Luca

 Hours passed. Each second blended into the next with nothing in the cold, damp darkness to differentiate between them. In the distance, water dripped steadily- not fast enough to be from a direct source. Most likely there was a leak in one of the pipes running through the Asylum, and it gave Luca great pleasure to imagine the destruction that small, almost indiscernible trickle would cause. From rust to rot, it would ruin everything in its path overtime- it just required patience.

At the moment, his own patience was wearing thin, but when he found himself tempted to strain against his bindings or growl aloud, he closed his eyes and zeroed in on the leak, reminding himself that bringing down this institution would take more than one impulsive act.

His eyes snapped open as the reality of his thoughts registered. Before this moment, his sole motivation was saving his brother, but he knew that wasn't enough. Getting out of this building wouldn't give his brother a chance at a normal life, and Livy would certainly never be able to come out of hiding. If she possessed even the smallest bit of Protean DNA, no one in his community would be safe.

And yet... It was proof that they weren't as powerful as he'd come to believe. No matter what they claimed or how hard they fought, some part of his ancestors had managed to live on. He just hoped Livy wasn't the last.

Luca flexed his wrists, testing the cuffs. The spelled metal tightened with his movements, restricting blood flow to his hands until he relaxed. Until this moment, he'd never spent anytime as a captive of the Slayers, but he'd heard stories from others. The magic they used to fight against Shifters. Magic that was no less "unnatural" than the long life spans of the beings they sought to eliminate. He found he might hate them less if they would just admit the truth behind what drove their crusade: fear and envy.

A buzzing filled the room- then the sound of a pop as the lone light bulb overhead flickered to life, making him wince. To a human, the light was weak and ineffective, but he was designed to see just as well in the dark as in the light, and the sudden change made his eyes water.

The gray door in front of him swung open, and Abe Helsing walked inside, a familiar slayer at his side. Trixie. The woman who'd taken Brantley, and the one who was training Van. Everything about the woman displayed her warrior nature- the way she held herself, the slant of her brows, and the tightness in her jaw. But he saw in her eyes the difference Van mentioned. Perhaps fate had seen fit to give him a break.

"Luca Brooks. Seventeen years old. Alpha Apparent. Only recently decided, yes?" Abe said as he lowered himself into the spindly chair across the table. Trixie remained standing.

"Yes."

"Hmm." He flipped through the pages of a file, but Luca had no doubt the man didn't need to read the words on the page. They would be memorized, held prisoner in his cruel mind the same way Luca was a prisoner in this foul pit.

Unable to stop himself, he pressed, "Hmmm, what? None of that is news to you. Nothing happens among the shifters that you don't know about."

The Supreme raised his eyes slowly, pinning Luca with a frigid glare before curling his lips into an unpleasant facsimile of a smile. Trixie shifted but remained silent.

"You're right on the first point, Luca. I did know that already, though your performance in the fight today suggests your appointment is not suitable. But apparently, I don't know everything that goes on in your pack. Your cousin, for instance."

Abe slid another file to the top of his pile and gestured to his Slayer. Trixie nodded and rounded the table, a strange box in her hand. When she flipped it open, Luca bucked backward to put distance between himself and the woman. Immediately, the cuffs tightened until he could no longer feel his hands.

"Calm down, boy," Trixie hissed, snatching him by his hair and dragging him closer. The syringe in her hand glinted wickedly. "I'm not injecting you with anything."

"She's gathering a blood sample," Abe explained, watching with keen interests as she slipped the needle into a bulging vein.

Blood so dark it was almost black spurted into the vial, filling the container rapidly. Luca wondered what secrets they would discover in the viscous liquid.

"Why do you need that?" He knew why.

Abe answered his question, but not directly. He flipped a sheet of paper over and slid it in front of Luca. "Father: Julian Brooks. Panther shifter. Mother: Rosita Kingston Brooks: human/shifter hybrid. Never able to complete a shift."

Abe's lips had trouble forming the word hybrid. It tumbled into the room like a piece of filth. To the Slayers the only beings worse than Shifters were the humans who willingly screwed them. Luca thought they might even place vampires above those humans.

"Thanks for the genealogy lesson?"

Trixie flicked him in the ear. She could've punched him for such insolence. Abe might have given her permission to kill him. Still, his ear throbbed as he waited for the Supreme to continue.

"Julian Brooks was the twin brother of Edwin, your father. I believe we executed him when Livy was two? Do you remember his crime, Luca?"

"There was no crime. Aunt Rosita was already aware of our community, and as you pointed out, she's half shifter."

"Yes, but we forbade him from marrying her because we wanted to find out how she'd come to exist in the first place. No shifter is to consort with humans, and they're all to remain on pack lands. So how in the world did a half shifter woman show up out of nowhere?"

"And after you killed my uncle for falling in love-"

"He left pack lands. He tried to disappear. Let's make sure we air all of his crimes."

"After you killed him, what did you discover about Rosita?" There was no point in pretending to be docile anymore. It would only make the man suspicious.

Abe exhaled and leaned back in his chair. Deep lines marred his tan cheeks, and the skin below his eyes was painted with bruises. "It would seem the initial report suggested she was the product of an irresponsible teenage girl."

Luca barked a bitter laugh. "Can't say the word? It's called rape. Rosita's mother was raped on pack lands by a precious human, and rather than be forced into aborting the resulting infant, she hid her pregnancy and left the baby at a church. So Rosita is completely innocent."

"It's not him," Trixie interjected. She handed the tube of Luca's blood to her master.

Abe smiled- this time it was genuine. "Don't look so glum, Trixie. It's what we expected. The Brooks have been clean for generations. That means Livy's Protean DNA comes from her mother's side. Guess Rosita isn't as innocent as you claim. Someone will be down here with an affidavit for you to sign, Luca. It states you had no idea what your cousin is."

"Wait, what are you doing?" He should be relieved they weren't going to kill him to keep the secret, but he couldn't be- not when his aunt's life was at stake.

"And Luca, I would think twice about signing that document unless you genuinely didn't know about your cousin. Lying has painful consequences."

"And if I can't sign it?"

"Well, then you're just as guilty as your cousin and her mother. Maybe I'll be kind and put you in the cell next to your baby brother." He stopped in the doorway. "And Luca, let's hope you don't follow down the same path as your uncle. Stay away from my daughter."

All the calm Luca had collected during his hours alone evaporated, and he started shouting obscenities, continuing long after the heavy door clanged shut. His voice was raw when the door opened again, and it added a savage quality to his words when he started shouting at the newcomer.

"S-sign on the line." The Novitiate they'd sent to their dirty work looked no older than thirteen, and she turned paler with every insult Luca uttered. "P-p-please be still so I can remove your bindings, Mr. Brooks."

The polite tone caught him off guard, and he quieted as the girl undid the cuffs. She stepped away quickly while he rubbed his wrists, but like Trixie, there was something about her that suggested she didn't find him to be a monster.

"I wouldn't hurt you," he said, snatching up the pen and signing his name without hesitation. There would be no pain. Not once had he ever suspected Livy was more than she seemed. "I know that's what they teach here, but we're no different than you. Not really."

"You're free to go. A Slayer will escort you out."

She swallowed hard and picked up the document, but as Luca walked by, he didn't miss the pensive tilt of her mouth.

Twenty minutes later, Luca was free, and those twenty minutes felt far longer than the hours he spent tied up. With no regard for the Contract, he shifted as soon as he slipped into the night's cover. He could get back to pack lands much faster as a panther than as a man. It pained him to leave the Asylum behind him, knowing they now held his brother and his cousin in cages, but Livy would never forgive him if something happened to her mother.

As he raced through the woods, he scanned his mind for anyone in his family who might be in their animal form, but his entreaties met only silence. Normally, he wouldn't find it odd. No doubt the hour was late, but since he hadn't come home, he'd expected to find at least his father and brother-in-laws out searching for him. If they were all human right now, it could mean the Slayers were already on pack land, and he was too late.

He had his answer when he reached the backyard of Livy's farmhouse. A large group gathered in the front and around the sides. Most faces he recognized as pack, but threaded throughout were Slayers dressed in their leathers. Some focused on crowd control while others trampled through the house, destroying furniture and keepsakes in their search for Rosita.

"Where is she?" Abe shouted at Falcon Forest, the current Alpha.

As dark and dangerous as his son, but thankfully more level headed, Falcon didn't cower beneath the Supreme's anger. "Where is my son?"

"In custody. Where he will remain until Rosita Brooks is apprehended. I'll make a trade."

"No," Luca's father shouted. Edwin Brooks was usually the perfect picture of composure, but tonight, his eyes burned as he watched the Slayers ransack his sister-in-law's home. "One life is not more valuable than another's."

Falcon grunted, but when he spoke it was to respond to Abe. "I'll put my best men on it."

"Falcon-"

"Enough, Edwin. My son is far more valuable to me than some whore from the outside world. We never should have allowed her to live here after her husband died. A lone female is always trouble."

Abe clapped his hands and then whistled to his Slayers. They saluted and dispersed back to their vehicles.

"The Forests have always been reasonable. Let's hope your son is a good study, Edwin. And until Rosita is found no one is to leave this property unless they're part of the search party."

With twin expressions of hatred, both men nodded and watched the Supreme leave. Luca's siblings ushered their crying mother away, and finally, it was just him and his father.

"Son, you can come out now."

Shifting back into his human form, he crossed the yard to stand beside his father. Everywhere his gaze landed, he saw destruction. Plants broken beneath careless boots. Pots shattered. Wood splintered and scattered. None of it was necessary.

"Luca, what happened?"

He closed his eyes and thought of the water- reminded himself that patience would see him to victory. But broken things and people kept pushing into his thoughts. This time, when he opened his eyes, he clenched his fists and let out a long, low growl.

"Fuck patience."

"Son!"

"I'm done being the nice, level headed one," he responded, shrugging off his father's hand. Fur prickled along his arms as he let his animal rise back up. "I told you I would change the law. Now I'm going to watch it burn."