His Reign (The Opeth Pack Saga Book 1) (13 page)

Smelling the scent of his soon to be former Alpha, mixed with blood and something that smelled of piss, he waited patiently. He knew when Kiba was alerted to his presence.

“Come in, wolf.” Vehemence personified in his tone.

Józsi slammed the door open against the brick wall, crashing the steel against the wall so loud it echoed and shook the air.

Readying his defenses, he felt Kiba’s power flow throughout the air. The wind whispered of sickness, of impending death. “Kiba, where are they?”

Standing in the center of the warehouse, Kiba turned around to face Józsi.

He hadn’t changed since he’d last seen the old man. Still gray, long hair flowed in a mess past his shoulders. His beard had gone from gray to white. Wrinkles in his eyes and around his mouth made him look even older, gave him a more insane look.

“You’ve come to sacrifice our pack to the Hunters and rid this world of the wolves’ curse, I take it?”

“I’ve come for what belongs to me, Kiba. Where are they?”

“Tell the hunters that. They have your precious lovers and have been waiting for your arrival—though we all thought you’d have brought more of your wolves with you.”

The lying bastard! Rage threatened to boil from inside. “What do you mean, my wolves? They’re your pack. You’re their Alpha!”

“I am no such thing. I am a human.” He snapped his fingers and doors opened behind him. A few men with large guns stepped forward.

They all pointed guns at Józsi. Each wore the same menacing expression.

Kiba looked behind him, still keeping an eye on Józsi. “He is a wolf, tried and true. Look carefully at him and you will see his muzzle, his tail. His thick coat would fetch quite a price at market, wouldn’t it?”

Guns cocked.

Józsi stepped forward. “You do realize
he
is also a wolf, right?”

“No. He is not.” A tall man with a thick Fidel Castro-like beard stepped forward, his gun trained on Józsi. Dressed in khakis and military boots, the man held the rifle steady and looked through a scope.

Smelling gunpowder, Józsi looked down at his chest and saw the little light aimed at his heart. His pulse sped up, but he remained calm.

“What are you talking about? Has he fooled you all so much into thinking he is human that you cannot see him for what he is?”

The man with the beard took another step forward. “He has shown us what we have needed to see in order to do our jobs. We are here to exterminate your kind. Wolves have caused problems amongst humans for centuries.”

“And I have brought the hunters here as a final solution to the problems I’ve had. Aren’t you proud to know you’re a part of history, Józsi?”

Clenching his fist, Józsi took another step forward. “What are you talking about? How can you do this to your own flesh and blood, Kiba? Even your own brother would not turn his back on us.”

“Oh, but he did indeed. When he let Marco live with that witch and become impregnated, he crossed a line. A wolf mating with a human, how preposterous.”

Blood boiled beneath his skin. His mind felt a serious weight leave, pressure building in his hands. “You’re crazy old man. Where are Ilona and Lukina?”

Kiba threw his head back in laughter. “They are in a room somewhere here. Maybe. You could surrender now and join them.”

“Never.” Józsi gritted his teeth.

“Then you can die.” Kiba raised a hand and pointed at Józsi.

A quick count of the armed men amounted to five of them standing behind Kiba.

They moved around the old man, surrounding Józsi so that his only escape route was back the way he came. “No Alpha would give up his position to someone who deserted the pack, turned his back on them. Not after what you did, will you be able to fulfill the prophecy.”

“I don’t care about the damned prophecy. Let the girls go.” Józsi didn’t like where this was heading. His fangs lengthened.

“No. The redhead stays, the brunette is a sacrifice!”

“What?” He screamed, shoulders tensing and straightening.

“The girls stay, they are payment for the services of this nice little band of hunters.” Kiba’s voice sounded shrill, how the hell were the hunters listening to this and not killing Kiba as well?

He wasn’t that far from Kiba now, maybe fifteen feet or so. Could he leap at the old wolf and strike him down quickly and avoid getting shot?
Where are you Selene?

Instantly, the clips from all of the rifles fell out of the guns.

Each man looked at his weapon and at his comrade. “What the hell?”

Picking up their clips and reloading their guns gave Józsi and extra second or two of thought. “Screw it.” Lunging forward, he dropped the illusion of being a human in midair.

“I told you he’s a damned wolf!” Kiba yelled and pointed, his eyes becoming light bulb wide, glowing a shade of red and green.

Józsi connected with him, claws landing on Kiba’s chest.

Both hit the ground with a loud thud. A gun cocked to his left. Instinct took over.

Leaping off Kiba’s chest toward the sound of the loaded gun, Józsi flew into the man. Landing on top of him, he knocked him down as well. Snarling, snapping his jaws in the man’s face.

Fingers dug into Józsi’s throat, hard, nearly cutting off his air supply.

The man struggled to force Józsi off.

Józsi ripped into his flesh, tasting muscle and fiber before snapping the man’s neck and silencing his screams. Blood pooled around the wound and tasted bitter, diluted of the usual amount of iron and copper. That was odd, but Józsi didn’t have time to care. He’d figure out what the deal with this man was, later, if there was a later.

Józsi glanced around. Seeing Kiba stand and dust himself off, he charged for him.

Kiba jumped out of the way and dropped his own illusion. Now he appeared as a large gray wolf, scruffy, dirty fur that didn’t hold a shine or look smooth at all. In places, his fur had been cut or torn out, leaving bald skin. His once bushy tail wagged and looked ragged, the menacing gleam in his eyes causing fear to rise in the room. Saliva dripped from his jaw, his breath even from this distance smelled poisoned and sick.

Józsi wanted to vomit at the stench from his former Alpha’s mouth. A gasp and yell came from one of the gunmen. “There are two of them!”

“Kill them both!”

Gunshots fired but hit nothing.

Lunging forward, Józsi had taken Kiba down, rolling several feet along the hard concrete floor. Leaping into the air, Józsi landed just in front of another man.

Shaking, he pointed the rifle in Józsi’s direction but couldn’t keep it still.

“Shoot him, you idiot!” Kiba yelled in the background, growling. He’d become a man again and the hunters looked confused, their eyes trained on Józsi.

“I...I…”

Too late, asshole.
Thrusting himself into the air, he knocked down the gunman, his rifle falling to the floor. Jaws snapped around the man’s arm, ripping into flesh.

The man managed to lift a knee to Józsi’s ribs, knocking him off balance.

Pain radiated from the new wound and Józsi was sure he’d have at least two bruised ribs later. Recovering from the kick, Józsi jumped at another man. A shot went off, nearly missing Józsi by mere inches.

A swift kick to the head connected. Pain exploded in Józsi’s temple, knocking him off balance again. He landed and stumbled a few feet before righting himself. His vision blurred and he tasted blood, smelled his open wound.

Growling in anger, he steadied himself and waited. His vision cleared.

Three men surrounded him. The fourth one sat on the floor behind them.

Selene!

The men turned their guns on each other involuntarily.

“What are you doing? One yelled as his gun pointed at the bearded man.

The man on the floor aimed his gun at another hunter. “I don’t know! I can’t control my arms!”

“Don’t shoot me! Don’t you dare shoot me!” bearded man yelled and struggled to break free of the hold.

All three froze, guns pointed at each other.

Damn but Selene was merciless! Józsi took the opportunity to scramble away toward Kiba. His head still ached and he began to see spots, but he could take the old man.

K
iba stood back
against a wall by a door. “Come any closer and this door gets blown off.” He held a white light in his palm. “The explosion will blow a hole large enough through the wall that it’ll kill the two inside.”

Józsi stopped dead in his tracks.
What do you want?

“I want what has always been destined to be mine. All wolves exterminated.”

“That doesn’t even make any damn sense, Kiba.” Selene appeared, floating across the floor. “You have no idea what you’re talking about.” She raised her shotgun at him, pointing it square at his forehead.

“I do indeed. Ever since the pack turned its back on me, I have sworn vengeance through prophecy. Lukina and Ilona are part of the prophecy given to the one who is to ascend to power. The messenger and the healer. The one they love and have chosen is to be the Alpha of all wolves.”

Józsi coughed. “I could give a shit about being Alpha. Clearly you’ve gone crazy, old man.”

“No. I am the one who sees all things clearly. You two are misguided. You are destined to take the place of the current Alpha but you were ungrateful and I’ll be damned if you can come in here and take what is mine. But since I cannot have them, I will kill all of the wolves in this fucking world and then create a new race of half breeds, all owing allegiance to me.”

“Józsi!” Ilona’s wail tore at his heart.

“Let them go, Kiba.” Changing back into his human form, he growled at Kiba.

“No. Surrender to me. Both of you!” Kiba’s eyes glowed an angry shade of red now. A black aura surrounded him. Sparks flickered off the aura, many of which died out before they hit the ground. Power crackled throughout the air from Kiba, but it felt misguided, demented and garbled. Nothing about it felt clean like the power wolves were supposed to have.

Of course the flow of energy in Józsi felt misguided too. The urge to brutally murder the hunters, Kiba and anyone who stood in his way welled up at the scent of death and gunpowder. Shaking his head, he had to do something. The light at Kiba’s hand was growing in size and power. He felt the continual surge in power from where he stood.

He watched Selene's expression turn from anger to horror. A gunshot went off, echoing loudly in the building. Time seemed to stand still. The shotgun in Selene’s hand fell to the floor.

Józsi turned and leapt at the one remaining man standing.

The man’s expression of false pride was replaced by sheer terror. Everything seemed to move in slow motion.

Selene dropped to her knees, falling forward, arms clutching her chest toward the concrete.

Józsi connected with the gunman, his jaws clamping around his chest, claws digging into flesh. He dug and tore into the man’s skin, ripping apart every organ he saw amidst screams and gurgled yells.

Érmesajtoló!
Die!

Not feeling anything but the violent illness in his head, Józsi spun around and lunged toward Kiba. The man who wounded his head all those years ago with talk of prophecy would pay for his mistakes, pay for the abuse Lukina and Ilona might have suffered.

The bolt of energy flew from Kiba’s hands into the metal door, blowing it apart.

Shrieks came from the room.

Józsi landed just feet away from Kiba.

Kiba held another ball of energy in front of him.

Unaware of the condition of either of his lovers, Józsi shut down all emotional responses and tuned into the part of him that was strictly a killer, a protector of what was his.

He’d mourn for Selene soon.

“You’ve lost, Józsi.” Kiba lifted his head, his own fangs showing. One looked chipped, the other had a large black spot.

Wrong.
Snarling, roaring, Józsi leapt into the air, stretching with every fiber of his being, commanding every muscle to move harder than it ever had before. Jaws opened, he latched onto Kiba’s thigh.

A swift movement of Kiba’s leg sent Józsi flying into the wall behind him. Damn, the old man was still strong.

Pain arced throughout his entire body, the shock of hitting the wall paralyzing him momentarily.

Kiba’s energy ball connected with the wall above Józsi’s head.

Bricks and concrete debris rained down on him, knocking him about the body. Józsi tried to move out of the way but ended up taking the brunt of the damage.

“What’s wrong, wolf? I thought you could take me.” Kiba snarled, his upper lip curled in upwards.

Rage burned just beneath the surface of his skin, heating him. Józsi had to figure out how to take Kiba out and quickly. He couldn’t survive a direct hit from one of those balls, too much blood loss from the wound in his head, compounded with the bricks that had cocked him in the same open wound made him feel queasy.

Kiba began laughing. Throwing his head back, he laughed harder, mocking Józsi. “You’re nothing. You never were. I can’t believe they chose you, but they did. The future of the Opeth pack is damned because of their choice.”

Józsi raised his weary head. Looking at Kiba through half open eyes, he tasted blood in his mouth. Taking two steps forward, he steadied himself. His tongue hung out of his mouth and blood dripped down from cuts on his head.

Lukina’s screams brought him out of the fog of fear.

“Józsi, you’ve got to help her. Selene’s dying! Selene is dying!” Lukina’s sobs were too much to bear, or so he thought until Ilona's cries joined hers.

Kiba walked over to them and kicked Ilona in the side.

She yelped, rolling away onto her side, coughed and blood sputtered on the pavement.

“Get away from her, you fucking asshole!” Józsi yelled, barely able to move.

Kiba faced Józsi and laughed, eyes widened more than what seemed natural. “Or you’ll what? Kill me?” He kicked at Lukina.

Lukina caught his foot and pulled back, sending him onto the ground.

Kiba fell on his ass and quickly scrambled to his feet. “You dirty whore!” He ran at her with balled up fists. Energy formed at his fists. Cocking back a fist, he threw a punch.

Lukina dodged out of the way but caught the tail end of a flare from one of the balls. She cried and stumbled backward.

Józsi forced himself to walk forward until he’d reached Selene. Nuzzling her, he sniffed her body. She wasn’t dead, but would die if they didn’t get her some medical help soon. She was bleeding from her back. Blood soaked her leather and it smelled of earth, lupine and cinnamon. His acute senses picked up the antibodies in her trying to repair the damage and the magic trying to heal her. Without a blood donation, she would die. He didn’t know what to do! Howling in agony, he looked down at Selene. How could he have let this happen to her? Or his mates? They were his mates, after all. Always had been, but now Ilona had suffered a kick in the stomach and broken ribs, and Lukina was defending herself against a madman while the pack witch died. Why? What the hell was the purpose of this suffering?

Heal, please!

He whimpered for the first time from the pain searing through his skull. Anguish in his ribs had dulled to an annoyance he could deal with.

Kiba stood on all fours, hair spiked.
Come on.

Bring it
! Józsi waited for Kiba to move.

Kiba launched himself in the air.

Shoving from his hindquarters, Józsi slide under the body of the flying wolf and ended up on the other side. Turning around quickly, he snapped at Kiba’s hind leg, catching him.

Kiba yelled out. Growling, snapping his jaws at Józsi, he kept trying to bite him.

Józsi had the upper hand in movement, even with the pain in his head throbbing. Blood loss fatigue was setting in, clouding his mind and all the nonsense in it except for the one thing he had to do at any cost. He had to kill Kiba now to protect his lovers forever.

Snarling, Kiba snapped out and missed.

Józsi lunged forward, jaws open. Claws bared, teeth sank into flesh. He flung Kiba against the concrete.

The former Alpha's blood curdling scream nearly distracted Józsi, but Kiba's squirming forced him to tighten his grip around Kiba’s bony spine, fangs sinking deeper into flesh, hitting nerves.

Kiba yelped and screamed, limbs writhing in obvious agony.

Józsi ripped up, pulling Kiba’s spine from his skin.

The other wolf stopped breathing, stopped twitching.

It was done.

No other wolves would be hurt because of an insane control freak. Dropping the lump of flesh on the ground, Józsi padded over to Ilona, nuzzling her.

She lifted her tired head; her eyes sparkled with dull life.
Are you okay, drága?

Where is Lukina?
His breath came in shallow gasps.

She’s over there. She’ll be okay. Let’s get medical help for you and Selene.

Just the witch…
. Lifting his heavy body up, he waited for Ilona to follow him. “It’ll be easier to move in our illusion.”

She nodded. She stood before him, partially naked, her body looking better than he felt. He walked over to Selene, picked her up. Taking off his shirt, he pressed it against her open wound to help stop the bleeding.

She lifted her head and gave him a weak smile. “You did what you said you would do.” She closed her eyes.

He looked down at Selene, felt her energy waning. “No! Don’t you die on me! Lukina will never forgive me if you die on me!” Tears burned the backs of his eyes.

Józsi fought the urge to shake her vigorously. It would only hurt her. “Don’t die on me! Please don’t die on us, Selene.” Tears slid down his cheeks.

Lukina appeared and staggered toward Selene. “She’ll be okay. I hear sirens in the background, Józsi. We’ve got to get you both some medical attention.”

“I can’t. I’m a…” He’d lost too much blood to think past the one goal of getting his lovers out and medical aid for the witch. His stomach burned, vision began to fade.

“No. They won’t know,
drágám.
Trust me.” Lukina stroked his hair.

Healing power flowed from her to him, surrounding him in a warm blanket of energy. With the stillness of her healing energy came a sense of clarity until he realized he'd murdered his Alpha and would be required to take his place.

Not only that, but he'd have an uphill fight he couldn't guarantee winning. Would his lovers stay here in Houston with him? What would happen now?

He didn't want to think about returning to Hungary. He wasn't cut out to be a leader, not by a long shot.

All he'd managed to do was accomplish the inevitable.

"Lukina, I'm so sorry…" Falling to the floor, Józsi let the world blank out.

* * *

“
W
olfie
? Wolfie, wake up.”

Alertness slammed into Józsi. He struggled to move, found himself in less than considerable pain with bandages covering his thighs, waist, and arms. Heat came from both sides of him and then he noticed Ilona on one side, Lukina the other.

Both of them held his hands in theirs. Ilona stroked his hair and stared at him.

“I hate that you still call me that.” He tried to move, grunted from the pain.

Ilona giggled. “Shh,
drága.
Your body needs to heal. It’s okay for now. Just relax.”

How could he relax? All the new responsibilities about to be heaped upon him would force him to return to Hungary and assume his place. “Kiba is finally dead.” His words were matter of fact.

“
Igen
. Yes. You killed him in defense for what he did to us.”

Slowly, Józsi turned his head to face Ilona. He looked at her; her beautiful sad eyes held tears in them that had not fallen yet.

He couldn't bear the reality of losing them, not after how hard he had fought for both of them. Nor could he let them walk away after they'd healed him. Józsi studied her for a moment, loving the way she looked with her hair surrounding her full face, beautiful lips. “Why are you sad?”

She sniffled, wiped her nose on the back of her hand. “Because it’s all over now. And you’re going to send us back to Hungary.”

“Why do you say that?” He tilted his head.

“Because.” She turned away and sniffled louder. Reaching for a tissue, she brought it to her nose and blew her nose. “You always rejected us. You have always rejected Hungary, your true self, and your homeland. And when you got on the plane to leave all those years ago, you rejected us.”

Lukina began crying loudly, her anguish filling Józsi’s heart. He'd never seen this side of her, only her feisty passion. His heart shattered more with each tear she shed.

Ilona touched his bare chest, her fingers curling up around his muscle. She felt warm, comforting, but so very sad. “Why don’t you love us? Why can’t you let us love you?”

He lay back against the plush pillows. He had no answers for them. He couldn’t figure out why he couldn’t open up to them the way they did to him. The sickness he'd called murder still occupied his mind, making him think he was diseased permanently.

“You brought me back here with some sort of intentions, right?” Ilona wiped tears away from her eyes.

He nodded. “I did.”

“What was that intention?”

“To protect you from Kiba.” He closed his eyes and sighed slowly. His shoulders tensed, fingers interlocking with Lukina’s. He couldn’t move to stroke her hair, but he wanted to.