When all of my senses were blocked; it was the emotions I felt. They were at their rawest; churning seas of rage and disgust, boiling lakes of hatred and desperation. Those festering, poisonous emotions bubbled beneath my skin, picking and scratching as they fought past my control.
Floating in that darkness, with nothing but those carnal emotions guiding my thoughts; I couldn’t remember why I was holding them back in the first place; why I shied away from what I could do.
My powers weren’t beautiful or inspiring, they were blunt and vicious. Unashamed of the d***h and destruction they could cause. No matter how dark my abilities were, there was this voice in the back of my head that told me only brutality would win this war; only rage would end Marcus Novak’s life.

As those last shreds of fear and shame left my mind, I unleashed the hail storm of emotions on the guards that had invoked them. I wished more than anything I could give them the full scope of my anger, my desperation to help these wolves; but I could not. That kind of anger could split the world, could crack it wide open. That kind of anger was already reserved for someone special.
I could see their faces in my mind, mixed in with those of Marcus’s men. The white wolves; the men, women, and children that were used for their power. Lives deemed less than and tossed aside in the pursuit for more power. They begged for help, for someone with enough power and control to rival Marcus; to care enough to force change.

I wasn’t sure when I had begun feeding from the life forces of Marcus’s men, but their strength washed over me in waves of electrifying energy. They sharpened my vision until everything seemed almost too clear, too saturated.
My vision came back in pieces, flashes of images purely driven by this feral rage. It rippled over my skin, almost shimmering like heatwaves as I darted through the brush and trees, right into the center of the men’s camp.
“Don’t touch her.” Alec’s snarl was a mere afterthought, background chatter as I flung myself at the men. “She has no control over what she’s doing right now. It’s better we stay out of her way and let her finish. We’ll step in if need be.”
“Something tells me it won’t be necessary.” Kade murmured, and if I had been paying attention, I would have heard the awe in his voice. “Feel how enraged she is? They won’t be able to lay a finger on her.”
There were six in total, four of which had been rolling around in agony the moment I sent those festering emotions loose. The two that had managed to remain on their feet, they were as rotten as Marcus was. Truly devoid of any humanity that might make them cower at the devastation wrought.
I charged at the two first, noting how any surprise only lasted a fraction of a second as it crossed their faces. Only to be replaced by cruel anticipation and excitement.
The one on the left, lanky with thick ribbons of muscle along his arms and shoulders, pulled a pistol from his waist band. I could hear the click and see the flicker of metal as the moonlight caught its surface.
Not only could I see the confidence brimming in his eyes, I could feel it.
He was expecting me to hesitate, to cower as he pointed a gun between my eyes. Trusting my instincts was something I had done countless times as a human. It was what kept me from being harassed by Frank or manipulated by Melissa. Following it now was easier than ever.
Even with the gun pointed at my head, I charged. I watched as the vein in his neck bulged, and his emotions shifted from confident to unsure. It was then that I ducked, just as an explosion of heat and gunpowder rang out. Despite it being so close to me, the sound had as much impact as an insufferable fly would.
Before I could get my hands on the man that had nearly shot my head off, I felt the grimy touch of the second. His rough fingertips met the skin of my shoulder for mere seconds, and the revulsion that blasted through me seemed to have more of an impact than I thought.
For whatever reason, my arms flew out at my sides. An instinctual movement that felt righter than anything else. The warmth and unbridled energy I had been stealing from the men, it rushed through me. It crackled and snapped, like lightning beneath my skin.

I knew in that moment; I had a choice. I could let the energy out, let it escape into the world under my command. Or, I could snuff it out. There was no hesitation on my end, the weakness burned away by the truth of what Marcus was doing.
The two men who had managed to withstand the vile emotions I sent their way were blasted back in opposite directions, swallowed by the darkness of the forest.
I could hear branches snapping, some larger and louder than others as they both were shoved back through the forest. Only when they both landed, and the sounds of insects and animals returned, did I blink and back away from the damage.
I felt Alec behind me before I turned to meet his eyes. He didn’t bother pulling me into his arms, knowing that I currently felt like a d**n live wire. My skin was tingling, electrified by the energy I had consumed. I rubbed at my arms, trying to chase away the odd sensation.
“Let me guess, you’re going to ask me what I was thinking running in there like that.” I mumbled, taking in the carnage that was their campsite.
Beer cans littered the ground along with burnt chunks of wood. Embers still burned in various places, scattered from the blast that sent both men careening backwards. Backpacks with clothes and other various items were all over the ground, along with the unconscious bodies of Marcus’s men.
“Actually, I was going to ask if you’re alright.” He smirked, and despite how shaken and amped up I felt, he managed to take some of the weight from my shoulders.
Halfway through my feral take down of these men, I decided that I would no longer fear what I could do. I would use it responsibly and never to shove my power down the throats of others. Not only that, but I would no longer hesitate to use it if it meant freeing the white wolves and taking down Marcus.
“Honestly, I feel incredible.” I admitted, letting out a whoosh of breath. It was horrible to admit considering I had almost k****d six men, but it was the truth. Their energy filled my cells with strength, pouring adrenaline and life into my veins. “I guess–I guess I just surprised myself.”
I stumbled into Alec as Kade and Dex emerged from the forest, followed by Carson and Tori. Tori propped Carson against a tree and brushed herself off. Carson glanced around at the damage, forced to sit on the side lines since she was still healing. I didn’t miss the look of respect in her eyes, nor what happened when Alec and I touched.
The small gasp that left his lips, too quiet and insignificant for anyone other than myself to hear, was followed by the crackle of energy as it danced from my skin to his.
“One of the men you sent flying into the forest is d**d, impaled on a broken tree limb.” Dex huffed, and I swore there was just a hint of smugness to his voice. I couldn’t blame the emotion considering there were so many others who had lost much more to Marcus. “The rest are fucked up, but they’ll live.”
“Didn’t pick up any other scents nearby. This must have been the first batch of men sent out. ” Kade said to the five of us. “Should be safe to head out now.”
“You could have saved us a lot of time just doing that from the beginning, kid.” Dex shook his head, not at all angry with how things had turned out. He ran a hand over his head and glanced around at the fallen men. When his eyes met mine, they weren’t wary or afraid, but hopeful. “There’s not an army that wouldn’t fall should you go up against them.”
“Let’s hope I can manage it on a larger scale.” I cleared my throat, shifting uncomfortably under the attention. “I didn’t exactly have control over myself just now.”
“You just need to figure out how to trigger it–which it seems you just did.” Dex responded gruffly, “Now you gotta see how far you can extend it without hurting yourself. Something tells me with an ability like that, you wouldn’t want to over use it. Let’s get the h**l out of here, I have to work harder to cover our scents now that we’ve been here so long.”
I trailed between the twin’s, beside Tori, who looked a bit worse for wear. Her clothes and hair were covered in dried mud, and I knew she’d need help brushing out those tangles. Even in the midst of my rage, I hadn’t forgotten what the men said about Zayne. I don’t think I’d ever forget a word they had said.
“He finally decided to stand up to Marcus.”‘ I told Tori, keeping my voice low. The others could hear easily, but it at least gave us the illusion of privacy. “I’m guessing something you said finally worked its way through his thick skull.”
“He finally listens to me, and takes it as the go ahead to run back to Marcus.” Tori snorted, my comment breaking up some of the tension in her emotions. “It’s not like it changes anything, anyway. Even if he manages to survive all of this, he’ll never accept me.”
“I can’t understand why, though.” I sighed, unable to help myself as Tori’s emotions flitted over me one by one. It seemed taking the energy from so many people amplified my other abilities. I couldn’t ignore her emotions, or the toll they had on my own. I found myself frustrated for her, at my wits over a man who isn’t even my mate. “I’ve never been able to get a read on his emotions, or Marcus’s.”
“Do you think it’s another white wolf blocking your powers?” She asked curiously, but it was something I had already thought of before.
“I don’t think so.” I shook my head, “I think it’s because neither one actually feel much of anything. They have such a tight grip on their emotions, especially Marcus. Just recently, Zayne’s hold on his emotions cracked. You were the one who caused it, actually.”
Tori hesitated, wide eyed as she stared ahead. I wondered if my gift truly gave me the upper hand, or if Tori truly was oblivious to how affected Zayne was by her.
“It was me?” She scoffed, pressing her lips tightly together. She was silent for a few moments, but I could feel her curiosity building just beneath her surprise. “If I loosened his hold, does that mean you were able to get a read on him?”
I lifted an eyebrow at her, grinning as her lips widened into a genuine smile. I hadn’t erased the worry or stress, but these moments of normalcy were all that kept us from losing ourselves to the violence and savagery of our world.
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