Rise of the Immortal

Chapter 19: Blood and Reunion

The basement corridor stretched ahead of us like a mouth opened in perpetual scream, lit only by our tactical lights and the faint glow of emergency strips along the walls. The scent that had caught my attention upstairs was stronger here—family, pain, fear, and something else that made Ruby snarl in my mind.

Marcus, she growled. He's here.

My blood ran cold, but not from fear. After years of being his victim, the thought of finally confronting him face-to-face filled me with a savage anticipation that surprised me with its intensity.

Hayes held up a hand, signaling for silence as we approached a series of doors along the corridor. Through our enhanced hearing, we could pick up voices—at least five different speakers, maybe more.

"—told you she'd come looking," one voice was saying. Marcus. Even after all this time, I'd recognize that cold, calculating tone anywhere.

"And you told us she'd be alone," another voice replied, this one tight with nervousness. "You didn't mention she'd bring a strike team. Or that her mate would be with her."

"The Alpha King's presence changes things," a third voice added. "My pack isn't interested in a war with Red Moon over your personal vendetta, Marcus."

Through our mate bond, I felt Kale's grim satisfaction. His allies are having second thoughts.

Good, I replied. That makes this easier.

Hayes gestured to the scouts, who moved forward to get a better assessment of the situation. Jenkins returned after two minutes with intelligence that made my heart race: four alphas including Marcus, at least eight guards, and in the back room—two elderly wolves who matched the descriptions Dr. Crane had given us of my parents.

They're alive, Ruby whispered, and I felt her joy mix with a fierce protectiveness that made my hands shake. Our family is alive.

The plan Hayes outlined through hand signals was simple: neutralize the guards, isolate Marcus and his allies, secure the prisoners. It should have been straightforward, except for one problem—Marcus had clearly been expecting us, and he'd chosen this location specifically because it gave him advantages we hadn't anticipated.

"I know you're out there, Talia," Marcus called out, his voice carrying clearly through the basement. "Why don't you come in and we can discuss this like civilized wolves? I have something you want, and you have something I need."

It's a trap, Kale's mental voice was sharp with warning.

Of course it is, I replied. But he really does have my parents. And I'm not the same wolf he kept prisoner for twenty years.

Before Hayes could stop me, I stepped into the doorway of the main room, letting my presence announce itself. The sight that greeted me was both better and worse than I'd expected.

My parents were there—older, thinner, showing the effects of twenty years of captivity, but alive and alert. My mother's eyes, the same silver-blue as my own, widened when she saw me, and I watched her lips form my name silently.

Marcus stood in the center of the room with three other alphas I recognized from various pack functions over the years. His guards were positioned strategically, but I could see the tension in their postures. They'd signed up to guard a facility, not to face down a white wolf and her mate.

"There she is," Marcus said with that same cold smile I remembered from my nightmares. "The famous white wolf. Though you look different now, Talia. Stronger. More... confident."

"Prison will do that to a wolf," I replied, letting Ruby's power flow through my voice. "Especially when they survive it."

I felt rather than saw Kale move up behind me, his presence like a wall of controlled fury at my back. The other alphas in the room shifted nervously—facing an angry mate pair was one thing, but an Alpha King and his white wolf Luna was something else entirely.

"Alpha Kale," Marcus acknowledged with mock courtesy. "I was wondering when you'd show up. Though I have to say, bringing a strike team seems excessive for a simple family reunion."

"Nothing about this is simple," Kale replied, his voice carrying the kind of authority that made even other alphas take notice. "And nothing about kidnapping and imprisoning innocent wolves is acceptable."

"Innocent?" Marcus laughed, but I could hear the edge of desperation in it. "Talia's bloodline has been disrupting the natural order for generations. Her very existence threatens the stability of pack hierarchy."

"The only thing threatening stability," I said, taking a step forward, "is alphas who think they can cage and abuse wolves under their protection."

One of the other alphas—I recognized him as Alpha Stevens from the Mountain Ridge pack—cleared his throat uncomfortably. "Marcus, you said this would be a simple negotiation. You didn't mention the girl would be accompanied by a military strike team."

"Or that she'd be bonded to the Alpha King," added another. "My pack has no interest in making an enemy of Red Moon."

I watched Marcus's carefully constructed alliance begin to crumble in real time. These alphas had agreed to support him when they thought they'd be facing a single traumatized wolf, not a coordinated rescue operation led by one of the most powerful mated pairs in North America.

They're going to abandon him, Kale observed through our bond.

Let them, I replied. This was always going to come down to just him and us.

"If you want to leave," I addressed the other alphas directly, "now would be the time. This is between Marcus and me."

Stevens nodded immediately. "Mountain Ridge withdraws from this... situation. We'll escort our wolves out now."

The other two alphas quickly followed suit, gathering their people and heading for the exit. Within minutes, it was just Marcus, his personal guards, and my family facing our rescue team.

"Looks like it's just us," Marcus said, but I could see the calculation in his eyes. Even with his guards, he was outnumbered, and he knew it.

"Let my parents go," I said simply. "This doesn't have to end in bloodshed."

"But it's going to," Marcus replied, and I saw him signal his guards. "Because you still don't understand, Talia. This was never about you. It was about what you represent. The end of the natural order. The destruction of everything we've built."

The fight that followed was brief but vicious. Marcus's guards were well-trained, but they were facing wolves who had been preparing for this moment for years. Hayes and his team moved with military precision, while Kale fought with the deadly grace of an Alpha protecting his mate.

I found myself facing Marcus directly, Ruby's power flowing through me like liquid fire. He was strong—older, more experienced, and desperate—but I was no longer the broken girl he'd caged.

We are not victims, Ruby snarled as we dodged his attack and countered with claws that raked across his ribs. We are survivors. We are warriors.

The end came suddenly. Marcus, realizing he was losing, made a desperate lunge toward where my parents were chained to the wall. He never made it. Kale intercepted him with a roar that shook the foundations of the building, and what followed was swift and final.

When the silence fell, Marcus lay still on the concrete floor, his neck twisted at an unnatural angle. His guards had been subdued, and my parents—

"Talia?" My mother's voice was weak but filled with wonder. "Is it really you?"

I was across the room in an instant, Ruby lending me speed as I reached for the chains that bound them. My father looked up at me with eyes exactly like mine, tears streaming down his weathered face.

"My little star," he whispered. "Look how strong you've become."

The chains were reinforced with silver, burning my hands as I worked to free them, but I didn't care. When they finally clicked open, my parents fell into my arms, and twenty years of separation collapsed into a single moment of pure joy.

Our family, Ruby whispered, her mental voice choked with emotion. Our family is whole.

My mother's hands shook as she touched my face, as if she couldn't quite believe I was real. "We never stopped hoping," she said. "Never stopped believing you'd find us someday."

"I'm sorry it took so long," I managed through my tears. "I'm so sorry for what he put you through."

"None of that was your fault," my father said firmly, his voice carrying the authority of the Alpha he'd once been. "None of it, Talia. You were a baby."

I felt Kale approach slowly, giving us our moment but ready to offer support when we needed it. When I looked up at him, his eyes were suspiciously bright.

"Mom, Dad," I said, standing and helping them to their feet. "I want you to meet Kale. My mate. My partner. The Alpha who never stopped looking for me."

My father extended a trembling hand, which Kale took with careful gentleness. "Thank you," my father said simply. "For bringing our daughter home. For loving her when we couldn't be there to do it ourselves."

"Thank you for bringing into the world someone worth spending a lifetime searching for," Kale replied, and I felt the absolute sincerity of his words through our bond.

My mother stepped forward and, to my surprise, pulled Kale into a fierce hug. "Welcome to the family," she said. "I can see in your eyes that you love her the way she deserves to be loved."

As Hayes coordinated the cleanup and our extraction, I stood between my parents and my mate, feeling more complete than I ever had in my life. Ruby was practically purring with contentment in my mind, and through the mate bond, I could feel Kale's deep satisfaction at finally meeting the parents that may not have been able to raise me, but that brought me into this world and never stopped loving me.

We did it, I said to Ruby as we prepared to leave the place where my parents had been imprisoned for so long.

We did it, she agreed. And now we can go home. All of us. Together.

The sun was rising as we made our way back through the forest, my parents supported by pack members who had risked everything to help bring them home. They were weak from their ordeal, but they were free, they were safe, and they were with family.

For the first time in my life, I understood what it truly meant to be whole.