by Leia Stone
We lay like that until our breathing settled and rational thinking returned. “Do you think some of your wolves heard us?” I inquired.
Brock rolled off me and tucked me into the crook of his arm, pulling me flush against the side of his body. “Probably. I’ve stationed much of the pack in the house because of the vampire threat.”
I tensed. “So everyone might have heard us?”
He shrugged. “They’re in the other wings of the house, and some in the converted basement below, but yeah, probably. You don’t care, do you?”
I had to think about it. “No, I suppose I don’t.”
“Good. Now, enough talking. Rest up, because I’m far from finished with you.”
I draped a leg over his and nestled closer. “What a coincidence. I’m far from finished with you too.”
He chuckled and pressed a kiss to the crown of my head. I allowed my eyes to drift closed for a bit. With Brock at my side, I felt safer than I had in a long time.
5 Rage with a Side of Fury
I must have fallen asleep, because I woke with a start, though I couldn’t immediately recognize what had woken me. Then I sensed Brock’s body rigid beneath me as he attempted to slide his arm out from under my head and his legs from beneath mine.
“What is it?” I asked.
“One of my lookouts is reporting strange activity. I’m going to go check it out. Stay here and rest. I’ll be back when I can.”
I hopped out of bed and started tugging on my pants.
“You’re not coming with me,” he said. “It might be dangerous.”
I didn’t even bother looking at him, focusing instead on fastening and putting garments on as quickly as I could. When I clipped on my gun, katana, and badge, just in case, he was waiting at the door in a bare chest and jeans.
“Please stay here,” he pressed, and I could tell the please was a last-ditch effort to have me listen.
“Not a chance, bud.”
“So all that ‘As you command, Alpha’ was just bullshit? I am your alpha, ya know.”
“And I’m a supernatural bounty hunter, not a kept woman. We’ve been over this before.” I joined his side at the door and pointed to it. “I’m pretty sure we don’t have time to waste.”
He growled, entirely unlike the growls he’d shared in our lovemaking—he had a full vocabulary in grunts—and yanked the door open. “Fine,” he conceded, “but you stay by my side the entire time.”
I didn’t bother replying because I knew it was a promise I couldn’t keep. I’d remain by his side to placate him as long as I could, but if I was needed elsewhere, I’d go.
“What did the lookout tell you?” I whispered as we edged through the dark house. With our keen shifter eyes, we didn’t need the lights.
“That he sensed something strange, like shadows moving through the night.”
“Vamps?”
He shrugged, but his forced nonchalance wasn’t fooling me. In the supernatural community, we took “feelings” about danger seriously. They were our instincts talking to us loud and clear.
The moment we stepped outside, my danger alert started ringing in my head like an all-systems alarm. A smell I couldn’t quite place, like a charred campfire but more sinister, drifted past my nose. Brock was fighting a shift, the fur rippling across his bare chest and arms. “By my side,” he barked, and then took off into the night.
I loped after him as he led us away from the house and into the woods that surrounded our homes. At least we weren’t headed in the direction of the gate; that was a big fat plus. If the vampires found out about it, we’d be in some serious shit. Despite Reo, Haru, and Tianna’s near constant training efforts, I was nowhere near ready to take on the army of underworlders preparing to spill out of it.
Even in human form, Brock was fast. The waning moonlight reflected off his muscular back and shoulders, and I followed that delicious sight until he skidded to a stop, his breath steady despite our run.
‘What is it?’ I asked through our pack link so whoever—or whatever—was out there wouldn’t hear us.
‘Vamps,’ he growled. ‘Lots of vamps. On my land.’
Even in my mind, his words rang out with ferocity.
‘Wolves!’ Brock’s voice commanded in my head. This was the alpha, not the lover. This message wasn’t meant only for me, but for the entire pack. His alpha power was strong enough to surge through my body as a tangible force. ‘We’re under attack. Everyone mobilize now. Vamps are swarming. Follow protocol. Half of you shift, the other half double-fist shotguns loaded with UV rounds. Shoot to kill.’
I liked Brock’s style. Shoot now and ask questions later. Croft had warned us, and we both knew vamps didn’t visit you in the middle of the night for tea. They were here to kill. They might’ve managed it too if Brock hadn’t assigned extra patrols during the night.
‘Cass!’ I called as Brock began moving again, whisking through the forest quietly in his bare feet. I wished I’d skipped the boots too, but I was still used to human ways—or dud ways anyway. When Cass didn’t answer right away, I tried again.
‘What’s going on, Ev? His answer was swift and panicked.
‘We’re under attack. Are you at your apartment with Tianna?’
‘Yes. Is it the vamps?’
‘Yeah, and lots of them from the smell of it.’ I’d identified that more sinister stench beneath the scent of charred smoke—blood.
Old, decaying blood. The smell of powerful vampires.
‘Watch your back till I can get there. We’re on our way,’ my bestie confirmed.
A wolf howl cut through the night then, making goose bumps break out across my bare arms. When at least a dozen howls responded, I shivered so hard that I skipped a step before catching myself. I’d never been a part of anything as close knit as a pack before; it had always been Cass and me, and sometimes Gran was there too. Through their howls I could feel the pack’s sense of unity. Brock’s wolves considered themselves a family. They were going to make the vampires regret attacking. I could feel it in my bones.
‘Quiet and still, Eve,’ Brock said, slowing to a shuffle. ‘They’re out here. I can feel them.’
‘Yeah, I feel them too.’ I drew my katana slowly, inch by inch, working to mute its metallic ring as it rubbed against its sheath. I hadn’t tried the kitsune blade on vamps, but even if it didn’t have any greater effect than a usual blade, separating the head from the body would slow a vamp down—permanently. Especially when I burned the body afterwards.
The sound of soft footsteps had me whirling to look behind me, blade aloft, ready to mow down whoever was trying to sneak up on us. Reo and Haru emerged from the dark, their hands raised in silent warning. Their eyes told me they were aware that we were about to walk into a patch dense with vamps.
Brock spun too, following my movements, but as soon as he realized who it was, he nodded at them and turned back around to face the front. With a constant sweep of his head to either side, it was clear the vamps were working to surround us. I could smell them, sense them, hear them.
Reo and Haru flanked me, swords at the ready, their heads swiveling to sweep the ground much like Brock’s, looking to either side, then peeking behind before resuming the cycle. I was about to turn forward again when Molly tip-toed up behind them, barely concealed by shadows and trees. She knew she wasn’t supposed to be out here, that it was too dangerous, but she was anyway. Thank God she’d had the sense to bring Gran’s shotgun; it was tucked against her side.
Dammit, Molly. Don’t get killed.
My nostrils flared in frustration before I realized I’d probably do the same thing in her place. I couldn’t exactly blame her for wanting to protect her friends, even if she was supremely unqualified to do so.
Werewolves, larger than regular wolves, padded around us, circling their alpha, and I had to trust they’d help me protect Molly if it became necessary. When Brock threw his head back and howled, even in his human form, my instincts drove me to h
im and him alone. My body electrified. Like magic. I felt more alive and powerful than I’d ever been before. So this was what it was like to be part of a pack...
We were sharing energy.
Brock’s body tensed, just as I registered tires squealing as a car took the turn onto the long road that led to our homes. I craned my neck to identify the vehicle. The roar of a ‘67 Mustang Fastback, with enough power under the hood to satisfy an Amazon like Tianna, made itself known. The cherry red car blended with the night, the moonlight managing only to skim its body as the well-oiled machine flew across the road.
Cass had arrived with my new mentor. Heads. Were. Gonna. Roll.
My katana flashed a bright violet then, just as the vamps began to pop out of the tree line and slink towards us, making their presence known. There was no sense in hiding any longer. They knew we were aware of them now. I shadowed Brock as he stalked, unafraid, toward the throng of vamps ahead.
Fucking vampires. This night would end in blood, no doubt, and for what? Because Cass and I had offended their delicate sensibilities by entering their seethe party uninvited, when we had the law on our side and an evil perp to apprehend?
Brock paused, flinching as if he were in pain, when a heartbreaking howl rang out somewhere on the perimeter.
‘We lost one of our own,’ Brock broadcast to the entire pack, sorrow lacing his every word. ‘No more casualties tonight. Watch each other’s backs. Take down every last motherfucker responsible for killing Nathan and invading our home.’
Nathan. The new wolf that hadn’t been able to control himself, giving in to his animal instincts, and nearly killed me... he’d triggered my first kitsune shift.
I hadn’t wanted him dead before, even after all that, and I definitely didn’t now. His loss vibrated through me as if we’d been lifelong friends, a gaping wound within the pack bond.
Oh, vamps were gonna die tonight. They’d regret the decision to mess with my pack. Wolves, a demon imp, a fae-witch hybrid, kitsune protectors, and humans—all were my pack, family, mine.
I charged into the darkness ahead, silent and lethal, with my family on my heels.
6 Die, You Undead Motherfuckers
I don’t know what came over me, but something inside me snapped. Maybe it was the collective pack energy pushing in on me, maybe it was simply the hormonal rage of pregnancy, but I wanted every last one of these blood-sucking motherfuckers dead. How dare they come in the night and try to wipe us out? How dare they aid and abet the siren! I was well within my rights to end them all.
The laws ruling supernatural creatures were simple enough. Vamps entered our territory without permission and with aggressive intent, so I was allowed to kill them. End of discussion. Add to that it was a freaking supernatural bounty hunter they were trying to kill, and they were toast. Dry blood toast.
The first vampire rushed out of the trees then, coming at me. With a battle cry, I lifted my katana—which was glowing an angry, dark purple—and plunged it into him. He clutched his chest, gasping in shock as I removed the sword, leaving a gouging hole. Brock, who’d shifted into his wolf form, leapt from the ground to wrap his strong jaw around the vampire’s throat. Twisting his wolf body midair, Brock ripped the vamp’s head clean off and landed on the other side. It was a thing of beauty.
‘Stay near me!’ Brock yelled through our link as the undead pushed in on our pack.
Suddenly, a small golden ball of light zoomed past me and I grinned. Cass. Flying on his hoverboard, throwing demon magic at every vampire who crossed his path, he wove his way through the frenzy, precise and swift to reach my side.
The first blast of a shotgun resounded behind me and I looked over my shoulder to find Molly pumping Gran’s shotgun for another round. She didn’t meet my gaze, all her attention focused on the vampires working hard to surround us. Even in the dim light of the night, I could make out the ferocity of her expression. Gone was the cute girl with the purple hair. Molly was transforming into a hunter.
Good girl.
Reo and Haru were right at my heels, their backs to mine, protecting me. Their katanas didn’t glow as mine did, but they were plenty deadly all the same. The brothers moved as if they’d been born with a blade in their hands.
‘I’ll be okay. I’ve got my pack too,’ I assured Brock, who hovered around me. The pack needed him free of distractions.
I hadn’t spotted Tianna yet, but I had no doubt she’d make a grand entrance. She hadn’t revealed much of her magic in our training, but she didn’t need to for me to conclude that she was wildly powerful. Magic radiated off of her, coloring everything she did. The vamps would get a nasty surprise when she entered the scene.
Pivoting, I cut down another vampire, weakening it so Brock could go in for the kill. Then another. We worked as a team. I would injure them and bring them to their knees while Brock would rip their heads right off.
The vamps were wicked fast, but you didn’t manage to become a supernatural bounty hunter without learning to track the undead as they moved. You certainly didn’t remain a hunter for long if you weren’t good at anticipating vamps’ movements.
Reo and Haru took on their own batch of vampires behind me. They moved together in a dance so fluid it was like a damn choreography. They flanked their attackers and went for kill shots, slicing across necks as though bone and sinew were as yielding as butter. Their arms swung this way and that, as fast as the vamps. I had to resist the desire to watch their mesmerizing flow.
Half of Brock’s pack was firing shotguns, the crisp cracking sound was deafening as the rounds rocketed into the night, the other half fighting in wolf form. I continued slicing through the vamps as the werewolves encased Molly in a protective circle that moved along with her. Werewolves were usually fond of humans, and a wave of relief rushed through me to see that Molly was as safe as she could get given the circumstances.
I was in the middle of wondering how many vamps could possibly be a part of this attack, my muscles heavy from the continuous effort, when Brock and I finally came face to face with the seethe lord.
He stood in the open field alone, chest heaving, dead eyes wild, fangs fully extended as we obliterated those under his command.
Brock moved in front of me and crouched low, baring his teeth while a deep, dangerous growl rang from his throat. The sound made the little hairs on my arms stand on end. The gray wolf was twice as large as a normal wolf … and twice as deadly.
“Come and meet your death, old man!” I shouted. Black, ashy vampire innards coated my blade, its purple glow seeping through the dust in thin menacing rays. This motherfucker was about to realize what I was capable of.
The seethe lord’s nostrils flared and he met my gaze with boiling rage. “A new dawn is coming,” he declared, his voice barely human as it dripped with a tangible feel of death. “You’re either with us or you’re dead.”
He must have recognized he was outnumbered and overpowered, because he growled, a beastly sound, and then, fast as a jagged strike of lightning, he was gone—zipping through the trees in a cowardly retreat.
“Oh, hell no!” I shouted, sidestepping Brock, and gave chase.
I was one of the fastest sprinters at the Bounty Hunter Academy. I tired out too quickly for long distances, but I could run two hundred meters faster than anyone before collapsing into a heaving heap. Could I run as fast as a vampire? No. But I might cut the distance between us enough to put a bullet in the back of his head.
‘Woman!’ Brock roared through our link before I registered pounding footsteps on my trail. A whole pack of them.
Without answering, I pushed forward. I was too focused on pumping my legs and arms and keeping from slicing myself open with my own katana. I didn’t like loose ends. Loose ends came back to bite you in the ass. I wasn’t going to sleep with one eye open, fearing this undead douchebag was going to suck me dry in my sleep. I wasn’t about to have a baby with a bunch of enemies running around.
There! His body was no more
than a blurred streak, but it was just in front of me. I dropped my katana—it would only slow me down to sheath it—and I pulled my Glock.
I fired two shots at the blur, but nothing happened.
That’s when Tianna chose to make her grand entrance. Light exploded, bright as the fucking summer sun, and I shrank back, raising an arm to shield my eyes. Training my vision on the forest floor so as not to blind myself, I used my peripheral vision to figure out what the hell was happening.
Tianna, in all her glory, was holding her hands out before her, sunlight pouring from her palms in distinct rays.
The seethe lord crashed to his knees with a painful hiss, trying to shield his face and eyes.
Brock, Reo, Haru, and most of Brock’s wolves caught up with me. Molly was bringing up the rear when Cass zoomed into sight atop his hoverboard.
Positioning himself in front of me, my alpha charged ahead, running straight toward the sunlight.
‘No way! This is my kill,’ I called, running after him.
That vampire asshat almost got Cass, Molly, and me killed the night we tried to capture Calista. I owed the seethe lord some payback.
Brock growled into my mind. ‘He attacked on my land. He’s my kill.’
Taking down a seethe lord was ten times harder than killing a regular ol’ vampire. Lords often had centuries of power layered beneath those dusty bones, enough to withstand the sunlight Tianna was throwing at him, which would have been sufficient to kill a newer vamp, but would only stun him for a moment. No doubt it would take both of us to finish off the vamp lord. I wished I hadn’t dropped my katana back there.
Brock’s muscles scrunched up, signaling that he was about to lunge, when Tianna let loose her own battle cry. Damn, was this woman fierce. Her cry was primal, and I responded to it instantly, wanting justice to be served—now.