Chapter 48
FORTY-EIGHT
NIK
They keep getting back up. All of them. Even the one I beheaded was not only able to find its head but reattach the fucking thing.
Their wounds regenerate faster than any wolf I’ve ever seen before.
What takes us days, these things do in a matter of seconds.
It doesn’t matter how many throats I rip out.
How many limbs I tear off. The soulless refuse to die like hell is too afraid to take them.
I shove a claw into the creature’s sternum, digging through layers of flesh and bone.
Its mouth wrenches open and bites at the air on impulse, arms and legs flailing.
I draw back my claw and watch as it slumps to the dirt, thrashing uncontrollably.
It’s not dying. No, the gaping hole in its chest is already in the process of healing.
My heart lurches. In another minute or so, I’ll have to do it all over again.
We aren’t stopping them. We’re only slowing them down.
And who knows how much longer the wolves can keep fighting them off.
We will all reach our limit at some point, some faster than others.
The only wolf to ever claim he killed a soulless is Clément Duval, and even the alpha is struggling to stay alive.
This isn’t sustainable, my wolf says. We can’t fight these things forever.
I laugh with contempt internally. Unless you know a way to kill them, you’re not helping.
He growls a retort. I’ll let you know when I find one.
I dash away and regroup with Clément and the wolf refusing to leave his side with thick black fur.
Both of their ears crook back and a heavy panting bumps their chests.
Spit drips down their blood-stained canines.
And while I can’t be certain, I imagine they’ve resorted to standing on all fours instead of their hind legs to conserve what little energy they have left.
None of his wolves still have the armor Alexey crafted.
No, the soulless seemed determined to strip that from them first. Not because it’s affects them like our kind, but to make for an easier kill.
The alpha isn’t going to last much longer, my wolf growls.
What do you suggest? I stand tall, drawing every ounce of strength I can from the blood moon hanging in the sky. I don’t know how much longer I’ll last.
“You have to go,” Dimitri’s faint voice reaches my ears. But the warning isn’t directed at me. It’s to the—
Gods. My lungs seize. The fiery warmth filling my veins suddenly goes cold.
The wolf at Dimitri’s side glances from him to the creature hissing in the distance.
Black and gray fur mark up most of her body, rivaling the white of her underbelly.
Natalia. I don’t need to see the same eyes I committed to memory to know it’s her.
Not when everything down to the marrow in my bones screams it.
She transformed, and now, she’s been thrown into this fucking slaughter.
“Run!” Dimitri screams.
She darts to the tree line on all fours before the creature has a chance to finish healing.
It won’t be able to catch her, not with a wolf’s speed.
But there’s one question left gnawing at my insides.
What about the rest of them? I glance to Clément and his pack once more, knowing what will happen if they don’t do the same.
There are too many of these things. My family’s home is completely overrun, and despite all of the killing blows I have delivered myself, nothing we do seems to be working.
We have to run. The survival of his pack depends on it.
For once, we finally agree on something.
I howl, gaining the attention of the wolves clawing and biting at anything within reach.
More soulless than I can count stand between us and the edge of the property, their ravenous expressions unwavering.
I hope to the gods this works. Dropping to all fours and sprinting at the horde head-on, the distinct rumble of the wolves running behind me becomes clear.
The pack charges for the fence line, mirroring my every step.
I just pray they don’t change their minds when they see what’s between us and the safety of the trees.
Fifty feet separates us from the creatures forming a barrier, and I have no intention of slowing down.
I pick up my pace and push my body to the absolute limit.
Thirty feet. The army of soulless readies themselves, proudly displaying the razor-sharp nails capable of slicing clean through our shifted forms. Twenty.
There’s no stopping now, not when things we attacked again and again for the past hour begin to rise from the mortal wounds and close us in on all sides.
We only have one shot at making it out of this.
Straight through them.
A deafening whine erupts and silences in an instant.
It wasn’t just a cry for help, it was the last sound the trailing wolf will ever make.
But we can’t stop now. Not with escape and certain death hanging over all of our heads.
I have an idea. It’s stupid. Reckless. It will probably get me killed.
The only problem is I don’t see another way.
A fire ignites in my chest and swallows the rest of my body whole. Ten feet.
I don’t agree with this plan, my wolf says, his tone flat.
The hisses grow louder as we approach, a chorus from all angles.
This is it.
I thrust my large body forward, crashing into three of the soulless, and pin them to the dirt beneath me.
They writhe. They flail their arms. But they don’t do the one thing I was counting on.
Attack me. My blood. They can smell my father’s blood in my veins and know I’m off-limits.
And by taking these three out, I have left a wide enough opening for Clément and his wolves to make a breakaway for the trees.
Only after they pass do I kick off the ground and trail after them, but it’s not their scent I’m following. Not anymore.
Natalia. She’s out there somewhere, and if I have to track her down on smell alone, I fucking will.
There’s no telling how far her wolf might take her when stretching its legs for the first time.
Every transformation is different. And with the soulless on all of our heels, I won’t leave it up to chance.
I have to get to her before the moon sets.
We retreat up and over the fence, hitting the ground outside the Vostik property running.
I don’t just keep up with the Duval wolves but surpass them with ease, barreling through the forest outskirts.
I’ve never felt this kind of power before, not during any of the shifts I can actually remember.
I’m faster than I’ve ever been. Stronger.
And it still wasn’t enough. Every whisper about the things chasing us was true and somehow worse than I could’ve imagined.
Even the energy of the blood moon wasn’t enough to save Clément’s ranks from them.
Had his wolf not taken over, maybe he would’ve been able to show us.
Teach us how to kill the unkillable. But that is a secret we’ll have to wait for, at least until sunrise.
Natalia didn’t stop once she was outside the perimeter.
No, the wolf inside her saw it fit to trek as far as Samara, and when her scent only skims the border of the city, I thank the gods something kept her from going in.
The last thing we need is the Russian government mobilizing their forces when we have dozens of soulless following our every move.
They haven’t caught up yet, but we can’t keep running. Not for much longer.
You are leaving them behind.
I know. I’ve known for the past ten miles.
Kind of hard not to notice when the quartet of heartbeats reduces to low thumps in the distant background.
Clément matched my pace for as long as he could, but even the alpha eventually fell to the back with the rest of his pack.
His pack. Can I even call it that now? An entire den of Duval wolves fell, and for what?
Nothing. We’re no closer to stopping my father than when I asked for Clément’s help. Now, his pack is dead and my father brought them to the brink of extinction without sacrificing a single pawn of his own. He didn’t just add new pieces to the board, he played a different game entirely.
You couldn’t have known the lengths Vlad Vostik would go, my wolf’s voice rings in my ears but does nothing to sway the guilt cramping my stomach.
Good intentions or not, I am responsible.
I brought them here. Promised redemption for our kind.
And their reward? Disemboweled fucking lawn ornaments.
I should’ve known. I was stupid to think my father wouldn’t predict my every move, and because of me, a bloodline as revered as the Duval’s has been reduced to an alpha, his daughter, and two pups.
I am responsible. I didn’t just invite death to their house, I sat him at their fucking table.
A heavy snarl rattles my body. Blaming yourself won’t change anything now.
He’s right. It won’t. But that doesn’t change the fact I’ve continued to underestimate the monster I’ve spent my whole life trying to please.
It’s only now that I see I was never meant to be loved by my father.
Not really. Not when being born challenges his claim over the packs, and more than that, the one thing he loves most. Himself.