Beautiful Creatures Series

Days passed slowly as Melissa waited for Aster’s reply. She did not want to go after Mackenzie and Gordon with Aster in Feral.
She did not want her daughter harmed in the crossfire. She waited three days for Aster to leave town and join her in LA. Melissa
was not in LA, but no one knew that. By the time Aster got to Melissa’s place in California, the pack would be dead, and Malissa
could fly back to LA and deal with Aster.
She had been staying in a hotel in Aspen with her new accomplices, but she had checked in under an alias so Gordon would not
know she was back. She had convinced Donald to wait a few days, but he was getting anxious to carry out their plan. They had
located an abandoned farmhouse in the country where they were going to take Mackenzie and torture her to death. Melissa
wanted to be there to watch the torture.
After day three, it was clear Aster was not going to leave Feral. She had chosen sides, and that pissed Melissa off. Her daughter,
her own flesh and blood, had betrayed her. Fine, Aster wanted to side with Gordon, then she could die with the others. It was
time to put their plans into action. They would wait until the middle of the workday. Most of the pack would be spread out. She
could get in and out of Feral unseen.
Melissa looked down at the bullet in her hand. It had taken time to make up enough special bullets to deal with the pack. She
now had a number of bullets with Wolfsbane hollow tips. Lycanthropes were very hard to kill. While a regular bullet, if well
placed, could kill a Lycanthrope, there was still a good chance that the one-shot would just dig the bullet out and regenerate.
However, with the wolfsbane, they could dig the bullet out, but the wolfsbane would be released into the bloodstream upon
impact, and they could not dig that out.
Wolfsbane was like poison to Lycanthropes. It on its own could not kill a Lycanthrope, but it made them weak, and as long as it
was in the bloodstream, a Lycanthrope could not regenerate. If wounded with Wolfsbane in their system, the Lycanthrope was
almost guaranteed to die from their wounds. It took days for a Lycanthrope to metabolize wolfsbane out of its system. By that
time said Lycanthrope was 99% certain to die.
A few well-placed bullets and Gordon would not get up. This time he was not going to survive.
As for the pack, Melissa had Donald and his men backing her. Only Donald and his close bodyguards knew what she was. Once
his men had killed off the pack for her, Melissa would turn on her co-conspirators and kill them herself. Covering her tracks and
insuring her secrets. By the end of today, Colorado would be flooded with blood, and Melissa would be in the wind once more.
Perhaps she would move to Paris. She had always wanted to see the Eiffel Tower.

Deciding to it was time to put her plan into action, she took out a burner phone and paid a prostitute to call Mackenzie’s cell
phone, pretending to be a bride who had gotten her number from a friend of hers who was just dying to have Mackenzie plan her
dream wedding. The prostitute set up an appointment to meet at a house. The neighbourhood was in a new development that
was closed for the winter. The built homes were unoccupied, and the rest of the sites were tented to protect them from the harsh
winter snow.
By the time Mackenzie realized it was a trap, it would already be too late.
***
“I’ll go with you,” Gordon said, putting away his tools. He did not have another appointment for a few hours, and he could close
the shop for a short time.
“I don’t need you to go with me to work,” she said, leaning on the counter. “I love you, but if I show up with you on my heels, you
will make the couple uncomfortable.”
“Why?”
“Do you ever look at yourself? I personally love your bad boy look, but this business is all about impressions, and the one you
make is intimidating.”
“Intimidating?”
“You look like an ex-convict,” she said, wincing. “I’m sorry, I don’t know how else to explain that to you. In tattooing, that gruffness
is good, but not in my business. People expect someone classy and sophisticated. I’ll only be gone a few hours.”
“But...”
“Gordon, I know you mean well, but you can’t be with me every hour of every day for the rest of our lives. At some point, you
have to let me venture out alone.”
“I don’t feel comfortable....”
“Gordon,” Mackenzie said with finality. “I’m going alone. I’ll call you, ok.”
“You promise?”
“I promise.”

“Just be careful... please.”
She came around the counter and kissed him. “I’ll be fine,” she had to go home and change for the meeting. “I’ll be back in three
hours,” she said goodbye, and Gordon frowned. He did not like this one bit. He considered tailing her, but he knew if she found
out he had followed her, Mackenzie would be outraged that he had not trusted her.
He was conflicted.
While Mackenzie went home, he contemplated his options. If he was careful, he could follow her, and she would never know he
was there.
Fuck it.
He was closing the shop. Gordon had made up his mind.
He was following Mackenzie.
***
Mackenzie was excited to get back to work. Sure, spending her days with Gordon was great, and she loved being with him, but
she was starting to feel like a prisoner. She wanted to get out and resume her own life. She had changed into a lovely blue dress
and a pair of heels, then she hopped into her car and drove into Aspin to meet her bride.
She had the address written down on a scrap of paper. Using the GPS in her car, she pulled into a new residential development.
There were only a few houses built, a few tented frames, and many empty lots with nothing but clay. It did not look like this place
had anyone living in any of the finished houses. Because of the snow and ice, this place was deserted.
Confused, Mackenzie got out of her car and walked toward the house that had the address that matched the one on the paper
lying on the seat next to her. Reaching the house, she walked up to the icy window and framing her eyes with her hands. As she
leaned into the glass, she looked inside. The house was empty — void of any furniture. Mackenzie was getting a very bad
feeling. Now she wished she had allowed Gordon to come with her.
Deciding she needed to get out of there and quickly, Mackenzie turned to leave and stopped short when she came face to face
with Melissa. Melissa offered Mackenzie a cruel grin, then she jammed a taser against Mackenzie’s belly and shocked her. Fifty-
thousand volts coursed through Mackenzie’s body.

It happened so fast Mackenzie did not even have the chance to scream. Her knees failed her, and Mackenzie collapsed on the
ground. She lay on her side, twitching and unable to speak. There was so much pain she could not move. She feared the electric
shock had hurt the baby, but she was utterly helpless.
Mackenzie’s eyes drifted past Melissa as she saw Gordon coming up behind Melissa. She was happy to see he had refused to
listen to her and had followed her. Melissa saw Mackenzie’s gaze drift, and she turned quickly, a gun in her hand. She turned it
on Gordon and shot him twice in the chest. It stopped Gordon cold in his tracks. He looked down at the bullet holes in his chest
and then collapsed to his knees. He sat there on his knees, struggling to get back up but could not find the strength. Mackenzie
watched as the veins in his neck and face became visible and dark as if spreading across his body. It was like he could not
move. “What...?” He barely managed. “What...?”
“What...? What...?” Melissa mocked as she stood over him. She waved the gun in his face. “Hollow tips filled with Wolfsbane.
It’s spreading through your circulatory system,” he fell over now, lying on the ground. “Now you are going to bleed out. Just know
I’m going to take everything you love. I’m going to Kill Mackenzie and the baby. I’m going to kill our traitorous daughter, and I’m
going to massacre the whole pack. By the end of the day, everything you spent your life building will be nothing more than flames
and ash,” she then placed her foot on Gordon’s shoulder and pushed him over onto his back. “Now, have the decency to die
quickly.”
It was at this point that Mackenzie saw four men come out of the house next door with guns in their hands. They all stood over
Mackenzie. She recognized two of them right off. One was the man she had seen on the news as Donald Falcone, the mob boss
who had been looking for her for the last ten years. Whereas the other was a face that to this day haunted her dreams: his son
and her parents’ murder Gorge Falcone.
Gorge squatted down next to Mackenzie as he looked her over. “It’s about time we caught up to you,” he snarled. “My, how you
have changed. So pretty. Time to put you out of my misery,” he stood up and stepped back.
“Pick this bitch up and put her in my car,” ordered Donald. “Let’s get out of here before someone stumbles across us, and we
end up with a whole new problem.”
Too weak to fight them off, Gorge grabbed Mackenzie and lifted her off the ground, throwing her over his shoulder and tossing
her in the truck. She tried to call out for help as Donald slammed the truck closed on her. Not long after, the car launched
forward, and Mackenzie began to cry. They had succeeded in killing Gordon, and now she was going to die.
They drove for what felt like forever. As they drove the shock, her body was in had passed, and she regained minimal
movement. She had developed some cramping in her belly, which concerned her. She was losing the baby. She had to get away.

She needed medical attention. When the car came to a stop, Mackenzie searched the dark trunk until she found a tire iron.
Getting a good grip, she waited.
The trunk opened, and Mackenzie shot up. She swung and clobbered Gorge in the head with the tire iron. As he went down, she
painfully dragged herself out of the trunk. As soon as her feet hit the grown, she tried to run. She got thirty feet when a wave of
pain washed over her. She clutched at her belly and dropped to her knees in too much pain to stand. Donald’s goons were on
Mackenzie in a flash, dragging her into a farmhouse. They were in the middle of nowhere. No one was going to find her.
They took her inside the house and forced Mackenzie onto a wooden chair, then proceed to tie her up. One man stepped back
and looked down at his hands. “Gross, she’s already bleeding,” he complained. Mackenzie looked down to see blood trickling
down her legs. Oh Lord, the baby was dying.
***
Gordon lay in the clay-filled yard. His body wracked with pain. He could feel the wolfsbane coursing through his veins like his
blood was on fire. He could not move. He watched as Melissa and the men she was with carried Mackenzie off and threw her
into the trunk of a car that had just pulled up. Gordon had tried to get up, but his body would not obey him. He watched in horror
as they drove off with Mackenzie leaving him for dead.
He had to help her.
He could not let them kill her.
He had to get up.
GET UP! His mind screamed. GET UP NOW!
Summoning all his strength, Gordon fought the wolfsbane in his system. He struggled to move. His fingers twitched at first. He
tried again, and with great effort, he moved his arms. Gordon rolled over and placed his hands on the ground. Every muscle
ached, and his limbs trembled as he pushed himself up and staggered to his feet. He stumbled four or five yards before falling to
his knees once more. He was so weak.
He had to get this wolfsbane out of his system. Getting to his feet once more, he walked over to one of the completed houses
and picked up a rock. He smashed one of the windows as he fell to his knees once more. Gordon picked up one of the broken
shards of glass. He was not sure about this plan he had. It could very well kill him, but if he did not try, he might still die, and
Mackenzie and his baby would, without a doubt, never survive to see them tomorrow.

Laying on the ground, Gordon began to cut himself all over his arms, chest, face and neck everywhere the pain was. He did not
believe it had spread to the lower extremities just yet, but if this worked, he would head it off. He must have cut himself over forty
times all over. In pain, he dropped the glass, and he lay on the ground. Summoning his powers one last time, Gordon’s eyes
began to glow, and he groaned loudly, which quickly became a growl, and then a loud war cry as his powers pushed the infected
blood out of each and every one of all the small cuts he made. He was hoping the poison would seep out with the blood, and
much to his surprise, the bullets too. He could feel it working, but the strain became too much for him, and Gordon lost
consciousness from lack of blood.
He felt like he had been out of it for only moments, but when he opened his eyes again, it was pitch blackout. Night had fallen.
The pain was gone, and Gordon sat up, he looked down at himself, and all the small cuts he had made had healed while he was
asleep. Nothing was left but his blood-stained clothes. Gordon heaved himself up on his feet, completely shocked that it had
worked.
He did not have time to deal with this surprise. He had to find Mackenzie. He rushed back to his car and got in, driving himself
back to Feral. He was going to need help. He drove to Darrell’s house. He got out of his car and ran up to the door pounding on
it relentlessly. Katelyn answered the door, and Gordon barged in. He was happy to see Darrell had been having a dinner party
with his friends. Stanton, Lewis, Aurora, Aster, and Charlotte were all in attendance, and they all stood up in horror when they
saw him covered in blood.
“Gordon, why are you covered in blood?” Darrell asked.
“Melissa is back. She lured Mackenzie into a trap. She’s working with humans. They know what we are. They are going to kill
Mackenzie and then attack Feral. She’s shown them how to kill us. We need to find them, or they are going to kill us all,” he
looked around at all of them. Please. I need help. I need help to get Mackenzie back,” he begged. He could not do this alone.
Stanton stood up. “Let’s go kill that traitorous bitch.”
“I never liked her, anyway,” Aurora said, standing up.
“I’ll watch Dayton,” Katelyn offered. “You guys go finish this.”
Darrell looked around at everyone. “Let’s do it.”
Gordon looked at Aster. “You don’t have to come if you don’t want to. I’ll understand.”
“I’m coming. She betrayed me too.”

“I’m going to kill her.”
Aster nodded. “I’m ok with that.”
“They all hoped into Darrell’s truck, some having to ride in the bed. Gordon had Darrell drive back to where Mackenzie had been
abducted. They parked the truck, so it was hidden from sight, and no one was likely to find it. Getting out, they walked back to
the house and looked around. Everyone one of them sniffing the area, trying to pick up the scent of Melissa, Mackenzie, and the
men that took her. Once, they had a verified scent. They all stripped down and let the transformation take them.
Oh, what a sight they would have been a pack of giant wolves in a city neighbourhood. Gordon took off after Mackenzie’s scent,
and the others followed him. The scent took them out of town, which did not surprise Gordon. They would have taken Mackenzie
someplace deserted. That was fine with Gordon. It would make the massacre less messy, with no collateral damage.
When Gordon got his hands on Melissa, he was going to make her pay with her life.