Kayla ran as fast as her legs could possibly carry her, she needed to mask her scent somehow. There was a farm on the base of the southeastern mountains that had always smelled absolutely horrid to her. When she was younger, she'd always wondered why her father kept such a rank, disgusting place on his territory, it wasn't pretty and she felt it should belong to Serius. Then, she grew up and learned that the farm actually had a lot of agricultural value, and it was in her pack's best interest to keep it within their borders, even if the farm owner wasn't a lobain.
Abandoned and singed now, it looked like the sight of a horror story, and rotting flesh from the farm animals that died from smoke inhalation mixed in with the manure. It made her eyes water. She quickly crawled under the porch to bury the remote that would kill her mother, and then jumped into what used to be a large tub where the horses would drink water. It was thick and slimy now, setting into her fur and making her smell like some kind of dead, wet, dog-horse. She let herself trip and roll over the dirt and old feces, becoming one with the rotten farm.
It was absolutely disgusting.
She sprinted into the barn, the death smell was concentrated in there, in every stall lay an unfortunate creature. It was so strong that her instincts screamed at her to get out of there, to get far away from the Death. That was why she went further in, and chose to burrow herself in a tight corner behind a massive cow that had died laying over a pile of loose hay. She shrunk under the hay just behind it's cold body. She tried to breathe through her mouth, but that only made her taste the flesh that would sicken her for eating it. She hoped Kevin would heed to his instincts like Damian, and stay away from the barn.
Her paws began to burn, ants that were taking the cow apart piece by piece had found her, and they were biting. She licked them off her paws, they tingled her throat as they crawled down to her stomach, but at least in her stomach they couldn't bite. She heard someone step into the barn, and she froze, her heart rate accelerated.
He came further in, and shifted back into his human form, he didn't care that he was completely naked, or that his toes had just sunken into a rotting rooster. He only cared about finding his prey.
"Where are you hiding?" He called out. "I'll admit, this smelly place makes it a bit difficult, but when you're afraid, you sweat, and when you sweat, your true scent comes out. I'll find you under all of this." He growled, approaching her haystack.
She must have swallowed 50 ants, but that was useless when there were thousands of them, and they were fast. They were on her stomach, chest, and back now. Crawling about through the fluff of her tail, and it took all her will power not to whip them off with a sharp wag. She could feel a wave of them on her neck, making their way up to her ears, there was one tickling her snout. Her fur was thick, so at first they were only brushing her with their tiny legs, but it didn't take long for them to sink under both layers of fur, and begin biting her skin, everywhere. It hurt so much, and panic began to grip her because she couldn't shake them off. They were eating her alive and she couldn't get them off. She wanted to scream, but she kept her jaws closed tight.
Kevin launched a pitchfork into the hay, dangerously close to her.
Kill me. She thought, just find me and kill me already.
"There you are." Kevin snarled, she could hear the smile in his voice.
He didn't stab her with the pitchfork, or reach in and pull her out of this pit of hellish ants. Instead, he sprinted out of the barn on the chase, toward the horses corral near the forest.
Kayla didn't question it. She couldn't think about anything but the evil biting ants all over her body. She leapt out of the hay and sprinted out of the barn, falling, rolling, shaking. They wouldn't come off, they were buried too deep beneath her fur and only got angry with her thrashing. They bit harder. She needed to take the fur off. She needed to get them off!
She ran to the farmhouse in such hysteria that she didn't even try for the door. She jumped straight through the kitchen window, the glass crashed all around her and, for a moment, it helped her forget the needles that pierced every centimeter of her body. She shifted into her human form, the fur dropping all around her, and her skin molding into a new shape. But with the ants holding on tight, it was agonizing and she screamed pitifully before scrambling up the stairs, swiping at them with her hands, and tripping over herself. She rolled into a shower and somehow got the faucet turned on, the water washed them off and soothed her. She shook with ferocity, the pungent taste of rotted flesh, the hundreds of stings over her body, and the ants she'd swallowed welled up within her. She doubled over the shower drain retched her guts out.
When she was done, she could think clearly again. She'd made a lot of noise, surely Kevin had heard her, and surely he was on his way to find her naked and vulnerable in the bath tub. If he's not already there, waiting to pounce.
She silently crawled out of the tub, covered in a layer of red itchy bumps, some were topped with white, like fiery pimples. They were mostly concentrated on her hands and arms, but she had a great number on her back, stomach, inner and outer thighs, her neck, a few on her ears and a couple on her cheekbones. Each bump was burning, she felt like she was on fire and she couldn't stop shaking. She wondered if the ants had bitten her enough to make their poison cause damage.
A floorboard creaked. Someone was approaching the restroom, and that someone possessed no scent. She knew he'd be there. She summoned her most threatening snarl, and grew out her claws. True, she was naked and shaking helplessly on the floor of a bathroom, but she was not going to be an easy kill.
A pile of clothes landed in front of her. She stopped.
"These might be a little big, but they're better than nothing."
"Damian?" She asked incredulously.
He kept his face turned away respectfully. He knew she wouldn't want him to see her like this, and he knew that if he did look at her, he wouldn't be able to leave her side.
"I'm sure these people kept aloe vera somewhere, it'll help with those bites."
"What are you doing here?" She asked. "And why can't I smell you?"
He ignored her interrogation. "Don't leave this house when you've dressed, you're safe here."
"To hell with safe!" She snapped.
He frowned, and nearly twisted around to sit in front of her and kiss every single sting on her to make it stop burning. Despite everything that had happened, part of him was delighted to be near her again. Though he had, for the most part, come back to face Kevin, he couldn't deny the small fact that he had also very much come back for her too.
He hated that small fact.
An injured squeal that rose from Travis somewhere in the forest snapped Damian out of trance. He and his cousin had been playing ping pong with Kevin. They would leave an obvious track, or make some kind of sound, and Kevin would barrel towards them. Damian had slid under a truck to hide while Travis knocked over a metal bucket and sprinted into the forest. Kevin took the bait. Damian was supposed to trail behind, and they were going to corner him, but then he heard the window break, and a scream he couldn't ignore.
But he also couldn't ignore his pack, and now, his cousin was crying out. Knowing Kayla was safe, he confidently left her behind without another word.
"Damian!" She shouted.
He wanted to go back to her, he felt it in every fiber to go back to her, but he refused to. Travis was injured, and he would not lose another member of his pack. Not when he had already lost so many. He burst into the forest and found Travis clutching his stomach and trying to crawl into a bush to hide, but he was too weak and he slumped in place instead. Damian rushed to his side.
"Damian." Travis murmured. "I'm so sorry."
"It's okay, Travis. You're okay." Damian stated. He didn't smell or see any sign of blood.
"I'm sorry you're an idiot."
"What?"
Travis had Damian right where he wanted him. He rammed his shoulder up into the young alpha's chest, then brought his elbow out and got him squarely on the nose. Damian stumbled backwards, Kevin came out of the trees, grabbed his collar, and slammed him into the ground. They both took turns kicking him like a soccer ball, then Kevin sunk his sharp claws through the skin on Damian's back, and tossed him straight into the trunk of a nearby tree. The back of Damian's head snapped against it, and he slumped, panting with short, shallow breaths. He was pretty sure at least one of his ribs was broken, but he didn't care about that right now. He looked at the two and bared his teeth.
"What the hell?" He hissed through a bloody mouth. He couldn't tell if the blood had come up from his lungs or stomach, or if it was cause his teeth had clamped down on his tongue when he hit the tree.
Travis shrugged, and gave a cheeky grin. "I don't fear Kevin, I agree with him."
"You bastard." Damian seethed through gritted teeth, angry with himself. He should have known Travis would side with Kevin, Travis had always done so, and he had a sick way of taking Kevin's crimes even further as well. They looked at him with smug expressions. Travis appeared particularly giddy, and Kevin was proud, a silver tipped spear gleamed in one of his hands.
"Now, now." Kevin tsk-ed, "Let's try to play nice here." He turned to Travis. "Go back to the farm and find Kayla, I need to have a little chat with my brother."
"Can I have some fun with her?" Travis raised his eyebrows.
Kevin shrugged nonchalantly. "Don't stick it in her, and don't kill her, that's all mine. Everything else is fair game to you."
Damian flared up, he forced himself to stand, leaning against the tree for support. Travis bit his lip and smiled wickedly before sprinting off after the farm. Damian took a step, but he faltered too much and fell back onto the tree. He would never be able to catch up to Travis now, or make it past Kevin. He sent out a short, aching howl that made his lungs feel like they were tearing. The howl would at least warn her of Travis.
Kevin stepped forward and punched him in the stomach. The Serius alpha groaned, he leaned further into the tree, but he didn't let himself fall to the floor again. He lifted his green eyes daringly to his brother.
"Why, Kevin?"
Kevin frowned. "I didn't want to do this to you, Damian. You should've stayed out of it, but instead you had to be a hero." He scoffed, "Look at where that got you, and I think you're even in love with that Pelisian now. You screwed up everything."
"I screwed up?" Damian laughed humorlessly. "If Raul hadn't been hurt, if Kayla hadn't been taken, none of this would have happened."
"So we're playing the blame game, now? It's my fault the pack is dead, that dad is dead, and that you have a broken heart?"
Damian looked away. "I'm not playing games with you, Kevin." He said quietly.
The massive lobain softened. "There's still a chance you know. Come with me, we're all each other has now, as brothers we have to stick together." He adjusted the sweat pants he'd found hanging on a clothing line. "The rest of the pack can come too."
Damian shook his head, eyeing the spear suspiciously. It was obviously a hunter's weapon. "They've been through enough, I'm not going to make them live amongst hunters. Just come home." He pleaded.
Kevin glared at him. "I'm too far in to go back now, little brother. You know it as well I do."
Damian's face fell as Kevin continued on.
"I have to die, according to the law. If I go with you, you won't forgive me, you'll kill me."
"I will forgive you." Damian argued.
"But you'll still kill me."
"You know the consequences for your actions, so why can't you face them with dignity and honor? At least save yourself in that way."
Kevin shook his head. "I saw this playing out a differently." He went on. "You were supposed to come with me. You'd rule the pack, I'd rule mine and there we would be: Two kings, just the way it's always been. Looking out for each other, like we always have."
"No, Kevin."
His brother smirked. "I'm not willing to die, Damian. I know I have a place in Hell, so excuse me for not being eager to take it." He spat. "I tried to reason with you, but if you won't join me then you're against me, and I get rid of all my obstacles." He lifted the spear over his head.
"You can still save yourself!" Damian tried.
Kevin locked a gaze with him, his eyes were cold and cruel. "I don't want to save myself." He aimed for Damian's heart, poised to strike straight through it. "Since you care so much, I'll let you go with this: don't worry about the pack. I'm the beta. When you're dead, I'll be alpha and I'll take care of them." He stabbed forward with all his might, the veins in his biceps swelled from the force.
Damian ducked sideways, narrowly missing the spear. It crashed into the tree where he'd stood moments ago, shards of bark exploded in all directions. Kevin yanked it out and tried to adjust his aim, but Damian weakly tackled him instead. The rolled onto the floor, brawling like they used to as children. Like all the fights before, Kevin won. He slammed Damian against the tree with a hand around his throat, and lifted the spear with the other one.
"If you're going to kill me then at least do it without that stupid weapon!" Damian snarled, blood spit out of his mouth and crashed onto Kevin's face as he spoke.
Kevin narrowed his eyes and tightened his grip on Damian, making him choke. "Fine, I'll make it a personal kill. For you, baby brother." With each word his teeth and snout grew. He shut his jaws around his little brother's throat, replacing his hand. Damian wheezed.
"No!" A voice shrieked.
She leapt from the trees and was on Kevin's back, tearing and clawing, and ripping the hair out of his head. He shouted in reflex, and backed away, dropping his choking brother to the floor.
He lifted his free hand over his head to get the frenzied creature off, but she was quick. She used her claws to gash out an eye as he got a hold of her. Kevin howled, and threw her off. She attacked him again, backing him into thick black bushes with thorns pointing in all directions. He swiped her away like a bug, but she quickly launched back, crawling, biting, and hurting him all over. He managed to throw her off again, and found the spear. He lifted it up just in time for her next assault.
A strangled, bubbly groan came out of her throat when she impaled herself on it, moving too fast to avoid it. Kevin glared at her with his good eye, his breath caught in his throat when he recognized her.
He yanked the spear out.
"Regina, you stupid bitch!"
His missing eye hurt deep into his brain, and his chest started collapsing. Kevin dropped the spear and held both his hands over his bleeding, empty eye socket, screaming in agony. He lost his balance, tumbling back through the brush and disappearing into the dark forest without direction.
Regina's knees gave way, she fell limply to the floor, gasping and trembling. Her veins were already starting to swell and turn a sickly grey color. The hole where the spear had buried into her had turned a steely silver color, it was spread out and pointed like a great star that had exploded right between her breasts.
Damian crawled over and gently cradled her in his arms. Inspecting the damage and wondering how she had managed to follow him.
"I swam." She read the question in his green eyes. "I nearly drowned, but I love you too much to die in some stupid lake far away."
Damian closed his eyes and shook his head. "You should have never. You should have waited, waited at home. Waited for your true mate."
"I did find my mate." She muttered, her voice came out as barely a whisper, and her breathing was shallow. Her eyes were glazed toward the darkness where Kevin had disappeared. "But I chose you over him."
We always have a choice.
"Regina..." Damian whimpered sadly.
"I loved you too much to die in those fires... with my family..." She breathed. "I'm glad it's like this." She summoned the last of her strength to gaze at him. There was a smile in her eyes. "Like this, with you. Just like this."
He held her closer and lowered his head to plant a tender kiss on her forehead. She closed her eyes, hanging to the last feel of his lips, softly resting on her with gentle love.
Then she was gone.
Damian's green eyes blazed brighter, and he stared into the darkness where Kevin had disappeared. Where did he go? He hugged Regina closer to himself, fury and intense sadness began bubbling within him.
From 21 to 20.
"KEVIN!!!!" Damian howled into the sky powerfully. He had taken his last life.