Genesis by Brannan Black

I ran down the dark street, heart pounding in my ears, lungs heaving, desperate for air. The hounds of hell ran on my heels, terror weighting my feet. Mace. I had to get to Mace. I rounded a corner, nowhere left to go. Turning back, I fired my shotgun at point blank range.

RK’s head exploded like a ripe watermelon. A scream rang in my head.

It still echoed around the room as I jerked awake, soaked in sweat, heart pounding and sucking air like I’d just run a fucking marathon. The miasma from the nightmare left me shaking. At least it wasn’t Mace I’d shot this time. The running was new, too. Was that a good thing? Maybe I was getting over it.

Or I could just be losing my fucking mind.

Mace’s spot on the bed felt cold, like he’d been gone a while. Where the fuck was he? Why hadn’t he woken me? RK’s whine came through the door just before he stuck his head in. “Daniel? OK?”

“Yeah, RK, just a fucking nightmare. Where’s Mace?” I flipped the switch for the bedside lamp I’d recently installed. I’d never take flipping a switch for granted again after a month of oil lamps and candles.

The loud sounds from the hall clued me in that it wasn’t early. I really, really wanted a fucking window! Or even a skylight. On the other hand, if the lower windows hadn’t all been boarded up, those fucking rabids would have gotten in. Hmm. Maybe skylights with iron cages over them.

Nah, still wouldn’t reach a first floor room.

“He’s in the yard with others. Want breakfast?” RK’s answer left me scrabbling to remember the fucking question.

“Well, I’m awake now, so how about you get me some coffee while I get dressed?”

RK cocked his head, thinking or looking, I couldn’t tell. He shrugged. “OK.”

I sighed and hurried to dress before my own personal wolfman lackey came back. Not what I had in mind when I saved his life.

I was dressed, been to the head, and still no coffee. If RK was going to hover, the least he could do was get me coffee. I let out a deep breath. Fucking nightmares, always left me grumpy and more than a little scattered. I mentally shook it off.

Late morning sun streamed in from the high windows highlighting the chaos running rampant in the main room. A little over twenty-four hours after the rabid attack and it looked like a fucking gun factory. Weapons were being stripped and cleaned. Others were inventorying ammo. Yum, the smell of gun oil mixed with coffee.

Doc leaned over a whining Eagle, smearing ointment on his many burns. On the nearest couch, Fox lay in an odd twisted pose, I assumed to miss the worst of the burns scattered over his body. A couple of the younger wolfmen who’d been injured while defending the den lay sprawled around the room and were being tended by their buddies.

Finding the normal kitchen crew hard at work cleaning up the mess the guys left surprised me. Guess it was OK for the women to be back in the main room even with the former rabids about. The women seemed awfully quiet, focused on their work. I knew from experience that getting back to a normal routine after a loss helped. And maybe we’d get some better meals. Anything but mystery meat on a stick sounded like gourmet fare.

RK stood by the stove waiting for the coffee to finish brewing.

I wove my way through the crowd. A wave of quiet spread out around me like ripples in a pond. The pack tracked my course across the room. Fucking reminded me of when I first arrived and they looked at me like prey.

“What?” I snapped, staring hard. A few tilted their heads in my direction and sniffed, loudly. I did a quick check to make sure I didn’t have my clothes on backward or something. Nope, relatively clean jeans, no holes. Black T-shirt with a tribal design in grey, right side out, no bloodstains.

“What the fuck is up? Did I sprout fucking horns and a tail or something?” I yanked out a stool at the kitchen counter. “Anything edible over there?”

Den-Mom, one of the rare women affected by the virus, snickered and passed me a plate with fried mystery meat and a bowl of oatmeal. A little canned fruit topped the oatmeal. Wow, a veritable feast! RK passed my coffee over as well. I plopped onto a barstool at the counter to eat. If I ignored them, maybe they’d go away.

“They’re just curious to see if you smell different, like Mace does.” Den-Mom leaned across the counter, sniffing.

I jerked back. “That’s just fucking weird. And why would Mace smell different?” Granted, that knot thing on his penis hadn’t ever happened before. Part of the mating thing I’d assumed. “Something wrong with him?” Surely they couldn’t fucking tell he’d bottomed? Something told me that wouldn’t sit well with the rank obsessed pack.

“No, not wrong, just different. And he looks a lot more relaxed. Something happened between you two last night.” She leaned closer, gaze boring holes in me.

I took that first sip of coffee and sighed. Damn, that tasted good, even without milk. “What’s between me and Mace isn’t your fucking business.” I took another sip of coffee to cover the stupid ass grin spreading over my face. Fuck, that had been amazing sex. And Mace giving himself to me like that… might piss the pack off, but it meant the world to me. I’d never felt so loved, cherished. No, that didn’t even begin to explain what I felt.

“He’s our pack alpha. If it affects him, it’s our business.” She growled and flashed fangs at me, pulling me from my reverie.

I shrugged and dug into breakfast. She could growl all she wanted. Didn’t fucking scare me anymore. “Thanks for the fruit. Mmmm.” I savored the sweetness with closed eyes. Chewing while smiling, that didn’t happen to me often. Felt weird. Good but weird.

“Daniel!” Claws hooked into my shirtsleeve and tugged. “You two have been at odds for days and all of a sudden everything is fine? Spill, brain boy.”

Was she that fucking dense, or did she want a blow by blow? “If you haven’t figured it out, go ask my mate.” And that was all they were getting.

Den-Mom smiled triumphantly. “I knew it! You are mated now!”

The quiet of the room erupted in yips, howls and excited voices. A loud growl stood out among the noise. Alpha glared at me with death in her eyes.

“Sorry, sweetheart. You never really had a chance anyway.” I smirked at her and turned back to savoring my meal. My stomach felt like a black hole. When was the last time I’d had a good meal? When was the last time I’d really felt like eating?

Oh yeah, before that brain splatting incident. My stomach roiled and I mentally slapped myself for digging that fucking memory up again.

Doc slouched into the kitchen, snagging some coffee. “God, that’s good!” She turned to me with a smile. “So, you two found a workaround?”

No point in answering. The stupid shit-eating grin on my face said it all.

The front door banged open. Mace, Slade and a few others came in from the yard. “We need a better damned fence!” Slade snarled.

Calm, cool Slade fucking snarled at Mace? What the fuck?

Mace’s deep rumble stirred my cock to life. Fucking thing ought to be tired after last night, but no. “I’m all ears if you’ve got a suggestion.” Yellow-gold eyes focused on me, the wolf spotting his prey.

Immediately the room stilled again. They all watched him stalk over to me. His broad shoulders stretched his grey T-shirt tight across chiseled muscles. Those jeans looked painted on, nicely accenting his impressive package, lean hips and strong thighs. For once, my hardening cock avoided getting cramped up. I stood, leaning against the counter, waiting for him. That silly grin just got wider. My fucking cheeks were starting to hurt.

Mace stopped right in front of me, staring down. For a heartbeat we just drank each other in. As one, we grabbed hold and leaped into a scorching kiss. The pack must have approved, because the noise they made nearly deafened me. Mace pressed me against the counter; his hard cock nestled next to mine. I moaned softly and rolled my hips, rubbing us together. Hot desire flooded me. The room vanished into the background. It was just me and Mace and a burning need for each other.

“God, mate, I want you.”

I laughed against his lips. “So what’s new?”

Someone cleared their throat. Mace’s team, all but Cowboy, surrounded us. I didn’t see him so he must have been on patrol or watch duty. I gave Mace’s braid a playful tug and urged him to back up a bit.

Hawk spoke softly as always, kept his eyes down. “Hate to break this up but we need to figure something out about that fence.” Still earned himself a snarl from Mace. Despite Doc snuggling up to him, Slade scowled.

“So what’s up with the fence?” That turned out to be the wrong thing to say. Slade looked like he wanted to strangle me.

“It needs to keep those damned rabids out! We’re not losing more women to those bastards!” I’d never seen Slade so pissed off. “And you could learn to hit what you shoot at!”

“Good luck with that. Fuckers are damned hard to keep out.” No point arguing that last bit. I had hesitated. And missed killing the lead psycho rabid. Pissed me off, too.

Slade snarled again. “Any bright ideas, genius?”

I ignored him and slipped back on my stool to finish breakfast. Did I mention I was hungry? I gave it some thought while chewing. “You could add stronger posts set in concrete.”

“Can’t we just hook it to the generator? That ought to keep them off it or fry their stinking hides.” That came from one of the cooks.

I shook my head. “It’d ground out.” They waited for me to swallow so I guess they wanted more info. “Metal fence hooked to metal posts sends the current to ground, literally. To electrify the chain link you’d have to find a way to insulate it from the posts and keep it off the ground. Or you could run some strands of properly mounted hotwire around the outside. In my experience, though, you guys just rip that shit off unless it’s hot enough to fry a buffalo.”

They chewed on that a while, letting me finish my meal.

Doc raised an eyebrow. “I see you’ve got your appetite back.”

I shrugged and gave Mace an appraising look. “You could say that.” He growled low and sexy. My cock surged back to fully hard just listening to him.

“Can’t you two give it a rest now that you’re mated?”

Mace laughed softly, his gaze running heatedly over me. “Hmm. No.”

Slade and Doc shared a knowing smirk. Then she smiled at me just a bit too sweetly. “So no more nightmares?”

I scowled slightly. A single night of amazing, soul bonding sex could only do so much. The kind of healing I needed took time.

Couldn’t help but notice the pack looked a hundred percent calmer despite yesterday’s attack. Had our mating really made that much difference? My gaze came to rest on Mace. The tension that had crinkled the corners of his eyes and drawn his lips into a taut line had eased, despite the strain of having the den attacked. He once more looked solid and in control. Guess it was a fucking big deal.

If only it was that fucking simple for me.

Mace got that faraway look that meant he was thinking. “All right, how about we add a second fence? Set both in concrete with razor wire on top?”

Slade’s brows drew down. “Can we at least hotwire the edge of the roof? Slow them down if they make it that far again.”

I nodded. “Sure, that’s a good idea, and we can switch it with the emergency lights so it’s not hot all the time.”

Mace frowned thoughtfully. “I don’t want you taking time away from the still.”

“Patty and Lori can handle the hotwire. I’ll show them what to do first. Wouldn’t hurt to teach some of your guys this shit either. As for the fence, that needs muscle, which you wolfmen have in plenty.”

Mace nodded approval. “Get them started, then back to work on the still.”

* * *

I only got in a couple hours work, mostly on the still before my assistants wanted to break for lunch. I decided to find Mace.

“He’s in the basement with Slade and Hawk.”

The three former rabids were back up here and he’d allowed Beta, Fang and Spike to stay after their help fighting off the rabids. I thumped down the stairs. What the fuck were they up to?

Birds could have nested in my gaping mouth when I got a look. The basement had been turned into a fucking prison, complete with a hospital.

The three well-spaced and very secure looking cages along the back wall I’d seen before. Each held two rabids, including the one Mace had captured earlier. He looked better than the freshly shot up ones, but that wasn’t saying much. They were still ragged, filthy rabids. Doc worked on a seventh, the one I’d seen trying to drag himself away by his arms.

Several pack members were putting up an outer cage to encase it all while Mace supervised. What the fuck were we going to do with more rabids? How many could a pack absorb at one time?

“Don’t look so shocked, mate. After listening to you go on about how any rabid might become pack, killing them felt wrong.” He pulled me against him and nuzzled my neck. Damn, that made me fucking hard!

Hawk snickered and looked past my shoulder to where RK hovered. “Helps that your pet project is coming around so well.”

Junior, Boss’ former beta, snarled at the nearest ones. “I still say we should just kill them and be done with it.”

“Any one of them could become pack once they see there is another way to live. They deserve a chance.” Mace’s voice was gentle but firm. Junior scowled but didn’t argue.

My gaze drifted to the caged rabids. The way those fuckers looked at me sent shivers up my spine — a cold, clammy, painful-death-is-staring-at-me kind of shiver. This was going to be a fucking picnic. Yeah, right. Me and my big mouth. I just prayed it didn’t get us all killed.

“I won’t let any of them hurt you, mate.”

Took that fucking little for Mace to smell my fear? OK, he did have his nose jammed against my skin while he nibbled and kissed my neck. A sharp tug on my earlobe sent shocks of pleasure rippling through me. What the fuck had we been talking about again?

Mace chuckled softly and let me go.

“So what are you planning?” I hoped he had a plan.

He shrugged. “Same as always, offer them a chance to join the pack.” He nodded toward Doc’s current patient, being restrained by Slade and Slick. “Will he walk again?”

She sighed heavily. “I think in addition to his left femur and right tibia, his pelvis is broken. If he’s ever to walk correctly, he needs surgery.”

Which meant a trip to Mom’s. “Speaking of Mom, we told her we’d be back for Derek and Jay.”

Mace stared at the wounded rabid whose wide eyes showed plenty of fear and pain. “Dope him up best you can, Doc. Slade, assign a couple extra pack to watch him. He can’t go back in with the others just yet.”

No doubt because his cage mates might try to kill him and eat him. OK, maybe not eat him, but I’d seen it a few times. Fucking rabids.

Slade nodded. “Should I see if any pack take a shine to him? Or even one of the women?”

Cold fear shocked my system. “You can’t let any of the women near that beast!”

Mace snorted. “Just like I couldn’t let you near RK before we knew what he’d be like?”

Well, fuck. Mom would have my balls for suggesting the women couldn’t handle what I could. Hell, even Doc looked insulted. I sighed. “Fuck, right, but I suggest you not keep him down here in that case.”

Mace nodded and ushered me toward the stairs. “If one or more of the women want in on this, that makes sense.” We started up the stairs. “So did you want something, Daniel?”

I couldn’t resist giving him a heated once over.

Mace grinned. “Other than that?”

Doc laughed. “Get your mind out of Mace’s pants. You’re getting as bad as they are! When do you think we can go out to the compound?”

“Not until the den is secure enough we can take most of the pack with us or we’ve killed those bastards.” Mace’s hard face and icy tone made it clear he favored hunting them down and ripping their throats out.

“Strengthening the fence and adding a second layer would go a long way. We held them off for a good while.”

Once the fence fell, we’d been hard pressed, but we’d managed.

“At too high a cost,” Slade snarled. “No, we need this den secure.”

Mace nodded. “There’s no such thing as an impenetrable fortress, Slade, and we only have so much time before they try again. The double fence and a hotwire around the top of the roof railing will have to do.”

Slade growled but didn’t say anything more. Doc brushed her face on his shoulder and he smiled briefly.

“As soon as that’s done, we take both trucks to the compound. I want as many pack as we can spare when we go out. They could ambush us anywhere, anytime.”

I’d forgotten they had one of our small trucks around here somewhere. OK, it was really a mid-sized truck, but compared to my full size, extended cab, four door long bed, it looked small. It could still carry a good load. Assuming it had fuel.

By this time we’d reached the main room. “We’ll take that injured rabid and Beta with us so Doc Sylvia can fix them up.” Mace sought out a shocked looking Beta. “You defended the pack and den, Beta. After you’re healed, you need to decide if you’re really part of this pack or not.” Mace’s tone hardened. “This is your last chance.” He speared Fang and Spike with a glare. “You two have the same choice to make. I won’t tolerate you making trouble anymore. Just submitting is not enough. I need to know you’re really with me.” He looked around the room, pausing on each of Boss’ former pack. “I need to know from all of you that you’re committed to this pack, to my leadership. For the welfare of the pack, we must be united.”

Every wolfman in the room settled into a submissive pose, even the former rabids.

Former rabids, that was a fucking mouthful.

We settled at the table to eat. With the women back, we got real food. Sort of. Canned veggy stew. Yeah! At least it hid the mystery meat. That was something the compound could trade, meat and fresh veggies. I started thinking about how to increase production so they’d have enough to trade. Or better yet, get a greenhouse going here.

Mace bumped my shoulder. “What’s going on in that big brain of yours?”

“Just thinking how nice some real beef would taste about now. Not to mention some vegetables that aren’t canned.”

Doc bristled. “We’ll have fresh meat as soon as the guys can get out to hunt and we have a big garden every summer down along the river. Not everything you’re eating is pre-collapse. We can as much as possible.”

“Didn’t mean to insult you. I was just thinking of things the pack and compound could trade. We’ve got access to old wheat fields, but can only work a small portion. With extra manpower, or wolfman power, we could raise a fucking hell of a lot more.”

“That’s all well and good, but will it put fuel in our truck?”

Apparently my mate had a one track mind — ethanol. I drew a deep breath. “Yes and no. Any grain can be used to make ethanol but right now, it’s better used as food.”

“What if it’s spoiled?”

I leaned forward to look at Hawk on the other side of Mace. “Not sure, might depend on how it’s spoiled. As long as it won’t affect the fermentation process, it’s fine.”

Mace cocked a brow at Hawk. “Wonder what we’ve got to trade with Ace’s pack.”

“Ace?” Who the fuck was Ace?

“His territory includes the old pet food plant.”

“Think there’s still some grain stored up there?” I knew the place. Shit, anyone who’d driven north of downtown on I-70 had smelled it.

“I know there is. We had an agreement with Ace to trade fresh meat for grain. Unfortunately, the grain soured and mice got to it.”

“Not like we have any fresh meat to spare anyway.” Slade sighed. Was that a bird leg he was chewing? Maybe it was more flying rat, AKA pigeon, than rodent. I wasn’t sure that was any better.

“No, but you do have me. Might be something I could do to make their lives easier,” I suggested.

“Daniel, you’ve got enough to do here.”

“Lori and I can handle a lot of the grunt work. All Daniel has to do is show us what and how.” Patty sounded excited, and she was right. Those two ladies could handle most of it.

Junior jumped in. “Would pet food work? I mean like big bags of dog food, since they’re made out of grain?”

I chuckled. “Ethanol from dog food. That’d be a first. Most have preservatives that might prevent the mash from fermenting, but it’s worth a try. Know where we can find a shitload?”

Hawk nodded. “There’s a few pet stores around we didn’t bother raiding. As long as mice getting to it won’t hurt.”

“Bring me all you can find and we’ll give it a try.” Beat the hell out of working with weeds. For as long as it held out. “Mace, you do understand at some point we will be right back here looking for bio-matter?”

He nodded. “Everything runs out eventually. I thought you said you could grow grain, at the compound?”

Had he not heard me before? “Sure, with enough acres, something to plant and harvest with, since all those huge agricultural machines won’t be running, and enough rain. But you’re using food to make fuel. There are some other options I’m working on, things I read about if I can just find more information. Google would be so fucking useful about now.” There’d been a lot of info on the net in recent years and real progress had been made in providing fuel without using labor and resource intensive foodstuffs. Like the facility in Fort Collins working with an algae that could produce oil for bio-diesel and then be fermented for ethanol. Or that switchgrass that’d grow anywhere.

Unfortunately, most of it required either specialized equipment or modified bacteria I didn’t have.

Mace finished crunching something bony before speaking. “We can pick up some dog food on our way back from the compound. I don’t want us out any more than necessary until we have those rabids dealt with.”

He had a good point. Those fuckers could be anywhere.

I turned to Vegas, who was overseeing the project. “How’s the fence coming?” Everything hinged on that.

“We don’t have enough chain link for another full fence.”

“We’ve got sheet metal in storage. Might be enough to fill in the gaps.” It’d be harder for them to climb but also provide them with cover. Hmm…

“If we only used it where we could fire over the top, fine.” Slade didn’t sound too enthusiastic.

“Cut it into strips and leave the edges sharp so it cuts when they try to climb it,” Lori suggested.

“Good idea, Lori.” She was one smart woman, and now that she didn’t feel so intimidated by the pack, was really coming into her own. Oddly, she said it was watching me that gave her the courage to speak up. Had she fucking missed how many times I’d gotten the shit beat out of me? Still, I was glad to see her opening up.

We finished lunch and I headed back to my shop to start ripping sheet metal. It wasn’t the ideal fence material, but it would have to do.