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Dirty Laundry

Chapter Twenty Six

By Roofles

Hart hit the floor hard.

The square faced, red wolf hands were bounded behind his back and Reese had even gone as far as to muzzle the wolf. Absolutely helpless as the Alpha to be walked up the stairs behind him to join those in the box seat overlooking the market down below in the spiraling tunnel. All to make a point as he made his grand entrance.

Several rooms had been set up and built along the side of the walls of the pit that sunk into the earth beneath the city. Reese figured they were used by overseers of the sewage plant back in the day, then taken over by the bats who had redesigned the rooms to be able to be flown in and out of.

Something the wolf would never understand. If they could fly, then why would they hole up underground. In a place like this. Clipping their own wings in order to make a couple bucks… pitiful, Reese scoffed. He had such grander plans than they ever did.

They, like so many others, were just in his way these days. Others who needed to learn their place.

“Reese, so kind of you to finally join us.” Vicky greeted Reese from a nearby chair, looking out over the carnage down below.

The room was nothing more than a box attached to the wall. It had carpeting, a nearby desk with an old PC growing dust on it. All the windows had been closed and black plumes of smoke could be seen out of them. If Reese took two more steps into the room he could see the fires he caused down below… but he didn’t dare too.

Several of the open tunnels leading into the market had collapsed, blown up by the crazed female wolf in front of him. Her eyes were wide, a grimy, yellow stained grin plastered onto her face as she watched down below at the show, the mayhem she had a hand in causing.

The fires consuming all, the waters washing it all away… leaving not a trace of the market that had once been.

“Such a display.” She muttered to herself. Reese could tell she had just snorted or shot up something. Her ears were perfectly still but her lips and cheeks kept twitching as if fighting off the laughs. Even from the dim lighting, Reese could make out her dilated pupils as she stared blankly forward seeing things Reese couldn’t.

She was having the time of her life. What remained of it.

Vicky was scrawny, unnaturally so. She had to be roughly a hundred pounds lighter than the last time Reese had seen her over a year ago now. Her matted, patchy gray fur hung on loose hide that fell from her bones as if threatening to fall off. Skin and bones. That’s all she was now. With a sunken face and self-inflicted scratches all over her arms and body.

The tell-tale signs she’d been shooting up for some time now. Reese just wasn’t sure of the drug she was using.

Pepper, as Logan had dubbed him, was standing nearby. The larger of the two guards, he took a single step forward placing himself in front of Reese and Vicky. Salt shifted to Reese’s left, neither of the wolves making a move… yet.

It was why he hadn’t just pounced on Vicky from behind.

“What took you so long…?” Vicky asked the question but the way she had made Reese take a second, unsure if she meant now or…

“I didn’t plan to come back to The Pack after I returned from my service...” Reese just stated, realizing she had been talking about the other thing. The fact Reese hadn’t returned to the pack to usurp and take Bale’s place as Alpha. “I never wanted that life… this. Any of… this.” He gestured towards the windows and the death he had sowed.

All because Vicky couldn’t leave him alone. So many kept poking the sleeping wolf and all he wanted to do was curl up with his human and just forget the rest of the world.

“All of this!” Reese spat the words in a snarl, glaring around at those before him. Blaming them for it all.

“You think life is so kind? So sweet? To let a wolf like you just walk away from it all?” Vicky slowly stood up, slamming a hand on the windowsill to push herself up. Her feet could barely hold her and she truly looked to be on her last leg.

All self-inflicted.

Reese could see the signs; it was exactly what he’d been doing to himself for so long. Hurting oneself on the outside in order to stop the pain inside from bleeding out. Taking what he could, drowning himself in self pity before he had found the cure he’d needed all these years.

It only took him twenty years to find what he wanted, he needed.

Vicky’s eyes were wide, filled with hate as she stared him down.

“You.” She took a heavy breath. “You were supposed to come back for us!” And the two at her side jumped Reese.

The seven-foot-tall black furred wolf slammed his fist against the first, Pepper, the larger of the two. He shouldered checked Salt, not bothering to use his left arm in that moment learning from his mistake against Logan back at the dog house. Instead using his superior size and weight against the smaller wolf.

The salt and pepper furred wolves snapped their jaws, claws out as they went for Reese’s throat. It happened so fast. If Reese hadn’t been used to it, his entire life, trained against it and able to match Pepper in both size and strength… he was sure he’d have died in that second.

In a span of a single second, Reese could’ve lost his life. That was what this life was. Always watching on that edge between life and death. And he was sick of it.

Pepper was spun around as Reese grabbed the scruff of his neck like an insolent puppy, spinning him around and connecting his body with Salt’s side. The two toppling over each other as Vicky pounced, going for the opening Reese had given her.

Blood flew in the air as Reese’s jaws snapped shut and he moved past her as she howled in pain, holding the side of her face where his fangs had met her in a sweet, bloody kiss. He spat the junk of fur and flesh out as he turned back on them.

Holding her wound, Vicky just howled. A mix of pain and fury and something more Reese didn’t know. Couldn’t know. He didn’t pity others. He didn’t feel such a thing as empathy for a pathetic creature as Vicky was.

“You think you can just show up now, after everything!” Vicky hate was clear. “After everything that man, your father, did to us!” Her eyes burned but not a single tear fell. “To me! To Diamond… my Diamond…” She shuddered as if suddenly very cold. “She… I… them… he was such a bastard…”

“I’m not going to defend him…” Reese said flatly, his voice devoid of any emotion as he faced off against the three. “He’s dead for a reason…”

Vicky chuckled at that. “Pity. I wasn’t the one who got to stab that fuck in the back…” Her eyes went in and out of focus as if trying to wrestle with her own thoughts. “He. They… my Diamond…” Then she looked up at him once more. “You!” She spat the word out as if it were a weapon in and of itself to be used against the wolf.

Reese didn’t even flinch. He didn’t even move. The large black furred wolf just stood there as she berated him. Yelled at him. Blamed him. Hated him. And Reese took it all without one word in his defense. Being her verbal punching bag in that moment for every single ounce of pain she held inside, wanting, needing to blame him for it all…

“We waited for you!” Vicky howled in pain and fury, anger and hate and sorrow and pain… “You were supposed to come back for us… You were supposed to fix things! You… we all waited for you…”

Reese ear twitched at that.

“We wanted you to come back and save us… like you did… those dogs…” Vicky chuckled, weakly. Her eyes beginning to glaze over. “We just had to listen. Obey… like dogs… Diamond hated it. She hated it so much… she just… we just… everyone wants to belong, you know?” Vicky looked over at where Reese was standing.

He looked so much like his father in that moment with the fire and smoke rising behind him… She hated him. Hated what Reese reminded her of. Of what that bastard had done to her. Seeing his face again only brought it all back.

No matter how much she did, how much she tried to forget it… she couldn’t.

“We put up with Bale’s bullshit… in hopes… you would rip off his head one day for us…” Pepper wiped his bloody mouth, standing back up as if to explain for Vicky who couldn’t.

“I’m no one’s savior…” Reese growled in reply.

“Those dogs think so…” Vicky just coughed. “I can see it. The look on their faces… in their eyes… it was the same one Diamond had… when you returned to us. She was so hopeful… we all were… at the club, planning… waiting for you…” And her face fell. “Then you left again. You rather consort with humans than your own kind.”

“I never said I would return…” Reese pointed out coldly, even now, unable to feel anything akin to sympathy for these wolves. “I have my own god damn life! I’m not going to just fall into the mold father, or you, put me in. I do my own shit…”

“And look at you now!” Vicky just laughed though. A hoarse, harsh sound that broke with her coughing. “You became exactly what you hated! A pack Alpha!” Reese’s ear flicked at that. “Everything you fought against. And yet, when push came to shove… you fell naturally into that role. That role you had been bred for, born for… your father would be so proud. It was so easy to get you to become just like him…”

That got a reaction from Reese. His lips twitching up to bare his fangs at her. The sight alone caused the other two wolves to back away in fear, Salt and Pepper already subconscious acknowledging it. That Reese was an Alpha and they were nothing but betas before him.

“Mauler would be so proud!” Vicky tipped her head back and just laughed. And laughed. A sound that cracked and broke as it strained into something akin to a whimper by the end. “He’d be so proud for what he did to me… to us… all to make sure you were born. The perfect son…”

“I’m far from perfect.” Reese did laugh at that. A harsh, cruel sound. The very idea that he could be… no, Reese was just a monster. A killer. A murderer. That’s all his father managed to create. He was nothing, no one. He wasn’t perfect at all.

No, Reese knew who was perfect in his life. The one that gave him reason for getting out of bed. The one that brought a smile to his face and warmed his cold, icy heart. He wasn’t the perfect one by any stretch of the word. He had just been the one lucky enough, conniving enough, greedy enough to capture that light and steal it away for himself. And he’d damn anyone to hell who tried to take it from him.

“Diamond didn’t think such.” Reese made sure to point out, to bring up. Sneering at her now. Unable to help it. Harping on the fact that she wasn’t here anymore with them. And who it was who had taken Diamond’s away from Vicky.

Vicky snarled at that. “My Diamond…” She cursed under her breath, turning away. Backing down.

It was natural for a wolf to do so. To back down like this, to admit defeat before another wolf that was clearly superior in every way. Or at least, that’s how everyone kept seeing Reese. Something he wasn’t. Just a monster born in his father’s shadow.

“And Diamond… lost it… When you didn’t come back. She swore she’d take your place, to save us from this life… This existence! It hurt, to have to kill my sisters… my own litter… the drugs took away the pain, if only… for a little while.” Vicky face went blank as she recalled the nightmares The Pack had forced her to endure.

“It’s over.” Reese just stated. “I’ll make sure of that…” He gave a single warning and Salt and Pepper both dipped their heads at that, unable to meet his eyes. “If that’s all you wanted to discuss with me…” Reese dared to turn away.

And Vicky pounced but Reese was faster.

Bang.

A single shot fired. That was all it took, Reese knew, to end this. He didn’t want to pull that trigger. They had forced his hand and when you woke a sleeping dragon, everything burned…

The gun she drawn fell from her limp wrist and she stumbled backwards, eyes growing even wider if that were possible at this point… before she slumped back against the wall, looking up at Reese who stood above her with a single gun in his left hand. If it was too weak to use in a fight, he’d use it to fire a gun then.

“You…” Vicky coughed blood. “You look just like your father…”

Reese lip twitched at that; the insult landing far too close to home.

“Always standing over… everyone else. Thinking he’s… better than…” Vicky took a moment, trying to form words around the bile in her throat. “Better than… Diamond…. My Diamond... in the… rough…”

And her voice faded as Reese stood there. Looking down at the wolf and at her two subordinates who quickly fell into line. Salt and Pepper bowed their heads to him, and Reese just snorted in disgust.

“Alpha.” They said in unison and Reese wanted to vomit at the word.

This, all this, was just a set up. A plan to get him to take the mantle of Alpha. That’s why Vicky had forced his hand. Forced him to deal with this. Bringing him here. Involving the pack. Getting Logan involved, getting him to bring Domino to his house… And that was why Salt and Pepper weren’t stopping him, defending their mother… they had been waiting to see which of the two would come out on top.

A fight between two Alpha’s to see who would end up ruling in the end. And everyone knew, who would come out on top.

“Wolves…” Reese spat to the side, putting his gun away. “We’re all such pathetic creatures, cursed to follow our nature… Even to death…” He turned away from the two knowing they wouldn’t attack their new alpha in such a cowardly way. “Come,” he snapped and the two fell into line instantly.

“Yes, Alpha.” They both said in unison already treating him as such.

Reese paused for a brief moment in the doorway, looking back at Vicky lying there in a pool of her own blood. White powder was still clear underneath her nose. No matter how much she snorted, no matter how much she shot up… she couldn’t erase what the pack had done to her.

And yet… there was a smile on her face, her eyes devoid of life as she lay there. Smiling. Smiling at what she had done in her final moments.

In a way, Vicky had been a good wolf. Better than Reese had ever been or ever could be… she had set this all up, in a way, to get revenge, sure. That much was clear. Blaming The Pack and The Pride for what had happened to Diamond, her Diamond… but, at the same time. Reese knew otherwise.

She had done this to get him to come back. As all these wolves seemed to be waiting for, pinning for. Wanting an Alpha to lead them so they could just obey and follow, like the good “dogs” they were. That was how they were bred, how they were trained and how they were raised to believe.

And Vicky had succeeded where even Bale had failed. Forcing his hand by threatening Reese’s way of life. Forcing him to take these “Strays” that were now packless, homeless like he used to be… how the dogs used to be… how even his human used to be.

Reese was their savor in devil wings, saving the predators from the society that tried to devour them whole.

“Goodbye, Vicky…” Reese turned his back on her. Hoping, to put this all to rest so they could move forward to a future he could only dream of.

Reese’s father was a monster but he too, was nothing more than a byproduct of society. Of what they were. Wolves weren’t singular members; they were a pack, a unit. A team. There was no I, only we. There was no individuality. There IS no individuality. Only a group mentality, a pack mentality. You give to the pack and it provides for you in turn.

You don’t get to choose your mate. You don’t get to choose whose kids you have to raise. You can’t even choose to raise your own…

Vicky was just another byproduct of it all. The Pack. Society. Everything.

Back in her prime, she was the perfect mate. The perfect mother for the pack’s next set of offspring. Her mate was chosen. A strong, virile male that was in line to take the old Alpha’s place some day. His father, Mauler, had been that mate chosen and picked for her. She had no say. No one ever did. Forced into doing it with a man, in order to have children. To make the pack strong.

Despite her preference for females.

No matter the toll it took on her mind and body alike…

She couldn’t even look at her own pups. They were taken away, deemed unfit to raise them. Her own children... She never saw him, Mauler, again after that night. She didn’t need too. He had done his job, she had done hers and that was that… cold, calculative, invasive… he didn’t rape her.

The pack did.

Diamond had been the only one there for her during those long nights after it all. Sneaking product off the line to give to Vicky. Drugs to smoke, to snort, to shoot up to help with that pain. The only thing that could help stop the nightmares. It couldn’t cure what they had done to her, what they had cut out of her, taken from her… It just masked that pain. Helped her forget what they had taken. Her life. Her virginity. Her own cubs…

Reese had always known.

“Goodbye, mother…” And Reese walked down those steps with his two brothers at his side…

Finally taking out his dirty laundry to dry…

….

Logan felt the pain in his chest.

“Clear!”

The surge of electricity made his body lurch, jumping up as his jaw clenched tightly before gasping out a fresh breath of air. It hurt. He coughed several times as someone rubbed his chest, dull nails scratching his bare skin as he winced, trying to open his eyes against the glare of the light above.

Someone had removed his shirt. Logan never took off his shirt…

“Logan!” Clem was there. The human could tell he’d been crying. The tear-stained muzzle sniffled as he quickly scooped Logan up in a strong hug.

“Ow, ow, ow.” Logan just said as his felt his ribs protest violently from the friendly gesture. Clem quickly let him go as Domino pulled the boxer back enough for Logan to catch his breath. “Good to see you too, ow…”

“You jackass!” And Clem hit him making the human wince once more, trying not to scream at this point in pain. A muffled cry escaped the human who bit his lip trying not to whine like a pathetic bitch in front of the two. “You bastard! You can’t just, just do that to me!” The boxer huffed and panted, growling out before covering his face and whimper. “Fuck! You almost and if you and then…” The boxer shook.

He was crying.

Funny, Logan thought, he wasn’t sure when the last time he had cried was…

“I’m fine,” Logan lied so easily for a second he almost believed it. It took him a moment for his mind to catch up. “Mikhail! Where-,” he tried to sit up, but another sharp pain laced up his side and he fell back down, breathing heavily. “Fuuuuuu,” he gritted his teeth, huffing between clenched teeth.

“Easy, easy.” Domino came over from his other side to check on him. Logan glanced over at the wolf, wincing at the bright light behind his furry brown face. “You almost kicked the bucket. Just, just… take it easy… Okay?”

“Right… right…” Logan took two more breaths, trying to calm down before politely asking. “Where the fuck is he?” The human glared upwards, unable to move and still demanding to know where the tiger had run off too.

“He… got away.” Clem whined softly.

“Not after we fucked the shit out him,” Domino snorted in a laugh.

“He… I see…” Logan sighed heavily, feeling as if he could sleep for the next year. “Guess I’m stuck, huh…?” He said softly. He wasn’t expecting an answer as he moved his hand down to cover his mouth. “Got to keep doing this shit until he’s put down for good…”

“We’ll worry about that, him, later.” Domino just said with a growl. “We need you to recover before figuring out what to do next.”

“Right… did someone tase me?” Logan just focused on the present; he’d deal with the future… his future later. He glanced around and saw another wolf, a female, putting away a defibrillator. With a nod, she moved on.

“We got you all patched up and taken care of… then your heart stopped.” Clem whined his eyes growing larger by the second.

“I died… huh?” Logan took a moment on that before letting out a laugh. It hurt to laugh. It hurt to breathe. It hurt to be alive. “Fuck, I guess I really did end up kicking the bucket, huh…?” The sound was bittersweet to hear. The fact he could say it, the fact he was feeling like this…

Was because he was still alive.

Domino and Clem couldn’t respond to that, neither of the two looking at the banged up, cut up, bruised and scarred human before them. Lying there shirtless on the cold concrete trying to catch his breath still.

“Fuck. Robbie’s going to be pissed… I’ll have to keep him,” Logan cursed sitting up despite the two trying to help him. For a split second, he almost told them to fuck off but didn’t. Not this time. As Domino moved closer to help him. “I got to keep him waiting for me… just a bit longer, huh? Until I finish this…”

Neither of the two could answer that and they just stayed nearby.

“How’d we get out…?” Logan asked, looking around the room. It was an open entrance leading down underground at a slant. There were several wolves nearby and Logan didn’t even recognize half of them. More were pouring out of the tunnel to join them with injured and wounded members.

There was no one else. No other humans or carnivores or herbivores… just wolves. A dog. And a human. Everyone else had died or been left to rot in that place.

“We broke through the kitchen entrance,” Clem was glad to be talking about something else. “The fire took out most the uh… blockade, so we just slipped through.”

“Didn’t have time to find another exit.” Domino waved it off and that was when Logan noticed Domino’s hands were bandaged up.

“Dom.” Logan sat up too quickly and ended up regretting it. If he had anything in his stomach, he’d have hurled. Clem rubbed his back and eased him back down.

“Don’t worry. A little fire never stopped a wolf before.” Domino just shrugged, hiding his burned hands now from the human. It was clear what had happened. Out of sheer desperation the wolf had willingly jumped into the frying pan in order to save Logan’s life.

“Could’ve been worse.” Clem just shrugged and Logan was the one to give him a look now.

“Clem. Hundreds died tonight. The families of those down here? The bodies? No one will be able to give them that relief. That knowledge. To know what happened to them. They won’t be able to bury their loved ones… This. All this? Was…” Logan winced, holding his bandaged side. He took a moment. “This was a shit show that we barely got out of…”

“Next time, don’t go in alone then!” Domino growled, fangs baring at the human. Logan just rolled his eyes.

“Where’s Sloan…?” Logan asked and Clem didn’t answer, Domino confused who he was asking about. “Oh… I hope he got out, okay…” Logan wasn’t sure what to say as he just laid back down and stared up at the ceiling waiting for the next thing to happen…

…

Hours prior, before the fight with Mikhail, Sloan was moving out of the kitchen with the chief of police under one arm. Leading the way, the lion had planned to take care of anyone they crossed. He figured they’d run into some lions fleeing or maybe the staff of the market…

There was no one.

It was empty.

The halls, the side rooms, just like the kitchen… everyone had been evacuated. Sloan didn’t dare lower his guard as he proceeded forward, ears trained on any sound he could hear.

“Where’s Logan?” Clem asked suddenly stopping the lion in his tracks. He’d been so focused on anyone in front of them, he’d forgotten about the human that was behind them. “He might’ve needed to take a leak.” Clem, this boxer, this police officer, said to the lion. “I’ll check. Keep going.”

Sloan knew Clem was lying, putting on an act in order to reassure Sloan. As if the lion needed to be reassured, that he was that pathetic and weak… that this lowly dog needed to comfort him. And the lion watched as Clem headed back to check on where Logan had gone.

Standing there, once more, unable to even lift a hand to help.

When Jeron had been killed, Sloan hadn’t even known until someone else told him.

When his father was murdered before his very eyes. He had just stood there.

And only today, after knowing him for so long, had Sloan been able to help Logan out. Finding out who he really was, what was even going on or who Logan was working for… Logan hadn’t trusted him enough to reveal the truth until he had too.

Working for the police was bad enough. Teaming up with them, however, was another story Sloan couldn’t just forget.

His mortal enemy, the wolves. The wolves that had caused all this. Caused the death of his brother, the destruction of his family and… and stolen the human from him.

Sloan seemed to be the last to know. To know even about who Logan was. He was just a bit player in the end. He, the lion, was nothing more than a side character in his own life. How sad and pathetic was that.

“His human?” Sloan scoffed at the very thought. No. Sloan knew… Logan didn’t need him. He didn’t need anyone; he was far more capable than Sloan ever was. And he was just some human… while Sloan? Wasn’t he supposed to be the king of the beasts?

The idea made him laugh, shaking his head. Some king. Unable to even protect his servants, needing to be saved by them. Maybe he was truly a male lion then, helpless in the end. Everyone else doing everything while he somehow managed to stay on top.

“I truly am the most pathetic one here…”

Voices drew his attention and Sloan turned to face the noise ears up. Two of them, he could tell. Scuffling and sniffing along the ground. Sniffing? Sloan realized too late as two wolves rounded the corner. They were talking amongst each other and hadn’t noticed the lion yet.

“I smell Logan this way. That dog is with him.” One of the two spoke before stopping dead in their tracks. Both their ears jumped up, eyes widening seeing the lion.

“I thought we took care of,” the other tried to say but got hit, hard, but the body of the saint Bernard Sloan had thrown at them. Sloan using whatever he had available to take the wolf out.

Barreling forward, Sloan tackled the other. Rolling head over tail with them through the door and out into the open. Fists were thrown, fangs flashed but it was Sloan’s claws that met sweet flesh first and the lion’s bloody nails were stained even further as the wolf howled out in pain.

A howl that would alert all other wolves to their death. A death rattle howl that would tell everyone exactly where Sloan was and what he had done.

“Fuck.” Sloan could only curse, tossing them aside to square off with the other. They pulled out a gun and Sloan instinctively backed away with his hands raised as they snarled at him.

A shot fired and Sloan quickly checked over his chest. He felt no sting of a bullet and there was no blood… then the wolf before him fell over flat on their face, unmoving and dead.

“Sloan!” Someone called out and he turned in time to see three young lions coming his way. “You’re okay!” The eldest said. She reminded him a lot of Lorrell and for a split-second thought…

“What about Enzo? Lorrell?” Sloan asked as the lion’s double checked to make sure the two wolves were dead. One of the wolves, the one Sloan had clawed, had to be put down.

“Filthy dogs…” The lion spat on their corpse before turning to face Sloan, then looked over at the unconscious body of the police chief. “That’s…” It took them a second and Sloan quickly took control before they could come up with the wrong, or in his case, right idea of what was going on.

“I’m kidnapping him. Hostage. Get something out of all this.” Sloan was used to dealing with cutthroat lawyers, what was the difference between dealing with cutthroat gangsters? Not much, apparently.

“Right, right.” The third nodded before looking around the hellscape they were standing in. Burning and flooding, the smell in the air alone made the four lions noses wrinkle. “Let’s get out of here. Crazy bastards, never would’ve thought they’d have the balls to go this far.”

“Enough,” Sloan just said glancing behind him as he waited for Clem and Logan to join up. “We need to get to safety…” He said slowly, carefully formulating the words one by one to drag it out as long as he could afford. “Where the hell are they…?”

“Sir?” One of the lions came over to check on him.

“There might be other wolves around,” Sloan gestured back to the door they had come from. “We should wait for them to clear out before moving.” The other three lions looked at each other but nodded and listened to Sloan.

Sloan could only figure they were beginning to see him as the head of The Pride after his showcase in the arena. A female, like Lorrell, wouldn’t be allowed to become family head even if that were her desires. The lions wouldn’t just listen to her and thus she had used Enzo as a puppet to speak for her.

Only that Enzo was on the verge of breaking down from what had happened to him. The burns on his face seemingly affecting his mind. That much damage done to him. The only reasonable choice then would be Sloan, the eldest and last member of the Kincaid family after Lorrell and Lorenzo. The last choice.

He didn’t look a gift horse in the mouth however and moved back into the hallway. He could hear a racket ahead and stopped the three. Motioning for them to cover him as the lion dared to peek around the corner, to see what it was. He figured he already knew and still, his heart dropped in his chest.

Logan was being carried, lifeless, in the arms of a wolf as the boxer gestured towards the burning exit. Setting Logan down on the countertop, the wolf wrapped his hands in cloths before pulling the burning pieces of wood out of the way. He snarled in pain as the fire burnt his hands, the fire licking the flesh and fur from his fingers and yet… and yet, the wolf didn’t stop.

This wolf was willing to give up his very hands in order to save them.

Sloan, for a split second, was about to order the others to gun the wolf down when Clem spoke.

“Don’t worry, we’ll get you help soon.” Clem whined softly, comforting the lifeless body of the human. Nuzzling at his face with his muzzle as if trying to wake him up. “Logan…”

And it seemed to click in the back of Sloan’s mind.

The human that showed up at his office. Getting close to him. Weaseling his way into his life, strongarming the lion into tell him things. Reporting in, sneaking around, always with an ulterior motive…

Logan, Logan wasn’t his to save… It had always been the human who’d been saving him. Even now, Sloan could only feel relief at seeing someone… saving him. Where he couldn’t.

Sloan’s tightened a fist, struggling to keep his nails in check. His jaw tightened as he shut his eyes.

“We’ll get you help, I promise.” Clem said softly as Sloan turned away from them. From Logan and headed back down the way they came.

“Sir…?” One of the other young lions asked and Sloan looked over at them.

“It’s nothing.” Sloan lied. “He doesn’t need me… he never did… I was the one who needed him.” And Sloan could feel his heart ripping at the truth of those words.

Where did that leave him in everything? Sloan, the last member of the Kincaid family as far as he was aware of…

There were so few members of the pride left. So few lions left in the city, in the country… in the world. Lions, like so many other predators, were slowly having their numbers dwindling away, being replaced. Where did that leave them in the grand scheme of things.

Logan had chosen his side in this war. He was a police officer that had sided with wolves. Sloan would have to choose his side as well.

With a flick of his hand, he ordered the lions to bring the police chief with them. He would use this dog, use whoever he had too in order to save what little family he had left. And still, his steps felt so heavy as he walked away from the human being saved by a wolf.

“He’ll be safe,” Sloan knew as he walked ahead of the others guiding them away from the human. That dog and that… wolf, would save Logan. Sloan was sure of it.

If he walked out there, right now, to go help Logan… it would only cause another fight to break out. And maybe then… no one would be left standing to help Logan. Sloan had to swallow his pride… so the human could live. Live a life, without him in it.

And it was the hardest thing he had to ever do.

“Where’s L and Enzo?” Sloan just asked as he walked back out into the burning market. He had to cover his muzzle with a sleeve, the smoke was so thick. It was the smell, however, that was getting to him. This whole place.

Everything. It was too much and Sloan, Sloan didn’t know what to do then and there.

“The others have secured an exit for you, sir.” The eldest of the lions, the female stepped forward.

“And you are…?” Sloan dared to ask, wiping a hand down his face before motioning for the two younger ones to lead the way with the police chief. The least Sloan could do was get the rest of The Pride out of here, to get them from finding Logan…

“Mona,” she just said with a nod.

“Well, Mona, come along. I am in need of a new… assistant,” Sloan started with as the other two lead him towards the exit. “I have big plans. Been thinking a lot lately… about this city,” he snarled. “And the things that need to get fixed in it. Big plans…”

“Yes, sir.” Mona bowed her head before following Sloan…

…

Lorrell was losing it. She grabbed at her wild hair that had once been up in a neat bun and pulled once more, turning left to right to look for them. For her. Anyone as Enzo followed behind obediently and quietly.

“Where did she go!” Lorrell snarled, shouting out as she clawed the wall, her acrylic nails broken by this point. “Vicky!” Lorrell shouted. Calling out. Demanding to know where that crazy bitch had run off too.

Lorrell had planned this. Everything. Coordinating with Vicky to get rid of the other wolves, plotting against her father and even working with that tiger in order to get everything done. Cleaned up for her day. This day! It was supposed to be her day! The start of a new era.

And now, everything was burning.

The two stopped as a rush of water came spilling out of the tunnel in front of them, washing over their feet.

“Dammit all!” Lorrell could only curse, biting one of her broken nails between her teeth. “This all started with Jeron!”

“Jeron…?” Enzo asked, lost and confused. He was itchy at his arms, craving a fix he desperately was beginning to need. It had been too long and it was showing.

“Once we find that bitch, I’ll get you all you can snort.” Lorrell just rolled her eyes; working with Vicky, behind the scenes, Lorrell had been using the same stash Vicky had supplied her with in order to medicate her brother after what had happened at the docks.

Controlling Lorenzo with drugs as she had tried to use the human against Sloan but her biggest mistake had been Jeron. She hadn’t been quick enough to get something to control her other brother…

“That sneaky little bastard tried to ruin everything! Sticking his nose where it didn’t belong. Thought he knew best. That he could get away from the family?” Lorrell scoffed, laughing at the idea. “We can’t escape what we are. We need to embrace it!” She smiled at the idea. “He was in the way, like father. So I got rid of him. Just like I’ll get rid of Vicky. And Sloan! Anyone who gets in my way…”

Lorenzo Kincaid, youngest of the Kincaid family, stopped as his sister ranted on. Going on and on about it, pulling at her hair as she laughed like a mad woman in the hallway that was both flooding and burning.

“They ruined everything! I was supposed to be, father was to see me… then Sloan. Oh, Sloan. I should’ve known!” She cursed out. “He was plotting this, planning this. The entire time!” Her eyes widened. “Of course! It was always Sloan. I’ll take care of him, Mikhail can do that. Yes. Yes, the tiger. He’ll take care of them all. Just like the others…”

“What about Jeron?” Enzo asked, his voice growing steely in that moment as he looked at his sister as if seeing her for the first time.

Lorrell turned on him, breathing heavily looking like a feral animal there before her younger brother.

“Jeron?” She asked before realizing her slip up. “Oh, Jeron… Yes. Well, Enzo. You see…” She took a step forward. “Jeron was always so… nosy. Sticking it where it didn’t belong. In my, I mean our business!” She tried to reason out. “Yes, he was going to ruin everything for us… just like Sloan. Just like father. Everyone, always against me…”

Lorrell turned away from Enzo as the younger lions claws sprung out, facing towards his big sister…

“Come along, Enzo. We have much to do. Much to plan. So many to get revenge on…” Lorrell just said, turning her back on her brother and not even noticing as he began to follow, on silent steps.

“Of course, sister…” Enzo just purred as his nails gleamed in the fire as he followed his sister, to an early grave…

….

….

………

Down a dank dark hallway, Mikhail struggled to keep his feet. The room shook as another tunnel collapsed. His legs were growing tired from blood loss. The pain in his shoulder only matched by the pain in his other hand. His nails. His precious nails he was born with were… gone.

Taken from him. Stolen away by that human. Probably kept like a trophy…

“Bastards,” Mikhail huffed and panted as he leaned against the wall for support.

He knew this place well.

Mikhail had been working here for the past several years. Using it as a hide out to stay under the radar and away from lady law. Everyone here feared him, knew him, and respected him. He made sure of that. His hobby as a taxidermist worked in his favor to sow the fear he wanted in all those who’d dare question him.

Or so he thought.

That human. That dog! Some nameless wolf? Mikhail couldn’t believe he was in such a situation because of them. Logan, he figured would put up a fight. He relished it. He was looking forward to it as one would a roast that needed to slowly cook to perfection.

Oh, how Mikhail had hungered waiting for that meal to ripen for his pallet. As one would feed a turkey for Thanksgiving, Mikhail had done the very same to Logan. Encouraging him to train, working out and breaking his body time and time again in order to face Mikhail.

Never forgetting him…

The marks were a sign Mikhail only gave to those he wanted, truly wanted to be with. Branding them as one would cattle so others wouldn’t touch what was his claim. Letting them grow into their prime… before his teeth could sink into their warm, wet flesh…

Mikhail cursed. He was careless. His prize was right in front of him and he’d let his guard down because of it. Was it hunger, that had dulled his senses or was it…

Those eyes…

Seeing Logan again like that, looking at him.

“No!” The tiger slammed a fist against the wall and pain shot up his arm like thorny vines. “He… that face… him… Logan…” Mikhail coughed, shaking his head of the disturbing thoughts. Logan was a predator like Mikhail, the tiger knew it.

He always knew what kind of person Logan had been, who he really was. No one else did but he…

“Mr. Butcher!” A voice called out and Mikhail looked up in time to see a brown hyena waving at him from around the corner. “Over here!” And they ducked down the passage before Mikhail could even ask who they were.

Cursing, Mikhail trudged after them on heavy loud steps. Each one he took hurt. This hurt. This pain. No one had ever inflicted such injuries on the tiger before. He made sure of that.

It somehow seemed fitting, in a way, that Logan had. That the human had left his own mark on the tiger as Mikhail carefully followed after the hyena.

“Wait!” Mikhail growled after them.

“Over here! We’re almost there!” The hyena popped his head around another corner, waving at the tiger before vanishing once more.

Barf? No, that wasn’t his name. It started with a B and it was on the tip of the tiger’s tongue as he followed after him. He recognized the hyena, that was why he was following him now. Mikhail wasn’t sure where from though, where had he seen that hyena before? It was on the tip of his tongue as he turned down the next passage towards an open door.

“Right in here!” Bartholomew said, waving Mikhail in before disappearing once more. “The exit’s in here, sir!”

“Exit?” The tiger chuffed. At least they held some respect for him as he moved inside the dark room. He stepped over the metal lined door into the dark room. “Where…?”

The door slammed shut nearly taking the rest of his tail off with it.

“The hell!” Mikhail snarled, baring his fangs as his claws were now useless. There was a pull of a light string, a click and a light bulb illuminated a single wooden table in front of him in the dark room. He spun around violently, snarling.

“Mikhail.” A voice said and the tiger practically laughed.

“Bosch.” The tiger sneered, easing up as the jaguar leaned across the table to face him. “You’ve seen better days,” the tiger noted looking at the bandages bulging through the jaguar’s suit on his stomach.

“You have as well…” Bosch just said, slowly looking the tiger over with cat like eyes. “I take it you were able to see Logan?” The jaguar inquired and the tiger sneered.

“Little fuck put up more than a fight than I thought… he had friends.” Mikhail added to save his own pride.

“Did you…” Bosch voice was neutral, and it was impossible to read what the jaguar was thinking in that moment. His tail flicked and Mikhail wasn’t sure as to why…

Mikhail shook his head, dismissing the thought and worry. “Nah, not yet. Not yet!” He gritted his teeth. “I’ll get him next time! Next time he won’t escape me! No one will come to his rescue then…”

“I see, so Logan was able to escape… good.” Bosch just rubbed his chin, leaning back and out of the light.

“Next time I’ll,” Mikhail went on but a dull thud stopped him.

A single folder landed on the table in front of him, skidding over it and nearly off the edge towards the tiger.

“What’s this?” Mikhail limped over. “My next assignment…?” He inspected the beige color folder. On the top of it was a small white framed picture of a girl. The tiger opened the folder to see another, larger, picture of her.

“Mary Phillips.” Bosch said.

“Who…?” Mikhail wanted to say he recognized her. Another folder landed in front of him, covering the picture. This one had a framed picture of an elderly deer.

“Jonathan Hayes.” Bosch continued as he tossed, yet, another folder on top of the ever growing pile. “Stanley Brooks… Jeron Kincaid…. Robbie Smith.” The last folder hit and opened up showcasing the face of a smiling kid.

Logan’s brother.

“What…?” Mikhail backed away, snarling at the jaguar. “The fuck you playing at?” He demanded to know.

“You always were a coward.” Bosch moved around the table slowly, tracing a hand along it. His nails digging into the wood as he went, leaving thin tracks in their wake. “Always going after the elderly, the young, the helpless… those with special needs,” he added looking at the picture of Logan’s brother before those eyes darted back up to the tiger. “Jumping them. Taking them by surprise… the others? Oh, I’m familiar with how you dealt with them.” Bosch chuckled with a shake of his hand. “Poison? Only a coward uses poison…”

“What’s your point?” Mikhail just sneered back, backing away towards the door. He blindly tried to find the handle, trying to pull it open. It was locked.

“In my condition… I wouldn’t stand a fair chance, in a fight. Even in my prime! I doubt I could fight you, Mikhail, in a fair fight…” Bosch just said touching the bullet wound he’d received several days ago on his stomach. “Thankfully, Logan seemed to have done that part of the job for me…”

“The hell!” Mikhail moved forward before jerking as a surge of electricity shot through his body. Bosch pushing Clementine’s police baton stun gun against the approaching tiger’s chest.

The tiger’s whole body jerked upwards, fur standing on end as Mikhail froze in a silent roar of pain.

“Useful.” Bosch noted as the tiger fell back against the wall, trying to keep his footing as smoke rose from orange, black striped body. “You know I was the one who threw Clem into the arena… to force Logan to come out. To force YOU to come out of hiding…” Bosch toyed with the baton with a clawed finger. “One pawn for a king… Seemed like a smart gamble.”

“You…” Mikhail huffed and panted.

“The FBI has been looking for you for some time, Mikhail… the butcher of Seattle… what an overly hyped named for such a working man’s job.” Bosch chuckled. It held no humor in it as the smokey gray jaguar turned his gaze on Mikhail.

“I-I did my job!” Mikhail practically pleaded. “I did exactly what the FBI wanted! I took out Mr. Kincaid. I killed the delegate between the wolves and the lions! I did everything you wanted,” he spat the words.

“And we let you do your own thing…” Bosch shrugged as he tossed the now useless, chargeless stun baton aside. “You got to have fun and the US government got their targets eliminated…”

“I did everything right…” The tiger hissed.

“Indeed. You did a very good job, Mikhail. Or do you prefer Milo?” Bosch looked over at the table. At the single folder on top. Looking at the picture of the young human boy. “Logan did his part. You did yours. We all did what we were made to do, isn’t it… nice? Knowing your life had some meaning, before it ended?”

“Why you!” Mikhail roared out, taking a single step before he felt it. And the tiger’s eyes widened as he looked down at his chest.

A single pinpoint hole bled from his shirt. Even in the small room, Mikhail hadn’t heard the silencer go off as Bosch shot him three more times in nearly the same spot.

“You were always nothing more than a two-bit player.” Bosch seemed to answer the unasked question. “You were never anything. Anyone. You were never special… Milo.” The jaguar said the word coldly.

Stumbling backwards, Mikhail took several slow labored breathes eyes wide as his limbs began growing cold…

“The FBI thanks you for your service, Mr. Butcher.” Bosch just said in an even tone, holstering the gun under his arm. “Your services aren’t required, any longer. Goodbye, Mikhail.”

Bartholomew came over to spit on the tiger.

“Come, Bartholomew. We have to report in.” Bosch just said, turning away from the tiger without even glancing back. The hyena spat once more.

“That’s for my sister!” The hyena glared at Mikhail before running off after the jaguar as the light were turned off.

Leaving Mikhail shrouded in darkness.

The tiger slumped against the wall, slipping down it until he was sitting there. Cold. Dying, bleeding in a dark room with no one there by his side. All alone.

Here he thought he was a monster… forgetting about the ones he was working for. The ones pulling his string in the end.

No one would remember him. His memory would be forgotten, buried underneath layers of earth, stone and cement. This would be his watery, unmarked grave for the tiger who couldn’t even catch his breath.

Heavy gasping breaths and yet Mikhail couldn’t breathe. Bosch had shot one of his lungs, collapsing it. Struggling to breathe as it filled with fluid. He was dying. A slow, painful death. Helpless and weak. All alone.

Everything he had done, every life he had stolen began to creep up on him. Haunting his last moments… but it was one face Mikhail saw before everything went black.

“Logan…”

And it all ended that night…