dark descent

Caius Winters

“Impossible. This madness is simply, impossible,” I wheezed, staggering into the freezing white-walled chambers and letting the double doors bang shut behind me.

My thoughts spun wildly in my head until I was almost certain that I was going to unravel.

The shadow was innocent. 

“Just my rotten fucking luck! For moon’s sake, when had shadows ever been innocent?” I snarled at nothing, snapping up one of the sweaty wine bottles from the ice distillery and chugging the sweet metallic blood until my head was swimming.

The yellowed news scroll the scribe had passed earlier in the day glinted under the white light of my diamond chandelier.

My feet clogged noisily on the brownwood floors before I snatched it up.

“Shit on a bloody dynamite,” 

My swift curse followed after I unrolled it to reveal a strikingly familiar face.

‘Kiernan Bones…New Alpha of Shadow Pack following the death of the reigning Alpha and a six-thousand Beta duel,’

“Son-of-a-bitch,” I cursed, crumbling the poster in my palm before chucking the misshapen ball into the fireplace where the flames crackled gratefully, turning it into ash.

How much longer could I wait until I had to tell our Alpha his sworn enemy had just become Alpha of one of the top league packs in Shadowville?

I could still remember how devastated and bloodthirsty he had been when Leila left him for Kiernan.

They had a soul bond…she’d said.

She had crossed the wrong beast, though, because unlike Laziel with Selene… Dante was not forgiving.

I’d held back the Infinity soldiers alongside the other three, killing as little as I could and knocking the rest of them out while he chased his old lover into The Darkness.

“On your knees! All of you on your fucking knees!” Dante’s father had been furious with us all, ordering us down at the gates and damned near executing us we're it not for the elders.

I couldn't forget the haunted look on the dark wolf’s face when he had returned with Leila’s hair threaded in his fingers, her head swinging in the windy darkness.

“It is done.” it was all he said, as he shouldered past us.

Thank you, she’s dead, wham-bam.

Two hundred and seventy two nights of whipping had been our punishment.

A heavy price to pay as royals for breaking pack law.

I hadn't known the dept of sorrow he felt then, but I had come close tonight, watching the petite woman be tortured because of me.

How could I remind Dante of the past? And in between all this mess too?’

“You’re an idiot, Caius. That’s what you are.” I muttered, my chest heavy with regret as I took another swig of the wine, the blood burning a feverish clarity into the back of my head.

“Edna Philipps, was it?” The woman who had testified alongside the missing maid…

Where were they? How convenient was it for the pair to disappear just after giving the most damning performance imaginable?

Something wasn't right here.

I could feel a big hairy rat scurrying in the back of my mind…just out of reach.

My feet scruffed noisily on the wood as I paced the room, reliving painful memories of the past.

I hadn't always been an orphan. 

I was a prince once, with an incorrigible father who was even worse than Dante’s old man had be.

I could still remember one of the nights we’d gone hunting in the old woods.

The way his sword had glinted under the moonlight right before he pointed out a pair of large antlers to me.

“Oh boy, oh boy, would you look at that beauty.” His harsh chuckle reminded me of wind chimes...loud and relentless.

I still hated that shit to this day.

“Tell you what, if you can catch that gazelle and gut it, i’ll announce you as my Alpha heir in the next council meeting,” He grinned, big brown eyes tightening when I stared back at him in fear.

“Enough, C’mon man, get that dead bastard outta your head,” I gritted, sweating as my knuckles tightened on the pointed edge of my vanity.

Large gray eyes peeked up at me from the rat’s nest of blonde hair falling around my ears and forehead.

But I couldn't…the full picture played in my minds’ eye.

The way my hands had shook on the knife as I approached the gazelle…my footfalls too loud and slow.

I’d eventually spooked it, watching it run off mith my knees trembling as my father’s ominous shadow fell over me.

“What did you do, you worthless twat!” His hard bellow came before I felt him snatch the knife from my hands and his hind legs kicked into my side, making me crack my spine against a tree.

It had been hours before my wolf healed enough for my back to straighten…but it didn't stop my father from kicking his feet into my side, plunging the knife in deep while I let out a loud cry.

“There! That’s how you skin a worthless animal!” He snarled, chest heaving with ragged breaths as his luminescent eyes shone with excitement.

“You are a disgrace, Caius Winters. You will never be good for anything…you will never be an Alpha.”  

I was six.

The rap of a knock on the door snapped me out of my reverie and I turned to the shadows with a sharp inhale.

What now?

“Who is it?” I called over my shoulder, unable to keep the slightly irritated edge from showing in my voice.

I had always been a lousy drunk, unlike Laziel.

Heck, I was the only one of the four who couldn't hold his bloody liquor.

“You should be out there, Coward, celebrating with your friends,” I spat, squinting at the dotted line of patrol guards weaving in and out of the fog, the twinkle of their fire torches almost scenic.

“Open up.” 

Direct…authoritative…no bullshit.

Damn it…I’d sworn if I ever had to see my replacement again, it would be too soon.

Ronan’s hazel eyes were unreadable when I turned the knob.

He raked his gaze up and down my face, his wet earth scent immediately flooding my chambers.

“Winters. We need to talk.” He rapped cryptically, pushing his way into my space before I could say anything else.

I watched his broad back mutinously as he sauntered around the place like he owned it, fingering my books and snapping up the pack of cigars I had lying on the table.

“What’s this about?” I growled, ignoring the sharp way my heart had begun to beat faster.

I crossed my arms over my chest, keeping my face carefully neutral.

Something had shifted between me and the other three ever since the fight. 

The panging pain in my chest always kept me up at nights, making my mornings feel listless and gloomy.

Even worse when I would see the three chummying up like my absence hadn't changed a damned thing.

“Trial’s over. You were wrong.” He said rather than asked, and I resisted the urge to tell him the sky was blue and Hades was a hot motherfucker.

Damned if my wolf would ever let me forget it.

I could still see the shadow’s face when I blinked. 

The way her porcelain flesh had crumpled and reddened with pain until she sank to her knees, twitching and vomiting up dark blood.

I couldn't let the guilt overwhelm me or I would be a total wreck.

“Doesn’t matter. If Eldwood hadn't taken the glass my sister never would have died.” I snapped back, sensing my own pettiness while the bigger wolf just watched me calmly.

I hated the way he always managed to make me feel like an inexperienced clown while he remained the hero. 

Ronan Ironside…always saving everyone while keeping his own demons shut up behind his walls.

“Seven stitches. The nurses had to give her seven stitches on either side of her head.They think she won’t make it through the night.”

His offhanded comment made me wince, and I swallowed the bitter lump that balled up in my throat, growing fangs and hair with each second that passed.

I can't think about Amara for moon’s sake. Not until this whole mess with the commander is over and the real killer is brought to book.

“Dante needs you, Winters.” the white wolf rumbled, blowing a plume of cigar smoke at me as the orange butt glittered almost sensually.

The early morning light had been shadowed by dark clouds, and the scent of rain washed in through the half-open windows, scattering the rat tail of my mohawk until it itched the back of my neck.

“And you don't?” 

I stopped myself just short of asking the question after realizing I really couldn't handle the answer.

Our bond was already frail enough, demanding his honesty like that…demanding that he open his walls and let me take a peek inside his head.

I couldn't be sure I wouldn't be maddened by whatever icy darkness I was sure to find.

I never quite managed to get as close to Ronan as I would have liked. None of us did.

“Milburn doesn’t give a fuck if I live or die. He hasn't come by my chambers even once.” I sighed, dropping my arms to stalk over to him and snatch up my cigar pack, lighting one for myself.

The wolf seemed to have made himself at home by leaning one musculed hip against my armoire. 

It was official now. I was getting one of his famous ‘talking-tos.’

I‘d need all the nicotine fuel I could get to live through this.

It hurt for me to admit it out loud, but I missed the Alpha.

I missed his heavy, powerful scent and the way only a look from him could put my foul mood right back on sunshine lane.

I couldn't tear my eyes away from him at the courts, marvelling at how much he looked like a king.

His dark wolfcut hair had an unruly look that made him look like somewhat of a hothead recluse, and those deep blue eyes.

All entirely pinned on his shadow…our shadow.

I couldn't even bring myself to look at what the dungeon guards did to her.

Hell, what kind of monster would it have made me if i’d actually killed her in my rage?

I wasn't cut out to be Beta of the Infinity Fortress…not until I could get my wolf under control like Dante seemed to have his.

Like Ronan…

“That’s not true, and you know it. Dante is prideful. Doesn't mean he doesn't have a heart…somewhere.” The Beta mused and I couldn't help the loud chuckle that rumbled up from my throat.

He always did that. 

Made you feel at ease so that it was all too easy for you to talk to him and air your dirty laundry.

I’d seen him do it to countless prisoners in the dark dungeons, his deep, even voice lulling them into a false sense of promise right before he turned around and stabbed them through the throat.

But this was different. It had to be didn't it?

I hadn't hurt anyone…yet.

And I was his friend. I still had that much…right?

“What do you want, Ronan? I don't have the energy for this,” I groaned, stopping short of rolling my eyes.

He didn't like that, the wolf. I’d seen the way his wolf flashed once when I’d done it in the past, and it sealed my conviction never to do it again.

“Shut the door, will you? Winters…this will take a while,” he breathed with an air of finality that made me gulp.

My feet moved to the door even when I really didn't feel like being shut in with Ronan and my back crawled when I turned it to him, drawing in the door until it creaked shut.

I’d never wanted to admit it before. 

That the only reason I had become Alpha was because there was never actually a duel between Ronan and me.

It’d just seemed like the right thing to do since I’d known the Alpha the longest.

“Now what?” I hissed, twisting back to face Jim and feeling my heart skip when I realized he’d closed the distance between us in the mere seconds it had taken me to shut the door. 

I’ve never wanted to admit it before…but I was scared, downright terrified by Ronan Ironside.