Wolf Dominion Volume 2

Perhaps I’m unrecognisable in the oil, or I come across as a little gremlin. I’m covered head to toe as I almost drowned while on the ride up in the bucket.

The person hauling me up, sees me leap from the bucket like some corpse and they go running.

I run into the rocks, hiding myself immediately.

My skin is burning, and I needed to get this oil off as quickly as possible.

I stumble around for a bit, feeling disoriented and weak.

But I couldn’t go out there near anyone just yet.

I find a small green cavern inside the systems running off the Cracklen, with a water hole – and I clean myself off. I use a sponge like moss in the water, and I’m exhausted by the time I drag myself out, partially clean.

I never heard him come.

As I lie on the rocks, breathing heavy – I see a cloud of silver-white fluff.

I quickly turn around and kneel up, until I see more fur.

I’m staring at Xrat’s humongous head, leaning down, sniffing my hair – his fangs hang out of his mouth.

Something I never recognised as unusual until now. His fangs are twice as big as my head itself.

Xrat to me, looks like wolf and dog combined and genetically enhanced to be the perfect war animal.

He looks at me in awe, tilting his head, his blue and yellow eye are showing confusion.

“Go to your pups,” I tell him, and he growls a warning.

His pups. They would be used in a war too. Shit.

But Xrat only growls just because he doesn’t like being told what to do.

As he lowers down to look at me more closely, he inhales a sharp breath and then turns and leaps away into the rocks.

Departing just like that.

He just came to see the change in me, clearly sensing my untimely death – and miraculous return to life in a tiny little body.

Xrat seemed perplexed then maybe a little repulsed.

I wonder if that’s how the rest of them will react. It was time to return to them.

Skye and his family were next.

I find spare worker’s close in the stations by my work, and I wear what fits. Nothing really does, so I just look like a child wearing these damn huge outfits. But at least I’m not naked.

And then I mostly travel without too much trouble.

Aside from the odd side look from the Shades out and about, I keep my head hidden by a hood on the brown jumper I’m wearing. The grey trousers are rolled up around my ankles, constantly rolling back down but I do my best as I go.

Thankfully Hades’ place isn’t hard to navigate too in the centre of Cracklen. I hop up the steps and catch my breath before I head to his door, three times my height.

Fuck, everything in every way was so much bigger.

I go right up to his door and pull on it – but it’s locked.

It’s empty.

They’re not in Hades?

I glance down to an ajar door. Ah. They’re in Lux’s old apartment. As I approach, I hear drinks being passed around and light music.

When I glance in I see everyone in a completely different light.

It’s like looking into a room of animals, predatory humans, giant and designed to kill humans. I catch my breath in the corridor and pull off my hood, blinking at my warped reflection in a metal door frame opposite me, leading to another apartment.

I look unmistakably like Luna Ryder; the shrunken version, without scars. Even Fyre could kick my ass now. At that grim thought, I spin back to the door.

I decide I’m going to act like I’m not totally half my fucking size. Because I have to be brave, there was no other choice.

So that’s what I do.

I push open the door and walk right in, my face exposed, my hands – covered by the long sleeves, which I jerk back now to hold up my hands in a calming gesture.

The resounding silence that bombards my ears the moment I’m spotted, is probably the last powerful thing I’ll feel for a while. I’m staring at the table rather than them.

Courage.

Come on.

Be direct.

I glance up to Skye first – probably not the best idea. Our eyes lock and I’m looking at a damn alien. Of course, I recognise him but I have my human memories of what is most normal, and he is not fucking normal.

I try to ignore his piercing neon blue eyes unblinking while on me, sizing me up, as I explain to Skye and to the others, glancing around slowly, “Two things. Number one. I – me, this me – I have the override. Number two. Everyone has to stop killing, because you are the last. Your first physical forms that created all the clones are all dead. You’re all that’s left.”

“What do you mean, dead?” Skye rumbles quietly, and his calculating look makes my human hairs stand on end. I keep finding my eyes rolling to the ground, and I have to force my eyesight up. I manage to look at Mila next to Vastian seated in the middle of the table, and I glance between them quickly; which is an improvement.

Hades, I still cannot gaze upon.

“If you die,” I cut my hand through the air, “…you’re never coming back – the stakes are raised. Call it the final round.”

“You killed yourself?” Hades works it out, speaking from my left.

Now I do look at him, directly, and with a pained nod – I confirm.

Hades’ eyes flash with fire, some kind of fury, but I quickly look back to the table and Raygar is not much easier to look at. I can’t settle on any of them.

Now I do look at the ground.

“I died but I woke up in this body, my first form – but with some kind of miracle, she lives, my Genesis form, she woke up from death,” I smile now, feeling tears in my eyes, feeling proud I actually did make it through.

“Good, because we can put you back,” Skye rumbles again, and my heart jerks in a slight panic, “We’ll get you out of that pathetic form,” his words aren’t humorous, nor is his tone, and I lose my smile. He’s deadly serious.

I look up to meet Skye, but he’s decided to stand and I feel my mouth salivating. Both from fear and desire – but it’s more heightened in this human body. I blink away my distracting thoughts and glare at his chest.

“Our consciousness exists combined through Transcendence, we can both live,” I explain, shortly, “Right now Luna Ryder is asleep, she’s relinquished control to me.”

“Why would she do that?” Vastian speaks up, and when I look at him, I can only be honest.

“Because she was empty, but I’m not,” I murmur gently – and get my ear drums almost blown off!

Fyre screams in my ear. Behind me – she snuck up.

To scare me!

I shriek and jump a mile – knocking into Hades, I immediately shove myself off him and away from his prying hands. As I turn, tears almost flood my eyes.

Fyre laughs her head off, falling on her ass and pointing at me. She’s crying too, it’s that funny how far I’ve shrunken.

I almost want to keep crying, but I banish the tears of distress, from the basic fact I’m weak in this form. I can’t thump her.

“So this, right here,” Hades pushes in behind me anyway and holds the top of my head in one hand, twirling me around with one twist of his palm, “Is a human. A real human,” He twirls me a few times and I get dizzy too quickly. I’m literally powerless to stop such a simple tease.

“I have more to say,” I complain and I reach up and feebly grab Hades’ tan and dusty wrist, pushing his hand off my head, I step back from him, knocking into the communal table, “Much more,” Hades has to shove his hands in his coat pockets and bite his lip as he clearly evokes enormous levels of self-restraint not to torture me further.

“You remember, don’t you, Ryder,” Vastian guesses, grabbing my attention, so I face him again, “And you know what this all means?” at least he’s being the scientist.

Mila just looks distraught.

I nod.

I get a small heavy silence so I can answer properly.

“I do remember why and what Genesis all means. You’re all made, to…” I pause too quickly and abruptly. I look directly at Skye. Who stands behind Mila and Vastian.

“Speak,” he uses his death drawl, commanding me to tell him, which confirms it all further.

I couldn’t tell them. If they knew they were paid to be made, to fight a human’s war on another planet – Earth – they may refuse to return to help, only to truly hurt humanity when they would take matters of government into their own hands.

“To advance humanity,” I lie once I compose myself, and perhaps it’s obvious but I realise I seriously can’t ever tell them the real whole truth. But of course, in my flurry, I only realise it while in the same room as the most successfully vicious clones on this horrible planet. I feel Skye’s distrust of my words, so I decide to add in more, in a confident tone, looking at Vastian, “We’ve completed the mission, you’re the most advanced forms. We board the ship. We take off. We enter a worm hole. We go back to Earth. That’s how this ends. Going back to Earth,” because they would just kill themselves here, Dominion vs Dominion. Until no one existed. I had to work out the rest about Earth later.

“A worm hole,” Hades whispers his amazement, which I’m grateful for, it’s a good distraction –

“Why are you lying,” Skye’s dark tone cuts the room. And shreds my small confidence.

Shit.

Even as I stare wide eyed at my feet, I feel all eyes on me.

I want to cower into invisibility, all my instincts want me to disappear as I feel Skye moving forward. I want to run, so I try my best to stay still.

Or… the next best thing.

I close my eyes.

In order to keep my spine straight, my head held high. If I didn’t see him, I felt less intimidated by the neon blue and blue white teeth.

“I’m not lying,” I state, orderly.

“Why are you closing your eyes, little bug?” Hades whispers behind me.

“Don’t call me a bug,” I respond anyway, eyes still closed.

“She’s intimidated,” Skye says, over my fucking face – right in front of me – and he’s not amused.

But at least I don’t cower with my eyes shut.

“The Elders need to die,” I speak back to him, and I try to change the subject, to something also relevant, “They won’t like me taking charge of the departure from Genesis.”

“Where is the Luna?” Skye snarls it.

I feel like my brain rattles in my skull.

I swiftly step back from him but I feel his heat follow me.

Fine.

I stand my ground.

“She’s alive in the ship, I told you,” my lips tremble even as I snap it, “She’s sleeping,” I feel in Skye’s momentary silence, that he’s deciding how best to dispose of me. If I could feel hate. It was this. I knew I also betrayed him and went with Opular, but that wasn’t my major concern. It was his instinct to crush weakness. And I was nowhere near his match anymore, “Alpha Skye,” I try this, finally opening my eyes, I look up at him as an authority figure, and address him as such, “We can talk further, I am Ryder, her mind and my old mind, I remember all of us – what you and I did. I remember it all. Now, I know more stuff. Please, give me time to explain. And please, Alpha… I need food,” I reach up my arm, to show him the uncontrollable tremble, “I’ve been in a coma for hundreds of years.”

“What was wrong with the human species?” Skye asks, direct, ignoring the rest.

“War,” I state, unconfident.

“They’re all dead?” Skye asks again. I can’t answer that. I haven’t thought of my answers yet, “How have we advanced humanity? Because I’m looking at you, and you and I are not the same,” Skye slowly leans down to my level, “We’re entirely different species. What advancement here benefited humanity?”

“I can’t tell you,” I whisper it, but I shouldn’t have said that.

“Bug,” Hades speaks in my ear right, while Skye looks like he’s thinking about ripping my head off my shoulders for keeping information from him, “Why?”

I look at Hades sideways, then back to Skye.

“Because you’ll all end humanity – by the way you’re looking at me right now, and I shouldn’t be surprised… how you even treated me before, when I was one of you,” I state, “Emancipated, but still one of you.”

“That doesn’t make any sense, what do you know, worm?” Mila snaps from her chair, after she stands in frustration with her brother.

Skye looks to Vastian, who’s working it out.

“Were we colonising a new planet?” Vastian asks me, “And you don’t think we can co-exist if humans arrive here en masse?”

I realise even as he guesses wrong, that I do have the override. So technically, they aren’t going anywhere unless I operate the ship. Or… the Elders. I had some power. But it was enough to bargain. So…

“The truth is shocking,” I finally give in, “You were made to be slaves to humans,” Skye steps back, and while he tries not to laugh, the rest of them give me more room to explain, while I sit at the table, “You were paid to be made, to fight. So was I. Humans have wars, and massive overpopulation, and the rich are fucking rich. They made you, all of us, for themselves. That wormhole I spoke of, takes us back to more war. Not our own. And you’ll be made to fight. You were made to obey the humans that bought you. But you were also made to be vicious. I know you’ll end humanity. This whole thing is a huge mistake,” I reach for a piece of bread, and Mila snatches it from my hand and takes the plate of bread with her.

“You can starve, we don’t need you, we want the Luna back to piss on, she’s the one we have a quarrel with, and you’re in the fucking way. Fuck your ship and your Earth,” Mila’s cruel, as always.

“I am still the Luna!” I try to scream back, and my voice breaks, which has Fyre laughing again in the fucking corner, “And none of you can go back to war because you’ll all kill one another and there is no second chances anymore,” I hiss this too, trying to sound urgent.

“But we can’t go back to Earth in your head, either,” Skye walks up behind me and puts his hand on my head, like Hades did. He keeps me still while he snatches the bread from Mila and shoves it back into my mouth.

I grab it, thankful for its return. I try to eat but it’s so grainy, and it falls out of my mouth in crumbles. But at least it’s something.

I just don’t think I’m going to survive for long on this Genesis food.

I need to get home.

“You’ll kill everyone,” I talk with my mouth full, as I motion around, “You’re all… a huge fucking mistake. As I said.”

When I look over my shoulder, I see Hades leaning on the wall, unimpressed by my assessment.

Skye scraps out a chair and sits right next to me, looking at me eat. Intrigued by my struggle.

“Here’s what you’re going to do, you’re going to stop talking,” Skye explains, “And you’re going to obey me. I’ll decide the future. You just eat, and sit, and answer me when I ask you a question. Why did you go back with Opular?”

“Because I could,” I explain, dropping the bread, “And because Luna Ryder was sick. She’s unstable. She wants me to slap you.”

“Slap me,” Skye goads me, lightening up a bit he puts his hand on my hand and lifts it up, “Try it,” he really wants me to try and smack him?

I pat his cheek, gently, “Bam, bam, bam,” I whisper.

Skye tries to keep in a rather handsome smile, as he takes my hand in his and tests crushing it briefly. He doesn’t hurt me, just feels me.

“…you’re so fucking fragile… I couldn’t fuck you either… you’d break…” Skye is murmuring at my hand, letting it go as he muses of all things.

I look over to the quiet one in the room.

Raygar has departed to a window and another corner, looking out at Cracklen instead.

He doesn’t acknowledge me.

“Ray?” I call to him, but he doesn’t turn.

“Skye, what’s the plan?” Raygar talks to the window pane, Rouge Master back into effect.

“We need the real Luna back,” Skye states, “Hades, mind the bug – everyone else with me.”

Skye stands up, and takes his leave.

I watch as everyone stalks after Skye out the door, always ready to please their Alpha.

Hades waltzes over to the chair opposite me, and slouches in it in his slow graceful way. He smiles politely as he looks at me nibbling on the coarse grain as it crumbles out of my mouth. Not a pretty site.

“He’s going to kill you, bug,” Hades says casually, “He wants Ryder back.”

“I am Ryder,” I say.

“There can only be one,” Hades slow blinks, “And no one wants you – they want you in the Luna’s body.”

“Just so he can fuck me?” I ask, laughing dryly.

“Just so we can,” Hades corrects me lightly with a smile, “Nice to meet you, bug.”

“I wouldn’t break, I’m just smaller,” I laugh.

“You’re also a badass warrior,” Hades reminds me, “Tell me the override,” Hades also mentions that little thing, out of nowhere. Sly.

“Hades,” I reply.

“Tell me.”

“Hades,” I reply again, “Guess they betted you’d be the one to win.”

Hades takes a second to fully comprehend me.

“Win what?” he raises a brow.

“Probably who the best soldier is,” I reply, “I remember you all as humans. You were always so moody. The bad boy on the ship.”

“What’s a bad boy,” Hades tries not to choke on it, “Saying bad things?”

“Exactly what you are,” I try not to laugh but I can’t help it, “And maybe because you’re the tallest.”

“I’m a selfish fuck too,” Hades is adamant about this, “But I’m also an Alpha. Secretly.”

“You’re all selfish,” I correct him.

“I like you, bug. You have something the Luna didn’t in your eyes. What’s the difference? Between human and us?” Hades holds my gaze with pleasure – holding onto every word I’ll say.

The answer would annoy him, however.

The difference? Huh.

“Everything.”