Matthias

Holly

The sirens wailed loudly as people scattered through the hallways of the pack house, trying to evacuate, but it was too late.

“The pack house is under attack!” a Delta guard shouted, waving people toward a back exit.

Kalindi led me, Victoria, and Ela down a different hallway.

“Why aren’t we going that way?” I yelled as several pack house employees shoved past me.

“There’s a lesser known exit through the dungeons,” Kalindi said, spreading out her arms and parting the crowd. “We’ll head out from there. It’s safer.”

“How many rogues are there?” Ela asked as we sprinted down the stairs to the main level.

“Enough to be a threat when you’re unprepared,” Kalindi replied.

“Where is Alpha Ekon?” Victoria huffed, out of breath, as we stopped in the lobby.

“He’s off searching for the Luna. The rogues probably thought we’d be vulnerable,” Kalindi said, scanning the room for enemies. “We need to keep moving.”

Suddenly the glass double doors at the front of the building shattered, and six rogues hopped through the broken doorframe.

One of them licked his lips as he looked at me and pulled out his dagger.

“The blonde one is mine.” He smirked, baring his fangs.

Kalindi brandished her spear and stood her ground. “I’ll cut off all your cocks before you touch a single one of these girls. Six of you doesn’t even equal one Gamma.”

Several more rogues tumbled down the staircase behind us, their knives dripping blood.

“The rogues are rising again, bitch,” he sneered. “Our master is back!”

“We’ll fucking see about that,” Kalindi said, drawing a sword alongside her spear. “Girls, get to the dungeon now!”

“We’re not leaving you behind,” Ela cried.

“GO NOW!” she screamed, fur rising on her arms and fangs protruding from her mouth.

Kalindi jumped into action, spearing one of the rogues through the chest while simultaneously slicing another’s throat with her sword.

Victoria grabbed Ela’s hand and pulled her down the stairs toward the dungeons as I ran behind them.

I looked back over my shoulder to see Kalindi being overrun by rogues before I disappeared down the dark stairwell.

~Goddess, protect her.~

Ekon

Maximus and I were driving toward the Northern Pack—or what was left of it anyway.

The long ride and the tense, awkward silence forced me to reflect on how shitty an alpha I had been.

I’d let my guard down, gone soft.

And now a monster had been recovering and planning his revenge for the past sixteen years.

Bambi was the only one who could see the truth, but no one had listened.

“Stop blaming yourself,” Max suddenly grunted, reading my expression.

“Thought you would have blamed me most of all,” I said stoically.

“I did…at first. But we’re all at fault. The entire Council.”

“None of us deserve the title of alpha,” I growled. “We’ve failed the realm.”

“Ekon, we were fucking teenagers when the Great War happened. Our parents died, and their responsibilities landed on us.” Max grimaced. “We’ve done the best that we could with no one around to guide us.”

“Well, the best was shit then,” I spat. “I couldn’t even protect ~one~ person. The one that mattered most.”

“The war was harsh, Ekon, but we’re fucking survivors. And so is Bambi. She won’t give up, and neither will we.”

I nodded in agreement. He was right about that much at least.

It felt odd agreeing with Maximus on something, but if there was one thing that would unite us, it would be his sister.

Bambi was brokering peace even when she wasn’t here.

“I just don’t want to make the same mistakes I made the first time around.” I sighed. “So much death and destruction…”

“We won’t make the same mistakes,” Maximus said, placing his hand on my shoulder. “Because we’ve grown so much since then. Believe it or not, I actually respect you as a leader.”

“My belief really has been tested of late.” I laughed. “But that might be the hardest thing to believe yet.”

Maximus grinned and pulled the car to a stop. “The thing is Matthias thinks that he’s going to come back stronger than ever and finish what he started, but it’s really the opposite.”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean that ~we’re~ the ones who are stronger this time around. We’re going to take ~him~ out for good this time,” he said confidently.

“Hell yeah, brother,” I said, grinning. “He’s just a dead man walking, and we’re putting him back in that grave.”

“Speaking of graves...” Max said somberly.

Even though I couldn’t see it, I could still smell the death that lingered at the Northern Pack. That scent would never go away.

We got out of the car and began walking toward the gate.

“Shit, this is even worse than I’d imagined,” Max said, humbled by the carnage before him. “We have to stop that monster before this happens again.”

As we entered the city, now reduced to ruins, I started to smell something familiar—a faint scent of blooming spring flowers and citrus fruits.

“Do you think we’ll find a clue to Bambi’s whereabouts here?” Max asked.

“No,” I replied, locking onto the scent. “I think we just found her.”

“She’s here?” Max grabbed me by the shoulders. “Are you sure?”

“Yes, I have her scent. But she’s not alone…”

“Who else is here?”

“The witch who blinded me…my sister,” I responded, digging my claws into my palms.

I’d only scented her once before in my life, but that scent would never leave me. I couldn’t forget it, even if I wanted to.

Bambi

“Boost me up. I think I can reach it,” I said, and then I climbed onto Jimmy’s shoulders.

The sliver of light peeking through the hole in the ceiling was the closest thing to an exit that I could see, and now that there were two of us, we could actually reach it.

I hit the crack with my elbow over and over, causing dirt and debris to fall on our heads, but the hole only widened by a bit.

I climbed back down, sighing. “This is useless. There’s something hard on top of us that I can’t break through. And even if I did, this whole place might collapse on top of us.”

“At least you gave us a little more light.” Jimmy smiled.

I smiled back, wiping the sweat from my forehead. I really wanted to protect this girl for some reason.

I didn’t know if it was because she reminded me of myself or because I’d grown accustomed to trying to be a liberator, but I had already taken responsibility for her in my mind.

I’d get us out of here, but I needed a plan.

“You wouldn’t happen to secretly be a witch yourself, would you?” I asked Jimmy with forced optimism.

“Um, no, sorry,” she replied, looking confused.

“Didn’t think so.” I sighed.

“Speaking of witches, Devina hasn’t come with food and water yet today,” Jimmy whispered.

“She’s coming soon?” I asked, suddenly getting an idea.

“Usually around this time, yes,” Jimmy replied.

I dropped to my knees and started digging through the dirt underneath the hole of light.

“What…what are you doing?”

“Looking for this,” I said, holding up a sizable piece of rubble that had come loose from the ceiling. “Listen carefully, Jimmy. I need you to stand here, under the light, while I hide in the shadows. When Devina comes in—”

I was interrupted by the sound of keys jingling in a lock.

No time to explain, I dove out of sight while Jimmy stood nervously in place.

A door swung open, and a beautiful waifish woman in a red cloak strode into the room, carrying a torch.

Her eyes immediately fell on Jimmy, and she gave her a malicious smile.

She tossed a bag onto the ground, and stale bread and a bottle of water rolled out into the dirt.

“You always look like such a cowering bitch,” Devina laughed. “I don’t understand what my brother sees in you.”

“Is…is he here? Matthias?”

“Shut your mouth. You aren’t worthy to speak his name,” Devina spat, raising her hand to slap Jimmy.

~WHACK.~

I hit Devina in the back of the head as hard as I could, and she crumpled to the floor. Her torch rolled through the dirt, and I snatched it up before it was extinguished.

“That was your plan?” Jimmy gawked. “Hitting her in the head?”

“It was a simple plan, okay,” I hissed. “The door is open, and we have light. Let’s get the hell out of here before she wakes up.”

I grabbed Jimmy’s hand, and we raced out of the dungeon, scurrying through the corridor.

When we came to the end, the corridor branched out into multiple directions.

“It’s a series of tunnels,” Jimmy said as I pointed my torch down each one. “I’ve heard rumors that there were old mines below the city that stretched on for miles.”

“Which way do we go?” I asked frantically.

Jimmy took a deep breath, inhaling through her nose. “Um, the middle one?”

“Why the middle one?”

“I don’t know. It just…smells familiar somehow,” she said, looking puzzled.

That was good enough for me. I yanked her down the center tunnel, and we continued running.

“There’s light up ahead! We’re almost there,” I said excitedly.

My excitement turned to horror as we reached the chamber and a man rounded the corner, looking just as shocked as I felt.

He was handsome and muscular, with the air of a military man. In fact, he reminded me of Ekon immediately.

But this wasn’t Ekon…

Jimmy took a step toward the man, and he smiled.

“Matthias?”