Chapter Sixteen

Xavier

It was the middle of the night, and Xavier was in the middle of a deep and dreamless sleep, which was a rare occurrence for him. However, that peaceful moment was shattered by what sounded like a sharp whistle coming from outside the house. Jolting awake, he blinked and rubbed the sleep from his eyes, his vision quickly adjusting to the darkness of the room, as he listened for the sound again. Because Madelyn hadn’t stirred and was still fast asleep against his side, he was beginning to think that he had imagined it. At least, until the whistle sounded again and drew his attention toward the window.

Gritting his teeth in irritation, he carefully pulled his arm out from beneath Madelyn’s head, not wanting to wake her. He silently climbed out of bed and padded his way to the window, not caring about his current nakedness, before looking out into the night. Unsurprisingly, Colby was there, standing out on the lawn with a smirk on his freshly scarred face.

Unlike the last time Xavier saw the guy, Colby wasn’t pissing himself in fear. Instead, he seemed a bit cocky, which led him to believe that he wasn’t here alone. There was a very high probability that the others who had deflected from the ‘Family’ were hiding among the trees, waiting to ambush him, and the fact that they had come to Madelyn’s house to do so really pissed him off too.

“Hey, freak,” Colby sneered, his voice drifting up to Xavier through the glass. “Didn’t think you got rid of me that easily, did you?”

It took Xavier a moment to realize that Colby hadn’t bothered to raise his voice, which meant he really was losing his touch. It shouldn’t have taken him so long to realize such an important detail.

It was clear that Colby had done some research since he discovered what Xavier was. Xavier just wasn’t sure how. As far as he knew, there wasn’t any literature or websites on the traits of his kind. The only person he knew who had that kind of information was Rodrigo, and he wasn’t the type to run his mouth or divulge secrets, even if they weren’t on the best of terms. He made a mental note to check out how Colby got his information later since it didn’t matter much at the moment.

“It’s time we finish this, Xavier,” Colby continued when he hadn’t reacted. “Come down here and face me, or so help me God, I will burn this place to the ground with you and your little girlfriend inside.”

Colby turned and began heading into the trees. Just before he vanished from sight, he stopped and looked back at Xavier over his shoulder. “I assume you won’t have any trouble finding me with that nose of yours.”

Then he was gone, his last statement confirming that he knew way more than he should.

For a moment, Xavier considered ignoring him completely. Only one person in his life had ever been allowed to give him orders, and it wasn’t Colby. However, a soft sigh and the rustle of bed sheets behind him reminded him that he had someone else to think about now, another life he was responsible for. It wasn’t what he was used to, but it was his new normal. He needed to make sure that Madelyn stayed safe.

Turning away from the window, Xavier moved for the bedroom door, snatching his pants off the ground as he went. Colby was right; it was time to end this once and for all.

The chilly night air hit his warm skin as he stepped out onto the porch, closing the door behind him with a soft click. He hadn’t bothered with a shirt or shoes and socks because he didn’t expect this to take very long. He may not know exactly what Colby had planned or how many guys waited for him in the cover of the trees, but he knew that he would be able to handle it quickly. Then, he would be back in bed before Madelyn even knew he was gone.

Xavier shoved his hands into his pockets as he made his way through the woods, leaves and twigs crunching beneath his bare feet. The further in he went, the more scents he began to catch on to that were mixing with Colby’s. His original assessment had been correct; Colby hadn’t come alone, which explained why he was being so bold. He didn’t want to appear weak and afraid in front of the others. It didn’t matter to Xavier either way though as he would take out as many of them as was necessary. Colby was still underestimating him if he believed a few more bodies were going to tip the odds in his favor.

In a matter of minutes, Xavier reached the small clearing. The cover of trees opened up to reveal a beautiful, cloudless sky, and moonlight was illuminating the area, not that he needed it. Colby stood at the other end, flanked by two guys he remembered from when he worked for Rodrigo. However, they had been so low on the totem pole that he hadn’t bothered to learn their names, and he wasn’t about to try now. They would be dead soon enough, along with Colby.

“You are like a cockroach, Colby,” he commented casually, coming to a stop just inside the clearing. “You just don’t go away.”

“And you are surprisingly cocky for someone who’s outnumbered,” Colby stated, motioning to the two guys behind him.

Xavier smirked. “Three against one. I’d say the odds are still in my favor.”

He knew there were way more than just the three men in front of him as he had scented at least fifteen more on the way here. He couldn’t tell how many there were for sure because they were all grouped together and he hadn’t had the time to pinpoint each individual scent. Though, Colby didn’t need to know that he knew that. He wanted the guy to think he had the upper hand. And judging by the look on his face, he did.

Colby casually grasped his hands behind him as he began pacing. “Yeah, about that. I guess some of the guys were a bit upset that you had kept such a huge secret from all of us.”

Xavier chuckled in response. “And I bet you were just all too happy to fill them in.”

“Well, we are a family, after all. And families confide in each other. They had a right to know there was a monster in their midst. We all did.”

“We are all monsters, Colby. I’m not special.”

Freezing in place, Colby looked over at him and raised an eyebrow. “Well, now you are just being coy.”

Xavier rolled his eyes. He was already bored with all of this. It was taking too long, and there was somewhere else he’d rather be, with someone far more interesting than the asshole before him.

“Are we going to do this, or what?” he asked impatiently. “Because I’m getting sick of listening to you talk.”

Colby and the other two guys laughed, which wasn’t the reaction he had been expecting. “Are you really that eager to die, Xavier?”

“You seem so sure you are going to win,” he replied. “You know what I am, Colby, even with these two and all the others you have cowering in the trees, my death isn’t guaranteed. However, what is a guarantee is the fact that more than a few of you will be dying tonight.”

As he finished speaking, Xavier shifted on the spot, shredding through his sweatpants with his new form. He would have to walk back to the house naked now, but he didn’t care. He was done with this shit.

After shaking out his fur, he looked up at the men in front of him. While Colby appeared unphased, having seen him shift before, the other two looked like they were about to crap their pants, which pleased him to no end.

With a low growl, he crouched low to the ground, making his intentions clear. Colby caught on and dove out of the way at the last minute as Xavier lunged forward. His claws pierced the chest of the first guy within seconds, and he had his throat torn out before they even hit the ground.

Spitting the blood and flesh from his mouth, he turned to the next guy. As much as he would have enjoyed dragging this out for as long as possible, making them suffer horribly, he couldn’t afford to waste any time. Not when he was so outnumbered. He needed to end this.

The second guy was killed just as quickly as the first, and then his attention was on Colby, hoping to end this before it even began. He snarled and snapped at him, taking a few steps in Colby’s direction. However, he was so enthralled by the scent of his fear that the three loud pops that came from the cover of the trees didn’t even register until he felt the sharp pain in his flank.

Xavier spun around to see three large tranquilizer darts sticking out of his fur. It wasn’t enough to knock him out, not with his rapid metabolism, but it was enough to drastically weaken him. He had underestimated Colby, had underestimated how much he knew about his kind, and he had expected him to still follow the rules set about by Rodrigo even though Isabelle had tried to warn him that he didn’t. That was on him, and now he was paying for it.

As the tranquilizer coursed through his system, he growled at Colby, his steps stumbling before his legs gave out completely, and he crashed to the ground in a heap. Colby laughed again, the scabbed wound on the side of his face pinching as he closed the distance between the two of them. It was a stupid move on his part because everyone knew not to approach a cornered animal. Despite his rapidly weakening strength, Xavier was determined to make him pay for this.

The bastard even had the nerve to gently pat Xavier’s cheek. “Don’t worry, Xavier. We aren’t going to kill you. Not yet anyway. Me and the guys?” He motioned toward the treeline.

Xavier blinked, trying to clear his blurring vision, and watched as about twenty men stepped out into the clearing, all former members of the family. Some of them he knew; most he didn’t, but a few of them he had even considered a little more than acquaintances. Now though, they were all traitors in the eyes of Rodrigo.

“We have several years of pent-up frustration to get out,” Colby continued.

Xavier growled and used every last ounce of his strength to claw Colby’s face, right along the healing wounds from his previous attack. His claws tore at the flesh, feeling it rip and tear and open anew. Blood spilled down Colby’s face as he screeched in agony. For several moments, no one in the clearing moved or even dared breathe.

Colby covered the side of his face with his hand, trying to stem the bleeding. He rose to his feet and then kicked Xavier square in the ribs, knocking the wind out of him and cracking two of his ribs in the process. “We are going to take our fucking time with you, freak,” he spat angrily. “I hope you are ready because this is really going to fucking hurt!”

Colby backed away, ripping his shirt over his head to press the cloth against his face, and the first group of guys stepped forward. A man named Keith was the first to strike, a swift and hard kick in the same place Colby had kicked him just moments before. His ribs snapped under the force of the blow, and he roared in pain.

The beating began in full force then, each guy taking the opportunity to either punch or kick him. One even dislocated his hip joint, and there was nothing he could do to stop it, thanks to the sedative. He almost wished it had been enough to knock him out. While he had inflicted more than enough pain on others, being on the receiving end was a different thing entirely.

After what felt like an eternity of being beaten, having bones broken, tufts of fur yanked out, and being stabbed by various objects, the guys finally began to back away. Blood filled his mouth, and his body throbbed painfully. He blinked the one eye that wasn’t swollen shut and watched as Colby stepped up next to him, twirling a metal bat in his hands. He smirked at Xavier, a look of triumph on his face.

“Not bad for the first round,” he sneered. “And when you come to, we will do this all over again. This time, I win, Xavier.”

Colby raised the bat over his head and brought it down with enough force to kill him had he been human. The bat cracked against his skull, but he mercifully blacked out before the pain of the blow could register, and he welcomed the darkness with open arms.