Decisions (Inner Desires Series) - Chapter 4

“So, what do we do about the Asayda?” the shift that was holding Demon asked, looking at Blaze.

“We could feed him to the demon,” Blaze laughed, causing Alcatraz look at him with a wide grin.

“NO!” Dane bellowed, “The whole reason I did what I did to my sister was to avoid them being involved and you idiots dragged my brother into this!”

“What are you talking about?” the shifter asked.

“Blaze told me to ditch my siblings and the only way I could do that was to put a rift between us. I stabbed my sister to keep them out of this!” Dane hissed.

Demon sat on the floor, unsettled and a little confused at what Dane had just said. His brother stabbed their sister to keep them out of whatever Dane was doing? It made no sense to Demon, but either way he needed to figure out how to get out of the situation he was currently in. He looked around for a way out, but he was surrounded by supernaturals that followed Dane’s orders. More frightening than that, the demon Dane had summoned; the demon, Demon figured, was no match for him. If anything, this demon was much stronger and more deadly than anything Demon had ever read about. The shifter suggested feeding him to the demon; but Dane stopped them. Did that mean that Dane still cared? Demon didn’t know, but he did know that he could be facing danger death if he didn’t get out soon.

“So, now what? We can’t just let the kid go; he’ll spill the beans,” the shifter growled.

“Well, sounds like we can’t kill him, considering I just suggested to feed him to a demon,” Blaze said, “Dane, what do we do with him?”

“Do what you will, but I do not want be present for whatever you decide,” Dane said, walking away.

Demon tried to yell at Dane, but it was futile as it was muffled by the gag. He knew that Dane didn’t care what they did, as long as he didn’t see it. He cared if he was present. Demon was so confused because of the way Dane was acting. Demon continued to struggle, to try and break from his bounds. Demon was starting to be come terrified and that wasn’t good, as it made the demon look at him. Clearly the demon was definitely wanting to eat him, or he wouldn’t be staring at him so intensively.

“That shifter is oozing with fear,” Alcatraz said, walking up to Demon.

“You can have him once Dane leaves,” Blaze said.

“So, I can have my way with him?” Alcatraz asked, lifting Demon up by the throat.

“Yes,” Blaze answered.

Fear now consumed Demon, as he knew no one knew where he was or what had happened to him. He was heading home from the hospital when something attacked him and knocked him out. He then woke up surrounded by supernaturals and by Dane. Demon had loved his brother, that is until he stabbed their beloved sister. Demon looked over at his brother Dane, who quickly glanced at him, then turned and walked out of the warehouse. Now left alone with the demon and Blaze, Demon prepared himself for what was to come. He knew he was a goner. This demon wasn’t going to release him and these two shifters were not going to stop the demon.

Demon closed his eyes then, expecting teeth to sink into him, but he felt himself drop and hit hard on the floor. Demon opened one eye to see the demon and Blaze engaged in a fight. There was no one else around, the building was vacant except for them and one giant wolf that was baring its pearly whites at the demon and Blaze. The wolf golden fur and sky-blue eyes, but the wolf looked slightly different from that of a shifter wolf. For starters, this wolf was much taller and this wolf looked extremely deadly versus a shifter wolf. Blaze’s expression seemed more shocking as he tried to fight the wolf off, while the demon tried to snap and bite at the wolf, but to no avail. The demon and Blaze seemed to know that they were fighting against something that was useless to fight against, so as soon as they saw an opening, they booked it for the entrance. The wolf bolted after them, leaving Demon completely alone.

Demon was both grateful, but frightened, mostly because he knew the wolf wasn’t an ordinary shifter wolf. He was also frightened by the fact that he was still bound and gagged. Demon used the table that the cauldron was on to try and lift himself onto his feet. Once he was on his feet, he started heading for the exit, but stopped in his tracks. The wolf that had chased after Blaze and the demon, was standing at the entrance, staring Demon down. Demon had no idea how to respond, mostly because he was still vulnerable to anything. Demon chose the only action that might keep him from being killed, he knelt down and laid himself on the floor to show the wolf that he was not a threat. He watched as the wolf slowly walked up to him, and then began inspecting him. It started sniffing his face; Demon was able to see the underbelly of the wolf, which allowed him to see that the wolf was female and not male. The wolf continued to sniff Demon and Demon lay still until he felt something wet lick the gash in his shoulder and he winced. Through his adrenaline, Demon had forgotten that his brother had cut him. Fear started to consume Demon again, as he knew this wolf wasn’t normal, therefore, she could be interested in eating him.

Demon felt teeth around where his hands were bound, but as he felt the teeth, he realized that to wolf was actually chewing through the ropes. Once Demon felt the bounds loosen, Demon slowly used one of his hands to take the gag off his mouth. He then slowly moved himself to a sitting position. He felt safe enough that the wolf wasn’t going to eat him, but he was still nervous. The wolf circled him once more and then sat down in front of him, staring at him.

“Thank you” Demon said softly, not sure if the wolf could understand.

The wolf leaned forward and nuzzled Demon’s neck. Clearly the wolf seemed nervous of Demon as well, but she was comfortable enough to show her ‘your welcome’ act. Demon knew now that this wolf was definitely not a shifter wolf, nor was she a regular wolf. Shifter wolves had telepathy, but so did many supernaturals. Demon assumed that this particular wolf was uncertain of Demon and therefore chose not to speak to him. Demon looked at her, and then noticed she was staring at the blood that was trickling down his arm. The gash was deep, and it hurt quite a bit. Demon went and ripped a piece of his shirt off and wrapped it around his injured arm, causing himself to whimper a little. That caused the she-wolf to nuzzle him once more before she turned tail and left.

Demon got up and left the warehouse. He knew he needed to get to the hospital before he lost too much blood and passed out. Shifter’s had healing abilities, but only in their wolf forms, not human forms. Demon managed to find a house not far from the warehouse. The lights were on, which was a good sign. Demon knocked on the door, and as someone came to answer it, he collapsed.

* * * *

Demon opened his eyes and realized he was staring straight into Jacob’s eyes. Unsure of what was going on, Demon sat up and looked around. It didn’t take much for him to realize he was in a hospital room, in a bed, next to Olivia. He saw that Alex and Raska were also in the room, but no sign of Fang. He then noticed the man who had a gun pointed at them just two days before. When he tried to move, Jacob stopped him.

“Tessmere is not a threat, or at least that’s what these three say,” Jacob said calmly.

“He had a gun aimed at us,” Demon hissed.

“Do you see a gun kid?” Tessmere sneered.

“No, but…”

“No buts, he’s sort of a friend,” Olivia said, “What happened?”

“I was in a warehouse. I was surrounded by other shifters, and Dane. He was furious with Blaze for bringing me. Either way, he sliced my arm and flicked the blood into some sort of cauldron. Then this giant demon thing came out of it,” Demon started.

“Then Dane succeeded,” Tessmere growled, “Raska, we’ll need to alert the council.”

“Yes, I know,” Raska said, then looked at Demon “Then what happened?”

“Blaze wanted to feed me to the demon, but Dane said no…at first…he said he didn’t care what they did as long as he wasn’t in view of it. He left the warehouse and I was left alone with Blaze and the demon.”

“Did they say anything about the demon?” Tessmere asked.

“The demon said his name was Alcatraz. Blaze informed Dane that he had summoned a Death Demon, whatever that is.”

“That is one of the deadliest demons anyone can summon, and if Dane loses control of it, we’re all fucked, including Dane,” Raska growled, “Continue,”

“Before they could do anything, some giant wolf came and attacked them. The wolf was female, but she didn’t look like a shifter, nor acted like one. She helped me and then took off,” Demon finished.

“You don’t think,” Raska said, looking to Tessmere.

“It definitely sounds like one,” Tessmere agreed.

“Sounds like what?” Jacob asked.

“I think Demon may have encountered something we all thought was extinct. That she-wolf you met, may have been a werewolf. They only shift on full moons, which last night was one. It would mean she is back in human form now and won’t change again until the next moon. Werewolves are extremely strong with or without the full moon, but they’re at their strongest on a full moon,” Raska explained.

“I thought they were ruthless and deadly on a full moon too, she didn’t seem like that towards me,” Demon said.

“True,” Raska sighed.

“Now what do we do?” Olivia asked.

“Raska and I need to inform the council of this information, both what Danes summoned and about the she-werewolf. We’ll be back shortly,” Tessmere said, gesturing for Raska to follow.

“While you guys were talking, I looked up the Death Demon,” Alex said, taking a seat on Demon’s bed, “It says that a Death Demon can be controlled by whomever summoned it, but if that summoner loses control, the demon will destroy him or her, allowing themselves to be freed of their master. If that happens, nothing can stop the demon. It also says that the name ‘Death Demon’ came when the creature wiped out whole villages back in the day. The Death Demon was a terrible demon. According to this, the Olympus gods and goddesses worked together to imprison the Death Demon in Tartarus,”

“The Underworld,” Jacob said.

“Well, part of the Underworld. Hades had created the Death Demon, in a competition challenge with his brother Zeus of who could create the strongest demon. Hades of course won, but at a great cost. He helped Olympus imprison what he himself created,” Alex finished.

“Geez, but what could a demon like that help with?” Demon asked.

“Well, it could easily wipe out the entire council with one single command,” Alex sighed, “Which means no supernatural government, which means no laws until they appoint new council members. It allows supernatural to have no laws and therefore can do whatever they please until a new government is established.”

“Great…Dane gets what he wants, but the wrong way of doing it,” Jacob growled.

“What time is it?” Demon asked, rubbing his eyes.

“Late morning. A human rushed you in around two in the morning,” Fang answered, coming into the room, “Two siblings in two nights, both in this hospital by the same brother,” he added.

“It sucks,” Demon sighed.

“Oh, and before I forget. Demon, you have a visitor in the waiting room, should I allow her in?” Fang asked.

“She? Visitor?” Demon asked, confused.

“Let her in Fang,” Alex answered, curious herself about the visitor.

After a few minutes, a tall, slim female came walking into the room. She was playing with a strand of her long golden blonde hair as though she was nervous. She looked shyly at Demon, and Demon noticed it then.

“You’re that wolf from yesterday,” Demon exclaimed.

“Wait? What?” Jacob asked, looking from Demon to the woman.

“Same blue eyes, and your hair is golden, like the wolf fur was,” Demon said.

“I came to see how you were doing,” she said in a soft voice.

“Thanks to you, I’m alive.”

“Glad I could help, my apologies if I frightened you. During the full moon, I cannot use telepathy, nor can I switch to human form like you all can,” she said, shyly.

“I’m just glad you didn’t eat me,” Demon chuckled, then winced in pain, causing the female to bolt to his side. Concerned filled her eyes as she checked Demon’s injury.

“Demon’s got a girlfriend,” Jacob teased, causing everyone in the room to giggle.

“That’s a werewolf trait,” Tessmere said, re-entering the room.

“Being concerned?” Olivia asked, looking towards the new girl, who was nuzzling Demon’s neck.

“No,” Raska answered, following behind Tessnere “What Tessmere is referring to is a classic werewolf trait known as bonding. Werewolves don’t always get to chose who they will be mated to. In this case, this girl is bonded to Demon now. She is sterile to any other man but him.”

“Harsh much,” Demon said, blushing a little.

“Females are the ones that don’t get to chose, but to be honest, you’re an excellent choice anyway,” Tessmere laughed.

“Thanks, jerk,” Demon growled.

“What is your name?” Olivia asked, quietly.

“Surriey,” the female responded, “And yours?”

“Olivia. The one your rubbing against is my brother, Demon. Jacob, our brother, is standing behind you. Alex is my friend. The two behind her are Tessmere and Raska,” Olivia smiled.

“A pleasure, I’m sure,” Surriey said, sitting next to Demon, “I don’t understand why there was a demon in the warehouse though. I only entered because I could smell it,” she finished.

“Our other brother did that. Um, why did it run from you?” Demon asked.

“Demons, even a Death Demon, know to stay away from a werewolf on a full moon,” Surriey giggled, “They are not dumb, which is why he ran. I didn’t bother to catch up.”

“Did you see where it went?” Raska inquired.

“Sorry, no,” Surriey answered.

“Off topic, are there more of you?” Tessmere asked, “I need to report the re-emerging of your species to the council.”

“I know, and yes. Here in Mission anyway, there’s one more. He’s my alpha, though, I don’t know where he is,” Surriey shyly answered, “Alphas can switch on a full moon and off. When there isn’t a full moon, he’s not as strong though.”

“Really? That’s cool,” Jacob said, half smiling.

“It is, but werewolves lose that ability when they are no longer alpha, and as far as I am aware, there is only the two of us.”

“Tessmere and I have some work to do, so we’ll check in on you guys in a few days. Here’s my number,” Raska said, handing Olivia a piece of paper.

After the men left, the room went silent. The twins found it interesting about the werewolves as they never knew about those kinds of supernaturals. The twins were learning quite a few new things about supernaturals and what the rules were behind the supernaturals, all of which they were unfamiliar with over the last twenty years. Considering they didn’t know who to speak to about anything supernatural without revealing themselves, they only relied on the internet and overhearing of conversations in various places, and of course the news. All of this new information was helpful, but unfortunately there was still the issue with Dane.

No one knew what to really do about the new situation of Dane summoning a Death Demon. Hell, never mind Dane, no one knew what do even do about the Death Demon. If Dane loses control of the demon, they were screwed. At the end of the day, their situation had gone worse, not better.

* * * *

Dane had found himself in a hotel room. The room was painted a dark grey color and there were stains on the wall. The two beds that resided in the room, had stained sheets. The dressers were run down looking and one of the drawers was broken. The hotel wasn’t his choice, it was Blaze’s. Blaze figured that no one would look for them in a run-down hotel. Dane didn’t like the way the room looked or the way it smelled. The room smelled like someone barfed all over the carpets. The floor did have several stains in it and some of the stains could have been barf.

Dane needed to get a breath of fresh air, so he opened the door to the hotel room and stepped out. The room overlooked the Fraser River; a beautiful river that ran through the Fraser Valley. Dane loved everything about his home and his life, except the secrecy. He had enough hiding, he had enough of deceiving humans, which honestly, was what supernaturals were doing, deceiving humans. How was that fair to humans? How was hiding themselves fair to supernaturals? Did the government not understand that or did they never think to rethink being hidden from humans? Dane felt in his heart, that humans could accept them, all of them. After all, it wasn’t just shifters that had to hide, vampires, werewolves, magic users, they all had to hide, but for what? A possible fear that humans might reject them? That humans might try to kill them? These were all questions, that really had no answers and to be honest, Dane didn’t believe that humans would be against them. He believed that humans would accept them.

“Messing with demons is a dangerous thing little boy,” a male voice hissed.

Dane turned around to face a creature that stood at almost seven feet in height. He had long dark blonde hair, that was tied back in a ponytail. He wore black leather slacks and a tight muscle shirt. Dane could see tattoos, but what was most enchanting about this mysterious man, was his eyes; his eyes were almost silver color with outer red circles. Dane had never seen eyes like these before. He wasn’t sure how to respond to this man, he didn’t even know who this man was.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Dane said, choosing to play dumb.

“Don’t play dumb with my boy!” the man snapped, “You summoned a demon, and a nasty one at that,” he continued, wrapping his long slim fingers around Dane’s slender neck, “You’re not as smart as you think you are.”

“You don’t have any control here,” a male voice said, walking up to them.

“You are not the boss of me,” the man hissed back, eyeing Alcatraz who was now in view.

“Nor you, the boss of me. Kill him, I really don’t care,” Alcatraz gleamed, “But then no one has control of me in the human realm.”

“Obviously,” Alcatraz sneered.

“Well, until that day, I say farewell,” the man said, but before he decided to leave, he pulled Dane close to him, and place his lips on Dane’s.

He held the kiss for a moment, before releasing Dane and vanishing. Dane, distraught, looked at Alcatraz,

“Who the fuck was that?!” Dane demanded.

“That was a motherfucker you definitely don’t want to deal with, so hopefully this scheme of yours succeeds or you’ll be in his clutches,” Alcatraz snickered.

“That didn’t answer my question!” Dane snapped.

“His name is Hades, he’s the god of the Underworld,” Alcatraz answered dryly.

“What the hell was he kissing me for?”

“You seemed to have sparked his interest. Hades wife died years ago or rather was murdered. Hades quite literally switched, and now he is gay,” he answered, not amused with the conversation.

“I sparked a gods interest?”

“He may have the human’s best interest, but he is still very much bad.”

“In other words?”

“Once you’re sent to the Underworld, Hades will have his way with you. Seems like he might start taunting you before then however.”

* * * *

Olivia and Demon were finally able to be discharged from the hospital, which was a relief because the two of them were getting sick of being in there. Three days was way too long for them to be in a hospital. During their stay, though, they checked in on the news, but nothing came up about Dane, the demon or anything else, which wasn’t a bad thing, but it wasn’t good either. They wanted to know some sort of news about what was going on, but clearly Dane was being smart.

As they arrived at the house, Olivia noticed that Dixie and Darren were home. Olivia wondered if Jacob had mentioned anything to them. She knew they were gone for the weekend, but today was Tuesday, which meant they had been home for a whole day. Jacob wasn’t always at the hospital; he had gone home. Olivia just hoped that they were over reacting about her and Demon being in the hospital. She also wondered if Jacob did tell them, how much Jacob actually told them about what had happened.

Olivia, Jacob, Demon, Surriey, and Alex entered the house and headed into the living room to find Darren reading the morning paper and Dixie pacing in front of the fireplace. Olivia could clearly tell that Dixie has been worried.

“Olivia! Demon! Thank god you’re alright!” Dixie screeched, practically deafening everyone in the room. She bolted up to them and locked them in a death hug.

“We’re…fine…Dixie,” Demon tried to say.

“How could your brother do this?” she cried.

That comment alone, told Olivia that Jacob did in fact tell Dixie and Darren everything, but that didn’t surprise Olivia, Dixie was quite demanding and never let up when she wanted information. When it came to giving it however, especially anything supernatural, good luck. That was a good thing though, that’s why Dixie was so good at keeping a secret.

“We still don’t know. We learned some things over the last few days, but nothing really concrete,” Olivia answered, once Dixie released her.

“I never would have pinned Dane as a strong independent type,” Darren said, putting his paper down, “He always seemed to have been a follower.”

“That changed when he got that stupid letter,” Olivia sighed, “In part, I do agree with Dane.”

“What do you mean Liv?” Alex asked, sitting down on one of the love seats. The love seat was a moss green color and the upholstery was well taken care of.

“I mean that the council may be wrong. It has been what, hundreds of years of hiding supernaturals? We’re in the twenty first century for crying out loud. Many humans read novels about supernaturals and some even do cosplay and enactments, thinking they’re something that they’re not. I honestly believe that humans would be open to us, but Dane is doing it the wrong way,” Olivia sighed, sitting next to Alex.

“But supernaturals are stronger, more dangerous than humans, we all know that and humans fear that,” Surriey said softly.

“Yes and no. Personally, the laws for humans would apply to supernaturals as well, having a government with both humans and supernaturals would be a good idea too. This would allow supernaturals to live equally with humans,” Jacob said, sitting next to Darren.

“I agree with Jacob. I’m a human that is on the inside and I believe supernaturals should have the same rights as humans and not have to hide, I also agree with Olivia, whatever Dane is doing, is the wrong way” Dixie said, also taking a seat, though she sat in a moss colored arm chair that was across from where Darren and Jacob were sitting.

“I know this is rude interrupting, but who’s the girl?” Darren asked, addressing Surriey.

“Surriey. She’s the reason Demon’s still here,” Jacob answered.

“Thank you,” Dixie said, smiling.

“I am also bonded to Demon, in werewolf talk, it means I’m his mate,” Surriey added.

“Werewolf? I thought they were extinct,” Darren said.

“Myself and my alpha are the last. Werewolves are odd creatures, not every child we have will inherit werewolf genes. My parents, neither were werewolf, but my grandfather was. It skipped my mother’s generation and passed to me. My alpha’s parents were both werewolves, but his younger brother was born human.”

“Was?” Olivia asked.

“His brother died of cancer a few years ago. I don’t know much about him; I only knew about that because I saw him leave the hospital the night it happened. Another thing about werewolves, they cannot infect anyone unless it is on a full moon, aside from my alpha that is.”

“I’m going to assume that werewolves can infect other shifters as well?” Demon asked.

“Yes, which is why Tessmere needed to make a report. There are extra rules around werewolves. I was worried about coming to the hospital for fear of running into a council member.”

“Why?” Dixie asked.

“Because of what the council does to werewolves. We have two fangs that cause the change to anyone we bite. The rules are to extract those from werewolves and any children they bore that are werewolves to prevent over populating. Werewolves are unpredictable when it comes to the full moon,” Surriey said, wincing at her own words.

“That’s unfair,” Jacob growled.

“It is, but it’s the law,” Surriey said.

“So, the council is going to pull your fangs and your alphas when they find him?” Demon asked.

“Yes, but good luck finding my alpha, I haven’t seen him since the hospital and that still, I barely remember what he looks like, both in wolf and human form.”

“I think that’s stupid too, punishing a supernatural for just being themselves,” Olivia growled.

“But if we bit a supernatural, that makes them two supernatural beings and therefore we would cause a death sentence to them, so really, its more to protect everyone else.”

“But we’re more than one supernatural through our grandmother, but because of her rank, they can’t do anything. How is that any fairer than what they do to werewolves?” Olivia asked.

“What?” Dixie asked.

“Apparently our grandfather Megael was seduced by a goddess. She bore two children with him, our mother and her brother. So, we are magic users as well as shifters,” Olivia explained.

“The rule is there so that there isn’t a mixed blood that becomes stronger than anyone can handle. It’s why we’re not allowed to mate outside of our own species, aside from if a werewolf becomes bonded. That just means that my children will inherit shifter genes and not my own,” Surriey sighed.

“I still don’t get it. I just find the whole thing stupid and dumb,” Demon said, annoyed.