“Son,” Dax rasped, his hand covering Nico’s own. “It’s okay.”
But it wasn’t all right. His father couldn’t die. Nico needed him. His mother needed him. They’d only just gotten a second chance; it wasn’t fair that they’d never get to grow old together, the three of them finally within one world. The dream was shattering before Nico’s eyes. He wanted to see his parents kiss again, see his father, at last, get the life he’d always deserved. But fate had stolen it from them.
“No,” Nico snarled. “No.” Yet even as Nico said the words, he knew it was in vain. The bullet had torn through his father’s heart, shredded the organ to pieces.
Reaching up, Nico’s father touched a trembling hand to his face. “Take care of your mom,” he whispered as the life drained from his eyes, and his hand fell away, leaving behind the bloody imprint of his last embrace.
Chapter 47
Bass
He’d lost Castor in the mayhem. The coward having run off into the farmhouse, which proved to hold more of the turned shifters lost to the crazed bloodlust of the wolf.
Zombie wolves. Freaking zombie wolves.
The ghost of a smile played on Bass’s lips as Katalina’s voice entered his mind. She might not have truly been talking to him, but they knew each other, were connected so deeply that sometimes it was as if Bass could read her mind.
And zombie wolves would be an inept description, the men and women beyond hope. They weren’t shifters, but monsters given a gift they’d been unprepared and untrained to handle. But Castor hadn’t needed a well-trained, obedient army. He’d needed killing machines, unwilling to stop unless death was delivered.
Screams and howls filled the air as Bass ran back toward the barn, and to the mate he felt slipping away inside him. It wasn’t just her life force but her will. Raven was breaking her, slowly, bit by bit, she was chipping away at the good in Katalina’s soul. The fire which had been relentless in sparking Dark Shadow’s and River Run’s new dawn dwindling to near nothing.
The cold night air crept over his bare skin, his shirt having been torn off in the fighting. His jeans were covered in rips and splattered with blood, and his skin too was covered in gore, the claws that plowed through so many nothing but crimson.
Anyone that got in his way felt the sharp tips of his claws or the strength of his punch. Bass fought his way through the double doors, unwavering in his pursuit, but as the darkness gave way to the lit scene of the barn, all the air left his lungs. Terror, cold and slick, rushed through his veins, stopping Bass in his tracks.
They were losing. His people were falling.
Dax, Jacob, Sam… all severed from his alpha heart. All broken beyond repair, and so many others suffered under the weight of such loss.
“Nico.” Dashing forward, Bass barreled into the wolf that had been about to attack Nico. Bass plunged his clawed hand into its gut, ripping the wolf open, before letting it fall dead at his feet. “Nico, you need to get up,” Bass ordered, hauling his best friend to his feet.
“My dad,” Nico growled, slashing out.
Bass took the hit, gripping Nico’s shoulders hard. “He’s dead, and you will be too if you don’t pull it together.”
Nico snarled.
“You can hate me after we get out of this alive.” Bass shook him slightly. “I need you, Nic.”
Nico’s gaze sharpened. “They killed him,” he whispered. “They killed my dad.”
Turning Nico toward Katalina’s prison, Bass leaned close to his ear. “Then let’s make them pay.”
Grief faded from Nico’s expression, replaced with the savageness of his wolf as his muscles trembled, his chest vibrating with a growl.
Bass gripped Nico’s shoulder, looked him in the eye. “Until the end,” he whispered.
Nico nodded. “Until the end.”
The two friends took off, side by side, war cries on their lips, revenge the fuel in their hearts.
Chapter 48
Holly
She’d known the instant Noah had been killed. Felt it deep in her soul in a place she’d never known existed until it was gone. It should have been impossible. It shouldn’t have been real, yet Holly had stumbled, her breath leaving her as she’d gone down on one knee. She’d wanted to scream, to savage someone for taking away what she’d never known, but when Noah had died, Holly had been far away patrolling her homeland, and there was no enemy in front of her to take her revenge. She’d never had a chance to say goodbye. To even see his body afterward. Time, fate, it had all been against them from the very beginning.
They’d never know one another or learn each other’s secrets, joys, and fears. All she’d had with her future mate was an evening of dancing and an intense connection she’d waved off as one too many drinks.
He’d pursued her afterward, all charm and cocky smiles, and a part of her hadn’t wanted to brush him off. But Holly liked the chase as much as any girl, and she’d rebuffed his attention to see if he’d really work for it. She’d never known they’d have no time. If she had, Holly would have given in to the desire stirring between them on day one. She’d have maybe then tasted her mate’s lips, felt his hands roam her body, heard his rough whispers of wicked promise. She’d have maybe seen the smile he’d reserve only for her and had her heart skip a beat.
There was so much she’d never experience. So much promise lost to war. And as she entered the battle zone, sticking close to her alpha’s
