FSE

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Broken Pieces

Chapter Thirty-Five

By Roofles

“D-Dozer!” Bosch shouted out with the last of his breath and the rhino understood his orders.

With a roar, Dozer slammed his body against the car next to them setting off the alarm. He dented the vehicle, caving it in and crushing the wolf behind him arm against it. The wolf grunted, snarling through the mask he wore as he was forced to let go or risk losing his arm. The rhino turned and they all watched as Dozer fell onto his side, elbow first, aiming for the smaller wolf’s head.

“Retreat!” Reese barked the order out and the two wolves did. They let go instantly, following orders, as they let Dozer go and distanced themselves from the hundreds of pounds of raw muscle and meat that the rhino was.

“Ah, fuck!” The smaller wolf cursed as his head was nearly caved in by the mountain of a body as Dozer broke the cement ground under him as his metal padded elbow hit. The rhino stood up on thick legs, dusting off as he snorted at the two others.

“Think you can hold me down!” Dozer roared as his anger spiked at being treated like meat by predators, again.

“Don’t let your guard down, Reese.” Bosch pushed off the wolf’s legs, standing on Reese’s knees before kick flipping over his back and grabbed hold of the largest of the wolves shoulders and, to everyone surprise, flipped Reese over with the fluid motion. Bosch throwing the wolf to the side before snarling at the other two. “Switch me Dozer! Hold him off for as long as you can while I kill the pups.” The jaguar shouted out as he ran at the two other wolves.

They were younger, smaller, and more inexperienced than Reese was. Reese was flipped over and still landed on all fours, skidding backwards to look up and see Dozer charging him head on.

“Time to switch dance partners, bitch!” Dozer called out and Bosch didn’t even have the time to warn Dozer how idiotic the idea was as he parried one of the other wolves blows and blocked the last one with a lifted knee.

The wall of meat and thick hide skin of the rhino rushed at Reese like a locomotive. To anyone else, it might’ve been frightening. A scary sight to see hundreds of pounds of rhino charging straight at you. Reese didn’t even flick an ear as he reached out with one hand.

Grabbing hold of Dozer’s fake metal horn, Reese twisted and turned it like a stiff handle. Turning and moving Dozer’s head with it and thus the track he was running on. The rhino turned slightly, angled downwards, wide eyed as he came crashing to the ground as Reese maneuvered his body with skilled practice out of the way.

Dozer’s horn and muzzle smashed into the concrete. Some of it broke as he slid over the ground and came to a halt on the floor with a heavy flop.

“Dozer!” Bosch snarled as he blocked another blow, dodging a second and finally getting a chance to claw out against one of the two wolves at last. They moved in perfect unison and when one moved, the other was soon to follow it up.

A relentless assault that didn’t allow Bosch to get his bearings.

The first stepped backwards, allowing the second to close in from Bosch’s blind side. The two flanking him, preventing Bosch from focusing on one or the other as the jaguar struggled to keep his guard up. Let alone attack back.

“Salt. Pepper. Don’t kill him. Yet.” Reese snarled as he reached down to grab hold of the back of the rhino’s thick neck. Even Reese found it difficult to get a good grip on the rhino who bucked his back like a mechanical bull and jumped back to his feet, throwing out his arms with a roar and turning on Reese once more.

“I’ll try not to!” Salt laughed as he darted for Bosch’s blind side. “Pepper. Hold him.”

Like a shadow Salt shot across the floor, keeping their smaller lithe body as low as possible as they flipped open the dagger from the holster at their side. Bosch was expecting it and already had his Cat’s Claw out. The knives met each other but unlike with Logan, the weight behind that strike pushed Bosch backwards. The wolf leaping up to deliver another blow after the first, the second, the third and fourth and fifth and sixth.

Salt was ruthless as he attacked. Swiping and slashing out with his dagger, each one aimed for a vital spot on the jaguar’s body. Forcing Bosch to block or evade them instead of taking the hit and retaliating afterward.

Bosch didn’t need to see the look on the masked wolf’s face to know he was enjoying this. The sound of Salt’s laughter filled the underground garage as he attacked the jaguar relentlessly. The second Bosch got his feet under him, able to counter attack, Salt was darting backwards and away. Out of reach.

Just as the first of the two moved back, the second moved in from behind. Salt’s seemingly random knife play had moved and positioned Bosch between him and his brother again. Trapping the feline between the two canines.

Bosch felt the tip of his tail brush Pepper’s side and turned in time to dodge the lunge of their hatchet sized knife that had aimed for the jaguar’s spine. It wouldn’t have killed Bosch, probably. It would have cripple the jaguar for life if it had hit.

Pepper’s attacks weren’t as wild and sporadic as Salt’s were. They were heavy. Deep. One cut would spell the end and Bosch was forced to dodge instead of blocking, avoiding such a heavy hit was better than risk losing a battle of strengths.

“Fuck,” Bosch turned to block the first wolf as Salt moved back in, kicking out at the second and trying to pull his gun out at the same time.

The smaller of the two wolves moved in just as quickly as he’d moved out and jumped onto the jaguar’s arm, taking Bosch’s gun away from him even as the knife came for his back. Bosch going for a killing blow as his arm was taken but was stopped, not by Salt, but by Pepper. The other wolf stepping in to block and protect his brother’s exposed back as Salt took Bosch’s gun away.

With his gun disarmed, Bosch adapted and focused on his knife. Turning it, he aimed for underneath Pepper’s snout. Going for a straight hit to his throat. The first wolf was back, Salt not allowing him the chance as he grabbing hold of Bosch’s arm with both his own and easily kept the jaguar from skewering the second wolf with the blade.

The two covering for each other as the jaguar snarled.

Bosch was struggling. He was sweating and his strength was depleting quickly. His side continued to ache, and the roof of his mouth refused to stop bleeding. It was disorientating and just as he pushed one wolf back, the other was there to take their place.

This was why Bosch preferred to ambush his target instead of fight them head on.

With a roar, Bosch pushed the first wolf away and swung wildly at the second who took a step back to avoid it. The two stood there, trapping him. Preventing his escape and harassing him if he tried to fight back as Salt tossed his knife from hand to hand, bouncing from one foot to the next.

“Hey, Pepper.” He said.

“Yeah, Salt?” Pepper answered him.

“You know what I hate?” Salt spoke up as he caught the knife, crouching back down.

“What’s that?” Pepper asked, the two wolves watching the jaguar between them.

“Fucktards that try and take away our meal ticket,” Salt said with a low growl, glaring at Bosch through the mask he wore. “You don’t have any clue what we’ve been through, do you cat? Not like you’d care… Tell me one thing,” Salt pointed the tip of the knife at Bosch. “Do you know what it’s like? Have any clue what it is like to dig through trash cans and feel lucky when you find a moldy, half-eaten piece of maggot infested bread?” The smaller wolf began to growl. “To spend nights punching your stomach so it’ll stop growling in hunger? Licking the salt off the ground because you’re so malnourished? Do you?”

“I do.” Pepper said.

“Of course you do, Pep.” Salt laughed. A cruel harsh sound that sounded like his mother, Vicky. “You know. I know. All of us in Vicky’s crew knew what that was like. Struggling to get by. Wondering if we’d get shanked in the middle of the night over the crust we kept under our pillow. Drugs? Alcohol? Whatever to take that edge off… the way people look at you.” Salt entire body shook. “And you know what’s funny?”

“What’s that?” Pepper continued to play along.

“It was some dumb human that made it easy. Entitled bastard but, heh, at least if we play dumb? We get a free meal ticket. Plenty of scratches behind the ears. All we have to do is bark when asked and play along… Play along in order to make sure, at night? We get to go to bed with full bellies.”

“Sounds rather nice.” Pepper said.

“Yeah. Yeah it kind of does,” Salt crouched back down. “All we got to do is bury those who try to take it away.”

“Bury them.” Pepper growled in response. “Then waffles.”

“Yes. Yes… then waffles, Pepper.” Salt spun the blade around. “Bro should be finishing up on his end. Dumbass listen to our little story,” Salt laughed as there was a loud thud to the side. “Right on time… Fucking moron.” The wolf snarled at the jaguar.

To the side Dozer fell to the ground. The weight of the rhino shook everything around him as he laid there, motionless, after what Reese had done to him.

“Fuck…” Bosch cursed, breathing heavily as he tried to keep an eye on all three wolves. “You kill him, Reese?” Bosch asked.

“If I did?” Reese walked back over, cracking his neck side to side. “Would you even care…?”

“Heh, that’s funny. Coming from you.” Bosch spat blood to the side as he backed away. His back bumped against the dented vehicle, and he glanced back at it. Looking inside, he could see Alan passed out in the back seat. There was ammunition inside the vehicle. If Bosch could just... “Good job. You found your human pet!” Bosch lashed out and the second wolf just took a step back again. “All it costed you were hundreds of lives! Some things never change, do they…? Huh, Reese? The military was so proud of you… Always getting the job done. No matter the body count after.”

Reese snorted without a word as he glanced towards the car.

“Careful. I might’ve rigged it to explode! You never know with me.” Bosch grinned back, motioning towards where Alan was inside the vehicle. “How about I give you the human and you let me go? Call it even? For old time sake…?”

“You don’t need to worry about that any longer, pussy cat.” Salt laughed as he spun the knife around with one hand. “You see that big boss man? He’s nothing but a little pussy cat in the end… and you were worried.” Salt tossed his knife back and forth getting antsy now, wanting to cut something. To watch this feline bleed out. “Should’ve just shot ‘em. Now? Now you’re going to wish he did, fucker. He, big boss man here? He’s gonna gut you, cat. String you up by your intestines... Hang you from the rafters while you’re still alive and kicking…” Salt giggled. “Then I’ll get my meal ticket back…”

“Warning.” Pepper spoke up with a low growl in warning. “No hurt, Alan.”

“Of course not! I love the guy.” Salt licked his fangs. “He makes the best meals…”

“You really sunk so low to bring pups to this fight Reese?” Bosch snarled at the wolf.

The jaguar looked over at him but, once more, Reese wasn’t even facing him. Bosch wasn’t even worth looking at as the wolf stared through the back mirror of the vehicle at the human lying there. Alan was beginning to stir and one of Reese’s ears flicked and his tail twitched in something that might’ve been called a wag.

Like a dog, waiting patiently for his master to wake up to spend time with him.

“Disgusting…” Bosch couldn’t hold the venom back from his voice. “Like you’re any different than me! I’ve seen what you’ve done out there Reese. If he knew half the things you did overseas… He’d never be able to look at you the same again.”

Reese turned to face Bosch and, even wearing a mask, the jaguar flinched from the look the wolf gave him.

“Heh… some things never change. You scary son of a bitch.” Bosch inched closer to the door. “Scary fucker. The things you’ve done to collect this little pack of yours. Playing big brother now are we?” He asked, eying the two wolves nearby. “With a human-,”

“Don’t.” Reese warned. “He’s not involved in this, anymore. You. You and I are going to talk now. No one else.”

“Like I’d just roll over and listen to you!” Bosch cursed as he lunged for Alan. Salt was there before he even reached the door handle. The smaller wolf body blocking for the human as Pepper moved in to grab the back of the jaguar’s skull. “Let go, you little shit!” And Pepper smashed Bosch’s face against the car’s window for the language he used.

The first time only cracked the glass, it was the second time when Pepper slammed Bosch’s face against it did it crack and break apart. Cutting the jaguar’s face up. Bosch arms fell inside the vehicle as glass dug into his chest. Reaching in as if to try and pull himself up and into the vehicle, into its safety as someone grabbed him by the tail and dragged him back out by it.

“No, no kitty.” Pepper pulled even harder, and Bosch yowled out as the fur of his tail was peeled off from the wolf’s strong grasp. “You aren’t going anywhere.”

“We’re going to play all night long after what you’ve gone and done.” Salt bounced on his feet in excitement over it. Able to finally see Reese at work.

“Play? How about catch, puppy.” Bosch glared with a wicked grin as he pulled something out of the front seat of the vehicle.

“Down!” Reese shouted as Bosch threw the grenade at them, the pin spinning from off one of his nails.

Reese lunged forward and with a closed hand, patted the grenade to the side as if his hand were a badminton racket. The metal ball bounced twice on the ground before exploding. The force alone lifted the back of the vehicle up as everyone took cover.

Salt yipped as a piece of shrapnel hit his side and Pepper was there to cover him as the force of the explosion shook the vehicle that Reese hid behind. Several car alarms went off as Bosch took off running in the confusion he’d created.

Not about to let him go, Reese chased after him.

“Stay here. Protect Alan!” Reese snarled the words out as he gave chase to the fleeing jaguar.

Wounded, injured, battered, and beaten Bosch made it towards the fire escape to the side. Grabbing the metal door, he felt a sharp tug on his tail from behind and yowled out in pain.

Reese was there. Grabbing hold of the jaguar’s tail, he lifted his other arm up. Bosch turned on him and held up his dagger. The wolf paused, not letting go of his tail but not moving any closer. From where Reese stood with his long length gripping his tail, Bosch wouldn’t be able to reach his hand or arm with exposing his neck to the wolf.

And the jaguar knew that as the knife flashed red.

Reese stumbled backwards as the jaguar severed his tail. The knife’s blade easily going through it like a black string. Cutting his tail off gave Bosch the chance to make his escape. Even Reese was impressed as Bosch fled up the stairs, bleeding a red trail behind him.

Glancing back, Reese made sure Alan was safe in the vehicle as Salt and Pepper went over to check on him. With Alan secured, Reese went to end this. Running up the stairs, practically on all fours, Reese gave chase to the jaguar that fled through the upper levels of the building.

It wasn’t just about ending this. Not anymore. Bosch was going to pay for all he’d done.

Bosch broke out of one of the fire exits and ran for it. Most likely going for yet another escape route he had in mind. Unable to outrun Reese, Bosch tossed another grenade from the bundle he’d picked up inside the vehicle.

This time it bounced three, four times as Reese pulled to the side out of the way of it.

The grenade never went off and Reese cursed the crafty feline as he ran back after him. His pride unable to let the jaguar go after what he had done to Alan. Kidnapping him was one thing. Seeing Alan hurt like that? Reese had almost lost it.

It took everything inside the wolf not to jump the jaguar back then. Knowing that Bosch was waiting for that. That foolish leap that would’ve left Reese open to an attack.

In the military, Reese would remain perfect calm and quiet during his training. Even during missions. Still, almost motionless as others yelled and berated him. Yelling and shouting and getting up in his face. The wolf never flinched. They thought he was too afraid to do something, until they saw that look in his eyes. Reese had always held himself back. Be it in the old pack family, at school, on the streets, or at the mall… Reese always held himself back.

“You were always such a good killer!” Bosch shouted back at him as the jaguar spun around, running backwards, and opened fire on Reese. The wolf weaved and dodged out of the way as the jaguar blindly fired at the dark shadow chasing after him. One of the bullets hit the armor of Reese’s shoulder, ricocheting off to the side. “You were a born killer! Just like my father was.”

Reese hugged the wall, climbing up and over the plants along it as he closed in on the jaguar from the side.

“The two of you would’ve gotten along great I’d imagine! Both insane bastards. Remorseless killers.” Bosch popped the clip out, trying to reload from the gun he’d picked up from a fallen hare in the hallway. It was small and awkward to hold, and it took longer than normal to reload the thing.

Reese didn’t give him a chance to fire it again as he closed the distance between them and slammed Bosch back into the wall. Hard enough to break it and one of the jaguar’s ribs.

“Why haven’t you fired yet? Could’ve killed me easily-,” Bosch taunted and felt Reese’s fist against his muzzle. It hit him so hard, the jaguar’s head snapped backwards and hit the wall with a thud. If the wall wasn’t so cheap, Bosch’s skull might’ve cracked open instead of the wall.

Reese snagged the top of the mask Bosch had stolen and ripped it off. Wanting to look into the jaguar’s face as he did this. Bosch muzzle opened as he coughed blood, just in time for Reese to force the top of it open with one hand and grab hold of one of his fangs with the other. The feline’s eyes widened as he realized, too late, what Reese had in mind.

The sound of flesh ripping filled the hallway as the jaguar yowled out in pain as Reese pulled Bosch’s fang out of his face and tossed it aside. Snagging the jaguar’s hand, Reese repeated the process with his nails. Popping and plucking them out of the cats fingers one by one as Bosch thrashed and flailed, trying to pull away from the wolf.

Bosch got shoulder checked into the wall, leaving him dazed as Reese finished the job. Ripping the cat’s nails out as if to add them to some sick collection. Bosch wasn’t even worth that as Reese simply tossed the nails aside the fang he’d pulled out.

Plucking the feline like they used to do to prisoners. Ripping out their fangs and pulling their nails out. Punishing them more than was humane because of what they were. Someone like Bosch, a trained killer, relied on these things. Reese would take that away from him.

After what Bosch had done? Reese figured he was letting the jaguar off easily as he shoved him back against the wall.

The jaguar covered his bleeding mouth with a hand before being punched in again.

It was cruel and merciless. The beating that Reese gave Bosch. Reese was glad, in that moment, that no one else was here. He didn’t want Alan or anyone to see him venting his rage out on the jaguar’s body like this. Letting it all out. Every ounce of his frustration over this past year. Using Bosch as a punching bag as he beat the dark gray furred feline black and blue.

Punching him so hard that Bosch’s body would bounce off the wall into the next fist aiming for his face. Following it up with a kick to his stomach. A kick so strong Bosch’s feet left the ground. Reese elbowed his back into the ground and stared down at the jaguar lying there helpless before him. And just when Bosch thought it had stopped, Reese grabbed his body and, spinning him around, threw the jaguar into one of the windows on the other side of the hallway.

The jaguars body hit it like a bag of bricks and crumbled to the ground. The glass cracked and broke and a cold draft blew inside. Unlike the windows below, these weren’t as strong. The only sound that Bosch was still conscious was the faint rasp of his breath as he coughed and spat blood onto the floor. On shaking arms, the jaguar forced himself back up.

“Still a monster.” Bosch said as if his words were weapons against Reese. “How long has it been since we served together?” The jaguar pressed a finger to his nose and snorted the blood out of it. He spat more and licked over the spot his fang had been before. It was still bleeding. The taste of blood always turned his stomach. “You haven’t soften, I see...”

“You thought I had.” Reese stated as a fact. “That was why you thought you could touch my things.” Reese took a step forward and the jaguar flinched back. “Even in the barracks, you knew not to touch. My. Things. Why do you think this is any different? What? Because we are outside? Civvies now? You forget your place, Bosch.”

“Heh, I thought they had clipped your claws Reese, that’s all. That’s why I left you alone in that office. I thought you wanted to continue to pretend to be a tamed, neutered dog! Then you go back to that pack family of yours! Couldn’t believe it! Not after all the shit you had to say about them.” The jaguar let out a wet laughter before coughing even more. “Fuck… really did a number on me this time. All the times we’ve trained… never beat you once.”

Reese snorted at the idea.

“You always had an abnormally long reach, Reese. Fucking huge for a wolf. Worse of all? You have no conscience holding you back… Not like Logan did,” Bosch said reaching out. Trying to grasp something, anything. “Oh, I know he was working with you. Or for you. Or… something. He was a tricky guy, that one. Left him bleeding out in another room. I forget which… better find him before it’s too late-,” the jaguar tried to say.

“He’s already found.” Reese said in a voice void of emotion. “I sent Domino, my third, to go fetch his pet human.” Reese just stood there. Perfectly still. Blood dripped from his knuckles and the wolf didn’t even seem to notice.

It was eerie, in so many ways. Reese didn’t show emotions like others. His voice was deep but cold, empty as his eyes were. He seemingly lived day to day and now, here, Bosch could see it.

“It wasn’t anything personal.” Bosch smiled weakly. “You know how it is. It was just a job. That’s all. That human,” the jaguar couldn’t even finish.

“To me. It was the most personal of things.” Reese said as cold and empty as ever but there was a hint, a sound of a growl at the end belaying his anger.

“You love him that much? How… fucked up.” Bosch coughed. “You were captain of our squad and this whole time, this entire time! You were nothing more than a lovesick puppy dog…” Bosch rested back against the window seal. Reese’s ear flicked. The only sign he had heard a word Bosch had said. “You aren’t any different than me. You fetishized that poor, dumb human. Turning him into the perfect fucktoy to use and play with. Until you grow bored and tired of him. I feel bad for the human, in a way I was the one saving him. That fucktoy...”

“You’re last words are going to be fucktoy?” Reese snorted.

“Something like that…” Bosch said, and Reese’s ears perked up as he heard the clink of metal. A single clink and sound of it rolling. Reese looked down to see one last grenade slip from the jaguar’s open hand. The pin pulled from it as it laid there, between the two. “Fuck. You.” Bosch grinned without fangs as the grenade exploded, flipping the wolf off as he fell backwards out the window.

Shielding his vitals, Reese turned away from the explosion. It lit up the hall. Metal jagged pieces flew in all directions as the wolf felt the sting of several embed into his side and back and cut up his arms and legs as he jumped to the side. Trying to create as much distance as possible from the small frag grenade.

Cursing, the wolf turned around with a savage growl as he looked to see where the jaguar had gone. Bosch had disappeared, the window broken in and a trail of blood leading out the other side.

“Damn cat, always land on their feet,” Reese walked over to the edge. He wanted to punch his stupid face in some more before-

Then there was a click. A sound of rushing water that filled his ears and Reese had enough time to glance upwards before the water burst out of the sprinklers above and soaked the hallway they were in. Water ran red with Bosch’s blood and the hint of gold from the Primal as Reese tried to shield his exposed face from the spray.

The protective suit he wore had been torn and the water was quickly seeping into the open parts of it. Soaking through his thick pelt of fur and touching, absorbing, into his skin. Reese tried to cover the spot with a hand as he rushed to the side, out of the way of the water’s spray.

But it was too late.

He could feel it. Feel it pumping into his system. Feeling the pulse of his heart increase, pounding loudly like drums in his ears, as the drug began to course through his system.

“F-fuck,” Reese cursed. “Led into his trap. That sneaky… damn… cat.” He hunched over, holding his sides as he tried not to let it win. Nothing he could do, no matter how strong naturally was could resist the drug he’d been dosed with.

Was it his pride that he’d succumb to as his father had? Or his brothers greed? Reese wasn’t sure as he grabbed at the mask over his face. It was becoming harder and harder to breathe and he ripped it off, throwing it to the side as he howled out as he tore the rubber leather suit he wore off his body. It was suffocating and he needed to get out of it.

The pounding of his heart matched the rushing of his blood, and all Reese could see… was Red.

Down in the garage, Salt and Pepper were helping Alan out of the vehicle. Holding the side of his head, Alan looked around the room and didn’t question why there was an unconscious, possibly dead, rhino lying nearby. He was just glad the car alarms had stopped.

He had one hell of a splitting headache and didn’t need to endure that any longer.

“The hell happened?” Alan asked, looking at the other two. “Who…?”

“Don’t act like you don’t recognize me.” Salt chuckled, tail wagging. “We came to help Reese out. With the others in The Pack. They’re around here somewhere.”

“Is Reese here? I-I need to see him,” Alan took a step forward before wincing. He held his side where the bull’s horns had nicked him. “Fuck. Well, maybe bring Reese here…?” He chuckled softly, sitting back in the seat as Pepper helped him out.

“The others will be here shortly. Ish. Maybe.” Salt shrugged as Pepper stood a bit too close to Alan.

“Ease up,” Alan breathed heavily as he pushed Pepper back. “I’m covered in Primal.”

“We know.” Salt wagged his tail. “We’re wearing these sexy suits because of it. Protects us like a giant condom!”

“That… paints a picture.” Alan laughed as he looked the two wolves up and down. He had wondered why they were wearing these leather gimp looking suits. “Did Reese…?”

“All Reese’s idea,” Salt nodded quickly. “Said they would pull something like this. Conniving bastards. We came prepared, don’t worry. We even brought some naloxone or whatever it’s called. Should stop the effects if someone gets dosed.”

“Wolf pack strong. Together.” Pepper explained. “Weak. Apart…”

“Ah,” Alan said understanding well enough as he sat there thinking about it. “It would explain…” It would explain why PB had done what he had done, or rather why they had picked PB out of all the wolves. That jaguar couldn’t target anyone in The Pack. The Pack wouldn’t betray their own. He needed to find someone related to it but outside The Pack. To force them back into it and to betray them from the inside. “How do you take down The Trojans? From the inside,” the human shook his head.

Alan rested back, staring up at the car’s roof before looking over at the driver’s side window. It was broken in and he wondered what all had happened since he’d been out.

“Things for another day,” Alan winced as he tried to stand back up. “We should get going. Not sure how safe it is here,” he nodded towards the rhino. “And…”

Then they heard it.

A thumping sound of footsteps walking down the fire exit far to the side. The sound stopped, soon replaced by that of sniffing. Deep inhaling sniffs that echoed around the empty garage. They could hear it as the car alarms around them finally stopped. It left an eerie silence in their wake. The only sound filling that void were those of a canine sniffing loudly in the air.

“That’s probably Reese.” Salt stood up but Alan grabbed his hand.

Maybe it was the fact that he wasn’t a wolf, but Alan suddenly felt fear creep down his back. It made his entire body freeze up for a second and he had to consciously force himself past that to stand up. Pulling on Salt’s arm, he tugged Pepper along with them.

“What,” Salt began but Alan shushed him.

“Quiet. Follow. That thing isn’t Reese.” Alan said as he crept away from the vehicle and off to the side. Heading towards the far exit sign he saw on the other side of the underground garage. Not knowing what else to do, the two naturally followed the higher in command within The Pack without putting up a fight.

Salt and Pepper right behind him as a feral-minded wolf, on all fours, walked into the garage.

Dozer sat up in a daze. The rhino checked himself over, laughing loudly as he stood up on heavy legs that felt as if they were made of Jello. His entire body was sore. It hurt all over. He was covered in wounds and wasn’t even sure how that wolf had knocked him out.

It was a miracle he was even alive.

Then he heard it. A low, steady growl that was filling the otherwise empty garage around him.

Turning, the rhino froze on the spot seeing the naked jet-black furred wolf standing there before him. On all fours, it snarled and growled at him with drool covered fangs. It’s fur was so dark that it seemed to devour the light around him. Only those cold blue eyes could be seen, almost lost in the darkness. It’s pupils were so dilated it was nearly impossible to see the icy blues of its eyes.

“Another fucking one?” Dozer snorted, pawing at the ground with a foot as he revved himself back up to charge at the wolf. “I’ll squash you like a bug!”

And the rhino charge.

In a blurr, a flash of fangs, there was a streak of red and Dozer turned with a laugh at the wolf. No sound came out as the rhino’s mouth opened. At least, not the one he had been trying to make. All that came out was a wet gurgle and the rhino reached up with sweaty, shaky hands to touch his neck. Pulling his large stubby fingers away, the rhino looked down to see red.

All Dozer saw in the end was red as his legs gave out and he fell to the ground with his throat ripped out.

Reese spat the hunk of flesh from his lips as he chased after the alluring scent in the air. There was so much red behind him, but the wolf didn’t hunger for that. There was only one source he wanted to sink his teeth into and quickened his steps on all fours as the wolf blindly gave chase after it.

Everything he saw was red. All he heard was the pounding of his heart. Everything blended together and created a tunnel vision before him. Following after it. Seeking the source of it as his nostrils flared and his lungs were filled with air, searching for it.

It felt like he’d always been searching for it. That smell.

Everything was sharper, crisper. More alive and popping. The rush he felt was overpowering and Reese couldn’t think, couldn’t focus. His entire body was acting beyond his control. Running on pure instinct as it chased after that source on autopilot. Reese the unwitting passenger to his bodies desires.

That smell… it filled his lungs, filled his being, and quickened his step.

“When was it that I first saw you? Shrouded in the dark curtain of night, in our home, you were there before me. You thought I was another but, to me, you were my only. My world was darkness until you touched me with your light.”

“Reese,” the voice was there again. It was warm and fresh and sweet like liquid honey on a hot spring day. It warmed his insides and made his heart ache for to hear it, all he wanted was more. More. More!

“We were on that hill together. Waiting. Waiting for another wolf who would never show. I was right there, by your side, but you never saw me. I was forever lost in your shadow. As long as I could be there? I’d endure. I’d suffer through it. For if I was there, you might look back at me. See me. As I always saw you.”

“Reese, I like it when you smile.” The words were always there. It was something kept secret and hidden inside. It was validation for everything. For every crime, every kill that Reese had committed in his life.

It gave him purpose.

“It’s okay not to be okay.” That voice drove his steps on. Carried his feet. Reese was always closer to his wild side than his siblings or family were. He was ashamed of it. Ashamed of being so… feral. Until now. For now, these four legs of his could carry him to that source.

“Reese! You coming? Hurry up. We’re not going to wait all day, silly wolf. My silly wolf. My sweet, silly wolf…”

It was like he was running at night. All he saw was darkness. But there, before him, was a light so bright he was afraid to touch it. Calling out to him, welcoming him. Even now. Saying his name. Screaming it. Telling him to “Stop! Reese, stop!”

Even when the world turned Red, that voice called to him.

Salt was knocked to the side and Pepper howled out as his arm was bitten, torn into, and was swung, picked off his feet, and tossed aside like his brother had been. The two didn’t even stand a chance of slowly the black furred wolf down. His body turned on the two, looking to go in for the kill.

To silence those that got in his way.

“Reese!” Alan shouted and the wolf stopped, ears perking up as those large wide eyes turned to look at him. The wolf, standing up on four legs, turned to face towards him. Staring at him. Sniffing at him. Longing for him even now. “Oh fuck… Reese. Not you too…”

The human stepped back, afraid of him. Even now. Reese could smell it. The smell of him filled the room, the corridor, this hallway, and the entire building. It filled Reese, that smell and it drew the wolf ever closer. On heavy steps, Reese walked towards Alan who backed away from his approach.

“Salt. Pepper. Go. GO!” Alan ordered the two brothers could only watch as Alan led their drugged-up Alpha away from them. Sacrificing themselves so the two wouldn’t get in Reese’s way and risk losing their lives as so many others had.

They knew if they stayed they would be killed. Salt and Pepper couldn’t kill their Alpha and the two wolves were forced to sit there and watch, unable to do a thing as Reese pounced.

“You know I like it when you smile.”

His fangs were so close. Alan could feel the heat of Reese’s lungs panting over his face after being knocked onto his back. Blood tinted drool trickled from those bumpy black lips. Dripping out and splattering the human’s cheeks. Reese was so heavy. One paw-hand was on his chest and the wolf was staring down at him with those unnerving wide eyes.

“Is that you? I can’t see. You know I can’t see in the dark…”

Any second now, Alan knew, this would be it. This would be it and… he wasn’t afraid any longer as he reached up slowly, with a shaking hand, to pet the side of Reese’s head.

“It’s okay,” Alan spoke in a soft, caring, loving voice as he looked into those feral eyes. “I-It’ll be okay… No matter what happens. It’s okay. I don’t blame you, Reese.” Alan had heard those under the effects of Primal could recall what had happened, what they had done under the drug. “I love you, Reese. If this allows me to be with you, uh, a part of you. Forever? I choose to be with you. Always. Now and forever.”

“You know, I like it when you smile.”

Alan had studied the drug ever since it had ruined his neighborhood, blown up the trailer next door to their own and had been a major factor in him wanting to move away from his drug peddling parents. If that wasn’t reason enough to clean up your act nothing would be.

For the longest of times, Alan resented his parents because of it. Until he was older. Until he grew up and he began seeing the dark truth of the world.

Those taking drugs were at fault, yes, maybe, but at the same time they weren’t responsible for their actions after that. It was why it was so difficult and tricky to deal with drug users instead of drug dealers. Alan hadn’t blamed PB for being addicted to the substance.

Not after seeing first hand what it could do to people. How it changed them.

And now, even with what was going to happen, Alan wouldn’t blame Reese as he lovingly pet the side of the wolf’s face as Reese stared down at him. Motionless and still, waiting to go for the kill.

“I love you. I don’t resent meeting you. Y-you know that? Even now. No matter what anyone said or tried to convince me to think, I never regretted meeting you,” Alan laughed, and it was like music as the wolf’s ears perked up further, higher, centering in and training on Alan’s face as the wolf just stared at him. “M-more than anything. I love you. More than life. More than anyone else. Even after everything. After all we keep being forced to put up with and deal with, I love you Reese. My silly, sweet wolf. No one would ever get it. Our love… but I learned that doesn’t matter, not any more. Loving each other? Is for us. No one else.”

And Alan pet the side of Reese’s mane of fur along his neck.

“I would take your last name, if you had one.” Alan chuckled, tears filling his eyes as the weight of the wolf pressed down on him. Those jaws inching closer. “I wanted to spend the rest of my life with you. No one else. Reese. Reese. Reese…” Alan said his name over and over again as he pet his wolf. “Don’t forget me when I’m gone… okay?”

The jaws opened.

“I love you.”

The muzzle lowered down as the fangs brushed the side of his face.

“I love you.”

Alan closed his eyes as the hot tears poured from the edges, running down his face.

“I don’t blame you. I don’t hate you.” Alan cried. “D-don’t blame yourself. Please… live for me… don’t forget me, as I once forgot you… it’s better to have loved and lost than to never have loved at all…”

The wet black, bumpy nose pushed into his hair and Alan could hear the wolf taking a slow, long sniff of him. His body. His musk. A scent that wafted from the human’s body. It mixed with his sweat and his body. The smell of his fear, his arousal, every emotion the human had… Reese could smell them.

The wolf’s body froze. His fur stood up and, just once, Reese’s tail wagged.

“Reese. Stop rolling on my bed!” Alan had laughed back then, pushing at the wolf. “Is that my sock? You know I’m still waiting for the clothes I left at your place? Seriously, what did you even do with them?”

Smell. One of the five senses. It was the strongest sense that could help someone recall memories. The Proust Effect. Where a human might rely on their sight, sound, sense of touch and taste… a wolf, a dog, a canine only ever needed one sense to know.

To know everything.

The smell of him brought it all flooding back. Connecting everything that had been attached to it. That smell. That smell. That smell of him, his body, the human that had ended up in his house in the middle of the night. Snuck in by his stupid half-brother at the time.

A human that would change everything.

Years together as teenagers. Finding him in the office twenty years later. Cornering him in that small break room. The fear Alan would let off whenever Reese would sneak up on him, making the human jump. The moment the two touched, the moment Alan kissed him. Everything swirled together, combining, and forming together.

It was a road map of their lives together and his scent was the car Reese road within. Sticking his head out as he took in every smell of it. Of him. Of their lives together. Every memory, every year, every month, every day, and every minute… spent together with his mate.

The festivals they went to. The parties Alan forced Reese to attend with him. Every celebration Alan would throw and drag Reese along for. Always there, by his side. The bed they slept in and the clothes Reese would steal away, taking a piece with him to the office on the second floor of the dog house to sniff and hold onto.

Wanting a piece of him, his smell, with him. Always.

“Always together.”

How many nights did Reese spend sniffing his clothing. Reese refused to let anyone else enjoy such a thing. Even doing Alan’s laundry when the human couldn’t for one reason or another. Reese was overly territorial when it came to it, to him.

“Hey Reese, come over here.” Alan had patted the spot on the piano at the store. “Sit next to me,” he pressed down one of the keys. “This is the only song I know.” He began to play. “Heart and soul… I fell in love with you,” the human’s fingers danced over the keys. “Heart and soul, what’s a fool to do.” He nudged Reese’s side. “Madly… you held me tight and stole a kiss in the night.”

Then Alan laughed. A sound like music to Reese’s ears as the wolf placed his fingers on the keys, trying to follow along.

“Heart and soul,” Reese muttered with a low growl. “I begged to be adored,” the wolf mumbled with folded ears and a deep maroon blush filling his cheeks in the middle of the store. He’d have never done this in a thousand years for anyone else. “…that magic night we kissed,” Reese’s tail wagged. “But now I see, what one embrace can do, look at me… It’s got me loving you, that little kiss you stole, held all my heart and soul.”

“That little kiss you stole…” Like that one fateful night they met. When Alan thought Reese was his half-brother PB in the hallway. The way those lips kissed him, how Alan pet over the side of his face and looked at him with nothing but love in his eyes.

If a moment of mistaken identity could change everything and that was all it took… Reese could live with that.

How many nights had they been together? How many times did Alan greet him as warmly as ever? No matter the day or place or time… Alan always smiled at Reese. Looking at him not as the monster he was, but for the man he tried to be.

Holding his face, kissing his lips, and pressing their foreheads together.

“Forever,” Alan said the word he had only used or reserved for PB. Thinking that the wolf would be the one he’d end up with. Unaware at the time that the man he’d be waiting for, wasn’t him. But another. Waiting so many years to be reunited with him.

“Forever, together, loving you.”

By a scent, a smell that led the wolf to him. By a scent, a smell that had the human realizing who Reese was.

“The jacket you put over my shoulder… it was warm… musky. It had your scent,” Alan had told Reese at the lighthouse the wolf had taken him to. “That smell? It was like… a trigger. A trigger to all my memories I locked away. When you put it on me? I remembered… I remember you.”

Even now, drugged out of his mind, Reese’s instinct told him what to do. As it always had, in a way. For Reese, that animal side was always right there beside him in the passenger seat. It was never far away. Something he struggled with at times or fought against but was forever a part of him.

An animal. Reese might’ve been an animal but even an animal, a wolf, would never bite his mate.

Reese turned and rolled his body out on Alan’s body, crushing the human who winced at the pain of the massive wolf covering him with his smell. His scent. His musk. Letting the two combined together to form the perfect aroma for Reese to inhale in.

And every time Reese did, a new memory would return. Every breath he took made it brighten, like a lightbulb being turned on.

Of the time Alan had snuck into his office with a plate of food. The human trying to be sneaky as he slid the plate up on the corner of the desk and pushed it over with a finger, trying not to be seen by the wolf sitting there. Sitting there all day without getting a chance to come downstairs to say even a brief grunt of a hello... Only for Reese to reach over with a finger and tip the plate upwards and over the human who jumped up with a startled laugh.

Reese would lick the whip cream and waffles off Alan’s body and had called it a night after that, returning downstairs to shower together before spending the rest of the afternoon together. Holding each other. Rubbing each other. Just simply touching one another.

For even the simplest of things, meant the world to someone “When you were there by my side.”

There were so many words that Reese wanted to say but never could. He hadn’t been right. That’s what they said. What the doctors told his parents. They said that he was broken. That there was a piece missing inside him unlike the other boys. That he was born “broken.” Reese never understood why the older wolves talked behind his back. Why the younger members kept their distance from him, looking at him with nothing but fear in their eyes.

“There’s something wrong with me. And they know it.” Reese had realized, had seen. Looking in the mirror. Touching the image looking back at him.

Everyone looked at him with those scared, hateful eyes. Refusing to touch him. They wouldn’t… not like this.

Alan touched him, even now. His scent filled Reese’s lungs. The sight of his face, looking at him without fear… the feel of him under the wolf’s body and the taste of his cheek as Reese licked out over it, inadvertently looking away one of his tears.

It was everything. A drug more powerful than anything else.

The Primal drug was originally created and used and marketed as a sex drug. It enhanced all senses beyond their normal limits. Making each one resonate with their ancestral roots, or so they claimed. It was a drug that was taken and perverted and forced on those unwilling.

Such dark desires that had always been suppressed would resurface, boiling over and consuming them and burning all those around them. Like a predators hunger for meat. Being forbidden to even have a taste. Forced to bottle all those feelings deep inside until they exploded…

Unless embraced as Alan did, hugging the wolf close who began humping against his body, it could consume everything. A wolf that had always given in and thrown that wild, feral side of his a treat. To let it loose and to welcome it as a part of who and what he was. That, one day, when the beast took control it would throw him a treat in turn.

Let him have a taste as Reese tongue licked up Alan’s bare chest. Tasting him. Licking him. Loving him as the wolf continued to lick and hump and sniff and nuzzle and rub his body all over Alan’s own.

“Salt,” Alan, red in the face, called over to him. “Uh… you might want to get a tranq for him. Please hurry…” Alan winced as the several hundreds of pounds of wolf humped in once more. Grinding against him, humping him and Reese’s length spilling out his sheath to drip and coat Alan’s body with his musky fluid.

“Uh…” Salt just stared, unmoving and it was Pepper who had to snap him out of it with a slap to the back of his head. Trying not to watch as his older, half-brother, humped his Alpha-mate openly in the hallway without caring who was around to watch. “Right. Right! I’ll radio Domino and, uh, right…”

The two got up, not daring to stray far, but not wanting to risk Reese noticing them as they radio in for backup and called it in.

“Just bring the whole damn box if you have to!” Salt said into the phone as the smell in the hallway began to increase. That of a virile, feral-minded wolf who continued to hump over his mate aggressively, getting worked up further than he already was. Reese was growling now and appeared as if he were just starting what he had in mind for Alan.

The sex drug working a little too well as Alan was forcibly turned around and mounted like a wolf in heat…

The raid had been successful. Countless lives had been lost that night as the wolves broke in through the upper windows, grappling down and busted in to join the party. They took out everyone they came across. Using the dinky, pitiful “bunny guns” that Reese had ordered them to use. Framing and blaming The Noble Hare family for the dirty deed they’d committed.

The Noble Hare family was never the same. Blamed for the violence caused, they were soon removed from the echelon of high society. Forced to fight amongst themselves for the shredded remains of both their dignity and the land that was soon taken from them after everything was leaked.

The Marina had gotten it’s revenge, although inadvertently so. They had damaged both the reputation and numbers of The Noble Hare family, but such insult wasn’t forgotten, and it would be several more years of hunting down and tormenting the hares until Zhong would be satisfied.

The Cackles numbers were never as large or as powerful as the other gangs of the city and their numbers dwindled that night to nothing more than a street gang. Everyone had been affected… Except for the lions who had been warned not to show up that night and the wolves who soon retreated from the site.

Using guns commissioned from and made by The Noble Hares, Reese’s plan would go underway within the following days. The wolves hand in the raid would go unnoticed, framing the hares, and everyone would mark it down as a gang retaliation for what Barnes had done in the neutral zone.

Only one man not connected to The Elysium Pack, was aware what had transpired that dark night… and never would get to tell his story.

Beaten, battered, bruised, and bloodied, Bosch limped down a hallway. He was the only one left. The rest of his team was gone, but he had secured the only thing he needed to satisfy those in charge. Checking to make sure the USB drive was still there, he limped towards the last marked exit.

“Shryl, open the door.” Bosch wrapped his knuckles on the door. Resting against it, Bosch could barely remain on his two feet. It was the farthest and most dangerous exit to reach. In a way, he had the wolves to thank for reaching it.

Bosch had played dead when they had come by. The wolves gunning down anyone left alive. Bosch waited, lying perfectly still on the ground like a corpse before hauling himself up and continuing towards the exit after they passed him by. It took him over an hour to reach it and by then the fire and police department had shown up at the main entrance.

“Good thing prey species are known for having more than one back door,” Bosch coughed as he knocked on the door with a hand. He felt so weak. “Shryl. Open up! I got the data.”

It was at that, the door clicked, and the lock released, and the door swung inwards.

“About time.” Bosch snarled.

“Did you erase the rest?” She asked from within the door.

“Of course I did. All that’s left of it is right here. I’m going to need-,” then a shot fired.

Bosch’s bruised and swollen eyes widened as the prick of a hot needle hit his chest. Glancing down, he saw the blood beginning to run warm from the wound as he slumped backwards and fell over onto his cut tail.

“S-Shryl…?” Bosch coughed blood as he touched the bullet hole in his chest. “F-fuck…?”

There was a small set of footsteps as the raccoon walked over. Bending down, she searched his body and pulled out the USB drive. She looked it over, tossed it in the air before letting it fall to the ground. The plastic device clattered next to Bosch’s head.

The jaguar glanced over at it, trying to reach for it with shaking hands. His vision was beginning to blur and he grabbed blindly for the device.

“Sorry, sir.” Shryl said as her heel came crashing down on top of the device, breaking it. “Orders are orders. There are plenty of big wigs that rather not have their sick perverted fantasies released all over the internet.” She walked forward two steps. “A pity, really… but we don’t need some cripple predator in our ranks,” the raccoon tsked. “Bastard..”

“Y-You…” Bosch reached up for her. “H-how much… they pay you…?” Bosch couldn’t finish the sentence. Joking on the bile and blood filling his mouth at the betrayal.

“At least the rest of the team is six feet under. Don’t have to deal with them.” Shyrl bent down next to him, slapping Bosch’s hand to the side. “Just think… maybe if you weren’t so cheap…? I might’ve been able to convince the big wigs to let you live. Pity, really. That even your own government doesn’t want to take a predator in… They’re reputation means more to them than your life.”

“My government..?” Bosch almost laughed at that as he rest back, struggling to breathe. “Already… betrayed me…”

“Your government thanks you for your service, Bosch Balam.” Shyrl stood back up and turned towards the door.

“Bitch…” Bosch coughed with a weak laugh.

“Just doing my duty, sir. Don’t take it so personal,” she waved over one hand as a large polar bear leaned in to make sure the job had been done. “Don’t worry Vlad. I punctured a lung. Not that I needed to. He looks like he already has a foot in the grave.”

“Dah.” The polar bear nodded before shutting the door. “Do svidaniya,” he laughed. “Or not,” the polar bear slammed the door shut. Leaving Bosch to lie there in a pool of his own blood.

Staring up at the ceiling, Bosch had to wonder where in all of this he had gone wrong. Where did the cracks start to form in his perfectly laid plan? Was it when he had handpicked and brought Mikhail into the fold? Using a serial killer on the governments dime? Or maybe when he was working with that wolf, Bale, helping him betray his father and take him down using the poison dart frog tribe in the amazon paralytic fluids… or when he had rescued that human down in The Market’s tunnels.

Bosch coughed.

Or maybe it was when he had knocked on that wolf’s door. Planning to use them to take down The Pack. To turn a wolf against his own people. It was a sick kind of thrill the feline would get. Using criminals to take each other down. A poetic justice, as he saw it.

But now…?

There was a sniffing sound and the jaguar glanced upwards, towards the end of the hallway. It was so dark. He was growing so cold Bosch couldn’t feel his toes. His vision was blurry, but he still saw it. Around the corner he saw a gray furred muzzle sniffing at the floor before a wolf on all fours stepped out and face towards him.

“Huh, karma’s a bitch.” Bosch smiled as the wolf growled and charge him. Gristle leaping into the air and then, it all faded to black as the jaws clamped down…

The single thought that lingered on that, out of everyone in his life, Logan had been the only one who hadn’t stabbed him in the back. At least Logan had the courtesy to stab him in front. Looking Bosch in the eye before… those eyes looking at him. Trying to say words neither of them could find.

“I think I get it.” Bosch had thought. How he, Reese, managed to return to society where the jaguar couldn’t. It wasn’t that the wolf had adapted better or changed who he had been, no. Reese had found a better mask to wear thanks to that human. A wolf in sheep’s clothing, blending in.

A human… that if Bosch had found one even after harming them, hurting him… that maybe Bosch could’ve returned…

Maybe that was why, in the end, Bosch couldn’t go through with it.

“Heh, I think I finally get it, Logan. Get why, at the end, he called out for you. Why Mikhail, in his last dying moments thought of you… I think… I think I finally… get it… Logan…” Were the last thing Bosch ever said, every thought of or saw before everything turned Red…

And then silence as the final curtain fell over this dark night.