Page 46 of Wolves' Midlife Reunion
In his mind, though, he was back in the high school gym—not the way it looked right now, half decorated in party supplies, but the way it’d looked twenty-five years ago. As the chaos of the present blurred into the frenzy of the past, the fight replayed itself, starting out of the blue, or at least that’s how it felt now:
Chris had just come out of the locker room, cocky and looking for a fight. “I don’t like the way you’ve been looking at me, Heywood.” Then, he’d clocked me.
The memory dissolved as Dex felt the weight and push of someone else attacking in the current moment, someone trying to get Chris off of him. It only worked for a second. Chris wouldn’t give up. Once he set his mind to something, he’d fight until he got it. Pain from the present brawl drew Dex deeper into the past, where the echoes of shouts and laughter in the gym mingled with the snarls and growls filling the covenstead:
Sharp pain echoed through my face and ribs as Chris pounded me in front of a bunch of other kids at the Academy, but I fought back. I slung my fists and twisted myself, trying to get away. I was strong, but Chris had the advantage of surprise and sheer stupidity.
The illusion shattered when something crashed hard into Dex’s back—probably furniture—forcing him to refocus on his opponent. He opened his jaws and snapped, catching Chris’s lip. More blood flooded his mouth as his brutal trip down memory lane continued:
I could see the future unfolding in front of me. Chris was already a bully. He picked on anyone and everyone, even those who wisely tried to stay out of his way. Students cowered in fear when he came down the hall. He’d lunge at them, growling, and then he’d laugh when they tried so hard to get away from him that they ran into the lockers. One kid even pissed himself.
Chris’s teeth crunched down on Dex’s paw, drawing his attention back. Dex reeled as the pain flooded through him. He could feel the bones giving way, the joints snapping. Chris was strong, but he also didn’t know when—or how—to stop. That unrelenting brutality dragged Dex's mind back to the gym floor:
I was going to lose, unless I used the one thing Chris didn’t have. Fueled by my anger, I let out a burst of magic. It propelled Chris away from me, flinging him across the gym floor. Chris landed on his ass, and the other kids in the gym roared with laughter. His face contorted with hate, Chris got to his feet and barreled across the room. My confidence had grown now. I knew how to defeat him, and it wasn’t with punches. I raised my hands and lifted them into the air. Chris cried out as his feet left the ground. “I’ll fucking kill you for this!” I only lifted him higher.
A sharp, high-pitched sound brought Dex back to the present moment, a worried whine. Dex’s pain was more than justphysical—it was in his very soul. It was Tina. They were hurting not just him, but his mate. Her coven was fighting, too, but he was losing. He was losing the same way he had back then, because he’d spent his time living his life instead of focusing only on dominating others. The parallel hit Dex like a kick to the chest, steering his mind back to that moment of fleeting triumph in the gym:
“Okay! Okay!” Chris squealed, flinging his arms and legs helplessly in the air. “I give up. Just put me down!” I felt a rush of victory, but it was quickly vanquished as Mrs. Sharp came bursting into the room, demanding to know what was going on. My concentration slipped, and Chris slammed to the floor. Horror flooded through me, even through my very soul. I’d never meant to kill him.
Shaking off the memory of that atrocity, Dex noted Chris was very much alive now, kicking and stomping with the same relentless fury. Chris leveraged the weight of his body to keep himself on top, never giving Dex the advantage. The yelps and cries from his coyote friends told Dex that they weren’t nearly as talented, but Chris was the one who threatened them all the most.
He had to change the balance of this fight. There was plenty of magic all around him. It came from witches who were far more experienced, far more talented, than he could ever be. True fear quivered in his soul. He didn’t want to kill anyone.
Tina’s words echoed in his mind. Magic was about intention and emotions. If he could keep himself in check, then it wouldn’t get out of hand this time. He thought of Sage and how excited she was when Dex had combined his talents with hers. It was a halcyon moment, one that felt like a brief dream of the past, though it’d only just happened that afternoon.
He didn’t have his hands to guide his magic. Dex had to do it himself. He had to bring it up from the deepest part of himself,summoning an ancient ability that’d trickled down through his ancestors and had chosenhim,of all people, to carry it.
Intention.
Was that Tina’s voice in his head, or his own?
Dex’s magic radiated from him, shoving Chris away. The other wolf rolled across the floor, coming to a stop as he hit a bookshelf. Several volumes tumbled to the ground around him as he stood and shook himself off. He took a step forward and brought his human back out. His face was twisted into that same hate-filled countenance, only older now.
“That’s how it’s going to be?” Chris demanded. “You won’t fight me like a man, so you’re going to use your magic on me?”
“It doesn’t have to be like this!” Dex hardly even remembered shifting back. He had his hand out and at the ready. He could feel the energy pulsing there, just below the surface of his skin, waiting only for him to send it out into the world.
“You think you’re so fucking noble!” Chris started for him again.
“Don’t you hurt my Daddy!” Sage cried, running down the stairs.
“Sage, no!” His heart contracted. Time slowed as he watched her little legs charging down the stairs, her hair flying out behind her, her face pinched and angry.
She flung out her hand and swiped it through the air. The coffee table slid across the floor with a screech.
Chris tumbled over it, but his reflexes were quick. He caught himself before he smashed his face on the glass inlay. “What’s this, Dex? You’re such a fucking wimp that you have to bring a little girl to fight for you?”
A growling bark split through the air as Jacob, still in coyote form, made a flying leap for Sage.
Dex’s heart ripped straight out of his chest.
In a flash, a small green dragon came swooping down the stairs, its wings spread and its face fierce. Smoke streamed from its nostrils.
On its back sat a young bobcat, crouching down and digging its claws in between the dragon’s scales as it held on. Its ears were flattened against its head, and its sharp little teeth were bared.
Dex realized this was Corbin in his dragon form, and little Arden as his bobcat. Pure horror ripped through him. It was bad enough that he’d accidentally brought his own fight to the covenstead, but now the children were at risk.
Arden didn’t seem to see it that way. The little bobcat coiled on his haunches as Corbin divebombed over Jacob. Arden launched off of Corbin’s back and landed directly on the coyote’s head. He clawed and bit, his screeching hiss muffled because his mouth was full. Tufts of gray fur went flying.
