Wolf Dominion Volume 2

Vastian and Mila have settled right into the apartment next to Hades, since Lux was no longer an occupant. They’re tending to Skye.

I’m not near any of them, however.

Instead, I’m at the local nursery – where Ryder was placed in the care of a Helper. I asked Hades to stay out of my sight for a bit, so I can do this part alone.

I was ready to take him into my arms.

But I’ve stopped.

Just outside the nursery door, peeking in to see him.

Little Ryder is asleep in another woman’s arms, snuggled into her as she rocks on a rocking chair, exhausted due to the late hour. They are both asleep. And I am glad he is comforted.

I stare for a while but don’t walk in. I feel the hairs on the nape of my neck stand on end and I glance all the way up – Hades is on a walk way above. He had been shadowing me since we returned together, I didn’t mind, and now he seems like he wants to talk to me further.

I glance back into Ryder, asleep, and I don’t want to wake him this late at night.

Besides, now I really needed to accept I had a child without ever being pregnant. My eggs had been harvested by Wolf Dominion – and I didn’t know how many. All I knew was this baby boy had been used as leverage and I would make sure that never happened again.

I breathe out a silent sigh and jump back to assess the mud brick nursery exterior – it’s slanted toward the caves above so I can climb it to meet Hades.

Cracklen had its perks being a makeshift city in a hole in the ground, mostly for being a place you could disappear at any point.

Hades is waiting on a rock path over the roof tops, his hand is fidgeting by his side, his fingers curl in and out as I climb up to be with him. I jump over the edge of the rise and I stand opposite him, staring at that nervous gesture.

Then I just slowly raise a brow at him.

I wonder what he wanted now?

Hades holds out his hand, just a little.

“I want to show you something,” he says it so quietly, it’s a mumble turning into a meaningless breath.

Hades is nervous and worried about eyes on us.

I step in and take his hand and lean heavily into his side, pretending to walk with him romantically.

I stare up at him but I don’t say a word.

He nods and pulls me along.

Without any idea of what Hades is planning, I just follow. We walk a long path toward my place of work, collecting oil from wells. Yeah, it was a bucket, on a string, that went down – and I would spend hours pulling it down and hauling it up. It was a good work out for my arms and core, so I didn’t mind. It kept me busy enough.

Hades stands over one of the wells and the medium sized bucket.

He lets go of my hand and looks around at the deserted area at this time of night.

“You’re not scared of small spaces, are you?” Hades asks, reaching for the bucket and swinging it closer to him, he doesn’t even wait for my answer, “Get in,” he says, rushed to get to the point.

I see that foreign look in his eyes – anxiety, a fractured confidence, leading to possible regret for showing me this.

He’s going to show me the secret. I know it.

Without a word this entire time I jump into the bucket, and Hades swings me to the middle of the well, and he starts to loosen the rope.

I squat in the black oil residue, as the bucket takes me down the dark hole.

It’s a long way into the rock, and it’s blacker the further you go.

I can’t see a thing, but I can hear the rope above squeaking every meter he lets me down.

I wonder if I’ll hit the oil at the bottom, but Hades doesn’t lower me all the way.

He stops.

And the bucket hangs.

I wonder if he’s been interrupted?

But I wait, and I wait… and slowly, my vision starts to take in the outline of a door.

And a handle.

And a ledge.

But I had to jump from the bucket.

What the hell was this door?

I stand up, and the bucket swings.

I’m unnerved.

I can barely see.

But…

This. Was. The. Secret.

I had to look.

Just not down.

I slowly lean onto the side of the bucket, while holding the rope, to get traction on the slippering sides.

The jump wasn’t even that far away, but it was still going to be difficult.

I focus on the handle of the door as my target and I lunge before I think too much.

Success. Almost. My hand tightly latches to the door, but my feet slip right off the ledge – momentarily. My heart rate sky rockets as I quickly regain my footing, my hand the only thing saving me for that second. Once standing upright, I open the heavy metal door and slip inside as fast as I can.

I slip inside, and I land on my knees to a glowing path, barely lighting the room I’ve entered.

It’s a space… connected to many more.

It’s shaped like honey combs, and the structure continues in. Just like Wolf Dominion, or similar at least.

I stand up and read the first labels I can see behind me, on the door.

Exit Procedure Upon Landing:

Time before drilling initiates 6km under earth – 2 hours.

Evacuate immediately.

Twist right and release.

Use the ladder.

Do not jump.

Move the vulnerable first.

Evacuate.

Acklen Earth MAX Pioneer Ship.

I step back – dumbfounded.

Hades had found the Origins of Genesis down here…

But my exploration has just started.

I start to hear something strange.

Hissing around me, the slow dimming of lights, turning on brighter, a red scanner, highlighting my body. And an automated system speaking to me from the walls. A message repeats, “Too early. Time Remaining Before Relaunch. 400 years. Too early. Time Remaining Before Relaunch. 400 years… To Initiate An Emergency Relaunch, Overide Required,” the message goes quiet, and a minute later it repeats.

With the lights on, I turn and I start to walk through this level of the ‘Ship’.

Called Acklen Earth?

I’m in a daze, looking into normal bright rooms full of places to learn, genetic laboratories, and some kind of community setting. In the assembly area, I find a large plaque on the wall that I can also read.

Our Mission: Originate. Rediscover. Evolve. Return. For humanity.

And then I find more.

As I walk through the ship.

And then it gets weird.

I reach a red door.

Cloning Hull; Restricted.

I don’t know what the word even means, ‘cloning’ but I find out when I look in… and I see the activity through the scratched glass panel in the red door.

My stomach flips.

This area is occupied.

With dead people.

Murdered people.

And alive people.

Um… kind of alive… more like… machines.

People machines?

They walk very stiffly and mechanically between the compiled bodies, taking bits of hair or examining teeth, taking down notes.

On one end of the enormous centre I see these strange tubes filled with some kind of liquid… thousands of them exist side by side, and preserved bodies are on the inside, hooked up to other things.

I don’t know what any of it is, it’s so strange and alien to me.

But there are thousands of the people in the tubes.

And there is one that looks familiar at the front, closest to the door.

A left bronze arm, an inner bicep… with a red ugly brand burned into the skin so badly it’s raised and prominent. The hair, long and black.

Skye.

At that point, I’m numb as I turn around, and I get out – returning to the door and the bucket as quickly as I can.

Hades pulls me up, aware of the movement as my boots hit the base of the bucket.

The light above before it hits my head, makes me feel like I’m entering another world.

Up above, I’m now out of a strange fever dream.

I face Hades with my haunted expression.

“Explain,” I ask, sitting down on the edge of the well as I pick up a spare cloth near by to wipe off the oil with shaky hands.

Hades smokes on his cigar and answers lightly, “I’m guessing. We were all slaves, we were all perhaps criminals, we were certainly all prisoners to some kind of… hmm, oligarchy of the human race, advanced… or just aliens?”

“What the hell?” I sneer at the thought.

Hades holds up a finger to silence me and goes on a tangent, “I have one theory, our Origin planet, Earth, was infested with aliens – who started to grow their favourite predators into Beasts. I think they… might have decided to keep some of the humans too. Does that makes sense? We’re on an alien planet, but we aren’t the aliens. We’re being played with.”

“You sound insane, that sounds insane. What does it mean for us?”

Hades shrugs and considers my take on it, “It means we’ve been made for their entertainment, or this is all a sick research experiment, science… but… we’re also… smarter… stronger… more evolved now. So… I think we’re meant to represent something. A research project is an option. They like gold, they also came to mine,” Hades is rambling, but he’s invested.

“Gold…”

“Solividian bitch, so they aren’t that different if they like shiny things… like us,” I don’t know how Hades knows this, but I believe him.

“Or they’re just humans who are torturing other humans because that’s what we’ve all been doing,” I speak for the whole planet.

“Exactly,” Hades nods, “It could be that too. I don’t know. Aliens. Humans. But that’s our origins. And it’s fucking weird.”

“No. I really think they’re all humans, not aliens. Those machine people just had different limbs – similar to my left foot. Bionic.”

“What makes you so sure they’re human and not alien?” Hades is keen on challenging me, interested in my answer.

“I’m not surprised by their lack of empathy for those corpses I saw,” I speak through gritted teeth, “…it was repulsive…and I saw Skye in there.”

“So did I, when I found it all on my own time,” Hades looks disturbed even thinking back on the memory, “…that’s why I’m here, protecting the Acklen.”

“Why?” I’m not sure I follow his reasoning.

“It’s our ticket off this fucking planet, idiot,” Hades is cocky, but clearly ignorant.

“400 years too early,” I immediately murmur.

“Not. If I have the override,” Hades leans down and pinches my chin, and I slap his hand away violently.

“Well do you?” I snap.

“…mm, no?” Hades loses his excitement, although he’s entertained by my frustration, “But – even if I did, I have no idea how that thing works. And it’s been leaking oil for centuries. I think it’s broken.”

“So, your secret is you’re obsessed with a machine buried in the ground,” I try to make fun of him, “…you’re really something special,” Hades seems conflicted even as I insult him, his eyes go distance, “What?” I ask, losing my humour, “What aren’t you telling me?”

Hades licks his lips, and then casually slaps my right cheek, lightly, but just to get me back for slapping his arm. I stare in shock, as he pretends he didn’t just smack my fucking face –

“Listen,” Hades growls and delivers another blow, with his knowledge, “This isn’t the first time you’ve been a Luna… you’ve been cloned a couple of times. I found that information in a log on the ship. Same as Skye. Same as the leaders of these ‘Dominions’,” Hades takes a whiff of his cigar, “…same as me… and we have no way to know, as far as I know… what all those other times meant.”

“We’ve all lived before now?” I ask, feeling sick.

Hades holds out his hands wide in exasperation as if to say how should he know? “I know it’s really fucked, but how am I meant to tell this crazy story to people who think they live in their own world? I could only tell you because you’re crazy, you hopped into that well without hesitating,” Hades smiles now, genuinely happy about my willingness to go down there.

“How the hell did you find it anyway?” I ask, confused.

“Really, Ryder? I’m a wanted man – and many attempts to kill me, have been somewhat creative at times,” Hades is proud of this, tilting his head and smirking, “That was one of them. They tried to drown me –”

“We should probably go home,” I state harsh, shrugging, feeling off and not wanting to hear about his stupid story – just to get back at him for slapping me.

“Don’t speak a word about any of it,” Hades warns me as we walk off, “Keep it to yourself. It’s our little secret,” he even winks at me, as if it’s seductive.

“Why did you really show me?” I dare ask this seriously.

Hades raises a brow, lowers the brow and then stares off into the distance.

“…to distract you from thinking about fucking everyone all the time…” Hades jokes, while I just fight the urge to tackle him.

“You can shut up now.”

“Don’t ask me questions then, little lunatic,” Hades scoffs.

“Are you crazier than me or something,” I say it lightly, “Fucking unpredictable, much?”

“Opposites attract.”

“Are you calling me predictable?” I ask.

“Like clockwork,” Hades is serious this time, and I feel stung, “You’re a well trained soldier – don’t feel bad for being trained to be stupid.”

“You’re actually driving me crazy.”

“I aim to.”

“Shut up –”

“I’m rich. In wealth. And knowledge. You shut up, poor slut,” Hades has a point there, but then has to add in the petty insult. I say nothing, and Hades pats my head.

When I glance sideways to glare, Hades is staring at me entirely different to what I expect.

I expected mocking humour.

Instead, it looks like he’s eating me up.

He tries to mask the hot lusty gaze but it’s too late.

I turn my gaze forward and smirk.

I don’t have to say a word.

He’s trying to buy me. Dumb Omega.

Could the allure of fucking me, really get me anything I wanted?

Thoughts to consider carefully for later.