Ravensong (Green Creek 2)
“It’s far too late for that,” Michelle Hughes said, claws digging into the desktop. “The Bennett pack has proven itself to be the enemy. You have allowed the Omegas into your territory. Into your home. Two of your pack remain infected. I don’t know how you have slowed the process, but it doesn’t matter. They will become feral, and if you don’t kill them first, they will slaughter all of you.”
“Like you sent the hunters to do to my family?” Elizabeth asked.
“Elizabeth, I don’t know what they’ve told you—”
“The truth,” she said easily. “Obviously more than I’d ever expect from the likes of you. That you sit in the position once occupied by my husband is one of the greatest farces to ever befall the wolves. You have to know this will not end well for you. For your people. You were entrusted with the power of the Alpha of all. But it was always meant to be temporary. It belongs to my son.”
Hughes slammed her hand on the desk. “It will never go to him. You are one pack filled with ferals and humans and abominations. You can’t win this.”
Ox rose slowly. “That’s where you’re wrong.”
And I saw it then. On her face.
Fear.
Michelle Hughes was scared.
“I will give you,” Oxnard Matheson said, “one last chance. Step down. Now.”
“I will not be intimidated by the likes of you. You are nothing. Your pack is nothing—”
“Then you should remember,” Ox said, eyes flashing red and violet, and oh, she hadn’t expected that. “That in the end, I gave you a chance. To end this peacefully. But that moment is now over. You should prepare yourself, Alpha Hughes. Because we’re coming for you. We’re coming for all of you.”
The screen went dark.
Ox turned toward us, eyes blazing. “You are my family. You are my pack. You have helped make me who I am. I will do everything I can to keep you safe. But we knew this day would come. It’s time. It’s time for us to bring the fight to them.”
The roses bloomed.
The raven took flight.
The wolves howled.
Their humans cried along with them.
And I did the only thing I could.
I tilted my head back and sang a song of war.
SOMEWHERE
IN
MAINE
other
THE SCREEN went black.
Michelle Hughes sat back in her chair, claws gouging the wood on her desk.
“That didn’t go very well,” Dale said mildly.
She gave serious consideration to tearing out his throat.
Somehow, she stopped herself. “All of them,” she said. “All of them have lost their minds. It’s… a tragedy, to be sure. Such a fall from grace.” She thought quickly. “And that’s how it will be spun. That’s what we’ll tell the others. The… infection. It has spread through the pack bonds. It’s contaminated the others. There were already rumors about Matheson. But now we have definitive proof. You saw his eyes. He is becoming one of them. And he’s the mate of Bennett. Which means Joe won’t be long to follow.”
Dale nodded slowly. “That could work, but….”