Episode 8: The Quarry
1043 Words
A Hudson University Werewolf Saga*
*Hyd, New York. The Quarry. Friday, September 20th. 11:47 PM.*
The quarry had no name.
Just a hole in the earth. 200 feet deep. Black water at the bottom. Limestone walls like broken teeth. Pine trees ringed it, dead silent. No crickets. No owls. Even the wind wouldn’t come here.
It smelled like rust. Like old blood.
Like _her_.
*Alex* stood at the edge.
Baggy black hoodie gone. Tank top. Cargo pants. Combat boots. Locs pulled back, but a few escaped, falling like a curtain. Chain out. Michelle’s ring glowing faint orange, like a coal.
She’d taken the 1 train to 125th. Then the Metro-North to Hyd. 3 hours. No one talked to her. No one sat near her.
Animals knew.
*11:58 PM.*
Three black SUVs rolled up. No headlights. No sound.
Doors opened.
*The Council.*
Six of them this time. Black suits. White gloves. Paper skin.
The one in front — wrist still bent wrong from Lucian — smiled. “Alexsander Williams. You came.”
“Damn right I came,” Alex said. “Where’s my mom?”
“She’s safe. For now.” He stepped closer. “Kneel.”
“F_ck you.”
“Last chance, Alpha heir. Kneel, and we leash you. Refuse, and we kill your mother, your friend, and burn Hyd to ash.”
The chain _burned_.
Her gums ached.
Her fingernails itched.
“Not gonna happen,” a voice said.
*Lucian Mark* stepped out of the trees.
No hoodie. No mask. Black tank top. Arms bare, covered in scars. Chest still had four thin lines from her claws.
Ice-blue eyes. But they weren’t ice now.
They were _amber_.
Glowing.
Wolf.
“Rogue,” the Council man said. “You were warned.”
“Was I?” Lucian said. “Didn’t listen.”
He walked to Alex. Stood beside her. Not touching. But close enough she felt the heat coming off him.
“Run,” he said, low. Only for her.
“No.”
“You will.”
*12:00 AM.*
The moon hit the water.
Full. White. Sick.
Pain.
Not a punch. Not a knife.
_Fire_.
Alex screamed.
Her back _bowed_. Spine _cracking_. She hit her knees.
The chain seared her skin.
“Alex!” Lucian dropped with her.
“Get—back—” she choked.
Her hands hit the dirt.
Claws. Black. Three inches. Tearing through her fingertips.
Her jaw _broke_. Extended. Teeth lengthening. Sharp.
Her vision went white. Then red. Then _gold_.
She could _smell_ everything.
Pine sap. Limestone. Council cologne — lavender and formaldehyde.
Blood.
Six hearts. Beating. Fast. Scared.
And Lucian.
_His_ blood. Under his skin. Alpha. Rogue. _Mate_.
She _wanted_ it.
“Fight it,” Lucian said. He was on his knees too. Holding her face. Forcing her to look at him. “You’re not feral. You’re _Alex_. You’re _mine_. Breathe.”
The Council moved.
“Witnessed,” the lead man said. “She’s shifted. Unclaimed. Feral. Terminate.”
Two Council drew silver knives.
Lucian moved.
One second kneeling. Next he was _up_.
No shift. Not full. Just _partial_. Hands to claws. Teeth to fangs. Eyes to fire.
He tore the first Council man’s throat out.
Blood sprayed. Black in the moonlight.
The second man stabbed.
Lucian caught the blade. Bare hand. _Broke_ it.
Alex screamed again.
Not pain.
_Rage_.
The wolf was _here_.
She launched.
Not at Council.
At Lucian.
Because he was _closest_. Because he was _bleeding_. Because he was _hers_.
She hit him.
Claws out.
He didn’t block.
She drove him into the dirt. Straddled him. Jaws open. Aiming for his throat.
“Alex,” Lucian said. Blood on his mouth. Not afraid. “_Come back_.”
She froze.
Amber eyes met amber eyes.
And she _saw_ him.
17 years old. Scar through his eyebrow. Watching her at 125th Street. Bleeding for her. Leaving feathers. Leaving ice. Taking knives for her.
_“I chose you.”_
The wolf _howled_.
Not out loud.
_Inside_.
Then it _bent_.
Alex slammed her fist into the dirt beside Lucian’s head.
Cracked limestone.
Claws retracted.
Teeth shrank.
She collapsed on him. Human. Shaking. Naked — shift tore her clothes.
Lucian wrapped his arms around her. Held her. “Got you. I got you.”
*BOOM.*
Shotgun.
Lucian _twisted_, taking the blast in his back.
He grunted. Didn’t let go of her.
*Jax Hollow* stood 20 feet away.
6’5”. Built like a truck. Flannel. Jeans. Amber eyes. Face scarred. Feral.
Shotgun in hand. Grinning.
“Knew you’d come, little brother’s girl,” Jax said. “Smelled you from the highway.”
He pumped the shotgun.
“Jax Hollow,” the lead Council man said, bleeding from his neck but standing. “Kill the rogue. Bring us the girl.”
“No,” Jax said. “I kill _both_. Then I take Hyd.”
He fired.
Lucian _moved_.
Rolled, taking Alex with him, off the cliff.
They fell.
200 feet.
Into black water.
*Hyd Quarry. 12:13 AM.*
Cold.
Dark.
Alex couldn’t breathe.
Arms around her. Pulling her up.
They broke the surface.
Lucian. Bleeding from his back. Shotgun pellets. But swimming. Dragging her to the limestone wall.
“Climb,” he choked.
“I can’t—”
“You _can_.”
She did.
Fingers bleeding, she climbed.
Lucian behind her. Slower. Hurt.
At the top:
Council. Jax.
And *Dez Knight*.
Standing with them.
Hoodie off. Shirt off. Chest bare.
Amber eyes.
And across his chest:
A black chain tattoo. Broken.
“Took you long enough,” Dez said. “Alpha.”
He looked at Alex. Naked, shaking, covered in quarry water.
Then at Lucian. Bleeding out.
“Choose,” Dez said. “Me. Or him. Right now.”
The Council raised their knives.
Jax raised his shotgun.
Lucian stepped in front of Alex.
Bare. Bleeding. Alpha.
“Run,” he told her. Again.
Alex looked at Dez. At the broken chain on his chest.
Then at Lucian. At the four lines she put there.
She picked up a rock.
And she _threw_ it.
Hit Jax in the face.
“F_ck your choice,” Alex said. “I’m _mine_.”
The chain around her neck _exploded_ with heat.
And she _howled_.
For real this time.
Wolf.
Alpha.
Heir.
- Writer
