Bonedust

“I’ll see you soon.” The call ended with a click and a flicker of static.
    Urban groaned. Great. A homicidal werewolf was killing innocent people, just because he was pissed that Urban accidentally killed his girlfriend. Mate. Whatever. Just his lucky day. He sat up with a sigh and dressed quickly, then shook Gabriel awake.
    Gabe blinked up at him, a frown on his face. “What’s going on?”
    “We’ve got a call. Dublith. Reese Callahan’s lovely boyfriend went psycho-wolf and is killing innocent women. He won’t come out until he gets his revenge. And lucky-lucky, that would be me.” Urban rolled his eyes with a huff, outstretching a hand to Gabriel. “You wanna come, or you want me to leave you here with Pandora?”
    Gabe shook his head and scurried out of bed. Ducking into the bathroom, his voice echoed from the tile. “I’m coming. I can help—my gun’s not just for decoration anymore, yanno?” He laughed as he dressed quickly, lacing up his sneakers and pulling on his coat. “Pandora rides in an Aerbus okay? Dublith’s pretty far off from Angel.”
    “She’ll be fine. It’ll just take a little bribery on my part. Let’s go. Get this over with so we can sleep—” Urban paused as Gabriel caught his hand, tugging him back. The man’s face was soft, his dark eyes filled with love.
    Panic rose in his throat and he turned away. “Come on, Gabe. We don’t have time.” He hated to see the pain flicker across his lover’s face as he pulled away, but he just couldn’t handle this right now. His mind was a jumbled mess. He just needed room to breathe. How could he love him? They’d only been a couple for a few weeks.
    By the time they hitched a bus to Dublith, his mind was torn and twisted from his internal battle. He’d loved Dante. He’d loved the man with all of his heart, only to have it torn into tiny pieces. Urban hadn’t had a relationship since—the idea of love terrified him. The idea of a relationship? Well, relationships always ended.
    He flicked his gaze to Gabriel, who seemed lost in his own little world, his mouth in a grim line. No. Gabriel wasn’t something that would always be there, no matter how much Urban liked the idea. They’d end up hurting each other, end up parting ways, and Urban would be alone. Always alone.
    He shook his head, trying to rid his mind of the thoughts. But they clicked! They fit together so well, in mind and soul. If he had to settle down with any of his past lovers barring Dante Saunders, it would be with Gabriel. His heart twisted and he moved faster, his mind busy and his body on autopilot. He caught a concerned look from Gabriel as they met with Dublith’s alpha to pick up the scent of the rogue, but he shrugged it off as they headed into the woods.
    They seemed to walk for miles, the forest endless around them. The crickets had died off with the frost, so the wood was silent behind their crunching footfalls.
    He froze mid-step as a high, keening scream rose up, filtering through the trees. “Fuck. I’ll bet that’s him,” Urban said, breaking into a run. His feet pounded against the earth in time with his heart. He was barely aware of Gabriel behind him, but as he turned the corner, the world shifted.
    The werewolf was a man, bare as the day he was born, crouched over a woman still writhing on the ground. His arms were slick with blood up to his elbows, his chest slathered with crimson as he slowly pulled intestine from her torn gut. She screamed, pitiful this time, and the werewolf snapped his feral gaze to Urban. He might’ve looked human, but he was an animal on the inside.
    “Back off, bitch,” Urban growled, taking a step forward and reaching for the gun at his belt. The wolf was faster—swapping skin in a moment’s time, the black-furred beast lunged at him, jaws open and gaping with a mouthful of razor sharp points. Urban caught the girl’s wounded, dying gaze and it made his heart jump. God, that could’ve been Gabriel, just weeks before. He saw the man shuddering on the ground, Reese Callahan’s hulking body hovering over him. No. That’s not how the story ended!
    He raised the gun and pulled the trigger just as the wolf collided with him. The gun exploded with a shot of sound and Urban pitched backward with a yell. The last thing he saw was the dark glint in the wolf’s eyes as his head slammed against the ground, bounced off, and everything went black.

    ***

    Gabriel’s heart stopped as Urban fell backwards,