The cold wind that blew around me felt desolate and angry as I stood at the mansion gates. Their shining silver bars were all that was between me and him. They glinted in the light of a full moon, and almost shined like a spotlight on Nick and I.
Beyond the gate were many on lookers, mostly in wolf form. The cavalcade of color that surrounded the courtyard was a staggering downpour on my ideas of a quick fight. Black, red, white, grey, calico; there were more shades and tones between the three dozen wolves than I could count. And all of their eyes were on us.
I'd decided early on to go in my hunter form, just in case something went wrong and I couldn't change in time. I wanted control over this entire cu de tat. Too bad for Nick though, he was confined to the only form he'd been given. But that didn't make him any less a threat than I. His speed, his stamina; they were unmatched as far as I could tell. The only edge I had over him was the plague, which I'd never use, and the foresight of his attacks.
Amongst the many wolves, were two young men. Too young to have given into the change yet, and I was grateful for that. I really didn't want to have anyone's blood on my hands that I couldn't take. And someone as young as these two boys deserved to live… Now's not the time to get sensitive!
"They're here!" I heard one of them yell. He stood only five feet tall. His dirty, blond hair and dilated blue eyes had me thinking he was from German descent, but I couldn't really tell.
The wolves knew we were here. They most likely knew before we'd even come into sight. Not that it changed anything.
Nick lowered himself, debating on whether or not to just jump the fence or tear it down completely. I shoved him a little on the shoulder. "Respect." I said. My gravelly voice had finally become stable in my many years of practice. After those three years, I'd learned a lot of useful tips and tricks to my form, but that would have to wait for later.
As the tension between the snarling and growling pack grew, the giant oak doors that hung in the center of the mansion flew open. Marcus stood alone in the doorway as he looked out at us. If I wasn't mistaken, it looked like he had a hard time seeing us. But it must've been a ploy on our confidence. He knew as well as I did that any show of weakness was practically eaten up by our kind.
"Where's Alan?" He asked impatiently. He couldn't have been that stupid.
"At home with the others!" I yelled over the swarm of angry werewolves.
He stepped out of the threshold and closed the doors behind him. His once proud walk was riddled with fury and anger. I watched the way his feet hit the ground like double taps from a drum stick. He wasn't walking like I'd remembered. His entire features were just… wrong somehow.
Something isn't right. Nick thought to me, feverishly scratching his sides. He was anxious, more anxious than I'd ever seen him. Actually, he was acting exactly how he did when he and Emily were sharing the same room. They really needed to just give into each other. The sooner, the better.
"I know. Just try and stay calm." I said under my thick breath.
Marcus had pushed and shoved his way through the pack, showing no respect to his pack. This man, who now stood at the front of his army, was not the Marcus I'd met years ago. This man was desperate and quick to anger… something I might be able to use.
"Well then, why come here?" He asked, stopping twenty feet from the gate. He was making sure to keep his distance. He was being weak, and I was almost positive he was doing it on purpose. There could be no other explanation of why he could be that weak.
"We came here to kill you." I said simply. "Rather, I did."
He took a few steps back, just like prey. He was showing more human by the second.
"And what will that accomplish?" He asked, his voice still held that same angry tone, but there was definitely fear mixed in.
"What did you accomplish when you took the life of Evelyn Grace Davis?" I asked him back. Every fiber of my being wanted to rip away the bars and choke him until he stopped breathing. I started to think back to when I'd killed the phone. He killed her, and he doesn't care.
"She was conspiring against me! She wanted to ruin my pack! And I wasn't going to let that happen!" He yelled, all of his restraint was gone now.
But before I could yell back, he turned on me. He turned on me!
The small notion that was his retreat from our argument sparked an inferno of rage inside of me. And where as I was going to use this trump card much later on, I felt the need for its assistance now.
I placed my hand on Nick's shoulder as he growled at Marcus's back. "Get ready and be safe, alright?"
Yeah, sure. Just kill that bastard!
I smiled, at least as best I could.
Turning my gaze back to Marcus, I yelled to him. "I hope you have insurance!"
Emily, rip the gate down. And get me and Marcus alone.
There was a soft silence between everyone as the ground started too shiver. The fear that had been hinted in Marcus's voice, was now plastered across his face as he tried to keep his balance. The entire pack was lying on their stomachs to keep from falling over as the ground grew more and more unstable. Then came a voice, soft but loud, from the forest. "Destroy."
As soon as the words left Emily's lips, thousands of red threads shot up from the ground, glittering in the moonlight like blood on piano wire. Then slammed into the gate. The groaning from its steel bolted doors was instantly halted by their immediate removal. The thin threads fought viciously as they ripped it to shreds and chucked the pieces into the crowd of werewolves.
Most of the more experience pack members were able to dodge them, but the rest weren't so lucky.
Nick tensed and bolted forward, his anticipation was now turned into excitement as he tackled the closest wolf too him, ripping at his unlucky throat and turning on the next.
I myself bolted forward, the thin red lines followed my figure like an air current and as soon as I'd reached Marcus, they exploded around us. I could hear, and feel, the figures that were being pushed away from us as it encircled our forms. This was it…
Within seconds, the threads twisted and thickened, leaving us alone under the red glow of our shining cell. There were no cracks, and no way for anyone to protect either of us. And if things went bad, our glowing cage, would come crashing down on us.
Releasing Marcus, I took a few steps back. I wasn't about to be so pathetic as to not give this man a chance to defend himself.
"What is this?!" He yelled. His eyes shot all around the dim room as he tried to find a way out.
"There's no way out Marcus." I said, but he didn't respond. Instead, he ran all along the walls, touching the soft, stern edges of our cage.
As I watched him try and figure this all out, I couldn't help but ask myself if this even was Marcus. His stature was weak, his fear was self-evident, and his blatant disrespect for his pack was unnerving.
But right when I thought I had him all figured out, he started laughing.
"You had this all planned out, didn't you?" He asked, chuckling in his temporary insanity. He turned around and his eyes were fire red. "But you missed one important detail." He said, clapping his hands together in excitement. As he rubbed them together, sparks of flame shot out from their small openings.
I cocked my eyebrow, and crossed my hands. "You're not Marcus, are you?"
His smile grew thick and wide. I half-expected his cheeks to split open at the pressure that he'd put on them. He was ecstatic, and even more so, erratic.
Fire shot out wider and wider from his enclosed hands as he gasped in his laughter.
"It's funny how blindly they'll follow me. Even after I killed their beloved Alpha." He said. His hands separated and the flames went out. "Shall I show you my true form?" He asked.
There was no question about it now. This wasn't Marcus. This man, who'd condemned a woman to death for her son's power, was not my grandfather. This man was much more sinister, and much sicker. This man killed without regret, and almost seemed to enjoy his prospects of killing again.
When I didn't answer, he decided to start anyway.
His face shifted first. His nose grew thicker, but shrunk in size. His hair sparked for a second, and turned from black to blond and grey. It frayed slightly in the middle now but grew longer and thinner. His body was becoming slimmer as his muscles impacted around themselves. And his tall body, had shrunk almost five inches.
The man who'd once stood before me was gone. And all that was left was the sound of my growling rage… and Seymour.