Chapter 39
CHAPTER 39
C hristophe
While I watch Ashley hurriedly race down the hill in the direction of the field where the Supermoon Ceremony occurs, the smile on my face starts to wane. I’ve tried to ignore the pestering thought at the back of my mind.
But ever since I awakened this morning with the realization that tonight was the Supermoon Ceremony, the feeling in the pit of my stomach has grown. I suspected that it was because I’ve come to realize that I’m down to my last few weeks, if not days, with Ashley. I know the end of the search for Dr. X is coming.
While I’ll be relieved to put an end to that son of a bitch, I’m aware that it also means my time of freedom is almost at an end. This was a fate I thought I’d accepted, but with Ashley, I know things are different.
The night of the Supermoon Ceremony all shifters are vulnerable.
The words I read in one of the files we pulled out of Levinson’s cabin come crashing back. It was only a scribbling on a piece of paper that’d been photocopied. The words around the scribbling had been crossed out or erased, so I couldn’t put it all together.
But the persistent feeling in my gut won’t allow me to let it go.
Minutes after Ashley leaves, I decide to go back to my house to do some more research. I have at least an hour before the ceremony ends in the pack run. That should give me plenty of time to get to my house, do some research on the computer, and make it back up here before the pack makes it up the overlook.
It only takes me ten minutes to get back home. Mike, like everyone else, is out at the field for the ceremony. Lately, I’ve had more freedom to move about the Nightwolf compound.
Additionally, Chael has left the laptop—which he used to take with him every night—at my house for the past week. I’ve used it to continue using online resources to piece together and track down Dr. X’s whereabouts.
The information found in the files we acquired from Levinson have allowed me to narrow down some possible locations. What remains a mystery is exactly who this Dr. X is and what his ultimate goal is.
Levinson’s words helped me put together some of the pieces, but not everything.
I grab my laptop and the file that’s still open on my table.
Using my skills, I’m able to find a match for the handwriting sample found in the file. Unfortunately, I can’t access the entire file to get a name.
What I do discover, though, is that we’re possibly not the only ones tracking down this Dr. X.
The federal agency’s records point me in a direction that I hadn’t looked before. A site that leads to a part of the dark web that I’ve never even thought to look into. It takes some time to hack into this particularly ugly part of the web.
Once I do my jaw hits the floor.
It’s a jackpot of all types of illegal dealings among wolf, and other shifters, no less. I click on a link that’s named after Rufus Dalton, the bastard wolf shifter who once sat on the National Shifter Alliance, and also tried to bring us all down. The same one who lured me into his plan.
“What the …” I trail off as I stare at the unbelievable. Scores of posts and information on Rufus and another person’s plot to destroy wolf shifters first, before moving on to the other paranormals.
“Dr. X,” I mumble. His signature is all over these posts. Eventually, I’m able to track down transactions. Money exchanges via unregulated currencies for ‘favors.’ The specific favors are never mentioned.
But I can cross-reference the transactions with one of the forms in Levinson’s file. It matches the dates of every inmate that was transferred to the prison where Ashley, myself, and the others were held.
Energy pulses through my veins as my heartbeat speeds up. I’m onto something. This is it, I know it is. The moment I track down Dr. X.
On a hunch, I choose to enter a chat group. There aren’t many people in the group, but I hang around for a few minutes. My patience pays off because a few minutes later, a bell rings and a notification of a newly posted video pops up.
Without even thinking, I click on the video and my screen fills with a dark night sky peppered by the brightness of the stars overhead and the bright, shining supermoon in the background.
“Tonight is the night.”
The voice causes a shiver to run down my spine. My entire body goes cold.
It’s him.
Dr. X.
I would know his voice anywhere. And just like during my time in his prison, when the camera pans down to his face, he’s wearing a mask. Not a full face mask like in the prison. This time it’s a medical face mask that only covers the bottom half of his face.
“This is the night I’ve been waiting for. I’ve managed to acquire the final pieces of the puzzle to the riddle that’s plagued me for years.”
He waits, giving a dramatic pause.
“How to bring the shifters to their knees. To make them surrender to us, the more superior race.”
I scan the video for any clues of his location, but all I can make out is forest and trees. Dr. X is the only person in the video. However, that changes when he begins moving, the camera follows his every move. The slight shaking lets me know that someone must be holding the camera.
I make a mental note of this, but as soon as I do, horror seizes my body. As Dr. X moves, the camera follows his line of sight until it lands on a prone body laid out on one of his cold, metal tables.
A shiver of terror pulses through me.
But that terror is nothing compared to the horror that erupts inside of my body when I see the face of the person laying on the table.
“Ms. Elsie!” I yell at the screen.
“We’ve waited decades for this moment. All I needed was two pack elders. Now we will use the power of their Mother Moon and her energy from this night to take our proper role.”
“Oh Mother Moon,” I say when the camera also reveals a second body. It’s Dr. Drake.
Dr. X lifts something that looks like a syringe. The movement causes me to flinch. The memory of him standing over me in that same way, mocking me and all shifters for our weakness right before he plunged a syringe filled with whatever drug he’d come up with.
“No!” I yell at the screen as he moves to lower his hand.
In a desperate frenzy, I work to find the feed that’s sending this video out to whomever is watching. Somehow, I find the server and shut it down, cutting the feed.
Dr. X was talking to the camera, knowing he had an audience. He wanted to put on a show. My hope is that the disconnected feed will stop him until I can track down his location.
As I thumb through Levinson’s files and papers, now scattered on my table, all I can think of is seeing Ms. Elsie and Dr. Drake on that table in danger. I shake my head, trying to fight off the desperation rearing up inside of me. I can’t afford to give into the feelings of helplessness right now.
Finally, I come across a picture in one of Levinson’s folders. The background is very similar to the one I just saw in the video. Since I’ve cut the video feed, I can’t hold it up to do a one-to-one comparison, but my wolf instincts tell me it’s correct.
Levinson even wrote the name of the location in the margins of the photo.
“Gideon Ranch,” I mumble, reading his handwriting.
A quick computer search reveals a Gideon Ranch not too far from the Nightwolf compound. Only about an hour’s drive, in fact. Online pictures show that the ranch is surrounded by forest and the same types of trees I saw in the video and the picture in my hands.
I pull up public records of the ranch’s owner. Glinda Lockwood is listed as the owner. The name doesn’t ring any bells, but I store it away in my memory for later. Now, I have to get to the ranch as soon as possible to save Ms. Elise and Dr. Drake.
It doesn’t occur to me to ask how Dr. X got a hold of Ms. Elsie and Dr. Drake while the entire pack should be at the Supermoon Ceremony right now. All I think about is getting to them.
And to finally take out Dr. X.
I don’t have access to a car, so I choose to shift into my wolf and use his speed to get me to the ranch as soon as possible.
In the distance, I can hear the howls from the Nightwolf pack as they proceed on their run after the Supermoon Ceremony. I shove away the guilt inside of my chest for breaking my promise to Ashley. But I will not let this bastard hurt anyone else.
I run in the opposite direction of the Nightwolves, toward Gideon Ranch. The entire time I run, I pray that Mother Moon keeps Ms. Elsie and Dr. Drake both safe.
* * *
While it would’ve taken an hour to get to Gideon Ranch in a car, it only takes my wolf thirty minutes to make it to the wooden fence that surrounds the property of the ranch. I’ve come to the back entrance of the ranch, which provides me with some coverage from the trees.
A sniff of the air reveals the fact that there are more shifters in the area. Though, I’m not familiar with their scents.
Dr. X isn’t a shifter himself. He’s human, which has always confused me. How could a human invade our society so deeply and for so many years and go undetected?
To do so, means he had to be working with some shifters at the highest levels of government in our society.
But who?
“What the hell do you mean the feed won’t come back on?” Dr. X’s angered voice pushes past my thoughts.
When I cut the feed, I set up a block to prevent them from uploading anymore videos to give me more time. A skilled hacker could’ve broken through the block in the time it took me to get here. Which tells me Dr. X doesn’t have any truly skilled hackers working for him.
I suspect that with the demise of his prison, and Chael, Chance, and I picking off the remaining guards one-by-one, he’s down to few supporters for whatever his ultimate plan is.
“Get it working! My fans need to see this!” he barks out.
I manage to squeeze myself through the opening of the fence, and use their distraction and remaining tree coverage to inch closer and closer. I make out three shifters, two of which are in their wolf forms, and one holding the camera. He’s who Dr. X is yelling at to fix the video feed.
The sound of his voice immediately brings out a snarling from my wolf. I try to shut him up, but it’s too late. One of the two wolves, closer to Dr. X, hears me and turns my way.
By this time, I make a quick calculation. I have enough time to sprint from underneath the trees and intercede the guy with the camera. He’s scrawny, and while he is a shifter, I’m certain my wolf can overpower his wolf strength.
I take off running, revealing my location for the wolf that’s overheard me. But I don’t pay him any attention as I race through the field toward my intended victim. I reach him in seconds. I leap at the same moment he turns toward me, stunned expression and all.
That’s the last face he ever makes before my incisors make perfect contact with his throat. The taste of copper fills my mouth as his blood spills out from the wound. I whip my head back and forth, ripping a chunk of his throat away from his body.
He goes limp, falling to the ground, the camera slamming against the ground and breaking into pieces the moment he does.
“You!”
Dr. X’s voice brings my attention back to him. My eyes narrow the moment he takes a step backward. I let out a howl, my anger overcoming me. But I’ve made a grave error.
I forgot about the other two wolves. They’re now surrounding me.
Pain rips through my side. My instinct is to cave in and cover my head, to shield myself for the onslaught of wolf bites and hits, but I fight through my fear. Dr. Drake remains defenseless on that metal bed, and I suspect if Dr. X makes it through with whatever plan he has tonight there will be nothing between him, the Nightwolf pack, and Ashley.
So, I fight.
I swing one of my paws at the wolf who’s just bitten me, striking him in the face. Though the blow isn’t hard enough to completely stop his assault, it’s enough to slow him down.
I use the opportunity to sink my teeth into his jaw. Unfortunately, my aim is off, and my teeth find his shoulder instead. He lets out a howl of pain. I try to seize on the chance to find his throat, but the second wolf is on me.
I let out a howl of pain when a second pair of teeth sink into my other side. Instantly it becomes difficult to breathe. He must have gone in deep enough to nick my lung. Despite the discomfort, I manage to strike out at his face, viciously leaving claw marks across his face and nose.
A whimper of agony spills from him.
While he’s distracted with his pain and attempting to regroup, I turn my attention to the other wolf. Knowing I don’t have much time, I strike with one of my paws and then surge forward to latch onto his throat with my teeth.
I know the moment his life ends.
There’s no time to celebrate the victory because more pain rips through me as the other wolf’s teeth tear into my shoulder. I suspect he tried for my throat but missed. My wolf wants to howl in pain, but I force him to focus as we swat at the wolf, narrowly missing his nose.
Our paws clash, nails digging into the flesh of one another’s hides as we angle for positioning, one going after the other’s throat. Each movement of mine forces me to recognize the strength I’m losing. The warm liquid that trickles down my sides, evidence of life oozing out of me.
Yet I refuse to quit or give up. This bastard will have to tear my throat out if he wants me to quit.
Finally, a burst of energy has me lunging quickly at just the right angle that my teeth latch onto his throat. His howl of pain soon turns into a resigned whimper. He’s accepted his fate. Death finds him seconds later.
I toss his limp body away.
“I see your brothers taught you to fight well.” Dr. X’s voice brings my attention back to him. His eyes widen in fear when I growl, baring my teeth.
But he quickly recovers.
“Ah, ah, ah.” He wags a finger. “You must’ve forgotten who you’re dealing with. I am your master!” he seethes.
I bark and growl at him. If I were in my human form, it would’ve come out as fuck you.
I inch forward, but horrific pain rushes through my back leg, nearly causing me to fall. I look back at my leg to see it twisted in a way that legs aren’t meant to move. It’s broken.
Still, I inch forward, fighting through the pain to get to the man who tortured me for months. Who oversaw the kidnapping and torture of my mate.
“Stay back!” he yells out before raising his arm and hovering it above where he has Ms. Elsie and Dr. Drake’s bodies on what look like homemade cots.
I freeze in place.
“Yes.” A sick chuckle spills out of his throat. The same throat my mouth waters to tear through. “You understand that I’m not playing around. I will sink both of these syringes into their prone bodies.”
My gaze moves to Ms. Elsie, laying so peacefully, her chest barely rising and falling. I don’t know what he’s used to drug her, but I suspect it can’t be good. Fear bubbles up inside of me over the fact that neither she nor Dr. Drake might have much time left.
What did you do to them?
The words sound like English in my head, but they come out in a series of yelps and barks from my wolf’s jaw.
Dr. X understands though because he chuckles again, before asking, “You want to know what I did to them? Huh? Why they’re so lifeless?”
He lowers his hand and stares down at them almost reverently.
“You should already know what it is. The same concoction I’ve been working on for years. I used it on you and the others. Don’t worry much, though. They’ll wake up soon. This,” he flicks the syringe in his hand with the fingers of his free hand, “will do the job. It’s also a paralytic. It’ll keep them still, but they’ll be able to feel everything. And then the real show will begin. The strength of tonight’s supermoon will finally allow me to transfer their life energy to my body.”
Another hideous laugh rents through the air.
His laughter turns maniacal when I bark out at him in anger. The horrific memories of having my body abused while I could do nothing but take it. The pain that reverberated through my body, causes my entire body to shake in rage.
“My experiments were going so well. I even had potential contracts with the human governments, too. They know how useful you animals can be to their selfish causes. And once I’d finally placed you inside, I would’ve used you like the puppets you are to get access to their technology.
“All if your fucking brothers hadn’t ruined everything!” he seethes.
I take a step closer although my body nearly buckles from the pain from my wounds.
“He should’ve never even found out about my hideout.” He actually stomps his foot like a child that didn’t get his ice cream after dinner.
Every word he speaks makes me hungrier for his throat.
“Still don’t know how they found it,” he grumbles, almost to himself. “But my cause will not be stopped! He wanted to stop me, so I’ve taken his prized pack overseer and the fucking pack doctor.”
He raises his arm like he’s about to jab either Ms. Elsie or Dr. Drake with whatever he’s filled that syringe with.
“What?” He pauses, looking at me curiously when I bark at him in warning. “You don’t want me to do it?” He shakes his head. “Hell, it’s not like these two are as worthy as that fucking fire wolf they stole from me. Have you ever seen one of those things light up as they sprint toward you.”
Tossing his head back, he laughs crazily.
“He did that the first few months I had him locked up. That’s why I had to put that reinforced prison in the lab. Just for him. All of that power and fire, and one of the metals considered the weakest among humans does him in. Not the typical silver like you imbeciles.”
I know he’s referring to Serafina’s father, who turned out to be a part of the infamous Crimson pack.
His eyes narrow when I bark again. “You’re going to be a problem. I’ve put you through too much, I see,” he continues as I limp forward, growling.
“Soldiers!” he calls out
All of a sudden, I see shining pairs of eyes emerging from the tree coverage.
“The moment you entered my territory, my soldiers were put on alert,” Dr. X haughtily says. “You didn’t think those puny bastards were all I had, did you?”
Another wicked laugh has me snarling.
“You know your kind loves to throw away lone wolves. That made it so much easier for me to recruit my own little army. And with my ability to manipulate the way that I am, it didn’t take much effort to get them to submit to my will.”
He stops and dips his head at me before lowering the mask covering his face. For the first time, I get to see the gnarled lower half of his face. Vicious-looking scars, and lips that appear to have been ripped off and reattached to his face, snarl down at me.
“This is what your kind did. Now I’m going to pay you all back!” He raises the syringe over his head again before attempting to plunge it into Ms. Elsie’s neck.
My wolf howls loudly before I try to leap at him before he’s able to inject her. But one of his trained wolves comes at me like a battering ram in my side, sending me flying in the opposite direction.
I hit the ground hard, almost blacking out from the impact. I force my eyes to remain open as I try to stagger to my feet. I’m not given the chance as at least two more wolves come at me. Their bites cause agony to fill every cell of my body, especially when one gets ahold of my already broken leg and yanks it.
Howling, I struggle to fight them off, but they’re stronger than I am.
The edges of my vision start to grow dark. Dizziness and nausea begin to set in, likely from the amount of blood I’m undoubtedly losing.
But a glimpse in Dr. X’s direction reveals the impossible. Ms. Elsie, who moments ago looked to be lost in sleep, is up. Not only is she awake, her eyes are glowing and her incisors have descended.
She looks absolutely fierce as she leaps up, lunging for Dr. X.
I have to get to her. I have to help her.
The fight inside of me renews, and I swing at one of the wolves attacking me before snapping my jaws at him. My battered and bruised body sways, and the desire to give up and succumb to my death almost overcomes me, but a force drives me.
In the distance, a howl has my wolf’s ears perking up. Even the attacking wolves halt. It’s the call of an alpha.
Not just any alpha.
My alpha.
My wolf lets out the loudest howl we can manage. To my surprise, Ms. Elsie and Dr. Drake, who’s also now awake, respond with a howl even in their human states.
In the blink of an eye, more wolves come crashing through the brush. But these aren’t Dr. X’s foot soldiers.
No.
They’re Nightwolves.
I howl again as many of the wolves who were focused on me turn to attack the wolves in my pack. I manage to latch onto the throat of one unsuspecting wolf, the same one who’d bitten and twisted my broken leg. He whimpers and cries out, but I don’t release him.
Not until life leaves his body.
Pain sears through me when two more wolves set their sights on me, attacking me from various angles. I do my best to keep my head low to protect my throat. But my throat is not the only vulnerable spot on my body right now.
Another ferocious howl sounds out, which has my wolf responding instantly.
Mate!
No, no, no! Ashley shouldn’t be here. She shouldn’t be a part of this. My goal is to keep her safe, not in the middle of this fray.
However, my inner tirade is cut off when Ashley’s wolf growls ferociously at one of the wolves attacking me. She pounces, making perfect contact with his throat. I see his death moments before the light leaves his eyes.
When the second wolf tries to go for her, I put myself between her and his body. Unfortunately, this gives him the ability to latch onto my throat.
I see my death before it happens.
But when he tries to thrash his head, thusly ripping my flesh from me, I manage to fight back, freeing myself from his teeth as another wolf assists me by attacking him from the rear.
I pull myself free but stagger only a few steps before collapsing to my side. My breathing turns even more ragged.
A cry rips through the air.
Mate, my wolf acknowledges a beat before Ashley’s wolf appears over us. Her wolf whimpers and then licks my face and sides. Seconds later, she shifts into her human.
I try to raise my hand to her face but realize it’s still a paw. Despite the pain, I force my wolf all of the way back, to allow my human to come forward. The shift has me crying out in pain, but I have to do it.
“Christophe,” Ashley cries, moving beneath me to cradle my head in her lap.
Her hand in my blood-soaked hair soothes some of the pain ravaging my body.
“You’re going to be okay. I-It’s going to be o-o-okayy,” she stutters, her body shaking beneath mine.
I somehow find the strength to reach up, my finger catching one of the tears that falls from her eyes.
“Don’t cry.” I wince from how much it aches to get those two words out. It hurts just to breathe, but I fight through the discomfort. “It’s th-the f-first time I’m g-getting to look at you,” I croak out.
I stare into her face, taking in her beautiful brown eyes, oval face, pouty lips that I’ve kissed a thousand times, but never enough, and the button nose.
“B-Beautiful,” I whisper.
“Y-You’re hurt.” Her eyes scan the rest of my body.
The pain coursing through my body already lets me know that I probably won’t make it through the night.
“I-I?—”
“No,” she insists, pressing her hand into the wound in my throat to stop the bleeding. “Don’t speak. Save your energy. As soon as we get Dr. Drake—” Her voice breaks off onto a cry.
“Wait, I think … I have to get him.” She starts to move.
“No.” I latch onto her arm. “Wait, just sit here with me,” I say, knowing it’s useless. “Just you and me. Let me look at you.”
Her eyes gloss over but she doesn’t move. She stares down at me, our eyes meeting for the first time.
“How beautifully tragic that the last thing I ever see is the most beautiful,” I somehow manage to push out my final thoughts. “Kiss me.”
“Christophe, please.”
“Kiss me,” I tell her again. “Please, butterfly.”
More tears spill from her eyes, but she slowly lowers until her lips connect with mine. The pain in my body disappears as I savor her lips for the final time.
When Ashley pulls away, I fight to keep my gaze on her, but it’s futile. My eyelids grow heavier and heavier with each passing second, until they finally close against my will.
I fall into an unwanted darkness.
Taken from my mate. But I hold on to the image of her face as I fade into the abyss.