We Rise From the Smoke

Chapter 7: Death (One-Year Later)

Based on the prologue, you already know what happened to the pack. Bunch of Wendigos took out our pack just as we found them again. Christa had died, along with everyone else but me, Void, Allison, VIolet and Ryan. But that was only a guess since I hadn't seen their bodies.

My forehead ached, my brain ached, my everything ached like I was a scale under a fat person. (No offense to all those out there). I heard voices, but all I could hear was ringing in my ears. My vision was blurry once I opened my eyes, and the light shining down on my face didn't help at all. I remembered me draining my Alpha power to save Violet from death only half a year ago, and how I gained it back when I killed Nick.

The thought made my eyes wet with tears, and I knew the voices stopped. Then footsteps, and someone was standing over me. "Hello, Liam." I heard a man say. The voice sounded familiar. "Let's have some fun, shall we?"

The ringing was barely noticeable, and my vision was slightly better, enough to see a few feet in front of me, and when I saw the man looking down at me, my brain froze, all thoughts stopped where they were. "Y-You. . ." I moaned out, sounding unpowerful.

His face shone brighter in the light, and I wish I was wrong. The man was Jack. "Me." He said with a smirk.

"H-How. . .?"

"Oh, finally someone asks that stupid question." Jack said, sounding ever so slightly more sane than he was a year ago when he tried to get Nick to rip us apart. "Well, for one I age quicker than most werewolves, let alone humans, and found myself here, looking for an easy-pay job."

"Your job sucks." I spat.

"Not really."

I glared at him. "What do you want?"

"I want info. And I will force it out of you if I need to." He flicked his fingers, and three guards brought in a struggling Violet.

My eyes flared red, and I growled, "Let her go, or I swear-"

"You try to make a move on me and my men will kill her."

I froze, and calmed down. "What info." I said flatly.

"There's the spirit!" He said enthusiastically. "Now, what happened on the highway? Anything specific would be gladly taken with kindness."

I looked at Violet, and then lowered my head. "A group of about forty Wendigos ambushed us. We got outnumbered. At least five of us made it out alive."

"What happened to Nick?"

"He got severely injured." I exclaimed. "Told me to slash his throat since I wouldn't make it if I tried to carry him with me. And I did, becoming the new Alpha of the pack, or what's left of it at least."

"And what about Void and Allison, or Ryan?"

"Those three I don't know what happened to them. MIA, if you put it." I added. "I ran for it, and Violet here must've followed me. I escaped after everyone else was either being ripped apart or dead."

Jack looked at Violet, then back at me. He thought for a moment, then flicked his hand, and one of the guards smacked Violet. I tried to rush forward, but a shock baton went straight into my back, making me fall down back on the floor of the warehouse that we were currently in. "Explain even more." He ordered.

"What else?!" I snapped.

"What else happened to you? Feelings afterwards, etcetera?"

"I was hit over the head by your guards!" I shouted. "I can't remember anything unless your meaning when I ran a few meters, turned a corner and BAM!, knocked out cold! I've told you everything that I know about!"

Jack didn't hesitate. He walked over to Violet, and my heart froze from pure hatred as he slit Violet's throat with a knife that he concealed under his waistcoat.

And that's when my mind went blank, my instincts took over. I felt no pain as the shock baton hit me with max volts. All it did was piss me off even more than I already was, and I turned into a werewolf, and went on a killing spree. I slashed a few throats, roundhouse kicked others into next week without a head, and then just completely obliterated everyone else.

After a minute of that, I went face-to-face with Jack. "Back to this." He snarled, also turning into a werewolf. "Back to where we first met."

"Time to end this." I snarled. "You'll pay for what you did to Violet."

"I only pay in cash, not blood."

"Stop with your crap remarks, Jack. Your dead, end of story."

Jack glared, his normal smile gone, like a memory-wipe. And that's when the fight began. He struck at me, slashing at my chest, but I stepped back and then kicked out his knee, then stomp-kicking Jack's face. Blood flew from his mouth, but he just smirked and got back up, ready for more. Then he freaking wall ran and tornado-kicked me, and I spun around, falling to the ground. "How's that?" He asked me.

I glared, getting back up. Suddenly, before I had the chance to strike, Ryan, all flame on burst through the wall and tackled Jack, setting him on fire. Jack screamed, and they echoed across the vast room. "Ryan!" I shouted from the noise of the flames roaring. "Stop!"

"NEVER!" He roared. "HE MUST DIE FOR WHAT HE'S DONE!"

After that, I had shoved Ryan off of Jack, and knelt next to his burned body. Somehow, he was still alive. "Y-Y-You. Wi-ill die. T-T-T-Tonight." He snarled.

"No." I said. "The only one that's dying now is you."

As soon as I slashed down, Jack had used his remaining strength and punctured my chest. Pain bloomed and I felt warm blood soak my shirt and run down Jack's fingers. My eyes were wide, and I saw Jack's head jerk back as my claws raked his face.

Ryan ran over to me, his body blackened but okay, and he dragged me to a wall. He propped me up against it and looked at my wound. "Dude, why aren't you healing?" He asked.

"It was claws of an Alpha, Ryan. And one that was barely human. Almost completely wolf." I said. "I won't heal fast enough before I lose too much blood." I glanced over to Violet's dead body, in the middle of a pool of blood. Then I looked back at Ryan, saying, "Ryan, please do me a favor."

"What?"

"Go back to the town. To Div's house, and carve our names out on the rocks, to signify that we were the ones who had brought this place back to it's feet once again." A tear fell down my cheek. "Div, Newt, Nick. . .Everyone we've lost today. . .I don't want you to let that happen again. . ."

"I won't." Ryan's face was wet with tears. "Goodbye, Liam."

"Good. . ." I trailed off for a moment, almost blacking out, then saying one last word, ". . .Bye. . ."