Series of Death, Draft 02, CH 56 (Patreon)

Trembor stuck to the wall to avoid getting lost again. The thought this was an elaborate ploy to make him underestimate the opposition crossed his mind and was dismissed. It no longer mattered. One, or the entire city, they were all going to die for threatening his wolf.

Once on the other side of the building, the light from the open door guided him. He paused inside only long enough to locate Marlot, sprawled on the floor at his brother’s feet with the hare standing between them and Trembor. Then he ran at the hare. He didn’t care for what he might have wanted to say, he’d hurt his wolf, his Marlot, and he was going to suffer for it.

The hare blocked the kick, having to step back under the force of the blow, and Trembor felt the reinforcement on the mottled gray jacket. So it was more than a look-alike for protector combat armor. Somehow the hare had gotten his hands on the real thing. Trembor had seen one when an uncle who was in the protectors visited years ago.

The hare returned the attack with punches that Trembor dodged; then Trembor’s hand flew and connected with the surprised hare’s face, who’d kept his defenses low to block kicks. Trembor smirked as the hare stepped back and ran a hand over the cuts on his cheeks. They weren’t deep; the hare was fast, but maybe this would show him he was outclassed.

The hare looked at the blood on his hand and smiled. “Finally.” He threw himself at the lion and Trembor backed a few steps in surprise at the ferocity. Hares ran, everyone knew that. Hares were prey that you chased. Not defended against.

The hits that connected hurt more due to their precision than force. The male knew where to hit to make it count, and anytime Trembor tried to overwhelm the hare with strength, he was out of reach with quick steps and a few jabs to remind the lion not to underestimate his opponent.

Trembor had to slow, watch, evaluate. This was like a fight against Marlot, but to an elevated degree. He had to make each strike count, make them the one that would break bones if he could just get them to connect properly. A kick glanced off the hare’s shoulder, and he came back with a volley Trembor dodged, letting himself fall, placing a hand on the floor for support, and kicked out at his opponent’s head, but the hare was already out of reach.

With a growl, Trembor straightened. “Just give up, you can’t win.” Why wouldn’t the hare do that? Prey only fought back so much, and never to win, just to escape.

“You don’t even know what my win parameters are,” the hare replied, stepping around Trembor, who turned on one leg, waiting for the attack.

“Something about getting Marlot to kill you.”

“The wolf had his chance.” He smiled. “Your wolf had his chance.” He touched the three bloody lines on his cheeks. “You, on the other hand, I think are properly motivated.” He came at Trembor with a flurry of punches and the lion blocked most of them. Any strike that connected struck something painful, some nerves, or an already tender spot.

He shouldered the hare from him, using his superior mass, and ensured it was also away from Marlot and his brother. A quick glance at his wolf told him he was still unconscious. He had to be unconscious, any other possibilities were unbearable.

The hare was proving tougher, better than Trembor expected. He’d heard the stories. Even Marlot had gone up against the hare at the gym and lost, but Trembor was a better predator, stronger, older, craftier. This was turning into a reminder there was always someone better, and that occasionally, they weren’t bigger or stronger than you. If he could stretch this until Marlot woke, the two of them could take the hare down, kill him, and feast on the body.

The hare eyed him as he pulled away from the latest attack. Trembor had gone for dodging, but even that hadn’t been as successful as he’d like. His left leg had gained a tingle after the last strike. That couldn’t be good.

“I wish I’d fought you,” the hare said.

“Why, so you could have died sooner?”

“So I could tell if you’re even trying to kill me.”

Trembor bare his teeth. “Walk closer and find out.” How long until Marlot woke up?

“I think I’m going to use something better tested. I’ll start with your brother.”

Trembor didn’t swallow the growl but kept himself from lunging at the hare. He was trying to goad him into making a mistake. All his talk of wanting to die was just that. If he’d been serious about it, he would have bared his throat and let this end.

“No?” the hare smiled. “Marlot said you cared about your family. I guess he doesn’t know you as well as he thought. But then again, you two didn’t talk all that much, did you? How do you get mated to someone who doesn’t even know bout your trauma?”

Trembor froze. What was he talking about? No, how did he know about that?

“Let’s see if the wolf really matters to you then.”

Trembor’s roar echoed in his ears as he was mid-leap and landed on the hare, crashing them both to the floor. The hare fought to get out from under him, but Trembor had one of his arms pinned under a knee. The hare fought harder, but he wasn’t the first smaller and squirmier prey Trembor had fought. He grabbed the other arm and shoved it down, slamming his knee on it hard enough he didn’t understand why the hare didn’t scream in pain, even with the padding he had to have felt it.

The hare laughed and Trembor punched him, snapping his head to the side and leaving a line of blood on the floor.

“You think this is going to stop me?”

Another punch, the head snapped in the other direction, more blood on the floor.

“You said you’d kill me,” the hare said, glaring while laughing. “What are you waiting for? Do you want me to desecrate that precious wolf of yours? Do you have any idea the things I’ve been taught to do to another person?”

“Shut up!” He punched him again.

“I’m going to leave him so broken, what Gorrek did to you will seem like tender love in comparison.”

With a scream, Trembor raised his hand, claws out. The idea, the simple implication his wolf would feel something like what he’d gone through couldn’t be tolerated. He tried to bring his hand down, rip that throat open, prevent him from ever suggesting something like that again, but his arm wouldn’t move.

Only then did the presence next to him register, and he couldn’t think of what to do. Part of him had expected more enemies, but they hadn’t shown. Now, if he split his attention, the hare would slip-free and touch his wolf.

He put more effort into bringing his arm down. Kill the hare, then deal with the other opponent.

The grunt of effort that came as a result made him pause. He knew that grunting. Knew it from fighting and more pleasurable endeavors. He looked up as he took a deep breath.

The wolf smiled at him, the strain of keeping his arm from coming down visible. “Hi.”

Trembor tried to bring his hand down, but the wolf kept him from doing so.

“Don’t give him the satisfaction,” his wolf said, putting more of his weight against the arm.

“No,” Trembor said, trying to understand why his wolf was doing it, not wanting to believe the implications he was drawing. “I’m protecting you,” he protested, and part of him wondered why he hadn’t included Bo in the statement.

“I know.”

“You don’t get to be the only one who protects the other.” He couldn’t be. “I’m not your thing.”

“I am sorry I ever made you feel that way, Trem. Even if it was only once. You never deserved that. I was thoughtless.”

“Then let me be that for once!”

“That isn’t who you are. You’re my lion, the beacon of the law, of doing things the right way. I’m the screwup, not you. He’s left a dozen bodies to rot that I know of. He has to pay for them. You told me that. You told me there is a right way to do things. This is me listening to you, Trem. I want us to do this the right way and turn him over to be processed and punished.”

Trembor wanted to tell his wolf he was wrong, that was the lion he’d used to know, who had deserved to be loved. Now he was tarnished. He’d done things he shouldn’t, that the old him wouldn’t do.

“You two are impossible.” The hare coughed and spat blood. “You won’t kill me for him, and you won’t him kill me for you.” He sighed tiredly. “I thought you two loved one another.”

“You don’t know anything about what it means to love someone, Nikal,” Marlot snapped. “If you did. You’d understand this is something I’m doing because I love Trembor. Because there is nothing I’d want more than to rip you apart right now for what you almost did to him. You are going to pay for your crimes. You’re not escaping them by ending up in our stomach.”

The hare let out a weak laugh. “It’s never going to happen. They aren’t going to let it happen. You’ll see, they—”

“I’m not interested in whatever story you’ve made up this time. You’re sick and that’s all there is to it.” Marlot smiled at him, and Trembor felt like things would be alright again. “Can I let go of your arm? It’s starting to get tough to keep you from killing him.”

He almost did it. He almost gave into the tenderness, the apology, the words. They meant nothing. He was just looking to get his claws in deeper.

The wolf’s eyes widened in surprise. “What? What did I say, what did I do?”

Trembor ground his teeth. All this, it was just another ploy for the wolf to get his way.

“Trem, talk to me, please. I love you, I know what Gorrek did to you and if I did anything right now to make you feel like that, I am sorry.”

“You what?” How could the wolf know? He stood and was immediately thrown against Marlot.

“Not this time,” the wolf growled and moved out from under Trembor as the lion fell off balance. He caught himself and put his feet under him. Marlot was already chasing the hare, that Nikal, who kept ahead of him in spite of a limp. Trembor ran after them as the hare stopped and spun, the kick catching Marlot in the shoulder and staggering him to the side.

Trembor was between them before the hare could strike again, forcing him back with a series of kicks. Marlot moved around them until he was behind the hare, and when their eyes met, Trembor smiled.

He wanted this. He and his wolf fighting alongside. He wanted the pleasures. The hardships. He wouldn’t let the wolf hurt him. But he would give him a chance.

Trembor launched himself at the hare, kicking and punching, taking hits, giving Marlot the openings to strike, striking hard anytime the hare shifted his focus. But despite this, the hare mostly kept them in check, blocking, dodging, and getting in far too many hits for Trembor’s liking.

It was like he hadn’t been trying when he fought the lion.

Then Marlot got in a punch at the hare’s back and he was slow in reacting, allowing Trembor to land a kick against his side. It didn’t bring him down, but it was an indication he was slowing. He had more stamina than Trembor had expected of a hare, but he still had limits.

Marlot distracted the hare and Trembor kicked him into the wolf’s arms who almost caught him, only to be left with the gray jacket and nothing else, before yelping as his legs were kicked out from under him.

Trembor pounced with a snarl before the hare was up. No one hurt his wolf. He rolled and Trembor was sent to land next to Marlot. He wanted to check on him, ask if he was okay, but he stood as Marlot struggled, and ran at the hare. He kicked, and the hare blocked, but each time he had to take a step back. When Trembor miscalculated, the hare threw himself, claws out, but not as fast as before. They dug into his side, and Trebor grabbed the arm and threw the hare over himself.

He turned in time to see the hare land on his back, and before he’d caught his breath, Marlot was on him, pinning his arms.

“It’s over Nikal.” Marlot clawed the hare’s shirt into strips.

Trembor stood next to them and place a hand on Marlot’s shoulder, squeezing it. “Are you okay? Your leg?”

“It hurts, but it’s not broken.”

“I’m sorry I doubted you,” Trembor said, fighting the urge to claim this was still the wolf playing him.

Marlot paused the cutting. “I screwed up. I’m going to have to show you I meant it when I said I don’t want to hurt you, that you are not my possession.” He fell silent and Nikal watched them, surprisingly still for someone who’d fought so hard not to be caught only a few seconds ago.

“Gorrek, did he hurt you?” Trembor didn’t want to know, but he had to. If Marlot had met the lion, there was no telling what he’d done.

The wolf shook his head and went back to making strips. “He was still in the seduction part by the time Nikal killed him.” Marlot paused and Trembor reeled from the news. “He’s good,” the wolf said. “I saw the damage he did. I should have realized what I’d get into, but when he told me in was interested in me? When he pressed against me, I would have given myself to him if you hadn’t shown up.”

“I didn’t—” had Marlot hit his head?

Marlot chuckled. “Your memory intruded just then and I couldn’t stand the male behind me not being you. I kick him out.”

“And he left?”

“He played the ‘how understanding’ kind of male he was and that he was sorry for being unable to resist me, that he’d be waiting until I was ready.” He was quiet. “How much of that did you see, Nikal?”

“Enough I’d have killed both of you if you hadn’t stopped him,” the hare answered flatly, and Trembor growled.

“You certainly let him know how pissed you were.”

The hare tried to shrug. “I’m not sorry if that’s what you’re hoping for. I know I shouldn’t have killed the others since I was never going to eat them, but him? Even once I’d worked out my anger, he deserved to die.”

“Yeah, but you still have to pay for him.”

“It’s not going to happen,” the hare said matter-of-factly. “That you kill me or not, I won’t be caged long enough to make it through the system.”

“Then let me take you in. You’ve got nothing to lose, right?”

The hare sighed. “You don’t know what you’re doing.”

Marlot chuckled. “It’s kind of a thing with me.”

“Fine. We’ll end this base on your victory parameters, and I’ll have to deal with the consequences.”

“That’s what it means to be part of society, Nikal.” Marlot grabbed onto Trembor to pull himself up.

Trembor kept his gaze on the hare. He didn’t trust him to stick to their agreement. The instant he twitched, he’d gore him.

When he remained on the ground, Marlot seemed surprised. “Hands before you,” he said.

“No, I can rip your throat out that way,” The hare replied. “You want to tie them behind me.” He turned on his stomach, placed his hands behind him, fingers interlaces. It had been years since Trembor had seen that submission position. It was used to restrain violent pack members when they weren’t going to kill them.

“Those strips aren’t going to hold him,” he said and looked around for something stronger and saw his brother, still unconscious, and missed what the hare and Marlot said.

“Go see to him,” Marlot said, holding a standing Nikal by the arm.

“I should stay with you while you take him in,” Trembor said without hesitation. “If he tries anything, you’ll need me.”

“He won’t.”

“You trust him?”

Marlot looked at the hare. “He admitted defeat.”

“I didn’t,” the hare said. “I altered the victory parameters.”

“Still, he might change them again.”

“Trem, your brother needs you. I’ll be okay. Once I’ve processed him, I’ll head to your place. We have things we should talk about.”

Trembor looked to his brother, then Nikal. “Marl, if the hare talks about my brother being here, it’s… I don’t know if you knew, but my brother’s in his own spot of troubles.”

Marlot looked at the hare.

“I have nothing to say about him. He served his purpose. You’ll even find a slate explaining how I planted the evidence incriminating your brother.”

Trembor stared at the hare. “What are you talking about?”

“The crime your brother is accused of. I did it.”

“No, it was—”

“I did it,” the hare stated, and Marlot looked at Trembor ears canted questioningly.

He had to be lying. “Why would you do that?”

The hare smiled. “I think you know very well why. The wolf wasn’t the only one who needed to understand something.”

“Trem? Are you okay?”

Fuck no, he wasn’t. Not only had he broken the law for nothing, but he’d also pointed the guilt at an innocent group. Well, innocent of that, but their guilt on something else didn’t make what he’d done right.

He swallowed the guilt and the desire to throw up. “I’m okay. We can talk about it after all this.”

The hare sighed. “I can’t believe you two are finally talking, I was starting to doubt I’d get you there. It shouldn’t have been this hard.”

“It’s life,” Marlot replied, heading to the exit, while Trembor headed for his brother. “People fuck up, then we fix it.”

“But you weren’t fixing anything?” the hare exclaimed, and Trembor looked over his shoulder to see the hare looking back at him over his. “I fix this,” he said proudly.

Trembor shook his head in disbelief. The male was delusional. Bo groaned as Trembor searched his pockets and found the slate. The hare hadn’t lied. He could have lied about what was on it, but why would he bother? He was caught.

“Hey, Tre’bor,” Bo slurred as Trembor stared at the slate, the undeniable evidence his brother was innocent, and that he had framed someone else. “Wha you do-in ere?”

“I’m taking you home, Bo.”

He didn’t have to hand the slate over. That crime family would pay for the cub’s death, so his brother was still free. He didn’t have to tell anyone what he’d done.

He pocketed the slate and cut the rope holding his brother to the chair.

“I’m not into this,” Bo said, slumping forward.

“No, you aren’t, bro.” Trembor put an arm under his brother and lifted him to his feet. “Come on, you need to sleep this off in your bed.”

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