Chapter Nineteen #2
It wasn’t until the click of the handgun that time slowed.
She knew that sound. Destiny jerked her attention to her father and saw him—the Elder, Aro, stood there with her gun…
her silver bullet filled gun. She knew there were shots left in it.
She’d counted every shot. He aimed the Glock at her father, and before she even realized what she was doing, Destiny was sprinting for him.
His finger brushed the trigger. No!
“Destiny!” Dodger yelled in a demon’s voice.
She latched onto the Elder’s wrist and yanked his aim off her dad.
Boom!
With a gasp, she flung to the snow, skidded ten feet and staggered to her feet, eyes on the snow as she waited for the red stream.
The snow stayed white.
Destiny dragged her attention to the Elder, but he had fallen to his knees, and his glowing eyes were on Nory, who stood fifteen feet away, her weapon still drawn. Her eyes were steady on him, full of anger as her chest rose and fell with her labored breath.
Wolves were trotting from the trees, and beside Nory stood a massive black wolf. Liam?
“You,” the Elder choked out.
His white button-down shirt was being painted red.
The fighting had stopped, and the rival wolves were backing away from Dodger and her father, being pushed by the presence of the snarling Rogue Pack who stalked closer, and closer, and closer.
The clearing was littered with bodies.
Liam stepped forward, and movement caught her eye. At the corner of the house stood a lone gray wolf. Her bi-colored eyes were on Aro’s face. There was a sadness there in Lyric’s gaze. An acceptance.
She looked at Destiny, and as Liam approached the dying Elder, his lips pulled back with the promise of death on his face, Lyric turned and trotted for the woods.
Destiny didn’t watch Liam end it. Dodger bolted for her and stood in the way. It was over fast, but Destiny closed her eyes and imagined herself in Dodger’s arms. Home.
She was going to find home.
It would be different now, but it would still be home.
She flattened her ears and pressed her head against Dodger’s shoulder. He was ripped up, but he was standing. He was breathing. She could hear his pounding heartbeat.
He existed, and Destiny’s body sagged at the realization.
They were okay.
I’m here. Dodger circled her tightly and rested his head on top of hers. I’m here.
Destiny frowned. She could hear this faint whisper in her mind. She could hear him.
It’s okay. I’m here. You did so good.
There were other snippets of sentences whispering across her mind now.
…need to get her to the house…
…is that Destiny?…
…what the hell happened…
…she’s bleeding…
…get her to the truck…
…can she Change back?...
…Dodger, can you ask her to Change?...
…Liam, what do you need us to do?...
Destiny shook her head, confused by the way the voices were overlapping.
When she looked up, her father’s wolf was sitting there.
He had one paw limp on the red smattered snow, and he looked all cut up.
Part of his ear was missing, and there was a long gash through one of his eyes and down his face.
He watched her and lifted his head higher. Proud.
That’s the only word she recognized of his.
Proud, his wolf whispered again.
If she could cry in this body, she would.
Everything had gone wrong, and then she’d become this…this…thing. And she was supposed to be angry, right? She wasn’t. Overwhelmed perhaps, but she loved this…this…thing.
Destiny looked down at her paws. They were different shades of gray, and her nails were sharp and black.
Weapons. The snow was turning pink, and she knew she was hurt, but not badly.
It was nothing her new body wouldn’t heal.
She could feel the hurt now. The ache of her injuries, but that meant she was still here.
Still kicking. Still breathing. Still Dodger’s.
He was watching her with those bright glowing blue eyes, and God, she loved him. Could he hear her? Love, love, love, love, love.
…Fuck, get a room… Vic? His wolf trotted by. She could tell which of the Rogue Pack was which. She’d never seen their wolves, so how?
No, she couldn’t hate what she was. This felt right. This felt like she’d been meant to be. She felt like herself.
The whispering was so layered, she couldn’t understand. Her head was buzzing.
…Change back…
…Change back…
Nory was heading toward her with a blanket in her hands.
…Change back…Dodger whispered. …it’s okay, Destiny. Change back…
And her body did something so strange. It curled in on itself, and in a moment of blinding pain, it snapped into something else.
She lay there panting as Nory tucked the blanket around her. Dodger picked her up immediately. He was a man again too. He was hurt.
His dark hair was mussed, and his eyes glowing so bright. There was a grim set to his mouth as he walked her toward his truck.
She reached up and touched his face.
“It’s going to be okay,” he gritted out. He was so angry still.
“Dodger,” she whispered, touching his face again.
He looked down at her.
A smile took her face. “I’m not fragile anymore.”
Dodger gritted out a curse and sank down to the snow on his knees, cradling her close to his chest. His lips crashed onto hers, and he gripped her hair behind her ear as he drank her in.
“Fuck, I thought I lost you,” he whispered, his forehead against hers. He kissed her again and eased back. “You should see your eyes,” he whispered, searching her face.
She brushed her fingertip under his left eye, along a healing cut. She could see every shade of blue, every dark web of pattern in his irises. This werewolf vision was something else. “You should see yours.”
He was the most destructive, powerful, beautiful creature she’d ever seen.
And from the way he looked at her, he saw her in the same light.
Give them your rage.
She had, and now everything was broken into something beautiful.
Never again would she call her life same old, same old.
Today started a life completely new.