Kaeron Lucian Deitas stood mere feet away from his target. A lion shifter who had pissed off, Vandris Tarhken, also known as "The Great White" because he was ruthless like a shark, and racist as all hell, but he was one of the more powerful lowlife crime bosses in this shit hole of a city Kaeron was calling home nowadays. Aridale, the home of the damned and worthless. Where Crime ran rampant, and the cops were on somebody's payroll, just depended on which precinct.
"Look man.. you. You don't have to do this.. please man, I've. I've got a wife and kids!" The shifter pleaded.
Kaeron sighed. They always had a wife and kids. He had made the mistake once, of asking one of his targets, "If you love your family so much, why risk it?" They had answered him with a sad smile that made Kaeron want to vomit and said. "I would never put my family in harms way on purpose, I wasn't planning on being made; it wasn't supposed to go down like this."
"It wasn't supposed to go down like this!" How stupid could these people be. In his line of work, he'd seen it "go down like this" so many times, he couldn't believe it went any other way. Needless to say, he killed that moron without a second thought.
Kaeron was juggling his newly commissioned, Atriuem steel dagger. It was heavier than what he was used to, but that made little difference, especially when the two he had thrown at the shifter had severed muscle and tendon in both arms, with ease, making them useless, and the Kirion ashes he had dipped the blades in, made shifting impossible.
"What does it feel like? The Kirion blocking your transformation I mean?" Kaeron crooned. Kirion was some real nasty work. It was illegal everywhere, even in Aridale, where there was an endless supply of drugs going around that no one gave a shit about. Luckily he knew a guy.
"It fucking burns, how the fuck do you think it feels you traitorous prick!" The man spat, slobber coating his jaw.
It was uncanny how other shifters were able to sniff each other out. They were like fucking.. Bloodhounds.
Kaeron stopped juggling the dagger, the black blade glinting in the moonlight. He smiled to himself and without another word, lunged, slitting the man's throat. The shifter tried to scream or speak but the tidal wave of blood spewing from his mouth swallowed any of that up.
Kaerons job however was not yet done. Even as the shifter hit the earth, his supernatural healing failing to heal the wound that would normally not be fatal to beings like the shifter, if it weren't for the Kirion blocking his magic.
Kaeron still needed proof of death. A raindrop struck the side of his cheek, followed by a quick downpour. He sighed as the shifters body finally stopped spasming, put the blade to his neck again, and began the tedious work of cutting off the shifters head.
******
Lillian Hearthstone's breathing was like fire in her lungs as she pushed herself to run faster. She had become used to the burn ever since she had escaped that obsessive man, who had found out her secret, and decided she would be his and bare his children once she turned 16, going so far as to try and lock her away, and had the gall to say he was doing her a favor.
Her feet pounded against the wet cement, splashing in a puddle, as she exited the alleyway and took a hard right. The sound of her pursuer's gaining had her practically screaming at her legs to go faster.
She should have killed the bastard when she had the chance. When her only friend at the prison of a mansion, Sebastian the butler, had drugged her guards and gotten her out.
"Run Lillian, run somewhere he will never find you, run until you can't run anymore. Don't tell me where you're going, don't tell anybody. I will come find you when I can."
She shook the thought out her head as she turned into another alley; she needed to stay focused on the present; to deal with the werewolves who must have heard of the 35 million Vorx coin bounty that had been placed on her. She was wanted alive at least, though the thought did little to confort her. Somehow she had avoided capture from a fae bounty hunter, a junkie vampire, and two fox shifters who she may have possibly gotten killed after leading them to the middle of a demon summoning, and used the chaos to escape into a network of tunnels that she somehow found her way out of.
After that she had surprisingly been able to cross the border into Lasaries, and over the river to this no doubt criminal infested city, and thought she would have a second to breath, but apparently news had traveled fast.
The night dwellers were out tonight, making for shelter, as the rain roared around them, and the few people who glanced her way; seeing she was being chased, made no effort to help her. Bastards! They were all bastards for ignoring her. She held onto that frustration, and instead of letting it slow her steps, she used it like fuel, as she crossed into another alley, this one much more narrow, with a SPLASH!
There was a concrete wall too tall to jump over or climb, down the path blocking her way forward, but there were two intersections, one to the left and one to the right coming up in a few feet. She chose the one to the left and barreled down it; her legs were officially jelly, and the panting had set in, each hurried breath like acid in her lungs but she pressed onwards, refusing to faulter for even a step.
As she ran through back alley after back alley, hopping fences, dodging the homeless, she sent a prayer to Zedith, the goddess of luck and protection, that her lungs nor her heart would explode from the pressure she was putting on them, but she was starting to slow, the presence of the wolves inching closer and closer.. She didn't let that thought sink in as she entered into another alley. A horrible site flashed her, and she tripped over herself in horror, landing in a puddle of red water, knees colliding hard with the concrete, ripping a whimper from her lips.
A body.. A headless body! It laid sprawled out only a few inches away from her face. Blood was everywhere, but it had to be a fresh kill. She wasn't sure why she thought it, but she was sure of that.
A shadow moved somewhere to the right of her, or maybe it was her imagination, a last stitch effort from her subconscious to convince her there was someone in this damned city who might help her, save her from these bastards.
She scowled as the 3 Werewolves entered the alley, grinning like this had all been a game to them.
"You're a fast one little girl." One said sweetly.
"Fuck you!" She spat, trying to stand but failing, her legs had, had enough; they felt like lead blocks, and her knees were screaming in agony from the fall.
"Better watch that tongue girl, they say your' wanted alive, not unharmed." Another snarled. "Who knows, maybe we'll have a litle bit of fun witch'ya first, I love them younger and full of spirit." He licked his lips, his brown eyes assessing her.
The air had been effectively sucked from out her, and it wasn't from the running, but she steeled herself. She knew she couldn't beat all three of them, not like this, but she wouldn't go without putting up a fight.
"I don't know guy's, she's got a 35 million Vorx coin bounty on her, that specifically states she's wanted alive.. I don't think Talion wants this girl hurt, not if he's spending that much." Another said softly.
She flinched at the name. Talion.. Talion Atriuem, the head of the Atriuem weapon company, and one of king Demetrius Atriuem's advisors and his only brother.
"Shut the fuck up Hearld, no one asked you fraidy cat!" The second hissed.
"I'm not a fraidy cat." Hearld mumbled but added nothing else.
The first took a step forward and she bristled. "I think Hearlds right bout this one Lom, and even if he ain't, I ain't trying to figure out, les jest bag 'er and go."
Lom scoffed, "Never get to have any fun."
They all advanced one step, than two, and she prepared herself. They made it all of three steps before stopping.
That shadow moved again but this time a man emerged. He was... Ruggedly handsome.. Ok her breathing was irregular for an entirely different reason than it was only seconds before. He had an old scar that went over his right eye, and if his dark chocolate skin, hadn't melted her, the fullness of his lips as he smiled, a smile that would freeze a lake over, a smile that should probably be terrifying but only seemed to dissolve her, as if she were nothing more than paper to sulfuric acid, did the trick.
He was tall, at least six foot five, and he was ripped, she could tell even in the dark, even from a distance, sat on the cold ground, and he had an aura about him, it demanded fear and respect, even the rain seemed to give him space as if scared of the guy.
"Some wolves you lot are, you didn't sniff me out until now, must be pups." He laughed humorously.
The three wolves snarled in unison, but only the unnamed one spoke, who Lillian suspected was the leader of the group. "She's our prey Fire Breather, so get lost."
He took a step forward, and the three all inhaled a breath. Even Lillian found herself holding in a breath.
"You wanna repeat that pup?" He said menacingly.
To their credit, they didn't back down. Lom spoke so quietly that even a few steps away, Lillian almost couldn't hear him over the pounding rain.
"There's three of us, if we shift no way could he take all us on."
Her spine stiffened. He was right, werewolves were notoriously powerful, even without shifting, and even though it wasn't a full moon, which would have increased their might ten fold, even shifting on a half moon night like this one, would make them almost unbeatable for one man.
She had to warn him to run. She turned and opened her mouth to speak, but a surprised gasp came instead of words. He was right in front of her now, examining her. She hadn't heard him move, hadn't seen him until he was right there.
"What the.. when did he.." One of the wolves exclaimed, but she couldn't tell which, she was to busy watching those blacker than night eyes that scanned over her.
He frowned, "You're worth 35 million? You're still a girl."
She frowned back at the statement. "Clearly I'm special than." She retorted sweetly.
"I have questions for you." He said ignoring her comment. "Why does Talion.."
"Don't ignore us!" One shouted, as a flash of light came, and went just as sudden, followed by two more. The sign of the shift.
He broke their staring contest and finally looked the wolves way; so did she.
They had transformed; larger now, even more than the man, both in height and muscle mass. They stood on four legs, bodies covered in gray fur. Their mouthes were open in menacing snarles, showing off their gianormous fangs, and their golden eyes were narrowed in on the man.
"Pups should learn how to think first before baring their fangs." He yawned.
She looked at him as if he were insane, how could he be so casual about this, but when she looked back she noticed it, they weren't standing side by side, but back to front in the narrow space.
He took out a black blade and said without looking her way. "This'll only take a moment."
And it did only take a moment. Moving so quick, it were as if he were a blur, he struck with confidence, and precision, severing limbs, and arteries, dodging the single attempt of the first wolfs swipe of it's gigantic claws, his first and last, before the man had slid the dagger into it's eye, and a second later the wolf erupted in flames.
He didn't even howl as he hit the ground, shifting back to his charred human body. The sight and smell sent Lillian's head flicking to the left, and she vomited.
From a far away place, she heard the man ask. "Who's next?"