J. Tyler - Black Moon

He’s the enemy, pet, Malik cajoled. Don’t you see? He’s done nothing but hurt you, laugh at you, just as all the others in the past have done. He would toss you back into the cold if he could. Do not give him your loyalty—he does not deserve it. Show him your power, boy! Do not accept this contempt from one so far beneath you! Show him what it means to fuck with a Sorcerer!

Aric’s lips were moving, but it was Malik’s words that resounded in his head. They held the ring of truth, and anger boiled into a barely concealed rage. Under his skin, overwhelming emotions writhed like snakes, grew, and exploded.

With a snarl, he brought up a forearm and broke the other man’s hold, then shoved him backward. Taken by surprise, the red wolf was unprepared when Kalen flung out a hand, palm up, and shouted a spell in Latin, releasing a blue sphere of pure energy.

The blast hit Aric in the chest and blew him off his feet, slamming him into the far wall hard enough to crack the plaster. His face registered shock as the energy hummed, spreading to his torso and limbs, causing his entire body to shake before it dispersed altogether. The man dropped to his knees, but just briefly. His head snapped up and his lips peeled back to bare his lengthening fangs.

“You wanna play dirty, kitty-cat? I can do that.”

As Aric pushed to his feet, Kalen half-expected him to shift into his wolf form. He wasn’t prepared for the other man to fling his hand out, answering Kalen’s challenge with a plume of fire that rocketed toward his face. A shriek echoed in the hallway that he identified as Mac’s frightened voice just as he brought up his hand and pushed his power at the fire, driving it back at his nemesis.

The wolf switched tactics, and the fire vanished. Before Kalen could react, he felt his body rise, feet leaving the floor. The fucker was using his gift of telekinesis to fight back, and quite effectively. Kalen’s body spun around to face away from the wolf, making it almost impossible to throw a spell at him. Then he was body-slammed into the wall, his entire right side taking the hit. Pain shot through his head and arm, and he both heard and felt a sickening snap.

“Ahhg!” Agony swept him, and he was slammed again.

“Like that, kitty?” Aric sneered. “How does that feel?”

“What the fuck is going on here?” Nick’s voice bellowed. “Savage, put him the fuck down!”

“You’re the boss.”

Kalen was unceremoniously dropped. He crumpled to the floor, trying to breathe through the terrible pain. And, as his head slowly cleared of Malik’s coercion, shame. What had he done?

Hands rolled him carefully to his back and he found himself blinking at Nick’s worried face. The commander’s gaze went to Kalen’s right arm.

“Can you lift it? Wiggle your fingers?”

He tried, and a bolt of white-hot fire shot through his arm as a cry escaped his lips. “No.”

Nick glared at Aric, who was standing off to the side, jaw clenched. “You broke his arm. You’d better have a good goddamned reason for attacking one of your own brothers.”

“First, he ain’t my brother. The others, yeah. But not that freak,” he said with undisguised contempt.

This time, the agony hit Kalen in a completely different place, and he struggled not to let it show as the man went on.

“Second, I do have a good reason. He attacked me first.”

Nick’s gaze returned to Kalen. “Is this true?”

Apparently the PreCog couldn’t “see” everything. Kalen swallowed hard. “Yes.”

A small crowd had gathered, some of the other guys muttering, one giving a low whistle. To his mortification, Mac stood with the others, looking at him in horror. Obviously she’d witnessed the whole thing.

“Why?” the commander bit off.

Such a simple question.

“Because he wouldn’t take his hands off me.” Such a sad answer.

Immediately, Nick understood and the anger began to drain from his face. “Flashback?”

“Yeah,” he whispered. The awful memories threatened to overtake him again. “All I felt was his hands and he wouldn’t let me go and I remembered . . .” He couldn’t finish. But he didn’t have to.

Finally catching on, Aric swore. To Nick, he said, “I thought he was just being a dick, especially after how he’d just talked to Mac. I didn’t know.”

Whatever Nick might’ve said was forgotten for the moment as Zander Cole, the Pack’s Healer, knelt beside Nick, forcing him to make room. “Damn, that’s a bad break. Lucky for you, I can fix it right up.” He sent Kalen an encouraging smile, which Kalen couldn’t quite return.

“If you say so.”

“I do. The bad news is I’ve got to realign the bone first or you’re going to be all crooked. Ready?”

“Do your worst.”

Lifting Kalen’s arm, Zan gave him an apologetic look. Working quickly, he pulled the injured limb with all his strength, popping the severed ends back into place. Kalen yelled, dark spots dancing in front of his eyes. Nausea pushed bile into his throat and he nearly passed out. How he kept from either throwing up or losing consciousness was sheer luck.

When Zan’s fingers wrapped over the place where the bone had broken the skin, Kalen panted, sweat trickling down his temples into his hair. Then warmth enveloped the point of the break, and the horrible, stabbing burn gradually lessened. The heat felt good, and soon the pain was gone. Checking out his arm, he saw that his skin was covered in drying blood from the break, but the arm was as good as new.

“Thanks, Z-man,” he said, giving the guy a wan smile.

“No problem. Here.” Pushing to his feet, he offered Kalen a hand up.

He took it and stood awkwardly, not making eye contact with anyone as he waited for Nick to deliver his judgment. It came swiftly.

“I get what happened here,” the commander said in a low, stern tone. “It’s no secret that you two, in addition to your own problems, have had issues with each other from day one. But I’m not a fucking kindergarten teacher and this isn’t a playground for you two to beat the shit out of each other while you work out those issues. Is that clear?”

Kalen winced. “Yes, sir.”

“Yeah,” Aric drawled, earning him a hard stare from Nick. He cleared his throat. “I mean, yes, sir.”

“Find some common ground and do it on your own time. I’ve got a Pack to run. I don’t have time for this bullshit and neither does anyone else. If this happens again, you’re both suspended. Indefinitely.”

“What!” Aric shouted. “It wasn’t my fault! He—”

“And now you know why,” Nick enunciated. He was fast losing his trademark patience. “You know how to read your teammate’s signals better than that, Aric. I know you do. You should have stopped and read his body language, and if you had, you’d have known something was wrong. Then you would have let him go like he asked and diffused the situation with a bit of compassion. You’re a better Pack mate and brother than this.”

Aric glanced to Rowan, found her lips tight with disapproval. His high cheekbones colored and he hung his head in shame. “You’re right, Nicky. I’m sorry.”

“It’s not me you owe the apology.”

He didn’t want to speak to Kalen at all. Anyone could see that. It hurt more than Kalen wanted to admit. But the man closed the distance and nodded.

“I’m sorry, Sorcerer. I fucked up.”

“Kalen.”

“What?” Aric’s brow furrowed in confusion.

“You’re always calling me Goth-boy, kitty, pretty boy, whatever. My name is Kalen ,” he said quietly.

“Right.” Aric laughed without real humor. “Sure, Kalen , whatever.”

Nick shook his head. “All right, everyone, show’s over. Let’s call it a day.”