Chapter 48: The Last Stand

Chapter 48: The Last Stand

Lisa's compound tonight was a fortress. Double guards were on watch. Gun-bearing sentries walked the grounds, slowly, steadily. Blinding floodlights lit up every nook and cranny, sending shadows fleeing.

Some were high-wired with energy within. Lisa's most trusted faithful had gathered for a high-wire conclave—a conclave that would determine the packs' destiny.

And at Lisa's side?

Jake.

Black fatigues, board-stiffened back, set face. To the others, her second in command. Her best fighter.

But in here? In here, he waited. Plotted.

The Break-In

Mia crouched beside the wall, her eyes fixed on the security feed on her tablet. "We have a ten-second window when the east patrol drives by. That's our window."

Zane relaxed his clenched fist. "Then we don't blow it."

Rico's hand wrapped around his gun. "Still can't believe we're breaking and entering here."

Mia's eyes blazed with fury. "You'd leave Jake behind?"

Rico winced. "Ain't said I would. Just sayin'… if he actually has flipped—"

"He hasn't." Zane's voice lacked any emotion, absolute. Unquestionable. "I know him."

Mia nodded. "Then let's get him out."

They flowed in like specters, up through the break in the patrol line. The moment they were through, air sealed the break.

Zane barely noticed the stab in his side as they made the corridors, tracing Mia's path. Step by slow step. Stride by careful stride.

And then, around a bend—

They collided with Jake face-to-face.

Jake's True Allegiances

He was stuck in the middle of the hall, arms crossed. Lisa's thugs behind him.

Mia's gasp of breath. "Jake."

Zane's racing heart. "Get out of here."

Jake didn't budge. No emotion on his face. "You shouldn't be here."

Rico's hackles rose. "Well, we are. And we're not going anywhere without you."

Jake drew a ragged breath, head tilting. "Lisa knows you're here. She left the door open for you."

Mia's world imploded. "It's a trap."

Jake's eyes flashed up, burning with unspoken whatever. "You have to go. Now."

Zane stepped forward. "Not without you."

Jake's fists were clenched. "I cannot come with you. Not now."

Lisa's voice sliced the silence.

"Oh, Jake. So dramatic."

They turned.

Lisa stood at the top of the grand staircase, sneering. "You should know by now… no one leaves me without my permission."

Guards moved in on either side. Herding them in.

Zane's heart racing. "Jake—now."

Jake blinked.

Then—

He whirled, hitting the closest enforcer.

Pandemonium erupted.

Flashback: A Brutal Lesson by Lisa

Jake was fourteen when Lisa first forced him to choose between honor and freedom.

He was standing in the middle of the practice room, punching his knuckles.

Lisa approached him, her honey-colored voice. "You think too much, Jake."

He snarled at her. "Because I'm not like you."

Lisa's smile was low and cold. "Oh, but you are. You've just not realized it yet."

She'd snapped her fingers. One of the pack younglings had been brought in on an enforcer's word. A boy no more than a dozen years her older.

Lisa'd put the blade of a knife in Jake's hand. "Prove it."

Jake's breath had stopped. "No."

Lisa'd raised an eyebrow. "Then I'll do it myself."

She'd jumped on the kid, and at that point—

Jake'd moved.

He'd stood up to her goon and pounded him into the dirt before Lisa reached him.

He'd fought back against her for the first time. And she'd smiled.

"You think you won, don't you?" she'd said.

Jake glared at her, defiant. "You can't control me."

Lisa'd laughed. "Oh, Jake. You're still too young to get it. It's not controlling you. It's stopping you from ever knowing the difference."

And here, in the now—her voice still rang out.

Jake vs. Zane – The Trial of Allegiance

Lisa shouted over the noise. "Cut that crap, Jake. Show them. Prove it."

Jake hesitated. The world paused.

Then, for absolutely no damn reason at all, he attacked Zane.

Mia's jaw dropped. "What the hell—"

Zane did not even have time to respond when Jake punched him in the jaw.

Numbness in his head. Jake was pushing pain limits.

Zane stumbled, but did not go down. Wiped at blood on his lip, his chest heaving.

"What are you doing?" he growled.

Jake was gasping. Could not talk.

Lisa's voice was raspy. "Oh, this is good. A test, a real test."

Zane's fists were clenched. "If you have to test you're with her—then just do it already."

Jake was breathing hard. First fight.

The last test, to see what Jake was.

Then—Jake changed.

Faster. Stronger. His punches came in succession—Zane dodged the first, batted away the second.

But the third? It had connected solid.

Gritting his teeth, Zane did not go down. He would not.

Jake's eyes burned. "Fight back."

Zane's jaws were clenched. "Not like this."

Lisa laughed from the sidelines. "Poor Zane. You always worried too much."

Jake shoved Zane back. "Fight me."

Zane batted at Jake's wrist, holding him there—pinning him there. Their noses were almost touching.

Zane's voice was low. Flat. "I know what you're doing."

Jake's chest was heaving.

"If you're going to break me," Zane breathed, "you're going to have to do better than that."

Jake's fists finally relaxed.

Lisa narrowed her eyes.

Jake took the hiatus—and attacked her goons instead.

A bullet ripped through the air.

Jake just fell to the ground as Lisa shot, her face amused in no way. "Disappointing."

Zane pushed him to the ground as bullets flew by.

"This is it!" Mia cried. "We have to go!"

Zane pulled on Jake's wrist. "With us?"

Jake looked up at him.

Then, at last—

"Uh-huh. I'm with you."

They tore off, hurtling into the night as Lisa's enraged screams were left behind them.

The rebellion had begun.