(Verando's perspective ) 

"Mr.Mercer? Can you hear me?" Landon asks, flinching as he rubs his temple. "You are quite a few miles off from the main group. I'm afraid there's not much for a direct route to get you back to Fadri but I'll do my best to get you there. I'm going to have Gospel provide you with directions. I'm sorry, I've not quite been feeling the best." 

There was no time to worry about Landon now, one could only chalk it up to the stress of being a young man with a stressful client considering that it seemed the idea of Lux was a farce. "Thank you, Landon. Have Bet keep a tracker on Nic and I'll keep this line open for communication. She's quite good at this, don't feel that you need to stress yourself to help her."

The dismissal was more for Bet's benefit than anything else. Moving Landon out of her way so she could work might be the best way to ensure they all survived this. Removing the watch, he quickly hands it to  Helen. "You're the navigator, I intend on taking a small detour. I think I remember this part of the city quite well."

The ambulance groans as the wall of fire slams into the side of it, sending it into a tailspin as Verando fights to keep it from flipping over given its top-heavy nature. The inferno man stands as a twelve-foot-tall slender figure of flames, slinging his whip-like hands as he walks toward them. Grayson lands beside him, the asphalt gives way and bursts down to the dirt from the impact. 

"Surrender and we will consider leaving the rest of your traitorous family alive." He demands, his voice rough and broken from the severe burns he received from being struck by the storm. 

Helen flinches away from the sight of him, shaking her head. "Gods.. is that what dark magic does?"

Verando accelerates through the gears, ignoring the complaints of the engine. "No, that's what Nic does when you get in his way. You'd do well to remember that." 

It brings her to silence as he floors it, driving through the electrical current as he moves through the gears. With the rubber tires, it gave them the edge of moving through the effects of the current but it would do nothing to help them when it came to the inferno man. Helen gets to work on the wound on his side, attempting to find how deep it was, making his grit his teeth so tight he was worried he'd shatter them.

Flames followed the ambulance in a tidal wave of molten metal, melting all in its path as the firey figure rode on the burning wave. "We're going to get on this old interstate," Helen explains, pointing to the open road to their right. It brought the corner of his lips down as he considered the options of being so exposed. While the visuals would be useful, the lack of ability to deflect attacks wasn't to his liking. 

"Leave the gash, there's nothing for it now and I need to focus. Are you buckled in?" He asks, snagging the watch to tap a few buttons with his thumb. 

"Taking a detour?" She asks under her breath, tightening down the belt as if it would help. 

"Yep. Take this." He passes her the gun from his waistband. "We're about to need it." The gentle violins begin to come out of speakers and Helen raises an eyebrow, only to be interrupted as he cuts the wheel, using the slick road to drift the ambulance sideways into the molten man and jump the curb into a courtyard.

 Headed straight towards the open pavilion, he directed the vehicle into its depths.

Tires squealed as the smoking trail on the polished floor left much to be desired for grip but everything to gain from weaponizing the truck. The encroaching force is effectively rendered useless when faced with the cumbersome vehicle traveling sideways at high speeds toward the foot soldiers. 

The small force dives out of the way as the fire mage chases the circling vehicle with a wall of flames, barricading their escape but also preventing their foot soldiers from following. Dropping it down a gear, he directs the car down a short flight of stairs as Helen braces herself against the ceiling with her palm. "Really? Violins?"

"It's relaxing." He responds, "On your right." 

Helen rolls down the window to fire the handgun at approaching felines, the wailing tires stinging her ears as he pivots around the bend and accelerates towards a set of windows. "That's 8, remember to reload." She reminds herself quietly, clip in hand as she aims at a jogging gunman. "Keep an eye on these shooters." 

The fire mage appears outside the window, his lips part in odd strings, unhinged as his body becomes anything but human in a deafening roar. "Bigger problems than a gunman. Hold on." In the narrow space, he pulls the emergency brake, aiming the wheel to spin the ambulance around as it sways haphazardly. Smacking one of the concrete service desks the sparks fly and Helen protects her face with her arms. 

Letting off the juttering brake, he throws the ambulance in reverse and crashes through the window much to the surprise of the blazing man. The weightlessness of flying through the air at high speeds sent his stomach into knots. The windshield bursts as gunfire follows behind them, the vehicle plunges backward into the fire mage as it crashes to the ground and proceeds to do one full flip. 

The sound of ripping and crunching metal blocks out all else as it slides to a halt, painting a trail of red from the crushed mage. On its top, the two lycans cling to the heavy-duty seat belts. Verando clutched his chest, aching from the bullets but the vest had done its job. "Are you alright?"

Helen nods, blocking her eye with her palm in a grimace. "Just fell a whole story to our backs and then got some sparks and glass in my eye, not a big deal."

"Nothing broken?" He asks, voice lighter with relief. His shoulder throbs as he dislodges himself, carefully dropping down onto the glass-covered ceiling. The metal plate protests against the muscle and flesh. 

"If it was, everything else hurts bad enough that I don't think I could tell." She drops down beside him and he carefully helps her climb out. "We have to get out of the courtyard." 

Tapping his watch, it glitches and fizzles, having taken some impact on the way down. "I think I heard Nic say Kestrel was coming.. he will be coming to find you. Where are you bleeding the most?" 

Helen reveals the bullet wound on the back of her arm, flinching as he carefully palpates it. Pressing his fingers into the wound, she resists the urge to scream as he bloodies his hand and then smears it on the ambulance. "Sorry darling, we have to leave a trail to follow. It's not me he wants."

"Won't Caspian smell it, too?"

It was a risk they would have to take. "Caspian doesn't have your scent." While that wasn't entirely true, it was their best hope that it would be a smell the crazed man wouldn't recognize. Two lycans on the run, one gray-haired, could be anyone. 

There were more and more gray lycans as the world became more populated. Surely he wouldn't suspect that he would remain here given all that had gone on. It had been heavily publicized that he'd gone back to the capitol after their concert. 

But, knowing Caspian, the most frightening part was not what he would believe but what he would do. Caspian rivaled me for his knowledge of the warlord, it was an uncomfortable amount of familiarity that kept him on edge. "It's time to shift."

"Are you sure?" Her reluctance to reveal Malka wasn't unjustified, the white coat would be a stark beacon to anyone around us. Dragging his boot through the thin layer of slurry coating the ground he nods. 

"Yes. We'll be faster this way and these weapons are doing us no good. The watch is broken, I can track Fadri between if I let Alpha help." 

In quick succession, they strip off their clothes. Relinquishing the bulletproof vests was the most challenging part but it would do them no good if they couldn't outrun their aggressors. The vest only protected so much. As wolves, it was almost their most vulnerable state. 

With no thumbs, no armor, and no ability to grasp, they were at the will of their limitations and sometimes those were mounting. 

Over time, it had become more and more obvious that the wolf was no longer the scariest thing out there. It was now more of a commonplace gift, aligned with shapeshifters when there were things such as advanced mages and dark magic at play. Taking his lighter, he opts to burn his outfit but not Helens, much as he hated to lose the suit. "That should throw Caspian off thinking that I'm with you."

Helen's nose wrinkles, unimpressed. "Randy, he's going to know..."

"Always a hope, yeah?"

They shift, Verando encourages her to roll in the silt to mask her coat color and it works well enough given the snowy white of her pelt against the dull grays and blacks of a drenched city full of pollution. Breaking off into a sprint at the approaching footsteps, they are much more capable of slipping through alleyways as the streets fill with panicked civilians.

 The fight had stepped into the city and out of the badlands, what had once been avoided by careful redirection was now directly in the depths.

Newscasters fill the streets as they attempt to interview fleeing civilians. They speak of risings and a world divided, Helen ducks her head against Verando's shoulder as one woman is gutted by a passing mage who curses her for merely being human. 

"How can anyone side with the anarchists?" She whispers as they walk carefully through the back streets. 

"Fear. Hatred breeds more hatred. Caspian has always been good at spreading his unique flavor of hate."

Pressing her cheek against the soft fluff, she frowns at the creaking of his shoulder blade. "You're repair sounds like it's malfunctioning."

"Don't remind me. I think I'm picking up the scent of the resistance. We need to get moving." Ignoring the searing pain of the abdominal wound, he could feel the packing threatening to come loose. He had to rely on his healing so that it would accelerate fast enough to keep him from bleeding to death. 

"Shame that you talk about me that way, Randy. I thought we were friends?" The voice sends a cold chill down his spine and he quickly pushes Helen out of the way as the black wolf descends upon them. Fighting his way out of the small space, Verando leads him to the open street where the black creature begins to circle him. 

"So you got a repair? I'm surprised you're out in the open, after your little song I figured you'd be long gone... I'm not complaining, I'm just surprised. I guess you wanted another taste after all."

Why did he think that Caspian wouldn't notice them? 

It was foolish hope, an overestimation of the ability to hide in the rain and danger. Caspian had always been able to find him, it was in their blood to want to kill each other. "I'm not afraid of you Caspian, I had no reason to leave." 

Straining to not look at Helen, he keeps his eyes on the black wolf, making sure not to show any favor on his left shoulder. 

"Why am I not surprised you thought it was about you?"

Running his tongue over his muzzle, Caspian scoffs. "Of course it was. You practically begged for me to come back and get you. I knew once you had a taste of what a real man was like, you would be hungry for more. Please, allow me to feed that hunger." 

The thought makes his stomach curl, resisting the urge to lay his ears back, Alpha fights for control. He threatens the wolf back, forcing it to remain with him. There would be no point in fighting him, he couldn't win and even if he did, Fenrir would just leap to Kestrel and that would be the end. 

"You saw what I did to your forces. If you know what's good for you, you'll keep moving." The empty threat makes the black beast chuckle, shaking his head dismissively. The destruction looming around them as the sun begins to near the horizon, once night fell it would be much more difficult to continue this fight. 

"You have something that belongs to me... multiple somethings. You, your adorably perky granddaughter.. and..." He leaps, narrowly missing the gray creature with his jaws. Verando bites into the side of his neck, slamming him to the ground with a snarl. "My son." Caspian barks back, snapping wildly at his legs. 

Verando jerks out of the way, twisting out the manic creature's seeking jaws. His heart rate accelerated, and Alpha backed off from the forefront. Caspian scared him, taken aback by the unrelenting aggression of the other beast. The way the golden eyes almost seemed to glow red as he attacked with no remorse, no consideration for his position, it was all Verando could do to get out of the way. 

Backed by Fenrir, there was little that Caspian feared in this form.

Each motion put more pressure on the shoulder, he could feel the flex in the repair. It wasn't meant for this, it wasn't meant for the continual beatings he'd given it since he'd received it.

 "Too bad you gave up your only hope of beating me." Caspian snaps, lurching at him, grasping the taller gray creature by the neck. "It's hardly even a fair fight. You're a disappointment compared to the demi-god that you were, this is almost pissing me off." 

He refused to give anything away, refused to acknowledge that killing Caspian himself was impossible. Flipping himself to land on Caspian in an attempt to dislodge him, it was a fight of Caspian knowing who the true Alpha was and Verando's wolf shying from the fight, something that had never happened before. 

In that hesitation, the darker male made his move. He swipes the stomach injury with his paw, making Verando yelp as he guards his side, before rearing up to slam both paws down on the weakened shoulder. Pinning the gray beast to the ground once more, Verando resists the urge to allow the agonized scream to bubble to the surface. The shoulder was shattered, there was no way it had survived that impact. 

"You know as well as I do that this is not our destiny. You're going against the will of the gods." Verando barks at him, kicking out with his hind legs to belt Caspian in the chest. 

Baring his fangs, the black wolf lands squarely on the left shoulder of the male once more, producing a yelp with the cracking of bones and metal. 

"I am a god!" he thunders, "And you will kneel before me just like the rest of them. I will no longer live in your shadow!" 

It's Helen who launches herself at him, using his side as a springboard to send him sailing across the small space. 

"Get up." She barks at the gray male, pulling him to his feet as he favors his shoulder. The paw could flatten but the ability to bear weight was gone, the shoulder was beyond useable.

"Took you long enough." He returns, laying his ears back. "Though, you really shouldn't be here."

Her coat bristles as Caspian climbs to his feet, a fierce snarl ripping through him as he takes a step towards the pair. "I thought you'd run away, not try to fight with the amount of blood you've lost." She seethes through her teeth.

"Need I remind you that you're not an Alpha? We can't kill him?" Verando's voice is low, hardly above a whisper. It wasn't supposed to happen this way, this was exactly what they were trying to prevent. Seeing his opportunity, Caspian rushes towards them with more ferocity than Helen was accustomed to. 

The wild jaws of the darker male had her tripping and stumbling over her paws. Verando grabs him by his back leg, yanking him away, and as the wolf wheels to snag him, Helen snags a foreleg in her jaws. 

Working together, they manage to keep themselves out of range while still inflicting damage. Caspian belts out a roar, his body shaking as his eyes turn solid red. "I've had enough of this!" He bellows, turning his attention to the female. "If I kill you, this ends here and now. Your father is too much of a failure to take your place.. but..." His eyes drift back towards the gray, running his tongue over his bloodied lips. 

How many humans had he consumed on his way here? 

Destiny determined who he would go after, there was no question in his mind. It was in their nature to kill each other, and Helen was an afterthought with his victory so close. "Killing you would be so much more satisfying. Let me guess, you're too much of a prick to hand over your throne?" 

Laying his ears back, the gray wolf backs up a single step. It took everything in his power to hold Alpha here, to prevent him from retreating. "Alpha, you can't leave Helen here." Verando curses internally, planting his paws firmly. 

The mental wolf shakes his head, fighting for retreat. 

"This is not our fight. Our job is to protect Nic so we can not stay here, he's going to kill us. We can not beat Fenrir, Verando."

Tilting his head, Caspian takes another step forward only to wheel around at Helen's sudden approach. He grasps her by the scruff, tossing her across the street. She cries out as her body hits the crumbling building, scrambling to get back to her feet on the slick street. 

Turning his attention back to the frozen gray wolf, he begins the stalk once more. "I really fucked you up, didn't I?" He muses. "Look at you, it's disgusting. I've never seen you like this, quaking in your damn skin. I'm almost tempted to keep you for myself, as my personal pet... if only you didn't have the damn nerve to look at me with so much contempt."

"Randy get out of here!" Helen demands, finding purchase in her paws. His body refused to move, locked in combat in the internal struggle, the shoulder was destroyed. There would be no way to get away even if he wanted to, with the blood seeping from the wound in his abdomen and his shoulder, he had made too many wrong choices. 

It was a flash of everything he held valuable, all the pain and suffering of this life, clinging to this one position that had seemed to define him and yet seemed pointless when faced with the only thing that held any true value to him. His entire existence had been a mirage of disappointments and inconveniences, someone else's life he'd been forced to live. 

Now, facing death once more, it was regret that he hadn't listened to the side of himself that always picked me over everything else. 

The impact of the overcharged wolf hitting him makes his ears ring. It's an odd feeling of weightlessness where the body goes into flight mode, something he'd never experienced before. It'd never been in his instinct to surrender, yet Alpha was screaming to escape. 

Caspian's jaws close on his throat, pinning him to the ground once more. In slow motion the fangs sink through his skin, intending to kill him, it was the harsh reality that his body was broken beyond repair. Mentally, and physically, he'd been going through the motions pretending that this body was capable of what it had been so long ago.

Damn it. I really am getting old, aren't I?  The thought passes with a strange amount of calm. It was not him who fought, it was Alpha who wedged his paw in those deadly fangs, attempting to force the jaws back open to save his own life. Alpha who was so determined to get back to me, to stay alive for me. 

The weight is removed by a blur of black and white. Helen stands over him, her voice sounds distant, a faded echo. "You idiot! Why didn't you move? Randy, come on. Get up. Don't you dare try to die on me!" 

"Helen." The words come out without his permission. 

"We have to get you out of here." She murmured, sniffing the air but knowing that Kestrel was faster than anyone on foot. 

"Helen." He says once more, firmly this time.

"What?" Her words sound strangled, as if speaking to him would reveal the true weight of her emotions. She was afraid, afraid that he would die due to this strange new development. He'd never frozen up before, not like that. "Randy, I can't let you stay here. We have to figure out what's wrong with you."

Meeting her gaze, her blood-streaked face, he carefully rolled over onto his stomach, flinching at the discomfort. "I give you their lives because I can no longer protect them. I give you my blood for it is what binds us. I give you my wisdom to help you guide them."

Helen shakes her head and takes a step back but his gaze captures her, forcing her to remain standing beside him. "What're you saying? Why're you saying this to me?"

Exhaling, he wasn't quite so sure himself. But it felt right as if the words had already been written. "The title is no longer my burden to bear but your right as my successor. I give you my life as payment for that burden, for it now rests on your shoulders. You are Helen, you are Malka, you are an Alpha."

 It was as if a weight had been lifted off his shoulders. A sense of freedom, of relief from a chain he'd drug from way too long. It had never been his place, he'd merely been a spotholder. 

Verando forces himself up into a sitting position, his front leg trembling as he guards the broken shoulder, his neck savaged from the attack of the crazed wolf. She nuzzles her cheek against his, her body trembling. "You're not going anywhere, I still need you." 

"Go help Kestrel, he can't do this on his own. It is no longer your job to worry about me." 

Sota had been the only other Alpha to submit, did his relinquishment count? Would Malka return to kill him once Helen wasn't in control? As much as she wanted to stay with him, the call was just as strong in her as it had been with him. 

She was designed to go help Kestrel, to join him in the never-ending fight. 

As she races off he slowly struggles to his feet, his body feels weak, slumping back to the ground once he is sure she is out of sight. It was as if the very life had been drained out of him. Sprawled on his side, it was the only comfortable position as his chest heaved from the discomfort. Footsteps tread quickly past, there was no reason to stop and deal with a dying lycan. 

While he could convince himself that this position was the safest one, it was a cop-out of the truth that his body was giving out on him. Flicking one ear to the side at distant footsteps, he contemplated the weight of them, the intention of how driven they seemed coupled with their quick patter.

The surrounding patrons scatter as the feather-light footsteps land beside him. "Hello, Gabriel." He breathes. The pale hand carefully touches the dense fur of his neck, marveling at the texture just as he'd done before. 

"So soft..." he muses, snapping himself out of his trance. "You have been bad." Holding out his hand, he produces the tracker.

"Good to see you hold grudges.." Verando manages, not bothering to rise from his position. 

As he waits, the man doesn't come. Instead, he remains there, motionless as he watches Kestrel and Helen tangle with the black beast. Slowly, Gabriel kneels once more to knot his fingers in the dense gray fur and he inches just the smallest bit closer. "Helen is your granddaughter." He summarizes as Verando nods. "You would do anything for her."

Reluctant to answer, knowing what that could entail, he nods once more. "It's been quite impressive to me, too. I'm not normally so selfless."

Glancing at him, Gabriel offers the slightest smile. "I find you and your people incredibly selfless. It's stirred something in me that I find very strange... I never had a family but seeing how my father defended you and how you defend him, I don't understand it but a part of me-" He hesitates, touching his chest to calculate his own pounding heart. "Isn't it incredible to be alive?" He marvels, earning a grimace from the wolf at the destruction that surrounds them. 

"I want to help." Gabriel finally concludes. "I think that means I need to make you stand."

(Nic's point of view)

All I can see on the approach is a man kneeling over the form of Alpha lying on the pavement. My eyes locked in, the motorcycle straining under the oppression of my unforgiving nature. I wasn't versed in driving one so learning on the fly had been quite a task. My hands were bloodied, and my shoulder was sore from a fall or two. Kestrel had done his best to help me but it was a difficult task. 

My eyes fall on the cloaked man. The bleeding gray wolf, his coat sullied by blood and grit. Lying too still on his side, I was still alive so that meant that he had to be as well, yet it was a position I'd never seen Verando in. 

Had someone truly bested him?

 In the background, the city threatens to burn to the ground and my granddaughter fights alongside Satan's spawn as they try and take down the devil himself. I watch the hand of the cloaked man stroke the gray creature that I'd never known to allow anyone but me to touch him.

His head turns, and I see the red beard. My eyes reflected back at me, I wasn't ready to accept that my prediction had come to fruition, that Gabriel had turned on my husband and mortally wounded him. I pull the gun from my holster, practically leaping off the bike as I allow it to drop to the ground with an audible thud. 

As he stands to face me, I fire.