The Wolves of London Book 2: The House of Striker

(Chapter song ‘Bad Reputation’ by Joan Jett & The Blackhearts)

ZEN

With Avery now basically cured, Icarus in hiding, and the Zetas not making any moves, it's time to make changes. Time to clean up the House of Striker.

I throw open the doors of Sentinel and all eyes turn from computers to me.

“Zen.” Jolen walks up and stops in front of me. “Glad to see you’re not in a hospital.” He chuckles.

“Me, too.” I nod. “I don’t think I would have. These new players didn’t feel like enemies. Truthfully, they could be part of the alliance if they weren’t so bent of destroying labs.”

“Well, right now they aren’t doing much of anything. They’ve disappeared off the grid. We have all manner of tracker out snd its coming up empty.” He informs.

“That’s actually a good thing. We can take this time tk get some things straight.” I push past him and walk to the front of my hunters.

“I know things have been crazy, confusing and downright messed up, but we can’t lose sight of what we’re here for.” I announce.

“We wont lie. We’re confused about how you could let William’s murder slide. The Zen we know wouldn’t have allowed that.” One woman says from the computer desk in front of me.

“William was a bigot who’s selfish acts got him killed. I’m not punishing people for defending themselves. Here’s the thing…” I place my hands behind my back. “Things are changing. The environment’s changed. We, as hunters, are not executioners. That time is over. Williams idea of humans on top… done. No longer are we killing first and asking questions later. These Supernaturals are people first and we will view them as such, understood?”

“They hunt us. Are you kidding?” A man stands with attitude on the left side of the floor.

“That’s something we have to deal with. The majority are trying to live peacefully among us. We can no longer kill people out of fear. If you have a problem with this, there’s the damn door!” I point to the entrance behind me. “I’m the leader of this group. You'll afford everyone respect and consideration. Take down the bad guys only. And Miranda? She’s done! We are no longer working for her. We are no longer collecting Supernaturals for her. From this day forward, she’s public enemy number one!”

“But she funds us…” Another woman speaks up.

“I don’t care. We don’t need her. We can deal with that. She will be found and brought in for crimes against Zayden, crimes against the High Council, and her international threat to security. This woman will not go free. Miranda and the Foundation will be brought to justice. I also want an APB out for Adrian Fredericks, Donald Cole, and Everett Whitney.”

“Who are those guys?” Jolen asks.

I look to the room. “The original organizers of Alliance labs. The major players are dead, but these men also had a hand. In fact, Fredericks is Miranda’s side kick that has been free for too long. These men conducted unethical experiments on countless people and caused the death of thousands. I want all of them in the high prison awaiting trial by the end of the month.”

“How do you know this?” jolen looks me over in confusion.

“Miranda isn’t the only one who can find things.” I arch a brow. “The lab in Eden is very informative.”

I turn back to my people. “As far as the Cleaners go, from this day forward, we hunt, but we do it ethically, civilly and within the laws afforded to all people. You can protect. You can defend. But murder for existing is no longer an option. Am I clear?”

“Yes.” Some mumble.

“I said, am I clear?” I repeat.

“Yes!” The room responds.

“Don’t think I won’t investigate a killing. I will. And don’t think this doesn’t apply to me. It does. Everything’s changing. Even the House of Striker.” I confirm.

Jolen smiles. “I like it. You got my support.”

“Thank you.” I look around the room. “The rest of you, do a good job out there. Stay safe and keep everyone safe. Get to work.”

The room goes back to work with mumbles and grumbles as I turn to Jolen.

“It’s going to be hard.” He admits.

“I know. Years of conditioning that we were fighting war… it’s going to be hard to erase, but if I have your support, it’s a start.” I sigh.

“The speciesism is going to be difficult to break.” He states.

“If anyone doesn’t comply to our newly formed Liberty, then can talk to me, or hit bricks. But I won’t be sparing anyone who violates the rights of others because of what they are. They will face the full extent of the law.” I say with conviction.

“You may become a target.” He says low as he eyes the room.

“I’m OK with that. Bring it. I’d rather them fight me and lose, than kill anyone needlessly.” I tick my head. “Find Miranda and the others. I have a rehearsal to attend.” I smirk.

He smiles. “My RSVP is in the mail. There will be a wedding this time?”

“Oh, there will be. Or I’m hunting him down myself.” I wink with a grin. “5 o'clock!” I spin around and head for the door.

“I'll be there at 4!” He yells to my back.

Everything’s changing now. Avery opened my eyes. I spent years thinking I was just tolerating the Supernaturals when really they were just tolerating me. I was a complete speciesist. I will admit that. I bought into Williams lies about humans being better. When sometimes, we were the monsters.

The world is full of good people, doing great things. There’s also evil. We can’t ignore that. But all everyone is trying to do is survive on this rock and no one should be punished for that.

Will there be monsters that will be hard to control? Of course. But I will fight for them first, before I fight against them. If I can find an alternative way for them to live, I’ll find it. If they can’t be helped, I will have to choose the second option, but I will no longer rejoice in that. Those days are over.

That doesn’t mean I don’t know what’s out there. I’m human, not stupid. But thanks to Avery, my mind is clear. If it wasn’t for a shifter with a big heart, I would drown in the darkness of my soul. He rescued me and saving others like him will be my repayment. I paint a better future for him. It’s the least I can do.

This will help me be a better council member. A better friend and a better wife.

And I can’t wait to walk down that aisle.

****

I stand at the head table in the Hampton Court Palace. Avery wanted something grand and my backyard apparently didn’t cut it, so a castle is about as grand as you can get.

In the large hall with stone walls and high arched windows, our friends and family stare at my wedding party on either side of me. I smile at my bridal party up and down the table. Avery is beaming with pride beside me.

I tap a glass with a spoon to quiet the room. I look out to the tables and clear my throat. “I just wanted to thank you all for sharing this wonderful engagement announcement with us.” I look down at Avery who flashes a toothy smile at me. I’m so full of love for him, I hate that five years of our lives was wasted on my hatred and his fear. It shouldn’t of happened, but we're finally putting it behind us.

“Having all of you with us to make our day special, it really means a lot.” I continue. “Avery and I came a long way and finally, we're both ready to settle this. Even if I have to chain him to my wrist.” I grin and he chuckles as he shakes his head.

The room also laughs.

I gaze at him, then turn back to the guests. “So… enjoy the food and drinks and in a couple months we'll hope to see you all at the wedding.”

The room claps and I sit down. Avery kisses me and some people awe.

“What’s that?”

I look to see a few people looking out the windows. I turn to the direction they’re looking and my jaw falls. “No…”

Avery stands. “What the hell?”

It’s the middle of July and the sight on the other side of the glass has me hoping to not get blood on my white cocktail dress.

I leave the table and walk toward the windows as they start to ice from the bottom up. When I get a closer look, I shake my head. “Awe, hell no.” I growl and rush to the side room for my bag.

“Zen, is that…” I hear Avery call out.

“It's Kirin!” I answer. I come out with my gin and I check the clip.

People yelp and move to the opposite side of the room. “She has a lot of goddamn nerve.” I stop in front of the middle window as the ice forms around the edges. I stand with my gun at my side, my white heels apart and I eye the scaly white dragon laying in a layer of snow. Her wings flap and her tail slowly lifts and lays down as her ice blue eyes look over the building.

She’s not as big as Krestin, but she’s big enough. What the hell is she doing here?

The ground and floor shake as she gets to her clawed feet. Her spiky head lowers and she roars a crystallized, dinosaur-like roar that rattles the iced up windows. We all cover our ears as some guests scream and run from the room.

“EVERYONE OUT!” I shout and point to the door just as Kirin turns to her side, pulls her tail back, and whips it at the palace. As if in slow motion, her tail cuts into the building wall. Glass, wood, stone, and insulation fly through the air.

“ZEN!!” Avery grabs me and pulls us to the floor just as her thick tail swooshes over us taking out the windows and the wall as she goes. Glass shatters and the room temperature drops 20 degrees. She lets out another roar as her tail finishes destroying the building. The room fills with wintery wind, snow, and ice from a driving blizzard she’s commanding.

Her neck glows white and she lowers her head.

“SHIT!!” I cover Avery and he buries us as Kirin opens her jaws and blows ice and snow into the room. The rest of the guests run for the doors and hide behind over turned tables. “KIRIN!!” I yell as she stops her blast.

I whip my head to her sending snow flying off me and aim my gun. I fire three rounds and she backs up as they miss.

I scramble to my feet, kick off my heels, and stride to the door. “I WILL KICK YOUR ASS!!” I yell as I take big steps to the hole in the wall.

“ZEN!!”

Avery tries to stop me, but I shrug him off and climb over the bottom of the rubble. I step into the foot thick snow, not caring about the cold because I’m so fucking pissed, I’m boiling.

I raise and aim my gun. “YOU HAVE TWO SECONDS TO LEAVE, OR I’M OPENING FIRE!”

The dragon snorts a perceived laugh and lowers her head to me. Her dragon lips seem to smirk as she flashes her sharp teeth at me. I’m not impressed.

I walk up to her nose which come up to the bottom of my neck. Her giant head fills the space, and her blue eyes blink.

I raise my gun and point it at her head. “I will kill you.” I snarl.

“Zen! Let’s go!” Avery yells.

“NO! KIRIN!!!” I demand. “YOU SHIFT RIGHT NOW BEFORE I HURT YOU!!”

She shakes her crown of spikes then stares me down. Her body shines and melts into a pale skinned woman with long white hair, and a sassy smirk on her pale pink lips.

Her blue eyes look me over as she crosses her arms. “You hurt me?” She says sarcastically. “Human, you couldn’t hurt me if you tried. My brother may be too cowardly to take you out of the running, but I’m not. That crown is mine, as he promised, and you’re nothing but a frozen snack.”

“Hey!!” Avery gets in in between us and holds up a hand to Kirin. “Just cool it!!”

“Cool it? Okay.” She grins.

She opens her mouth and her chest glows white. She blasts us with cold and we cover herself.

I feel the snow build on our backs as she bombards us with winter weather. I can barely see her through the snow and look for a target. As I shake from the freezing temperature, I lift my arm.

“OKAY! YOU ASKED FOR IT!” I yell and aim. I fire a shot and she falls to her knees with a loud yelp.

As the snow dies, we stand straight and shake the snow off as Kirin leans on a hand and inspects her shoulder. The snow is melted by her hot, red blood. She holds up her other hand that was covering the bullet hole in her chest. “You shot me?!” She scowls.

I lift my gun to her forehead. “Brass. I know that stings. Want another?” I grit.

She looks at her shoulder, then glares at me.

“Drakina or not, Kirin. Don’t test me." I flare my eyes and adjust my finger on the trigger.

Her lips shrink, her fists ball, and her eyes flick to Avery and the people behind us. She growls as her body elongates. Her wings grow and unfurl and her skin turns to scales. She roars to the sky with blood dripping down her chest and pushes off the ground. Her white dragon flies into the evening sky and her loud protests fade with her.

I drop the gun and turn. “I should have killed her.” I grind.

“No. You did good. Clearly, Krestin did something she didn’t like…” Avery starts.

“He did…” I push past Avery and storm back into the palace. “And he’s going to fucking pay for it.” I growl as I head for my things.

“Crap… Zen!!”

Twenty minutes later, I’m approaching the door to the council room.

“Zen! Don’t do this!” Avery has been trying to talk me down, but not this time.

“Ave… stay out of it.” He has no clue what’s going on here. I do and I’m not pushing this aside.

I open the door and walk into the chamber. My hair is matted to my head and dripping. My makeup is ruined and running down my face. My dress is soaked and dripping on the floor and I lost my shoes in the rubble. I’m steaming as I approach the council floor and see Krestin sitting in my throne talking to Quaid.

“Ok, Zen. We need to calm down and talk about this like rational adults…” Avery starts.

“Fuck that.” I grit as I target Krestin. I lift the hem of my dress, pull a knife from a holster on my thigh, flip the blade and throw it hard.

The knife flies through the middle of the chamber and lands in my throne just off Krestin’s head. He and Quaid jolt apart and whip their heads at me as I stride forward with fury on my face.

“WHAT THE FUCK?!” He growls as he falls on the floor to back away from the vibrating blade.

“My word!” Quaid pulls the knife out and looks my way. “Zen?!”

All eyes fall on me, but my eyes are glued to Krestin.

“Zen!” Cora gets up and approaches as I hold my gun at my side.

“Just calm down!” Avery insists.

“You trying to kill me?!” Krestin growls as he gets to his feet.

“Not trying to, handbag…” I clench as I aim my weapon and walk past Cora.

“Esmerelda! Put the weapon down!” Cora scolds as she tries to get in between Krestin and I. “What’s this about?!”

“This asshole sent his ice queen sister to ruin my engagement party!! My venue is destroyed! AND IT’S ALL HIS FAULT!!” I yell and take more steps toward him before Cora gets in my way.

“MY FAULT?! HOW IS IT MY FAULT?!” He yells back from behind Quaid.

“YOU PROMISED HER THE CROWN, YOU DICK! SHE TRIED TO KILL ME!!” My rage rocked the room as Avery and Cora tried to diffuse me.

Cora turns to Krestin. “You didn't.” She scowls.

“NO! NO, I DIDN'T!! I told her I wasn’t feeling it anymore. I had other things to worry about and she flipped out. I didn’t know she’d come after you!” he defends.

“SHE TOLD ME YOU PROMISED HER THE CROWN!! SHE RUINED MY WEDDING AND NOW, I’M RUINING YOUR LIFE!!” I cock my gun.

“WHOA!” He hides behind Quaid.

“Your hide is mine, dragon!” I grind as I wait for him to show himself.

Cora lays a hand on my arm. “Zen. We can deal with this.”

“Sure. After he’s dead.” I push and she shoves me back.

“Zen!” Avery pulls me back. “Stop!”

“No, Avery! He needs to pay!” I rip myself out of his grasp.

“And he will!” Quaid turns and exposes him. “Won’t you?” He scowls and crosses his arms.

“Why do I have to pay?! Kirin did it!” Krestin motions a hand to me.

“You caused this!!” I holler.

He holds up a hand. “Ok. Maybe I did a little bit. I needed help! She was being a bitch and I used the crown as leverage! That’s all! But I backed out!”

“KRESTIN!” Cora yells. “You can’t use the contest as leverage!!”

“IT WAS A LIE!!” He insists. “I wasn’t really going to give her the crown!”

“SHE THINKS YOU WERE AND SHE TRIED TO KILL ME FOR IT!” I shove the gun toward him.

Cora holds a hand up to me. “We can repair this. We can find another venue.”

I drop the gun and a whine covers my face. “Cora… Where the hell am I going to find another wedding venue in a few weeks?! It was hard enough finding this one!!”

“I have a solution.”

Demetri stands and walks toward me.

Avery takes the gun from me and shoves it in the back of his pants. “What kind of solution could a vampire have?” He cocks a brow.

He strides to me and lifts his chin. “It just so happens I’m having a party at my castle. I could easily turn it into a wedding.”

“A bunch of humans among vampires. Yeah, that’s smart.” I snort and cross my arms.

“You need a venue, I have one. I’ll make sure everyone is properly full and security will be tight. Council humans are off limits. Trusted court only. I believe we have been lax in building our relationship as council members and I feel this would be a good place to start.” He releases a small, forced smile. It’s about as much as an emotionless vampire can do.

“A trusted court.” I repeat.

“Yes.” He confirms.

Dorian and Giovanni approach the huddle. “We'll be there with back up.” He taps Giovanni’s arm.

“I can bring some men, too. If you wish.” Darius offers.

“A sorcerer is also helpful.” Quaid smirks.

“Yes. Private security for the Bella and her guests.” Giovanni lifts his chin and eyes the Vampire. “With the lycans, the vampires wouldn’t dare.”

“No. We wouldn’t.” Demetri swallows and meets his eyes.

“It could work.” Cora agrees. “With all of us there, they would be stupid to make a move.”

“Wait. Are we really suggesting to get married in the middle of a vampire hive?” Avery interrupts.

I look around my council. “If we protect the guest with my iron spray and everyone agrees to behave, what choice do we have?” I shrug.

“I could have it done in a month.” Demetri informs.

“Why not the mansion?” Avery says.

“No.” I shake my head. “You wanted a castle, you’re getting one. If Demetri wants an olive branch, then I should at least allow that.” I turn to the Vampire. “I’m trusting you.”

He bows. “I won’t disappoint.”

I eye Krestin who’s standing outside the circle. “Sorry.”

“No problem.” He scowls.

“Let’s go.” I motion to Avery.

“You better be positive about this.” He leans to me as we leave.

“I’m not, but if I want to rid myself of William’s ideals, I have to do this.” I glance at him. “Besides, if this is any sort of trick, I won’t be there unprepared. And neither will the Cleaners.”

“I hope not.” He looks back as we walk down the stone hallway.