Claimed And Marked By Her Stepbrother Mates

Norman:

I was ready to head to the hospital and fight the monsters when Kaye stopped me. He said he'd take over with the warriors, Penn, and the others. What he wanted from me was different, he wanted me to find the father.

With the Zharns, it was possible now to track him down. We had spies scattered everywhere, tracking every sign of the Zharns, marking where they were emerging.

The moment I stepped deeper into the rogue woods, I smelled it. The intense foul stench of death that didn't belong to the woods before. The father wasn't hiding anymore. He had come out. He had to. He wanted to be close enough to the monsters to control them, to guide them.

I started pacing through the woods, following nothing but that rancid trail. I had no clue where he was. All I could do was rely on instinct, on the stench that clung to the trees and the dirt.

An ogre found me first. I fought it off. Then a clutch of little snakes that hissed so loud, then a pack of Zharns. I cut through all of them. But still, no sign of the father.

I walked out of the woods again. Hours had passed and I'd found nothing, no trace, no sign of that man. It felt like I'd wasted my time roaming the trees when my phone beeped.

It was Alpha Dalton calling. All the alphas had been informed, they were already fighting at their pack borders, trying to keep the monsters at bay.

"Dalton, did you find anything?" I asked. I'd told him to try and get help from his brother. I didn't know if his brother could respond since he had moved on, but we needed backup.

"I don't know if he can answer, but it's getting risky here," Dalton said. "Ogres are attacking the borders. They could break through any minute."

"So no news on the father?" I sighed. I slapped my forehead.

"Actually, there is," Dalton said, and I felt my mood lift. "Every time an ogre dies, one of the Zharns retreats, like it goes back to find the father and tell him. The Zharns are messengers. If you can follow a zharn, you might find him."

We'd already killed so many Zharns.

"So all I have to do is kill another monster and wait for a Zharn to show up?" I asked, scratching the back of my neck and scanning the trees.

"Pretty much," Dalton said. "Most monsters are moving toward the packs and populated areas. If you're close, it should be easy."

"Okay, Dalton. That's really helpful. Thank you." I cut the call and ran back toward the mansion.

As I expected, an ogre was trying to get inside. The warriors and the others had thrown up a makeshift wall, but the beast had pushed through halfway. I drew the three-headed sword and charged.

The ogre turned toward me and ran. I jumped, dodged, and struck him several times. Finally I landed one through the middle of his brow, into both eyes. He went down like a big tree.

Just like Dalton said, a Zharn had seen it. One of them retreated on all fours, and that was my chance.

I started going after it, careful not to get too close, if I did, the zharn would stop running back to his master and instead attack me. After chasing him for who knows how long, he finally slowed, and hunched down.

There was a big tree that he started to crawl under, When I followed through, I stepped into a monster land. The father had summoned so many creatures, and in the middle of them all he sat on a red chair in the open air.

"Ah, look who finally decided to follow," the father yelled, laughing like the whole thing was a trap. But I knew that was a lie. He hadn't expected me. When his eyes landed on me, his smile cracked just a little.

"Well, it's about time we met, old man," I said, my voice tripping on confidence.

"You think you'll kill me with my subjects all around?" He screamed. Ogres stood to his right, Zharns to his left, and tiny crawling things filled the front.

"It's not like I like easy fights," I mumbled as I started to unbutton my shirt. I tossed the shirt aside and grunted.

"What are you all waiting for? Go have fun with him. Make sure he dies," he shouted.

I howled and transformed instantly. My claws grew and my canines extended. When one ogre lunged, I jumped, screamed, and bit into his face. My canines went into his eyes, and I ripped back, clawing at the bridge of his nose. As he fell, I was already moving on to the next ogre.

I jumped from one ogre's shoulder to the other's back, dodging blows and cutting into as many monsters as I could while a snake bit into my spine. One by one, the Zharns clung to my feet.

An ogre snapped at my arm, but I didn't stop. I screamed, threw them all off, and yanked the snakes free with my bare hand, pulling them out while their teeth were still buried in my flesh before slamming them onto the ground.

The other monsters freaked out for a beat, then attacked again. It was a brutal fight and my chances were slim, but I kept going. I had to kill the father to stop it all.

I ripped the dead snakes away, leapt onto an ogre's back, and sank my teeth into the base of its skull, tearing out half its head. Wails, blood, and screams filled the air.

And then, finally, exhaustion hit me. It had been hours. I was bloodied, torn, barely standing but I refused to stop. Because if I did, I'd never see Helanie again. I'd never share food with my brothers again. I'd never hold my baby, never give her a name.

Those thoughts struck harder than any monster, and they kept me going. But at last, my body gave out. I dropped to my knees, surrounded by dead monsters. My chest heaved as I dragged in a breath, forcing myself to rise and then the earth shook.

The monsters clutched their ears and fell, writhing in pain and screaming. Dusty wind blinded me for a moment.

I looked up just as the Father rose from his throne, his eyes fixed on the sky.

"No…no… not my last hair," he cried loudly.

And then it began. His hands stiffened, his flesh cracking into stone. The color drained from his face as every part of his body started to turn into stone.

I stood frozen, watching death consume him, watching the monster turn to nothing but rock before my eyes.

At that point, I knew I only had a few minutes to run before the monsters regained their strength. The Father was already dead yet I couldn't understand why the creatures were slowly dragging themselves back to their feet again.