitifully. Blood oozed out of multiple wounds. Her legs were bent in unnatural positions and her eyes were glazed over. Her wolf form slowly melted away until a naked and mutilated woman emerged.

Despite all of her horrific wounds, however, Deanna was still alive.

Kendra’s sharp ears could already pick out the familiar creaking and popping sounds of Deanna’s body healing itself. Each broken bone popped back into place. The tear in the heart mended itself. The broken off piece of rib traveled back to its rightful place as if drawn by a magnet. In a few seconds, Deanna would be up and fighting again.

But Kendra wasn’t about to let that happen.

She stalked over to the fallen woman, her footsteps loud. Her clawed nails dragged across the floor. She stopped next to Deanna’s prone, inert body and reached down with a massive hand, grabbing her by the neck. Deanna mumbled weakly, her blonde hair matted with blood and grime. It hung in clumps across her face. Her eyes fluttered open and widened slightly in fear.

Kendra could smell it. And it made the howling beast inside her rush forward. Her hand squeezed tightly, the claws digging into Deanna’s neck. She let out a high-pitched scream of pain but then she started laughing.

Kendra yanked her closer, her giant head and glowing yellow eyes only a few inches from Deanna’s.

“You’re done,” Kendra snarled. “I beat you. So why are you laughing?”

Deanna tried to speak but the only thing to come out was a series of gurgling, choked sounds and more amused laughter. Kendra let her grip ease somewhat. Just enough so Deanna could talk.

“Try again,” Kendra commanded.

“So…focused on…d-destroying me,” Deanna said, her voice barely above a whisper. A smile broke out on her face, showing off her blood-stained teeth. “Didn’t realize how…the fi-fight…goes for your friends.”

Jenna lowered her pistol as Conor gave her a slight nod of thanks. She watched him run off, feeling slightly worried. She could see the pain of trying to fight the blood hunger written clearly on his face. But she couldn’t worry about that now. Right now, she had to protect the innocent people around her.

People that were completely defenseless.

Jenna had known, of course, of the blood-thirsty packs roaming the world. Strangely enough, there were relatively few of them. Driven insane by their blood hunger, these dangerous packs would kill any living thing they came across. And the ones Deanna had brought along seemed worse than most. They looked more than eager to slaughter a building full of people.

“You ready?” Jenna asked, casting a glance behind her to where Felix was standing, his face stern.

Jenna could see the fear there, but he was getting better at pushing it away. He gave her a firm nod of his head, his eyes glowing bright blue for a second. Felix had barely passed his own fear trial back in training and Jenna was worried about him. Pat Jr. sat across the mage’s chest, sitting happily in the baby backpack contraption.

“You better not let anything happen to that baby either. If you do and these guys don’t kill you, Deirdre will. And I don’t think you want to find out what a pissed off mommy wolf can do to a human body,” Jenna said, smiling broadly.

“Thanks for that. As if I wasn’t worried enough already,” Felix commented dryly.

“She’s right. I’ll tear your head off,” Deirdre responded as she ran up next to Jenna. “And that will happen if he gets so much as a scratch. Just imagine what I’ll do to you if you let him get hurt or killed.”

“Seriously you two? Give it a rest,” Felix replied, fully irritated now. The fear he’d been showing gave way to anger. “I got this, ok? I realize the baby’s your kid, but that doesn’t give you the right to threaten me. Besides, you’re the one that dumped him on me in the first place.”

Pat Jr. laughed happily, clapping his little baby hands together.

“It’s because you’re just so trusting, mage,” Deidre replied with a smile. And then she winked at him.

“Uhh…ok,” Felix replied, his cheeks blushing somewhat. Deidre was, after all, extremely attractive and women that good-looking didn’t generally wink at him.

Jenna laughed and edged closer to Felix.

“I think somebody likes you,” she whispered.

“Really?” Felix asked, completely serious, which drew a hearty laugh from Jenna. The red in his cheeks deepened when he realized that she was just screwing with him. “Why do you always have to mess with me?”

“Cuz it’s so easy,” Jenna responded.

“Are you two going to joke around all day or are you going to fight?” Deidre said with her head tilted back so she could look at them.

“After you,” Jenna told her. “After what happened last year, I think you deserve first crack at them. Go. Vent.”

Deidre gave her a nod, a half-smile on her lips. She turned away from them as the beast inside her emerged. A few seconds later, she was a beautiful wolf with reddish fur. She ran headlong into a cluster of werewolves that were running toward a table of frozen humans. She fought savagely, ripping and slashing with teeth and claws.

Jenna stared in awe for a few seconds, appreciating Deirdre’s savage beauty. Then she went over to the table where they’d been sitting before all hell broke loose and rummaged through her designer purse. She ripped open a secret compartment and pulled out an eight-inch knife made of pure silver and a new clip full of silver bullets for the gun she still carried. It wasn’t much, but it was better than nothing. If she knew she’d be facing down a werewolf pack, she would’ve brought more effective weapons.

“You gonna be ok?” Jenna asked Felix.

He gave her a silent nod. Pat Jr. stared blankly at her.

“I’ll do what I can from here. I’m not taking the baby into that mess though,” Felix told her.

“Stay safe,” Jenna told him, serious now.

“I’ll do my best,” Felix replied with a small smile.

Jenna turned away from him and headed toward the nearest werewolf. There were two close by, both of them salivating as they eyed a bunch of humans. They started loping forward with unnatural speed.

Jenna wasn’t worried. She knew the focus of their attention was on their next victims, instead of on the immediate threat of a Defaeco Knight heading toward them. Jenna used that to her advantage. She stopped running and brought up her gun. It didn’t have the take down power of most of the guns she owned, but it would get the job done if she hit the beast in the right spot.

One of the werewolves was about three or four paces in front of the other, its huge, luminous eyes locked onto the tasty morsels directly in front of it. If it knew Jenna was there at all, it didn’t act like it.

Which was fine with her.

She pulled the trigger. The gunshot was lost in the sounds of battle erupting throughout the cafeteria, but the effect was immediate. The bullet entered the lead werewolf’s skull, right below its left eye socket. Due to its lack of power, the bullet didn’t exit out the other side. Instead, it careened around the inside of the creature’s skull, the silver searing and destroying its brain.

The werewolf crashed to the floor, its entire body going suddenly limp. It died almost instantly. The werewolf that was trailing behind got tangled up in the first werewolf’s abruptly lifeless body and crashed to the floor as well.

As soon as Jenna fired the shot, she started running again. She’d only been a couple yards away from the second werewolf when it tripped and fell. She managed to get in front of it and watched as it tumbled directly toward her. As soon as it was a foot away, she did an aerial cartwheel over it, her gun pointed down. She pulled the trigger twice, shooting directly into the wolf’s head, and watched it go limp and crash into an empty table.

Jenna landed on one knee and quickly sprang back up, looking for her next fight.

It found her first.

A werewolf roared from right behind her. She turned around but it was already too late. Before she could get away, it was on top of her, its enormous size and strength bringing her to the ground hard enough to knock the wind out of her. She screamed breathlessly, her body going into panic-mode as she fought hard to get air back into her lungs. Her weapons fell out of her hands and she was completely defenseless.

A blast of violent wind caught hold of the wolf and flung it into a wall. It collided with the drywall and a puff of dust flew into the air.

Jenna got to her feet, feeling somewhat shaky. She picked up her weapons and looked around. She caught sight of Felix, his face a little red and sweaty from the exertion and gave him a slight nod. He returned it and went back to devastating whatever members of the rival wolf pack he could with his magic.

A sudden noise rose up, even louder than the chaotic sounds around her. It was the piercing cry of someone in pain.

Jenna’s blood ran cold as she recognized it. It was her father.

Her head jerked toward where she the sound came from. She saw a wolf jump on him and bear him to the ground.

“Dad!” she yelled.

The first wolf was quickly followed by more. She counted four, possibly five, of them jumping onto him. He put up a huge struggle, but eventually, his strength gave out and she couldn’t see him anymore.

Her heart hammered inside her chest, bouncing off her ribcage. Her mind yelled at her that she was already too late. That he was dead. She refused to believe that, however. She broke into a sprint and hurdled whatever obstacles were in her way. A wolf unwisely decided to block her path, so she shot it without thought. It slumped to the ground with a groan and Jenna jumped over it.

A second later, she reached the pile of wolves that were doing their best to kill her father. She could barely see him, but her heart filled with relief because from what she could see, he was definitely still alive. There was a faint, green glow all around him. When she saw that, she looked to Abraham.

His face was pale and getting paler. Beads of sweat were popping up on his brow. His eyes were concentrating solely on the pile of wolves attacking Elijah.

“Get him out!” Abraham yelled, breathing hard.

Jenna nodded and immediately went to work.

The wolves were trying to bite and slash at Elijah but whenever they did, their fangs and claws would hit that green glow and stop or be turned away completely. It was an impenetrable barrier of Abraham’s magic. That didn’t stop them from trying to get through though.

Most of them were so intent on their current prey they didn’t even recognize a new threat. Two of them, however, did.

Jenna saw their nostrils suddenly go wide. Their ears swiveled toward her direction, as if they were picking up her heartbeat. Or her breathing. They slid off the pile and looked at her, growling sounds coming out of their throats. One had grey fur while the other was a mix of black and brown. Both, however, looked equally eager about prey they could actually sink their teeth into.

“Yeah. That’s right. Come and get it. The Jenna Bishop buffet is now all you can eat, bitches!” Jenna yelled and then crouched into a fighting stance.

The grey-furred wolf launched into an attack followed a second later by the brown-and-black-furred one.

Grey tried to slash at her legs in an effort to immobilize her with one of its huge paws, but Jenna whirled to the side, lashing out with her silver blade at the same time. The paw came off in one clean shot, the air filling with sizzling sounds and the smell of burning fur and flesh.

Grey cried out in agony, its wolf form melting off of it as the pain overwhelmed it. A couple seconds later, a woman that looked like she was in her early thirties sat on the blood-drenched floor, her eyes wide with shock and a loud scream coming out of her mouth. Her ash-grey hair fell across her eyes. The stump of her missing hand started to heal itself over. New skin formed and the bleeding abruptly stopped. A few minutes later and it looked as if she’d been missing her hand for years. Her screams died down and her eyes flashed toward Jenna. They were cold and filled with yellow fire.

“You bitch!” the woman screamed. “You bitch! Don’t you know what you did? Don’t you know what you just did to me?”

Jenna didn’t really care. She had her hands full with Brown/Black, the other wolf left. It was just getting ready to attack when its nostrils went wide again. It stopped suddenly, leaving Jenna confused. Then it turned around and looked at the woman with the missing hand, its eyes full of hunger. It sniffed the air again.

The other wolves, the ones still piled on top of Elijah, smelled the blood too. One by one, they all got off of him, which couldn’t have happened sooner. The green glow surrounding him was growing pale and starting to fail.

Jenna watched as the wolves converged on the woman. She was trying to back away from them, a look of complete terror on her face as she tried to shift back into her wolf form. Before she could fully change, however, the other wolves attacked.

It was one of the most horrific and disgusting sights Jenna had ever witnessed, but she felt no pity. They let the blood hunger in. They let it take control. To them, the woman was weak. And weak equaled prey. She ran over to her father while the wolves were preoccupied with slaughtering one of their own.

He was hurt pretty bad. He had several deep gashes, some bruises, and dozens of other, more minor injuries. But he was still alive. Jenna put an arm underneath his shoulder and helped him up. It was rough. Her father was a big man and built with a lot of heavy muscle, but eventually she was able to get him to his feet.

“Can you walk?” Jenna asked.

“Well enough,” he commented. “Let’s go before they get done with her and come back for us.”

Jenna didn’t respond but started walking with her dad over to where Abraham was. The older mage looked tired and worn out. There were dark circles underneath his eyes and his skin was chalky white.

“Do we have a plan?” Abraham asked, panting.

“Don’t die,” Jenna and Elijah responded together.

Snarls erupted from off to their side and all three turned and looked. The wolves were done devouring the woman and were focused on them again.

And they were coming in fast.

Conor was slashing and hacking his way to where Kendra was fighting Deanna. He left a trail of wounded werewolves behind him. Some of the more severe wounds he inflicted caused the other blood hunger crazy wolves to attack their own. Conor shuddered when he saw that, the ghosts of his past blazing across his memory in painful detail. He shook his head to clear the memories away and continued fighting his way to Kendra.

He was almost to her when a werewolf stepped in front of him. It had beautiful chestnut brown fur. When it saw Conor, it cocked its head to one side, sniffing toward him. Then it changed back into its human form. A slender, brown-haired woman stood looking at Conor, her arms folded across her breasts.

“Conor,” she said.

Conor’s heart beat quicker as he saw her.

“Adriana,” Conor said, his voice quiet.

More memories rampaged through his mind. Memories of a time when he let primal instinct and the thrill of the hunt overcome who he was until there was virtually nothing left. Adriana had been his during those times. He could still remember the…things they did together. But mostly, all he remembered was blood.

“Leave. Get far away from this city and stay away. Don’t force me to kill you.”

Adriana walked seductively toward him. Her hips swayed and her long hair drifted from side to side. There was a sultry look on her face and her lips twisted into a mocking pout. She stopped several inches from him and ran her hand through his dark hair.

“Don’t you remember all the good times we had,” she asked. “Don’t you remember the things you used to say me?”

“That wasn’t me,” Conor replied. He took her hand and shoved it away from him. His claws drew deep scratches through her skin.

Adriana hissed slightly in pain, but she was smiling too. She brought her hand to her mouth and licked the blood from the wounds. Her eyes fluttered slightly.

“You went back, I see. I always wondered what happened to you. One day I woke up and you weren’t there. That…,” she said as her eyes flashed amber and claws sprang out of her fingernails. Her face twisted in sudden rage and she attacked with a vicious blow to the side of his head.Conor lurched to one side, his face a sheet of blood.

“Wasn’t,” Adriana continued, slashing him again. This time she struck the other side of his face.

Conor grunted in pain. His face felt like it was on fire but at the same time it itched like crazy as the wounds sealed themselves shut.

“Nice,” she finished as she rammed her claws into Conor’s gut.

Conor went down on his knees with Adriana’s hand still inside his abdomen. He looked up at her as blood dribbled down his mouth. Then he laughed weakly.

“Why are you laughing?” Adriana hissed, digging into his stomach even deeper.

Conor shouted out in pain before he resumed laughing.

“Tell me!” Adriana yelled. The hand inside him suddenly clenched tightly. Organs, muscle tissue, nerves, and blood vessels were shredded like paper.

Conor started feeling dizzy. His vision blurred and then things went dim. But he heard her. He heard her and he wanted to answer.

“I’m…laughing…” He coughed harshly and spit a wad of blood off to the side. He turned his head back around so he could look her in the eyes. “B-because…you’re as stupid now as you were back then.”

As soon as the words were out of his mouth, Adriana’s eyes went wide. She tried to back away from Conor, but she was too late. He clamped one of his hands around the arm still writhing inside him and surged forward, his other hand gripping the back of her neck painfully. Then he yanked her down, his mouth gaping open. His fangs clamped down onto her slender neck before she could even think to shift into her own wolf form.

Then he ripped her throat out.

Conor felt the blood hit his system like a jolt of electricity. His body and mind cried out at him, screaming one thing over and over again.

More!

He yanked Adriana’s arm out of his stomach and then pounced on her now limp form. He buried his fangs into the devastated ruin of her neck. He wanted so badly to lose himself. He wanted to feel that rush again. He wanted to feel that high. All he had to do was let go.

All he had to do was…

Become a monster again. Lose everything I’ve gained.

Lose Kendra.

It was that last thought that really rang out inside him. While the memories of Adriana were a crushing guilt on top of his soul, Kendra was different. The memories of her were filled with…light. They were filled with happiness.

They were filled with love.

He moved away from Adriana like she was something diseased. The wolf-features on his face and body melted off as the pain of his injuries truly sank in. His face had already healed. The wounds there had been superficial at best. The wound in his stomach, however, was much more extensive. It would take a little time to heal all the way.

He dragged himself over to a table and tried to hoist himself to his feet, but he was too weak. He slumped to the ground, breathing heavily. The gaping wound in his stomach was still pouring out blood but with each passing second, the blood slowed more and more until it was barely a trickle. His vision started to dim until that dimness expanded. Then all Conor saw was darkness.

One of the members of the rival pack suddenly sniffed at the air. It turned its cavernous head and spotted the limp, unconscious form of Conor by the table. Cautiously, as if wary of some trick, the wolf walked over. The smell of blood drew it to Conor like a carcass draws out buzzards.

Deanna laughed harshly, her voice rough and damaged. Flecks of blood and spit flew out of her mouth and splattered across Kendra’s wolf-like face. She could barely breathe and then the hand around her neck tightened even harder. The sensation of Kendra’s claws digging deeper and deeper into the skin and muscle of her neck was unpleasant and painful, but she didn’t care. All she felt was cold joy as Kendra finally realized who the real targets were.

Killing humans was always fun, but watching Kendra be tortured by the deaths of her friends and loved ones? That was worth walking through the fires of Hell to see.

It wasn’t personal. Not really. She wasn’t fond of Kendra Henner. Not after escaping Bendis’ carefully laid plan six months ago. The goddess took her pound of flesh out of Deanna and Deanna still held onto a grudge because of it. But this attack wasn’t about revenge or payback.

It was about fun.

It was about the joy of seeing someone’s soul being crushed firsthand. It was just an added bonus that the someone happened to be Kendra.

“G-go on then, love,” Deanna choked out, her smile widening again. “Kill me. D-do it. G-give in...to the...the beast.” Her breathing was labored now, and her vision darkened. “Let the wo-wolf...take you. I p-promise it will...will be fun. L-let your friends d-die….”

Her voice dropped off as she lost the energy to even finish her sentence. Her body felt strangely weak, which was a sensation she didn’t have a lot of experience with. Her body always felt powerful and strong, even stronger since she had taken the power of an alpha. She didn’t like feeling weak. She could feel the panic start to gnaw on her mind. It ripped and tore at it as the world grew darker and darker.

Kendra could feel the howling voice of the wolf inside her. It snapped at her to end it. To kill. It was hungry. A large part of her was horrified of that wolf. She wanted it to go away and leave her alone. She never wanted to hurt or kill anyone. She knew that if she gave in she would lose her soul in the process. But another part of her mind did want to kill. It was small in comparison, but it was still there. She could feel it inside her like a hideous tumor.

“G-go on then, love,” Deanna choked out. “Kill me. D-do it. G-give in...to the...beast. Let the wo-wolf...take you. I p-promise it will…. will be fun. L-let your friends d-die…”

Kendra still had her hand on Deanna’s throat. She held her off the ground with ease, as if the sadistic bitch didn’t weigh much more than a bag of feathers. Blood flowed down the sides of Deanna’s neck where Kendra’s claws dug in brutally. She pulled Deanna in close. Her muzzle pealed back in a snarl.

“I’m not a beast. I’m not a killer,” she said, disgusted.

She threw Deanna and watched her roll across the floor. She came to a stop when she slammed into a pillar and didn’t move again.

Kendra turned and looked around at the large room. She found her friends in big trouble. The other wolves had them all pinned down. Jenna was with Elijah and Abraham as a group of three wolves spread out in a semi-circle and edged closer to them. They were cautious. Several of them already sported wounds from silver weapons. They learned their lesson the hard way and weren’t anxious for a repeat lecture.

Jenna, Elijah, and Abraham all stood there, facing the wolves and showing no fear. Jenna had a short silver dagger in one hand and a pistol in the other. Elijah hefted a huge broadsword in one hand with ridiculous ease. And Abraham’s hands glowed with soft green light. Sparkles of lighter green drifted into the air and she could faintly feel the ground trembling beneath her feet.

She looked around and found Felix shielding himself, Pat Jr., and Deirdre from a tenacious wolf hell bent on ripping them apart. Arcs of static electricity zapped the brainless werewolf every time it hit the magic shield Felix was using, but it just kept coming back for more and more.

Kendra looked around again, trying to find Conor. Her heart sped up with fear when she couldn’t spot him right away. When she finally did, an icy spike of raw terror filled her mind. He was lying on the floor, not moving. One of the rival wolves was stalking toward him. Anger surged through her, powerful and strong. Her vision went hazy for a second as the emotion burned through her. She fought to rein it in but ultimately it was a losing battle.

So instead, she gave in to it.

She loped over to where Conor was lying on the floor barely breathing. The wolf stopped in its tracks. It swung its enormous head toward her, snarling and growling. Saliva dripped from its fangs and its claws gouged long scratches into the floor. As soon as it saw her, it lunged. It tried to take her out by sheer power alone, but Kendra was too strong for it.

She snagged it out of the air and smashed it into the ground. Then she picked it up and slammed it into the ground again. Then she did it again and again after that, howling with rage the whole time. When she was done with it, she tossed it aside like trash.

She sat there in her alpha state, breathing heavily. Her huge chest bellowed in and out while a growl flowed steadily out of her. She turned to Conor and the anger finally left her. Her alpha state withered away, and her humanity reasserted itself. She ran to him and propped his head on her lap. She was crying harshly and whispered his name several times. At one point she couldn’t hear him breathe anymore. She pounded on his chest.

“Wake up!” she shouted. “Conor! Wake up!”

He groaned slightly as Kendra sat there and watched him like a hawk. He had some really horrible injuries, including one to his stomach that looked like someone had ripped him completely open. It was still bleeding but the bleeding had nearly stopped. She looked around for something she could use to help it along. The only thing she found was a tattered bit of torn cloth from someone who had shifted into their wolf. Kendra folded it as best she could and applied it to the wound. She pressed on his stomach with the makeshift pad.

Conor’s eyes popped open and he let out a muffled yell of pain. He blinked a few times to clear his head and saw Kendra.

“I’m not really into the whole s&m thing babe, but I think I’m willing to make an exception for you.” He laughed which quickly turned into a hacking cough. Flecks of blood flew out and coated his lips and chin.

Yells and shouts filled the cafeteria. Kendra turned and saw the ring of wolves start their final assault on the tired and exhausted group of Jenna, Elijah, and Abraham. They were still up and fighting but Kendra knew they weren’t going to last long. They might be able to take out one, maybe two wolves if they were lucky, but time was not on their side.

Kendra felt a surge of raw power flow through her as the primal energy of her wolf reasserted itself. It was sluggish this time as her own exhaustion took its toll on her. She’d never pushed herself this hard before.

She got up slowly and wobbled from the effort. She breathed, closing her eyes, and then let the wolf out again. Instead of the enormous form of her alpha state, however, she could only manage the polar-bear-sized wolf. Regardless, she bounded over people, tables, and chairs. In less than a minute she was behind the wolves attacking her friends. She grabbed one by the back of its neck with her teeth, picked it up, and threw it into the other two. They crashed and thrashed around, their limbs completely entangling with each other. When they couldn’t get themselves separated, they started snapping and biting one another.

Kendra suddenly roared. The sound was earsplitting which made all the wolves howl with pain. They clawed at their ears and rubbed their heads into the ground. Then she ran for them, her deadly claws swiping through the air. Blood flew out, followed by a yelp of pain. The wolf she just injured went down and she turned back into a wide-eyed girl with dark eyes and hair that didn’t look a day over nineteen. She writhed on the ground and cried.

The other two wolves were cautious now. They came at her from multiple angles, trying to keep her off guard and off balance. One would distract her while the other would attack. It was a tactic Kendra had grown very familiar with and one she’d been expecting. She crouched down and waited for her opportunity.

One wolf snarled and snapped at her. Its luminous yellow eyes were locked on hers. It bared its fangs and lunged in quick little jerks. The other wolf managed to get behind her again and waited for its chance.

Kendra let them believe she was stupid enough to fall for that trick. She let their minds buy into the deception completely. She even threw out a couple swings of her massive paws. She made it just convincing enough to fool them.

Then she sprang her trap.

The wolf behind Kendra jumped at her and tried to sink its claws into her back so it could latch on to her and snap at her neck. She heard the sounds of its muscles bunching. She heard the sound of its breathing quickening. She heard the subtle sounds of its claws scratch against the concrete floor. She heard its heart quicken in anticipation of its attack just seconds before it actually did.

It flew at her so fast that it was nothing but a blur. Despite that, however, Kendra had no trouble dodging it. She dashed to one side and the wolf went past her. Her giant paw flashed out, so fast the wolf had no idea what was happening. She swatted it to the ground and pinned its head to the floor. She could smell its blood as her claws ripped into its skin. It struggled madly to get away. Its limbs flailed around, and it twisted and thrashed its body.

But Kendra was too strong for it.

She held it there with one paw while she growled and bit at the other wolf, who was still trying to run in and either bite her or slash at her.

She let that wolf come at her one final time. When it was close enough, Kendra bounded straight into the air. She came back down on the wolf with the force of a runaway train. She heard bones pop and snap as they broke like dry sticks. Then she slammed her paw into its head. She did it twice more before she was sure it wasn’t getting up again. Then she repeated the process with the other wolf, the one she had pinned. She yanked her claws out of it and droplets of blood fell from their tips, hitting the floor near her feet. Her breaths came out in rugged half-growls as she looked around and surveyed the cafeteria.

There was a lot of broken furniture and damaged tables. There were claw marks almost everywhere. Naked wolves in their human forms were strewn around the place like garbage. Underneath most of them were puddles of blood. They all looked badly hurt. Maybe even dangerously injured, but she could already hear the sounds of various wounds sealing themselves shut or bones snapping back into place.

She turned around and faced Jenna, Elijah, and Abraham. All three looked exhausted and beat to hell.

Kendra shifted back and in moments she was her human self again. Elijah found a jacket someone left on the back of a chair and handed it to her. She took it and put it on.

“Are you okay?” he asked her.

Kendra looked down at herself. She had a couple of scratches and bruises, but they were already starting to heal.

“You could’ve saved me one,” Jenna said with a tired smile.

“Sorry but I was having too much fun,” Kendra replied. She gave Jenna a shaky hug. She smiled lightly and then took off.

“Can you guys make sure no one is hurt?” she yelled behind her as she made her way through the cafeteria to where she’d left Conor. She found him just starting to get up from the floor.

The hideous wound in his stomach was mostly healed now. He had his hand covering it but Kendra could see the blood seeping through his fingers. She put an arm under him and lifted him to his feet.

“Are you gonna make it?” she asked.

“What? This?” he asked, looking down at his stomach. “Just a flesh wound, love.”

“Is it over?” Jenna asked. She half-ran, half-walked up to her and Conor with an exhausted Elijah and Abraham right behind her.

“I think so,” Kendra answered.

“Then why is everyone still like that?” Felix asked as he walked up too, looking at the people still frozen around them. Pat Jr. was draped across his chest and stomach still. The little baby’s cherubic face was smiling and happy.

“A good question. Why aren’t things back to normal?” Deirdre asked. She took Pat Jr. from Felix but not before she gave the mage a quick kiss on his cheek and a whispered thank you.

Both Kendra and Jenna had to stifle laughter when they saw his face turn a bright shade of red.

“Somebody is still maintaining the spell,” Abraham said. His eyes were closed, and his breathing was steady and even. Felix was watching him closely before he closed his eyes too. They opened again a second later and flashed light blue. He glanced at everyone; his eyes filled with fear.

“We need to get out of here. Now,” Felix said. His voice was filled with urgency.

“Why?” Kendra asked.

“Because whoever is behind this spell is coming and they’re almost here.”

“Wrong little mage. I have already arrived,” a woman said. There was a certain smug tone to her voice.

Kendra turned toward the sound of the strange woman’s voice. She found a hauntingly beautiful woman with black hair streaked with grey.

“Well, Bane-blood. You have proven yourself quite tenacious. Irritatingly so in fact. I have gone through so much trouble to arrange your destruction. The least you could do is be gracious enough to cooperate,” the woman said. Her voice was soft and sweet almost. There was a musical quality to it as well that Kendra found very unnerving. “Look at how much fun your brother had after I destroyed everything he was.”

Kendra took that comment in and then almost flew at the strange woman as rage and anger rose inside her. She’d known about Jonah being behind her brother’s fall but to hear the woman say she was the real puppet master caused a surge of raw hatred to boil through her.

Felix actually had to reach out and restrain her. He threw out an arm and wrapped a cocoon of wind around her, binding her and stopping her from going any farther.

“Let me go!” Kendra screamed. Her voice roughened toward the end as it merged and then morphed into the gravelly, hoarse sounds of a beast. Her head whipped around to glare at Felix and her eyes blazed with intense, yellow light. “She destroyed my life. She ruined my family. I’m gonna rip her throat out!”

The woman laughed at Kendra.

“Hardly, child,” the woman responded. She walked a few steps closer to Kendra and then snapped her pale fingers. Instantly, the winds holding Kendra died out and she stumbled forward a bit. She heard Felix let out a gasp of pain.

Without thinking or wondering why Felix was so adamant about stopping her, she leaped forward. Her claws and fangs sprang out. The instincts of her wolf took control and all she could think about was killing the woman.

“Kendra!” Both Felix and Abraham were yelling at her.

She didn’t care.

She was only a couple of feet from the woman. A second later, she halved the distance. Then she was close enough to actually attack. She jumped into the air, her wolf form exploding out of her as she did, and then landed on the woman. The sheer weight and power Kendra had should’ve been enough to bear the woman to the ground.

But it didn’t. She still stood tall and proud. And laughing eerily.

Kendra knew something was wrong but in her current blinding rage, she couldn’t pull back. She just attacked even more. She slashed and bit. She swiped her claws across the woman’s face. She did everything she could think of and more. She kept it up even though she knew it was useless. Finally, her exhaustion overwhelmed her, and she staggered back a bit. That’s when Jenna and Conor stepped in. Or at least they tried to.

“No!” Felix yelled out. He swept a hand out in front of him. A gale force wind slammed into Jenna. It picked her up off her feet and tossed her into her father. Elijah caught his daughter effortlessly and then set her down.

“Get back you fool!” Abraham shouted to Conor. He jerked his fist out only to pull it back quickly. The ground right in front of Conor humped up and then sped quickly at him. It knocked him off his feet and sent him spinning to the ground. “Stay away from her.”

“Why? What’s going on Abraham?” Elijah asked.

Abraham looked at Elijah, his eyes wide and afraid.

Kendra heard her friends. She heard their warnings. She heard them stop Jenna and Conor from coming to help her. She heard all of it, but it was immediately buried under the anger she still felt. She didn’t care that something about the strange woman was scaring the crap out of not one but two powerful mages. She didn’t care about the terror she heard in their voices. She only cared about killing. She only cared about murdering the woman.

“Kendra, stop it! Just stop and look at her. Really look,” Felix shouted.

Kendra was about to attack again, but something in Felix’s tone gave her pause. Her human mind resurfaced, much to the wolf’s displeasure. She focused on the mysterious woman. She stared hard at her marble white skin. She looked at her dark, grey-streaked hair. She looked at her elegant silver blouse and black pants. She even looked at the woman’s expensive, beautiful shoes. At first glance, she had no idea what Felix was talking about. To her, the woman looked like any other.

Looking harder, it suddenly dawned on her.

The woman’s clothes were immaculate. Not one thread was out of place. There were no rips or tears. The woman looked like she was on her way to some upper tier social function. Her hair looked just the same. Her face was calm and unafraid. There were also no wounds. Kendra had hit her with everything she’d had. She even felt her claws slicing through the woman’s flesh, yet she was perfectly fine. Her skin was smooth and unmarred. Even her clothes were fine.

The woman’s eyes flashed with cold, silver light as she smiled broadly.

“You have no idea what you’re dealing with, Bane-blood!” the woman said, her voice quiet and terrifying.

Kendra tried to back up, suddenly unsure of herself. The woman seemed to blink out of existence for a second. When she reappeared, she was standing only inches away from Kendra.

She snapped her fingers again. The sound was impossibly loud.

Without warning, and not by her choice, Kendra shifted back into her human self. She stood there feeling suddenly alone and vulnerable. Her breathing came in harsh, ragged gulps. Panic quickly set in when she realized that no matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t get enough air into her body.

“Breathe, Bane-blood. I’ve only just begun. You’ll ruin all the fun if you faint.” The woman was staring at Kendra intensely.

Kendra was still breathing raggedly. Dark spots seemed to explode across her vision, but despite that she could still see something strange in the seemingly all-powerful woman’s eyes.

Fear.

“W-who are you?” Kendra gasped. The spots seemed to condense into each other, and she was afraid she was about to pass out. A second before she did, though, her lungs started cooperating again. They pulled in sweet air and her heart slowed down a bit as oxygen was restored to her deprived body.

A weird flash of relief swept through the woman’s cold eyes. It was only there for a split second and Kendra almost missed it entirely.

“I believe you would know me by the name Edolie,” the woman replied.

Kendra’s eyes widened.

“Yes. I thought the wolves would fill you in on the history lessons. I am the evil bitch that cursed your grandfather to change into a beast and devour any living creature he came across, including his beloved human family. It was a delicious bit of revenge. I was enjoying it immensely until he met the Old One, who managed to change the nature of the curse. Quite frustrating. But it doesn’t matter now. I’ve moved on. Now the only thing I care about is destroying the lives of his scions. His son, Merle, was always a tricky one. He managed to thwart me for centuries. I was overjoyed to learn that he was murdered by both his son and daughter. A fitting end.”

“I didn’t murder him! He...he...” Kendra’s voice gave out on her as she remembered that horrifying night. The way the knife had scraped against Merle’s bones before sliding into his heart. The way his eyes looked right before he died. She never hurt a single person in her entire life...until that day. “He...made me.”

“Kendra,” Conor whispered. “Get away from her.”

“Don’t listen to her,” Jenna added.

Kendra looked back at them, at her allies. Her friends. They stood only a couple of feet away, their eyes locked on her and Edolie. Elijah took a couple of steps forward, as if he would race out to rescue her.

“Now, now, Mr. Bishop. I will have my fun with you soon enough, no need to be impatient,” Edolie said. She tossed a hand lazily toward Elijah, as if the entire gesture had been beneath her to begin with. He suddenly shouted in pain. His voice was loud and filled with agony. He collapsed to the ground, holding his head as blood streamed out of his nose, his ears, and his mouth. His skin suddenly turned bright red.

“Stop it!” Jenna shouted.

She rushed to her father’s aid but there was nothing she could do. Whatever Edolie was doing to him she couldn’t stop it. The only thing she could do was hold him and watch as he suffered.

“Leave him alone!” Kendra shouted.

Edolie waved her hand again and Elijah let out a breathless sigh. His eyes rolled up into his head and he passed out.

“That, my dear Kendra, is how easy it is for me to kill everyone you care about. In seconds I could rip them all from you.” Edolie walked around Kendra several times. With one long, slender hand she tugged playfully at a lock of Kendra’s hair. Then she leaned in closer and whispered, “And I will. I will take their lives and I promise you, Bane-blood, you will be there every single time I extinguish their pathetic mortal existences.”

Kendra was so angry there were tears in her eyes and her entire body was shaking.

“Maybe I’ll start with your mother,” Edolie continued.

The anger surged even higher when she heard that. It was so bad, she thought she would literally be torn apart. She could feel the wolf inside her fighting to break free. The energy was consuming her, but something else was happening too. Something inside her mind. Something like a wall seemed to crumble and collapse.

And when it did…there was a memory that surfaced.

She was only three years old. She was in the living room of her grandfather’s house. She recognized it immediately. It was just her and her grandfather there. Her mother was gone. So was her father. They’d still been together back then. She remembered that much. The memory was extremely vivid but felt like a dream or maybe a hallucination. She was sitting on the couch next to her grandfather watching cartoons. A doll was on the floor.

Her doll.

It was her favorite doll.

She wanted it.

“Doll!” her three-year-old self exclaimed. “Doll, pease!”

“Go and get it sweetie,” her grandfather had said.

That didn’t make three-year-old Kendra happy. She didn’t want to get up and get it. She tried throwing a fit and crying about it, but her grandfather was adamant. He refused to do something that Kendra could do for herself.

“If you want it, just go and get it,” her grandfather went on. “You’re a big girl n...”

His voice suddenly cut off as if someone had flipped a switch. His eyes went curiously blank. Without saying a word, her grandfather got up, went over to the dollie, picked it up, and then brought it over to his granddaughter who was holding up her hands with a huge smile. Her grandfather sat down awkwardly, his body stiff and jerky.

Kendra hugged her doll as her grandfather’s eyes returned to normal. He blinked a couple of times and then focused on Kendra. He saw the doll, and something changed about him.

He looked almost weary. The muscles in his jaws clenched and unclenched. He gave Kendra a kiss on the top of her head and walked toward the other side of the room. He picked up a phone off the table and dialed a number.

“I need you to come here,” he said. “She’s fine but we need to discuss something. Ok. See you soon.” He hung up the phone and just stared at the wall thoughtfully.

The scene suddenly jumped forward. Now it was dark outside.

Three-year-old Kendra was sitting on the couch kicking her little feet back and forth with a somewhat scared look on her little face. Next to her was her mother, Helen.

It was weird to see her mom as she had been instead of as the wasted shell she currently was. She’d been very beautiful. She was young and looked so vibrant and full of life. Seeing her like that made tears spring to Kendra’s eyes as she watched.

“This won’t hurt honey, but it will make you safe. Ok?” Helen put her hands on the sides of her daughter’s head. “Sleep,” she whispered gently.

Instantly, three-year-old Kendra’s eyes closed, and her breathing settled into the comfortable rhythm of someone sleeping very peacefully. Soft snores came out of her every so often.

“What are you going to do to her?” her grandfather asked with a certain amount of apprehension. “Will it hurt her?”

“I’m doing what I have to in order to keep my daughter safe. Exhibiting these kinds of signs this early will only bring the wrong kind of attention down on her. If there was another way, I would do it in a heartbeat.”

Right at that moment the front door opened. Kendra watched Merle walk in, his face bearing a very real, fatherly concern.

“Is she OK? What happened?” he asked. His head turned to Kendra and Helen. “What are you doing to her?”

His expression quickly shifted from one of concern to one of anger.

“What I have to in order to keep our daughter safe. It’s the only way I can protect her,” Helen responded. “How did you know to come here?”

“I called him,” Kendra’s grandfather said. “He has a right to know.”

“You shouldn’t be here for this,” Helen told Merle. “There’s nothing you can do to make me change my mind. This has to be done if we are to keep her safe.”

“By erasing her memory?” Merle asked. He knew instantly what Helen meant to do. It wasn’t the first time he’d seen his wife use her strange abilities. “That’s your answer?”

Adult Kendra watched the memory unfold but as an outsider. She stood apart from it instead of in it like one would expect. She wasn’t sure how that was possible, but it did allow her to take everything in like she was watching a movie.

She turned her focus on Merle now. It was strange to see her mother but just as strange to see Merle so overtly fatherly. Ever since she’d first met him, all he’d portrayed himself as was a friend. Seeing him in the role of her father left her feeling conflicted all over again about the things she’d said to him moments before he forced her to kill him. On top of that, he looked almost exactly the same. He didn’t look any younger at all.

Kendra suddenly wished she could talk to them both. She desperately wanted answers and advice from real parents that had loved and cared about her. But this was only a memory and nothing more. All she could do was watch.

“There has to be something else. Some other way,” Merle told her. “What if she gets hurt?”

“This will keep her safe. I can keep her abilities locked away, Merle. Don’t make this harder than it needs to be.” She stared at her husband for a second and then turned her back on him. He went to Helen and knelt down beside her. He grabbed her hands gently.

“Let me turn her then. Let me give her the tools she needs to protect herself. No one will be able to hurt her,” Merle said vehemently.

“No,” Helen replied sharply. “Elijah and the other knights will never leave her alone. They’ll never stop looking at her like she’s a monster. Even...” She stopped talking. Tears choked off the rest of what she was going to say. She took a deep, shuddering breath. “This is my decision and it’s final. Kendra will live a long, and normal, human life. It’s already too late for me and for you but it isn’t for her. This is the gift I want to give her.”

Merle stared quietly at his wife while Kendra’s grandfather stood a few paces away, his face stony and without expression. Finally, Merle gave her a slight nod, got up, and then went to stand a few paces away.

“It’s the right thing to do, Merle,” Kendra’s grandfather said. His voice was soft and calm.

“No, it isn’t, Hershel,” Merle replied. “It’s a band aid, that’s all. One day, the band aid will come off. And I can only hope whatever power is underneath it doesn’t come out in a destructive wave.”

Hershel didn’t respond.

They both turned their attention to Helen as she concentrated on what she needed to do. Her eyes were closed and there was a frown-line marring the spot right between her eyebrows.

Her hands still rested on the sides of Kendra’s head.

Kendra watched everything as a passive observer but that didn’t stop the pain of seeing everything she’d lost firsthand. This was a world she knew nothing about. She’d had a real family and they cared about her and truly loved her. And all they wanted was to protect her. Knowing the real truth of why her mother tried to kill her lifted a huge weight off her shoulders. It wasn’t her mother at all. A psychotic fire mage had been controlling her.

What the truth hadn’t done was convince her that her mother actually did love her before all that happened. Seeing it now, live and in person so to speak, was overwhelmingly joyous. It filled her with a rare happiness that she’d never felt much in her life.

She watched her mother get back up but not before she kissed the top of three-year-old Kendra’s head.

“I love you, sweetheart,” she whispered to her daughter. “Always and forever.”

Kendra cried softly when she heard that.

Merle came to stand next to Helen. He pulled her in and hugged her in his huge arms. He grabbed her chin with his thumb and index finger so he could look her in the eyes.

“Are you sure about this?” he asked her.

“It’s done now,” she told him. “She’ll be safe. Can you promise me that? Can you make sure she is always safe?”

“I’ll do whatever it takes, don’t you worry about that,” Merle responded. “Whatever it takes.”

The memory suddenly went dark, like the lights just got turned off and she found herself facing Edolie again.

Edolie took a step back from Kendra as if she just caught some outrageously contagious disease.

“What manner of creature are you?” Edolie asked.

Her voice had a tiny undercurrent of curiosity in it. She’d felt a raw surge of power coming off the girl like she’d never felt before. It had nothing to do with the wolf inside her or with magic. It was something else entirely.

“You will not lay a hand on my mother,” Kendra whispered. “I’ll kill you before I let that happen.”

“You dare threaten me?” Edolie asked. Her eyes flashed with silver white light. “You are nothing to me. All of you. I could snuff out your lives with just a thought.”

“Kendra,” Felix said warningly. “Don’t make her any angrier.”

“Come here, Kendra,” Conor said. He was getting worried now. He didn’t like the anxiousness and fear in both Felix and Abraham. If the mages were scared of Edolie, then it was for a good reason. “Get away from her.”

“Yes, girl. Listen to your mate,” Edolie said, laughing cruelly. “What chance do you really think you have? I am ancient, you pathetic mortal. I am all-powerful!”

Kendra realized something in that moment. Edolie might very well be all powerful. She certainly convinced Kendra of that. But there was definitely one thing she didn’t believe. For all her talk, Kendra didn’t believe that Edolie could “snuff out” her life as easily as she claimed she could. In fact, she was pretty sure the woman couldn’t physically harm her at all. Facts flew through her mind, fitting and piecing themselves together like a puzzle. The attack on her by the goblins. The Jonah incident. Even Merrick himself being used by the fire mage instead of being outright controlled by the so-called all powerful Edolie. These events all had one thing in common…

Edolie had used someone else to do Kendra actual, direct harm.

Which meant...

For some reason, she can’t touch me herself.

Kendra took a deliberate step forward. The alpha state swelled over her until she loomed over the other woman. There were lingering doubts in the back of her mind about her plan, but she pressed forward anyway.

“Kill me then,” she growled.

“What are you doing!?” Conor yelled.

“Kendra stop!” Jenna cried. She still had tears in her eyes and Elijah’s head was in her lap.

Both Felix and Abraham took steps toward her.

“Stay back!” she snarled. She turned her attention back on Edolie.

The cafeteria was eerily silent. The humans were still frozen like statues. Her friends were standing behind her, motionless. The blood-thirsty pack members were strewn across the floor. Some were just starting to stir as their injuries finished healing.

“Go on then, Edolie. Or should we skip the lies all together.” Kendra walked up to the woman and stared hard into her eyes. “Should I just call you by your real name, Bendis?”

Bendis’ eyes widened and then quickly narrowed in anger.

“Don’t presume to humiliate me,” Bendis said harshly. “You won’t live long enough to even comprehend your mistake.”

Kendra laughed. The sound was terrifying as it escaped her distorted human/wolf throat.

“I’m waiting,” Kendra sneered, her voice heavy with an insulting derision. “Kill me then.”

Bendis bristled with anger. Her eyes spewed silver sparks, but she never actually laid a finger on Kendra.

“Let me tell you what I know,” Kendra stated, still staring into the ancient goddess’ eyes. “You can’t touch me. You can’t actually kill me. If you could, then I doubt I would still be here. For whatever reason, if you try anything to harm me, it happens to you as well. A mirror action. If you kill me yourself, then you die as well. Have I got that about, right? I mean, it’s why you keep sending other people to do your dirty work. My mother. Jonah. Merrick. The goblins. Deanna and her crazed pack. Not once did you do it yourself. And I bet that just drives you even crazier than you already are.”

Bendis didn’t reply but Kendra could tell that she was right. Everything made sense. All of the goddess’ actions had been through manipulation and indirect means. Then there was the fear on her face when she used her enormous powers on Kendra. The fear was simple and something that humans have seen in each other time and time again.

The fear of impending death.

“Take your broken toys and get out of here. You’ve lost,” Kendra said coldly. She let the alpha state melt off her body again so she could face down Bendis as a human. Even though she was naked, she faced the goddess with nothing but confidence.

“I will not forget this,” Bendis stated coldly. “And I, Kendra of the Bane clan, have a long memory.” Then she leaned in closer and whispered. “Remember this, little darling. You might be protected from my power, but they are not.”

Her cold eyes swept over the cafeteria, indicating all the humans inside that they’d been trying so hard to protect. Before Kendra could even react, a cold surge of power came flowing out of Bendis. It washed over the entire room.

Every single human inside suddenly collapsed, and every last one of them was clearly dead. Their flesh turned almost instantly grey and dead. Men, women, and children. Fathers, mothers, sons, daughters. People that had lives. People that had been loved. And a selfish, vindictive goddess murdered them all with barely a thought. Kendra felt the weight of their deaths crush down on her. A twisted, gut-wrenching feeling sank into her stomach. Bendis looked at Kendra, pleased with herself.

“That is the cost of your arrogance. Their blood now stains your hands,” Bendis said. Then she snapped her fingers.

The crazed wolves that weren’t already dead got up from their spots on the floor. There were only six including Deanna but that was more than enough to get the job done. All their injuries were gone. Not only that, but they looked refreshed. Invigorated even. And they were all staring at Kendra and her friends like they were Big Macs from McDonalds.

“Another parting gift for you, dear Kendra,” Bendis said as she turned and walked away. “Enjoy it.”

Then there was a flash of silver light. It was so bright that Kendra had to look away. When she glanced back at the spot where the goddess had been, she was already gone. The only thing Kendra could think about was the mass murder Bendis had committed. Her anger flared up as hot as ever. She knew she was exhausted. She knew her friends were exhausted too. Elijah hadn’t even recovered yet.

She didn’t care.

She might not know how to hurt Bendis yet, but that didn’t mean she couldn’t take out her pain and anger on her pet wolves.

Conor ran up to her and tried to get her to back down but she shrugged him off like he wasn’t even there. Instead, she focused all her attention on the rogue wolves. She darted forward, leaving Conor with a look of concern mixed with anger on his face. The only thing she thought about was making sure the wolves didn’t hurt any humans ever again. And now, thanks to her hidden memory, she knew how it could be done.

She continued forward, confident in what she knew she had to do. It was like a new instinct she had. Something that was apart from the instincts that came with being a werewolf. A second later, she was facing down the pack. They surrounded her in a loose ring so they could bring her down with sheer numbers.

And as this was happening, Deanna snuck out. No one was paying attention to her as she left the building.

Kendra stood inside the circle the crazed wolves made, her back to her friends. Even so, she could hear them start walking toward her to try and help. She turned her head, her eyes flashing amber as she looked at them.

“Get out of here,” she yelled. “The cops will be here any minute now. I can handle them.”

Conor and Deirdre, being members of the Bane Pack, obeyed without question even though their expressions said they would rather do anything else but that. Kendra watched them run out the doors leading outside.

Jenna was a different story. She wasn’t going to leave. She was going to fight. She was pissed at what Edolie or Bendis or whatever the hell her name was had done to her dad and for killing so many innocent people. The werewolves were an excellent outlet for her aggression.

Before she could take two steps, she noticed Kendra focusing on someone behind her.

Jenna whirled in anger.

“Felix, don’t…“

“Felix, Abraham, get them out!” Kendra yelled.

Jenna tried to get away from Felix, but he grabbed hold of her before she could shake him loose and the two of them disappeared in a cyclone of wind. A second later, Abraham grabbed hold of Elijah. Then they both turned to sand and collapsed into a pile that shrank and shrank until it was gone altogether.

Now she was all alone. Just her and the other pack.

They attacked as one, but Kendra stood firm. She wasn’t afraid or nervous. Instead, she closed her eyes and breathed deeply, focusing all of her incredible will power on her task. Nothing happened at first and a tiny grain of fear blossomed in the back of her mind. Then she felt an amazing surge of something she wasn’t sure how to describe. It felt like her mind slid and shifted. It was as exhilarating as it was uncomfortable.

[STOP!] she commanded. She said it inside her mind, but she felt the force behind it escape her and envelope the other wolves like a cloud.

She felt her mind take control of each of theirs, all at the same time. She felt what they felt. She experienced what they experienced. She heard, smelled, tasted, and saw what they did. The sensations crowded into her mind, causing a large spike of pain to hit her in the middle of her forehead. She grunted for a second before the sensation faded.

The worst of it, however, was feeling their insane blood hunger. Each mind she touched with hers was the same. It felt like a living creature was inside of them and each one had a never-ending drive to hunt and kill. To taste blood. Disgusted, Kendra exerted more of her control over them.

Each wolf stopped in their tracks. Their movements became wooden and their eyes glazed over.

She didn’t want anything to do with the parts of their minds tainted by the blood hunger. It was like touching pure, insane chaos. Like touching evil. But she knew she didn’t have a choice. So she steeled her resolve and reached out to their awful, diseased minds. It revolted her beyond anything she’d ever experienced before but she knew it was the only way to permanently stop them.

She completely enveloped that part of their minds and then shoved with all her strength, which was being supplemented by the primal energy of her alpha power. Her hands were clenched into fists. The pain in her head returned but more intensely this time. It grew and grew until she thought it might explode. At the same time, every single wolf she was connected to howled in pain. She kept pushing and exerting more and more power, heedless of the pain it caused her. She thought she was going to pass out at one point. Her vision was growing dim. The edges darkened, slowly at first and then more rapidly as the seconds ticked by. A second before she would have lost consciousness, she felt the blood hunger in each of the wolves start to get smaller. Then it got smaller and smaller until nothing was left of those disgusting, diseased parts of their minds.

She suddenly released her hold on them and let out a slight gasp as she did. Her knees weakened for a moment, but she was able to stay on her feet.

The glazed-over look in the eyes of the wolves intensified for a few long seconds before they returned to normal. And then one by one, they all shifted back. Five naked men and women were staring around in confusion.

In the distance, they could all hear sirens.

“What did you do to us?” the oldest of them asked. There was no hate or anger in his voice though. In fact, he sounded almost grateful. “What happened here?”

There were murmured questions from the others as well, but Kendra focused instead on the man that spoke first.

“It doesn’t matter. The police are going to be here in a few minutes. All you need to know is that I freed you. So, get out of here and just try to live as normally as you can,” Kendra told them.

They still looked at her as if they couldn’t comprehend what she was saying.

[Get out of here!] she thought-yelled while at the same time mentally pushing them as well. They scattered in different directions after that, abandoning the building like cockroaches scurrying away from a light.

Kendra watched them leave with mixed feelings. She wasn’t sure of her decision to let them go unpunished for the heinous things they did under the influence of their blood hunger. At the same time, however, she knew if she gave them a chance, they might be able to pull themselves up and regain their humanity. All they needed was someone to believe in them. Like her father had believed in Conor.

Winds suddenly kicked up from out of nowhere and Kendra turned around to find Felix hastily shifting his gaze away.

“Get some..uhh...clothes on and I can get us out of here. We need to be gone before the cops get here,” he said, his cheeks red. “Where’s the other wolves?”

“Too hard to explain,” Kendra replied. She ran to a bag that Felix slid to her and pulled out a simple grey shirt and a pair of jeans. She hurriedly slid them on and grabbed hold of Felix’s hand. Suddenly, all her pain and exhaustion smacked into her at the same time and it was all she could do to stay standing.

Felix put her arm over his shoulder to help keep her up as the police sirens started getting louder. Just as they were about to teleport, ten other mages appeared. One of them, an older woman with hard, brown eyes, walked up to them.

“About time,” Felix muttered.

“What happened here? We got a summons from Abraham, but a spell was preventing us from getting through,” she said, looking around at the devastation.

“We were attacked. I’ll go over it with you later. Right now, you need to get the bodies of the werewolves out of here before the police come. I’m taking Kendra home,” Felix said. The bodies of werewolves would not be easily explained to the cops, which made them the priority. As for everyone and everything else, there would just have to be a very convincing cover story to explain all that. There was no time to do anything else.

Kendra was only half paying attention. She was so exhausted she could barely keep her eyes open. She looked at Felix and let out a tired sigh, her eyes sad as she stared at all the dead people.

“Go, take her away. We’ll deal with the situation,” the woman with the brown eyes said.

Felix concentrated and then a whirl of wind swept over and swallowed Kendra and himself.

When the winds died down, they were gone.

“Everything all right with you?” Jenna asked. She was on the phone with Kendra. Lying next to her in a bed was her father. He still wasn’t completely recovered from his injuries and what Bendis did to him, but he was improving. The color had come back to his face and he didn’t look so pale or red anymore.

Jenna listened halfheartedly to Kendra. Most of her focus was on the big television mounted to the wall in front of the bed. The volume was low, but she could still hear the news reporters talking. In the background were a bunch of police cars with their lights flashing, ambulances, and even fire trucks. People were milling about like frenzied ants. The most disturbing thing was the nearly endless parade of gurneys toting ominous, black body bags.

“Authorities have very little to go on at the moment, but sources say that the office building of Bishop Media Solutions has been the target of a poison gas attack. It has not been confirmed as of yet, but there have been claims that terrorists might be involved.” The reporter looked very serious and professional, but Jenna could see the fear lurking in her eyes.

She reached out and grabbed the remote off the table next to the bed. She turned off the TV.

“He’s doing better,” she said to Kendra. “I don’t think she did any permanent damage. How are you feeling? Felix said you were pretty exhausted.”

Before Kendra could answer, a buzzer went off in loud, irritating fashion. Someone was on the ground level and signaling they wanted to come up.

“Hey, I’ll call you back in a minute. There’s someone buzzing in,” Jenna said. Kendra started talking and Jenna waited patiently for her to finish. “Yeah, I’ll be careful. Okay, mom?”

Kendra laughed on the other end, but it was a sad sort of laugh with no real joy in it.

Jenna put her phone down and snatched up a tablet. She tapped an icon and a screen showing the lobby of the plush apartment building where her father lived popped up. The video showed a man waiting patiently by the security desk.

Jenna recognized him.

It was Drake.