Shimmer |✓|

//Alliance// Part 2

I stood side-by-side with the Alpha, observing the lone, bloodied figure center-stage on the dais ahead. Bound to her chair with anti-magic chains, our prisoner was illuminated by the only lights in the factory. We pondered her from the darkness, the Alpha's gaze trained like yellow beacons on his prey. He sat on his haunches, tawny-brown tail curled at his feet, ears pricked and alert.

I squatted, nose-to-nose with the most majestic of all beasts. "I know what you wanted, E, but you can't have her."

Snout lowered, Ethan growled his disagreement.

"Be nice. I wasn't sure what I would find here so I made arrangements just in case. I'm glad I did. Especially now that I know she was snooping around the woods to re-start the fire. The Garou will want justice, but there are others who deserve retribution just as much as we do, maybe more." I twiddled my fingers against the soft fur beneath his snout. "Do me a favor? Wait outside for me? And give the Omega a night off while you're at it?"

He pressed his cold nose to my cheek then trotted from the warehouse. I turned and steeled myself, wishing I had an extra house for the wicked Witch ahead.

"I thought I recognized your scent." Bent at the waist with one hand on my knee , I used the other to rip away the tape with a vengeance, smiling at the redness it left along her twisting mouth. "You're that Witch from the boat. The one I didn't kill but obviously should have."

Hands tied behind her back, she leaned forward in her chains and spat at my boots.

I licked my lips, swallowing the rage as the lights flickered overhead. The Witch squirmed, fighting her chains.

"I can see it already." I shook my head, disgusted. "You might have the guts to start a fire and kill innocent, defenseless victims--but you don't have what it takes to break those chains. Just like you don't have the will to stand up to Catherine. You're not one of her girls--you're just a bitch to do her dirty work. Look around--I don't see your master, do you? You're on your own; there's no one here to save you."

This time her spit landed on my cheek. I chuckled, wiping it away as I straightened.

The Witch sneered back. "You might as well kill me. I'm not telling you anything."

"That's alright." I shrugged; the Witch sat back, stupefied. "I don't need you to talk, I just need you to sit." A breeze whipped through the warehouse, cold and fierce as the ice in our veins. Mist seeped through every nook and cranny, streaming along the dusty cement floor, noiseless, bloodless, but with all the vigor of the living.

"Remember what I told you the last time we met?" Head cocked to the side, I watched the mist slither up her knees, and smiled in tender loving care. "You will die tonight--because I don't need you. The only person I need is your master--who I will rip into a thousand pieces before I scatter her to the void. Her death will be swift, yours--not so much." I stood tall, inhaling with grave satisfaction as a sliver of mist coiled about her midriff like an extra shackle. Meanwhile, in all the dark recesses of the warehouse, shadows emerged, flitted from floor to ceiling. "Congratulations. You belong to them now."