Wolf Dominion Volume 2

Ryder’s POV

I sit with Valen and the other troops at lunch. We share tree leather for food, and tree leather tea for drink. We’re inside the enclosed lower floor of Orrin’s family’s house.

A bunker room, aired out to be a communal area out of the elements.

It was easier to hear.

We sit around, honestly because everyone is too exhausted or injured to stand.

Valen still has a high fever but refuses to give up his position of commanding the last remnants of the human army.

Which is why I’m surprised when this comes out of his mouth, as keen eyes and ears listen.

“If we surrender to the Dominator, it may be our last chance at any form of survival,” Valen declares, and goes quiet to a hushed room of resilient disgust at such a thought.

It makes me want to smile, because of the undying passion, but I don’t want them to take it the wrong way, so my expression remains blank.

“Will you vouch for us?” Valen asks me now, and already, the soldiers glare – distrusting me. I don’t blame them. But I have my plan for them already.

“I know this is a test to trust an outsider, but you don’t have to play games with me, Valen,” as I respond coolly, he goes red in the face. As he wipes off his sweat and regains his composure, I take the rag from him and come closer to help, “The only way to heal is sleep,” I look at his body, swaying, and I am certain he may just pass out. I hold him up with an arm around his shoulders and my face close to his, trying to comfort him, “You need to rest.”

“Why are you even here? We grieve the last days of our life – we do not want the presence of one of them infiltrating our camp,” Cobra steps forward, the second commander. He isn’t injured, but he is bone and sinew, I can tell he rarely eats to give more to others, “Your title of Luna does nothing for us. If anything… it is a mockery.”

“You have not met a Luna,” I continue to hold up Valen, as I speak for myself, “There is a reason no other holds my title.”

“The Dominator is going to kill us all. What do you propose? Perhaps you are here to give us the answer we cannot find?” Adam, the third in command, sits by Cobra’s feet, nursing a shoulder with a healing lazer wound.

“I do have an answer, but you won’t like it,” I suggest quietly, “I’ve been thinking of beyond war. Yes, you can surrender and die swift. Or go to war and die slow. But there is a third option… you can run away. Disperse into the trees. Make it hard to hunt you.”

“To die of starvation or the cold?” Adam is not fond of this, grimacing.

“Only for one, two, maximum three days. While I do what I can. If they are hunting over a large area, they will disperse into smaller packs. Which is what I’m hoping for. To split the Destor Alliance. To do so we will have to embarrass the Dominator. For him to lose all respect. In this final massacre, you must win, by running. I don’t want any of you to die. If you can camouflage or hide underground or within trees. Anything. If not a single human life is lost next battle, Skye will lose all respect as Dominator. If it makes any of you feel better – these Genesis beasts, man and animal, were created to do your bidding. It is just a shame the Elites left before they could keep this kind of violence contained.”

“Listen to her,” Valen speaks up, looking at me. I look him directly in the eye.

I have respect for him, and he can see it.

I know they are weak now, but once they were formidable.

It is a lack of food. They need proper sustenance.

No one complains to Valen, so they all fall silent.

“Tell us everything you know about the Genesis Kind,” Valen requests, while shuffling back and choosing to lie down shamelessly, “Who wants to hear a story?” he grumbles, almost asleep.

I turn to look at the troops, settling down.

I would tell all that I could.

Hade’s POV

Shades were not allowed in this new life. I was banished from Wolf Dominion, so the Serpents took me in.

No, not specifically the Reptiles. Specifically the snakes of the reptiles. The closest thing to a Shade, without being labelled as such.

Strange creatures, and now my family.

“I could choke you all day, handsome wolf,” Sephora puts her arms around my neck, hugging me from behind. I’ve been drying dishes. Yup. I was in the kitchen, drying plates and cups and forks and spoons and fucking blunt knives. Pointless. None of these could be weapons.

“I need to get air,” I happen to choke on my words, not from my lover’s grip, but simply because my Alpha Omega energy courses through my veins in steady waves of protest. I wish I could run away from here at top gun speed.

“You don’t need air, Hades,” Sephora hisses, playfully, trying to tug me back, biting my ear.

“I need fucking air,” I turn into her, my eyes wide, frantic. I was losing my mind.

This small house.

These fucking Serpents.

Who were so damn touchy. All the sisters in here loved to get their hands on me. A good distraction for a week or two, but eventually it’s like they were trying to devour me. It was fucking annoying.

“You tortured fool,” Sephora puts her light hand on my cheek, a harsh woman when it came to the truth, “You need to let go of your grief. You drown yourself. The past is dead. You are not.”

“I just. Need. Air,” I say more slowly, trying to reassure her, “And I’m not fucking drowning myself,” I growl a bit more mean, over her lips as I lean down to partially kiss her, “I’m not depressed. I’m angry.”

“Ooo–” she starts to moan playfully but I push her away as I go for the exit, “Don’t be too long, wolf.”

I walk off, whipping the drying towel out of my hands.

Outside in the streets I can see the Cat Dominion sun baking, Opular in the middle, surrounded by lionesses naked and out on display, with a few lying across his legs.

He turned into a pimp.

He lost a daughter and a love, and now lapped up sex like a drug – but to a disgusting degree. Except he never bored of it.

Opular and I weren’t that close anymore. Friends, yes. But not close.

In truth, after the crash, I had no one.

I was banished from Wolf Dominion, not for a week or a month.

For life.

It made my stomach contract. All contact toward me from Wolf Dominion must be zilch. All. Contact.

The Bears residing all around were strong, robust and starving. Skye roped them into his Alliance with the promise of food.

The Reptiles were scattered as usual, predators in the corners – snatching the vulnerable in the shadows and eating them. Literally.

We were eating each other.

And I had lost everyone.

Skye had massacred only one group before we left Genesis.

My Kind.

Shades. Rebels. Independent souls and any who identified as human.

Dead.

Of course, I was the sole survivor meant to reflect on it every second.

Of course, I tried not to, and of course, I ended up doing the exact opposite.

The only thing that cleared my head was air.

So, I was going into the forest alone.

My greatest success was the Acklen.

The blown apart ship that disintegrated before it crash landed.

And with it, Ryder’s blood.

Fuck.

My heart can’t even cope thinking her name. It hurts too much.

I couldn’t think of one thing I had lost.

Or one thing I had gained.

The Acklen haunted me.

And yet I find myself walking toward it.

It’s not hard to find, as it’s right near Wolf Dominion’s ship.

After an hour’s walk, I’m standing right on the edge of the crater at dusk.

I look over the ship and then stare at my feet.

I have to force myself to look at her skeleton.

I know she is still there strapped onto that seat.

A mere carcass. Ordered by Skye to remain in place.

I look up at… her.

I stare. At the empty seat – and the gore running down the slanted floor toward the brush growing underneath.

She fell out. Ryder fucking fell out and was lying in a heap in the brush.

I can’t leave her like that!

“You uncoordinated fuck,” I insult her through my teeth, a dark humour my only remaining effort to stay sane right now.

I walk forward, robotic movements, but forcing myself to act.

I would bury her, finally getting a fire in my blood.

I put together a make shift shovel, getting to use my brain for something, and I head on over to a plot where I can dig.

And so I dig.

Hard, working up a sweat, uncaring if I’m going to be starving after this with nothing to truly satisfy that hunger.

We were all going mad, but I would not lose the one thing I had left; me. Even if everyone else lost their fucking senses from starvation, I was going to keep myself together. Even if it meant eating rage to do it.

Ryder’s POV

After telling the human camp my story they seem a little bit more invigorated. Now that they know more about the Genesis Kind – they no longer have a lack of knowledge. Instead, they have an advantage.

I leave them all once again, that late afternoon, to go for another walk.

Where to?

Back to the ship. The Acklen.

I mean, why not, it had a good view of Wolf Dominion and I wanted to see if there was a hidden food storage compartment in the ship.

“You look like shit, you know.”

What the h–? I’ve heard a distant voice, far off. A very, very, very, very familiar voice. Chocked with tears. My throat is also closing off. Fuck.

I start to run.

Over the hill.

I reach the top of the crater, and I look in.

I look down to where I see Hades talking to my corpse, as he buries her slowly with a piece of wreckage, using it as a shovel. The smell is terrible.

Hades insults me again, “Ugly as fuck with that worm coming out of your nose, yuck.”

I screw up my face.

He’s talking to my dead body.

Making jokes about it.

Classic.

Hades.

He hasn’t noticed me, as he continues to ‘communicate’ with her.

I now slowly sit on the grass, at the very top of the crater, looking in.

I hold my knees to my chest as I watch him and listen.

I watch him finally complete the task, fully focused.

Then he finally writes my name in the dirt, whispering to himself.

Abruptly he throws the shovel aside and drops to his knees beside the mound of dirt.

Hades places his hand on the grave.

And silence ensues.

He’s stopped breathing.

He’s about to start sobbing or some shit.

He inhales sharply, about to –

“Oh, please, don’t, fucking, cry,” I stutter my raspy call, stopping before almost crying myself.

Hades looks up at me, focuses on the metal foot and ankle, and then does a double take as he looks up – at the Luna of Wolf Dominion.

Alive as hell.

Hades stands up, blood pumping so hard through his neck I think a vein is about to fucking burst. He spins and punches the wreckage, until his knuckles bleed, and then he turns back to me and just points at me, his lips… quiver.

He wants to talk back but the moment he opens his mouth he’s going to cry.

So he just points at me.

Like the lover of a lunatic.

I slowly stand up, unable to contain my smile. I want to say nothing but I can’t help myself, “I know. Get over it, pussy.”

“Bitch,” Hades clenches his pointed finger into a fist and looks the other way, hissing, “Come here, bitch,” he hisses toward the trees.

Heh. He missed me.