Chapter 4

“Which one of you shall be next?” I pointed between the remaining two wolves that had been standing outside. One of them ran over to check on their fallen companion, while the other lurked toward me snarling and revealing teeth. I smirked realizing he meant to be intimidating and fought the urge to charge forward meeting him halfway. I still needed Ezekiel to come to me, and I was not quite sure if he was alone inside. I was curious as to why he had not shown himself yet but did not press the matter too much. That was actually working to my advantage. It may prove a bit more difficult to take them all on at once, as tempting as it was to try.

Adrenaline coursed through my body preparing me for the inevitable fight that was about to ensue. This is what I came here for. This is what I craved. This is what excited me. I welcomed the intense rush as it flowed over me like an invisible veil kicking me into overdrive.

The wolf moving towards me was slower than I would have expected. How unfortunate for him. He lunged at me with claws extended, but I dropped down to the ground quickly, easily evading his attack before I shot back up grabbing his arm and spun with my leg extended kicking his legs out beneath him knocking him on his back hard. The force of his fall snapped his arm that I still held, breaking it, and I immediately pounced straddling him. He attempted to yell out in pain before my hand clenched his throat cutting off airflow temporarily and smashed the side of his face into a puddle that had formed around us. My legs wrapped around his tightly to prevent any movement, and I used that opportunity to glance up quickly making sure I knew the position of the third wolf. He was now moving toward us having been unable to provide the help needed to the first one with the disgusting tongue who had taken my dagger to the shoulder, but he was not close enough to stop me from doing what I was about to do. I had plenty of time.

I dug into the bag at my waist with my free hand as the wolf in my grasp struggled frivolously for his freedom under me. I looked down on him smugly. Weakling. I took out a syringe filled with a violet liquid the same color of my eyes and jabbed the needle into his neck.

“Apologies. I am afraid that is going to sting a bit,” I smiled taunting him.

Wolfsbane. It was poisonous to wolves. A large amount could kill them, but this dosage wasn’t intended for that. It would only render them unconscious for a couple of hours, maybe less depending on how strong the wolf was, but nonetheless, still giving me time to do what needed to be done.

He grasped at his neck and yelled as the pain swept through his body. I eyed him knowingly. Even though I had seen many times how a wolf reacted to wolfsbane; it still intrigued me how something so appealing to the eye in its natural state could cause this kind of response.

Sadly, I was unable to fully enjoy the moment as the third wolf was now getting close. This one seemed to be a little smarter as I noted he stayed far enough back out of my reach presumably seeing how quickly I had put down his companions.

“Alpha Ezekiel, Atlas, we need help out here!” He yelled out. I stared at him wondering why he had not used their so-called mind link as not reveal the others’ presence to me but did not put too much thought into it.

So there was another inside. No worries. Everyone would be dealt with in due time. The fact he was the last to attack and had called for help led me to believe he would be even less difficult to deal with than the other two. I sighed. How disappointing. I had hoped at least one of them would prove to be some type of challenge. Was this the best Ezekiel’s pack had to offer?

The wolf in front of me looked at me with rage and disgust on his face. I’m sure at this point he knew what I was. Either way, the sentiment was very mutual.

We circled each other, neither one of us willing to make the first move, but behind him I noticed the man I recognized to be Alpha Ezekiel and another younger wolf now emerging from the inside looking around confused. It took him only a few seconds to register what happened while he had stayed hidden inside. He met my gaze and charged towards us, closing the gap a lot quicker than the others. Now I needed to take this one down fast. According to my notes on Ezekiel, he would not be so easily defeated. I did not have time to play games anymore.

Damn. Just when I thought I was going to have a little bit of fun.

With one swift movement, I advanced forward and shot my arm out hitting the wolf between his eyes with the palm of my hand sending him stumbling backwards stunned. I grabbed his shoulder and wrapped my legs around his waist like scissors and brought him down tearing into his neck with my fangs. I had three more syringes, so I didn’t need to kill him even though I would have loved to. I had been strongly encouraged to keep them alive to gain what information we could and had only been given the authority to kill, if necessary, although Ezekiel was the only one I had actually been ordered to bring in alive. Against my better judgement, I jabbed him in the leg.

He winced in pain as the instantaneous shot of wolfsbane coursed through him.

“What kind of demon bitch are you?” He asked with terror-filled and angry eyes.

Demon bitch. I kind of liked the way that sounded. I licked his blood from my lips and smiled while I leaned in close to whisper in his ear.

“The kind you only meet once.”

I stood up slowly now my full attention on Ezekiel. I did not need to look back down to see that the wolf beneath me had been decommissioned.

My head tilted sideways as I noticed the other wolf that had emerged bared a striking resemblance to Ezekiel. They must have been related somehow, possibly his child. Although, I had no information to confirm that, I suppose it would explain why he had stayed inside initially in an attempt to protect him possibly. For the time being, it looked as though he would not interfere.

There was something I found curious about him, but I shrugged it off. Whether his end came by my hands tonight would be up to him.

Ezekiel had stopped moving once the last wolf fell realizing he could not save his young wolf. He stared at me with rage-filled dark brown eyes at the sight of the fallen.

“They still breathe. But if they continue to breathe will be decided by your actions. Although, someone should probably remove my blade from that one back there. Maybe wash his mouth out with soap as well.” I nodded to the first wolf I had taken down and the young wolf that had been with Ezekiel ran toward him while keeping his eyes trained on me. Were we having a staring contest? My eyes stayed on him in return until Ezekiel finally spoke.

“Who are you and what do you want with me?” He asked moving forward now slowly. I had taken his wolves down easily. It seemed as though he was smarter than to underestimate me. I did abhor having to repeat myself, though. I had explained my purposes to the hard-headed wolves prior. It was not my fault they were unable to relay that to Ezekiel... well, I suppose it was my fault.

“Alpha Ezekiel, your efforts have become quite the hinderance to Lord Claudis Ventrel. Now, you can come with me by choice or force. I will let you decide. But, please do so quickly. Time is of the essence, as you can image.” I smirked. His eyes widened and I knew that he knew that I spoke of. Was that fear I sensed?

“And if I come with you, I have your word they will not be harmed anymore?”

I was taken aback by his question. Was he considering surrendering peacefully just like that? I had not anticipated that. I knew my takedowns of his wolves had been impressive and thorough, but never would I have thought based on the information I had that he would give himself up so easily. Disappointing indeed. I had hoped to add another fight with an alpha to my belt. Maybe it was a trap. I would not be so easily fooled.

Wolves were not very bright. They were hotheaded, stubborn, and acted out of emotion. Admittedly, I was somewhat describing myself aside from the not very bright part. The difference is I was not a hothead without purpose. I feared none and I always had a plan.

Ezekiel turned back and spoke something unintelligible to the wolf behind him then faced me. His hands were up as if to surrender. All he was missing was the white flag. I narrowed my eyes to him and wondering what he could have said to the young mutt and why he seemed to be so eager to surrender to me. I stood there running the calculations in my head as he began slowly walking toward me.

If I was to take him in, I would still need to incapacitate him. There was no way I could allow him to be consciously taken to the compound. I could wait for the transport team to arrive and allow them to handle that aspect, but that would be no fun.

This other wolf, he would need to be dealt with also. Would he surrender as well, or would he put up a fight? I hoped for the latter, especially since I hadn’t even broken a sweat with the others. Tonight had proven to be less than gratifying that I had hoped for. But I could not shake the feeling that something did not seem right between these two. All my intel suggested Ezekiel had too much to lose to just give up and come with me willingly. At this point I was sure this little mutt was somehow kin to Ezekiel. Whatever it was, I needed to arrange a transport vehicle for them.

“Stay where you are,” I yelled out to him and he halted in place.

I contacted my team through my earpiece. They were only 15 minutes out. Perfect.

“I am curious, why would you come with me so easily? And what about that one? Will he come willingly as well or shall I put him down like the others.”

“He is not part of this. He is an insignificant, weak wolf. Leave him be.”

That was hard to believe. He was trying to oversell it. There was more than meets the eye with this one, and I was started to believe this wolf that looked so similar to him may be the very reason of Ezekiel’s surrender. My curiosity was now piqued.

“I am afraid I cannot do that. He will either come peacefully or… well, I think you get the picture.” I motioned to the bodies lying at the ground before us.

It was odd enough this young wolf had stayed back anyways and not joined the fight. Two against one would have given them a better chance. He did not seem to be injured. Was he really just that weak as Ezekiel suggested? That would not make sense if he was his son, as I suspected. He would be next in line to be Alpha. I did not know that for sure, though, but I knew better than to bet against the underdog. I was running out of logical reasoning. They were hiding something, and I needed to find out.

My statement seemed to anger Ezekiel again. His brown eyes glowed indicating his wolf was on the verge of surfacing. It was apparent I had hit a nerve. The little doggy wanted to come out and play. Maybe this would be exciting after all.

I had taken my eyes off of him again momentarily to see what the other wolf behind him was doing again, and that’s when it happened. Ezekiel accelerated at me with lighting speed and force. He had managed to catch me off guard and I barely dodged him at the last minute. I would not make that mistake again.

I moved quickly aiming at his face. He dodged that attempt, but I landed an elbow to his abdomen instead and then swung my arm catching the side of his head. He grumbled in pain but did not falter. His offensive attacks were relentless, but messy. I allowed him to charge at me again taking the chance on him expecting me to dodge. This time I did not, and instead met him with a high back kick to his jaw. Blood ran from his mouth, and he spat it out, but immediately got back into a readied stance and charged at me attempting to take me down by my legs. I managed to roll out and quickly recovered giving myself plenty of distance and enough time to make sure the other wolf was not planning to interfere, all while fully aware of Ezekiel’s position. I needed to act quickly before he attempted to surrender. Sure enough, the young wolf stood in the same spot just watching us intently. I glanced at the location the first wolf had went down. It seemed as though my dagger had been removed, but I knew he was still out of commission due to the injury and the silver blade.

“You are fast, Ezekiel. I would expect no less from an alpha.” I smirked bringing back my attention to him. I left out the part that I was faster, but his speed had been impressive. “And here I thought you were not going to give me any trouble. Why the sudden change of heart?”

He narrowed his gaze to me, and his eyes tightened in to little slits momentarily as he tried to gain his composure. He was fighting the emotion on his face, not wanting to reveal any more than what I was already getting from him.

“Leave him out of this, let my wolves live and I will come without incident.” he scoffed.

“I am afraid that is out of the question.”

“Then there is no need to speak anymore.” Without another word, he charged at me again. This was getting nowhere fast. I needed to take him down before the transport team got here.

I allowed him to make contact. He grabbed me and turned me around against him securing my body forcefully. I head butted him hard then let my body go completely limp working with gravity causing him to bear all of my weight and having to lean forward with me. My knees bent slightly just enough to give me the momentum to kick off the ground and spring back up. Before he even knew what was happening, I had flipped myself behind him wrapping my arm around his neck in a chokehold position. The syringe was already in my hand, and I jabbed him in the neck instantaneously.

I felt his body tense up, but then I noticed there was a sudden movement and a dark blur shot past in my peripheral vision. The young wolf was making his move. He accelerated with speed compared to mine creating a hissing sound through the air.

“Get the fuck away from him!”

“No! Atlas, I said stay back. Get out of here!” Ezekiel was pleading to the young wolf, and that’s when I realized he was still conscious. The wolfsbane had weakened him, but not enough.

He was stronger than I had accounted for. I needed to incapacitate him immediately.

I quickly got to my last vial and stuck Ezekiel’s neck on the other side. This one sent him to his knees fast before falling forward facedown.

But before I could do anything else, I felt a weird sensation against my back, one that I hadn’t been prepared for.

Pain.