Inevitably Yours

“Blessing our weapons strengthens them to be used in combat with other supernatural beings. We won’t always be fighting werewolves, or at least we haven’t historically. Vampires are incredibly durable, and regular weapons shatter when used against them. You might impale them with something, but any repeated attacks will render your weapon useless. While we haven’t historically fought against them, our blessing allows us to use our weapons against magical races like the Fae and should allow us to fight other shifters as well. It is just as important as the weapon being forged well in the first place. Today, I’ll teach you both how to place your first blessings on your new weapons. I would suggest that once you are mated to Quinn, you perform this again or ask her to. By all accounts, her blessing should be far more powerful than any of ours will ever be. This was once a Fae ceremony, given as a gift to the first Alpha of Stary Pack for services rendered. It was only slightly altered to ask for blessing from the Moon Goddess instead of whoever they pray to.”

My chest swelled with pride as my dad spoke, hearing how powerful Quinn could be. “What do you mean services rendered?” I asked him.

“It never says, and his journals don’t specify. I’ve always wondered if it was embarrassing in some way,” my dad shrugged.

“Are you sure you’re okay with me learning this, Mr. Galbraith?” Nic asked.

“You’re family too,” he said, waving off her concern. “If Michael loves you, we all do.”

Her cheeks reddened, but she accepted the praise and nodded gratefully.

“Let’s get this done then,” my dad said, slapping his hands together and rubbing them.

After explanation and demonstration, we performed our first blessing. My swords now shone with a dull grey hue, as if a muted moonlight was stored within them. My dad said he expected that, the blessing usually presented in the color of the wielder’s wolf. Nic, on the other hand, was quite different.

“Why are they green now?” she asked in wonderment as she turned her karambit in her hand, examining its new appearance. It was imbued with a warm green hue now.

“Hmmm…” my dad said, thinking. “The only time I’ve ever heard of green resulting in one of these ceremonies was someone with mixed druidic heritage. Do you have anything like that in your bloodline?”

Nic shrugged, but it made total sense to me. She’d always had an affinity for anything that grew, and it’s why I’d suggested the design of her blades to the smith. She’d never even questioned it; they fit her perfectly. We’d have to explore that later.

My dad looked at us, tears in his eyes, “I think you’re ready. There’s nothing more I can give you before you go. It’s up to both of you now.”

–

“It’s not over until I say it’s over!” he roared, jumping toward me on his newly healed foot as he swung with abandon.

His movement was basic, and the only thing giving me trouble was the immense strength and speed behind each blow. If I moved an inch the wrong way, I would be cleaved in two or lose a limb.

“NOW!” he yelled. Unfortunately for him, I was waiting for his signal.

I used the pommel of Saphir to smash a glass vial on my belt, and we were immediately encircled by a bright magic circle only ten yards wide. Countless crossbow bolts reached the edge of the circle and were met with a barrier not allowing them to enter. Several volleys followed as I dodged and parried Lawrence’s attacks, but not a single bolt got through. After hearing my dad’s story, I knew Lawrence intended to lure me into the perfect spot for his trap. That wasn’t working, so now his desperation was coming out. This was it. I’d asked Haven for a solution, and this circle had worked perfectly, just like she said it would.

“You. Little. f*****g. b***h,” he growled, each word pronounced in anger.

“I would have been happy to fight you alone, but I know you. You can’t help but do everything in your power to win. When I was younger, I thought it was because you were stronger than me. I thought you were trying to make me strong like you, and you just didn’t know how bad you were hurting everyone around you,” I told him. It was like I’d been keeping this inside all the years that I’d been gone, and I didn’t know I needed to say it. “I was wrong. You tortured me because you were weak. You are weak. You were terrified one day I’d be stronger than you. You were terrified that one day you couldn’t control your family or this pack, and you did everything possible to keep it from happening. Look around you! You failed! We all know that you’re a weak, insignificant coward. You disown me? I was never your son to begin with. I am a Galbraith, and I am the rightful Alpha of this pack. You’re just a pretender who lied and cheated to get where you are.”

“I’m scared of nothing, you petulant child,” he screamed, spitting in rage. “You will not speak to your father that way. I don’t care if you know your s***m donor now. I raised you!”

The sound of death filled the forest around us as, one by one, Nic found each of Lawrence’s archers. Their final volley had given away most of their positions, and she was making quick work. Lawrence had made sure none of them had any training, especially with weapons. I could only imagine seeing Nic appear looking like the Goddess of Death covered in the b***d of their comrades. It would be a paralyzing last sight.

Lawrence was losing it more with each scream, his plan in shambles. He was pacing on his side of the circle, and I watched him slowly deflate. He was his normal size once more, and his clothes hung on him like he’d borrowed them from an older brother. In comparison to his magically enhanced form, he looked… frail. I couldn’t imagine a time that I’d been afraid of this man in front of me.

“Kill him,” Eros chided. “It’s time.”

“Let’s make this fair,” I told him, sheathing my swords. “You think only cowards fight with weapons? I’ll put mine down. Hand to hand. You and me.”

He smiled; I don’t think he truly understood the danger he now found himself in. He still saw me as his son who couldn’t fight back, no matter the evidence to the contrary in our fight up to this point, “I accept.”

He threw his sword to the side into the dirt, and I unbuckled my sword belt, placing them gently on the ground. We met in the middle of the circle, now waning to nothing since it was only temporary. He swung a wide looping overhand right towards my face, and I simply stepped outside of it. We did this for a moment, him punching and me dodging him like a parent playing with a child. On the next swing, I stepped in and pushed him mid-swing. It sent him sprawling onto his back, where his face burned red in shame. He quickly returned to his feet, trying to go for a familiar tactic. He grabbed the collar of my shirt, trying to choke me with it as he’d failed to do countless times over the years. As he struggled to elicit a response from me, I pushed my hand between his. Gripping behind his head with my right hand, my left grabbed his elbow and pulled his arm to my chest. I stepped forward, my foot now behind his front leg, and swept it out from under him as hard as I could. His look of surprise was priceless, and we landed with him on his back and me with my knee deep into his chest, making it hard to breathe.

“Finish him,” Eros howled. He needed Lawrence’s b***d, and so did I.

From my knee on chest position, I turned and punched him directly in the d**k and immediately brought that fist back to flatten his nose as he tried to sit up from the pain in his nether region. His nose was shattered, b***d streaming down his face as he gasped through his mouth, trying to breathe.

“Do you feel what it’s like not to know if you’ll be able to take your last breath?” I asked him. “Are you scared?”

More punches rained down. I felt his orbital break under my fists. I overwhelmed his ability to heal; his face was just an unrecognizable mess. His breathing was gurgling, and one of his eyes was closed by swelling. I purposely left one eye untouched. He was going to watch. I felt his hand gently tap my leg as if he were tapping out of a match.Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.

“Are you trying to concede?” I asked, genuinely astonished.

Under me, he made tiny labored movements with his head like we were trying to nod. His one good eyes winced as he tried to blink away tears and b***d. That’s when I heard him wheeze, “Y..es… I… Con…cede…”

I stood up from my perch on his chest, and he gasped, taking his first good breath in several minutes. He didn’t seem like he could move from his position, though. I’d broken most of the bones in his face, and even with his healing working correctly, it would take a while for him to function normally again.

The question he asked my mom popped into my head, and I thought it fitting to turn back on him, “So, you’ll submit to me? You’ll tell everyone that I’m the Alpha now?”

His gasping and wheezing sounded awful, but he managed to get out a mostly intelligible,”Y..es..”

I picked up my belt, my hand finding Saphir’s hilt. I drew my sword from her sheath, knowing that the sound had to be giving him even a small amount of the fear he’d instilled in the people I loved my whole life. Walking over to him, I looked down at the broken husk of the man who once called himself my father. I thought this would be hard, but I felt nothing but relief.

“Like you said, you should have killed him. I won’t make the same mistake.”

His hands shot up toward me to plead for his life as he tried to gurgle out something in his defense, but it was too late. Saphir’s blade separated his head from his shoulders with little resistance, the cut so clean that his body and head still looked almost intact. I kicked his body away so he wouldn’t heal back together and watched the light fade slowly from Lawrence’s eyes. My task was done.

I heard a rustling from the shadows within the woods, and I brought Saphir up to meet the new threat, stepping back into a fighting stance. When Nic appeared with a huge smile on her face, I collapsed. I’d given everything I had, and I needed to rest.

–

Nic said I’d slept for a solid hour before I finally came to. She’d stayed and kept watch over me once she realized she couldn’t wake me up. She’d cleaned Saphir and Diagnè and returned them to their sheaths, where they were laid out next to me. I panicked when I realized I couldn’t find Lawrence’s body, but she pointed to the fresh earth overturned in a neat rectangle. I’d forgotten we brought a shovel.

“I kept his head separate just in case. We didn’t need any surprises,” she told me, gesturing to a bag. A black trash bag was tied unceremoniously near where I’d removed Lawrence’s head from his body. I thought it was fitting as a final resting place for him, in the trash where he belonged.

Nic helped me to my feet, and she hugged me for what seemed like forever. It was finally over, and no one would ever be under his control ever again. Once I could compose myself again, I realized I also had what I’d worked my whole life for.

“Nic?”

“Yea?”

“Would you like to rejoin Stary Pack?” I asked with a smile.

“Of course, Alpha,” she replied, her smile matching mine.

–

I stepped out of the shower, glad to be clean. I pulled on comfortable clothing and walked into the hotel room we’d rented as a temporary stop to shower and change before leaving to set up where I intended to take Quinn for the night after prom. A hotel room wouldn’t be special enough, and tonight had to be perfect. Every fiber of my being wanted to find her. Eros was begging me to forgo all of the plans I was making and to go mark our mate, but I refused. This moment was four years in the making. I’d ached for her every moment I’d been away, and tonight, it would all be worth the agonizing wait.

I walked out to the car we rented for the trip and ensured everything was in place for tonight. My tux was ready and in its bag with my shoes, and everything I needed to set up our night was in order.

“You sure you’re okay alone tonight?” I asked Nic, feeling bad about leaving her behind after what she’d just helped me do.

“Go, Michael. Find your mate. I need food and to go find her a dress for tomorrow anyway,” she told me in exasperation as she shooed me into the driver’s seat. “Get out of here!”

“You’re the best, Nic,” I linked back to her as I drove away. I wasn’t sure how I could have done this without her.

“I know,” she laughed. “Get your time in with Quinn; I get to meet her tomorrow!”

–

I walked through the doors of our old high school with a blue rose in my hand. I was getting looks of confusion from teachers and students as they whispered to each other, but I just walked over to the check-in desk and laid down my ticket. They looked at me like I was crazy because it was pink with either Lawrence’s b***d or mine; I wasn’t sure. I’d forgotten it was in my pocket during the fight.

“Uh, you can go ahead?” the kid said questioningly, clearly unsure what to do.

Everything was going perfectly. Now, I just needed to find the DJ for the next part of my plan. Quinn could be here any moment, and I needed to prepare one last thing.