Deep Wolves (23 page)

I looked around to see if there was any way I could help him.

Come on… Something… Anything…

I didn’t care about honor or rules or the laws of wolves. I needed to help Vaughn or I would watch him be killed in front of me. My better judgment was gone. Unable to think of anything else, I raced toward the two of them as they tumbled with one another.

Zorn swiped at Vaughn and knocked him to the ground. Vaughn fell down and skidded across the roof. Before Zorn could get on top of him, I ran as hard as I could and tackled Zorn. I wrapped my arms around the large beast and we skidded toward the edge of the roof. The rush of the wind brushed underneath me to let me know that there was nothing there to hold me up.

Zorn shifted and freed himself from my grip. He shoved me off of him and I found myself teetering on the edge. I rolled back onto the roof but was quickly met with Zorn standing there above me. He looked down at me with a look of disgust on his face.

“He wants to kill you. But he’ll understand the kind of nuisance you’ve been after I do it for him.”

He grabbed me by the collar and picked me up off of the ground. He held me over the edge of the building, my feet dangling over nothing but open air. I looked toward Vaughn and saw that he was barely regaining his senses. I gripped Zorn’s arm as tight as I could, praying that he wouldn’t let go.

Then I heard the sound of something in the air. I didn’t know what it was until it came into view. A helicopter slowly lowered down onto the rooftop. The door swung open and a man stepped out. I had seen him before. It was the same man I saw in the bar back home. The white-haired young man in the suit. He walked toward us, his hands wrapped around his rifle.

“Bring her to me,” he yelled out. “There’s been a change of plans.”

Zorn forcefully pulled me away from the edge of the building and dragged me to the man. The man’s calm demeanor belied his obviously sinister intentions.

“So you’re the one that’s been stirring up all this trouble,” he said to me. “How did I know you would go running to the Capes after I fired upon them? I should have killed you when I had the chance. Nonetheless, my lord wishes to speak to you in person. You are an interesting specimen.”

I kicked my feet back and forth, struggling to break free from Zorn’s grasp. Vaughn had made his way back up to his feet. I saw that he was getting ready to attack but the mysterious man saw him just the same. He pointed his rifle right at me and turned to Vaughn.

“Don’t move another muscle, Rucai,” he said to Vaughn. “You are fast but I assure you, you cannot outrun a bullet. And, as you know, these bullets are very painful.”

The man smirked at Vaughn. Vaughn barked at him but stayed in his place. The man turned his attention back to me, the expression on his face unchanged.

“So what do you say, Ms. Everhart?” he said to me. “Shall we be on our way?”

After everything we had been through, I was no longer able to escape fromt his. We had done so much but none of it mattered until this point. Vaughn was powerless to stop him. Zorn held me in his grip and the other man pointed his weapon at my head.

“Put her on the helicopter,” the man said. “Hurry up.”

Zorn did as he was told, dragging me across the roof and toward the helicopter. Vaughn stayed in his place and growled at the man. The rifle was still pointed at me. I looked around, frantically searching for an escape.

“I’ll be back for you, Rucai,” the white-haired man said to him. “For now, I’ll take the one thing you care about most.”

He smiled at Vaughn as Zorn pushed me into the helicopter. Both of them got into the helicopter with me.

Suddenly, the mysterious man let out a violent scream. His weapon fell down to the ground. I looked at his hand saw the blood rushing from it. There was a piece of steel sticking out of his hand. Zorn stared at the man in shock. I tumbled out of the helicopter and fell to the ground. Vaughn rushed up to me and stood over me. I looked to the side and saw Irvine with his crossbow raised.

“Hunter,” the man grimaced as he pulled the bolt from his hand. “Why must you meddle in the affairs of your superiors?”

“Isn’t it obvious?” Irvine replied to him. “They pay me well.”

“Count your blessings, Mr. Gold. Your day is coming. For now, cherish your last moments. Go!”

The helicopter started to rise from the roof of the building. Irvine fired his crossbow but Zorn quickly snatched the bolts from the air. I stared at the mysterious man as he looked back at me.

It was him. He was the one that fired upon Vaughn and I back in the city. And here he was again. The same man responsible for influencing the leader of the Nakas.

The helicopter flew away and disappeared into the night. Vaughn shifted. I looked up at the man kneeling before me. He was bloodied and bruised. New wounds had been opened up on him. But he was alive. Both of us were. I raised my arms up and embraced him, breathing a deep sigh of relief.

“I thought I’d lost you,” I whispered to him, the tears welling in my eyes.

“I told you, Ariel. I am by your side. I always will be.”

As I held Vaughn tight in my arms, Irvine picked up the weapon the man had dropped. He examined it, looking at it closely. Vaughn pulled away from me and we watched as the puzzled look came across Irvine’s face.

“That man,” I said. “He was the same man who fired upon us back home. Who is he?”

“I don’t know, Ms. Everhart. But he does look familiar. In all my travels…”

Irvine trailed off. He looked lost in thought as he ran his hand along the grip of the gun.

“Is he the one responsible for all of this?” I asked.

“Yes, Ms. Everhart. I do believe he was the one that managed to influence the Nakas. Vaughn… I must ask you. Did that man look familiar? Do you remember him being around your clan?”

“No,” Vaughn answered. “I have never seen that man before. I would remember a face like that.”

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “What happened back in the park? All of the fighting…”

“The wolves,” Vaughn started. “Not all of the Nakas were tainted. They fought alongside the clans we had united. They were able to see through the deception…”

“Like you…”

I put my hand up against Vaughn’s face and brushed it against his cheek. I looked into his eyes and remembered what had happened to him and the rest of his clan. Only Vaughn was able to escape the influence of whatever evil was controlling the Rucai.

“Then it’s over,” I said, breathing another sigh of relief. “They will no longer fight…”

“Zorn is gone,” Vaughn said. “And there are many who have gone with him. I can sense it. There are still a few wolves who are loyal to him. They will follow him wherever he goes. But the others… They do not recognize Zorn as their Alpha.”

I had trouble taking it all in. I didn’t want to think about it any longer. My mind was exhausted and my body was the same. I wrapped my arms around Vaughn. When I looked into his eyes, I couldn’t help but smile. Then I freed myself from his trance and turned back to Irvine.

“You saved me,” I said. “Again. Thank you.”

“I’m only doing my job, Ms. Everhart.”

“You could have gotten here a little sooner,” Vaughn smiled at him.

“I save your lives and you do nothing but complain,” he laughed. “Just be thankful that Zorn didn’t pick a taller building. My human legs could only climb those stairs so fast. Not to mention that I had to break in through a side entrance. Which reminds me, we should probably get going. I’m sure security is on the way as we speak.”

We all shared a laugh briefly before we started to walk toward the exit. But before we left, I grabbed Vaughn’s hand and stopped him.

“Irvine,” I called out to him. “I’d like to stay up here for a moment.”

He looked at me and Vaughn before nodding to the both of us.

“I’ll be waiting where we parked,” he said. “Hopefully, our van is still functioning.”

Irvine left us by ourselves and disappeared down the stairs of the building. I looked back to Irvine, the smile on my face beginning to form from the corner of my mouth.

“So…”

“
So…
”

I didn’t say anything. I narrowed my eyes in a way to let him know what I was thinking. I slowly dragged him toward the edge of the building. Just moments ago I was dangling from it, fearing for my life. But now that I was with Vaughn, I could finally appreciate everything below us. The view had never looked so good.

“I’m sorry,” I sighed. “I’m sorry that I complained about wanting to be like you and—”

“Don’t apologize, Ariel. Let’s just enjoy this moment. The entire city is in front of us.”

The wrong circumstances brought us here. But it was finally over. Now I could finally enjoy New York without anything else weighing down upon me. All of the negative thoughts, all of the death, all of the anger and arguments. I didn’t have to deal with it any longer.

In the distance, the police sirens wailed as the cars all converged on the park. Vaughn held his hand in mine. We stood over the edge of the building and looked down upon New York City. The bright lights of the city shined back at us. I leaned in close to Vaughn and rested my head against his arm. And for a few moments more, we enjoyed the view together.

Chapter 24

I wrapped my arms and legs around Vaughn as he leapt off of the building. He raced back toward Central Park to see what remained. But the war zone did not look as bad as I had imagined it. There were no bodies to be found. There was no evidence of what had happened. Central Park looked clean and untouched, as if nothing happened.

“Where are they?” I asked Vaughn.

“They took their dead with them. The clans would not allow their bodies to be desecrated. Even though they have been influenced, they are still forced to follow the laws of our people.”

“But there were so many of them… and the blood…”

“Irvine knew what he was doing. He prepared for every possibility.”

“What do you mean?”

“He picked Central Park in case the Nakas were unable to see reason. We are born of this earth and when we die, we return to it. If there were bloodshed, the blood would return to the soil. The fallen wolves are now one with which they came from…”

I looked at Vaughn and watched him as he stared down onto Central Park from a nearby building. Even though the police had arrived—most likely a response to the sound of all the wolves howling—there was nothing for them to find. It was just as peaceful as we had found it.

“Are you all right?” I asked him.

“What?” he said, turning to me.

“You were forced to kill them. A lot of them died. They’re wolves just like you…”

“I have no desire to kill. I only did what was necessary. I understand that. They did as well. Come on. Irvine is waiting for us.”

I nodded to him and he led me back to the van where Irvine was waiting. We piled inside by ourselves.

“Where are we going?” I asked.

“They all returned to Sosa’s den. I’m sure they’re all waiting for us.”

We made our back to the home of the Capes where everybody was waiting for us. It was a tremendous relief to not have to deal with someone killing us as we headed through the forest. The darkness had never seemed so inviting. The wilderness had never felt so safe. I walked with my hand in Vaughn’s. When we arrived, there were some men waiting outside the cave. They were all scarred and bleeding but didn’t give any indication that their lives were at stake. The tension I would normally feel around them was gone. One of the men was Yung, whom I smiled at when I passed by him. I nodded my head then walked into the cave with Vaughn and Irvine.

The men were all gathered down in the pit of the cave. Even though many wolves had fallen, the Alphas remained standing. They were injured and looked like they had just been through a terrible fight. I was glad to see that all of them had made it all right. As I got closer to them, I saw a man who looked familiar. The brown-eyed man stared at me. He looked familiar but different at the same time. He had all of the same features. I saw the same brown eyes that were staring back at me as Zorn laid on top of me. I squinted and wasn’t sure of what exactly I was seeing.

“Zorn?” I asked him.

“Zorn is my brother,” he said. “I am Cain, Alpha of the Nakas.”

“But wasn’t Zorn the Alpha?”

“I don’t know what happened to Zorn,” he sighed. “Please understand, my brother was not acting of his own accord. He was tainted. By that man… The white-haired man… Unfortunately, not all of the Nakas were able to escape his influence. But some of us did. We fought with you. We fought our own brothers. If there were any other way…”

“I’m sorry…”

“Do not weep,” Cain said to me. “Those influenced have fled the city but the Nakas remain strong.”

“Your clan is divided,” Daric said to him. “The Shidos will rule over New York City.”

Everybody turned and looked at him. He stood defiantly and stared back at everyone. Inez smiled and held his arm, playfully brushing her hand against the side of his face.

“That is right,” Inez said. “You are my king. And now, you are king of all of the clans.”

“We are split but there are still many of us,” Cain said to him. “As the Alpha of the Nakas, I make peace with you and all of the clans. You will not rule over anybody. Just as you united and rose against us, we can do the same to you.”

Daric continued to remain indifferent to Cain’s threat. But he didn’t protest. He instead turned his attention to Inez and ignored everybody else.

“We have lost many of our brothers,” Cain said. “Too many. But where there is loss, there is opportunity. The bloody battle we waged opened the door for all of the clans to hold this meeting. And so we usher in a new era. We reiterate the peace we had between us and join together.”

“So we’re going to start hanging out together more often?” Sosa said.

He walked up to Cain and put his arm around him. In contrast to the big smile upon Sosa’s face, Cain only stared back at him. After a few moments, the gray-haired Sosa realized that Cain was not the hugging type and he pulled his arm back away from him.