4. Kade

Frustrated beyond belief, Kade flees Elara's house like his tail is on fire. His fingertips where he touched her are sizzling with energy, sending jolts of electricity straight to his broken heart. It took everything in him not to just grab her and sweep her into his arms and kiss her. All he can think about when he's that close is claiming her.

Except she's not for him. She's destined for Laith, who will die for her.

Fucking prophecy…

Kade stalks through the woods like a malevolent shadow. His emotions are out of control, every fiber of his body is telling him to crawl up the trellis to her window and watch her. Being this far away from Elara is unbearable.

He pauses, one hand on his chest and one arm braced against a tree.

Go back…

Go back!

I can't go back!

With a savage growl, Kade clenches his fist and punches the tree as hard as he can. His knuckles split, splashing blood on the bark, and the whole tree quakes at his sheer power.

"What was that?"

Kade stills, his breathing halted. Someone's nearby and they heard him.

"We're in the middle of the woods, you idiot. There are bound to be animals living here and making noises."

"That was no animal…"

"Shut up and focus! I don't have time for you to go chasing shadows and jumping at crickets!"

Kade lowers himself, stalking through the trees silently. He can see the glow of a fire in the distance, but more than that, he can smell fear. A lot of it.

"If we don't get this finished before Chad gets here, he'll kill us along with these humans! Focus, idiot!"

"Maybe we deserve to die…"

One of them has a conscious? Kade almost laughs. He comes to the last line of trees and presses his back to a large oak. There are two men around a fire, pacing back and forth and moving large bundles to seemingly random places. Headlights appear, bathing the small clearing in blinding light. Kade takes the moment to get a good look at what's happening around the bonfire.

Humans are gagged and tied like mummies, their bodies forming what appears to be a pentagram around the fire. Twelve bodies, twelve candles burning on their chests. Twelve lives hanging in the balance. Kade sucks in a breath when he realizes each person is lying on a bed of dried wood and straw.

They're going to burn them alive!

Horrified, Kade slips back behind the tree and hurriedly pulls his phone out. He needs to call someone, anyone, but will he have time? Can anyone get here to help him before these innocents are killed in some ritualistic sacrifice?

"I see you prepared the humans to my specifications," a cold voice says.

Kade risks peering around the tree, just one eye, to see who's arrived. His blood goes cold even as his hackles rise. He can feel his fur pushing through his human skin, just begging for him to shift and attack.

"Master Chad, we're your obedient servants," one of the men says as they both fall to their knees and bow.

"Obedience will always be rewarded. Our mistress will bless you for your service on this night."

The two servants seem to glow with pride before their master, clearly next in command to the witch who runs the shifters. The witch that cursed Kade. Before he sensed her return, it was Chad pulling the strings. If Kade can kill him here and now…

"Let"s begin. She needs this ritual finished so she can harness the power. The moon is in the right position. We must do it now," Chad orders, removing leather gloves and throwing his coat on the hood of his car.

There"s no time to call anyone, no time to wait and hope these murderers fail. Kade has to act now. He pinches his eyes shut, forcing the shift. It is always harder without the full moon, but not impossible.

Chad begins chanting, lifting his hands to the moon while his henchmen circle the humans with torches in their hands. Three more men step out of the shadows, each one standing at the head of a sacrifice, a pair of people making a point of the star. The humans are screaming behind their gags, trying to struggle.

The henchmen lower their torches, ready to light the beds beneath the humans when Kade launches himself into the clearing. Guy's voice slips through his mind.

"Take the head of the snake, and the body will fall."

Kade flies through the air towards Chad. All four paws connect with his back, knocking the evil man flat on his face. His head nearly lands in the fire in the center of the pentagram, which is what Kade was aiming for.

His failure to kill him on impact changes everything.

The henchmen shout in alarm, throwing their torches down and shifting to prepare for battle. One torch lands too close to a sacrifice and the tinder and kindling ignite. As roars and whinnies of animals rise into the night, so too does the screaming of the poor hopeless souls who will be the first to die.

Kade leaps off Chad and runs towards the flames, hoping to at least drag the humans away from danger, but a solid body rams into his side and throws him through the air. Kade rolls on impact, pulling himself back up to his paws and snarling. A buffalo scrapes the ground with its hooves, head lowered and ready to attack again.

"Kill him! Kill him before he ruins everything!" Chad screams.

All around him, Kade watches the five once-human henchmen circle him. Besides the buffalo, there"s a jaguar, an eagle, a horse, a honey badger, and another wolf. An abomination for a shifter to assume the sacred shape of the untainted wolf.

Kade lowers his massive head, teeth bared and golden eyes flashing with malice. His gaze flickers from his enemies to Chad, who continues to light the fires.

No!

The buffalo attacks again, its thundering hooves kicking up dust as it races towards him. Buffalos have thick skin, but unprotected legs. Any good wolf knows this. Take the massive creature out by the tendons and your pack can eat for weeks.

Kade goes in low, timing the impact of the hooves with the beating of his own heart. When he senses his moment, he darts to the right and rolls. His teeth find the creature's leg and rip, easily severing the tendon on the right back haunch. The crashing sound of the buffalo going down drowns out the screaming of the humans, but only for a moment.

A screaming horse comes in next, rearing up and bringing down powerful hooves. One hoof makes impact, cracking something in Kade's chest, but he darts away before more damage is done.

The honey badger is next, darting under Kade even as the horse rears again. Kade hops, grabbing the badger by the scruff of the neck and shaking him like a ragdoll. His teeth sink deeper, deeper, as blood floods his mouth. He dodges another kick, rips into the badger, and shakes him again until he feels the tell-tale snap of the creature"s neck.

Kade drops the animal, the thing"s dead body slowly shifting back to human. Horse, jaguar, and wolf triangulate around him, pushing him farther and farther away from the fire pit and the humans Kade's trying so desperately to save.

Over the back of the enemy wolf, Kade can see Chad. He's standing, facing the fire but looking at Kade. The burning bodies and screams of those dying seem to dance in the man"s eyes. He looks half dead himself. He was young once, but his skin had become skeletal, his eyes hollow, his dark hair thinning. The magics he's housing is destroying his body, but he doesn't seem to care.

"You're too late, little wolfling! Maybe if you had brought your pack…" Chad snarls, lowering the torch toward the last body.

Kade turns his head towards the moon and howls, a deep mournful sound. He's failed the humans, he knows this, but maybe if he can kill as many of these shifters as possible then he can redeem something.

Choosing the easiest target and the one that can do the most damage with size, Kade attacks the horse. One quick bite and his teeth slide through the horse's neck like butter, exposing its throat and ripping through the vessels and veins. The creature bellows in pain, shifting back to human and clutching his neck desperately as he writhes on the ground.

"You're going to die, little wolf!" Chad roars over the screams of the final sacrifice. "Lay down and accept it!"

The shifter wolf coils its haunches and leaps, attacking Kade from behind and biting into his flesh. Dagger-like teeth sink past fur and straight into muscle. Pain lances through Kade, but he only uses it to fuel his struggle. He's a thrashing, twisting mass of fury as the wolf drags him back into the woods, away from the clearing.

"Come, pet, let him finish the boy. We've achieved what we came here for."

Kade thrashes, shaking his head in disbelief.

The cougar turns, jogging up to Chad like a trained dog. Chad looks one last time at Kade and waves jovially as an explosion of power bursts from the fire. Flames rise impossibly high, appearing to lick and sear the moon herself. Sparks catch the wind, spinning and spiraling around Chad as the evil man throws his head back and laughs.

Whatever he set out to do, he achieved. Whatever the power is for, it doesn't bode well for anyone. Least of all Kade. He rears back, dislodging the traitorous wolf and flinging him off his back. Growling, Kade circles the other wolf. He knows he needs to die, but not whether he needs to die now. If he can incapacitate him, they can question him…

A twig snaps behind Kade and he has only a moment to duck before the injured buffalo appears again. He throws himself bodily at Kade, trying to crush him with sheer size, but Kade's too fast. He ducks out of the way and rebounds, leaping on the buffalo"s back and biting wherever he can. The creature bellows and stumbles, blood spraying from every bite, and finally, he falls.

With another leap, Kade propels himself off the beast's back, making it fall harder and him launch farther away. He needs to be prepared for the wolf"s next attack now that the buffalo is down again. The huge beast hits the ground, but instead of a scream of pain, Kade hears a sickening yelp.

All at once the clearing goes eerily quiet, the only sounds being the crackling of the fire behind him. The stench of scorched flesh weaves through the ominous silence. Breathing hard, Kade slowly walks around the buffalo as it shifts back to human in death. Beneath him, Kade can see the wolf, now paralyzed. Only his eyes move as Kade stalks ever closer.

Sensing the danger is passed, Kade shifts and crouches near the shifter wolf, hatred slithering through his insides. "Shift and speak to me, and I'll spare your life," he offers.

The wolf seems to grin, exposing his fangs as he coughs up blood. Before he can shift and speak, those mocking gold eyes dilate and glass over. He's dead.

Kade stands slowly, surveying the loss of shifters and humans with his hand gripping his injured rib. All this death, all this loss, and he wasn't able to stop anything. He learned nothing other than the witch has gathered more power to her side and that losing her shifters isn't important to either her or Chad.

Slowly, Kade walks back to the fire and falls to his knees at the head of the last person to die. He lets out a gut-wrenching sob, falling on his hands and screaming in defeat. He wasn't good enough on his own. He survived, but he saved no one. He's useless, alone. Powerless. A waste of oxygen.

He lowers his head to the scorched earth as tears fall from his eyes. He can see the benefit of a pack, and if things were different, maybe Elara and Laith could form one with Kade and Guy.

But the prophecy would never allow…

The prophecy controls all.

Kade sits back on his heels and turns his face to the moon, his cheeks icy and wet. The prophecy, what he's devoted his life to, takes everything. Maybe in the end it will take his conscience. That's the only way he can see himself surviving all this loss.

The only way he can let Elara suffer as he does himself.

If only he could cut his heart out and live, every loss he's suffered and will continue to suffer wouldn't hurt anymore.

If only…