Chapter 5 - The Resurrection of the Wolf
Dominic Leone’s eyes widened to the size of saucers. He stumbled backward, his golden pistol shaking in his hand as if he were looking at a corpse rising from a grave. The mercenaries around him froze, their tactical training completely useless against the sheer impossibility of what they were witnessing.
Adrian Cross stood at his full height of six feet two inches. His legs trembled slightly as the unused muscles contracted violently under the massive electrical storm being generated by Lily’s humming, but his stance was solid. His shadow stretched across the room, wide and terrifying.
"Impossible," Dominic whispered, his voice cracking with sudden, overwhelming terror. "You're a cripple... you're supposed to be dead!"
"I was," Adrian said, his voice sounding like grinding tectonic plates. "But I've decided to live."
With speed that defied his years of immobility, Adrian dove to the right as Dominic fired a panicked shot. The bullet missed, shattering a vase behind the desk. Adrian hit the floor, rolled perfectly, and came up on one knee, his submachine gun raised.
He pulled the trigger.
A hail of bullets tore through the two mercenaries standing in front of Dominic. They collapsed instantly. Dominic turned to run into the hallway, but Adrian was already on his feet, striding forward with a predatory, heavy gait. He caught Dominic by the collar of his expensive suit and slammed him violently against the concrete wall of the study.
Adrian’s grip was like a vice. He squeezed Dominic’s throat, lifting the mob boss slightly off the ground.
"Eight years ago, you took my wife," Adrian growled, his face inches from Dominic’s. "Ten years ago, you stole her sister's child. You thought you could erase my world, Dominic. But look at me. Look at my feet."
Dominic choked, his face turning purple as he clawed at Adrian’s iron hands. "Please... Adrian... it wasn't just me... the syndicate... we were paid..."
"I don't care who paid you," Adrian whispered coldly. "Tell them the Wolf is coming for them next."
With a brutal twist of his arms, Adrian threw Dominic across the room. The mob boss crashed into a glass display cabinet, knocking himself unconscious amidst the shattered shards of crystal.
Above them, the humming stopped.
The moment the music died, the white-hot energy in Adrian’s legs began to fade rapidly, replaced by a cold, agonizing numbness that crept back up from his toes. He gasped, his knees buckling. He caught himself on the edge of the desk, panting heavily, fighting with every ounce of his willpower to stay upright.
"Lily," he croaked, looking up at the vent.
The maintenance hatch grate popped open, and Lily tumbled out, landing clumsily on a plush rug. She looked utterly exhausted, her eyes half-closed, but she managed to look up at Adrian.
"You stood up," she whispered, a weak, goofy smile spreading across her face. "You look really tall."
Adrian didn't care about his failing legs anymore. He dragged himself forward, collapsing to his knees beside her, and pulled her small body into his arms. "You foolish girl. I told you not to dance. I told you to stay in the vault."
"I didn't dance," Lily muttered, her head resting against his shoulder. "I just sang. Singing doesn't count as heavy feet."
The door to the panic room finally opened as Marcus, bruised and bleeding from a shoulder wound but victorious, entered the room alongside Emma and Noah. Emma ran forward, letting out a sob as she saw Adrian on his knees, holding Lily.
"Is she okay? Is she breathing?!" Emma cried, falling to the floor beside them.
"She’s alive, but she’s completely drained," Adrian said, his voice soft as he handed Lily over to her mother. He looked up at Marcus, who was staring at his boss's knees in utter disbelief.
"Sir... you're on your knees. You walked," Marcus whispered, his voice trembling.
"Clean up this mess, Marcus," Adrian ordered, his authority returning even as he felt the lower half of his body going completely numb again. He allowed Marcus and Noah to help him back into his wheelchair. "Secure Dominic. Put him in the deep cells. He has a lot of questions to answer about who ordered the hit on Caroline and who bought Elena’s baby."
Emma held Lily tight, looking at Adrian with a mixture of profound gratitude and deep curiosity. "You know something about her, don't you? About where she came from?"
Adrian looked at Emma, then at the sleeping girl. "She isn't just a maid's daughter, Emma. And she isn't just my cure. She is my family. She is Caroline’s niece. Her biological mother was Elena Vance."
Emma froze, her breath catching. She looked down at the girl she had raised as her own for nine years. "Elena... the woman who gave her to me in that alley in Tijuana... she was bleeding... she told me to run and never look back... she told me her name was Mary..."
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"She was protecting her from the people who are currently locked in our basement," Adrian said darkly. "You saved her life, Emma. For nine years, you kept her safe from the monsters of this world. For that, you will never have to worry about a single thing for the rest of your life."
He turned his chair toward the window, looking out at the burning desert dawn. "But the war isn't over. Dominic was just a soldier. The people who ordered this are still out there, and now they know the Wolf can walk again."
