Enzo (The Wolves Den: New #1)

26. Chapter Twenty-five

Chapter Twenty-five

Dinner had gone well if she didn't count having to assure Jessie every half hour that she was making the right decision to spend the night. Lazaro and Amira brought their daughter around dark. She left them with several bottles of milk, having learned how to pump from the internet. Deja beat them all to the little girl and held her until it was time to get ready. Not knowing what to wear for an epic battle, she went with jogging pants and a cami; that's what all the badass humans wear. She laughed at her joke but noticed all the voices in her head were quiet.

Now she was sitting on the steps that led up to her apartment. A sentinel standing between the Thalians and Jessie and the girls. Ven was sitting next to her, his arm touching her in camaraderie, a show of family.

"Do you think this is going to work out?"

Deja rolled her neck, watching the sky as it got darker. The shadows seemed to grow longer as if they were hiding the enemy.

"I don't know. All we can do is protect those we care about."

Declyn and Enzo wanted to take the fight as far away from them as possible. She agreed with them, but she knew it wouldn't happen that way. Corso and his crew wanted blood, and part of that blood was hers.

The first loud growl went up, and her stomach tightened. How was it possible that their human neighbors, not that far away, didn't hear the noise? Or were they so used to it that they shut their windows and pretended it didn't exist? Deja had done that more than once when she heard the sirens or the yelling not too far away from where she lived.

A snarl came from Ven that had her turning to face him. His eyes were glowing, and his body was trying to swap forms.

"What's wrong?"

"They're here. I can smell and hear them. They must have sent out a small group to meet Declyn and Enzo. They're coming through the shield."

He stood up and let out a loud growl, calling the others to come back before his body cracked apart. The bones snapped as he switched forms, standing much taller. His fingers became lethal claws. He stood on his hind legs. His body was close to twelve feet tall.

In that minute, she knew the Kur'iks spawned the stories of werewolves, although none had gotten it right.

Ven sprang from the front steps and met the Thalians straight on. The Kur'iks turned the corner and rushed them.

All she could see was blood flying amidst growls. Who was winning? There was no way to be sure as the two sides clashed. She searched for Enzo in the midst of the clash, needing to know he was still standing. He was as magnificent in this form as he was in his human shape. Although if she ever met him in a dark alley, she would scream and run.

Turning her head, she stared into the eyes of two Thalians who were trying to sneak up on her. They lifted their heads and let out snarls as they ran at her. Her body changed, her nails growing deadly and her teeth elongating. Deja slashed her nails over the belly of one when he came for her, moving enough for him to slam into the stairwell. The second one slammed into her body, trapping her even as she worked to get her arms free. Her deadly teeth began taking chunks out of his shoulder. She wouldn't allow anyone to hurt the people she was protecting.

Ven pulled the attacker off her, breaking his neck as the second tried to flee. Deja was on him, raking her nails down his back, stopping him until Ven could pull him away.

She stood on the steps watching blood drip down her hands even as the hot taste of it slipped down her throat. In desperation, she looked for the voices in her head to chime in. Instead, they stared through her eyes, looking for Enzo and Ven.

They were losing. Why? They had greater numbers, but something must be off. Before she could think about it any longer, she saw Enzo fall. A scream of fury and fear left her.

Our mate is dying, give me your body!

She should fight, but she turned the driver's seat over to her feral side; the monster that lived within her was now breaking its boundaries. Her body changed, not just her nails and teeth; her whole body elongated. What was she? Whatever she was, it wasn't human. She felt the wings on her back move as she propelled herself through the air. A war cry broke out as she pulled the bodies off Enzo. Her claws sank deep into them, shredding each before tossing them aside like they never mattered.

Everyone stopped to stare at her. Before they began to race off as Corso called for them to retreat. Her wings beat fast as she ascended into the air. No one would survive her wrath today. She moved in front of them and blocked their path, giving them no choice. They either came through her or fought the Kur'iks and their new Thalian brothers and sisters.

No one came her way. They turned around and fought to live another day. Declyn maneuvered Corso until it was just the two of them. Corso rammed him, trying to tear out his stomach, but Declyn was ready, tucking and rolling to minimize the damage. He stood up behind Corso, swiping his neck.

Corso turned, and they ran at each other, placing themselves in a spiral that had them biting and tearing until both had blood running down their chests. Declyn moved back, opening himself up for Corso to tear at his chest. A roar of anguish escaped him before he wrapped his mouth around Corso's neck and shook.

When he released him, he was dead at his feet.

Deja felt her wings moving once more as her body lifted and she went back to where her mate was lying on the ground. She came to a stop next to him and felt her body shrink until it was small enough to lie beside him. She never switched forms.

A small prayer left her mouth before her eyes closed. "When my mate dies, allow me to follow him joyfully."

"What the hell just happened?" Caden asked, looking at Enzo and Deja on the ground.

All eyes turned to look at Declyn.

"I don't know."

"What is she?" Avel asked, staring at her like everyone else.

"My mother." Ven stood in front of them defiantly.

"Stand down, Ven. No one is going to hurt them. We're just trying to figure out what happened here."

"While you're trying to figure this out, Enzo is dying."

"When did you rise, Tristan?"

"I've been up for a while now, Alpha. I was lying low, but you need me."

Tristan was the healer, and he was right; they needed him.

"You'll also need me." Cait came out of the shadows with her mate standing at her side. "I think we should let everyone know our secret, Declyn."

"Let's get them into Enzo's house, and then we'll sort the rest out. Ven, check on Mia and the girls. Make sure you let them know that everything is fine, and they can get some rest. The rest of you, clean the streets and take care of yourselves. We'll have a meeting tomorrow, Avel."

He gave a nod of his head. "We will be going; I want to catch any incoming call from the other ship if there is one. We have dead to bury."

"Thank you, Avel. We're alive because of you."

"Maybe. Let us hope that we have dodged the Las coming straight at our heads." The Thalians drifted off, carrying the bodies of their brothers and sisters with them.

"Get them into the house."

"Carry them together," Cait said before she disappeared inside.

Deja and Enzo were lying in his master bedroom, but no one had moved to do anything since they laid them down.

Ven walked into the room to see them standing around staring. "What's happening?"

"Nothing. I want to work on your father, but I can't because she has her wing wrapped tightly around him."

"She is Deja, his mate, and my mother. She claimed me."

"Mom?" Ven walked to the bed and sat on the edge of it next to Deja. She looked so different from her normal self. She looked like the creatures his mother used to describe to him as a child. The ones that created the universe and could destroy it with a breath.

His hand reached out and touched her face. "Mom, we can't help dad unless you take your wing away."

He waited; either they were a family, and she would respond, or it had all been a dream that would fall apart.

She opened her eyes and smiled at Ven before she took her wing away. She closed them again and remained unmoving.

"Did you see the color of her eyes?"

"I did," Xander said as he and Caden left the room.

"I'm telling Cole to open The Wolves' Den if he hasn't already." One of them called back into the room.

"Drinks on the house," Declyn shouted before the front door closed.

"He should be dead," Tristan told them as he ran a modified scanner over Enzo.

"She's holding him to his body."

"She can't do that."

"Then tell me how a human can turn into a creature everyone thought of as a myth? She's holding him to his body."

"And how do you know this, Cait?"

"I've been studying human medicine and have several degrees to prove it. I never thought I would need it, but I wondered since they looked like us on the outside if there was any connection between us."

"Did you find one?"

"No, I found something else."

"Something you think explains what we are seeing?"

"Yes, but I need blood and more people like her to be sure."

"What are you doing?"

He turned his head to look at Declyn. "I've been working on this, modifying it so the government can't trace it. Now's the time to see if it works. If it doesn't, he's dead and so are..."

He turned to stare at Deja, never finishing his thought.

"Give it a try."

He turned it on and started taking care of the worst of Enzo's wounds. Several hours later, he stepped back.

"All we can do now is wait."

They nodded and left the room.

"Ven."

"I'll stay here, Alpha, if that is okay with you." He took a seat in front of the door. "I'll call if anything happens."

He pulled his phone out of his pocket and gave them a tired smile.

"I know they will be happy to have you close."

He was beginning to wonder if they even knew he was here. He had been watching over them for five days, and they hadn't moved. Tristan grunted every time he was in the room, saying Enzo was the same. Cait told him to have faith it would all work out, and he sat in front of the door wondering if he was going to lose the family he had just found.

"Ven." It was soft as if carried on a breath, but he heard her call his name. He stood and straightened his shoulders before he opened the door.

Deja was lying under the cover with a smile on her face.

"You're back."

"Where did I go?"

"I have to tell Tristan and Cait you're awake, then I'll tell you all about it."

"Wait, can I have some water first?"

"No, not until they say you're healed."

He ran out the door before he remembered his phone in his back pocket. He called the healers, then Declyn.

"How long has Enzo been out?" She turned to her side to look at him. "I feel sore like somebody beat me up. Did I get into a fight? I remember the Thalians coming after me; I killed them."

She stopped and stuck the heel of her hand into her mouth and rocked a little.

"I had to, Ven. They would have killed me and maybe Jessie and the children."

He reached down and hugged her, not knowing what else to do. She sniffed and hugged him back.

"I killed them. You just wounded them, but we protected our families. War isn't pretty, and people die."

"You're right. I just never thought I'd see a war in my city."

"Can I get in on some of that love?"

They looked around to see Enzo smiling at them.

"Group hug." They held onto him tight.

"Casualties?" He looked at Ven.

"We lost four."

"Declyn?"

"Right here." He walked into the room.

"You look like hell."

"If you could see yourself, you wouldn't say that about me. You almost died. You both almost died."

"I remember falling and nothing else. They were on me, and I lost consciousness quickly. Who saved me?"

"Your mate."

"You saved me?"

"I love you." They forgot who was in the room as he pulled her into his arms and kissed her.