Wolfishly yours, p.18
Wolfishly, Yours, page 18
Kaz let his comment slide. She picked up on his signals, but she didn’t have time to deal with them now. Ping quirked a brow at her and smirked. “Ping, go check out that shed.” He gave her a small bow before breaking into a light jog towards the back of the field. His retreating chuckle teased her.
She turned in a small circle, perusing the terrain for the trap she knew was there but could not see. “So, Henchman. Shall we knock on the door or kick it off the hinges?”
Ramsay eyed the door and the four locks marching down the side. “Knock. The good doctor seems a might paranoid. If she doesn’t answer, we’ll go through a window and save our legs from those locks.”
“Good point.”
Kaz appreciated his logic. They stepped onto the low porch, shoulder to shoulder. Their mutual warmth pulsed between them like a living thing, trailing fingers of energy along the line of her body. Before they could take another step, the snapping of shot locks cracked in the stillness. The door opened with such force the knob became stuck in the adjacent wall.
Kaz faltered. She didn’t want this. Didn’t want to know if this person was really her sister. She prayed she was wrong. That they’d missed something and that all the logical steps leading to this conclusion were in error. This couldn’t be her sister. Please, please, please let this be a total stranger. She wouldn’t feel bad for beating the holy hell out of a total stranger. Wouldn’t feel responsible if she had no ties to whoever this was. Only the firm clench of Ramsay’s hand under her elbow kept her from stepping backwards. Her heart hammered like a deranged monkey in a metal cage, screaming, shrieking, bloody fists pounding themselves into raging red pulp.
“Ramsay,” Jaelin breathed. She had eyes only for him. Kaz could be invisible for all the notice her older sister paid her. Jaelin was absolutely absorbed in the sight of Ramsay. Her amber eyes glittered with feral joy as she smoothed her hands over her hair, tucking stray strands back into the tight confines of her white-blonde bun. With skin that pale, she should’ve been a model of porcelain perfection. Instead, her flesh gave off the sinister reflection of the crazed energy coiled frenetically within. She practically sparked with darkness. Jaelin was the passenger on the bus no one sat near. Hell, she probably cleared whole cars on the MAX Light Rail.
“I’ve missed you.” The high pitch of her voice cracked like it strained to be free of her. Finished with her hair, she coursed her right hand down the line of her body, smoothing out invisible wrinkles from her startlingly white lab coat. Underneath, she wore a black pencil skirt and plain white top. Her legs were bare from the knee down. The look of manicured sterility failed below her trim ankles. Grit crept up the sides of her feet and raced in erratic black lines to her toes and ankles. The whites of her toenails and cuticles were stained dark with earth.
The obvious discrepancy in her grooming gave Kaz pause. Why dress in the height of laboratory perfection but forgo shoes and a pedicure? Then her scent wafted across the low patio. Antiseptic and rot. Proof that her sister had been using science to warp her natural magic. Scent never lied. Without a doubt, Kaz knew Jaelin bore responsibility for the dog attacks, the werewolf soldier in Underground, and the pack of ferals in Forest Park. Jaelin had much to pay for.
Kaz soon tired of watching Jaelin’s one-sided rapture. At her side, Ramsay remained as stiff as petrified wood. The clench of his fingers around her elbow now seemed necessary for his steadiness instead of hers.
“Hello, sister. It’s been a long time.” Kaz kept her voice soft. She couldn’t rid herself of the feeling that Jaelin barely had a secure hold on herself. Danger danced in the air like a suicidal clown with a belly full of nitro glycerin. Kaz kept a firm lock on her emotions. Her own feelings stayed firmly in the background. Whatever Jaelin was up to needed to be dealt with first. There would be time enough later for her to lose her shit.
Jaelin tore her gaze from Ramsay and leveled a look of complete abhorrence at Kaz. Razored hate slashed her. If looks could kill, she’d be a seeping red stain. “What. Are. You. Doing. Here?” The contempt in Jaelin’s voice managed to cut Kaz even further. She tucked the wounds in with the rest Jaelin had inflicted. She was no stranger to her sister’s hostility, but the lash didn’t get easier with familiarity.
“I live here. What are you doing in my city? As Portland’s Seeker, you should have checked in with me.”
Jaelin scoffed. “I see you haven’t changed. Still the stupid little whiner, aren’t you? Listen to you, complaining about being Seeker. You didn’t lead your own kind and now you think you can lead a city?” Jaelin drew herself up to her greatest height which would still bring her only to Kaz’s cheekbone. “Letting you know I was here would have defeated my plan before it got started.”
Kaz rocked back on her heels, keeping herself loose and ready. “Plan, huh? The one where you sent a soldier to kill me? He failed. Or did you mean the plan to create a pack of deranged werewolves and set them loose in Underground?” She pursed her lips and shook her head. “We met them. Not such a great plan.”
“Minor setbacks,” Jaelin snapped. She seemed startled by her own vehemence and worked to rein herself back in. Her chest heaved, and her filthy toes curled against the threshold. She wrapped her arms around her chest. Her fingers wrapped around her arms like the talons of a large bird of prey. “And you’ll pay for their deaths.”
Kaz tilted her head in puzzlement. “I had nothing to do with their deaths. I tried to save them. They killed each other and blamed you for their wrongness.”
“They were failures because of who they were as humans. I tried to make them better. I tried to perfect them!” Jaelin shrieked. Her anger could no longer be contained by the space in the doorway. It seemed to push her forwards, propelling her into the light.
“What’s the matter, sister,” she sneered. “Don’t you remember your handiwork? Aren’t you proud of what you’ve done?”
“I’m sorry. For everything.”
“Don’t lie!” Jaelin raged. “I know! I saw you. Running through the village, biting anyone who got in your way, including your own sister.” Spit flew from her thin glistening lips. Red blotches bloomed like poison flowers on her neck and face. “You’ve stolen everything I’ve ever wanted. You took our parents’ love. You took the love of my life. You took my humanity. You took my life!” she screeched. “No more. I’m going to show you. I’ll have it all. I’ll lead the pack to our rightful place and all the Preters will bow to me. And I’ll have Ramsay by my side.” She uncurled her hands from her arms and stretched her hand to Ramsay. Her fingers curled upwards, beckoning him forth.
Not going to fucking happen. No way would she allow Ramsay to hook up with Dr. Cray-Cray. Kaz took a step forward and half a step over, placing half of her body in front of Ramsay. The look on Jaelin’s face—megalomaniacal adoration—scared her. Jaelin’s sanity no longer cruised on smooth rails. She’d catapulted past the point of no return and landed smack in the middle of Batshitlandia.
She turned her head slightly, just enough to see Ramsay but keep Jaelin in her sights. “You okay with this plan, Ramsay?”
Ramsay shook his head and Kaz focused her attention on Jaelin. “No. I’m sorry, Jaelin,” he said. “You’re not the one for me. You never were.”
Jaelin clasped her hands as if in prayer.
Kaz froze at her reaction and quickly reassessed the threat level. That creeping feeling of disquiet now slammed into her like a rampaging rhino. Her eyes darted all around the area looking for the danger she knew was there but could not see.
Instead of appearing sad or devastated, Jaelin’s knuckles whitened as she bounced on her feet like a kid with an unexpected present. “I will be. My work will see to that. You’ll think differently soon.” She turned her head towards the dark maw of the doorway and gave a piercing whistle.
It made the insides of Kaz’s ears itch and she fought the urge to clap her hands over them.
Jaelin turned back toward the kennels and gave two more short but powerful whistles.
Air whooshed behind Kaz as Ramsay spun around. Back-to-back, ready for Luna only knew what, they gathered themselves. Kaz readied her beast, thankful she’d worn loose clothing as it was less likely to be shredded if she had to shift. She hoped it wouldn’t come to that. The beast saw everything in black and white—threat or promise. Red reminders of control would be unavailable.
Suddenly, a man in blood-streaked neon yellow boiled out of the dark doorway. Eyes wild, dark skin sheened with a layer of salty sweat, he vibrated like a locked engine in over-drive. Their gazes clashed a heartbeat before he exploded past her and sprinted for the kennels.
Kaz’s breath stuttered in her chest. She recognized him. He was the man she and Gigi had saved in Forest Park.
“We’re in deep shit, Red.”
The foreboding in Ramsay’s voice spun Kaz around faster than a ballerina on premium crack. Although the kennels were a fair distance from the house, Jorge’s hands were already springing the locks and lifting the heavy latches holding the gates closed. Task complete, he turned and smiled at Kaz. His teeth shone bright white in the warm light. The deep chocolate of his eyes remained fixed on her as he shifted. The crack of his bones and glooping noises of shifting soft tissues were made all the more potent by his absolute focus on her. Did he know she’d been there? Did he blame her for not being fast enough to prevent him getting bitten? Or was he so far gone under Jaelin’s twisted influence that he saw Kaz only as an enemy and nothing more? Within moments, a large, solid brown wolf stood where the man had been. He licked his flews as his eyes promised her pain. His head tilted back and a long, low howl rose from his gently pursed muzzle.
From the far ends of the kennels, faces appeared as if by magic. Black noses twitched in the air as they picked up foreign aromas and the scents of danger and anticipation. Large furry ears ranging in color from tawny blond to ebony swiveled side to side before pricking forward as if they could hear Kaz’s accelerated heartbeat. At first, their march from the dens dug at the ends of the kennels had an almost languid pace, like they had all the time in the world. But Jaelin’s shout took care of that.
“Kill the woman. Leave the man to me,” Jaelin barked.
One hundred forty-four paws leapt into action, beating the earth like a junkie on a locked pharmacy safe. Their nails churned up great chunks of dirt and sod matching the sensations tearing through Kaz’s heart and stomach. Unlike the pack in Forest Park, this group moved with purpose. Sophisticated and cunning, they flowed as a unit. Seemed Jaelin had improved her technique with these people.
Kaz reached for her beast, bringing her to the surface, meshing their spirits as she’d done in Forest Park. The silky ruffle of fur rippled just below the surface of her skin. Her vision shifted. Edges became sharper, shadows more defined, while a soft halo bloomed around perceived threats.
The world glowed.
Power spun in her core and she sent it flowing outwards, trying to reach Jaelin’s twisted shifters and stop them before damage was done.
At her side, Ramsay furiously kicked off his boots. His fingers tore at the fastenings of his pants. “Not again,” he cursed. “We have got to figure this shit out later.” He winked at her before succumbing to her power. He shifted.
“No!” The manic scream cut through the air like the Reaper’s scythe. Jaelin ran across the porch and dove at Ramsay. Her gnashing teeth tore through empty air as her trajectory was foiled and she slammed into the ground. She’d aimed high, but Ramsay was already on four paws.
That didn’t stop her.
She flipped into a crouch and arrowed into his side. Grunting as she slammed into his larger mass, eyes wild with desperation, she bit down into the meat of his shoulder.
Ramsay snarled and spun in a circle trying to shake her loose. Jaelin clung to him like a mating praying mantis. Ramsay lunged for Jaelin’s leg. Her pained yelp was muffled by his fur.
Kaz jumped over the writhing mass of skin and fur. “Spin,” she yelled. As if they’d choreographed the move, Ramsay turned in the opposite direction and Kaz’s striking foot caught Jaelin in the belly.
The breath mushroomed from Jaelin’s lungs forcing her to let loose of Ramsay. She landed in a ruined heap several feet away.
Ramsay shook himself. Hard. As if he could fling the feel of her into another layer of atmosphere.
But Kaz had no time for a victory dance. Jorge and the other ferals had closed the distance.
“Alpha, watch out!” Ping’s warning did more harm than good.
Foolishly, she turned toward the sound of his voice. He streaked across the field, legs and arms pumping faster than pistons in a high-speed engine. His face froze in a rictus of fear and he reached for her, fingers curled and grasping.
Stars burst white hot in her head. Hot copper exploded in her mouth. Bruises bloomed bright with pain over her torso as the weight of two monsters bore her to the ground. A snarling muzzle snapped at her face. Kaz swung her arm up, backhanding the ginger feral and sending her tumbling across the field. The other beast lunged, clamped onto her biceps, and shook her like a meaty treat. Kaz struggled, curling her arm close to her body as she kicked out. She swore as her toes collided with bone.
Kaz had never felt like prey before now. She’d always been the scariest predator in the room. Never had the sick twist of fear crawl into her belly and crept through her blood like a malignant gopher. She hated it.
Her howl of pain changed into one of relief as Ping’s hands clamped on the monster’s muzzle and ripped out and down. Blood and saliva spewed like a cracked hydrant.
Ping flung the gory mess of the slain shifter in opposite directions before placing his body between her and the advancing pack.
Kaz arched her body off the ground and landed on her feet. Lei Ping moved so they stood back-to-back. Ramsay guarded her left side. The deep black of his fur became speckled with crimson drops of blood from her wound.
A strange group surrounded them. Dirty, naked bodies interspersed furry ones. At least half of Jaelin’s pack had retaken human form. Their filthy feet seemed nailed to the ground while those with paws slowly closed in.
“What are you waiting for?” Jaelin—back on her feet and seemingly wary—rebuked from the sidelines. Her hands shielded her belly. “Kill her.” Spit sprinkled the air as she shouted.
Kaz looked at the human faces. They didn’t seem eager to follow her sister’s command. Kaz flexed her power, sent it outwards like the ripples from a rock dropped in a calm pond. The wolves halted their careful advance. As one, the humans stepped back.
“Again, Alpha. I think you can save these ones.” The reverent confidence in Ping’s hushed voice gave her hope. Deep within, she embraced her beast anew and sent that feeling of utter and complete contentment outwards. She knew what it was to be a monster, to be a freak. But with the help of the Buddhist monks in Ping’s former monastery, she’d learned to be at one—to be whole—with her darkest self. She tried to push that outward, to reach these tortured souls and let them know they could change. That they wouldn’t be stuck in this hellscape of twisted existence if only they lay down their arms and fight her no longer.
The wolves sat. Ramsay’s wagging tail kicked up a soft breeze that dried the blood dripping down her arm. At her back, Lei sucked in a breath and blew it out like he was relieving built-up pressure in a pipe. He turned and stood shoulder to shoulder with her, apparently sensing they were out of danger.
“I’ve been waiting for my chance at you, Ping. No longer will you have to watch from the sidelines, aching to belong. Denying your willingness to serve is a mistake I won’t make.” Jaelin attacked.
In an instant, Kaz knew she hadn’t been the true target. Ping’s optimism had placed him in danger. Horrible guilt choked her. Ping stumbled into her, jostling her. Her feelings of anger and guilt combined with the physical disturbance caused a cascade effect she couldn’t come back from. Her concentration broke. She lost her connection.
As the link severed, she could see Jaelin’s darkness overtake the pack once again. Their calm fled. Hope was dashed under the madness Kaz could feel barreling from her sister like a freight train down the tracks of hell.
Her sister’s wail of frustration transformed into a hideous chuckle as her teeth tore into Ping’s chest. He howled in rage and pain. He stomped on Jaelin’s foot and slammed the heels of his hands against the sides of Jaelin’s head like he was trying to pop a soap bubble with two sledgehammers.
Jaelin yowled.
Free of her dental grapple, Ping flung her away from him as if she were a putrid leech. His legs twirled through the air. He kicked her in the head, sending her sailing into part of the advancing pack and taking several down in a heap with her on top.
The rest of the pack closed in. Human hands and snapping muzzles came for them like a pimp for the nightly take.
“Tweeter!” Kaz screamed. “Where the fuck are you?” Kaz grabbed Ping as he started to slump to the ground.
“What the hell is going on here?” Gigi’s slightly hysterical shout was a complication Kaz did not need.
The furious buzz of fairy wings became Kaz’s favorite sound in the universe. “Sweet Mother Earth,” Tweeter cursed. “Can we not leave you alone for five minutes without you starting a were-war?”
“Shut it or I’ll spread you on something delicious. Just get us the hell out of here.” Ping had become a dead weight in her arms. What he lacked in height he made up for in sheer mass.
“Keep it straight in your diary, Kaz. I bailed your fluffy ass out of this clusterfuck.”
Chapter Sixteen
“My will, my way.” Jaelin Tanner
Tap, tap. “Ping. Wake up.” Tap, tap.
Kaz’s fingertips began to pink up but Ping remained unconscious and spread out on her living room floor like a broken doll. The hem of her pants pressed into her kneecaps but the pain in her heart eclipsed the physical.
