CHAPTER FOURTEEN: A WOLF IN THE HEN HOUSE

Jill watched him move. He put his hand out and touched the wolf. She moved closer to him. Was he still Leon Kennedy? He seemed to be. He was still snarky and still mouthy and still funny. And he was still something else.

They followed him down the stairs.

At the bottom of the stairs, there were four people waiting for them.

The woman Lillith and three companions. She studied him.

"You defeated my sentinels."

"I told you not to fuck with what's mine. I meant it. Give me what I came for or you'll join them."

The huge man beside her stepped up. He was six four and easily three hundred pounds of muscle. He was enormous and had a wide flat face and wide set blue eyes. They were pale and riddled with red at the same time. He licked his mouth. "Do you see, Lillith? Do you see?"

"I do. You said he was here. Perhaps you were right."

Jill, Mira, and Carlos moved up behind him.

Lillith turned her head. "Grace. You betrayed me."

The white wolf sat gingerly on the ground, watching her.

"I won't punish you. I will let you help him. He is alpha. How could you deny? Leon Kennedy, you are dealing with things you cannot begin to understand. I will offer you the chance to educate yourself. And then? If you can defeat Fenrir in combat, I will let you have Chris Redfield."

Fenrir, the big one, glanced at her in surprise.

"He is alpha. He will never be able to fight the pack. He cannot."

"I just smacked the shit out of plenty of your pack up there. So keep saying that." Leon crossed his arms over his chest, studying her.

Lillith paced closer to him. He could feel her vibrating with the need to touch him. She trailed her fingers now, over his vest and shivered. "We are Nebuchadnezzar. The originals. You will find reference to it in the book of god that you humans follow. He was the first of the wolves. I worked here. I was happy here. I was very smart and very good. Alexia's father was my mentor. And when he was gone? Alexia herself. She was very wise and very powerful. She was alpha. If I'd have known how to save her, how to create her as pack and preserve her, she would be here now with me. I played around. I searched. I sent out scouts to bring me back what I needed. I injected myself with it. I went down in the cafeteria here. I awoke..pack. I turned Fenrir. He has brought the rest to us. He was my only child. I told him the alpha would come. It seems I was right."

Leon watched her and didn't move as she touched his chin and played her finger over the suggestion of the cleft there. He answered, quietly, "You went down infected with a fucking virus. A VIRUS. It's not a right of passage and you aren't a wolf. You're a mistake. A fluke. Something created by a MAN. Lay down, give up, and we can cure you."

Lillith flared her eyes, scenting him. She put her face to his cheek and rolled her nose over the pulse at the base of his jaw. She licked him and he caught her arms, pushing her back.

"Enough."

"Will you forsake your mate for your pack? You are wolf. You are just fighting it. Why? It will make you free."

"I don't submit, Lillith. Ever. You don't know me, not really, so I'm going to give you a piece of advice and I hope you listen this time. You won't get me with threats. You won't get me with any of that. I don't just give up."

"Would you? For the safety of others? Would you trade yourself for Chris Redfield perhaps?"

They studied each other.

"Ah. Yes. You will. You are noble. But it is not my way to submit either. You will fight for him. That is how it is done here."

He watched her and the man farthest from her moved. He raced forward. Leon clotheslined him, kicked him in the back of the knee, caught his face and broke his neck. It was three seconds and done.

Fenrir laughed, thrilled. "You see!? He is what we needed."

"Yes. He was a fighter before. He is a warrior now."

Lillith watched him, "Submit. And I will let them go."

Jill laughed, "Shut up, bitch. And get on with it."

Lillith flung her power out. It threw them all about like tossed toys. They hit the walls and were trapped there.

Rebecca, had she been there, would have told them that her "power" was the ability to control them on a molecular level. The virus in her body, amplified by the strain of the yet unknown component, gave her the ability to sense and shift both air and space. But to the people in the room? It was just magic. And it was terrifying.

She held Leon still against the wall with just her ability to control him. That was blood and amplification of the virus within her own body. It was similar to plagas but not quite. She was Saddler but stronger. She was…what had she said?...ALPHA.

Lillith caught his face and looked at him. "You have a few days, perhaps less. And you will turn and you will come to me. I can wait."

He watched, frozen, as Jill rushed her.

His brain said, no. NO.

And it was too late for that.

Jill flipped, spun low, and took out the third guard. She kicked him twice in the face, rolled as he dove for her, and brought up her knife. She gutted him in a single flurried move. It spilled his intestines like an ugly piñata all over the ground. Carlos shot the big guy in the chest, twice. Mira leapt on Lillith.

No.

He tried to move and Lillith threw Mira off her. She turned and Jill threw a flip kick at her, kicking out and over into a cartwheel. It struck, clean in the face. Leon glanced at Grace, who was lying flat on the floor, frozen like him.

Lillith and Jill circled each other now.

"You are his mate. Do not lose your right to be so. I will kill you for it."

"Bitch, please. No more talk." Jill rushed her. Mira picked up his sword from the ground. And Carlos blasted the shotgun.

Lillith avoided the shot and it smashed into the ceiling. She spun clean, kicked Carlos in the face and sent him rolling, and threw her power at Mira. It tossed her halfway up the stairs with the sword raised above her head in midstrike. She grabbed Jill's arm as she threw down, bringing her knife an inch from her face.

"Close…but not enough."

Lillith caught her throat and lifted her, dangling her feet.

Fenrir was on his feet now and took the shotgun from the floor. He jacked a round into it and kept Mira and Carlos at bay. The room breathed around them.

"Defending your mate is admirable. But do not forget who rules here." Lillith turned to him, "I will do you a favor and take your mate. Fenrir, Cassius take the others as well. Put them all in cells. Leon Kennedy, you are trying my patience. And I find I do not like it."

She slapped Jill so hard that he watched blood fly from her mouth. She dangled now, unconscious. He tried to move, infuriated. And then she leaned in and scented her. She sniffed her and licked her face.

Leon made some sound in his throat that drew her eye.

"Yes. She is yours. It's all over her. I will make her the perfect mate for you. I will strip away her humanity and leave her wolf for you. You will mate with her and breed from her and then I will have her challenge me. I will destroy her and you will be mine. It is the way of things. It is nature."

Lillith tossed her to Fenrir. He put her over his shoulder, easily. Mira and Carlos moved forward, walking. They were divested of their weapons and shoved into a cell with Grace.

Lillith threw Leon into his own with just that awful power. He hit the wall, hard enough to jar his bones, and slid to the floor. He sat there, frozen, panting.

"I will take your mate and…teach her humility. I will return her to you in one hour. I expect you to be ready to fight. Remember, fight and escape. Capitulate and I will release your humans. Resist? I will kill them one at a time while you watch. Starting with Chris Redfield."

She slammed the steel door of his cell and locked it tight. "One hour. Think of what your life means to you. I could keep you here until you turn and have you kill them all. Remember that."

As she left, her power went with her. He collapsed to the floor, panting.

The rage was a fine and trembling thing. He ran at the door and struck it, shouting. He glanced around the cell and found it empty save for the dirty mattress on the floor. They were trapped here and they were fucked.

Unless he fought for them all. He'd do it. He'd known he'd do it the moment she'd taken Jill. He'd fight anyone for that.

What other choice was there?"

….

In her chamber, Lillith was sipping a glass of wine. She watched the girl at the table in front of her. Such an angry female, so very feisty and tough.

She was made to be pack. She just needed to submit or perish. There was no in between.

"What are you seeking here?"

"We told you. Chris. Give him back and we'll all go home."

"No. Will you fight for him?"

Jill studied her, curious.

"In a pack, dominance struggles perpetuate the line. Will you fight for him? If you defeat one of the pack, I will let him go."

"The same deal you offered Leon?"

"No. I mean to keep Leon Kennedy. He is alpha. I will have him. I need you gone for that. You are his mate. I would see you die in combat."

"Ah. So the plot thickens. You expect him to what? Choose to capitulate?"

"Yes. He is still human. Humans have feelings about such things. You are his mate. He will give up."

Jill laughed, amused. She leaned back on the table, kicking up her boots. "You've met him. Do you really believe that? He'll choose to fight, you stupid cow. And he'll WIN."

"I suspect that may be true actually."

"You won't have him. Kill me all you want. He won't go to you. He loves me, you fool. That's still nature. HUMAN nature. You can't kill me and take my place."

Jill studied her as she sat there, contemplating. She was beautiful. She was ethereal with a delicate bone structure and yards of silver hair. She was impossible to peg, in terms of age. She seemed young but the silver hair was a mystery. Of course, Leon was turning silver too. It was the wolf thing, clearly. Would he go entirely white before it was done?

"Why are you here, Lillith? And for what purpose?"

"Shall I reveal the dastardly nature of my evil plan? There is no EVIL with wolves, Jill Valentine. There is just survival and perpetuation of the pack. I have no intent to harm any beyond these walls."

"What about the highschool? The infection there?"

"Ah. Fenrir. He is a naughty boy. He was such a naughty boy when he was human. He likes to bring the masses to us. He released the airborne strain. He wanted some young wolves and hybrids. They died or they turned. It was species propagation. That was all."

"You killed all those people. All of them. You killed friends of mine and children."

"It is nature. Nature is cruel. It kills broadly and without feeling. It doesn't discern between young and old and ready."

"That's science, you heartless bitch. Science killed those people. Nature is a tornado. It's not an infection created in a lab."

"It is both. As nature is both. Nature is the love you speak of with Leon Kennedy. Do you love him? As he loves you?"

Jill watched her face. She picked her teeth with the little eating knife on the table. "He's mine. That's all you need to know about that."

"Will you fight me for him?"

"No need. He's MINE. It's not animal. He's mine. He belongs to me. I won't let you have him. But I don't need to fight you for him. I'll fight WITH him against you. That's what mine means."

Lillith moved, like speed and skill. Jill took the backhand to the face and brought the dagger against her at the same time. She slashed open the perfect face from ear to lip. Lillith snarled and Jill laughed.

"Not just another pretty face, you mutt."

Lillith laughed, softly. "You are an alpha female. Yes. But you will not be one here. I will not step aside to let you take my pack. I will destroy you and take what's yours."

"Killing me won't make him want you. It won't make him submit to you."

Lillith rose and grabbed Jill. She threw her down on the table on her back. "This is why I need you. To make him choose to give up. You will fight and you will die and he will give up. But first? I will make sure that if you fight and win? That you will aid me in servicing the pack."

Jill spit in her face. It ran thick and ugly down that perfect countenance. Lillith turned to Fenrir. "Hold her down. And help me."

"Yes. Always."

"I will fucking end you both."

"You are human. You will do nothing." Lillith licked her face and jerked at Jill's clothes. "…but scream. And see what we do to humans who resist us."

Fenrir slapped her, hard enough that her head swam. She saw the knife, it flashed steely and cold in the soft light from the lamp beside them. Jill fought, screaming. They were right. She was going to scream.

And it flashed down in a flying arc toward her.

….

In the cell with Carlos and Grace, Mira was trying to figure out how to raise HQ. She was trying but the communicators didn't work all that well here. Why? All the steel? The snow? Or simply whatever evil was floating around this place?

There was a body in the corner of the cell. It was wrapped in burlap and curled toward the wall. It smelled awful. Carlos was sitting against the wall. Grace was lying on the floor, watching them with soulful eyes.

"What do you think is happening?"

"What else?" Mira answered Carlos' query, "They're torturing Jill. They're trying to get Leon to fight. Or give up. You and me? We're expendable. And fucked. We need a plan."

Grace made a sound.

Mira glanced at her.

She stood up. There was a black strap around her belly. Mira looked at it and at her face. She moved toward it.

It was the sword.

Leon's sword.

Mira took it from her belly. She petted her, looking in those eyes. "You clever girl."

In the corner, the body was stirring. Mira wielded the sword, waiting for it to rise. It did rise. But it wasn't a vampire and it wasn't a wolf. Although it was the pissed off rage of one.

It was Chris Redfield. Or might have been once. Now it was just a filthy mess. Grace paced, watching him. She sniffed the air and stepped up in front of Mira.

Mira, touched, petted her again.

He was stinking and gross and looked like a hairy man of the mountain. He was disgusting. He was in some kind of filthy shirt that was stick to his skin like glue. All those muscles were perfectly outlined, which was super hot, but ruined by the fact that he smelled like death. Carlos said, "Dude…ugh."

"Shut it, moron. Mira…give me the fucking sword." His voice was gravelly and low. He had a beard that reminded her of Sons of Anarchy or something. It worked on his face, somehow.

Grace growled at him. Mira shook her head and patted her. "It's ok. He's a friend. He looks like a gross hobo. But he's a friend."

Chris, all beard and shaggy hair, put his hand out. Mira handed him the sword. Carlos said, "Really? What if he's infected!?"

"He's not, idiot. He's immune. Remember? It's why were here."

Chris twirled the sword and seemed to know how to use. Maybe not Leon Kennedy good, but still good. He hit the button and the hilt extended. The excitement in his blue eyes under those heavy brows was sheer warrior. "Awesome. Where's Jill?"

"Trapped. Where else?"

"When that door opens, let's get her out."

"How?"

"Killing. How else? I took three of them with me when we got here. They figured I was some stupid asshat I guess. Kept coming at me. I wasn't alone and I wasn't expendable. The mutated ones were the hardest."

"You have to do a heart blow on them."

He glanced at Mira's face, "What?"

"The heart. They are vampires…sorta. Kennedy said the heart."

"Fucking Leon Kennedy. He knows everything. Or thinks he does. He's here?"

"Sorta."

He lifted a brow.

Carlos said, "It's kinda him."

"What does that even mean?"

"Long story."

Mira said, "You want to what, big guy? Make a last stand here or something? They'll slaughter us."

"No. They aren't that tough. Damnit Mira, I've trained you both for this kind of shit. Don't let me down here."

"Why not? You ran and hid. What kind of leader does that?"

He held her eyes. They stared at each other. And he finally spoke, gently, "I'm sorry. It was the right thing to do at the time. I have my reasons."

"You didn't feel the need to share them? With…anyone?"

Carlos felt the moment it clicked. OH. OHHHHH. He glanced back and forth between them. He looked at that hairy beard and her little face. Oh shit. These two? They were bumping uglies. Or close to it. Or had been something. Mira and the boss. She was doing a Jill Valentine on his balls. Whoa.

Honestly, previously, he'd have said Chris Redfield didn't even touch girls. He was sorta uptight and kind stupid about it. But he was touching Mira. Or she was trying. Hell.

"Now's not the time."

"Of course not. It's never the time for you. Right? MONTHS. You disappear for months. We exhausted every avenue on earth trying to find you. And this is it? That's all we get. You arrogant…asshole. We're TRAPPED IN HERE. TRAPPED. We could die…trying to save YOU. That deserves more than a fucking dismissal. Start fucking talking."

He held her gaze…and he started talking.