Family Reunion

EKON

I had known before that I would never again underestimate Devina.

But as I took in the awful sight of the compound, complete with the spilled blood of the innocent all over the road, I knew this fight would be even worse than I had thought.

Devina wanted to scare us.

But the brutality only steeled my resolve.

~My sister is going down.~

I clutched Bambi’s hand protectively. I needed to keep her safe. That was the only thing more important to me than getting the compound back.

At that moment, the metal gates of the compound swung open, inviting us in.

But Devina’s twisted hospitality had the desired effect… Even I, a war-hardened Alpha, shuddered to think of what waited for us behind those gates.

“Let’s go,” I announced. I turned to look at my comrades one more time before the battle commenced.

Bambi, who I knew was working hard to stay brave.

Mom and Holly, holding hands for strength.

I nodded to Hunter. He promised me he would look out for Bambi during the battle.

And then I led the way.

I traveled the path I knew so well…

I had memorized the exact number of steps needed for the long, gravel driveway that led to the large colonial house.

Traveling this path had always meant coming home. I associated it with warmth and rest, but now, my body was steeled for trouble.

“How does it look?” Bambi whispered to me.

“Not good,” I replied.

“We’re here,” I told my mate. “Are you ready?”

She nodded.

“I love you,” I told her.

“I love you too,” she replied.

I knew the rest of our team was just behind us. We were as ready as we would ever be. I pushed open the front door and braced myself for the worst, making sure Bambi was safely behind me.

The front hall was eerily still.

Inside, there was no trace of Devina and her evil posse, which only made me feel more uneasy…

The place was exactly how we had left it.

Before we ventured further, I kissed Bambi’s forehead.

“Stay behind me with Hunter,” I told her.

She nodded. With Bambi safe, I would be able to focus on the task at hand.

~Find Devina.~

“Follow me.” I kept my voice low and continued through the large doorway to the dining room.

Even though I was expecting her, the sight of my deranged sister still knocked me breathless.

She was standing on the dining room table, set with the pack’s finest china. Candles flickered by her feet.

Smiling wickedly, she stared straight at me. The crown of thorns on her head punctured her skin, and blood trickled down her face.

Her hair was matted, and her white dress was thin and stained with blood. Beneath it, I could make out her sickly thin form.

It was clear that her immense power was driving her mad, and that would only make her more unpredictable.

Holly began to chant a spell:

~“Fallen from fortune, fallen from grace…”~

~“When all you deserve is a darker place.”~

With that, a sizzling bolt of fire flew from Holly’s hands. She wasn’t wasting a moment.

But Devina held out her hand, blocking the blast. It fizzled into nothing.

“How sweet,” Devina boomed, “to hear you talk of darkness, young witch, when you know ~nothing~ of it!”

Her smile revealed rotten teeth. I shifted, feeling my muscles shorten into my explosive animal form.

“Hounds of hell!” Devina shrieked.

As she cast her hands toward us, Dobermans with clicking, sharp jaws materialized from smoke.

They raced toward us.

I heard my mother’s shriek, and the dogs disappeared into thin air. Rose had countered her spell.

A growl rattled in my rib cage.

Devina wanted to play with dogs. So I would show her a fucking ~wolf~.

I charged her, leaping onto the table, sending porcelain crashing to the ground.

My vision was red at the edges.

~Blood.~

I would make the evil witch bleed. She would wish she had met her death long ago.

I tore toward her, about to reach her and sink my claws into her flesh.

~So why isn’t she afraid?~

Devina demurred, lifting her finger to her lips.

“Brother dearest, where’s your mate?”

My battle-heated blood ran cold.

When I whipped my head around, an involuntary whimper left my jowls.

Behind me, the scene was chaos.

Matthias had his hands on Bambi.

All of her defenders, our comrades, were engaged by Devina’s soldiers.

Matthias had grabbed Bambi, and he was dragging her, flailing and confused, out of the room and into the library.

Fear tightened in my throat. This was my worst nightmare. My worst nightmare coming true.

I lunged for her. I was nearly off the table when Devina’s shout rang through the air:

“Cage the beast!”

I rammed into metal bars that rose all the way to the ceiling.

~That bitch is playing games.~

Bambi disappeared through the darkened doorway and my heart dropped in my chest.

My mate was gone. And I couldn’t get to her.

A witch was standing in my way…

I turned back to Devina, drool dripping from my jaws. I was hungry…for her blood.

For her destruction.

I roared with all my might. Though Devina’s stringy hair blew back with the blast, she continued to smile, unafraid.

I reared back before lunging forward and ramming the cage with my muscled shoulder. Finally, it shattered like glass, but Devina had another trick up her sleeve…

Vines sprang from the table, winding around my legs and squeezing tight as boa constrictors. I snapped them apart with my fearsome jaws.

~What the hell is my mother doing?~

I didn’t mind fighting Devina myself, but some backup would have been appreciated.

I needed to follow Bambi.

Or at least make someone else follow her and slaughter that bastard Matthias.

But as I glanced behind me, I saw the room had devolved further into pandemonium. Devina’s depraved army of witches and warlocks were slinging dark magic curses.

The sound filled the air like nails on a chalkboard.

Though Devina’s minions were as thin and sickly as she, they were just as scrappy and hungry for blood.

HUNTER

We had prepared for the worst, but we couldn’t have predicted ~this~ shitshow. That bitch Devina had gotten even thinner and creepier…and somehow, it seemed she was more powerful.

One of her minions grabbed my ankle after army crawling toward me as fast as a spider.

~Fucking creepy.~

I sank the steel heel of my boot right into his forehead. His earthly body expired with one low, hollow crack.

“Yuck!” I said.

~One down…too fuckin’ many to go.~

When I looked up, I saw Ekon in a sorry state.

Since her minions were holding up the rest of us, she could direct all of her wrath at Ekon.

The evil bitch shrieked with laughter as she set tufts of his fur on fire and bound him up with vines.

~I have to do something…I have to distract her.~

Gracefully, I leapt up onto the table behind the witch.

“You look gorgeous tonight,” I said in my lowest, sexiest voice. When she turned around, confused, I went on:

“Though I preferred it when you looked like you were still ~alive~!”

She glared at me with those snaky eyes of hers before returning to Ekon.

“But hey! Your cunt still smells ~mighty good~!” I roared.

At last, she couldn’t ignore me.

In one swift movement, she turned and sent a bolt of magic my way.

I watched it coming toward me, but the next thing I knew, someone grabbed me and pulled me off the table.

I couldn’t tell if I had hit my head too hard, or if a gorgeous woman was really smiling down at me.

“I knew if I left you alone, everything would fall apart,” Ela said sarcastically.

Then she turned back to Devina.

“That’s my mate, you bitch!” she shrieked.

I looked over and saw that Max and Kalindi had joined the battle.

~The reinforcements have arrived…~

BAMBI

As Matthias blasted his rotten breath in my face, his undead body pinning me against a bookshelf, I couldn’t help but retch.

“Get…the fuck…off me!” I tried to knee him in the balls, but I missed my target. It was hard to fight when I couldn’t see. As soon as the snake had grabbed me, he had placed a curse on me so that I couldn’t shift.

Now I was trapped with a very evil and very decomposed man. I couldn’t see him, but my heightened sense of smell told me all I needed to know.

When he dodged my knee, I drove my heel down as hard as I could, and thankfully, I felt his foot crunch beneath mine.

From the sickening noise and the even-worse stench, I wondered if I had snapped off some of his toes.

“You fucking bitch,” he hissed.

I reached for the long dagger in my holster, but before I could reach it, I felt something cold and sharp on my neck.

~Metal.~

Matthias had a dagger of his own. And I knew he wasn’t afraid to drain my blood.

I had remained brave up until then, but as my body shifted from fight to flight mode, I could no longer avoid my terror.

~Is this it?~

~The end? Here, in the dark? Strangled by the stench of death?~

Matthias leaned in closer, and his voice rasped in my ear.

“How nice that Ekon has his sight back…” Matthias’ sing-song voice sent a cloud of foul-smelling gas around me.

“…So your mate can watch you bleed to death.”