The Rebellion

Chapter 7

Chapter VII: Blood and Iron

Xavier moved like lightning. Before Garrick’s soldiers could even shift into their hybrid forms, Xavier was across the floor, his silver blade flashing in the dim light. He sliced through the tendons of the first soldier's knees, sending the wolf crashing to the floor with an agonized howl, before spinning and driving the pommel of his sword into the temple of the second, knocking him unconscious instantly.

At the same time, Garrick lunged directly at Luna, his hands transforming into massive, clawed paws, his jaws snapping viciously as he aimed straight for Luna's throat.

Traitor! Garrick bellowed.

Luna didn't flinch. His Omega instincts, usually geared toward pack defense, had been completely rewritten by the maternal and protective instincts of his pregnancy. His wolf was roaring inside him, not for the pack, but for the child he carried.

He ducked beneath Garrick’s massive swing, his movements fluid and incredibly fast. He drove a heavy, silver-weighted fist directly into Garrick’s ribs, the sound of cracking bone echoing through the warehouse. Garrick roared in pain, the silver burning his flesh, but his massive size allowed him to recover quickly. He spun and backhanded Luna, the force of the blow sending the younger wolf skidding across the concrete floor.

Luna hit the ground hard, his hand instantly flying to protect his stomach. Ah! he gasped, a sharp pang of fear shooting through his chest.

Seeing Luna hit the ground triggered something ancient and monstrous within Xavier. The vampire Alpha completely abandoned his refined, calculated fighting style. A feral, blood-curdling roar ripped from his chest as his eyes turned entirely black, his fangs extending to their absolute limit.

Xavier appeared in front of Garrick in a blur of terrifying speed. He gripped the massive wolf Alpha by the throat with one hand, his fingers sinking deep into the flesh, completely lifting the three-hundred-pound man off the ground.

Garrick choked, his claws tearing frantically at Xavier’s marble-hard arms, but the vampire's strength was absolute, fueled by a primal, protective fury.

You dared to touch him, Xavier whispered, his voice sounding like two stones grinding together at the bottom of an abyss.

Xavier, wait! Luna shouted from the floor, struggling back to his feet. He hurried over, his hand resting on Xavier's shoulder, his warmth immediately acting as a circuit breaker for the vampire's blind rage. Don't kill him yet. We need him.

Xavier’s black eyes slowly shifted back to a dark crimson as he looked at Luna, ensuring the wolf was unharmed. Satisfied that Luna was standing, he slammed Garrick down onto the concrete, pinning him beneath a heavy, leather-clad boot.

Garrick lay there, gasping for air, his chest bruised and bloody from the silver-weighted strike, his Alpha pride utterly shattered. The remaining two Omega soldiers stood in the corner of the room, their hands raised in surrender, staring at Xavier and Luna with a mixture of terror and awe.

Luna stepped forward, looking down at his former Alpha. He pulled a heavy iron collar from his tactical belt, an old relic used by the packs to suppress a wolf's shifting abilities. He slammed it around Garrick's neck, locking it with a heavy click.

The old regime is over, Garrick, Luna said, his voice ringing with a new, undeniable authority. He turned his gaze to the two remaining Omega soldiers who had refused to fight. Your Alpha is defeated. Your Council is blind. If you stay with them, you die in a war that benefits no one. If you stand with us, you fight for a city where you aren't just meat for the grinder. What is your choice?

The two soldiers looked at each other, then looked at the fallen Garrick, and finally down at Luna, whose scent was a powerful, commanding beacon of a new kind of leader, an Omega who had conquered an Alpha.

Slowly, both soldiers dropped to one knee, bowing their heads in absolute submission.

We stand with you, Luna, one of them whispered.