Summer’s Wolf

Chapter Fifteen

The firing gun exploded through the room and Cullen’s ears rang. For a moment he wondered if he was deaf.

Summer’s eyes had just turned wolf but she remained in her human form. How was she able to do that? It had taken him one hundred years to gain that much control over his wolf to half-shift. She was barely able to make the regular change into her wolf body without freaking out. His eyes widened. Wow, he was proud of her. He needed off of this table. Of their own volition, his hands curled into fists. If he didn’t get out of his restraints soon he was going to spontaneously combust.

In horror, Cullen watched, mouth gaping open as Claudius fell to the floor. Summer had done it. She’d shot and killed the man who had murdered her parents. She cocked her head to the side as if she examined a piece of fine artwork and not just ended a life. She took a step forward until she stood over the body, keeping her gun trained on Kendrick.

Cullen moved his gaze to the other man. The former Alpha had moved since she’d raised the gun, and now his mouth hung open, his eyes huge.

Kendrick narrowed his eyes. “You can half-shift?” Cullen snorted. Leave it to the other man to focus on that and not the death of his friend of thirty years.

“Tristan is going to kill you.” Summer’s voice sounded so reserved, so calm, so un-Summer. Cullen could scarcely believe what happened around him.

“Or you could untie me, Kendrick, and we’ll see which one of us is actually stronger.” He hoped Kendrick would take his bait. He was useless strapped to the table with the IV in his arm.

Kendrick’s eyes flared. “You never could fight me, Cullen. I’m a Kane. You’re nothing.”

“So cut my restraints and be done with me.” Cullen paused. This needed to go over perfectly. “Unless you’re afraid.”

Maybe it was cliché but Cullen didn’t care. They were old fashioned men, born of another time and just as he would never tolerate anyone calling him a coward, he had a pretty strong feeling that Kendrick wouldn’t abide it either.

Cullen had to suppress his grin when Kendrick stomped over to the table and started removing his restraints. He just needed his right hand free.

If we kill him, our Alpha will be angry that we didn’t let him do it.

Internally, Cullen shrugged. Let him be angry.

After hours attached to the table, finally being released made his head and neck feel loose but he had no time to revel in the sensation. He needed his hands freed. Kendrick moved quickly but it felt like it took forever. Finally, the other man pulled out his IV tube and unhooked his hands.

His hands free, he reached up and squeezed Kendrick’s neck. His former Alpha tried to jump back but Cullen was faster.

In his life, he had never felt so strong. Maybe the adrenaline-producing drugs Claudius had pumped into his veins had done something after all. With his legs still strapped to the table Cullen lifted Kendrick over his head with just the strength of his right arm.

It would be so easy to break his neck. One quick snap and all problems related to Kendrick Kane would end. He could protect his mate and end his Alpha’s problems with one snap or a tighter squeeze. Summer ran to the edge of the bed and pulled off the restraints still holding his legs in place.

“Tristan will be here any minute.” Her voice rang with the sound of her half-shift. Her eyes wolf, her body human, his Summer hadn’t returned to herself yet.

“They’re obviously delayed and I’m enjoying myself” He really was. Kendrick was so weak, he still held him by the neck with his right hand. Next to him, Summer sniffed the air.

“You smell like yourself but altered. Did you eat something strange or take some kind of drug?” She had no inflection to her voice. Cullen wondered if in her current state she could feel any emotions. He’d never tried to feel much of anything when he’d been in that dual state himself, his whole focus had been on not vomiting from the influx of extrasensory sensation into his brain.

He tried to focus on what she said and ignore the strangeness in her voice and the sheer joy that holding Kendrick’s life in his hand caused him. His arms and legs tingled while his heart pounded everywhere. He could even feel his pulse in his teeth. He felt wonderful, powerful, unbeatable and eternal. It was like the universe had opened up to him and he finally knew how a shifter was supposed to be. No one could stop him.

When you think those thoughts, I disappear.

What? Whose voice was that? He shook his head. Something was wrong. Kendrick started to laugh. Why was the man laughing? He had him by the throat. He could end his life at any moment.

“That’s right, Cullen Murphy. Feel the anger. It’s extraordinary isn’t it? Claudius is gone but it’s his gift to us.” Kendrick’s voice was strained from the pressure on his neck, his eyes were wide, his pupils huge.

Something Kendrick said rang warning bells in his head. He closed his eyes, not letting go of Kendrick’s neck. What had his former Alpha just said that killed the glorious high he’d just had moments earlier?

The touch of a hand on his arm made him jump and open his eyes. Summer stood before him, her eyes back to their normal gorgeous blue. All trace of the wolf was gone. Why was he relieved?

“Cullen, what’s going on? What’s wrong with you? Your smell is changing more and more every second.” Her voice sounded frantic.

He took a deep breath and tried to steady himself. Kendrick’s feet hung off of the floor. It would feel so good to kill him.

“Go ahead, do it.” Kendrick sounded completely sincere. “You’ll just take over where I leave off. My dream will still come to pass.”

“Cullen.” Tristan’s voice had him turning his head to the left. When had the others arrived? He took a quick head count. Nearly the entire pack was in the room with them. How had he not noticed? “Something isn’t right Cullen. Something has been done to you here.” Cullen heard Tristan take an audible breath. “Let my father down. I will finish him and we will fix you. Do it for your mate. I have the feeling that you won’t come back if you don’t.”

“Please.” Summer’s eyes bored into his, sparkling with unshed tears, pleading with him not to lose himself.

Let go.

Claudius had told him he was making him angry with the drug he gave him. He hadn’t exaggerated. Was this what had happened with Kendrick? Had Claudius made him sick? He had no time to dwell on the questions, he needed to make a decision. His legs burned like someone banged on them. Gods, what should he do?

Every pore in his body wanted Cullen dead, screamed at him to do it. He turned his head to stare at Summer. One lone tear fell from her right eye as she blinked the other one away.

“Take him, my Alpha.” Cullen dropped Kendrick. His former Alpha crashed to the floor with a bang.

Tristan leapt from the floor shifting into his wolf form in mid-air, a highly impressive feat Cullen wasn’t sure he himself could have performed, and slammed into his father. The two rolled on the ground, growls emitting from both their throats. Kendrick shifted into his wolf form. Virtually identical in fur and body, it was hard to tell the difference between the two except by scent.

Kendrick smelled sick. Cullen hoped beyond hope that he didn’t emit a scent like that.

The entire pack moved into attack formation, ready to fight for the Alpha. Cullen’s head started to clear and he pulled Summer into his arms. She made a slight sobbing noise and planted a soft kiss into his shoulder blade.

Across the room, he heard Ashlee suck in her breath when Tristan took a hard hit from his father.

A wave of nausea struck him hard and he shivered as he tried not to puke. Whatever they’d pumped into him had almost made him lose his mind and now he was going to go through withdrawal from it. The whole thing seemed very fast but he didn’t have a clue what had been forced into his body. Did Kendrick have to take the stuff every day? Could they save him from it?

Kendrick let out a yowl at a high frequency that seemed out of place for his fight. It wasn’t pain or aggression. What the hell was the devious son-of-a-bitch doing? Cullen jumped down off the table just as ten flying demons swept through the ceiling into the room.

“Oh hell.” Summer shouted.

“Literally.” Cullen pushed her to the ground and covered her with his body. “Everybody down.” There was no time to explain to everyone how to kill the creatures. “Don’t let them touch you with the upper part of their hands, they’ve probably secreted the acid. That’s what happened to Theo.”

His pack mates hit the floor but Tristan continued to fight with his father. The demons encircled the pair. There was no way in hell he was going to let those creatures get his Alpha.

“Stay down.” He hoped Summer heard him as he shifted into his wolf form and leapt into the fight between Kendrick and Tristan.

He bit down on Kendrick and the demons shrieked. A loud, powerful sound that made his ears ring and his head pound. Kendrick snarled and backed up, drool coming out of his mouth.

My Alpha, remove yourself from this. I would not have you hurt by the demons.

Fighting his father was a matter of honor, but Cullen wouldn’t let Tristan be hurt by the creatures Kendrick had let loose on the earth again.

I am not a coward. Cullen could hear that Tristan’s teeth were clenched even in their telepathy.

Farthest thing from it. But this is not a fair fight nor is it the showdown with Kendrick you deserve. Kendrick had stacked the odds. They would have their battle but this was not it. One of the demons swept down and picked up Kendrick, taking him out of reach of the fight at hand. The other demons began to swirl like vultures. They were going to pick the room’s occupants off one by one. Cullen had seen them in this formation before. It was deadly. But Cullen wasn’t afraid as he’d been when he last saw them like this. He’d been young then. Three hundred years had given him know-how and now he was going to use it.

One of the demons let out a roar and Cullen narrowed his eyes. Gabriel, Azriel, Michael, Rex, protect your Alpha. Why did he have to tell these boys to do everything? Had they not been paying attention for the last century?

Gabriel and Michael grabbed Tristan by all four of his legs and dragged him to the door. The string of profanity escaping Tristan telepathically gave Cullen a momentary smile. He looked up at Kendrick, who floated above the room cradled in the arms of one of the demons like a baby.

He leapt up and grabbed Kendrick by the leg. He wasn’t leaving this easily. The man had threatened his life, nearly destroyed the pack, and most importantly had the gall to attempt to kidnap and abuse his mate.

“Cullen, let him go.” Summer’s voice rang through the room.

He shook his head. I can’t Summer. It has to end here.

“You cannot beat me, Cullen. I am eternal.”

“You’re eternal? Hah.” Cullen bit down on his leg. Kendrick let out a screeching sound and the demons flapped their wings and dove. Cullen knew what was going to happen as it happened. He let go of Kendrick’s leg and dove on top of Summer. Screw catching Kendrick. Those demons weren’t getting their hands on his woman again.

He pressed all of his weight on top of Summer’s warm body as the demons dove and hissed. Kendrick made another screech and the demons took off airborne again.

This isn’t over Kendrick. Wherever you go, I will find you and we will finish this.

The demons screeched in their strange sing-song language and took off to the sky, collapsing part of the ceiling with them as they went. He shifted back into his human form. He’d shifted way too many times in the last few minutes, he was going to lose consciousness if he wasn’t careful.

“Stop knocking me over. I can help you. I killed Claudius for goodness sake.”

Cullen loved the feeling of Summer beneath his body. “About that…”

“I’m fine. Don’t obsess. I did it to save you, not exact revenge. I’d kill more than him for you.”

Fate had certainly picked out a woman who could match him in temperament. He leaned down to kiss her again.

“Ah … guys.” Cullen’s head shot up to stare at a woman he didn’t know who stood in the doorway.

“Faith?” Summer knew her, which was a relief.

“All of the captive wolves are escaping.”

Cullen closed his eyes for a second. This was bad, very bad. Gods knew how many psychotic wolves were being released onto society to destroy until they died from the lack of whatever it was Claudius had given them here. Kendrick was free and, at least temporarily controlling an army of demons. His former Alpha was likely to go through some kind of withdrawal too. And he also couldn’t forget the Westervelt pack had a traitor in its midst.

He frowned and Summer smoothed out the lines on his face.

“We’re going to live in constant danger.” Summer deserved nothing but the truth from him.

“It will never be dull, my Cullen.”

He smiled and kissed her deeply. It would be never be dull and for the first time in his life he knew he couldn’t lose. As long as he had Summer, his gorgeous white wolf, he was unstoppable.

Summer laughed. “We’re unstoppable together.”

“You read minds now?”

Summer raised one eyebrow and stood, offering him her hand as she rose. “I am a woman of many talents and my wolf is stronger than even I knew.”

Cullen nodded as they walked towards the exit. “I will never underestimate my Summer’s wolf.”

He smiled. He’d waited eternity and she was beyond worth it. Her soul throbbed inside of him as he took her body in his arms and kissed her. He was hers and for the first time ever he looked forward to the future. Whatever may come their way.

The End