When all my senses were blocked, it was the emotions I felt-raw, churning seas of rage and disgust, boiling lakes of hatred and desperation. These festering, poisonous feelings bubbled beneath my skin, picking and scratching as they fought past my control.
Floating in that darkness, guided only by these carnal emotions, I couldn’t remember why I was holding them back in the first place; why I shied away from what I could do. My powers weren’t beautiful or inspiring; they were blunt and vicious, unashamed of the death and destruction they could cause. No matter how dark my abilities were, a voice in the back of my head insisted that only brutality would win this war; only rage would end Maverick Billford’s life.
As the last shreds of fear and shame left my mind, I unleashed the hailstorm of emotions on the guards who had invoked them. I wished I could give them the full scope of my anger and my desperation to help these wolves, but I could not. That kind of anger could split the world, crack it wide open. That kind of anger was already reserved for someone special.
I could see their faces in my mind, mixed with those of Maverick’s men-the white wolves, the men, women, and children used for their power. Lives deemed less than and tossed aside in the pursuit of more power. They begged for help, for someone with enough power and control to rival Maverick and care enough to force change.
I wasn’t sure when I had begun feeding from the life forces of Maverick’s men, but their strength washed over me in waves of electrifying energy. They sharpened my vision until everything seemed almost too clear, too saturated. My vision came back in pieces, flashes of images driven purely by this feral rage. It rippled over my skin, shimmering like heatwaves as I darted through the brush and trees into the center of the men’s camp.
“Don’t touch her,” Ethan’s snarl was a mere afterthought, background chatter as I flung myself at the men. “She has no control over what she’s doing right now. It’s better we stay out of her way and let her finish. We’ll step in if need be.”
“Something tells me it won’t be necessary,” Kieran murmured. Had I been paying attention, I would have heard the awe in his voice. “Feel how enraged she is? They won’t be able to lay a finger on her.”
There were six in total. Four were rolling around in agony the moment I unleashed those festering emotions. The two who remained standing were as rotten as Maverick-truly devoid of any humanity that might make them cower at the devastation wrought. I charged at these two first, noting how surprise crossed their faces only for a fraction of a second before being replaced by cruel anticipation and excitement.
The lanky one on the left, with thick ribbons of muscle along his arms and shoulders, pulled a pistol from his waistband. I heard the click and saw the flicker of metal as the moonlight caught its surface. His confidence was palpable; he expected me to hesitate, to cower as he pointed a gun between my eyes.
Trusting my instincts was something I had done countless times as a human. It had kept me from being harassed by Darren or manipulated by Lauren. Following it now was easier than ever. Even with the gun pointed at my head, I charged. I watched the vein in his neck bulge as his emotions shifted from confidence to uncertainty. I ducked just as an explosion of heat and gunpowder rang out. Despite its proximity, the sound had as much impact as an insufferable fly.
Before I could get my hands on the man who had nearly shot my head off, I felt the grimy touch of the second. His rough fingertips met my shoulder for mere seconds, and the revulsion that blasted through me had more impact than I expected. My arms flew out at my sides, an instinctual movement that felt righter than anything else. The warmth and unbridled energy I had been stealing from the men crackled and snapped like lightning beneath my skin.
In that moment, I knew I had a choice. I could let the energy escape under my command, or I could snuff it out. There was no hesitation. The weakness burned away by the truth of what Maverick was doing. The two men who had withstood the vile emotions I sent their way were blasted back in opposite directions, swallowed by the forest darkness. I heard branches snapping, some larger and louder than others, as they were shoved back through the forest. Only when they both landed and the sounds of insects and animals returned did I blink and back away from the damage.
I felt Ethan behind me before I turned to meet his eyes. He didn’t pull me into his arms, knowing I currently felt like a live wire. My skin tingled, electrified by the energy I had consumed. I rubbed my arms, trying to chase away the odd sensation.
“Let me guess, you’re going to ask what I was thinking, running in there like that,” I mumbled, taking in the carnage that was their campsite. Beer cans littered the ground along with burnt chunks of wood. Embers still burned in various places, scattered from the blast that sent both men careening backward. Backpacks with clothes and other items were all over the ground, along with the unconscious bodies of Maverick’s men.
“Actually, I was going to ask if you’re alright.” Ethan smirked. Despite how shaken and amped up I felt, he managed to take some of the weight from my shoulders.
Halfway through my feral takedown of these men, I decided I would no longer fear what I could do. I would use it responsibly and never shove my power down others’ throats. Not only that, but I would no longer hesitate to use it if it meant freeing the white wolves and taking down Maverick.
“Honestly, I feel incredible,” I admitted, letting out a whoosh of breath. It was horrible to admit considering I had almost killed six men, but it was the truth. Their energy filled my cells with strength, pouring adrenaline and life into my veins. “I guess-I guess I just surprised myself.”
I stumbled into Ethan as Kieran and Rex emerged from the forest, followed by Sia and Kat. Kat propped Sia against a tree and brushed herself off. Sia glanced around at the damage, forced to sit on the sidelines since she was still healing. I didn’t miss the look of respect in her eyes, nor what happened when Ethan and I touched.
The small gasp that left his lips, too quiet and insignificant for anyone other than myself to hear, was followed by the crackle of energy as it danced from my skin to his.
“One of the men you sent flying into the forest is dead, impaled on a broken tree limb,” Rex huffed, with a hint of smugness. I couldn’t blame him considering there were so many others who had lost much more to Maverick. “The rest are messed up, but they’ll live.”
“Didn’t pick up any other scents nearby. This must have been the first batch of men sent out,” Kieran said to the five of us. “Should be safe to head out now.”
“You could have saved us a lot of time just doing that from the beginning, kid.” Rex shook his head, not angry with how things had turned out. He ran a hand over his head and glanced at the fallen men. When his eyes met mine, they weren’t wary or afraid, but hopeful. “There’s not an army that wouldn’t fall should you go up against them.”
“Let’s hope I can manage it on a larger scale,” I said, clearing my throat and shifting uncomfortably under their attention. “I didn’t exactly have control over myself just now.”
“You just need to figure out how to trigger it-which it seems you just did,” Rex responded gruffly. “Now you gotta see how far you can extend it without hurting yourself. Something tells me with an ability like that, you wouldn’t want to overuse it. Let’s get the hell out of here; I have to work harder to cover our scents now that we’ve been here so long.”
I trailed between the twins, beside Kat, who looked a bit worse for wear. Her clothes and hair were covered in dried mud, and I knew she’d need help brushing out those tangles. Even in the midst of my rage, I hadn’t forgotten what the men said about Zack. I don’t think I’d ever forget a word they had said.
“He finally decided to stand up to Maverick,” I told Kat, keeping my voice low. The others could hear easily, but it at least gave us the illusion of privacy. “I’m guessing something you said finally worked its way through his thick skull.”
“He finally listens to me and takes it as the go-ahead to run back to Maverick,” Kat snorted, my comment breaking up some of the tension in her emotions. “It’s not like it changes anything, anyway. Even if he manages to survive all of this, he’ll never accept me.”
“I can’t understand why, though.” I sighed, unable to help myself as Kat’s emotions flitted over me one by one. It seemed taking the energy from so many people amplified my other abilities. I couldn’t ignore her emotions or the toll they had on my own. I found myself frustrated for her, at my wit’s end over a man who isn’t even my mate. “I’ve never been able to get a read on his emotions or Maverick’s.”
“Do you think it’s another white wolf blocking your powers?” she asked curiously, but it was something I had already thought of before.
“I don’t think so,” I shook my head. “I think it’s because neither one actually feels much of anything. They have such a tight grip on their emotions, especially Maverick. Just recently, Zack’s hold on his emotions cracked. You were the one who caused it, actually.”
Kat hesitated, wide-eyed as she stared ahead. I wondered if my gift truly gave me the upper hand or if Kat truly was oblivious to how affected Zack was by her.
“It was me?” she scoffed, pressing her lips tightly together. She was silent for a few moments, but I could feel her curiosity building just beneath her surprise. “If I loosened his hold, does that mean you were able to get a read on him?”
I lifted an eyebrow at her, grinning as her lips widened into a genuine smile. I hadn’t erased the worry or stress, but these moments of normalcy were all that kept us from losing ourselves to the violence and savagery of our world.
“You clearly piss him off more than anybody else. It doesn’t take magic to see that.” I chuckled but continued. “I wasn’t able to get anything specific, but I can feel the bond between you two, and I know that it affects him. The more it pulls him towards you, the bigger the asshole he is.”
We walked unbothered for another three hours. By the second hour, buttery light began to pour through the trees, bringing warmth and the scent of sunlight and dew. At a seemingly random point in our hike, Rex stopped and lifted his nose to smell the air. The muscles on his chest contracted, and he nodded, satisfied with whatever he smelled.
“This is where we leave you four,” he said with a firm nod, his eyes strong and brighter than they had been.
“Wait-what?” I stammered. “I thought you two were supposed to escort us to the drop-off point.”
“This is the drop-off point, kid,” Rex chuckled, gesturing to the trees surrounding us. “Where you’re going, you’ll find you got some enemies in common. Security is tight there, so there’s some rules you gotta follow before being let in.”
“What do we have to do?” I asked, more than ready to press forward. If I had to run headfirst into this to bring change, then so be it.
“Keep heading this way another half mile. You’ll exit the forest onto a paved road. This is the important part. Get on the road and stay there; don’t move. Believe me, it won’t take them long to come collect you.” Rex nodded at the four of us, choosing to approach me. He held out a large hand, nearly three times the size of my own. I felt like a child gripping his hand, but did so anyway when he gave me a smile that held that flicker of hope. “You might have some mixed feelings about your abilities, considering you grew up a human and all, but there are thousands of us who have been waiting for you.”
Rex shook the twins’ hands next, and even Kat’s. The most we managed from Sia was a sharp goodbye. She flashed me the smallest of smiles before leaving, which was as odd as could be on a face as stern as hers. It made her look younger, less burdened by whatever she carried with her.
As the two of them left, heading back the way we came to divert any oncoming trouble, I could feel her gratefulness in her emotions. It was a thank you in her own kind of way.
We arrived at a slim paved road shortly after leaving Rex and Sia. Even the twins felt at odds with being so exposed, standing in the center of a deserted road. We listened with ears peeled for the sounds of cars coming. What we hadn’t expected were the sounds of dozens of trees shaking, their leaves rattling and branches groaning.
One by one, men and women dropped from the treetops. On all sides, they continued to fall until we were surrounded.
“Wait-” I told the twins, just as I felt them ready to attack. Dozens of emotions rushed through me, each one tethered to the werewolves that stood around us. They were peaceful, happy, hopeful even. There was nothing dark within their emotions, nothing that would lead me to believe they meant us harm. I looked at each one, reading the light in their eyes. “They won’t hurt us.”
The crowd of werewolves parted to let a woman through, her skin a dark shade of ebony. Chocolate braids hung down her back, the color matched the intensity in her eyes. I could feel the confidence radiating from her, and knew that this woman was a force to be reckoned with.
“I am glad to see you’ve all made it in one piece. That is a relief.” She greeted the four of us like long-lost friends, her smile dazzling. “I trust that Rex and Sia made it as well?”
“They did. They actually circled back around to divert anyone else that might’ve been following,” I assured her. “Not that we don’t appreciate refuge in your pack, but who are you?”
“My name is Tiana, and this is not my pack,” she smirked softly, turning back to look further down the road. In the distance, I could hear the hum of vehicles approaching. “Actually, that should be them now. They insisted on meeting you here themselves.”
A single SUV approached and pulled over on the small shoulder of the road. Some part of me had hoped to see Carlos, or even his daughter. Any sign that their lives hadn’t been taken. Nonetheless, I was equally surprised to see the golden hair of Alpha Peter and Luna Louis as they stepped out from the vehicle.