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Blood. I could smell blood up and down that pier. It spattered the wood, soaking and darkening as the afternoon twilight danced across the water's glacial surface like diamonds. I padded barefoot, still clad in the black bottoms and shirt I had slept in.

I felt the sunlight warm me as I gazed out. Isaiah wasn't here. I'd called out his name and heard nothing back. Lian must have right.

Isaiah was dead and gone.

Tears broke my shields and spilled free to spatter the dock beneath me. Why was I so upset? Lian had been right. I'd barely known Isaiah. So why did my heart sink as that knot in my stomach tightened worse than ever?

I could feel the wolf inside me howl, a long, drawn out, mournful sound. It had agreed that Isaiah had been strong and dependable. He'd been gunned down and recovered simply by taking a swim in the lake. He had been reliable. The wolf respected Isaiah.

"He put up a good fight, I'll have ye' know."

I whirled as my stomach sank. Broderic stood at the far end of the dock, where the wood met the grass. He was dressed in his tailored pants and boots, but his jacket was missing. His white shirt was buttoned to his throat, his tie fastened tight. He had rolled back the sleeves. He had a cigarette pursed between his lips. The tip flared orange as a cloud of smoke spilled from the corner of his mouth.

His sleak, black hair caught in the breeze, bound in his ponytail as it moved behind him. He smiled warmly as he walked forward.

"What do you mean?"

"Linus gave me an order before he departed for Russia, lad. Finish off yer precious walkin' handbag." He tilted an invisible hat and grinned, "Yer welcome." His Irish accent thick on his tongue.

Rage boiled inside me. The tears spilled hot and angry as my wolf snarled inside at this disgraceful representation of a wolf.

KILL! KILL! KILL!

I flexed my hands at my sides.

"Linus ordered me not to touch you, boy, so I'd stop flexin' those hands of yers. Wouldn't wanna have an accident, now would we?" Broderic grinned.

I crossed the dock in a blur. I was suddenly under him. I slammed my forearm into his stomach. That earned me a cough and a splutter from him. His cigarette spilled from his mouth, as I smashed my palm into his throat. I launched him off his feet and pinned him to the ground with my hands around his neck.

"Yes...fuckin' do it! You feel that rage? No other animal has...anger problems like us wild dogs, kid! Feed on it! Let it drive you!" he coughed beneath me.

I squeezed and wanted to rip his head clean off his shoulders. I wanted to kill him, so badly, but I remembered that the werewolves at Haven were all sadists. Is this how they became like Broderic?

I released him and launched myself back.

I didn't put enough distance between us though.

Broderic was up and in front of me in a heartbeat. He turned and planted a booted heel in my stomach. He kicked out and I careened backwards across the dock, tumbling and rolling as I went. I collapsed in a heap, as I relearned how to breathe.

Broderic laughed, that deep, accented chuckle.

"You've got raw talent for brawlin', Jacky-boy, but yer lackin' in murderous intent. Without that you'll never beat me!"

"I don't want to beat you!" I snarled back.

"Why not?" he grinned, "I killed yer lover, didn't I?"

"He wasn't my lover!"

"Yeah right," he grinned.

"What do you want from me, Broderic?" I demanded.

Broderic massaged the backs of his neck as he said, "Yer walkin' around here makin' a mockery of me and my pack. So I'm givin' you a choice; either join us or die." His words lacked humour. His face dead pan as he spoke.

"Why would I wanna join Linus' little bitch patrol?"

"Bitch patrol?" Broderic repeated with a broad grin, "You've got the makin's, kid."

"I hate, despise Linus. Why would I follow you when your nothing more than his thug?" I growled.

"I am no one's thug, lad! Remember that! I answer to no one. Linus and I simply share...ideals," he explained.

"Doesn't change the fact your nothing more than his go-to-guy when things get violent! You and Luis!"

"Do NOT compare me to that pussy!" Broderic snarled, rage boiled in his amber wolf eyes.

"You and your puppies are nothing more than mongrels being fed scraps of food at Linus' table! Your pets! Nothing more!" I snapped back.

KILL! KILL! KILL HIM!

I got to all fours and felt strength thrill through me. If it was self-defense could I kill him? Broderic watched me cautiously as the thought danced through my eyes. He smiled wider.

"There! That's the look! I love that look!" he snarled. "I heard about yer brawl with ol' Juliet. I was told you have some serious raw moves, and an anger bubblin' under the surface! I want it for myself! Fuck Linus! I want you for me! So we can be violent together! Not some brainwashed cadet for Linus' fuckin' bosses!"

He took a step toward me, his eyes maddened with the need for violence.

The sound of wood cracking stopped us both dead. The dock shook and the world seemed to slow down around us. A low, deep, bass growl filled the twilit air around us.

I could smell reptile in the air.

Suddenly the middle of the dock shattered. I shielded myself as debris rained down around me. I looked up and found a great, collossal beast on all fours in front of me. Its green, scaled skin, muscular and twitching with threat, its yellow eyes focused on the Irish werewolf. A thick, long tail slammed dock, threatening, warning. Its great, clawed hands scraped along the wood, while its long narrowed maw snapped. Rows and rows of sharp, white teeth showed. The remnants of its clothing clung to its half-naked form as the crocodile-man stood slowly and snarled at Broderic.

"Leave! Now!"

Broderic stared at the werecroc and then a great smile played across his lips. "You two are the most I've ever had at this place! I cannot wait for the next wolf rally!" he snarled back.

And with that the werewolf took off. He turned and ran, ran for the woodlands. His scent dulled and eventually vanished.

He was gone.

The werecroc must have sensed it too, because he slouched forward until he was on all fours. He started shrinking, his collossal body withered as the scales faded, replaced by a dark tan. His human face reshaped itself as he collapsed to his side and trembled as the rest of the transformation took him.

When he was human again, Isaiah looked up at me with heavy-lidded eyes and smiled sadly.

He was alive.

Warmth spread through me as I went to him and touched my hand to his chest. His heart beat weak, but steady. Good. I hauled him over one shoulder and started to carry him back to the dorm. Deja vú gripped me. Hadn't I carried him back to my dorm like this before? I smiled at how predictable the two of us were becoming. Lian was wrong. Luis had been honest.

Isaiah was alive. That's what mattered.