Lines of Tension

I was breathless, but that was the least of my concerns as I rose back to my feet. The demon was a crumbling mass of charred flesh in front of me, and it wasn't a pretty sight. Even though somewhat satisfying.

The skin on my body felt so raw and fresh that even the subtle wind brushing against my bare skin sent sensations through to my brain. It wasn't like any transformation I had ever done, I could feel how different I was after going through it.

Before, the fire was inside me. It was a raging ball of fire thrashing against its cage within my lungs and chest. But now...it was everything and everywhere. Like a wildfire roaring out of control, it had surged through my limbs and boiled my blood. Even after a few moments of settling down in the cold night air, the flames inside me wouldn't bring themselves back into confinement. The little strength I had left was barely keeping me upright.

The surrounding area seemed to be on its last limbs as well. Almost all of the houses lining both sides of the rode were crumbling in on themselves or still catching fire. The layer of smooth black pavement that covered the street was sprinkled over the broken cement in large chunks everywhere. Except for the ground directly beneath me in about a ten-foot radius which had melted and hardened, it would take serious work to repair this neighborhood from the broken battlefield that it was.

I wonder why those homes were empty in the first place-

"Nnooo!" a wicked shriek came from the side of a crumbling house and tore apart the silence. "Dad!" it cried next, and the figure ran out from hiding.

It was the siren, Fenix. I had just assumed it burned up in the flames or ran away already, but it was running over to me now. I braced myself for whatever attack it might throw at me, but never came close enough to.

The siren approached the charred corpse of the mad demon with shaking legs and trembling hands. It moved partially between the corpse and myself before dropping to its knees and screaming again. As soon as its hands tried to touch the body, they recoiled from the heat. But it reached out again and shook the corpse's body roughly. It shouted, "No! Wake up. Wake up, daddy, wake up!"

Sobs raked his body suddenly and I could see tears spilling from frightened and terrified eyes. He looked like a real boy in agony, but I forced myself to remember that it wasn't human either. It was still a demon and dangerous to my family. So I extended the claws on my right hand and walked up behind its crouching form. My shadow covered its small body as I raised my hind to strike it down, but it didn't look away from the fallen demon.

Something inside of me made me hesitate, but I knew it was the right thing to do. The demon has to die!

"No, he doesn't!" Jake shouted, his hand gripping my wrist like a vice. "Can't you see he's just a child?" he yelled.

I tried to fight his grip, but Jake wasn't messing around. Which really burned me up, "A 'child'? A child that was trying to lure shifters out of their beds at night to die. A child that could drive people insane with his voice. That child is a monster, Jake!" I fired back. Claws extended from my left hand as I considered ending this with my free hand.

"Hunter," Jake's rumbling voice brought my attention to his face. Lips tight in angers and dark glowing green eyes glaring at me in rage. "Step back, now." He growled a deep warning that I didn't know human lungs could even make.

I was more shocked than angry. So when he let go of my wrist, I obeyed and stepped back. It was more than that, my anger was actually draining away.

"There is a line that you don't cross. Killing children is that line," he declared and glanced pitifully at the sobbing siren.

"Do not talk about morals like that is supposed to mean anything to them. Do you know how many times they've crossed that line? Do you have any idea how many little kids even smaller than him that they slaughtered?" I growled. "That is what they were hoping for here tonight, more death!"

"I don't know how many, Hunter," he retaliated instantly. "I am not stupid. I know what they are; I know what they really do. But you can't become them. You can't cross the same lines. If you do everything that they do, what difference will it make about who did it first?" he was shouting as if trying to scold me, but I knew it was more like pleading for me to listen.

I couldn't stand Jake sometimes, but I could never ignore him even if I wanted to. There was a definite part of me that wanted to take my revenge on the demons right then and there for everyone they had taken from my pack. But Jake was right. "So what do you plan to do with him-it-the siren child? I cannot allow it to just run free now," I said with resignation.

"Well..."

"If you try bringing it into my den I will slit its throat, Jake."

"Fine, fine. I will take him home tonight, and my mom will treat him. we can talk about this more tomorrow." Jake was looking over the siren that continued to sob into the fallen demon's body. Now that the anger had subsided, I could feel its sorrow as well. There are some things that not even a demon could fake.

The child continued to weep even as Jake pulled him away and lifted him onto his back. In that moment, I realized what had happened and was going on with my mate. With the way he fiercely defending against me, and gently picked up the siren like it was his own...Jake was becoming some sort of Luna. And that would lead to a whole set of messy problems and questions all on its own. If he thought the jokes about getting pregnant were upsetting, there was no telling how he would react to me telling him the truth about Luna...

My occasional cliffhangers are made out of love <3