Crossed Fates by Lexi C. Foss

Makayla

What’s happening?Alaric demanded.

I was caught,I muttered, stating the obvious. Then I gave him a brief rundown of events as my mind began to clear, followed by a quick description of the disfigured guy in front of me.

Brown and gray hair, kind of like the wolf from earlier. But his nose is more than bent. His face is downright grotesque.Did Alpha Landon say if Robert is disfigured?

Yeah, he mentioned a broken nose, but nothing about other disfigurements. Are you okay?

Been better,I answered honestly. Pretty sure they set me up to fail. Like a trap. It was the only reason I could give for why they’d let me wander around before stopping me.

Or maybe I’d actually escaped. Temporarily.

Perhaps they’d expected me to go up, which would explain why they’d all been out of the basement.

Regardless, I was officially fucked now. They’ve clamped me to a chair. I don’t know if I can wiggle my way out of these cuffs. They were tight and suffocating and burned like hell.

We have a lead on your location because of your description of the firs and swamp, he said. And Hardt tracked the truck to a country road that leads to a cabin.

I wanted to be relieved. But the familiar guy was looming far too close to my face for that. My nostrils flared as I tried to determine this guy’s wolf type. I jolted as the subtle fragrance of smoke taunted my nose in return. Oh, shit.Hybrid.

And yet, there was also something familiar about his scent.

I inhaled again.

Kristen.

Shit. This was the scent I’d picked up on at Kristen’s crime scene. Faint, but present. And just like before, there was something oddly recognizable about it. I couldn’t place the familiarity, but I swore I’d smelled this guy before. Except the underlying aroma of ash and copper pennies distorted the fragrance. Who are you? I wondered, eyeing him suspiciously. Why do I know you? How do I know you?

I felt more than heard Alaric’s shock. Another hybrid?

Yeah, I’m looking at two right now. Hulk Junior and… the familiar guy. These rats were suddenly crawling out of the gutters all over the place. The latter is the one I smelled on Kristen.

Fuck.

My thoughts exactly.

HJ stomped into the cell with a tray that he set off to the side, and behind him, a vamp entered in an all-black suit. Was this the boss? Or the familiar guy?

I looked between them, trying to discern who was in charge here.

They both had an air of authority.

Although, the vamp had a douche-like air around him, too. He reminded me of decorations on a cake. Like a cuntcake, I decided.

But the other guy… he… was not pretty or clean-cut. All mass and strength and danger.

I shivered as the familiar one came to stand in front of me, his hands clasped behind his back and his legs braced shoulder-width apart. His appearance was fairly benign until he suddenly smiled. A shiver ran through my body. Never in my life had I been this close to pure evil.

This…I thought, swallowing. Yeah, this is the boss. I could see it in the way his shrewd gaze ran over me, like he was trying to size me up and decide what nefarious thing to do to me next.

A chill swept down my spine.

This had been my goal all along. But without my ring… Fuck.

Which one is the boss?Alaric asked, his words helping to ground me in the present and keep me from feeling the despair clawing at my insides. Something about this guy just screamed wrongness.Warning. Lethal.

I swallowed again and whispered back, The familiar one is the leader. The guy with the scent I recognize and can’t place. The hybrid.

“You know, you cost us quite a bit three years ago,” the familiar one drawled. “Then you disappeared without a trace. I didn’t understand it. At least not until you explained it to Alaric.”

What?How could he even know that? And three years ago? Shit, this is all related. Just like I’d originally thought. I conveyed it quickly to Alaric, and he grunted in agreement. Where did I tell you about my ring?

The lake, he replied almost immediately.

The memory of that day came back to me. We’d been swimming…

Someone… heard me. Someone followed me. Does Silver Lake have a mole? I wondered.

Alaric’s reply was lost as the familiar hybrid grinned again, his expression so dark that I found myself unable to think beyond my impending dread. Power poured off this man, his beast dangerously close to the surface.

How do I know you?I wanted to demand. I’d seen this man before. Felt him. Smelled him. And yet, his face escaped all my memories. How?

“You can’t place it, can you?” He cocked his head a little to the side, reminding me of a curious dog. Only, on him, it was creepy as hell. Because I wanted no part of this creature’s interest. “Well, after you and your friend came in and dismantled my boss’s operation, I was taken by the alpha council to be tried. They subjected me to death. And so I died. Only, I came back.” He waved a hand over his body. “Like this. As a hybrid.”

He crouched in front of me, his muddy gaze radiating fury, the pupils dancing with black flames.

“I didn’t realize the sacrifice I would make to my appearance to survive. I suppose I have you to thank for that, don’t I?”

I blinked at him. “I…” I trailed off, frowning. “Bortex?”

It was a guess.

A suggestion.

An… impossibility.

And yet, I’d recognized his scent. I knew him, even while I didn’t. Was this why? Because Bortex, former alpha of McKenzie Pack, stood in front of me?

A memory of the Bortex I knew slithered through my mind—an image of the alpha wolf standing in the dungeon taunting a female shifter, his broad shoulders bulging and his dark head tipped backward on a vile laugh.

Shit, he looked nothing like that alpha wolf now.

However…I squinted my eyes, taking in the broken structure of his face, the ashy streaks of his hair, and the disfigured lines of his jaw.

He was like a much more contorted version of Bendy.

“Yeah, I’m reasonably certain that I didn’t have a damn thing to do with that becoming your face,” I said. I’d never punched the guy. The vamps had been my focus that day, as well as freeing the girls. The wolves involved had been taken by their own packs.

“Oh, but you did, Makayla,” he countered, that twisted grin back in his features and in his voice. “You’re the reason I was caught and tried. And therefore the reason I was executed. Being reborn as a hybrid was the only way for me to survive, and you led me to that situation.”

Well, that was certainly a warped way to look at it. “You chose to traffic girls.”

“And you chose to interfere.”

“I’m not going to apologize for doing my job,” I drawled, some of my confidence returning now that I knew whom I faced. I relayed the reveal to Alaric and noticed his lack of surprise. Like he’d already come to this conclusion somehow before this point.

“Oh, you’ll apologize soon. In fact, I think you’ll be begging me by the end. But first, I need to make you a little more pliable. Can’t have you breaking out again.” He grinned. “Even if I do get a thrill from watching you work.”

A tremble traveled through my limbs, his gaze too knowing. Too intelligent. Like he knew far more about me than he was letting on.

I was still missing something important.

A link that I couldn’t quite see but sensed that it existed.

I needed more information. A better explanation.

“If you were watching me that day at the lake, why didn’t you take me then?” I asked, thinking out loud and following my instincts. “Why wait until now?” Because he clearly hadn’t realized who I was when Vex had first taken me. Except… “Vex said he thought you were keeping me for yourself. You’ve known who I was from the beginning.” Which brought me back to, why now?

“Yes, but not what you are,” he drawled. “At least not until you explained all those details to Alaric. And as to why I didn’t take you that day, it’s because I wasn’t the one who overheard your conversation. Titanium did. Well, he and another of my men. And they knew better than to try to take you in front of Alaric.”

“Titanium?” I repeated. And who was with him?

Bendy grunted from the hallway.

“Seriously?” I looked at the crooked-nosed shifter. “Your name is Titanium? Not Robert?” It was a taunt. One I really shouldn’t have released but couldn’t help saying. Sarcasm was my friend, my rock, and I could really use that rock right about now.

Bendy—I refused to call him Titanium—bared his teeth to me.

Rather than respond to his idiocy, I refocused on the boss man. “You sent the little guy to spy on me?” He wasn’t physically small. Just clearly lower on the totem pole.

“Actually, I sent him to deliver a package to Hawk. But he was stopped by the damn beta. His information-gathering on you was a consolation prize used to convince me to spare his life.”

I arched a brow. “Beta Hardt stopped him?” And he didn’t report that to Alaric or Hawk?

“He asked Titanium why he was in the territory, which he smoothly lied about and said he was there with Kristen, a known friend of Tyler’s consort.”

“Couldn’t jeopardize the other contact,” Titanium inserted.

“Precisely right,” Bortex murmured. “However, unfortunately, Kristen found out about that claim later, and I think you know what happened from there.”

Titanium captured her. His own sister. Jackass.

And then...

“You bled her and left her on Alaric’s yard with an invite in hopes of drawing him back to the city.” That explained the small pinpoints on her neck. His fangs must not be a normal vampire size. I could make all sorts of jokes about length here… but I refrained.

“Yes, I bled her after realizing she wouldn’t be useful to our operation. But a friend left her in the yard. Not me.”

A friend? What friend?“And the initials in her foot?” I prompted, wanting to milk him for all the information he had to give. If I was going to be in this situation, I might as well make good use of it. And he was far more forthcoming than Vex had been.

He grinned. “I branded her skin to invite your mate out to play.”

“Why?”

He merely smiled. “Doesn’t matter, does it? You’re here now. Chained to a chair. Ready to play.” He snapped his fingers for one of his minions.

Apparently, interrogation time was over. Which was unfortunate because I wanted to know who the “other contact” was, this mysterious friend who had placed Kristen’s body on Alaric’s yard. I suspected it was one and the same.

And why didn’t Hardt report Titanium’s presence to Alaric or Hawk?

I started to tell Alaric the details of my interrogation with Bortex when the rattling of instruments caught my attention. Vampire Cuntcake stood next to the tray HJ had dropped off, preparing a syringe of some kind.

Drugging me again? Are they timing this shit or something?

What were you saying about Hardt?Alaric demanded.

He found Robert in the territory. Did he tell you or—

My thought cut off as Vampire Cuntcake stepped toward me, holding up the needle filled with a cloudy gray liquid. “Now, normally, I would have you drink this, but I’m fairly certain you’re not in the mood to swallow.”

Uh, Alaric…A shiver started up my spine.

“So this will have to do,” Vampire Cuntcake continued, tapping the syringe. “You know, I don’t normally stoop to the level of menial jobs. But going into that alpha meeting as a caterer to deliver the silver solution was worth it to stir such chaos. It blinded them all to our real plans. It’s still blinding them.”

Silver solution? Vex’s phone call… This is the asshole who poisoned Tyler. Shit!

Alaric growled in my mind, his mounting anger palpable and temporarily blinding me. Who?

Vampire Cuntcake,I replied. Pretty-boy vamp with the needle in his hand. Which would normally serve as my indicator to end this rather informative interrogation. But I didn’t have my escape mechanism.

Shit. We have a lead, Makayla. We’re coming. I promise.

The liquid in the syringe shimmered in the light for a second, and my eyes widened. You’d better hurry, I said, my heart skipping a beat. Because he’s about to pump me full of silver. And I had no idea how much my body could take.

What?! Alaric lost all vestiges of his calmness, his wolf rioting inside his mind and making mine whine in response.

Deep breaths, I coached myself. Just… I started to struggle with the cuffs around my wrists, but these weren’t the kind that easily unlatched. They were solid. Hard. And burned.

“I’m very curious to see how your body reacts to this. You’re not immune to silver, I assume?” Vampire Cuntcake asked conversationally.

“Stop dicking around, Todd, and do it,” Bortex demanded.

Todd?I repeated in my head, still fussing with the cuffs. They were so tight that I could barely move. Vamp’s name is Todd, Al—

The bloodsucking son of a bitch stuck the needle into my arm before I could finish my thought, shooting the liquid straight into my vein and momentarily blinding me to the world.

Alaric raged in my head, but I could barely hear him over the rushing sound in my ears.

I couldn’t hold it in. My head fell back, and a bloodcurdling scream ripped from my chest. My body shook, my limbs trembling beneath the onslaught.

Liquid silver.

In my veins.

Going straight to my heart.

Oh. Fuck.There was no stopping this, no cure that I knew of, no… way… to… survive.

A tear trickled down my cheek, the weakness stirring a laugh from my captor. Or captors. I couldn’t really tell, their reaction swimming around me in a wave of distortion.

Makayla!

I blinked, uncertain of whether that voice belonged to me or Alaric.

I… I don’t know… what to do,I thought, my usual flavor of wit… gone. My breath stunted. My mind… fracturing.

Was my heart even still beating?

Someone patted my cheek that I barely felt beyond everything else. “I’m sure you’ll be much more docile in just a few minutes.”

My veins burned, eliciting a whimper from my throat. Or maybe another scream. I… I couldn’t hear. No, wait, I could, but it was all just so loud. So intense. So… cold? No, hot. No, cold. Oh God…

My kind were susceptible to silver, but it took a hell of a lot to kill us. However, a concentrated dose directly to the vein… Will I be able to survive this?

Alaric shouted something in my head.

Shh… I needed to focus. To think. To… to… something.

Don’t you dare leave me, Makayla!

What? I didn’t understand. Leave whom? Alaric? Why would I leave? I tried to open my eyes, to study my surroundings, to remember what I’d been doing with my fingers.

But everything was shutting down.

Except for a link. A subtle connection. A rope tethering me to another. Alaric.

His presence soothed me in a manner I didn’t really understand. I’d never wanted a mate. But Alaric… I… I liked Alaric. His scent. His wolf. His touch. His comfort. I could feel him all around me, caressing me with his essence, kissing my spirit with his own, and anchoring me here.

I tugged on him.

Reveled in his protection. His strength. His power.

So much energy. So much heat.

His mortality didn’t matter. Not to me. Right? Right. I… I wanted more time, though. Sixty years would be a gift. Much better than days.

Days.

Days.

Days.

Wow, I was dizzy. The whole room spun, my vision a swirl of darkness prickled with light. Alaric. Yes. Yes, my Alaric.

I sensed him in my head, my heart, my soul, his presence swathing me in a possessive cloak. His growl rumbled through me. His fury palpable. His concern tugging at my tear ducts.

Don’t be sad, I told him. I’m floating.

Floating.

Floating.

Floating.

Yeah, hmm, flying was not recommended. It made me feel woozy. Broken. A bit… dehydrated? No. I wasn’t making sense. Nothing made sense.

Except Alaric.

True mate.

He bore my mark. I felt it thriving on him, that sexy little wolf pulsing on his chest as I mentally stroked it with my fingers. Mine. My mate. My Alaric.

Yours, I heard him whisper back. Yours.

Alaric’s voice bolstered me a little, but it was fleeting.

He asked something about cuffs.

I flew around in my mind, humming to myself, trying to seek reason. Metal. Unfasten.I know how to do that. My brother,Asher, had taught me. Nathan, too. And Marc.

Easy-peasy.

Except no.

Nope.

Clamps burn. But not as much as my veins. They were on fire. Flaming me from the inside. Alaric, I breathed. Alaric?

I’m here.His deep tones were accompanied by a whisper of strength, resembling a mental hand. I grabbed on, yanking him into me, needing more.

True mate.

Mine.

Mine.

Mine.

A laugh echoed off the walls, reminding me that I wasn’t alone. No, no, not ready...

“Impressive, Makayla.” A cold stroke against my too-hot cheek. “Truly impressive. If you survive this, you’ll be the perfect test subject for some other experiments we’re planning. I don’t think we’ll try demon blood with you, though.” He ran a finger over my lips, and I gagged. “You don’t want to breathe fire, right?”

The world tilted on its axis once more, the chair dipping and moving. A roller coaster ride. Not recommended. Downward slope… not… nope.Ugh.

“I told you she wasn’t special,” one of them said. The… the cakey one, maybe. “She’s going to die like all the rest.”

Not. Going. To. Die.

No, you’re not,Alaric agreed, his voice strong in my mind. Keep leaning on me, baby. Take it all.

My brow furrowed, but a voice interrupted my ability to focus.

“Hmm, maybe you aren’t as strong as we thought.” He sounded disappointed.

I’m a badass,I slurred in my thoughts.

You are,Alaric agreed, tugging at my psyche.

“Might as well,” someone said, sounding resigned. “At least he’ll be here soon.”

“Then the real trial can begin,” the other agreed.

Trial? I repeated. Trial… test… trial… thread… something… I almost had it, almost connected all the moving dots in my mind, when he stuck me again.

Another prick.

More fire.

Bright light.

Oh, fuck…

Chaos.

Words mingling. Voices, too. Alaric. Me. Them. Everyone.

Sounds. Growls. Screams.

Walking… walking… walking… to the bright, pretty… light.

All the while hoping I’d find Alaric on the other side. Waiting.