"YOU SHOULD HAVE STAYED back at home with that bitch!"
Hiram growls this as he stands on top a black truck. Caden holds his pistol square, aimed straight at the man's head as he walks closer.
"You only hate her because she's what you'll never be," Caden replies the Feral Alpha.
"And what is that, human?" Hiram growls.
Caden's lips twists in a smirk as he replies.
"Casselba is powerful and brilliant, an inner light. Whereas you need your little band of murderers to do your bidding. Without them you're just a weak, sad little pup—"
"I AM POWERFUL!" Hiram thunders, clearly annoyed with Caden's words, which were no less true.
"Well, not as powerful as you think now, are you?"
Caden gives a twisted smile, inclining his head to the fierce battle going on in the yard.
All around them, large werewolves are locked in combat with human soldiers. It is clear the humans are winning with their silver bullets which send the Canines to the earth mewling and bleeding over the ground.
Hiram sees this and his eyes flash red. The scarlet of his Lupine.
"I presume you've come here for your bodyguard, Ren," the man says.
Caden stops a few feet from the Alpha.
"Where is he, you fucking bastard?"
"Don't worry, fleshbag. He's alive. Though he may not be few minutes from now..."
Hiram's bones begin to crack, rearranging themselves. He continues speaking but his voice is broken, scratchy and eerie.
"...this is not over, human. By attacking us, you have started a war, a war we both know your kind can never win. I will be back and when I do, the wrath of the Apex will fall on you!"
There was something about the way the man had said 'Apex' like it was an organization or something. Caden focuses when Hiram's skin tears, peeling off before his very eyes as dark, rangy fur erupts from underneath.
Caden calmly lifts his pistol high in the air and positions it over the man's changing form. He zeroes the gun in on Hiram's head, now fully changed to a werewolf, and his hand hangs by the trigger as he waits.
...he waits for the Feral Alpha to make a move.
Hiram in his Lupine state stands large as a tiger with frothing jaws and terribly sharp teeth. His eyes glow red as he makes growling noises at Caden, his fur black as night.
The large wolf with red eyes jumps from the truck but rather than lunge for Caden, it rushes away in the opposite direction. It is then Caden understands his speech earlier.
...The coward was running away.
Caden sees this and quickly fires off as many rounds as possible into his retreating back, but the black wolf is faster, bounding away into the Woods beyond the ridge before any of the bullets fired can reach him.
The ex-soldiers are still fighting off their Canine opponents when the werewolves suddenly stop gnawing and clawing. They lift their eyes to the Woods where their Alpha stands faraway from the fight.
Hiram, the Black wolf gives a loud howl and his pack rush across the earth to him. His red eyes move to Caden for a moment before he turns and runs off into the Woods, the other wolves following.
In his brief glance, Caden could see the threat in his eyes. Without a doubt, he knew the Ferals would be back, but for now, he and his ex-military men had won a small victory.
The troop of armoured men quickly disperse into the buildings of the Alpine Yard at the Ferals' retreat. Walking into the camp house, they find a group of girls bound in iron chains and quickly release them.
Caden lowers his eyes at this unpleasant sight. The girls were barely dressed. The scrappy pieces of clothing they wore were soiled, and they all looked to be teenagers.
It hurt his head to even think of what the bastards might have done to them. At their release, the girls hurry out of the dorm-style building to the vehicles waiting outside.
Caden put it at the back of his mind to make sure every single one of the girls got back home. He had no idea what the Ferals had done to them but by the unkept looks of the young women, he could tell it was nothing happy.
Caden and his troop of soldiers found Ren in a terrible state. He was still tied to the wooden chair from the video call earlier but he looked worse than before.
His head was swollen in different places, so much that it looked round. Sticky blood glued to his shirt and his skin was a general shade of red and purple. It looked like he had been tortured more after the video call.
He looked barely alive...
One of the men quickly called for an ambulance, and soon the place was swarming with paramedics. The First Responders wheeled Ren away in a gurney into the white van, and other cars arrived to take the kidnapped girls away.
The cops arrived later on. When the policemen asked Caden for his statement, he divulged everything he and Casselba had planned earlier in the day...
He told the cops about his bodyguard's kidnap, his arrival at the location, and the rescue by his elite team. However, he said nothing of the fact that the kidnappers were angry shape-shifters.
Telling the cops that they had just fought Werewolves would only make them bundle him into their car. The policemen had left after that.
Caden is standing beside the tallest of the houses, a wooden Cabin that seems to be a Lodging, when one of his men walks over.
"What do we do now, Sir?" the man says, looking to the trucks and cabins scattered around.
Caden's reply is hard and deep. An instant command.
"Burn it all,' he rumbles.
"Burn it all down."
By the time the cops return with forensics, the entirety of the Dorms, Cabins and Lodgings are lit up in flames. The fires heat up the area, sending a cloud of smoke up into the air of Alpine Yard.
"What happened here?" a cop asks.
"There was a gas leak," one of Caden's men reply, lying through his teeth.
All evidence of the Werewolves existence had been destroyed. While it greatly annoyed Caden to cover up the Ferals, he knew he had to do so. Exposing Canines out to the world would only frighten humans, and endanger the Shifters. He could not let that happen.
... Especially when he had one waiting for him at home.
Caden turns around and without another word to the cops, his men follow, leaving a trail of blazing buildings behind. His lips twitch as he climbs back into the black van. The ex-soldiers get into theirs also and they peel out of the Woods.
In minutes, they're on the road in a motorcade, heading back to the Manor.
The man sitting next to Caden in the van stretches out a closed fist. Caden looks down, then back up at the man. He immediately recognizes him as Ren's boyfriend; a veteran too. Caden sees the man smile and stretches out his fist too.
"Nice job, Sir!" the man says just before both their hands connect in a fist bump.
Caden nods and smiles back. The man was right. It'd been a clean and neat job. They had lost not one single man. The Ferals didn't know what hit them. Before they had time to group in any collective attack, silver bullets were already raining down on them.
The Ferals had struck first but Caden's fury was a 'Strike back', co-ordinated and brilliant.
As their van speeds across the road, his mind goes back to Hiram's red eyes as he retreated in defeat. Another smile twitches his lips.
It wasn't everyday one got to see a Werewolf scowl...
~. ~. ~.
Casselba and Ryan are both sprawled on a large sofa in the Manor's Lounge area. Her legs are cushioned on his thighs as they watch some celebrity show in the large TV beyond. They stare at the screen with indifference, their minds elsewhere.
...Particularly on Caden Hallow.
Ryan is caressing her soft dark hair when the BREAKING NEWS comes on. On seeing the headlines, the young man immediately sits straighter on the couch.
The newcaster's voice sweeps across to them.
"...A shocking sight was discovered few minutes ago in an area off the road in South California called Alpine Yard. A group of kidnapped teenage girls were rescued by an elite force of ex-military operatives who wish to remain anonymous. These brave men..."
The woman in the news keeps talking but Ryan had heard enough. He looks down to Casselba and she meets him with equally wide eyes.
"They did it!" Ryan exclaims to her.
Casselba nods, energy returning to her body and her gray eyes lighting. She'd been down with worry ever since Caden left, but now...
She abruptly hugs Ryan and the young man returns it, gripping her tight. They are still locked in an embrace when the house bell rings. Casselba jerks off the sofa and immediately runs to the door.
She pulls it open and her eyes turn misty. There was Caden behind the door, standing tall and beautiful in the orange light of dusk.
...her mate and her soldier.
"I had to stay with Ren to ensure he was safe at the hospital before returning and—"
Casselba silences him with a kiss, her hands wrapping around his neck. His hand moves to her and he folds her into him. She pulls away after a while and he sees her brimming eyes.
"It's alright, Cassie. I'm here now," he whispers, pulling her in for a hug.
Ryan walks to them and moves close behind Casselba. Caden meets his brown eyes, giving his son a small smile. Together, the three of them all fold in an embrace, standing with a warm halo over their bodies, under the amber glow of sunset.