Decisions (Inner Desires Series) - Chapter 7

Alcatraz was alone in the hotel room, Dane and Blaze left and left him alone. They knew that he would draw attention if he went with them. Alcatraz was annoyed, of all the things that could have gone wrong, Dane had to get himself bitten by a werewolf. Alcatraz was pissed and really didn’t like that idea in the least. Werewolves were a big problem in his books. He needed to find a way to free himself fast, before Dane found out the truth about werewolves. Luckily, Blaze was too dumb to know what werewolves were. Dane had left to go get food, and find out some details of what their next step was. Blaze went to mail out the letters needed to lure the members to where they wanted them. Alcatraz, being the height that he was, grabbed the draft letter off the dresser and read it over again,

Members of the council, I am writing to you in urgency. We have spotted Dane Asayda and the demon he has summoned here in Mission, BC, Canada. We need your help before anything goes wrong. He plans to reveal us to the humans and that is quite dangerous as you all know. I learned that he plans on making a scene in Heritage Park at dusk in two weeks. If there are any humans present, they will see and therefore will film and report such events. Please help us stop him before it is too late.

Sincerely,

A friend

The letter definitely sounded good, but Alcatraz wondered if it would succeed in convincing the council to come. In two weeks, it was June 15th, on a Saturday. In summertime, June and Saturdays, even in the evening were busy for humans to be around. Alcatraz definitely hoped that the letter would work, he was feeling quite bored sitting around doing nothing and hiding like he was a terrified little dog.

* * * *

Perth Ontario, Canada

“Sarjen, a letter came for you,” someone said, entering Sarjen’s home.

“A letter? From who?” Sarjen asked, raking his short brown hair in confusion.

“Yes,” said the being, handing Sarjen the letter, “Doesn’t say who.”

“Interesting,” Sarjen responded, opening the letter and reading it.

“I must go to Mission, BC,” he said instantly, grabby his jacket of the chair and walking out the door.

“Why?”

“Business,” Sarjen answered, “You’re in charge while I am gone.”

* * * *

London, England

A letter dropped through the slot of Ruby’s mailbox. Ruby went to grab it and was confused as there was no return address. He looked at the writing, but did not recognize it. Unsure, he opened it to read what was sent. He then dropped the letter, grabbed his coat and left the house.

* * * *

Liverpool Nova Scotia, Canada

“Daddy, Daddy, you got a letter,” an innocent voice said, running into the room.

“Sweetheart, letter from who?” he asked, picking up the little girl.

“No idea, it has no return address, but it says Edcur on it.”

“Obviously, or it wouldn’t be for me,” Edcur laughed, opening the letter.

He read it and then almost dropped his daughter. Furious, he grabbed his phone and dialed a number.

“I need you to keep an eye on my daughter. I have to go away on business,” was all he said before hanging up the phone, grabbing his vest, kissing his daughter on the forehead and leaving.

* * * *

Sidney, Australia

Megael crushed the letter in his hand. Furious that his own family would betray him like this. He knew only one outcome of this and that was ending his own grandsons’ life, no matter what his family or son-in-law said. In the end, Dane Asayda crossed the line with awakening a demon. Although Megael was unsure of what demon. Megael hated flying, but he knew he needed to catch the first flight to BC, Canada and stop his grandson from revealing any of them to the world.

“You will give him to me?” a voice asked.

“He has chosen an act of treason,” Megael hissed, looking towards the front door, seeing Hades standing there.

“True, but the family will try to bargain to imprison him. I need your word that that will not happen!” Hades growled.

“You have my word. I do not take these things lightly.”

“Good,” Hades said before vanishing.

Frustrated, Megael got up and left the house, wondering what had caused all this in the first place.

* * * *

Mission British Columbia, Canada

“Shit, we’re in trouble” Raska hissed, putting down the piece of paper that was in his hand.

Raska was sitting in the living room of Jacob, Demon and Olivia’s home, with the three of them, and Alex. Dixie and Darren had extended their vacation on Olivia’s request to be safe.

“How so?” Jacob asked.

“I just received a letter that I am pretty damn sure everyone in the council got. I don’t know where half of them are. I know for a fact that it’s a trap,” Raska said.

“How do you mean?” Olivia inquired.

“It’s addressing all the council members that Dane plans on making a scene in two weeks at Heritage Park, which is in public and will cause problems. However, I don’t think they’ll be any humans, just us council members and against that damn demon, we’re all screwed,” Raska sighed, “On top of that, there’s Blaze and then a three-way supernatural, Dane.”

“Five of you are weaker than three of them?” Alex asked.

“Three? Technically that demon is like five of us and Dane is like three of us, we don’t stand a chance.”

“Have the werewolves come back?” Tessmere asked, walking into the room.

“Not yet. We seemed to have really pissed them off,” Demon sighed.

“Clearly. Unfortunately, if these letters reached the other members, they will be inclined to believe it. Threats like these, they don’t take lightly and they will investigate it,” Tessmere growled.

“As dangerous as it is, I don’t think Alcatraz is stupid enough to lurk around the streets, especially if Dane controls him right now,” Olivia started, “He’ll want to lay low. Anyway, I’m going to go see if I can find them. They can’t have gone far.”

“Olivia,” Jacob started.

“I am the only one out of us that can shift right now, I’ll be fine,” Olivia said, cutting him off.

“She’s right. The two of you need to figure that out before the two weeks are up,” Alex agreed.

Olivia grabbed her jacket where it was hanging, on the hook by the front door. She then exited the house and headed down the street. The streets were so quiet, which was unusual for this early in the evening. It was only seven in the evening and it was quiet. It did bother Olivia a little bit, but then, the recent news may have humans and shifters alike staying indoors. Olivia continued to walk down the street, hoping for a sign, something, that indicated Shane and Surriey’s presence, but nothing. Olivia kept walking, surveying the area and keeping her eyes peeled. She used her nose to see if she could pick up their scent, now that her noise was heightened. She couldn’t even pick up a whiff of either of them. She was almost wondering if they purposely covered their tracks.

After a few more minutes of walking, Olivia felt a presence watching her. Concerned, she surveyed the area, but saw nothing. She continued to look around, but kept her senses sharp, she didn’t want to be caught off guard. Olivia had walked all the way to main street, and at that point she was just about to give up, until she looked into a new coffee shop and saw both Surriey and Shane sitting at a table, laughing. Relief filled Olivia as she entered the coffee shop.

“Shane, Surriey,” she began.

“Olivia, you look like you’ve been worried,” Surriey quietly said.

“We all have been, about the two of you,” Olivia sighed, sitting down next to Surriey, “I know you were angry, but we do care about you, even if we’ve only known you a short while.”

“You think?” Surriey started,

“Surriey, remember what I said,” Shane cut in, then turned to Olivia, “We understand that Dane was family. I can see you loved him a lot and still do, but unfortunately, he’s condemned himself,” he finished.

“I know. I wish I could reverse everything, but I can’t. I just have to accept the fact that I cannot protect him,” Olivia sighed.

“So, you do understand?” Surriey asked, slightly perking up.

“I do, it’s just hard, mainly because I grew up with him.”

“Yes, that is hard. Everyone has had to make sacrifices,” Shane said.

“You and I have something in common,” Olivia sighed.

“What’s that?” Shane asked.

“You both have suffered a loss,” Surriey answered.

“A loss?” Shane asked, confused.

“You lost your brother to cancer a few years ago. I lost mine to betrayal and eventually death as well,” Olivia answered.

“That is true,” Shane sighed.

The three of them went silent after that. It was a difficult conversation to have between them, but all was needed to be said to clear the waters. Just as Surriey was about to take another sip of her tea, Shane slammed into her and a huge ball of fire went whizzing by all three of them, hitting the back of the coffee shop.

Before anyone could say anything, two more fire balls came whizzing through the broken glass of where the first ball came through. Shane grabbed Olivia and Surriey and ushered them to the back of the coffee shop. He then crept back to the front of the store and in the corner of his eye, noticed the barista that served him and Surriey their drinks. He made a quiet motion towards her and then another motion for her to come towards him. Terrified, she listened and Shane brought her to the back where Olivia and Surriey were.

“Wha…what…” the barista started as tears welled in her eyes.

“Shh, it’s okay. We’ll protect you,” Surriey said quietly.

“H…how?” she asked.

“It’s complicated and we can’t really tell you,” answered Shane, peeking out to the front to see if there was any threat.

“That…that makes…no sense,” she stuttered, “Are you…the police?”

“No,” Olivia sighed, hating to hide who she was from this terrified girl.

Olivia guessed the girl was only around sixteen and quite pretty for her age. She had long golden blonde hair and she had almost teal colored blue eyes. She was quite slim and short as well. Olivia knew this girl had a lot to live for, and she knew whatever threat was out there, they needed their animal counterparts to fight with. Olivia didn’t know how to even do that without revealing themselves to this girl. Then she had a brilliant thought that might work.

“What’s your name?” Olivia asked the girl.

“Nicole,” she replied.

“Nicole, can you keep a secret?” Olivia continued.

“Olivia?” Surriey started, but Olivia stopped her.

“If we want to deal with this threat, we have no other choice,” Olivia said firmly to Surriey, then turned back to Nicole, “Can you?” she asked again.

“Yes,” Nicole sniffed.

“I’m known as a shapeshifter, a wolf to be exact,” Olivia began, allowing herself to reveal her ears and tail, “My friends here are werewolves, we can protect you, but you need to listen to us, alright?”

“Okay, I promise I won’t tell,” Nicole shivered, a little shocked.

“Alright Shane, shift and see what’s going on,” Olivia quietly said.

“Shift? I thought he was a werewolf?” Nicole asked confused.

“He is, he’s an alpha which allows him to shift,” Surriey answered.

Shane shifted then, causing Nicole to crawl back a little in fear. Shane then went to the front to see what the hell had attacked them. At first, he saw nothing, but then when he turned his sights back to the front of the coffee shop, he saw Alcatraz, with a huge grin on his face. Shane bared his teeth and took his stance, ready to fight. Alcatraz just kept grinning and Shane couldn’t figure out why, until it sank in and he smelt gas, and it wasn’t there a moment ago. It clicked in real quick what Alcatraz was about to do. Shane bolted back to the back room and ushered for Surriey, Nicole and Olivia to get on his back, pronto.

Shane looked around and realized the fireball had damaged the back door, but Shane didn’t think that would stop him. He ran as fast as he could into the door causing it to fall and as he exited, the whole shop went up in flames and a huge explosion sent him flying, causing the girls to be flung from his back onto the hard ground, knocking out Nicole. Olivia smacked her head on one of the rocks, which cause a gash in her forehead and causing her to be quite dizzy. Surriey landed hard on her one hand, which was misshapen from the hit, that it was clearly broken. As for Shane, the explosion caused him to be completely knocked out as well, he was also back to human form.

Dizzy, Olivia made her way over to Nicole to check that she was okay. Once she knew she was, she went over to Surriey who was now clutching her broken hand, whimpering. As for Shane, he didn’t stir.

“Is..is Shane okay?” Surriey asked, her eyes filling with tears.

“I think so, Nicole is alright too,” Olivia sighed, pulling out her phone and dialing a number, “Yes, I have an emergency,” she said to the person on the other line, “An explosion at the new coffee shop in town. Four people are injured including myself. We need assistance asap,” she finished, then hung up.

Olivia could hear the sirens going off from the firetrucks and ambulances, and then everything went black.

* * * *

When Olivia woke, she found herself in a familiar room. She recognized Dr. Fang right away and noticed he was checking her vision. She also noticed that she wasn’t exactly in the same room as before. It actually looked like she was in ICU and not in a general room.

“Dr. Fang?” she tried to say.

“When are you going to stop admitting into the hospital Liv?” Fang chuckled, “On a more serious note, how do you feel?”

“Dizzy,” she answered, “Where are the others?” she asked.

“Surriey is in another room as is the boy that was with you. The girl is also in ICU. You all came in in critical condition, what happened?” he asked.

“I don’t know. Shane would,” Olivia answered.

“Shane being the boy that was with you?” he asked.

“Yes, is he alright?”

“At the moment, he is very weak. When you feel up to it, you can go and check on them,” Fang said, seeing the concern on Olivia’s face.

Olivia slowly got out of the bed and with Fang’s help, walked over to the first room where Surriey was in. She was actually fast asleep and looked quite comfortable.

“She’s on a high dose of morphine as she can’t shift,” Fang explained.

He then helped Olivia to where Shane was and the same result with him. After, Fang helped Olivia to the girls’ room. She was awake and seemed in better shape than Olivia or her friends. Fang helped Olivia to the visitors’ chair in the room, and then left them to be alone.

“How are you feeling?” Olivia asked.

“Sore,” she started, “And a bit frightened.”

“I know, it’s a lot,” Olivia started.

“Not of you, or the other two,” Nicole said, cutting her off, “Of that weird giant black thing that blew up the coffee shop,” she finished.

“Weird giant black thing?” Olivia thought, “Oh my god, Alcatraz!”

“Alcatraz?” Nicole asked.

“Long story,” Olivia sighed.

“How are you?” Nicola asked.

“I’m okay, sore and like you, frightened,” Olivia sighed, “Wait, what time is it?”

“Two in the morning. Dr. Fang mentioned your family was in the waiting room,” Nicole said.

“Well, we are in ICU so guests are generally not allowed,” Olivia chuckled.

“True,” Nicole replied, joining her laughter.

After a while, Fang finally had given in to allowing at least Jacob into ICU. He bolted into Nicole’s room and pulled Olivia into a deadening grip hug. Olivia thought that more bones would break because of her brother’s bear hug. After a few moments, he finally released her.

“Fang has no clue of what’s going on, what the hell happened?” Jacob demanded.

“Alcatraz happened,” Olivia answered.

“That bastard attacked you guys, what the hell? I thought he was laying low.”

“He may be challenging Dane,”

“Hi, I’m still here,” Nicole said nervously.

“Huh? Who’s this?” Jacob asked.

“Her name is Nicole. We saved her. She was a barista at the coffee shop we were at,” Olivia explained.

“Was?”

“That Alcatraz dude, blew up the shop and almost killed us. If it wasn’t for Olivia and her friends, I’d be dead,” Nicole answered.

“What supernatural are you?” Jacob asked.

“Jacob, she’s not,” Olivia sighed, “We had to tell her about us to protect her, but she said she won’t tell anyone.”

“I don’t see why not. It seems like you guys are good, aside from Alcatraz that is,” Nicole said.

“It’s the supernatural law. Technically, Olivia is in trouble for telling you,” Fang said, annoyed, walking into the room.

“We didn’t have a choice Fang,” Olivia sighed.

“I know. Shane told me. He’s awake.”

“Excuse me Nicole, I need to see how he is,” Olivia said, slowly getting up.

“Alright. Tell him thank you.”

“I will.”

Jacob helped Olivia out of the room and the slowly headed to Shane’s room. Shane was propped up on his bed. Olivia could tell that Shane was in a fair bit of pain, even with the morphine. Olivia walked up to the bedside and Jacob helped her sit up on the bed next to Shane.

“Glad you’re alright,” he said, groaning.

“You too. I can tell you’re in a lot of pain.”

“Morphine can only do so much,” he sighed, “Hello Jacob.”

“Thank you for saving my sister.”

“Of course. I don’t know what the hell Alcatraz was doing, but clearly something is going to go really wrong,” Shane sighed.

Olivia could tell that he was extremely frustrated and she knew why. Alcatraz was able to outsmart him and he didn’t like it. What was worse is they had to tell a human about them in order to save themselves and the human. Olivia was quite a bit frustrated herself as she couldn’t do much, she had to be protected by someone else. She hated being vulnerable, she hated having someone else protect her, but at that moment, there was no choice. Shane knew Alcatraz better than anyone, however, tonight was the worse thing they had faced so far. She also wasn’t sure if Fang would tell the council that they told a human about their existence, or would they wipe her memory? But then they couldn’t do that because the place she worked at had been destroyed and she wouldn’t be able to recount why. It was definitely a frustrating situation to be in.

Olivia slowly got off Shane’s bed and headed for the door. Jacob was about to help, but she refused it and continued on by herself. Heading back towards Nicole’s room, she saw Nicole talking on a cell phone, her eyes were red and wet. Olivia made her way to the visitor’s chair and sat down, waiting for Nicole to finish her conversation. Once she did hang up, she looked at Olivia with a kind of pain in her eyes. The look was like she had made a betrayal or something.

“Are you alright?” Olivia asked.

“No. I don’t like lying to my family. They asked what happened and I had to make up some story,” she sighed, “I made a promise to you and I intend to keep it, however, how long are you all going to stay in the dark? I mean look at me, I was attacked by a demon, saved by other supernaturals and I’m totally accepting.”

“Our parents and adopted brother are as well. Humans took us in when we were young and raised us as they raised their son,” Olivia said, slightly smiling at the memory, “And to answer your question, I don’t know. We’re in this mess because my brother betrayed us and summoned the demon that attacked us earlier. The supernaturals are trying to keep things like this under wrap, but sometimes it’s just not possible.”

“You’re the girl that was on the news. Your brother stabbed you,” Nicole said.

“That was me. My brother was a victim in his plan as well,” Olivia sighed.

Olivia and Nicole sat there for a moment, before they heard a ruckus outside of the room. People were screaming and running. Olivia thought that Alcatraz may have followed them back here, but then she looked out the door to see a wolf, running about the ICU and it looked like it was looking for something. Olivia, as quickly as she could, stood up and went to close the room door, but before she did, the wolf darted into the room and forced the door closed by kicking it, causing Olivia to fall to the floor. Olivia looked to Nicole, who she could tell was trying to stay calm. She then looked at the wolf, who looked injured. She noticed it had short brown fur and she knew it was a shifter due to the height of it. The wolf turned around to face Olivia and it was then Olivia saw its eyes, crystal blue like her own. In a blink of an eye, the wolf shifted to human form and conjured clothing on himself and now standing in front of Olivia, was her traitorous brother, Dane.

Olivia was about to let out a wrenched scream when Dane grabbed her and covered her mouth. He perked his head up to see if anyone was headed in the direction of the room, he was in. He could hear Fang and his brother Jacob talking and worried about Olivia. He then heard footsteps headed towards the room, followed by a tapping on the door,

“Olivia, Nicole are you two alright?” Fang asked.

Dane looked over to Nicole and gave her an ‘I’ll kill you if you rat me out’ look.

“We’re okay. We closed the door because we saw an animal of some kind,” Nicole calmly answered.

“It was a wolf. We’re looking for it now. Keep the door closed until we find it,” Fang responded.

Dane snickered as he recognized that Fang was covering the fact that he was a shifter. That was because of all the human doctors and nurses that Dane freaked out bolting into the hospital.

“I covered you Dane, what do you want?” Nicole asked.

“You know my name?” Dane responded in confusion.

“I watch the news, though before the last several hours, didn’t know you were a supernatural,” she answered.

Olivia who still had he mouth covered, used what tools she had available, as weak as she was, she was able to kick her foot out with enough force to cause Dane to slide backwards, causing him to wince from the kick as he himself was still healing from his own injuries.

“What the hell do you want?!” Olivia hissed.

“It’s complicated and like you would care anyway,” Dane hissed back.

“I do care, but you condemned yourself. We can’t even save you from Hades without pissing him off!”

“Even after what I did to you?” Dane snarled.

“Yes, because I actually understand why you’re doing this, but you’re doing it wrong!” she snapped.

“Keep your voice down,” Dane whispered, his eyes looking concerned as he looked towards the door.

“Why are you here?” Olivia asked.

“I…I need…medicine,” he admitted.

“Medicine?” Nicole asked, “Don’t you heal in your wolf form?”

“Yes, but some wounds are taking longer and they hurt like a bitch,”

“You mean the wounds the werewolf left?” Olivia snickered.

“Why are you laughing?” Dane growled.

“Because that werewolf is in the next room. Alcatraz did a number on us and that is why we are back at the hospital and a human knows of us,” she said in frustration, pointing towards Nicole.

“Alcatraz? He was supposed to stay put. Are you telling me he caused the explosion to the coffee shop earlier?”

“Yes. Shane and I saw him,” Nicole sighed, “If it wasn’t for them, I’d be dead.”

“Fuck…I’ll deal with him later,” Dane growled.

“Dane, you need to listen to me for once. You need to destroy Alcatraz before he destroys you or anything you care about,” Olivia started, “I believe he did this to push your buttons, see how far he can go before you crack. I don’t think I was supposed to survive tonight. I knew someone was watching me, but didn’t know who.”

“I’ll deal with him.”

“Dane,” Olivia said with demanding force, causing her brother to look directly in her eyes “You are the only one that can destroy him for good. We are all doomed if you die before him,” she pointed out, then continued “Furthermore, there is something he knows that you are not aware of. You are his enemy, not because you can control him, but because of what Shane did. You are a werewolf now as well. In the Underworld, werewolves are known as hellhounds and they control all the demons. Alcatraz knows this and he’ll be damned if he continues to let you control him, which is why he did what he did tonight, so please do not go through with whatever plan it is you have, we can find another way.”

“How? The council will never change their minds. Their stuck in the old ways and they don’t believe humans can accept us, yet here we stand arguing in front of a human who isn’t even fazed by us,” Dane growled.

“Jacob, Demon and myself all agree that the rules need to be changed, but in the right way and the right time, even Nicole wants that too. She just had to lie to her family for me,” Olivia sighed, slowly getting up and sitting back down on the chair, “Destroy Alcatraz and let us deal with this.”

“Doesn’t matter now, Hades owns me,” he responded as there was a knock on the door.

“Hello?” Olivia inquired.

“It’s Jacob, we couldn’t find the wolf, I think it left,” he said.

Olivia looked to Dane who was holding his side, whimpering. All this arguing must have really hurt him.

“Can you ask Dr. Fang for some supernatural Tylenol and morphine please?” Nicole asked through the door, “Olivia slipped on the floor and is really sore.”

Olivia heard footsteps walking away from the door and a few minutes later, the footsteps returned. Olivia wasn’t sure if she should let Jacob in or not, but she really didn’t have a choice. She looked over to Dane who was backed all the way into the corned of the room, frightened of what was on the other side of the door.

“Can I come in Liv?” Jacob asked.

“One condition,” she answered sternly.

“Anything.”

“You cannot react to anything or anyone in this room,” she hissed.

“Agreed.”

Dane covered his face to prevent from looking towards the door and the brother entering it.

“Who’s the guy?” Jacob asked.

“That’s actually who needs the meds, not us. He’s the wolf that came flying in here,” Nicole explained.

“I see,” Jacob said, walking up to towards the man in the corner, “Here, the girls said it’s for you,” he said, handing him the drugs.

“I…I…I’m sorry, for causing a disturbance,” Dane said, stuttering.

“Should have just came in in human form,” Jacob chuckled.

“It’s not that easy Jacob,” Olivia sighed, “We don’t need him being arrested, we need him to destroy Alcatraz,” she admitted.

Jacob was completely confused by what his sister had just said, that he looked back at the man sitting in the corner and realized he had the same color and hair style as Dane.

“What the hell?” Jacob hissed.

“Hey, you agreed,” Olivia said sternly.

“But…”

“No buts. We need to get him out of here unseen. He didn’t know Alcatraz did this.”

“Olivia…”

“Jacob you made a promise and I expect you to keep it and not betray me like Dane,” Olivia hissed.

“Fine,” Jacob grumbled, walking away from Dane and sitting down in the second empty chair in the room, “How do we get him out of here unseen?” he said, continuing to grumble.

“I haven’t gotten that far yet,” Olivia sighed, “His entrance into the hospital was bad enough.”

“No duh, everyone is freaking out that there’s a wolf in the hospital,” Nicole giggled, “I doubt latching a leash on and walking him out is going to work.”

“Alcatraz got you caught in the middle of this, huh?” Dane asked, injecting himself with the Tylenol and morphine.

“Well, it wasn’t you that blew up the coffee shop,” Nicole growled, “Where were you anyway?”

“At the time of the coffee shop incident? I was on my way back to our hideout after doing some research,” he started, then added, “Which is none of your damn business.”

“Where was Alcatraz?” Olivia asked.

“He was supposed to stay at the hideout until Blaze and I returned,” Dane growled.

“Clearly he doesn’t know how to listen, or he got bored,” Jacob said in annoyance.

Just then, there was a knock on the door and Dane immediately bolted from where he was, to the bathroom, closed the door and locked it.

“What was that about?” Nicole asked.

“Not sure,” Olivia said.

Olivia figured it out instantly, when Shane opened the room door and entered. Dane recognized Shane’s sent and ran. Olivia noticed that Shane was still very much in pain.

“Shouldn’t you be in bed?” Olivia growled.

“My nose picked up the scent of the shifter from the other night when everyone was freaking out about a wolf in the hospital,” Shane groaned.

Jacob stood up and allowed Shane to take over his seat.

“He’s bored. He may be under someone’s control, but that only gets you so far,” Shane said, after taking a seat, “And by the way, I’m too weak to attack anything, so quit being a coward and come out of that bathroom!” he snapped.

Slowly, Dane opened the bathroom door and slowly, he creeped out back to the corner he was in before Shane came into the room. Dane could see Shane giving him a death stare, but somehow Dane knew that Shane was telling the truth. The two of them stared at each other in disgust, until Olivia made a noise in her throat, breaking their eye contact.

“Good sense of smell?” Jacob asked.

“Obviously,” Shane groaned, “You all were talking about Alcatraz. He’s a death demon, hence, he’s least bored when he’s killing things and destroying lives. Therefore, having a master can only do so much. The master can control certain things, but if the demon gets bored, it will find something fun to do. In this case, he sensed me and Surriey.”

“What does that matter?” Dane growled.

“I’m sure Olivia had enough time to tell you what werewolves actually are. However, I do not think she told you about me. I am the alpha of both werewolves here and the hellhounds in the Underworld. I have no control over you because you are a goddess’s descendant.”

“She did tell me that I’m an enemy to Alcatraz,” Dane acknowledged.

“Good. I’m to assume she also told you that you need to destroy him and that we cannot do anything to stop you from being sent to hell?”

“Oh, trust me, I’ve already had Hades tell me that,” Dane hissed.

“Wait? What?” Olivia inquired.

“It doesn’t matter if I am dead or alive, Hades owns me.”

“What?” Olivia said again.

“And that doesn’t bother you? You don’t even know what he is capable of!” Olivia hissed.

“Trust me sweetheart, I know more than enough,” Dane thought to himself.

“What do you mean?” Olivia asked.

“He didn’t say anything,” Jacob said.

“Yes, he did,” she responded, looking at Dane.

Just then, Dane realized that Olivia had heard his thoughts, which wasn’t a good thing, but then how did she do that? He couldn’t even do that and he’s tried. Dane looked curiously at Olivia and decided he was going to test something.

“She can’t hear me, that’s stupid.”

“I can and it’s not stupid,” Olivia said.

“That is actually useful in some ways, especially if I don’t want others to know certain things.”

“It’s not telepathy, this is different isn’t it?” Olivia asked.

“Yes,” Dane answered, “Telepathy only happens when we’re in wolf form or when one is in wolf form talking to the human counterpart.”

“So, you didn’t answer me, how do you know well enough?” she asked again.

“Let’s just say that I’m Hades new toy,” Dane began, “He can do whatever he wants to me, whenever he wants and I cannot refuse.”

“That’s horrible,”

“Big bad God of the Underworld remember?”

“I know, but…”

“No, buts. I knew what I was getting into, end of story,” Dane said, getting up from the floor, “I should leave before anyone else finds me here.”

“How?” Jacob asked.

Right before their eyes, Dane snapped his fingers and vanished into thin air, leaving no trace other than a faint sent behind.

“What the?” Nicole said, shocked.

“Why didn’t he do that to get in?” Jacob asked.

“From my own personal reading, I’m to guess he needed to see where he needed to go for it to work. So, from in here, he is able to teleport back to wherever his hideout is,” Nicole answered.

“You’re smart for a human,” Shane mused, “And you are right.”

“Thank you. I know I’m a human, but please let me help you guys,” she said.

“You need to go home and stay safe,” Jacob answered.

Nicole looked down and played with her thumbs. Olivia noticed a sadness in Nicole’s eyes. Olivia wasn’t sure why Nicole was saddened by not being able to help, until there was a knock on the door.

“Yes?” Nicole answered.

“Nicole, you’re able to go in the morning. Your caretakers will be here to pick you up at nine,” Fang said, through the door.

“Thanks,” Nicole said, her voice filled with sadness.

Something hit Olivia then. She realized that when Nicole said family, she was covering something else up. If Olivia didn’t know any better, she assumed that Nicole had not family at all. In fact, she was probably in a foster home.

“By caretakers, he would mean foster parents. If it was parents, he would have said parents,” Olivia sighed.

“Yes,” Nicole said, “And they’re not happy with the story I gave them. They’re blaming me for the accident.”

“Why would they do that?” Jacob asked.

“Because they own it and think that I’m a rebel and would do it on purpose. Both my parents were killed when I was seven. I remember the whole thing too,” Nicole said softly, “I’ve actually known about supernatural existence since that day. It was a rogue cougar shifter that killed my parents. A wolf shifter with silver fur and light blue eyes, saved me and took me to the foster home.”

“Oh my god!” Olivia exclaimed.

“What?” Jacob and Shane asked.

“Nicole is describing Raska to a T,” she answered.

“Seriously?” Jacob said.

“Yes,” Olivia smiled.

Olivia noticed that Shane was deep in thought. She wasn’t sure what he was thinking about, but it looked like he was thinking about something important. She put her hand on his lap, which caused him to break out of his train of thought.

“I just thought of something,” he said.

“And that is?” Olivia asked.

“How much do you want to be part of our crew?” Shane said in Nicole’s head.

“It would be way better than what I am currently dealing with,” Nicole answered.

“Then, are you willing to accept change? Would you be willing to let me infect you?” he asked her.

“Yes,” she answered.

“Jacob, Olivia, could you two please leave the room?” Shane asked.

“Yes, but why?” Jacob asked.

“I have a private matter to tend to with Nicole,” he answered.

Once the two of them left the room, Shane slowly advanced on Nicole. He grabbed her hand in his and lifted it to his lips. He then bit down hard on her hand, making her wince. After a few moments, he released her hand and she clutched it to her chest.

“Thank you, Shane,” she said.

“You can come back in,” he said loudly, knowing the other two are on the other side of the door.

“What was that about?” Olivia asked, walking back in.

“How would Dixie and Darren feel about adopted another kid?” Shane asked.

“They would probably be okay with it, why?” she asked.

“Nicole was too deep into this. I infected her. She’s allowed to be with us now. The council can’t fight against my choices as I am under the laws of Hades,” Shane explained.

“Really?” Jacob asked.

“Yes, which also means she needs to be taken out of that foster home. The next full moon, she will need help from me,” Shane explained.

“Alright, I’ll give Dixie a call now,” Jacob said, leaving the room.