Epilogue

~22 years ago~

"Do you have something going on with my brother?"

Small branches snapped and leaves crushed under their footsteps, light though they were. The sun was insipid, throwing pale rays on the cold and empty forest they walked through. She didn't even turn her head when she opened her lips to answer, ""Would you believe me if I said no?"

"Doubtful," he grunted, his usual cynicism making itself known. A thread of jealousy wound its way through his word, humming like a current of electricity between them.

"Hmm." She pushed back a low-hanging branch from a pine, letting it fling back and hit him on purpose. Her eyes scanned the trees, vacant of any life as the cold of winter had set in, yet she faintly sensed the presence of something else, further up the mountain side they trekked up.

"Is that a yes or a no?" he persisted, beginning to irritate her.

"Did I say something?" she finally stopped to turn and face him, her black eyes narrowing as they landed on his strong figure that stood out starkly against the white snow. His black clothing, covering his powerful physique, was lightly dusted with the crystalline flakes as they floated down lazily around them. One landed on his nose, causing him to shake his head like the young dog he was.

Then he trained his honeyed brown gaze on her, an eyebrow lifting playfully. "Seneca... are you playing hard to get?"

She rolled her eyes, done with this familiar conversation already, yet enjoying the way they played with each others' volatile emotions. After countless missions together, it was hard not to learn everything about one another. "What makes you think I want to be gotten by the likes of you, a half-breed pup?" She teased, knowing he hated being called that.

"I'm wounded! I'll have you know, I'm seven hundred and forty three years old," he stomped behind her to catch up after she rudely turned her back on him and continued walking.

"Exactly my point. True fallen angels don't keep count of the years they've walked the earth."

He chuckled. With audacity from years of arrogant confidence, he chuckled. "Yeah, that's because you're all so old that the activity becomes depressing."

She rushed him and slammed him against a tree, her forearm pressed to his neck, her slim body molded into his. "I'm not depressed," she hissed, baring her perfectly straight teeth.

"Tell that to my windpipe you're crushing," he puffed with what air he had remaining in his lungs.

"I thought I heard you boasting just this morning that you could handle a little...pressure," she leaned against him harder, making his veins pulse and his face flush with crimson. That was unique to him, his wolf DNA giving him the ability to bleed red. She much preferred the ivory complexion of her own flawless skin.

"Oh, I do. But I thought you'd never notice," his eyes narrowed as he looked at her languidly. His heart beat in his chest, sending shockwaves of delicious vibrations into her own body.

A heartbeat later, he'd crushed his lips to hers, and she moved her arms up around his neck and pulled him closer. As they kissed, his warmth filled her skin, his hands exploring the curves of her body in ways she never imagined she'd enjoy. Being an angel meant immunity to the emotions of mortals, yet since rebelling against the King, she'd done and felt a good many forbidden things.

"How long are we going to keep hiding how we feel, Seneca?" he breathed against her neck, the heat sending shivers across her collarbone and down her chest.

"Until we have what we want. You know Lucius would never stand for it when his goal is not yet complete. He would kill us for even looking sideways at each other when the self-righteous imbeciles are still standing in our way. We can't afford to lose sight of the objective, Lycus. We're too close to make a mistake now."

He sighed before pulling away, and she immediately missed his touch. But tossing her glistening black hair over her shoulder, making sure it was smoothed in place, she followed him back up the path.

And walked straight into the tip of a sword.

A drop of blood slid down her neck even as she sank to her knees. Her eyes widened at the warrior who now held her life in his hands. "What's going on?" she forced out in a shaky voice, icy fear filling her veins.

"That's what I'd like to know." the deep voice came from another warrior, this one holding a blade twice as sharp against Lycus' throat. "This territory is prohibited to the devils like you, or did you not listen when the King drew the boundary lines?"

Lycus spat. "The King can rot in hell, for all I care!"

No! she glared at him, willing him to shut up. This was his idea to come up here, telling her it was a mission from Lucius, but she could've guessed it was just an excuse to get her alone. She should have checked the latest missives issued by the Creator she once worshipped, instead of following orders blindly. Unless... Lucius wanted them both dead?

"I swear, I had no idea. That scoundrel just dragged me up here for his own plans. I didn't know," she shook her head at Lycus as the warriors glared at her. She watched him struggle against their powerful grip, realising neither of them would walk away alive if she didn't think fast. Betraying him seemed the best option.

"Joshua, do you believe her?" the first one asked, glancing at the warrior whose chest was adorned with the insignia of commander.

"I make it a habit never to believe anything that comes from their filthy mouths," Joshua replied nonchalantly, raking a hand through his golden blond hair. "I say we end them both, and leave their bodies by the border as a reminder to any other demon foolish enough to cross blades with us."

"No, please!" Seneca gasped, "I had no knowledge of this! Just let me go, and I'll never come back. I won't be any trouble," she said chokingly, hating the desperate begging that issued from her usually cunning mouth.

"What makes you think I'm going to let you just walk away? Leave you to live just so you'll come crawling back with double the insidiousness as now?" Joshua leaned over her, his hot breath scalding like molten lava on her cold skin.

"Actually, brother, that isn't such a bad idea," a feminine voice joined the tense conversation. A female version of the warriors strode into the clearing, her white tunic flowing to her thighs, and fitted pants protecting the rest of her legs. Blue eyes stared coldly at Seneca, framed by long blonde hair that swayed past her shoulders. Seneca recognised her. Gabriella used to be her friend, and they were close like sisters once upon a time. "Let her go back to Lucius and tell him how good a job we're doing at protecting our territory."

"It isn't yours!" Lycus spat.

"Be quiet, mutt," Gabby glared at him. Then, reaching to the strapped sheath on her back, she pulled out her golden sword. In the dim light, Seneca could see the flames that flickered from the rare metal and shivered under its diffused heat. "Brother, would you like the honours?" Gabby asked Joshua, but he shrugged in amusement.

"This one's yours, Gabby. I know how long you've been tracking him."

Gabby smiled, yet in her lips was trace of pity. "You should never have existed, Lycus. An abomination before our King. You knew your days were numbered the moment you spurned our help, and instead aligned yourself with these treacherous snakes," she cast a withering glance at Seneca before lifting her sword and swinging it gracefully and decisively.

The screams of Lycus were cut short, yet they echoed in Seneca's mind long after she'd run from the gruesome scene. Her feet stumbled and slid down the mountain, cold tears sliding down her cheeks in a pitiful reflection of her fall from heaven. Though her heart was no longer beating, she felt the pain and loss of Lycus like she never expected. Again, these awful emotions were plaguing her with a vengeance. She ran and tripped her way through the Interealm, the land passing in snatches under her unsteady feet, her breath coming in short gasps and hiccups until she felt herself drawing nearer to her master's stronghold.

The shadows from her brethren grew darker and thicker, welcoming and choking her in a delightful way, compressing on her lungs until her breaths had steadied and she no longer sobbed wretchedly. Her face was once more composed when she finally stepped foot in the presence of Lucius. His throne-like room was slate grey, surrounded by stone cut into the side of the most dangerous mountain range to the south of the wolf territories.

You're back, he whispered in her mind before she saw him standing by the window on the far side of his residence. "I take it the mission is progressing?"

When he turned to her, his effortlessly beautiful face reminded her why she'd trusted him in the first place. He was flawless, perfect, and utterly alluring. The pinnacle of their King's creation. Smarter and more talented than all his angels, he deserved the praise she freely gave him. Even if she'd known how much it would cost her, she would still have followed him to the end of the earth all those years ago when the King cast them out for their rebellion. Joshua and his underlings might think they had the upper hand, but Lucius would always be the strongest angel she knew.

"Where is Lycus?" he pressed when she remained silent, her feet trapped in his paralyzing gaze. It always felt like he could see into her very soul, peering beneath the mask of indifference she'd perfected a long time ago. "Where is my brother!" he roared, losing some of his composure and filling the room with ceaseless threats.

He would never hurt her, she knew, but still, her body trembled and nearly gave her away. "How should I know? That reckless pup ditched me a hundred miles back in search of sweeter prey," she lied, the words tasting like honey on her lips.

Lucius crossed his thick arms over his broad chest, his soulless black eyes stripping her down relentlessly. "Is that why you bear his scent on your skin?" one corner of his mouth lifted in a smirk as he took a step closer.

She swallowed thickly, imagining her heartbeat kicking into a fast rhythm, just as Lycus' would when they were together. "You know how he has no respect for personal space," she offered in explanation.

"Does that also explain," the prince of darkness came closer still, until he stood before her and lifted one of her dark locks of hair, letting the silken strands slip between his fingers, "the blood of his in your hair?"

She recoiled, disgust filling her mouth at the memory of Lycus' body crumpling in the snow, his crimson blood spilling into the sodden earth.

"Ahh, so you failed me." Lucius turned in a few circles, clasping his hands behind his back, his eyes searching the ceiling as if her explanations were written there. "You failed me, and thought you could come slinking back with no intention of being truthful to me."

"There wasn't anything to say," she twisted her fingers together, her chest blooming with panic. "Those disgustingly loyal angels forced our hand, we had no choice but to run. That pathetic excuse of a demon was too slow. Not my fault he couldn't travel in the spiritual realm like us."

"That demon is like a brother to me!" Lucius suddenly got in her face, his teeth bared and his fists clenched in a show of his strength. Like she would forget it. "And you left him to die. I read the guilt in your eyes, or did you think you could hide that from me, too?"

She dropped her gaze, more out of fear than deference. "I'm..." She wouldn't apologise. Couldn't. Her stubbornness forbade her. "I'm sorry he wasn't strong like you hoped he would be."

Lucius thought about this, leaning back again and narrowing his eyes in thought. The calm demeanor that wrapped around him like a second skin was equally frightening as his fury. "Do you have any idea how much he meant to me? The son of my darling mentor and the strongest Alpha to walk the earth?"

"Besides being your loyal lapdog?" I can't imagine, she felt like adding.

Lucius breathed deeply then let it out slowly in a long sigh. "He was the key to all of this. With the animalistic nature of wolves in his veins, alongside our angelic strength, he was to be unstoppable."

"He was a fool," she lifted her chin in brave defiance.

With a chuckle, Lucius shook his head, unperturbed by her unruly behaviour. In fact, it was one of the things he encouraged. It was his own defiance and arrogance that spurred him to stand up to their controlling King. "Maybe so. But he was a useful fool. Pliable, bright, and so very open to suggestion. He was perceptive, my Lycus, and you are going to replace him for me."

"Excuse me?" Seneca gaped in shock, unsure of what she'd heard.

"Your new mission is to find me another half-breed. One twice as strong as our weak and foolish Lycus," he grinned, suddenly enthralled by this new plan of his.

Seneca didn't know whether he was being serious, or messing with her mind. Probably both. "Where will I do that? There are no other reports of one roaming the land--"

"You are smart. You will find a way," the smile suddenly slipped from his face was replaced with the firm lines of reprimand. "Or has your pretty head become filled with ash after all the years of languishing in this barren land?" he reached out a hand and cupped her cheek tenderly, the heated look in his eyes blazing into her mind.

"I am as cunning as I've always been," she assured him hastily.

"For your sake, I hope so. You will not fail me again, Seneca."

"I won't," she swore. "My allegiance lies with you. It always has, my Prince."

After another moment of searching her face, he seemed satisfied with what he found there, and leaned forward. Her entire body trembled as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, his lips lingering, her skin burning as though a brand had been seared onto it.

When he pulled away, his eyes were cold again. "Take her," he motioned to his warriors who had filed into the room. "Escort her to the edge of my territory, and don't allow her re-entrance until she has what I need."

"Yes, master," they immediately flanked her and all but shoved her from Lucius' presence, their swords drawn to prevent her from turning back. Their weapons were lethal, forged in the pit of the abyss, but they were still nothing compared to the powerful swords in the hands of the angels still loyal to their King.

She had no choice but to leave, and never turn back until she'd accomplished this task for her Prince. Wandering the lands for months, she never once came across a wolfish half-breed. It seemed no other demon had been stupid enough to mate with the mongrels or produce offspring. What did Lucius see in them anyway? They were dirty, vile creatures that disgusted Seneca on a good day. On her bad days, she just wanted to slit their throats and rid the planet of the stench of their fur.

But she couldn't fail Lucius again, no matter how obscure his plan seemed. So there was only one option left to her. Rubbing the sting on her forehead, the mark of his threat, she counted the cost. How far would she go to please Lucius?

"Ho, who comes?"

The voice pulled her up short. She'd just stepped over a raging river, the hem of her dress still dripping with the icy water, when she came face to face with something that made her smile.

"Lucia, my girl, you don't recognise your sister? Or am I so old now the years have disfigured me?" she joked, approaching the hutch of demons who spread shadows over the hillside.

"You'll never lose your beauty, my dearest," Lucia pulled her in for a hug. "Come to bring us news of home? What's been happening?"

"Nothing pleasant," Seneca sat down on the rocky outcroppings as her brethren gathered around. "Lucius is as obnoxious as ever."

"And that's why we all love him," Luci's khol-blackened eyes shone with mirth.

"And hate him at the same time."

"Like a double-edged sword. Funny how the mortal wolves are so taken with paradoxes, yet they still can't see the most obvious one around them," Luci commented as she waved a hand to herself and the other warriors. Seneca knew she was referring to the ongoing battle between the angels and fallen.

"How is everything here?" Seneca asked.

"Oh, the same as always. We mess with the mortals when the coast is clear. Not much resistance in this neck of the woods. The males especially are so perceptible. I have so much fun sinking my claws into their open minds and suggesting outrageous things."

"You should have seen the Alpha last week," Orion, a commander, said with a smirk. "He was so hell-bent on proving his dominance, that he didn't even see the group of rogues that infiltrated his border. When his men eventually caught them, we helped them try out a few new torture techniques we've come up with."

"Sounds lovely, I'm sure," Seneca mused. "So tell me about this Alpha of DoubleEdge. Is he as cruel as everyone says he is?"

Luci smirked. "You want to find out for yourself?"

Seneca followed her to the edge of the small cliff that dropped away to the rushing river below. Further downstream, a male wolf stood proudly overlooking his territory. His broad shoulders, tall stature, and arrogant lift of his head marked him as Alpha of this territory, and Seneca felt a stirring in her charred blood. "I have a crazy idea."

"I'm all ears."

"He is in need of a...what do they call the female...a Luna?"

"Yes. She died a few months ago, from cancer," Luci rubbed her hands together gleefully, a spark of excitement in her eyes.

Seneca wasn't so heartless, but she loved a good tragedy. "Then he is perfect for what I need."

Luci read the plan in her eyes, and shivered in delight. "See you around, sister," she said while stepping forward and pushing Seneca off the cliff.

The scream that rent the air drew the Alpha's attention, and when the woman came thrashing down the river, trying to keep her head above the icy water, he reached down and snatched her by the nape of her neck.

Pulling her shivering body into his arms, he instinctively soothed and petted her.

"It's okay now. I've got you. What happened?" He brushed her wet hair out of her face.

"My—" she spat water from her lungs. "My family want me dead. They forced me to run. I have no where to go," she sobbed and clutched at his black coat collar, melting in his supportive arms.

They looked up to the cliff where she had fallen from, and Luci waved her hands and jumped with a maniac smile on her face. But all the arrogant and self-absorbed Alpha saw were a few mangy and snarling wolves. "Don't worry any longer. You can stay with me. I'll keep you safe from them," he promised, holding her closer and nuzzling his nose against her neck.

She almost grimaced at his spicy scent, and instead stared into his eyes. He was extremely handsome, as far as Alphas went. Midnight black hair, strong jawline, and azure blue eyes. She had never seen so beautiful a shade up this close. Not even Lycus, for all his mortality, had this pure a colour so vivid.

"My saviour," she smiled dreamily. Reaching up, she cradled his face and read his memories, his life story.

He'd always had an arrogant streak, nurturing it and allowing it to cloud every decision as Alpha. He always wanted to be in control of everything and everyone, especially those weaker and vulnerable to him.

It wasn't just cancer that had killed his first mate, but mistreatment at his hand. Controlling and manipulative, he'd forced her into having an abortion, killing their child just because he didn't want another girl. Barbaric. The torture had ravaged her body, breaking her heart and allowing cancer to sink its claws into her weakened body. It wasn't long until she'd succumbed, leaving the Alpha alone and craving someone else to dominate.

She would be that for him. He took her home and ensured she was warm and safe, and a week later, announced her as his wife and Luna.

She surrendered to his overbearing nature, using all her power to appear powerless. As he mated with her, the experience frightening for the ancient spirit, she whispered beyond his hearing, "This is for you, Lucius. You and your devilish plan."

All the wolves of DoubleEdge seemed taken by the meek new Luna.

All but one.

An older shewolf, a nobody to the highly-ranked command of her pack and invisible to those who cared only about themselves, watched on and saw things in the shadows no one else did.

While Seneca was smiling, Amariah saw hidden secrets in her eyes. While she laughed innocently at her husband's ways, Amariah saw a cunning and shrewd edge to her subtle grace.

When everyone celebrated the birth of a male heir, Amariah silently prayed he would be nothing like his mother and father.

She journaled her innermost thoughts in a diary, in the hopes her struggle someday, somewhere, may help another like her in this battle between the unseen forces around them.

______

Demons walk this earth.

Fallen spirits from the heavenly realm have come down to live amongst men.

Most are adept at hiding among us, but I see them.

A kind smile. A gentle touch. A neighbourly conversation .... I see the darkness lurking underneath some of these usually benign actions. It's like I can peel back the layers of reality and see the truth.

The truth that demons are tearing our pack apart

Not quickly, and not all at once.

Not like the rogue attacks that sweep in on wings of betrayal and cut families to shreds.

But slow, and insidiously. Poisoning minds until we become our own enemy. Until we tear each other's throats out without the need for reason.

I resist them. I try and keep my mind closed against their influences, but what can I do against so many?

What can I do when demons walk among us, and no one believes what I see?

When it is only a dream...

A nightmare that bleeds into this reality and the very hearts of man.

My pack thinks we've won against the hooded figures of the night that have been terrorising us recently.

But that is only a distraction from the real fight, the real schemes of these evil intruders. The fight for our very souls.

This battle is long from over, but what can I do?

~The End~