SWNOVELS Chapter 29 Finality
It felt like I had just snuggled into bed with Quinn, when someone pounded on our bedroom door, “Reese! We need you out front right now!” The sun was high in the sky, we had been asleep for a few short hours. Quinn and I hurriedly dressed and raced out front. The four corpses of the wolves we had slaughtered the previous night were strewn in the front yard. The word ‘TONIGHT’ was written in blood on the side of the house. I scanned the scene, my blood boiled. “Get Ellis,” I commanded and Quinn disappeared into the house. Ellis emerged with Quinn not five minutes later. “Ellis, gather the pack, prepare the best you can. Tonight we will finish this for better or for worse.”
The house erupted in a hurried frenzy, some prepared bandages and first aid, others paced and growled angrily. We would not wait for them to come to us, we would attack the caves as soon as the sun set. Dylan would stay behind to inform the gargoyles, he was our weakest fighter and I didn’t want him to see much action. I calmly seethed, pulled all the painful memories I had from the dark recesses of my mind, and re-lived them. The hours seemed to tick by slowly until the last hour and a half, then time flew by. The sky was a gorgeous pink and orange shade when I gathered my wolves in the front in full view of the carnage.
“Look at them,” I commanded, “Look at the bodies and know that this is what Dakota and Tate will do to you unless we stop them tonight! They will not rest until all of us are a rotting pile of flesh and bones! This is the final battle, this is the last time I will allow them to desecrate our land and home! Who is with me!?” Howls of rage rocked the evening sky. I ripped off my hoodie, phased into my wolf form, and charged into the trees with my pack on my heels. Dylan watched hesitantly from the front porch. I knew he would rally the gargoyles.
My vision turned a bright shade of red as I embraced my rage and hatred. The Power of the Alpha radiated in my chest and emboldened and strengthened my pack. We crashed through the trees and tore up grass and shrubs as we surged forward. We plowed through the tangled underbrush and up to the hill. Well over a dozen wolves waited for us with drool covered fangs. Dakota and Tate were front and center.
I succumbed to the wolf in my chest, it craved blood. Dakota and Tate charged at me and we collided with a thunderous crash. I thrashed and twisted as they danced and bounded just out of reach. I swiped at Tate with my giant paw and raked my claws across his snout. Brilliant red blood spurted from his face. He roared in pain as a triumphant grin uncurled on my lips. I jumped over Dakota at the last second and rotated in the air, I chomped down hard on her tail and swung her into Tate. They slammed into a tree with a painful thud.
I didn’t wait for them to recover, I bounded in and dug viciously into Tate’s chest. His ribs cracked and gave way under the oppressive weight of my paws. He whimpered and attempted to crawl away. Dakota shrieked in rage when she saw Tate’s chest torn open, ribs broken and exposed to the evening air. I vaguely registered a distant howl, it sounded like Dylan. I focused on Tate and locked my jaw around his shoulder and wrenched with all my might. Tate struggled and squealed under me. Dakota trembled, frozen with rage.
Tate’s shoulder popped out of its socket with a satisfying crunch. His flesh ripped apart easily enough after that. “Like father, like son,” I savagely thought to myself. I pulled my head back and threw Tate’s foreleg and shoulder at Dakota. It hit her square in her face, blood spattered in her eyes and mouth on contact. Tate’s cry gurgled in his mouth as the light passed from his eyes. Tate’s death shocked Dakota into action. She shook the blood from her eyes and launched herself at me with renewed fury.
The moon had newly risen when something huge blotted it from the sky. I heard Dylan’s howl again. The Gargoyles had joined the fray. I glared at her victoriously. Members of my pack began to surround her. The gargoyles finished the last of Dakota’s pack and joined the tight circle of wolves as it shrank around me and my adversary. Panic and fear flashed in her eyes for a split second before she gnashed her fangs and launched herself at me. I melted to the ground and forced myself into my human shape.
I wanted to show her that I didn’t need fangs to deal with her. Dakota landed hard but recovered quickly enough. She spun around and saw me in human form. I charged forward and brought my fist back behind my ear. I swung hard and my fist slammed into her nose. Her snout crumpled under the impact, bone shards jutted up and popped her eyeballs. I snatched her ears and forcefully yanked my knee up into her jaw. Her jaw bones and most of her fangs shattered, blood poured from her ruined mouth. I gripped her shoulder with my left hand and violently squeezed her throat with my right hand.
Her body convulsed uncontrollably. I felt her windpipe collapse under my grasp, blood oozed between my knuckles as I tore her skin. I whispered in her bruised ears, “This is what happens when you mess with my pack.” I ripped her crushed windpipe from her throat. I released Dakota’s body and it spasmed on the ground. Her windpipe felt slippery in my clenched fist. I looked down at it. My vision returned to normal as the rage and hatred ebbed away. I fell to my knees and vomited. Quinn materialized beside me in her human form and held my hair away from my face.
I wiped my mouth and stood up. I leaned heavily on Quinn. “Casey, River, would you be willing to check out the cave see if there are any supplies we can use. Everyone else, let’s dig a pit, we can’t leave this many corpses laying about.” I forced myself back into my wolf body and began to dig a large pit, the rest of my pack joined in. It took a few short minutes since we worked as team and we were giant wolves. We dragged the corpses together and dumped them in. The pit was covered as quickly as it was dug.
Casey and River gathered some goodies from the cave and we began to long trek back home. The gargoyles flew on ahead, the sun threatened to come up. It was slow going, we were all exhausted. It took twice as long to get home than it took to reach the caves. The sun was up by the time we arrived at home, everyone else went inside and tumbled into bed, but I still had work to do. I picked a spot deep in the woods and began to dig. The pit was finally large enough, I dragged the four corpses from the front yard into the pit, and covered them with dirt. My head began to hurt from exhaustion, but I wasn’t quit finished.
I returned to the house, grabbed some bleach from under the kitchen sink, and went back to the front yard. After I splashed bleach on the wall where Dakota and Tate left their challenge written in blood. I picked up the garden hose and sprayed the bleach covered, blood stained wall. The strong scent of bleach made my headache even worse. I longed to rest in Quinn’s arms. The blood stains came off slower than I would’ve liked. The sun was directly overhead by the time I finished and put away the cleaning supplies.
I stumbled into the house, into the bathroom, and leaned heavily on the shower wall. It took what little of my strength remained to turn on the water. The cold water stung my skin, I closed my eyes and waited until the water became hot. I fought a hard as I could to stay awake, “Quinn,” I mumbled, “Help me.” I slid to the floor exhausted. My eyes closed on their own and I was too exhausted to open them. The world faded away.
The next thing I knew that I was cuddled up to Quinn in bed. In my sleep deprived state, I was able to mutter one question, “Are we safe?” Quinn smiled sweetly, “Yes Baby. The pack is okay and you are safe.” I smiled softly and drifted off to sleep.