t w e n t y - t h r e e
d e m i s e
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dedicated to EndlessHeights- 💕

THE GRIP ON her gun tightened as Tia crouched on the roof of Connor's old pack house, scouring the surroundings for an opening. Her fingers wove between the air, the full moon illuminating her dark tresses as they spun in knots around her head. Getting there had been no easy feat, and one dead werewolf later had her mouth thirsting for flesh. The full moon made Tia's skin tingle with a foreign energy, the penetrating rays threatening the plan Daniel and Ethan had formulated and put into place.

After two years of shifting, some wolves were able to control their shift on a full moon. Connor had mastered the art, but his eyes glowed liquid silver as he sat across from the woman staring at the winding forest and towering buildings disrupting the skyline. The man clenched his jaw, and snapped out of his daze the moment he noticed Eretria's curious eyes. The pain on his face was evident; woven into his actions like thread through a flimsy piece of material.

"How long?" Tia enquired softly, diverting her eyes from the handsome man before her thoughts were on something other than killing the traitor taking Connor's position unrighteously.

Connor tilted his expensive watch towards his face. "Two minutes."

"Can we just go kill him already? He's asking for it." Eretria's grip on the gun handle tightened one more until her knuckles were piercing the skin of her hands. For a werewolf, the weapon of choice typically came down to a knife or flimsy bow and arrow, but Eretria had strayed from popular options. A gun was much more efficient than the twin blades resting on her hips, and knowing how to use one was a gift. Connor noted the distraught look on her face, and stepped over to woman to place his hand on hers. His touch was soft against her, distracting the Mexican's thoughts which were racing like an unspun hurricane.

The alpha pried the gun from Tia's hand and let it fall to the floor before using the same hand to stroke the side of her angular face. Her lashes were coated in a daring layer of mascara, and the scarlet lipstick Tia had picked out only made Connor want to forget the plans and take her on the rooftop.

"Be patient, mi poco lobo." The Spanish words were foreign against his tongue, but Tia's heart skipped a beat as she unknowingly pressed her body against the Connor's.

"So that's what you've been reading before bed," Tia tilted her head, fascination riddled across her features. "A fucking English to Spanish dictionary?"

"Don't you mean Español?" Connor enquired.

The woman didn't hesitate to roll her eyes. Her fingers reached up and entwined with Connor's hair as she pulled him in towards her lips. "I hate to be a bitch, but you can't speak Spanish," Tia whispered as she brushed her lips against Connors, before leaning in to kiss him. She pulled away after a second, and ducked down to grab the glacial grip of her weapon, leaving Connor kissing the air. Sparks flamed across Tia's lips, which she licked tantalisingly, the taste of Connor on her tongue.

"You are a bitch. A fucking beautiful one at that," Connor chuckled, holding Tia's hand as she jumped over the side of the pack house onto the ledge below and pulled him dangerously after her. The man stumbled over his lengthy limbs, but clenched his jaw as he followed her to the back entrance of the pack house.

After thirty seconds, Tia's head was poked over the ledge where light shone out onto a flat piece of concrete. To her relief, the silhouettes that had previously been guarding the exit had dissipated, leaving Tia and Connor clear entry into the place neither thought they would return to.

"Time?" Tia whispered as she dusted off her clothes, gazing up at the six-meter height she had just jumped from. Heights had rarely scared her, and with the moon pounding against her bare flesh, adrenaline coursed through her veins until it was pure energy.

Connor swiftly checked the time. "Late."

"You're useless," The woman retorted, her eyes adjusting to the light as she blinked rapidly. The inside of Connor's house had significantly changed since she had been in it last – the bland walls had become dirty, and the carpets were stained from mistreatment. Indecisively breathing in, Eretria could've sworn that the endless hallway reeked of what could otherwise be described as a decomposing body. She scrunched her nose in disgust, giving Connor a quick smile. "You shouldn't have come."

"Tia, I'm going to kill Jared for what he did to you, and for betraying me."

Silence settled over the couple as Tia unconsciously rubbed her arm in discomfort. She kept her eyes staring ahead, ducking into inlets in the walls along the corridor as they continued their path towards the main hall where Connor had had his alpha ceremony merely two years ago. When they reached their position, the wolves had both plunged into an endless silence, the anticipating rattling butterflies through Eretria's churning stomach. She knew fear, but the stakes of losing someone she loved were high, and she didn't want to lose another person who had slowly melded themselves with her fractured soul.

The door before them didn't look as though there was anything significant about it, but the voices and collective drone of multiple heartbeats made Tia second guess. She had been expecting a grand entrance to the hall where the alphas were titled, but instead she found her hands pressed against the oak of a single door carved with ancient runes, and large claw marks that covered three thirds of the entire item. "He really hasn't thought this through. Where the fuck are the guards?"

"Watching." Connor whispered, crouching down to gaze through a slit in the door. "Everyone has to be there to show their loyalty to the new alpha."

"So we're taking on about thirty werewolves by ourselves? I know you have high expectations, but given I couldn't even shoot this gun two days ago, I would bet on us not making it out alive," Tia whispered without remorse.

Connor squeezed Tia's hand with reassurance. "Come on, Tia. It'll be a walk in the park. Or over some incredibly nice snowdrops."

"Get the fuck over your lawn, Connor. This is a life and death situation, not Springwatch."

Distraught crossed Connor's face, the glitter of tears in his eyes. Something deep inside him was hurting, but Tia didn't press to ask what. The plan was solid beneath their feet; the only thing they needed to do was execute it with precision and to come away as unscathed as possible. She couldn't let the chance slide away because Connor wasn't one-hundred-percent up to do the task.

"Ready?" The male quirked his brow.

Eretria bit her tongue until it drew blood, the taste of copper exploding into her mouth as she cocked her head to the side. "Unfortunately, yes."

Tia flipped open the oiled barrel to her gun, counting six bullets to double check that she wasn't feigning herself. But she had noticed the multiple tricks her mind had been playing, and she could no longer fathom the difference between reality and deceit. She didn't realise her hands we shaking until the bullets began to clank against the iron walls of the gun chambers. She could lie to herself as much as she wanted – as much as she needed – but she was scared, and it was engulfing her.

Eretria inhaled a large breath, straightening her body and flattening out the black crop top she had selected from her new wardrobe of clothes. Her trademark ruby lipstick shone against the light in the corridor, making her face contort into a sinister portrait.

The woman spun on her heel and flung open the wooden doors before she could think twice. The sight before her took away her breath, but she didn't have time to let the image sink into her skull as she raised her gun towards the man standing at the centre of the moon, bathed in moonlight. Rows of heads turned towards the perplexing woman who stood beside the silhouette of a wolf as she closed one eye, and fired.

The man with the amber gaze didn't have time to react. Time slowed, each second ticking into a millennia as the bullet whistled through the air and embedded itself in Jared's shoulder. It felt like an eternity to Tia as Jared fell back against the wall behind him, crashing into the plaster with a resounding thud. He didn't get back up, his eyelids slid shut as his vision faded to darkness and his limbs stilled.

The wolves around Tia erupted into a frenzy. Women clutching their children were swift to duck out of the way of the warriors wolves, whilst others fled in their bid for freedom from Jared and his ruthless rule. Eretria aimed her gun at the first person who came within a foot, barely comprehending the fact that she had just taken the life of a middle-aged man as a bullet found its way into his skull.

A wolf snarled from behind the Mexican. It scraped its long claws across the wooden flooring until four identical scratch marks ran down the wood with the direction of the grain. Its silver eyes narrowed, rearing up in front of Tia as another attacker attempted to take her out of the equation. Connor's teeth ripped into the male before he could shift, spluttering blood onto the floor. Dead eyes gazed up at Tia as she aimed her gun at the next man that charged towards her, not hesitating to shoot him. Her shot was off, the bullet meant for the werewolf's head seared right through his lower abdomen.

The room had lost all order. The males – and female – who had been supressing their werewolf sides had lost control. Figures writhed on the floor, limbs snapping and wrenching out of place as their clothes tore from their bodies, replaced by thick pelts of fur. Few men were left standing, protecting their fallen alpha as he laid, blacked out and as white as a ghost. Perhaps the impact to the back of Jared's head had killed him, but Tia wasn't feeling optimistic.

Tia's attacker roared, his eyes glowing a bright silver that matched the moon. Tia snarled in response, allowed her claws to rip through her fingertips. They were tinted crimson by her own blood, and Tia winced in pain as she lashed out with her hand, scraping her claws across the male's face.

Her opponent grunted, and battered her hand to the side as she threw a daring punch. He grabbed Eretria by the throat, and threw her against the nearest wall. Her head thumped against the plaster, sending shockwaves into her brain which distorted her vision. The battle before her flickered in three different perspectives, and the woman didn't have time to catch her bearings as her pursuer pinned her hands to the wall, his teeth dangerously close to her throat.

"Ti!" A voice shouted above the orchestra of growls and pounding of flesh against flesh. Eretria smiled to herself, Colton's voice filling her with a unique power.

She used her energy to knee the man in the stomach, flipping him against the wall and digging her claws into the hands which held her down. The man yelped in agony, and Tia's face creased as she pushed her claw into the man's bullet wound before tearing out his throat.

Tia panted, her body heaving with rage. Sweat beaded on her forehead in pinpricks, but her body was boiling with adrenaline and the heat of the battle. She had been practising for moments like this all her life, and taking down a fully grown, shifting male wolf was a huge achievement. She could feel emotion, but until Jared was dead she felt void.

"Ok, what the fuck? H- How?" Colton sprinted over, leaving Daniel to finish off one of Jared's pack members as he stood defending his unrighteous alpha. He glanced down at the forty-year-old male propped up against the wall with his throat slashed.

"I don't even know," she stated in disbelief, eyes scouring for her gun which had been knocked her grasp during the fight. She spotted it ten meters away, within the clutches of a dead man whose face had been ripped until it was unrecognisable. Tia swallowed bile, but the contents of her stomach rose in her throat before she could stop them from spilling onto the corpse of the male she had just killed. Eretria felt her heart shudder, exploding in her chest with anxiety and depression. Her pack had been murdered too, and in a pack, losing a member was like losing a parent. Was the man she had killed in blind rage a father – would his children mourn him?

Perhaps she would've felt more sorrow if he hadn't been defended a monster.

"What the fuck has our world come to?" Tia grunted, resting her exhausted body against the door as Daniel decapitated one of the wolves, and Connor left his mutilated victim still. His wolf was huge and brooding, the brown pelt of its fur reminding Tia of his soft locks beneath her fingers.

Colton shook his head. "I don't know. At least we're the good guys."

"Colton, I hate to break your happy streak, but there are no good guys. Good people don't kill others," Tia stated swiftly, the words heavy on her heart like a vice. But she had never been good. She was raised to be bad – the worst.

"But they kill monsters."

"Colton, get behind me," Tia abruptly warned, her eyes scanning the battle as the number of Jared's men dwindled dangerously low. Daniel had summoned his vampires to aid the attack, and Ethan and Sofia hadn't hung back. The brown floor was no longer its true pigment, and a river of blood dripped through the cracks off the floorboards. Tia slipped on the substance whilst using her arm to push Colton firmly against the wall to take a swing at the warrior who had spotted the pair hiding in the shadowed nook.

Tia dropped to her haunches to avoid a fist to the face. Her hands fumbled for her knife, and her fingers enclosed around the metal handle as soon as the soft material grazed against her fingertips. She thrust the blade up, managing to catch the wolf's stomach before he could advance on a furious Colton. The man spluttered blood, spraying red across Tia's heated cheeks. She swiftly wiped away the droplets, only to pull the blade up through his chest until his guts threatened to spill, and his shirt was sliced in equal halves.

"Ew," Colton commented, scrunching his nose.

Studying the man's dead face, Tia pushed her rival off her blade before rolling her eyes. "It's nothing you haven't seen bef-" She began courteously, but the words left her mouth as she gazed in horror at Connor being pushed to the ground by an equally powerful wolf. Her heart stung, and she inhaled sharply to supply enough oxygen to the rapidly beating organ. Fresh blood was woven into Connor's brown pelt, his snout scarred by a single claw mark running from his nose to below his right ear.

Tia felt the tears blur her vision, rooted to the spot she was stood on. Her muscles refused to move, and the exhaustion of her fight was slowly creeping up on her.

"Stop!"

The deep tone reverberated across the hall, erupting in Tia's eardrums like a volcano exploding. She clutched her head as dizziness took over – and the overwhelming feeling she felt every time he spoke. There was no mistaking his authoritative tone. Eretria had been raised to obey every word that had left the man's lips, and her shaking body had no choice but to gaze up at the source. Silence fell over the room in a shroud, the dying gasping for life; the living looking for death. Alike the night, it was deadly silent as though the world had been plunged into darkness.

Tia couldn't breathe as her eyes found the male's electric blue ones, matching that of his biological son. At thirty-nine years of age, there was not a single silver strand among his dark brown tresses. Yet the lines carved into his face, sculpting his aged features were narrow and stretched to accommodate his blemished skin. His leather-coated arms were taut, tightly holding onto Jared's unconsciously figure like a trophy.

Connor's body stiffened, and Colton had no choice but to huddle behind his best friend to shield the alpha from his view. They had been searching for the man one month ago, but Tia had always known what she needed to do the moment she laid eyes on him.

Daniel was the first to speak, nobly pulling out the handkerchief in his pocket to wipe the blood away from his fingers. "Jasper," The ancient vampire squinted his eyes – Tia had only found out earlier that morning that he was five-hundred-and-twenty-three years old. "What an... unpleasant surprise."

Tia's heart throbbed mercilessly in her throat, setting her veins alight like a wildfire. Daniel stepped closer warily, his footfalls agonisingly slow though the stream of ruby liquid. He finally halted when he was merely two meters away from the feared leader, his head held high out of pride rather than respect.

"Surprise is hardly the word," Jasper replied confidently.

"Hmm," Daniel murmured, refusing to break eye contact. "Why don't you kill Jared, then, and tell us all why you're here?"

The male alpha glowered down at Jared's pale face between his arms and sneered. Carelessly, he pushed the man away, allowing him to slump to the floor with nothing but his face to break the fall.

"I'm not here for him," Jasper continued, his smile growing in diameter. Flaunting his leather jacket and black jeans, he stepped over Jared's body as though he were worthless. Tia watched his eyes scorch black, her hand itching for her second knife which she had lost at some point in the battle. Maybe if she had had it, she could've stopped what happened next.

The alpha was quick to place his hand on Daniel's shoulder, the vampire continuing to wipe his fingers clean to try and distract himself from Jasper's poisonous touch.

Jasper's pale lips twitched upwards. "See, Jared's little use to me alive or dead. However," Jasper fessed, the vampire visibly stiffened, dropping his bloodied cloth to the floor as his fingers clenched into fists. He eyed Jasper, watching his every move like a snake. But Daniel was not prepared for Jasper's quick burst of speed, his hand delving through Daniel's suit until his hand was clasped around his un-beating heart. Grunting, Jasper pulled out the organ, holding it up with a grin to match the Devil's.

"I was here for you."

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OK OK I KNOW WE DIDNT GET TO KNOW DANIEL TOO WELL BUT IM STILL REALLY SAD BUT OOOOOH WHAT DOES EVERYONE THINK OF JASPER??

also Colton and Tia are my brotp and I love them - be expecting some more scenes from them ;) (and Colton aka the loml might be finding romance v soon)

Thank you once again for reading! Please comment because I literally live for the comments, they always make me smile :)

I'm also sorry about the fortnightly updates - i have very important exams in may which depict whether I get into uni or not so I'm concentrating on work and writing in the evenings ;)

Thank you!! Lotte 💕💕