| Supernatural Fiction posted February 3, 2019 | Chapters: |
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Sins of Chaos/A Novel of the Breedline series
A chapter in the book Sins of Chaos
Bloodshed
by scongrove
The author has placed a warning on this post for violence.
| Background Dedicated to my son, Nathan. Happy birthday! |
Previously . . .
When widespread reports of gruesome attacks on homeless victims, and local residents sweep across Berkeley California and the San Francisco Bay area, two local human detectives are desperate to catch whoever is responsible for the disturbing and heinous crimes.
When they question Zeke Rizzo—who is a Breedline, born with the curse of a sin-eater, and owner of the Cat Club—about a woman they’d found brutally murdered near his bar, one of Zeke’s bouncers recognizes the victim after Detective Perkins shares her photo from social media. He also confirms the victim left the bar around midnight with a guy that oddly resembled the famous actor, Jason Momoa.
Before the detectives leave, Zeke gives them a copy of the bar’s video surveillance, hoping it would help with their investigation.
As the detectives exit the club, Zeke found himself confronted by a beautiful woman he’d seen earlier hanging out in the VIP section with an older gentleman. After introducing herself as Callisto and that she was every man’s dream, she asked him to spend the night with her. Zeke refused her proposition, but she was not the type to take no for an answer, and grabbed his arm. At the same time he realized she was not human and craved human blood, he got a glimpse into her past, using his sin-eater skills. What he saw nearly brought him to his knees. She’d been trapped alive for years in some kind of sarcophagus. At the same time Zeke questioned her about his vision, Callisto’s brother, Apollyon, interrupted their conversation and warned Zeke to keep his sister’s past to himself.
When the detectives find another body with the same MO, they contact Zeke before they head back to his bar for more questions. As they arrive, Zeke found himself caught off guard by Apollyon, who was furious after he found out Zeke spoke to the detectives and cut his throat just as his head of security, Yelena, and the detectives walked in, witnessing everything. Before Apollyon used his powers and disappeared, he took Yelena with him.
While the detectives question Zeke after he mysteriously heals, he refuses to answer their questions and leaves them clueless to what they’d just encountered.
As the detectives report to another crime scene, they discover another suspect after reviewing the surveillance video. Their next step was to visit the owner of several popular bars in the area who happened to be Detectives Manuel Sanchez’s nephew, Nathan Gage, hoping he could help identify the suspects. When they arrive at the bar, and explain to the owner what they have discovered, asking him if he’d take a look at the video they retrieved from the crime scene, Nathan becomes worried. He knew something his Uncle Sanchez wasn’t aware of. Not only was Nathan a Breedline, he knew his uncle was born with the same genetics but it was kept a secret. Now, he was faced with a difficult decision. In order to keep his uncle safe, he would have to go against the Breedline law and tell him everything.
Now that both Detectives know about the Breedline, they offer to help them take down the Fury. There next step is to figure out a way to lure them out of their hiding place.
As they ponder on a plan of action, Jace comes up with an idea of putting on a show at Nate’s bar to lure the Fury to them, hoping a crowded bar of humans would do the trick. It would be like ringing a dinner bell to an all-you-can-eat buffet. But the only question was; could they protect all the people while they battled with the hungry trio?
When the Breedline manages to capture Callisto, her fraternal twin Electra, uses her telepathic powers to warn their brother Apollyon. Enraged with the Breedline, Apollyon tells his beloved Yelena good-bye, knowing it may be the last time they see one another as he heads for battle.
Continued . . .
Apollyon swallowed a curse as he dematerialized on the roof of Nate’s club, a flat strip of smoked glass above his private wing that held all the dressing rooms.
His near-death experience and the Breedline’s interference edged him closer to his breaking point. And his fear of losing Yelena battled against Apollyon’s composure, a painful ache inside his chest, squeezing his heart. It was worse than the horrors of the years he’d been imprisoned.
A few weeks ago, he’d first laid eyes on her in Zeke Rizzo’s bar. He understood the desire for fierce, wild passion. But this? This was beyond his realm of experience. That’s when he knew Yelena was the one.
At first, he’d had a slight problem, however. She was in love with the sin-eater, and it still bothered him. Just thinking about it left a bitter taste in his mouth. He took some deep breaths and pulled it together.
A moment later, he vanished and reappeared inside a dark hallway. As he moved to the end, he stepped into an elevator built to hold several people. When the doors shut, the enclosed contraption descended with a slight shake. A few seconds later, he was striding across the lowest level of the club, pushing his way through the crowd of people.
With grim resolve, Apollyon measured the crowd from a vantage point of about six-foot-five. He was not a happy camper as he headed toward the bar. The VIP section had its own private bar and bartenders, and that’s where the Breedline had his sister.
Before he got half-way, a blond dressed like a high-class stripper showing a lot of skin stepped in his path. Apollyon towered above her with a menacing glare, but she didn’t feel threatened. The incredible masculine scent that wafted from his body was something she wanted.
Something . . . she craved. She wondered what his bare skin looked like underneath all that leather.
“Hey, baby,” she purred, flashing her gleaming, bleached teeth. “You want some company?”
Annoyed, he rolled his eyes and then glared back down at her. “Go find someone else,” he grumbled, pushing past her.
The blond flipped her hair back as she watched him walk away. “Asshole,” she mumbled under her breath.
As the hairs on the back of Apollyon’s neck rose, he knew someone was following him. Sensing Zeke’s presence, he stopped in his tracks.
When he spun around, waves of rage distorted the air between them. There was a huge part of Zeke that wanted a good, bloody hand-to-hand fight with the guy. His anger so noticeable, it was practically a light source.
“What have you done with Yelena?” Zeke said in a guttural voice.
The attack was so fast that Zeke didn’t have time to react. Apollyon bared his fangs, hauled off, and threw out a curving right hook that slammed into the side of his head like an SUV.
Swaying to the side, Zeke caught himself on a table nearby and did a one-eighty, catching his momentum. He pitched himself back at Apollyon and snapped a head-butt out, knocking him in the face.
Apollyon quickly put a hand over his nose with a curse and shot Zeke a look of murderous rage. Zeke positioned himself into a fight stance, bracing himself for Apollyon to retaliate. Instead, he wiped the blood with the back of his hand and muttered, using a language that Zeke couldn’t understand.
“Yelena wants to be with me, sin-eater.” He smiled a little, his cruel face showing self-satisfaction. “She will be my bride soon.”
There was a depth of satisfaction in his words that caused a reaction from Zeke.
“No!” He jabbed a finger at Apollyon. “You’re a damn liar!”
On a surge of hatred, Zeke lost his temper and lunged forward.
At that very moment, the air crackled with electric energy of an approaching storm, a storm that was brewing inside Electra. Then, Zeke went rigid as an electrical blast coursed through him like liquid fire.
“Zeke!” Tim shouted.
The sequence played out in a series of seconds that seemed to move in slow motion: As Tim and Steven escorted Callisto around the bar, Electra came up from behind Zeke and extended her palm. There was a flash bright enough to temporarily visually impair everyone nearby, then pop and . . . shit, she discharged a thunderbolt of lightning that struck Zeke with a phenomenal speed that he never saw coming.
Steven rushed for Zeke, trying to shield his body with his. He failed. Zeke was hit in the back, and the impact came out the other side, burning a hole through his chest. He caught Zeke as the powerful force knocked him off his heels.
As they crumpled to the floor, all Zeke could do was gasp. Gathering what was left of his strength, he lifted his head and looked down his body as smoke rose from his charred flesh. Before Zeke panicked, blackness came and swallowed him whole.
“No!” Callisto screamed at Electra. “You killed my sin-eater!”
Electra rolled her eyes. “He’s a Breedline,” she said through gritted teeth. “He’ll heal, you idiot.”
Upstairs in the security room, sweat broke out over Drakon’s body as he witnessed Zeke’s attack on one of the camera monitors. He felt hot . . . enraged. A spasm twisted his gut. He slumped forward and clutched the side of the desk until his knuckles turned white. Bringing forth the change, the veins in his neck stood out like thick cables, and his teeth tugged at the gums.
Below, Lieutenant Colonel Deshazo and his team went into full crisis mode, and Roman’s crew backed them up. When they opened fire, gunshots rang out, and pandemonium erupted inside the bar. The people went into panic-mode, screaming and knocking over tables and chairs, tripping over each other in their desperate attempts to get away.
The commotion momentarily distracted Apollyon. As he turned his back on his enemies, his eyes searched the faces of the fleeing people. When multiple bullets tore into Apollyon’s backside, blood exploded from his chest. The impact staggered him, throwing him off balance, but he managed to stay on his feet.
As the hail of bullets continued, powered debris filled the air. Among the smoke and dust, the sound of an inhuman growl echoed throughout the bar, audible even over the blaring weapons. And then a shadow flashed across their field of vision at preternatural speed.
Roman caught another glimpse of the dark figure, but the creature moved too quickly for him to focus on it. Within a split second, something landed on the floor behind them with a loud thump.
“Cease fire!” Colonel Deshazo shouted.
When the gunfire no longer assailed his ears, the colonel realized that something was about to attack them from the rear. With his finger rested on the trigger of his nine-millimeter Glock, he turned toward Roman and his crew, motioning them to stay put. And then he addressed his soldiers that were positioned above them, transmitting the message over the two-way radio. “Wyckoff, Gunny, Kid,” he said in a low voice, “keep watch and hold your position.”
“Roger that,” Gunny replied.
“Cover my ass,” Lawrence said into his headset. “I’m going in to check on Zeke.”
Colonel Deshazo gave him an affirmative nod.
“We’ve got you covered,” Wyckoff’s voice came through Lawrence’s earpiece.
“Shit,” Kid cursed in a low voice. “This is messed-up.” Like his comrades, he was alert and ready for action. His black uniform blended into the shadows, making him hard to see even though Gunny and Wyckoff were practically beside him.
Above the chaos, crouched down on the top level of the bar, Detective Perkins was shocked by what he’d witnessed. With no time to spare, Detective Sanchez took action and made a call to the San Francisco Memorial Hospital, preparing them for possible casualties.
“What do we do?” Perkins whispered to Sanchez as he ended the call.
“We stay calm,” Sanchez said, putting a reassuring hand on his partner’s shoulder. “I’ve contacted Dr. Helen Carrington and informed her of our situation. She’s going to have Breedline emergency personnel dispatched to our location, along with police reinforcements,” he continued to explain. ”There’s nothing the police can do to help, but they can control the crowd outside and make damn sure that no one else gets in.”
As the noise escalated in the dressing room upstairs, Alexander’s instinct rose like a beast. Jace met his piercing blue eyes, and from out of nowhere Alexander yanked his shirt over his head, toed off his boots, and dropped his jeans. For the first time, Jace witnessed as his biological father began to change.
Fire lit Alexander’s eyes. When he realized that he had not a second to spare, his body expanded, like something within him was overtaking his natural form. He brushed his long hair away from his sweat-beaded forehead and looked to the others who appeared stunned by the noise coming from below.
Teeth grinding, he bit out, “We need to shift. They need . . . our help.”
The words were uttered in a voice so distorted, it took them a moment to figure out what he’d said.
For a breathless moment, Alexander hovered in that in-between state, flickering between human and Breedline. Then, with a deep exhale, he lifted his head and bared his teeth as they tugged at the roots, lengthening the size of daggers.
Momentarily amazed by the size of his father’s wolf, Jace turned toward Jem, his face a mask of unmistakable dread. “He’s right. We don’t have a choice, brother.”
Jem nodded, acknowledging what had to be done, even if it meant breaking their True Law. Shifting into their supernatural form and exposing themselves to humans was something they had to risk to save hundreds of innocent lives.
The instant Alexander’s change was complete, his lips pulled back in a snarling display of wickedly sharp teeth. And in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
Jem—still in human form—was right on his tail, leaving the others behind to finish their transformation.
Jace’s body quaked with fury, the creature within itching to be released. It curdled in his veins, whispering and calling to the monster inside him. To the Beast.
His irises burned bright like two shimmering diamonds as he felt the beginnings of his change. At first, it looked as if there were something inside him too large for his skin, which began to bulge and move in odd ways . . . stretching and growing until a white, shaggy Beast underneath emerged.
Nate’s eyes widened as he looked up at Jace’s two-footed Beast that towered above him. Shit!
Kyle, Casey, and Nate stepped back as the seven-foot creature let out a thunderous roar. Lowering his big head, he clenched his wolfin-like hands into tight fists and tore out of the room.
Relieved to still be in one piece, Nate let out a deep breath. “Okay guys, it’s our turn,” he said, shrugging out of his tailored suit. “Let’s go kick some ass.”
After Casey quickly undressed, he closed his eyes and did what he had to do. He focused on his Theriomorph side and called to the panther within him. Embracing the animal, he surrendered to the shift, his arms bulging and contorting.
A silent understanding passed between Kyle and Casey, the instinctive exchange amongst the two friends knowing this battle might be their end. Stepping back, Kyle watched in wonder as Casey dropped to the floor, his skin rippling and his body reshaping. His arms became paws and his head reared and flexed, until the form of a huge panther took his place.
The sleek, black cat lifted its chin high in the air and roared.
Kyle swallowed hard. “Here goes nothing,” he said, looking at Casey’s panther, whose lavender eyes were bright with challenge and then to the haunting stare of Nate’s gigantic Breedline wolf. Its rich brown fur was smooth as if it had been neatly groomed. Damn, Kyle thought. Even in wolf form, Nate looked like a million bucks.
As Nate’s wolf shifted its stance, his irises took on a preternatural glow, waiting for Kyle to bring on the change.
Without hesitation, Kyle peeled off the layers of his clothing. And then agony seared the muscles in his legs. They contracted and protruded, shaking as the Breedline rose inside him with raw power. Straining muscles continued to ripple beneath his skin, while the tendons in his neck stood out like drawn bowstrings. Thick hairs sprouted from his pores as the change came upon Kyle instantly. Faster than the human eye could perceive, dark fur covered his entire body. The Breedline wolf in him wanted nothing more than to take down his enemies in battle. Throwing his head back, he howled a purely inhuman sound.
Within all the havoc surrounding Jem, he heard an unearthly howl in the near distance. He looked up at the same time that Jace’s Beast vaulted over the stair railing like he’d been launched from a catapult. As he landed, the floor cracked beneath him.
From out of the shadows came a hulking wolf and stood alongside the Beast. Its bristling pelt was the color of virgin snow, and its fearless eyes were as red as blood.
The Beast and Alexander’s Breedline wolf had a mission to destroy the Fury. Together, they had to succeed, or all of mankind would perish. Human society was not remotely prepared to deal with the kind of power the Fury bestowed.
The crowd of people responded with terror. Instantly, they pushed and shoved at one another, scrambling to flee the bar. The glasses and bottles shattered as they crashed onto the floor.
Jem shifted his focus from his father’s wolf and brother’s Beast and strained his eyes to see Apollyon as he came into view, or what looked to be him. He had morphed into some kind of creature and miraculously healed from all the bullet holes. Never had he witnessed anything like this. He had thought the Breedline hybrids they’d fought against were unnaturally massive and unholy, but Apollyon’s creature was even larger, much more monstrous. A sudden feeling of dread crept over him. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he wondered, Could this creature be destroyed?
Apollyon’s transformation looked like the devil himself. Some kind of hybrid . . . a genetic cross between a Breedline, an Adalwolf, and another species he’d never encountered before.
The size of the creature was enormous, towering at least seven-feet-tall, with sharp protruding teeth and glowing eyes. Dark fur partly covered his skin, and it had leathery, black wings that appeared to be over twenty feet long, with a row of deadly looking spiked talons down his spine.
While Jem took this in, he had the strange feeling that he was looking at pure evil, one utterly devoid of humanity.
The Beast moved swiftly. It lunged at Apollyon, knocking him back with blunt force. Before Apollyon hit the floor, he vanished into thin air.
An instant later, the huge winged creature that seemed indestructible reappeared behind the Beast and tore into him using his razor-sharp claws. As Apollyon struck him, cutting into his hide, the Beast howled in pain.
No! Jem thought. Everything was getting out of hand.
Instinct took over, and all that mattered was saving his brother from Apollyon’s savagery. Jem palmed up a firebomb, ready to take aim, careful not to catch the Beast in the crossfire. But before he could launch it, a furious roar shattered the moment. Then, Alexander charged forward like a rabid dog and lunged at Apollyon, catching him completely by surprise.
Jem watched in astonishment as Alexander’s spectacular wolf moved in to defend Jace’s Beast, taking a gory chunk out of Apollyon’s leg.
In what felt like an instant, Apollyon let out a tremendous roar giving the Beast an advantage. He spun around swiping with his claws, but Apollyon dodged the attack and vanished again. The Beast missed his throat by mere inches.
When Apollyon reappeared, he was crouched on the balcony above them, his back facing Colonel Deshazo’s team. Peering down at the Beast, Apollyon’s golden eyes glimmered with homicidal rage. The Breedline’s interference galled his soul.
Despite the urgency of the situation, they did not forget their training. Playing it safe, Gunny inched closer, his semi-automatic poised and ready.
The flash of Gunny’s muzzle gave Apollyon barely enough warning. In a split second, he took off, wings flapping through the air an instant before an eruption of gunfire that would have taken his head off. Bullets smacked into the ceiling, sending pulverized tiles flying everywhere.
“Hold your fire!” Deshazo called out.
The gunfire ceased as quickly as it had begun. “Damn it,” Gunny swore. “I almost had—”
A ferocious howl cut him off as the Beast scrambled up the wall using his claws, impatient to sink his teeth into Apollyon’s throat. The others watched as he climbed higher and higher. His ability to defy gravity was astounding to behold.
Fueled by anger, the Beast caught sight of Apollyon perched on a ledge two feet away. Chest heaving, he focused on the shiny object around his left finger with keen eyesight. And then he remembered the ring. The symbol on it was thought to give Apollyon and his fraternal sister’s immortality. If only he could manage to remove it from his hand, even if he had to tear the damn thing completely off.
Apollyon growled defiantly at the Beast as if daring him to attack.
Then, without warning, an unexpected dark figure pounced on Apollyon from the rear, slashing away at his wings with dagger-sized claws.
Using the strength of his rogue wolf, Drakon had the weight advantage, which he pressed by fighting tooth and nail against the fearsome creature.
The Beast watched as Drakon knocked Apollyon off the ledge. It was a fifty-foot drop, and he hit hard.
The sound of a thud roused Apollyon from his near state of unconsciousness. Opening his eyes, he saw the Beast’s face in front of him, teeth snarling and seething with anger. Apollyon doubled his fist as the Beast lunged forward . . .
Something slashed into the Beast, sending him to his knees, howling against the searing pain. As he dropped to the floor, his hide smoked as if it was on fire. And then he realized what it was—who it was.
A look of satisfaction came over Apollyon’s face as he nodded at Electra, who held a silver whip in her hand that lit up with an electrical surge. In a split second, he had the Beast’s head in his grasp. And with a sharp yank came a loud snap.
There was a heartbeat of stunned silence as Apollyon dropped the Beast to the floor like a stone. His body twitched once, then fell utterly still.
“Oh god, Jace!”
Jem’s shout pierced through the bar like a silver bullet. He rushed forward and sank to his knees beside his brother’s Beast, who lay unmoving, his fur burned and his flesh torn away in deep gouges. With hands that shook, he reached out and smoothed over the Beast’s matted coat as it miraculously disappeared. Instantly, Jace’s human form resurfaced.
“Jace—”
The music and the chaos silenced when a godlike voice of authority echoed through the bar, bringing everyone to attention.
“Starting tonight, your world belongs to us,” Apollyon announced, his tone laced with malice and hostility. “And each one of you will bow before me.”
At that moment, Jem said a silent prayer as he visualized the terror the Fury was about to inflict on anyone that stood in their way. He knew his brother wasn’t dead. It would take more than a broken neck to kill the Beast, but still . . . things weren’t looking good.
God . . . if you can hear me, you may be our only hope.
To be continued . . .
When widespread reports of gruesome attacks on homeless victims, and local residents sweep across Berkeley California and the San Francisco Bay area, two local human detectives are desperate to catch whoever is responsible for the disturbing and heinous crimes.
When they question Zeke Rizzo—who is a Breedline, born with the curse of a sin-eater, and owner of the Cat Club—about a woman they’d found brutally murdered near his bar, one of Zeke’s bouncers recognizes the victim after Detective Perkins shares her photo from social media. He also confirms the victim left the bar around midnight with a guy that oddly resembled the famous actor, Jason Momoa.
Before the detectives leave, Zeke gives them a copy of the bar’s video surveillance, hoping it would help with their investigation.
As the detectives exit the club, Zeke found himself confronted by a beautiful woman he’d seen earlier hanging out in the VIP section with an older gentleman. After introducing herself as Callisto and that she was every man’s dream, she asked him to spend the night with her. Zeke refused her proposition, but she was not the type to take no for an answer, and grabbed his arm. At the same time he realized she was not human and craved human blood, he got a glimpse into her past, using his sin-eater skills. What he saw nearly brought him to his knees. She’d been trapped alive for years in some kind of sarcophagus. At the same time Zeke questioned her about his vision, Callisto’s brother, Apollyon, interrupted their conversation and warned Zeke to keep his sister’s past to himself.
When the detectives find another body with the same MO, they contact Zeke before they head back to his bar for more questions. As they arrive, Zeke found himself caught off guard by Apollyon, who was furious after he found out Zeke spoke to the detectives and cut his throat just as his head of security, Yelena, and the detectives walked in, witnessing everything. Before Apollyon used his powers and disappeared, he took Yelena with him.
While the detectives question Zeke after he mysteriously heals, he refuses to answer their questions and leaves them clueless to what they’d just encountered.
As the detectives report to another crime scene, they discover another suspect after reviewing the surveillance video. Their next step was to visit the owner of several popular bars in the area who happened to be Detectives Manuel Sanchez’s nephew, Nathan Gage, hoping he could help identify the suspects. When they arrive at the bar, and explain to the owner what they have discovered, asking him if he’d take a look at the video they retrieved from the crime scene, Nathan becomes worried. He knew something his Uncle Sanchez wasn’t aware of. Not only was Nathan a Breedline, he knew his uncle was born with the same genetics but it was kept a secret. Now, he was faced with a difficult decision. In order to keep his uncle safe, he would have to go against the Breedline law and tell him everything.
Now that both Detectives know about the Breedline, they offer to help them take down the Fury. There next step is to figure out a way to lure them out of their hiding place.
As they ponder on a plan of action, Jace comes up with an idea of putting on a show at Nate’s bar to lure the Fury to them, hoping a crowded bar of humans would do the trick. It would be like ringing a dinner bell to an all-you-can-eat buffet. But the only question was; could they protect all the people while they battled with the hungry trio?
When the Breedline manages to capture Callisto, her fraternal twin Electra, uses her telepathic powers to warn their brother Apollyon. Enraged with the Breedline, Apollyon tells his beloved Yelena good-bye, knowing it may be the last time they see one another as he heads for battle.
Continued . . .
Apollyon swallowed a curse as he dematerialized on the roof of Nate’s club, a flat strip of smoked glass above his private wing that held all the dressing rooms.
His near-death experience and the Breedline’s interference edged him closer to his breaking point. And his fear of losing Yelena battled against Apollyon’s composure, a painful ache inside his chest, squeezing his heart. It was worse than the horrors of the years he’d been imprisoned.
A few weeks ago, he’d first laid eyes on her in Zeke Rizzo’s bar. He understood the desire for fierce, wild passion. But this? This was beyond his realm of experience. That’s when he knew Yelena was the one.
At first, he’d had a slight problem, however. She was in love with the sin-eater, and it still bothered him. Just thinking about it left a bitter taste in his mouth. He took some deep breaths and pulled it together.
A moment later, he vanished and reappeared inside a dark hallway. As he moved to the end, he stepped into an elevator built to hold several people. When the doors shut, the enclosed contraption descended with a slight shake. A few seconds later, he was striding across the lowest level of the club, pushing his way through the crowd of people.
With grim resolve, Apollyon measured the crowd from a vantage point of about six-foot-five. He was not a happy camper as he headed toward the bar. The VIP section had its own private bar and bartenders, and that’s where the Breedline had his sister.
Before he got half-way, a blond dressed like a high-class stripper showing a lot of skin stepped in his path. Apollyon towered above her with a menacing glare, but she didn’t feel threatened. The incredible masculine scent that wafted from his body was something she wanted.
Something . . . she craved. She wondered what his bare skin looked like underneath all that leather.
“Hey, baby,” she purred, flashing her gleaming, bleached teeth. “You want some company?”
Annoyed, he rolled his eyes and then glared back down at her. “Go find someone else,” he grumbled, pushing past her.
The blond flipped her hair back as she watched him walk away. “Asshole,” she mumbled under her breath.
As the hairs on the back of Apollyon’s neck rose, he knew someone was following him. Sensing Zeke’s presence, he stopped in his tracks.
When he spun around, waves of rage distorted the air between them. There was a huge part of Zeke that wanted a good, bloody hand-to-hand fight with the guy. His anger so noticeable, it was practically a light source.
“What have you done with Yelena?” Zeke said in a guttural voice.
The attack was so fast that Zeke didn’t have time to react. Apollyon bared his fangs, hauled off, and threw out a curving right hook that slammed into the side of his head like an SUV.
Swaying to the side, Zeke caught himself on a table nearby and did a one-eighty, catching his momentum. He pitched himself back at Apollyon and snapped a head-butt out, knocking him in the face.
Apollyon quickly put a hand over his nose with a curse and shot Zeke a look of murderous rage. Zeke positioned himself into a fight stance, bracing himself for Apollyon to retaliate. Instead, he wiped the blood with the back of his hand and muttered, using a language that Zeke couldn’t understand.
“Yelena wants to be with me, sin-eater.” He smiled a little, his cruel face showing self-satisfaction. “She will be my bride soon.”
There was a depth of satisfaction in his words that caused a reaction from Zeke.
“No!” He jabbed a finger at Apollyon. “You’re a damn liar!”
On a surge of hatred, Zeke lost his temper and lunged forward.
At that very moment, the air crackled with electric energy of an approaching storm, a storm that was brewing inside Electra. Then, Zeke went rigid as an electrical blast coursed through him like liquid fire.
“Zeke!” Tim shouted.
The sequence played out in a series of seconds that seemed to move in slow motion: As Tim and Steven escorted Callisto around the bar, Electra came up from behind Zeke and extended her palm. There was a flash bright enough to temporarily visually impair everyone nearby, then pop and . . . shit, she discharged a thunderbolt of lightning that struck Zeke with a phenomenal speed that he never saw coming.
Steven rushed for Zeke, trying to shield his body with his. He failed. Zeke was hit in the back, and the impact came out the other side, burning a hole through his chest. He caught Zeke as the powerful force knocked him off his heels.
As they crumpled to the floor, all Zeke could do was gasp. Gathering what was left of his strength, he lifted his head and looked down his body as smoke rose from his charred flesh. Before Zeke panicked, blackness came and swallowed him whole.
“No!” Callisto screamed at Electra. “You killed my sin-eater!”
Electra rolled her eyes. “He’s a Breedline,” she said through gritted teeth. “He’ll heal, you idiot.”
Upstairs in the security room, sweat broke out over Drakon’s body as he witnessed Zeke’s attack on one of the camera monitors. He felt hot . . . enraged. A spasm twisted his gut. He slumped forward and clutched the side of the desk until his knuckles turned white. Bringing forth the change, the veins in his neck stood out like thick cables, and his teeth tugged at the gums.
Below, Lieutenant Colonel Deshazo and his team went into full crisis mode, and Roman’s crew backed them up. When they opened fire, gunshots rang out, and pandemonium erupted inside the bar. The people went into panic-mode, screaming and knocking over tables and chairs, tripping over each other in their desperate attempts to get away.
The commotion momentarily distracted Apollyon. As he turned his back on his enemies, his eyes searched the faces of the fleeing people. When multiple bullets tore into Apollyon’s backside, blood exploded from his chest. The impact staggered him, throwing him off balance, but he managed to stay on his feet.
As the hail of bullets continued, powered debris filled the air. Among the smoke and dust, the sound of an inhuman growl echoed throughout the bar, audible even over the blaring weapons. And then a shadow flashed across their field of vision at preternatural speed.
Roman caught another glimpse of the dark figure, but the creature moved too quickly for him to focus on it. Within a split second, something landed on the floor behind them with a loud thump.
“Cease fire!” Colonel Deshazo shouted.
When the gunfire no longer assailed his ears, the colonel realized that something was about to attack them from the rear. With his finger rested on the trigger of his nine-millimeter Glock, he turned toward Roman and his crew, motioning them to stay put. And then he addressed his soldiers that were positioned above them, transmitting the message over the two-way radio. “Wyckoff, Gunny, Kid,” he said in a low voice, “keep watch and hold your position.”
“Roger that,” Gunny replied.
“Cover my ass,” Lawrence said into his headset. “I’m going in to check on Zeke.”
Colonel Deshazo gave him an affirmative nod.
“We’ve got you covered,” Wyckoff’s voice came through Lawrence’s earpiece.
“Shit,” Kid cursed in a low voice. “This is messed-up.” Like his comrades, he was alert and ready for action. His black uniform blended into the shadows, making him hard to see even though Gunny and Wyckoff were practically beside him.
Above the chaos, crouched down on the top level of the bar, Detective Perkins was shocked by what he’d witnessed. With no time to spare, Detective Sanchez took action and made a call to the San Francisco Memorial Hospital, preparing them for possible casualties.
“What do we do?” Perkins whispered to Sanchez as he ended the call.
“We stay calm,” Sanchez said, putting a reassuring hand on his partner’s shoulder. “I’ve contacted Dr. Helen Carrington and informed her of our situation. She’s going to have Breedline emergency personnel dispatched to our location, along with police reinforcements,” he continued to explain. ”There’s nothing the police can do to help, but they can control the crowd outside and make damn sure that no one else gets in.”
As the noise escalated in the dressing room upstairs, Alexander’s instinct rose like a beast. Jace met his piercing blue eyes, and from out of nowhere Alexander yanked his shirt over his head, toed off his boots, and dropped his jeans. For the first time, Jace witnessed as his biological father began to change.
Fire lit Alexander’s eyes. When he realized that he had not a second to spare, his body expanded, like something within him was overtaking his natural form. He brushed his long hair away from his sweat-beaded forehead and looked to the others who appeared stunned by the noise coming from below.
Teeth grinding, he bit out, “We need to shift. They need . . . our help.”
The words were uttered in a voice so distorted, it took them a moment to figure out what he’d said.
For a breathless moment, Alexander hovered in that in-between state, flickering between human and Breedline. Then, with a deep exhale, he lifted his head and bared his teeth as they tugged at the roots, lengthening the size of daggers.
Momentarily amazed by the size of his father’s wolf, Jace turned toward Jem, his face a mask of unmistakable dread. “He’s right. We don’t have a choice, brother.”
Jem nodded, acknowledging what had to be done, even if it meant breaking their True Law. Shifting into their supernatural form and exposing themselves to humans was something they had to risk to save hundreds of innocent lives.
The instant Alexander’s change was complete, his lips pulled back in a snarling display of wickedly sharp teeth. And in the blink of an eye, he was gone.
Jem—still in human form—was right on his tail, leaving the others behind to finish their transformation.
Jace’s body quaked with fury, the creature within itching to be released. It curdled in his veins, whispering and calling to the monster inside him. To the Beast.
His irises burned bright like two shimmering diamonds as he felt the beginnings of his change. At first, it looked as if there were something inside him too large for his skin, which began to bulge and move in odd ways . . . stretching and growing until a white, shaggy Beast underneath emerged.
Nate’s eyes widened as he looked up at Jace’s two-footed Beast that towered above him. Shit!
Kyle, Casey, and Nate stepped back as the seven-foot creature let out a thunderous roar. Lowering his big head, he clenched his wolfin-like hands into tight fists and tore out of the room.
Relieved to still be in one piece, Nate let out a deep breath. “Okay guys, it’s our turn,” he said, shrugging out of his tailored suit. “Let’s go kick some ass.”
After Casey quickly undressed, he closed his eyes and did what he had to do. He focused on his Theriomorph side and called to the panther within him. Embracing the animal, he surrendered to the shift, his arms bulging and contorting.
A silent understanding passed between Kyle and Casey, the instinctive exchange amongst the two friends knowing this battle might be their end. Stepping back, Kyle watched in wonder as Casey dropped to the floor, his skin rippling and his body reshaping. His arms became paws and his head reared and flexed, until the form of a huge panther took his place.
The sleek, black cat lifted its chin high in the air and roared.
Kyle swallowed hard. “Here goes nothing,” he said, looking at Casey’s panther, whose lavender eyes were bright with challenge and then to the haunting stare of Nate’s gigantic Breedline wolf. Its rich brown fur was smooth as if it had been neatly groomed. Damn, Kyle thought. Even in wolf form, Nate looked like a million bucks.
As Nate’s wolf shifted its stance, his irises took on a preternatural glow, waiting for Kyle to bring on the change.
Without hesitation, Kyle peeled off the layers of his clothing. And then agony seared the muscles in his legs. They contracted and protruded, shaking as the Breedline rose inside him with raw power. Straining muscles continued to ripple beneath his skin, while the tendons in his neck stood out like drawn bowstrings. Thick hairs sprouted from his pores as the change came upon Kyle instantly. Faster than the human eye could perceive, dark fur covered his entire body. The Breedline wolf in him wanted nothing more than to take down his enemies in battle. Throwing his head back, he howled a purely inhuman sound.
Within all the havoc surrounding Jem, he heard an unearthly howl in the near distance. He looked up at the same time that Jace’s Beast vaulted over the stair railing like he’d been launched from a catapult. As he landed, the floor cracked beneath him.
From out of the shadows came a hulking wolf and stood alongside the Beast. Its bristling pelt was the color of virgin snow, and its fearless eyes were as red as blood.
The Beast and Alexander’s Breedline wolf had a mission to destroy the Fury. Together, they had to succeed, or all of mankind would perish. Human society was not remotely prepared to deal with the kind of power the Fury bestowed.
The crowd of people responded with terror. Instantly, they pushed and shoved at one another, scrambling to flee the bar. The glasses and bottles shattered as they crashed onto the floor.
Jem shifted his focus from his father’s wolf and brother’s Beast and strained his eyes to see Apollyon as he came into view, or what looked to be him. He had morphed into some kind of creature and miraculously healed from all the bullet holes. Never had he witnessed anything like this. He had thought the Breedline hybrids they’d fought against were unnaturally massive and unholy, but Apollyon’s creature was even larger, much more monstrous. A sudden feeling of dread crept over him. Swallowing the lump in his throat, he wondered, Could this creature be destroyed?
Apollyon’s transformation looked like the devil himself. Some kind of hybrid . . . a genetic cross between a Breedline, an Adalwolf, and another species he’d never encountered before.
The size of the creature was enormous, towering at least seven-feet-tall, with sharp protruding teeth and glowing eyes. Dark fur partly covered his skin, and it had leathery, black wings that appeared to be over twenty feet long, with a row of deadly looking spiked talons down his spine.
While Jem took this in, he had the strange feeling that he was looking at pure evil, one utterly devoid of humanity.
The Beast moved swiftly. It lunged at Apollyon, knocking him back with blunt force. Before Apollyon hit the floor, he vanished into thin air.
An instant later, the huge winged creature that seemed indestructible reappeared behind the Beast and tore into him using his razor-sharp claws. As Apollyon struck him, cutting into his hide, the Beast howled in pain.
No! Jem thought. Everything was getting out of hand.
Instinct took over, and all that mattered was saving his brother from Apollyon’s savagery. Jem palmed up a firebomb, ready to take aim, careful not to catch the Beast in the crossfire. But before he could launch it, a furious roar shattered the moment. Then, Alexander charged forward like a rabid dog and lunged at Apollyon, catching him completely by surprise.
Jem watched in astonishment as Alexander’s spectacular wolf moved in to defend Jace’s Beast, taking a gory chunk out of Apollyon’s leg.
In what felt like an instant, Apollyon let out a tremendous roar giving the Beast an advantage. He spun around swiping with his claws, but Apollyon dodged the attack and vanished again. The Beast missed his throat by mere inches.
When Apollyon reappeared, he was crouched on the balcony above them, his back facing Colonel Deshazo’s team. Peering down at the Beast, Apollyon’s golden eyes glimmered with homicidal rage. The Breedline’s interference galled his soul.
Despite the urgency of the situation, they did not forget their training. Playing it safe, Gunny inched closer, his semi-automatic poised and ready.
The flash of Gunny’s muzzle gave Apollyon barely enough warning. In a split second, he took off, wings flapping through the air an instant before an eruption of gunfire that would have taken his head off. Bullets smacked into the ceiling, sending pulverized tiles flying everywhere.
“Hold your fire!” Deshazo called out.
The gunfire ceased as quickly as it had begun. “Damn it,” Gunny swore. “I almost had—”
A ferocious howl cut him off as the Beast scrambled up the wall using his claws, impatient to sink his teeth into Apollyon’s throat. The others watched as he climbed higher and higher. His ability to defy gravity was astounding to behold.
Fueled by anger, the Beast caught sight of Apollyon perched on a ledge two feet away. Chest heaving, he focused on the shiny object around his left finger with keen eyesight. And then he remembered the ring. The symbol on it was thought to give Apollyon and his fraternal sister’s immortality. If only he could manage to remove it from his hand, even if he had to tear the damn thing completely off.
Apollyon growled defiantly at the Beast as if daring him to attack.
Then, without warning, an unexpected dark figure pounced on Apollyon from the rear, slashing away at his wings with dagger-sized claws.
Using the strength of his rogue wolf, Drakon had the weight advantage, which he pressed by fighting tooth and nail against the fearsome creature.
The Beast watched as Drakon knocked Apollyon off the ledge. It was a fifty-foot drop, and he hit hard.
The sound of a thud roused Apollyon from his near state of unconsciousness. Opening his eyes, he saw the Beast’s face in front of him, teeth snarling and seething with anger. Apollyon doubled his fist as the Beast lunged forward . . .
Something slashed into the Beast, sending him to his knees, howling against the searing pain. As he dropped to the floor, his hide smoked as if it was on fire. And then he realized what it was—who it was.
A look of satisfaction came over Apollyon’s face as he nodded at Electra, who held a silver whip in her hand that lit up with an electrical surge. In a split second, he had the Beast’s head in his grasp. And with a sharp yank came a loud snap.
There was a heartbeat of stunned silence as Apollyon dropped the Beast to the floor like a stone. His body twitched once, then fell utterly still.
“Oh god, Jace!”
Jem’s shout pierced through the bar like a silver bullet. He rushed forward and sank to his knees beside his brother’s Beast, who lay unmoving, his fur burned and his flesh torn away in deep gouges. With hands that shook, he reached out and smoothed over the Beast’s matted coat as it miraculously disappeared. Instantly, Jace’s human form resurfaced.
“Jace—”
The music and the chaos silenced when a godlike voice of authority echoed through the bar, bringing everyone to attention.
“Starting tonight, your world belongs to us,” Apollyon announced, his tone laced with malice and hostility. “And each one of you will bow before me.”
At that moment, Jem said a silent prayer as he visualized the terror the Fury was about to inflict on anyone that stood in their way. He knew his brother wasn’t dead. It would take more than a broken neck to kill the Beast, but still . . . things weren’t looking good.
God . . . if you can hear me, you may be our only hope.
To be continued . . .
Book of the Month contest entry
NOTE: This is not part of the chapter. A reference for terms and cast of characters, especially for new readers:
BREEDLINE - A species of humans that have the ability to change from human form into a wolf. They are not like the old legend of the Lycanthropy myth. Breedline species can shift into their wolf at will. The moon has no power over them. They do not pass their ability to other humans with a bite or scratch like the Lycanthropy myth.
The Breedline gene is passed down to offspring that are born identical twins. Although they live among humans, their species must be kept secret.
In wolf form, they have super-strength, speed, and heightened senses. Compared to humans, Breedlines have tremendous advantages when it comes to health. Their bodies heal fast and are not subject to illnesses or diseases. The only thing that slows their healing process is silver. It is their kryptonite. Besides old age, a silver bullet to the brain is the only thing deadly to the species.
All males change into their wolf at the age of eighteen. Females do not go through the change until they make love to their Breedline bonded mate.
BREEDLINE TWINS - Identical twins that are born from either one or both parents of the Breedline species. They have a strong, unbreakable bond from birth, are born with telepathic abilities, and have the power to sense the other's emotions or injuries. In some cases, the bond between twins is so strong that if one dies, the other twin may pass on, especially if they don't have a mate.
BREEDLINE BONDING - The male Breedline spends their life in search of their bonded mate. When the male comes in contact with her, he instantly feels a simultaneous, desirable attraction and she becomes the most important thing in his life. He is there to love, protect, and cherish her until death. Once they are mated, they bond for life. It is possible for them to have more than one mate in their lifespan.
BELOVED - A word used by a Breedline to express the bond to their mate.
DOUBLE BONDED - In some cases, male Breedline twins bond with the same female but one will carry a stronger bond. Usually one of them must sacrifice for the other twin.
BREEDLINE COVENANT - The Breedline species must live within the boundaries of a Covenant, which is only formed with their species. The Covenant is governed and ruled by a head council. The council keeps their laws in order and oversees the species population.
THE BREEDLINE QUEEN - Over centuries, the Breedline Covenant is ruled by a true queen. If there is no queen living, the Covenants are governed by an appointed head council until another one is born. A Breedline queen is born once every one hundred years. Her massive stature, black fur, and red eyes are the queen's trademarks. Her alpha wolf has twice the strength, speed, and size of any Breedline. The queen is expected to rule over all the Breedline Covenants where she will be respected and obeyed by all Breedline. This is their absolute True Law.
THE QUEEN'S RING - This ring has been passed down to all Breedline queens for generations. When the new queen places the ring on, it instantly shifts in size to fit her finger.
TRUE LAW - All Breedline Covenants have an ancient book of laws. If either sex disobeys the Breedline laws, they can be shunned, or no longer protected by their Covenant. If a Breedline takes another life out of revenge, or evil - other than protecting their life, and the life of another - they will never have the ability to shift back into human form and cast out as a rogue wolf.
ROGUE WOLF - A Breedline shunned by their Covenant for taking another life out of revenge or evil and forced to live as a wolf until death without the ability to change into human form again. Some rogue wolves form into packs, which can be dangerous for other Breedline species.
RED (BLOOD) MOON - When the full moon passes through the amber shadow of the earth, producing a midnight eclipse visible across North America. So begins a lunar eclipse tetrad, a series of four consecutive total eclipses occurring at approximately six-month intervals. This incredible light beams into the heart of earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the moon into a great red orb. During this time, all Breedline species that are mated have a strong desire to create an offspring. This is also a time when Breedline females are more fertile for the conception of twins.
CHIANG-SHIH DEMON (Kiang shi, a.k.a. Ramael Arminius) - An ancient demon that inhabits the body of a Breedline fetus before it's born or during a Breedline's death. It continues to take the soul over the natural lifespan of the child, or the deceased Breedline. When the demon possesses a fetus, it breaks the bonding and telepathic abilities of their twin when they are born. If the demon possesses a deceased Breedline's body, it must do so before the soul passes on. If the soul is not intact, the body will soon die.
In most cases, the Chiang-Shih demon will take the life of the other twin, even before their birth. The twin that is born with the demon will bring only evil to whomever they encounter. Their sole purpose is to gain full control of another soul and seek world domination.
There are two ways the demon is cast from the soul it possesses: by its first-born son, and the Angel of Mercy, Zadkiel. The Beast is the only one who can kill a Chiang-Shih demon.
THE BEAST - He is the second born son of the Chiang-Shih demon. When provoked into a rage, he will shift into his Beast instead of his Breedline wolf. The Beast is an enormous, dangerous two-footed creature that has wolf like features. One bite has enough venom to kill the Chiang-Shih demon and leave the soul of the person the demon possessed unharmed.
SHADOW WALKER (a.k.a. Shadow Figure, or Black Mass) - The perception of a patch of shadow as a living, humanoid figure, particularly interpreted by the Breedline as the presence of a malevolent entity. When a Breedline species dies and does not pass on to the other side, they are left to roam the earth as a shadow of themselves - a ghost. They will not pass on until they have settled unfinished business before their death.
ZADKIEL (Tzadqiel, a.k.a. 'Righteousness of God') - The archangel of freedom, benevolence, and mercy, and the patron angel of all who forgives. Breedline species tradition considers him to be the Angel of Mercy.
SUCCUBUS (a.k.a. CREEPERS) - Creatures that search for and feeds off the blood of the Breedline species. Creepers are skilled at extreme sexual pleasure, and the ecstasy they create is exceedingly intense and highly addictive. They cast off a scent that hypnotizes Breedlines into overwhelming sexual urges. They use their human-like bodies and beautiful features to control and influence their thoughts.
They have the ability to reach into the Breedline's mind during sleep, casting a spell of dreams about sexual contact or intercourse. One much less obvious manifestation of Creepers is nightmares - realistic, graphic, terrifying nightmares that rob the Breedline of sleep. Over a period, it can lead to severe fatigue and depression, leaving them emotionally and spiritually drained. Death can occur if they ultimately take over the Breedline's body.
HALF-BREED - This species is born with the genes from both Breedline and succubus. They can bond with either a full-blood Breedline or another half-breed. They cannot change into the Breedline wolf, but they do need blood from them to survive. With the power to hypnotize, most Breedlines have minimal respect and credence toward the half-breed species.
WICCA (or Wise One) - According to the Breedline species, a Wicca is the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts, and necromancy. A Wicca is also considered to be a demonic spirit. It is unclear to the Breedline if they act under the orders of the devil, or they are simply not understood and treated as outcasts. They can do white magic (good) or dark (evil).
KATAKO (a.k.a. Lucas or Dark Shadow) - He is the Chiang-Shih demon's offspring that is born both Breedline and Wiccan. After one year, the Katako develops into an adult with the mind of a child, without reaching full maturity. It has the power to appear translucent, or become completely invisible. Being born half-Breedline, it can shift into a wolf and transform, or mimic another creature with the power to instantly travel from one place to another. Their true purpose of creation is to bring forth the souls stuck in purgatory by using one drop of its blood. Tessa Fairchild - the Breedline queen - destroyed the Katako in battle using the deadly venom of her Breedline wolf.
GOLEMS (a.k.a. the Death Army) - Evil creatures created by dark Wiccans with the power of necromancy. By releasing the souls of demons stuck in purgatory, the Wicca can give them the ability to shape into a creature that is made from earth. These creatures have various qualities, such as mass strength, enormous stature, and the power to consume their victims by saturating them with mud.
GUARDIANS (a.k.a. Spirits of the Forest) - They originated during the Middle Ages with the purpose of protecting all creatures, especially the Breedline, from the destruction of any creation made by a dark Wicca. They can stay invisible with the power to move through any barrier and over any distance instantly.
THERIOMORPH - This species is born with the genes of a Breedline, but cannot change into a Breedline wolf. They shape shift into an enormous black panther. They possess powers of mind manipulation and random visions of the future. They must use the drug dopamine to suppress their urges. Their eye color shifts into a bright lavender when their Theriomorph nature takes over. The Breedline see them as a threat to their species.
ADALWOLF - A species that has the power to shift from their human form into a beautiful creature, twice the size, resembling half man and half wolf. Born with super-strength, they can move from one place to another in supernatural speed. Their eyes take on the appearance of two shimmering diamonds. With the power to regenerate their own cells, an Adalwolf will stop aging at thirty. The moon has no power over them. An Adalwolf is immune to silver. They can bond with any species.
LUPA - The ancestors descended from the old legend of the lycanthrope, except the moon has no power over them and it cannot be passed on to others like a virus. It is passed on through genetics to the female offspring, known as a she-wolf. This type of creature shape-shifts into a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature, and is considered dangerous... cursed.
Jace Chamberlain (a.k.a. the Beast) - He is a Breedline species and later discovers his birth father - who is possessed by the Chiang-Shih demon - murdered his mother when he and his twin brother were four years old. Raised by their new foster family and their Uncle Jacks, he later discovers he was born with a curse of the Beast. With the help of his twin brother, Jem, and his bonded mate, Tessa, they help him cope with his rage to keep the Beast at bay. He's an IT engineer and is the lead singer and plays acoustic guitar in the band Chaos.
Jem Chamberlain (a.k.a. the Chosen Son) - He is a Breedline species and Jace's twin brother. He carries the gene of the Chiang-Shih demon that gives him the power to create a portal and a force of electric energy used as a weapon and other powers he discovers later. His bonded mate is Mia Blackwood. He's an IT engineer and the drummer in the band Chaos.
Tessa Fairchild - She was born into the human world and later discovers she's a Breedline. Abandoned by her parents, she was raised by her aunt and uncle without the knowledge of being born a twin. After she meets Jace, they become bonded mates. During her first change into her Breedline wolf, she became the new Breedline queen. She is an inspiring artist.
Alexander Crest - He is a Breedline who was possessed by the Chiang-Shih demon before birth. Murdering his family, Alexander kidnapped his twin's bonded mate, Katlyn Gray. Keeping her prisoner against her will, she becomes pregnant with his twins. As she managed to escape before she gave birth, Alexander eventually kills her in a fit of rage. Returning for his chosen son twenty-two years later, he is determined to convince him to join his army. After the battle between the Breedline, the demon is finally cast out of Alexander, setting his soul free. For the demon's past crimes, Alexander is pardoned and must reside in the Breedline Covenant. Praying for forgiveness, he reunites with his twin sons, Jace and Jem. As he fights to keep his new family safe, romance blossoms with Dr. Helen Carrington.
Dr. Helen Carrington - She is a Breedline species and a physician at the California Bates Hospital for both Breedlines and humans. Later, she discovers Jace and Jem carry a gene, possibly used for a cure to stop the aging process in her species. After Alexander's demon is banished, he is pardoned for all past crimes and welcomed into the Breedline Covenant. When he meets Helen, they become bonded mates.
Tim Ross - He is a Breedline species and head council of the California Covenant. Angel, his bonded mate - who is a half-breed - has Tim's daughter they named Natalie, after her sister.
Kyle Jones - He is a Breedline species that resides in the California Covenant. Having lost his family to a house fire at childhood, his Uncle Tim Ross has raised him since. Celina Baldolf is his bonded mate. He's a mechanic and also Jace and Jem's close friend, and plays bass in the rock band Chaos.
Casey Barton - He was born of the Breedline species, and lives in the California Covenant. He was adopted by Tim Ross's brother and carries a deep dark secret, afraid to reveal to the Breedline he was born a Theriomorph. He is a clothing model and plays backup bass and keyboards in the band Chaos.
Drakon Hexus - He is a Breedline species. At a young age, his first bonded mate was killed by her father. In a rage, he hunts and kills her murderer, breaking the Breedline's True Law. Shunned by his Covenant and forced to live as a rogue wolf, he's promised his humanity back if he joins the Chiang-Shih demon's army. After Drakon discovers the demon's plans to destroy all humans and half-breeds, he betrays him and joins forces with the Breedline. As time passes, he bonds with another mate, Cassie Chamberlain.
Nathan Gage (a.k.a. Nate) - He is a Breedline and the owner of several upscale night clubs in the largest metropolitan areas of Northern California.
Zeke Rizzo - He is a Breedline, born with a curse of a sin-eater, and the owner of the Cat Club. When coming in physical contact with another person, he has the power to see inside their past, experiencing their worst memory. A simple handshake seems like nothing to an ordinary person, but to Zeke, it is unbearable. Without the ability to stop it, he is also the worst case of karma. If anyone angers him, an unfortunate accident can fall upon them.
Yelena Smirnov - A full-blooded succubus from Russia. She is in charge of security at the Cat Club. She is bonded to Apollyon, who was taken by the battle angels along with his fraternal twin sisters, Callisto, and Electra.
Roman Kincaid - He is an Adalwolf trained in military tactics, hired as a special breed of warriors from Brazil. Hired as a bodyguard for Valkin Steele - a billionaire funding a group of unethical scientists research - he later learns of Steele's underground sex-trafficking and illegal drug and weapons trade, and informs the Breedline Covenant. He also forms a team of Breedline soldiers who work for a private Special Ops group contracted by the military for missions that no one else can or will do to help put an end to Valkin Steele's corrupt organization.
Lawrence Colbert - A Breedline council member of the New Jersey Covenant, trained in military tactics and as a medic who worked alongside Roman Kincaid, the Special Ops Team, and the Breedline Covenant to help take down Valkin Steele.
Lena - She is a Breedline, highly trained in survival skills, martial arts, and anything dealing with weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and hired by Roman Kincaid to help take down Valkin Steele. She oddly resembles the character Xena the Warrior Princess from the 80's television series. She is also Bull's little sister and is bonded to Justice.
Bull (a.k.a. Benjamin Allen Calvero ) - He is a Breedline, highly trained and an expert in a variety of military tactics who is part of Roman Kincaid's team. He gets his nickname because of his size.
Justice - He is a Breedline, highly trained in military tactics, an expert with explosives, hand-to-hand combat, sniper training, and a pilot, who is part of Roman Kincaid's team.
Colonel Brian Deshazo (a.k.a. Colonel D) - He is a Breedline - oddly resembling the WWE professional wrestler, John Cena - who works for the United States military as the leader of highly trained group of elite forces know as first Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. He and his men perform various clandestine and highly classified missions around the world. Their primary mission is counterterrorism.
Major Paul Wyckoff (a.k.a. Dark Wraith) - He is a Theriomorph - oddly resembling Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's character in the "Scorpion King." He's one of Colonel D's men, specifically directed to kill or capture high-value units or dismantle terrorist cells.
Major Joshua Lawson (a.k.a. Kid) - He is a Breedline who was born and raised in Texas. Kid had that worn cowboy look with a southern drawl. He's part of Colonel D's team, and an operator of AC-130 gunships and specialized planes and helicopters.
Master Sergeant Stephen Virgin (a.k.a. Gunny) - He's a Breedline - nicknamed after Clint Eastwood's character in "Heartbreak Ridge." Well known for a hard-nosed, hard-living soldier of war, Gunny is a highly trained sharpshooter in Colonel D's elite team.
Steven Pasquale (a.k.a. Steven Craven) - He inherited the genes of a Breedline and an Adalwolf. He was taken from his mother and forced to endure a life of endless, painful experiments by two German physicians, Dr. Hans Autenburg and Dr. Hubert Crane. Without the knowledge of his real family, Steven finally manages to escape his captors, locating his biological parents and his fraternal twin, Tessa Fairchild.
The Fury - Three fraternal twins created by an evil German scientist named Dr. Hans Autenburg. Using his own DNA, he mixed it with three other species: A Breedline, an Adalwolf, and a powerful Wiccan. He placed three embryos inside the womb of a full-blooded succubus, named Sonya Hothburn. Taken against her will, Sonya was forced by the mad physician into surrogacy. After their birth, she was forbidden to see her children.
All three were created to destroy the Breedline species and dominate the human world. The first born was called Apollyon, meaning 'destroyer' in Greek. It was also the name of the angel-prince of the infernal regions, the minister of death and author of havoc on earth. He has the strength of ten men, and the power to dematerialize, taking others with him, from one place to another. He can transform into a creature that resembles an Adalwolf, and a vampire-like hybrid. The second born was called Callisto, meaning 'most beautiful.' She has the power of a shield, protecting herself and others from harm. The last child was named Electra, meaning 'the shining one.' She has the power to conduct electricity from her body, using it as a weapon. Inheriting their species instinct and extraordinary power, their thirst to kill became uncontrollable. As they grew up, the Fury became more and more unstable and unruly. With an insatiable hunger for human flesh and unmanageable powers, they became a hindrance to the physician. He had no other choice but to drug and imprison them for all time, each one placed inside a sarcophagus in a state of deep slumber to be forgotten forever until they were set free by their mother.
Detective Manuel Sanchez - Raised by a single mother, Manuel never knew his real father. At age thirteen, his older sister Lailah, was murdered, but her killer was never apprehended. Consumed by Lailah's murder, Manuel chooses a career in police enforcement in hopes of someday finally bringing justice to his sister. Now in his fifties - living his life as a bachelor and a homicide detective - he discovers he's not entirely human, and has inherited his father's Breedline genetics.
Detective Frank Perkins - He is Manuel Sanchez's partner, and discovers the secret world of the Breedline. Born as a human, Frank pledges his loyalty to the Breedline. Fighting alongside his partner, they take an oath to help the Breedline protect the world from corruption and unknown creatures that prey on the innocent.
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and 2 member cents. BREEDLINE - A species of humans that have the ability to change from human form into a wolf. They are not like the old legend of the Lycanthropy myth. Breedline species can shift into their wolf at will. The moon has no power over them. They do not pass their ability to other humans with a bite or scratch like the Lycanthropy myth.
The Breedline gene is passed down to offspring that are born identical twins. Although they live among humans, their species must be kept secret.
In wolf form, they have super-strength, speed, and heightened senses. Compared to humans, Breedlines have tremendous advantages when it comes to health. Their bodies heal fast and are not subject to illnesses or diseases. The only thing that slows their healing process is silver. It is their kryptonite. Besides old age, a silver bullet to the brain is the only thing deadly to the species.
All males change into their wolf at the age of eighteen. Females do not go through the change until they make love to their Breedline bonded mate.
BREEDLINE TWINS - Identical twins that are born from either one or both parents of the Breedline species. They have a strong, unbreakable bond from birth, are born with telepathic abilities, and have the power to sense the other's emotions or injuries. In some cases, the bond between twins is so strong that if one dies, the other twin may pass on, especially if they don't have a mate.
BREEDLINE BONDING - The male Breedline spends their life in search of their bonded mate. When the male comes in contact with her, he instantly feels a simultaneous, desirable attraction and she becomes the most important thing in his life. He is there to love, protect, and cherish her until death. Once they are mated, they bond for life. It is possible for them to have more than one mate in their lifespan.
BELOVED - A word used by a Breedline to express the bond to their mate.
DOUBLE BONDED - In some cases, male Breedline twins bond with the same female but one will carry a stronger bond. Usually one of them must sacrifice for the other twin.
BREEDLINE COVENANT - The Breedline species must live within the boundaries of a Covenant, which is only formed with their species. The Covenant is governed and ruled by a head council. The council keeps their laws in order and oversees the species population.
THE BREEDLINE QUEEN - Over centuries, the Breedline Covenant is ruled by a true queen. If there is no queen living, the Covenants are governed by an appointed head council until another one is born. A Breedline queen is born once every one hundred years. Her massive stature, black fur, and red eyes are the queen's trademarks. Her alpha wolf has twice the strength, speed, and size of any Breedline. The queen is expected to rule over all the Breedline Covenants where she will be respected and obeyed by all Breedline. This is their absolute True Law.
THE QUEEN'S RING - This ring has been passed down to all Breedline queens for generations. When the new queen places the ring on, it instantly shifts in size to fit her finger.
TRUE LAW - All Breedline Covenants have an ancient book of laws. If either sex disobeys the Breedline laws, they can be shunned, or no longer protected by their Covenant. If a Breedline takes another life out of revenge, or evil - other than protecting their life, and the life of another - they will never have the ability to shift back into human form and cast out as a rogue wolf.
ROGUE WOLF - A Breedline shunned by their Covenant for taking another life out of revenge or evil and forced to live as a wolf until death without the ability to change into human form again. Some rogue wolves form into packs, which can be dangerous for other Breedline species.
RED (BLOOD) MOON - When the full moon passes through the amber shadow of the earth, producing a midnight eclipse visible across North America. So begins a lunar eclipse tetrad, a series of four consecutive total eclipses occurring at approximately six-month intervals. This incredible light beams into the heart of earth's shadow, filling it with a coppery glow and transforming the moon into a great red orb. During this time, all Breedline species that are mated have a strong desire to create an offspring. This is also a time when Breedline females are more fertile for the conception of twins.
CHIANG-SHIH DEMON (Kiang shi, a.k.a. Ramael Arminius) - An ancient demon that inhabits the body of a Breedline fetus before it's born or during a Breedline's death. It continues to take the soul over the natural lifespan of the child, or the deceased Breedline. When the demon possesses a fetus, it breaks the bonding and telepathic abilities of their twin when they are born. If the demon possesses a deceased Breedline's body, it must do so before the soul passes on. If the soul is not intact, the body will soon die.
In most cases, the Chiang-Shih demon will take the life of the other twin, even before their birth. The twin that is born with the demon will bring only evil to whomever they encounter. Their sole purpose is to gain full control of another soul and seek world domination.
There are two ways the demon is cast from the soul it possesses: by its first-born son, and the Angel of Mercy, Zadkiel. The Beast is the only one who can kill a Chiang-Shih demon.
THE BEAST - He is the second born son of the Chiang-Shih demon. When provoked into a rage, he will shift into his Beast instead of his Breedline wolf. The Beast is an enormous, dangerous two-footed creature that has wolf like features. One bite has enough venom to kill the Chiang-Shih demon and leave the soul of the person the demon possessed unharmed.
SHADOW WALKER (a.k.a. Shadow Figure, or Black Mass) - The perception of a patch of shadow as a living, humanoid figure, particularly interpreted by the Breedline as the presence of a malevolent entity. When a Breedline species dies and does not pass on to the other side, they are left to roam the earth as a shadow of themselves - a ghost. They will not pass on until they have settled unfinished business before their death.
ZADKIEL (Tzadqiel, a.k.a. 'Righteousness of God') - The archangel of freedom, benevolence, and mercy, and the patron angel of all who forgives. Breedline species tradition considers him to be the Angel of Mercy.
SUCCUBUS (a.k.a. CREEPERS) - Creatures that search for and feeds off the blood of the Breedline species. Creepers are skilled at extreme sexual pleasure, and the ecstasy they create is exceedingly intense and highly addictive. They cast off a scent that hypnotizes Breedlines into overwhelming sexual urges. They use their human-like bodies and beautiful features to control and influence their thoughts.
They have the ability to reach into the Breedline's mind during sleep, casting a spell of dreams about sexual contact or intercourse. One much less obvious manifestation of Creepers is nightmares - realistic, graphic, terrifying nightmares that rob the Breedline of sleep. Over a period, it can lead to severe fatigue and depression, leaving them emotionally and spiritually drained. Death can occur if they ultimately take over the Breedline's body.
HALF-BREED - This species is born with the genes from both Breedline and succubus. They can bond with either a full-blood Breedline or another half-breed. They cannot change into the Breedline wolf, but they do need blood from them to survive. With the power to hypnotize, most Breedlines have minimal respect and credence toward the half-breed species.
WICCA (or Wise One) - According to the Breedline species, a Wicca is the goddess of magic, witchcraft, the night, moon, ghosts, and necromancy. A Wicca is also considered to be a demonic spirit. It is unclear to the Breedline if they act under the orders of the devil, or they are simply not understood and treated as outcasts. They can do white magic (good) or dark (evil).
KATAKO (a.k.a. Lucas or Dark Shadow) - He is the Chiang-Shih demon's offspring that is born both Breedline and Wiccan. After one year, the Katako develops into an adult with the mind of a child, without reaching full maturity. It has the power to appear translucent, or become completely invisible. Being born half-Breedline, it can shift into a wolf and transform, or mimic another creature with the power to instantly travel from one place to another. Their true purpose of creation is to bring forth the souls stuck in purgatory by using one drop of its blood. Tessa Fairchild - the Breedline queen - destroyed the Katako in battle using the deadly venom of her Breedline wolf.
GOLEMS (a.k.a. the Death Army) - Evil creatures created by dark Wiccans with the power of necromancy. By releasing the souls of demons stuck in purgatory, the Wicca can give them the ability to shape into a creature that is made from earth. These creatures have various qualities, such as mass strength, enormous stature, and the power to consume their victims by saturating them with mud.
GUARDIANS (a.k.a. Spirits of the Forest) - They originated during the Middle Ages with the purpose of protecting all creatures, especially the Breedline, from the destruction of any creation made by a dark Wicca. They can stay invisible with the power to move through any barrier and over any distance instantly.
THERIOMORPH - This species is born with the genes of a Breedline, but cannot change into a Breedline wolf. They shape shift into an enormous black panther. They possess powers of mind manipulation and random visions of the future. They must use the drug dopamine to suppress their urges. Their eye color shifts into a bright lavender when their Theriomorph nature takes over. The Breedline see them as a threat to their species.
ADALWOLF - A species that has the power to shift from their human form into a beautiful creature, twice the size, resembling half man and half wolf. Born with super-strength, they can move from one place to another in supernatural speed. Their eyes take on the appearance of two shimmering diamonds. With the power to regenerate their own cells, an Adalwolf will stop aging at thirty. The moon has no power over them. An Adalwolf is immune to silver. They can bond with any species.
LUPA - The ancestors descended from the old legend of the lycanthrope, except the moon has no power over them and it cannot be passed on to others like a virus. It is passed on through genetics to the female offspring, known as a she-wolf. This type of creature shape-shifts into a therianthropic hybrid wolf-like creature, and is considered dangerous... cursed.
Jace Chamberlain (a.k.a. the Beast) - He is a Breedline species and later discovers his birth father - who is possessed by the Chiang-Shih demon - murdered his mother when he and his twin brother were four years old. Raised by their new foster family and their Uncle Jacks, he later discovers he was born with a curse of the Beast. With the help of his twin brother, Jem, and his bonded mate, Tessa, they help him cope with his rage to keep the Beast at bay. He's an IT engineer and is the lead singer and plays acoustic guitar in the band Chaos.
Jem Chamberlain (a.k.a. the Chosen Son) - He is a Breedline species and Jace's twin brother. He carries the gene of the Chiang-Shih demon that gives him the power to create a portal and a force of electric energy used as a weapon and other powers he discovers later. His bonded mate is Mia Blackwood. He's an IT engineer and the drummer in the band Chaos.
Tessa Fairchild - She was born into the human world and later discovers she's a Breedline. Abandoned by her parents, she was raised by her aunt and uncle without the knowledge of being born a twin. After she meets Jace, they become bonded mates. During her first change into her Breedline wolf, she became the new Breedline queen. She is an inspiring artist.
Alexander Crest - He is a Breedline who was possessed by the Chiang-Shih demon before birth. Murdering his family, Alexander kidnapped his twin's bonded mate, Katlyn Gray. Keeping her prisoner against her will, she becomes pregnant with his twins. As she managed to escape before she gave birth, Alexander eventually kills her in a fit of rage. Returning for his chosen son twenty-two years later, he is determined to convince him to join his army. After the battle between the Breedline, the demon is finally cast out of Alexander, setting his soul free. For the demon's past crimes, Alexander is pardoned and must reside in the Breedline Covenant. Praying for forgiveness, he reunites with his twin sons, Jace and Jem. As he fights to keep his new family safe, romance blossoms with Dr. Helen Carrington.
Dr. Helen Carrington - She is a Breedline species and a physician at the California Bates Hospital for both Breedlines and humans. Later, she discovers Jace and Jem carry a gene, possibly used for a cure to stop the aging process in her species. After Alexander's demon is banished, he is pardoned for all past crimes and welcomed into the Breedline Covenant. When he meets Helen, they become bonded mates.
Tim Ross - He is a Breedline species and head council of the California Covenant. Angel, his bonded mate - who is a half-breed - has Tim's daughter they named Natalie, after her sister.
Kyle Jones - He is a Breedline species that resides in the California Covenant. Having lost his family to a house fire at childhood, his Uncle Tim Ross has raised him since. Celina Baldolf is his bonded mate. He's a mechanic and also Jace and Jem's close friend, and plays bass in the rock band Chaos.
Casey Barton - He was born of the Breedline species, and lives in the California Covenant. He was adopted by Tim Ross's brother and carries a deep dark secret, afraid to reveal to the Breedline he was born a Theriomorph. He is a clothing model and plays backup bass and keyboards in the band Chaos.
Drakon Hexus - He is a Breedline species. At a young age, his first bonded mate was killed by her father. In a rage, he hunts and kills her murderer, breaking the Breedline's True Law. Shunned by his Covenant and forced to live as a rogue wolf, he's promised his humanity back if he joins the Chiang-Shih demon's army. After Drakon discovers the demon's plans to destroy all humans and half-breeds, he betrays him and joins forces with the Breedline. As time passes, he bonds with another mate, Cassie Chamberlain.
Nathan Gage (a.k.a. Nate) - He is a Breedline and the owner of several upscale night clubs in the largest metropolitan areas of Northern California.
Zeke Rizzo - He is a Breedline, born with a curse of a sin-eater, and the owner of the Cat Club. When coming in physical contact with another person, he has the power to see inside their past, experiencing their worst memory. A simple handshake seems like nothing to an ordinary person, but to Zeke, it is unbearable. Without the ability to stop it, he is also the worst case of karma. If anyone angers him, an unfortunate accident can fall upon them.
Yelena Smirnov - A full-blooded succubus from Russia. She is in charge of security at the Cat Club. She is bonded to Apollyon, who was taken by the battle angels along with his fraternal twin sisters, Callisto, and Electra.
Roman Kincaid - He is an Adalwolf trained in military tactics, hired as a special breed of warriors from Brazil. Hired as a bodyguard for Valkin Steele - a billionaire funding a group of unethical scientists research - he later learns of Steele's underground sex-trafficking and illegal drug and weapons trade, and informs the Breedline Covenant. He also forms a team of Breedline soldiers who work for a private Special Ops group contracted by the military for missions that no one else can or will do to help put an end to Valkin Steele's corrupt organization.
Lawrence Colbert - A Breedline council member of the New Jersey Covenant, trained in military tactics and as a medic who worked alongside Roman Kincaid, the Special Ops Team, and the Breedline Covenant to help take down Valkin Steele.
Lena - She is a Breedline, highly trained in survival skills, martial arts, and anything dealing with weapons, hand-to-hand combat, and hired by Roman Kincaid to help take down Valkin Steele. She oddly resembles the character Xena the Warrior Princess from the 80's television series. She is also Bull's little sister and is bonded to Justice.
Bull (a.k.a. Benjamin Allen Calvero ) - He is a Breedline, highly trained and an expert in a variety of military tactics who is part of Roman Kincaid's team. He gets his nickname because of his size.
Justice - He is a Breedline, highly trained in military tactics, an expert with explosives, hand-to-hand combat, sniper training, and a pilot, who is part of Roman Kincaid's team.
Colonel Brian Deshazo (a.k.a. Colonel D) - He is a Breedline - oddly resembling the WWE professional wrestler, John Cena - who works for the United States military as the leader of highly trained group of elite forces know as first Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta. He and his men perform various clandestine and highly classified missions around the world. Their primary mission is counterterrorism.
Major Paul Wyckoff (a.k.a. Dark Wraith) - He is a Theriomorph - oddly resembling Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson's character in the "Scorpion King." He's one of Colonel D's men, specifically directed to kill or capture high-value units or dismantle terrorist cells.
Major Joshua Lawson (a.k.a. Kid) - He is a Breedline who was born and raised in Texas. Kid had that worn cowboy look with a southern drawl. He's part of Colonel D's team, and an operator of AC-130 gunships and specialized planes and helicopters.
Master Sergeant Stephen Virgin (a.k.a. Gunny) - He's a Breedline - nicknamed after Clint Eastwood's character in "Heartbreak Ridge." Well known for a hard-nosed, hard-living soldier of war, Gunny is a highly trained sharpshooter in Colonel D's elite team.
Steven Pasquale (a.k.a. Steven Craven) - He inherited the genes of a Breedline and an Adalwolf. He was taken from his mother and forced to endure a life of endless, painful experiments by two German physicians, Dr. Hans Autenburg and Dr. Hubert Crane. Without the knowledge of his real family, Steven finally manages to escape his captors, locating his biological parents and his fraternal twin, Tessa Fairchild.
The Fury - Three fraternal twins created by an evil German scientist named Dr. Hans Autenburg. Using his own DNA, he mixed it with three other species: A Breedline, an Adalwolf, and a powerful Wiccan. He placed three embryos inside the womb of a full-blooded succubus, named Sonya Hothburn. Taken against her will, Sonya was forced by the mad physician into surrogacy. After their birth, she was forbidden to see her children.
All three were created to destroy the Breedline species and dominate the human world. The first born was called Apollyon, meaning 'destroyer' in Greek. It was also the name of the angel-prince of the infernal regions, the minister of death and author of havoc on earth. He has the strength of ten men, and the power to dematerialize, taking others with him, from one place to another. He can transform into a creature that resembles an Adalwolf, and a vampire-like hybrid. The second born was called Callisto, meaning 'most beautiful.' She has the power of a shield, protecting herself and others from harm. The last child was named Electra, meaning 'the shining one.' She has the power to conduct electricity from her body, using it as a weapon. Inheriting their species instinct and extraordinary power, their thirst to kill became uncontrollable. As they grew up, the Fury became more and more unstable and unruly. With an insatiable hunger for human flesh and unmanageable powers, they became a hindrance to the physician. He had no other choice but to drug and imprison them for all time, each one placed inside a sarcophagus in a state of deep slumber to be forgotten forever until they were set free by their mother.
Detective Manuel Sanchez - Raised by a single mother, Manuel never knew his real father. At age thirteen, his older sister Lailah, was murdered, but her killer was never apprehended. Consumed by Lailah's murder, Manuel chooses a career in police enforcement in hopes of someday finally bringing justice to his sister. Now in his fifties - living his life as a bachelor and a homicide detective - he discovers he's not entirely human, and has inherited his father's Breedline genetics.
Detective Frank Perkins - He is Manuel Sanchez's partner, and discovers the secret world of the Breedline. Born as a human, Frank pledges his loyalty to the Breedline. Fighting alongside his partner, they take an oath to help the Breedline protect the world from corruption and unknown creatures that prey on the innocent.
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