A/N: for @chloes-yellow-cup @kimmania and @antiquesoul83 without whom i would not have survived the heartbreak of this past month. I love you awesome nerds.
Okay. So. This was a lot. She stared at the crowd of bodies then cringed when she realized that Jesse had now managed to wade through everyone to get to the front. He was a giant puppy. A super annoying one sometimes but a puppy none the less. So she just braced herself for the inevitable.
As soon as he was close enough to grab her he reached out and engulfed her in a tight hug. Tight enough to squeeze the air from her lungs for a second. Beca patted his shoulder awkwardly before gently extricating herself.
Tension radiated behind her and she turned her head to see Chloe’s eyes were impossibly bright and piercing as she watched Jesse with open distrust.
Oh for fuck's sake. This fucking guy. Beca ignored him, knowing that trying to have a conversation with a disembodied voice in her head would only distract her. She hoped it would dissuade Harun from continuing but she was wrong. Because of course she was.
“Not you Jesse, the dead guy in my head.”
Jesse's head tipped to the side in confusion. Aubrey's cool hand slid over her shoulder and Beca grazed her cheek over it instinctively. The annoying intensity of Harun's presence lessened and she raised her head to smile at her friend again.
“Nevermind that part. How the hell did you guys find me?”
Jesse's grin nearly split his face and his chest puffed with pride. Of all the people in her life she had known and called friends, which were admittedly few, she had known and tolerated him the longest. They had actually been through kind of a lot and she realized that she maybe sort of missed him and was glad to see his big dumb face.
She should have known but she was still surprised when the blonde Alpha wolf stepped forward. Bodies flowed out of her way with each overly confident step. Beca was self aware enough to realize that there was an attraction to the Alpha wolf. But what had once confused and embarrassed her just felt mildly awkward now. As though she were looking at a childhood crush through an adult lens.
“So we have finally caught up to the tiny mouse. I told you once, you would not escape me when I choose to pursue you.”
It was probably exactly the wrong thing to say with two jealous vampires at her back. Beca opened her mouth to quickly cut off the hiss she could feel building in Chloe's body behind her. It would do no good if they devolved into a pissing match over her. And it would make her look like a punk if she cowered now.
“We aren't playing fetch, Fido, and you didn't chase me anywhere I didn't intend you to follow.”
The silence was epic. She wasn't sure anyone had ever spoken to Kommissar with such directness since she had been a pup. Beca held the wolf's gaze for a long moment, refusing to back down.
Weeks ago she would never openly challenge the Alpha of the region. Especially Kommissar who had made it known that she intended to make Beca one of her pack since they had met. Jesse had tried to tell her it wasn't so bad being a part of the pack as a turned wolf. If she survived the grisly attack and horrific first change. And if was a huge factor. That Jesse had survived was a bit of a feat considering the horrific event that had made him.
The Alphas had outlawed turning humans hundreds of years ago because of the dangers of that first shift. Not every human was strong enough physically or emotionally to handle the beast within. Jesse had been a fluke. A rogue Alpha that was trying to grow his pack without the council of wolves knowing. Of the 25 humans he had attacked, only Jesse had survived.
The problem was Jesse hadn't been the intended target. He just happened to be the big dummy that ran into the fray to help a stranger. Beca didn't know all the details, Jesse didn't seem keen to share the memory of that night, but she knew whatever happened by morning there was a dead Alpha and a very critically injured human left.
Humans never accepted him after that, and the pack? They had run him off from his home and family and everything he had known out of fear of what he would become. After that he had found the carnival and became part of the family just like Beca. Kommissar and her pack had eventually tracked Jesse down to offer him a place with his own kind but he had chosen to stay with the show. To stay with Beca. Probably out of some a stupid sense of loyalty no one else was obligating him to.
Kommissar had decided that meant he had chosen Beca over them. And from that moment had been doing everything she could to make Beca hers. In every way.
Which had been terrifying even if she had some private moments thinking about it. Like. Really thinking about it. But ultimately Beca had politely and meekly declined every offer to be a part of Kommissar's pack or harem of lovers.
But that was before. Things were different now. She was different, and Kommissar could smell it. The Alpha narrowed her eyes and took a step closer, looming over Beca with an air of danger coiled tightly about her.
“Have a care, tiny mouse. I am still the Alpha of this land no matter what new friends you make.”
It was a big time threat and Beca could feel the hairs on the back of her neck rise in response to the shift in energy. Before she could even open her mouth power surged up around them, power that snarled and snapped with intensity Beca had never felt before. It felt so wild and alive that she wasn't sure it was entirely vampiric until Athan glided forward. His voice was a deep growl when he stopped directly in front of Kommissar.
Kommissar raised her eyes to the cloaked and hooded figure then lowered them quickly. Athan flexed his power, shredding the menace that had been in the air a moment ago. The wolves behind her gasped softly when she whined and dropped to a knee.
“Athan, apparently the Father of Wolves.”
“Wow. You get captured by the coolest people.”
He grinned and shoulder bumped her playfully. It made her feel better and the tension in her body eased. Beca looked at Athan and gave him a nod of thanks.
“Look…you can stand. Or sit. I dunno whatever is easiest for everyone here. We don't actually have a lot of time and if I have to measure dicks with all of you we'll all still be standing here when the Blood Guard arrives.”
A woman raised her hand in what would look like a shy undulation of her body to a mortal man. To Beca it looked more like a hand reaching up to claw something down to the depths. The petite Asian woman opened her mouth, lips moving soundless with her question. Beca looked around to see if anyone else had caught what she missed. No one seemed confused when they turned to look at her for response.
“Uh…I didn't catch that? Can you speak up?”
Aubrey shifted quietly at her side and she glanced up at her vampire.
“She cannot. This one is sirena. Any louder would be our doom.”
“Dope. What's she saying?”
“She wishes to know why you have called them here. And also if she may have a tooth.”
“Uh does it have to be mine?”
Aubrey’s lips quicked into an amused grin. It was just wicked enough for Beca to realize that this was one of those things the demon in Aubrey enjoyed. Oh boy.
“Sange de sirena gift bones to seal a deal. Bones of their ancestors, or enemies. The greatest honor would be a bone from your own body. It is a bond and pact between parties meant to last generations. Blood of your blood, bone of your bone, until the last of you drifts to the bottom of the sea.”
Well that was a lot. Beca processed Harun's helpful information before answering. Sirens were a tricky race of beings and she didn’t want to lock in a deal she wasn't sure of all the terms on. She turned back to the woman and cleared her throat.
“First, I didn’t intend to call anyone anywhere. I didn't even know any of this was going to happen. But now that we are all here, Fae, Shifter, Siren, Human, Witch, and Vampir, we have to talk about what's coming.”
There was a nervous titter from the assembled group that she didn’t want to devolve into panic before she got to the point so she pushed herself into the group, away from the safety net of the vampires.
“The Blood Guard is coming with the intent of obliterating the Great Clans.”
The uproar was instant and deafening and for a moment she was sure she had made a mistake. She was sure the violence in those cries was going to spill over to the wrong vampires and cause a war before anything could be discussed. But a very shrill whistle pierced through the chaos, forcing them all to turn and seek out the origin.
Beca’s lips curled in amusement to find Chloe standing defiantly in the bed of a truck, commanding the attention of the assembled.
“We’re not your enemies, and while we may never be friends we can at least be allies. Aubrey…?”
The blonde leapt easily into the truck bed with Chloe and rested her ax at her feet, clearly making a point that she had no intent toward harm. A hushed whisper traveled through the group but Beca caught the words “cursed one”. So they knew who and what Aubrey was. The vampire gazed at them all coolly then focused her attention on Beca. She didn’t have to call to her or even raise a hand. The necromancer’s body moved of its own accord, threading through people until she was at the truck.
“What vampires have done is intolerable. Everything we fought to achieve and build has been torn from our grasp, everything the Michile worked for, everything you've bled and died for, has been taken from you. From all of us. Once, I failed to protect the covenant that gave us peace and freedom, but no longer. I intend to fight the oppressors. Until my true death if necessary.”
Chloe and Aubrey leapt down lightly to be with her, at the level of the group around them, their arms sliding around her in an insulating embrace she sunk into for a moment before gathering herself to speak.
“These vampires and I choose to fight the Council and their guards. We are going to end this once and for all. No more slavery, no more torture, no more genocide, no more kampfhunds, no MORE!”
She knew she was being watched carefully. Everything she did and said in this moment mattered more than any other time in her life. It wasn't just about her struggle for survival anymore. And maybe she had been too wrapped up in her own shit before to realize what this would actually mean in the actual moment. But she understood it all so clearly now.
“And I get it, yeah? I get being too afraid, of being scared to upset the way of things. Worried about what will happen to each of us. It's why I spent an entire life running and hiding. To protect myself. To save me. But being here, standing and fighting isn't about me. It's about all of us. For all of us. And deadass, I wouldn’t blame anyone that walked back out those doors and started running. There's a good chance you may even get somewhere safe, but you'll never be free. At least with us you have a chance to take your lives back, like the ones before us did. So that the ones after us can be free forever.”
Jesse rocked on his heels, hands in his pockets, grinning like the big dork he was. When no one said anything he took a deliberate step forward, looked around, then took another big step putting him right in front of Beca again.
“Me too, also, as well. That's my friend!”
“Aww Becs in effects, you know and love me!”
He opened his arms for a hug that elicited a hiss from Chloe made him drop them immediately.
“Right, sorry. No hugging. So vampires and wolves huh? Old enemies turned new friends. I think this could make an awesome meet cute in that scary monsters kind of way.”
“You don’t speak for all wolves, pup.”
Kommissar growled but Beca was pleased to note she hadn’t stood from her kneeling spot at Athan's feet.
“I am still Alpha. My pack will follow ME.”
Jesse nodded a few times at Kommissar, almost like he was waiting for her to say more. When she didn’t he gave her a sad smile and a sigh.
“But I'm not in your pack. So. I guess…I can do what I want.”
Athan's hooded head tipped slightly as he studied Jesse intently. His power crept out and curled around her friend, curious and exploring before he withdrew it and focused on Beca.
“This one is a true Alpha.”
The moment he stated it his power released its hold on Kommissar and she sagged to the side in a desperate scramble to get out of Athan's way as he came closer.
“Wait. You mean me? Dude no. I mean would I like things to be my own way? Yes 100 percent but I don't want to be the boss. Plus you know, mutts don't get to be Alphas.”
“Yeah you know…bitten wolves. That's the rule in wolf world.”
“It matters not how you came to be. You are what you are, and no other wolf can make that less so.”
The wolves looked at each other nervously unsure how to process this information. All eyes drifted to Kommissar, waiting for her to say anything at all. She growled defiantly but looked away from Athan quickly.
Beca could appreciate the position the Alpha was in. She was basically being called out for weakness. If she didn't make the right choice she would lose her pack and they would likely follow Jesse. Whether he liked it or not. The necromancer chewed her lip trying to decide if she should toss Kommisar a lifeline or not.
“Look Kommissar, if we want to build a new life we are going to have to do it by being different and better than we are now. Whatever prejudices we have need to die now for us to have a chance at making a change.”
“And why should the wolves be a part of your change, tiny mouse? We are wolves, we are free wherever we roam.”
It was a lie. A lie made up by Kommissar's hurt pride and the desire to keep her pack. Beca didn't even begin to know how to speak to that without saying ‘liar lair fur on fire’. Which would probably not go well for them.
Aubrey squeezed her shoulder gently and Beca looked up at her with a relieved nod. Yes, please, do the leader thing. Chloe kissed her brow lightly and pulled back enough for her and Aubrey to address the group.
The buzz of annoyance she had started to link to Harun's presence dampened when Aubrey’s voice rose just loud enough to stop the whispers rustling softly among them.
“If your freedom is not enough, then may we offer you revenge?”
Chloe took one step forward and pinned Kommissar with blue eyes nearly snapping with intensity. There was no fear, only a laser focus and for the first time Beca could actually picture Chloe facing down a minotaur.
“Pieter is alive.” Kommissar's lip curled in a silent warning growl. Beca didn't know who Pieter was but by the way Jesse flinched at the mention of his name made her curious. Chloe raised her brow in challenge and pressed forward. “Hauer will come for my Necromancer. And he will bring his kampfhunds, he will bring your brother.”
Oh. Fuck. Beca’s eyes popped wide as she looked between the vampire and a wolf. That was a twist she never saw coming.
“You lie. Pieter is already dead.”
“I've seen him with my own eyes. The wolf with the white sock, opposite your own.”
“Pieter would never be captured! He would die first taking as many of you soulless demons as possible.”
Aubrey's smooth voice rose slightly. “I am the only demon here, and if Chloe says she saw your brother alive then it is so.”
A tall woman with more leg than Beca was tall gave them an impish smile that showed a few too many teeth. And still Beca couldn't help but stare. Stare and stupidly start to raise her hands to boob squeeze position before Jesse shook his head and pushed her hands down. Wait what?
Jesse chuckled. “Succubus.”
Beca flushed a deep red and shoved her hands in her back pockets to prevent that from happening again. Kommissar looked at the woman appraisingly then stepped back.
“And what would the leader of the Fae gain from this?”
“You heard them, Wolfskönigin. Freedom. Revenge. Peace for all of us. But beyond that, the desire leaking off these three right now could feed me for an entire season. They have power, Kommissar. Real fucking power and everyone here can taste it but you.”
Kommisar growled and faced Beca again. This time the look wasn't just predatory it was deadly. The Alpha was going to kill her one day for putting her in this position. There wasn't going to be any reconciliation no matter what Kommissar chose. She would always hate Beca. Chloe hissed a warning and put her body directly in the wolf's line of sight and blocked the view of Beca.
It didn't surprise her in the least that Chloe did that. Or that Aubrey chuckled with unconcern at the alpha's posturing. Because of course not. She'd seen Chloe fight worse. Beca, however, was surprised at the sudden shift of vampire and Clan alike that simultaneously had done the same.
And she might have been a little embarrassed at the startled jump she gave at realizing the creepy fish lady was at her elbow when she hadn't seen or heard her move at all. But Beca covered it quickly with a grateful nod and a quick mental count of all her teeth.
“So…here it stands then. The Great Clans have chosen…”
The betrayal in her tone was evident. It was thick with layers of rage and hurt and at her core Beca understood it. And if the shoe were on the other foot she would be just as upset. Beside her Jesse whined softly and shuffled forward with his eyes down. It was the most submissive he could make himself as he faced the growling alpha.
“Kommissar, I don't want to lead this pack and I won't choose sides against you. I do think joining with them is the right thing but not if it's going to cause a war between wolves. I'll be your wolf if that's what it takes to prove it. And I'll support whatever choice you make here. Just…please let's not fight.”
It was almost everything Kommissar wanted. The chance to find her brother, to fight vampires, even having Jesse in her pack. It was everything but Beca herself and the necromancer could see the wheels turning in her head. After a moment of thought Kommissar's energy settled and she gave an agreeing grunt.
Beca nodded with a grin. “Bet.”
Okay this could work out. She glanced around, once again startled at the proximity of the siren on her left side. She was watching Beca intently and she felt a mental prod from Harun.
“Oh. Fuck. Right…okay wait…” Well the lady wanted teeth. Beca probed the already loose tooth from her fight with that jerk in the van. It wasn't nearly as loose as it had been, having healed quickly when she bound to Aubrey and Chloe but it was all she had. “I'm going to need you to punch me in the face first.”
And the siren did. Without hesitation or question. And while Beca had told her to, she was still unprepared for the blow that rocked her back into Aubrey’s solid body behind her.
She rubbed her jaw winced when the tooth shifted under the ginger touch. Beca poked and probed with her tongue until it came out of place. She pinched it between her fingers trying not to gag at the sight of her own bloody tooth and dropped it into the eagerly waiting webbed hand.
The siren examined the tooth and tucked it away with a firm nod. Gross but okay. Deal formally made. Which meant there was only one thing left to do. Beca cleared her throat and turned to hold a hand out for Athan. He came forward and knelt at her side. It was a little exhilarating, having a creature that powerful kneel at her feet. Magic as old as the ground beneath them swelled and flexed and she could feel everyone of her ancestors with it.
Athan glanced up but sighed and lowered his hood. It wasn't pretty. He had decayed even further since the last time she had seen him. Her magic caressed his brittle, bald pate and she looked at Kommissar.
“Look at him, Kommissar. This was a curse from the Vampire Council. Punishment for the crime of protecting wolves against his own. I can heal him but it requires your help. So are you really in or not?”
