The Divergence

Lavinia caught the gray wolf by the head as it lunged and forced its muzzle downward, her fingers digging into thick fur while the animal’s paws scraped hard against the polished floor.

For a moment, she had the advantage.

Then the wolf twisted violently.

Its neck and shoulders moved with enough force that Lavinia’s arms were thrown aside, and before she could properly reset her footing, the movement carried through the rest of its body and sent her several feet away.

Lavinia turned once in the air and landed lightly on both feet.

Her black dress settled neatly around her legs while her golden hair drifted back into place, and she stared at the gray wolf with something approaching genuine amazement as she shook out one hand.

”You’re ridiculously strong.”

The wolf responded with a low growl.

Lavinia flexed her fingers and watched it carefully.

There was something strange about fighting werewolves that she hadn’t fully appreciated until now. Vampires were contradictions almost from top to bottom. 

Their slender frames contained strength that had no obvious biological explanation, their bodies could repair damage that should have been permanently disabling, and they weren’t even alive in the ordinary sense.

Werewolves were different.

They breathed.

Their hearts beat.

Their muscles worked.

Their bodies warmed and cooled like living things.

They ate, slept, tired, and bled in a way that still belonged to ordinary biology, even if nearly everything about that biology had been pushed far beyond human limits.

And yet this living creature could throw her.

The bar for being larger than a vampire wasn’t particularly high. 

Most werewolves were taller and broader even before transforming, but that didn’t make their strength any less impressive. 

The wolf in front of Lavinia was considerably heavier now than he had been in humanoid form, and all of that mass had become useful rather than cumbersome.

His claws dug into the floor.

Lavinia’s empty red eyes narrowed.

He lunged.

She bent backward at the waist as the wolf’s jaws clamped shut exactly where her neck had been a second before.

The snap of teeth passing near her ear was sharp enough that instinct took over before thought could.

Lavinia’s hand came up.

Her pearl-colored nails extended.

For a fraction of a second, she saw exactly where to strike.

The throat.

One swipe.

Deep enough to open the major vessels running through the neck.

The thought arrived so naturally that it barely felt like a decision.

Cut.

Let the blood drain.

End the threat.

Lavinia stopped herself.

Her hand hovered inches from the wolf’s throat before she twisted her wrist and struck the side of his jaw instead.

The wolf stumbled sideways, snarling.

Lavinia exhaled through her nose.

That had been close.

A vampire could have her throat ripped open and keep fighting. A werewolf couldn’t. Their regeneration was excellent, but it still operated on a living body. 

If enough blood left quickly enough, if the brain lost oxygen, if the heart failed, then the body would die before regeneration could correct the damage.

That meant Lavinia had to restrain herself.

Which was irritating.

Every instinct in her body wanted the opposite. Something had attacked her, had killed someone, and was continuing to threaten people nearby. The cleanest answer was to destroy it.

But if she killed him now, the entire situation would become something else.

The headlines would change.

The footage would spread.

The details would blur.

A werewolf killed a human and then a vampire killed the werewolf.

Some people would only hear the second half.

Others would use the first half as justification for the second.

And somehow, vampires would still end up right back where they’d started.

Lavinia clicked her tongue and stepped aside as the wolf swiped at her.

”You’re making this much harder than it needs to be.”

The wolf spun and lunged again.

Lavinia caught one foreleg, redirected it, and stepped around the snapping jaws before shoving the animal sideways. Instead of following with a lethal strike, she backed off again.

The wolf turned.

Its breathing was heavier now.

There.

That was something useful.

Werewolves could grow tired.

Lavinia couldn’t.

Not once.

Not physically, anyway.

She’d been mentally exhausted, emotionally drained, annoyed, bored, sleepy, and thoroughly irritated on more occasions than she cared to count since the First Divergence, but she’d never experienced the deep burning fatigue that came from pushing a body too hard.

Her muscles didn’t accumulate exhaustion in the same way.

Her lungs didn’t ache.

Her heart couldn’t race because she didn’t have a heartbeat to begin with.

The wolf did.

Lavinia heard it.

Fast.

Heavy.

Working.

That meant she didn’t need to win quickly.

She only needed to keep going.

The gray wolf charged again.

Lavinia moved directly into him this time.

One hand caught the upper muzzle while the other clamped beneath the jaw, forcing the animal’s mouth shut before the teeth could close around her. 

The wolf immediately tried to wrench free, but Lavinia tightened her grip and twisted her hips.

”Stay.”

The word was almost absurd enough to make her laugh.

The wolf growled through its closed muzzle.

Lavinia drew one leg back.

Then planted her heel directly into its forechest.

The impact produced a muted, brutal thud.

The wolf’s front half lifted from the floor before its paws came down awkwardly several feet behind where they’d started. 

His body staggered backward, legs faltering beneath him as a low, almost breathless whine escaped his throat.

Lavinia lowered her leg.

The wolf tried to remain standing.

Failed.

His body collapsed onto one side.

For several seconds, his limbs trembled while his chest rose in shallow, uneven breaths. His golden-green eyes remained partially open but unfocused.

Lavinia watched carefully.

Still alive.

Good.

Orange appeared beside the wolf.

Valerie moved so quickly that Lavinia barely registered her arrival before one boot was raised above the animal’s neck.

Lavinia’s eyes widened slightly.

Valerie looked down.

Her expression sharpened.

Then she stopped.

The raised foot slowly lowered to the floor without striking.

Valerie glanced toward Lavinia. ”He’s still alive.”

Lavinia nodded once.

”So you intentionally left him that way.” Valerie’s posture relaxed as understanding settled over her features. ”All right.”

She stepped away from the wolf and looked around the lower level of the mall.

The humans who had scattered during the chase were still hiding wherever they’d managed to find cover. 

Some crouched behind benches, others stood inside nearby stores, and several people had pressed themselves against walls or pillars as though that might somehow make them invisible.

To a vampire, it didn’t.

Valerie could hear their heartbeats.

Smell them.

Sense the heat of their blood moving beneath skin.

Hiding from something that naturally preyed on humans by ducking behind a decorative planter was almost endearing in its uselessness.

Valerie raised both hands where everyone could see them. ”It’s safe now.”

Several humans peeked out more openly.

”The fighting stopped,” Valerie continued, her voice carrying easily through the mall. ”You can leave if you want, or keep doing whatever you were doing. Nobody’s attacking anyone.”

Nobody moved immediately.

Valerie sighed.

Lavinia left her to it and walked toward the gray wolf.

Her steps were light against the floor.

The animal twitched once when she approached, but whatever strength it had left wasn’t enough to rise.

Lavinia crouched beside it.

Those large golden-green eyes shifted toward her.

Still conscious.

Barely.

Lavinia reached forward and wrapped one hand around the wolf’s throat.

The wolf growled weakly.

”Don’t.”

Her fingers tightened.

Not enough to crush.

Just enough.

The wolf’s breathing stopped.

Its eyes widened briefly before the struggling began.

Lavinia kept her grip steady.

Werewolves needed air.

That distinction mattered.

The wolf’s paws scraped against the floor once, twice, then lost most of their strength.

Its heartbeat hammered rapidly beneath Lavinia’s hand, frantic at first, then increasingly disorganized as consciousness slipped away.

The golden-green eyes lost focus.

A few seconds later, the body went limp.

Lavinia released his throat immediately.

The wolf remained motionless.

Unconscious.

Alive.

She stood and wiped her hand down the front of her dress with a faint grimace. ”Dog smell.”

Valerie turned at the comment.

She had been speaking with several humans who’d finally emerged from hiding, and she looked over her shoulder toward Lavinia and the unmoving wolf before giving her a small smile.

”Everything’s fine over here,” Valerie called. ”No more fighting. Nothing else is happening in the mall either, as far as I can tell.”

Lavinia nodded and began inspecting herself.

The wolf had bitten her more than once during the fight.

There were traces of blood along one sleeve and across the side of her dress, but the actual injuries had already become irrelevant. 

The punctures had closed. The tears in her flesh were gone. 

Even where the wolf’s teeth had bitten deeply enough to scrape against bone, Lavinia felt nothing beyond the vague memory of pressure.

Her dress was recovering too.

Threads pulled together.

Tears narrowed.

Blood remained on the fabric, but the damage itself gradually vanished.

Lavinia wiped some of the darker blood from her skin with her sleeve.

Valerie walked back toward her, her own dress swishing lightly around her legs. 

Once she was close enough, she clapped her hands together with exaggerated satisfaction. ”Flawless.”

Lavinia crossed her arms. ”Flattering me won’t do you any good.”

Valerie’s smile widened as she stepped closer. ”Maybe flattering you makes me happy inside.”

Lavinia gave her a flat look.

Valerie leaned even closer, her grin becoming far too meaningful.

Lavinia raised one finger and pressed it against Valerie’s forehead, gently moving her backward. ”No.”

Valerie allowed herself to be pushed away while laughing.

Lavinia sighed. ”I have an extremely important question.”

Valerie’s expression immediately became serious. ”What?”

”How long do you think the police station is going to take this time?”

Valerie stared at her for a second.

Then she burst into laughter.

”I’m serious.” Lavinia’s shoulders slumped. ”Why do I even have to ask that question again? We’ve spent so much time dealing with police since becoming vampires that I’ll start recognizing the furniture in the station at this rate!”

Valerie wiped beneath one eye despite producing no tears. ”At this point, the police station is basically our second home.”

”Don’t say that.”

”It’s true.”

”I refuse.”

Valerie’s laughter softened as Lavinia glanced toward the dead man lying several yards away.

The amusement faded from both of them.

The body hadn’t moved.

Couldn’t.

Lavinia stared for a moment.

Humans killed humans.

That had never been remarkable.

Vampires had killed humans too.

She knew that personally, even if the circumstances varied wildly.

And apparently, werewolves killed humans as well.

Lavinia hadn’t actually seen one do it until tonight.

There had always been reports, of course. Stories. Rumors. Some confirmed, some not. But seeing it happen less than a dozen yards away was different.

She still didn’t understand why he’d done it.

Wrong place, wrong time?

That explanation didn’t even fit properly.

The man hadn’t wandered into danger accidentally.

The danger had chased him.

There had been no realistic opportunity for escape. 

By the time the human realized the gray wolf was coming toward him, the difference in speed had already made the outcome inevitable.

No human could have outrun that.

Valerie lightly bumped Lavinia’s shoulder with her own. ”A few people want to thank you.”

Lavinia looked toward her.

Valerie gestured toward a small group that had formed nearby.

Lavinia’s expression softened. ”Oh.”

She walked toward them.

Several people watched her approach with visible uncertainty, but nobody retreated. 

Their eyes occasionally flicked toward the motionless wolf and then toward the covered body farther away.

Someone had found a tablecloth or some similar piece of fabric.

It now covered the dead man.

That was all anyone could do.

Vampire blood could heal almost anything Lavinia had seen so far.

Burns.

Broken bones.

Internal damage.

Disease.

The line between medicine and miracle had become increasingly difficult to define when vampire blood was involved.

But even miracles had limits.

The recipient needed to be alive.

There had to be something left to heal.

A body whose heart had already stopped permanently, whose brain had already been destroyed by lack of blood and oxygen, couldn’t simply be restarted because a vampire offered blood afterward.

If someone died instantly, there was nothing Lavinia could do.

The thought annoyed her more than she expected.

One of the humans stepped forward.

An older woman.

Her heartbeat was still faster than normal, but her expression was composed.

”Thank you.”

Lavinia smiled faintly. ”You’re welcome.”

A younger man nearby nodded quickly. ”You stopped him before he reached anyone else.”

”That was the idea.” Lavinia glanced back toward the unconscious wolf. ”He made a very stupid decision.”

Several people looked toward the covered body.

Lavinia followed their gaze.

Her smile faded.

”Unfortunately, not quickly enough.”

The older woman exhaled. ”Was he with the other wolves?”

”Yes.”

That produced a few nervous murmurs.

Lavinia raised one hand slightly. ”My friends have the others under control. Nobody else has been killed, and the fighting stopped.”

A woman standing near the back of the group hesitated before asking, ”Are the other vampires okay?”

Lavinia blinked.

Then smiled.

”They’re fine.”

Of course that was what someone asked.

People nearly dying around them and still worrying about whether the vampires were injured.

For some reason, it reminded her of Rebecca.

Lavinia’s thoughts briefly wandered toward the safehouse.

Then toward Gwendolyn.

She missed her.

Again.

It hadn’t been that long.

Lavinia almost laughed at herself.

The older woman glanced at the blood splattered across Lavinia’s dress. ”You’re sure you’re okay?”

”I’m completely fine.” Lavinia lifted one arm and showed the intact skin. ”Werewolf bites look worse than they actually are for us.”

That wasn’t entirely true.

They were dangerous.

Just not in the same way they were to humans.

Another human swallowed before asking, ”What happened? We only saw the wolf running.”

Lavinia sighed softly. ”There was an argument upstairs. One of the wolves got angry, things escalated, and my friends and I tried to keep anyone from getting badly hurt. Then this one decided to run.”

She pointed toward the unconscious gray wolf.

”He came down here, attacked that man, and then we stopped him.”

The group listened quietly.

Lavinia deliberately kept the explanation simple.

There would be plenty of statements later.

Plenty of security footage.

Plenty of witnesses.

She didn’t particularly feel like reconstructing every stupid decision that had led from someone whispering in a restaurant to a corpse on the mall floor.

A man near the front glanced toward Valerie. ”You two chased him?”

Valerie had followed Lavinia over and nodded. ”We jumped down after him when he fled through the window.”

Several faces changed.

One teenager looked toward the upper floors. ”You jumped from up there?”

Valerie followed his gaze before shrugging. ”It wasn’t very high.”

Lavinia gave her a look. ”For us.”

”Oh.” Valerie smiled at the humans. ”Yes. Don’t do that.”

A few nervous laughs escaped the group.

Lavinia covered a smile.

At least the tension was lowering.

Sirens would probably arrive soon.

Police too.

Possibly an absurd number of both considering what had happened.

Lavinia could already imagine Violetta’s expression when the call reached her.

That thought made her wince.

Valerie noticed. ”What?”

”Violetta.”

Valerie’s smile disappeared.

”Oh.”

”We promised her a peaceful night.”

”Technically, we didn’t start it.”

”Do you think that’s going to make the explanation less annoying?”

Valerie considered it. ”No.”

”Exactly.”

One of the humans laughed quietly.

Lavinia glanced toward him and smiled before looking back at the unconscious wolf.

He still hadn’t moved.

His chest rose and fell slowly.

Good.

Alive.

For now, that was enough.

Lavinia brushed a strand of golden hair away from her face and turned back toward the small crowd. 

”Anyway, everyone should probably stay away from him until the police get here. He’s unconscious, but I don’t know how long werewolves stay unconscious.”

Valerie glanced at the wolf too. ”Probably not long.”

”That’s what I’m worried about.”

”I can sit on him.”

Lavinia slowly looked at Valerie.

Valerie smiled innocently. ”What?”

”You’re not sitting on the werewolf.”

”It would work.”

”It would look ridiculous.”

”It would still work.”

A few humans laughed again.

Lavinia sighed and rubbed her forehead. ”We’ll figure something out.”

Her ears twitched.

Far in the distance, faint sirens were beginning to rise above the ambient sounds of the mall.

Lavinia glanced toward the entrance.