Chapter 26 - Nova
NOVA
Seeing Zeth and Nick head for the cages, I went for the dark passage ahead, the one that screamed, “The boss hangs out here!” He’d have some of the answers I needed.
A flicker of satisfaction sparked low in my chest as I watched the others move together, efficient and deadly. My crew. My—fuck. I’d just wanted to call them mates.
Admitting it felt like a punch to the ribs, but the warmth that filled the space was nice and calming.
My head dipped, and there it was, the tattoo winding up my arm.
The inked vines shimmered, the buds at their tips glowing soft as they pulsed.
I could feel them, like their roots were reaching inside of me, knocking against the locked door where I’d kept my heart buried.
All they needed was permission to come in.
I clenched my fist. No. Not now.
There was still a bastard to find, a bastard who knew things. I didn’t have time to waste on glowing vines and soul-bonded men. Maybe that was the reason Ezra had pushed for the tattoo in the first place—to keep us from being distracted.
My heart thudded harder despite knowing that. My wolf stirred restlessly, prowling just beneath the skin. She wanted this done, fast, so she could get back to them.
The same wolf that had slept for years, waking only for blood and battle, now panted at the thought of her mates. Who knew she would be like this? I didn’t.
Snarling under my breath, I told her to get her head on straight, squared my shoulders, and pressed on. The faster I tore through this boss and got what we needed, the faster I could figure out what the hell this bond meant… for all of us.
Just as the rockface veered left, a cry split the air, sharp and desperate. It was followed by the wet sound of flesh parting under a blade and a rhythmic chant that made my skin crawl. What the fuck is that?
I pressed my back to the wall, inching forward until I could peer around the bend.
The space beyond opened into a crude excuse for an office.
A desk cobbled together from crates was off to the side.
Atop it, a lantern burned low, and papers were scattered like fallen leaves all over the ground.
In the center stood a bulky turned werewolf in human form, his eyes an unnatural green that glowed like chemical fire.
I knew every pack in my territory, every scent that drifted through my streets, and his smell didn’t belong to any of them. He was a ghost in my domain… one who’d been hiding right under my fucking nose.
“No looze endz,” he said, voice flat and accented. I thought it was Russian since the s’s turned into z’s. The knife in his hand pulsed faintly as he said that chant again. Threads of magic lifted off the corpse at his feet, drawing into the blade until it flared violet then settled.
Pain tugged at my thigh, sharp and sudden. That knife. The one Frank had sliced me with. How the hell did this bastard have that knife?
He lifted his head slightly, nostrils flaring as he stared into the black space around him. “I can smell you, Syndicate,” he said, almost amused. “Your kind always holds the stench of power.”
So much for stealth.
I straightened and stepped out into the open. “You know,” I said back, my voice edged with a grin, “that’s the first time anyone’s used ‘power’ and ‘stench’ in the same sentence. Pretty sure that’s not the compliment you think it is.”
His head tipped back as laughter boomed through the cave, bouncing off stone until it sounded less human and more monster—low, cold, and far too pleased with himself.
He lazily waved the knife, the blade catching the dim light as his smile curved sharp.
“You know,” he said almost playfully, “I told them we should just take you. Change you. Watch that confidence in your eyes fade the moment real power sinks its claws into you. The moment you understand what it feels like to know you’re inferior.”
I made a show of kicking at the ground and pouting my lips. “Aw, shucks,” I said. “Guess I’ll have to stay like this, then. Just plain old, awesome me.”
A chuckle escaped him before his body began to tremble. Muscles ballooned beneath his skin, and dark veins began crawling up his neck. Saliva pooled at the corners of his mouth, dripping onto the floor, hissing when it hit the stone.
I shifted on my feet as his ears stretched into points, fur cutting through the flesh around them.
He wasn’t a wolf—not exactly. He looked like he was something that had gotten stuck halfway, a monster built out of bad magic and arrogance.
His eyes burned neon green, bright enough to stain the air around him.
“I’ll let you taste it,” he snarled, jamming the knife deep into the rock wall. The blade hummed, alive. “One hit to the chest would kill you, so I’ll make sure you get the full demonstration.”
I blinked, and he vanished.
Instinct told me to move, so I ducked and jumped to the side. My eyes landed on the space my head was, hearing the loud crack as the rock crumbled underneath his fist. He turned slowly, grinning, those neon eyes looking like a Halloween decoration, before he came at me again.
This time, my wolf snapped to the surface, bones and fur shifting so quickly that as soon as my back paws met the ground, I launched forward. My fangs found his thigh and sank deep, tearing into the engorged muscle, making it into roast beef.
His roar shook the cave, a sound too big for the space.
He swung for me, but I was smaller, faster, hungrier, so I slipped out from under the blow.
In fluid motion, I launched myself at the rock wall, pushed off on all fours, and twisted to land on his back.
My claws tore into his massive flesh, slicing it to ribbons and tearing out chunks with my teeth.
Flesh gave way in a wet, satisfying tear.
Blood slammed into my fur, boiling and metallic, thick as rot in the air. It spattered against the stone behind me, a brutal cadence that set my pulse dancing in time.
Adrenaline burned through me, flooding every nerve. My hearing sharpened until I could catch every ragged inhale, every crack of muscle beneath his skin.
With my fangs still buried in his shoulder, I shook my head, tearing deeper. Using my back claws, I raked down his spine until his roars became gurgles, until the cave smelled only of blood and victory.
He howled, knees slamming into the dirt before his hand closed around one of my legs and flung me off him. I twisted in the air and landed on all fours, skidding as grit bit into the pads of my paws, eyes locked on the moving threat.
His hand clutched his bleeding throat, and the wound knit together faster than a normal supe’s would, given the damage I inflicted.
“I can do this all night,” he spat, his voice raw. “I can spill buckets and buckets of blood and still have the strength to take on a silver-spooned thug of the Syndicate!”
I shifted back into my human shape, planted a hand on my hip, and let a grin crawl across my face. “Is that supposed to be an insult? Cute.” I threw my hands up like a showman. “The Silver-Spooned Thug has a nice ring. You’ve picked the wrong racket, bub. You should be in marketing.”
His whole frame trembled, teeth grinding so hard that his jaw had to ache. Green fire burned behind his eyes. “We. Will. Ruin. You. All of you.”
My fingers morphed into claws at my sides, and my body buzzed, ready for anything. “Plenty have said that before, yet all of them ended the same.” Putting my claws over my heart, I pretended to tear it out. “With their heart ripped out and stomped into the dirt. Where you belong.”
He bellowed, arms sweeping wide. The cave shuddered at the sound. Dust rattled down, and a thin, hairline crack webbed across the stone above us. Rocks began to tumble.
He didn’t seem to care. The moment my attention wasn’t on him, he seized the opportunity by slamming me into the wall. Jagged stone bit into my skin as his bulk ground against me.
Air left me, my chest caving in from the weight.
I twisted my head and gasped for air, tasting dust and the rank, sour burn of his breath on my cheek.
He laughed, the sound filthy. “Under all this muscle is just a woman.” With a sneer, he raked his hands up my thigh.
“Might be nice to fuck you before I kill you. Last chance to taste you, right?”
Something in me snapped, and a laugh, sharp and bitter, came out. It made his jaw clench. “Please. Your little pecker wouldn’t compare to my mates’. You’ll just make me miss them more while I laugh at your pathetic dick.”
He shook, his anger taking over his mind for a second, and I took advantage.
Circling my arms around his, I locked them against me as I thrust my claws into his ribs, slicing along muscle and fat, digging deeper and deeper.
He howled as my claws rearranged his insides, the savage in me savoring the pain twisting up his face.
He spat out threats, venomous despite his stammer. “I-I’ll ruin you. I-I’ll kill you and—” His voice broke, mouth open in a silent scream, unable to finish.
Using that rage, he tried to swing his head down to crush mine, but I let go of him and shifted. My back slid down the rock, tearing it to shreds, and when I looked up, his head smashed into the rock wall with a massive thud. The wall groaned underneath his head, splintering into a web of cracks.
The big bastard staggered back, disoriented, as he pressed his palm to his dented skull with a groan. Dust and small stones rattled from above. The cracks in the wall spread wider, crawling up the wall and overhead, so I knew my time was up. I had minutes, maybe less. I needed to finish this.