Excerpt from Holocaust
"Interesting,”
Lexia murmured as the pack of wolves surrounded her, each snarling and
snapping their teeth, just waiting to rip her to shreds.
The dark grey wolf directly in front of her shifted. “What about this situation is interesting, hunter?”
“That
a pack of alpha wolves would band together. I presumed you were a
normal pack.” She smiled as his face turned to shock. “Yes, I can tell
you are all alphas. Just like I’ve known you’ve been living around our
base for the past week.”
“Then why would you walk to your death? Is that what you want, hunter?”
Lexia
feigned a laughed, both bored and amused. She needed to wear her mask
here. Bringing shifters into the play could work either in Lexia’s favor
or against. “I’m not afraid of death, but I did not come here seeking
it. I came to make you a deal.”
“We do not make deals with hunters,” he growled, his jaw clenching.
“Yes,
I thought you might say that but I think you should listen to what I
have to say before we fight. It has been a while since I’ve had a
worthwhile opponent, but I really would rather work with you than waste
your lives.” Lexia suppressed the repulsive shiver threating to travel
down her spine; her words were so like Maura, she felt her stir within.
The awakening darkness hoped to take hold again.
He
smiled at her and Lexia sighed. Do I really have to do this? Why can’t
things be easy for once? As the wolf behind her crept closer, she kept
her eyes focused on the two black wolves at her front.
“It
really is impressive you’ve banded together to take down the hunters.
My mother is quite pissed off with you.” The wolf was a few yards away
from her back. “No families to protect, no weaker pack members to be
held as threats. Ten strong, top of the pack wolves ready and willing to
die for their cause.”
She moved, whipping around in a blur, her leg curling into the air,
kicking out into the wolf’s side. He flew across the ground as the other
two leapt. Twisting toward the floor, Lexia missed the first wolf as it
sailed over her head and met the third full on. They crashed to the
floor, soil flying up into the air. Lexia didn’t try to get away.
Instead, she ignored the sharp teeth that ripped her flesh. Wrapping her
arms around the wolf, she squeezed, hearing one, two, three ribs crack.
The wolf whimpered, his grip on her flesh loosening until he was pinned
beneath her, a knife to his throat.
The
urge to release the wolf and run coursed through her. She looked into
the wolf’s eyes seeing the monster she’d become, the monster her mother
had made. Only the need to see her mother’s demise kept her together.
“Impressive.
You’re strong, but you all still have your humanity. I may not have
your mate, child, brother, or friend held at knifepoint, but you still
care. You’d all feel something if I sliced my knife into his throat.
Someone once told me your humanity was your strength. Maybe it is. If I
killed this wolf now, you’d all fight with a strength powered by loss,
revenge, and maybe I wouldn’t get out of it. First though, will you
listen to me? Just hear me out, and then by all means, try to kill me.”
Lexia stood up, backing away from the wolf at her feet, palms up and looking at the man who remained in his human form.
“Who are you?” he asked.
“I’m
Maura, or maybe you’ve heard of me by the name Lexia?” Her choice to
use Maura purely so Lincoln wouldn’t find out she was back. She might be
Lexia again, but never could she be his Lexia, his Wildcat.
By the widening of his eyes and sharp intake of breath, he knew. “You’re Lincoln Turner’s mate.”
“No,
I’m not. I’ll never be her again. I am a hunter and I’ll die a hunter.
First though, I plan to kill my mother and destroy her plans.” Lexia was
surprised by the calm, level tone she upheld. Just the mention of
Lincoln’s name caused her insides to lurch.
“You’d kill your own mother?” he asked surprised.
“Do
not mistake me for someone who cares. I feel nothing for her. I feel
nothing.” The lie rolled easily off her tongue. It was days like today,
when she so easily slipped on Maura’s mask, that she wondered who she
truly was. She wanted with all of her soul to be Lexia, but the name
didn’t quite fit anymore. She’d spilt too much blood, and Maura; Maura
represented the darkest of her days, a darkness she never wanted to
visit again.
“But why would you want the hunters dead in the first place?”
“My reasons are none of your concern. Will you help me or not?”
“Why not just kill her yourself?” he asked, standing firm.
“Oh, don’t worry. I plan to kill her, but she is not the only problem.
There is more than one head to this monster and not all are so easily
within my reach. It appears some of the humans are behind this program.”
Lexia wasn’t sure of everyone who needed to be eliminated. All she knew
was it would be an impossible task to take on alone.
“Human?” he whispered, looking horrified.
“Yes, shifter, monsters come in all shapes and forms.”
“How do I know you’re telling me the truth?”
“You don’t, but I’m hoping one of you is called Adam?”
Lexia silently pleaded with the universe for her hunch to be right.
A
white wolf fidgeted to her right. “I’m also guessing what brought the
ten of you together was your hatred for the hunters. You’ve chosen to
fight instead of hiding, which means you’ve either a death wish, or have
nothing left to live for, other than revenge, and the grief of those
you’ve lost.”
Still
the wolves seemed unaffected by her words. Lexia decided to put her
cards on the table. Turning, she looked at the white wolf she hoped was
the Adam who belonged to the shifter woman locked in her room. “Adam,
Sahara is still alive.”
He
shifted, anger and desperation evident on every line on his face.
Stepping forward, his body language screamed of aggression. “Where is
she? How do I know you are telling the truth?” His words were savage,
etched with the growl of his wolf.
Lexia held her hand toward him. “Here. I rubbed my hand through her hair before I left.”
The
other shifter stepped out, his arm blocking Adam’s path. “Adam! She
could just be tricking you. You’ve seen how fast she moves. Her knife
could be in your chest in seconds.”
Lexia
pulled her sword from its sheath and her knife from the holder on her
thigh. Throwing them to the ground, she inhaled deeply, hoping she’d not
just made a grave mistake. “I mean you no harm.” She offered her hand
again.
Adam
walked slowly forward, his grey eyes never leaving hers. Slowly, he
took her hand and brought it to his nose. The second he caught the scent
of his mate, his whole body relaxed and he clung onto Lexia’s hand
breathing deeper.
“Sahara,” he whispered.
Lexia
felt the pain in his words as if they were her own. For a second, she
imagined it was Lincoln in front of her. For a second, she longed to be
with her mate again.
“She’s
alive, Adam, and I’m willing to get her out in exchange for your pack’s
help,” she said dully. Her words no longer sounded like Maura’s. Just
being around shifters brought her so much pain, so much longing.
“Anything,” he whispered, releasing her hand. Emotion filled eyes.
“Now
wait, Adam, you can’t decide for us all. She might never follow
through, and Sahara could be dead,” the shifter ground out through
clenched teeth while the rest of the wolves grew visibly restless.
“Grey, if there was a chance your mate was alive, you’d have us all walk to our deaths for her,” Adam stated.
“Just
so you know, I don’t have long. Leaving the compound isn’t the easiest
of tasks, and Sahara doesn’t have long either. The reason my mother is
capturing shifters is because she’s experimenting on them. I broke
Sahara out earlier, but her disappearance has been noticed.”
They all growled in unison, closing in. Lexia held her ground when her every instinct said run.
“Kill me now and there is no one to help her. My mother will stop at
nothing to get what she wants.” She took a small step toward Grey,
grounding out, “Will you help me?”
“Why not ask your panther to help you?” he spat.
Lexia
paused, as she silently struggled with an explanation that wouldn’t
give too much away. Lincoln would do anything for her but she knew they
could never be together again. She’d done too much to deserve that happy
ending.
“I do not want him involved,” she snapped.
“So you still do care?” Grey stated smugly.
Yes, so so much. Though
Lexia would never admit that. “You are all the same, grasping at any
sign of hope, of emotion. If Lincoln were involved, he’d be too busy
trying to save me, but I was lost a long time ago. I may not come out of
this alive, and I don’t care, but he does. That will jeopardize the
mission and he’d end up dead. I joined my mother so he could live. I
gave up my life, my humanity for him. It would all be pointless if he
died.”
Grey smiled and Lexia wasn’t sure why; wasn’t sure what secret she’d
given away. Do you see through the mask I cling to so precariously?
“We’ll help you once we’ve received Sahara.”
“Good.
Sahara will arrive after dark today. She’ll be hidden inside a truck on
a supply run. Do not show yourself until you are sure it’s her. She
will be with a hunter. Harm him and our deal is off. Sahara must be
taken far away from here. Lucy Hunter can never know I helped you, not
yet anyway.”
Lexia turned, walking away with an emotion she’d not felt in a long time swirling within her. Hope.
“Lexia, how will we get the information from you?”
Looking back as she walked, Lexia called, “I’ll find you.”
Her pace quickened, ready to run. “Oh, and, Grey, tell no one of this meeting. Not even Linc.”
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| © Rachel M Raithby 2015 |
- © Rachel M Raithby 2015 background image painted by Kat Smith
- © Rachel M Raithby 2015
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