The Wolfborne Saga Box Set

by Cheree Alsop

  I slid the gun with the regular bullets back into the holster on my vest and continued on. The dhampir was quiet long enough that I thought he would go hide somewhere else, but then he continued on my path.

  “That’s not a bad idea,” he said.

  I didn’t want to humor him, but I didn’t have a choice. “What idea?”

  “You’re trying to save as many of us as you can, right?”

  I nodded without bothering to restate the obvious.

  “So I’ll make enough noise to draw the Hunters to me and away from the others.”

  I shot him a surprised look. “You’d do that?”

  “Sure,” he replied. “You risked your life for us. I can return the favor. Besides,” he looked out at the trees as though wishing he could see between them. “My sister’s out there somewhere. If you can save her, I’d be more grateful than I could say.”

  I ran different scenarios through my head. As much as I didn’t want to risk anyone else, his offer was one I couldn’t pass up.

  “Alright,” I told him. I pulled the gun with the regular bullets from my vest and held it out. “Give me twenty minutes. If you don’t hear my voice in your head before the time is up, start the biggest commotion you can come up with.”

  He grabbed the gun and stuck out his other hand. “You can count on me, Wolfslayer.”

  I chuckled. “That’s my Hunter name. My real name’s Zev.”

  “Seth,” he replied. “It’s good to meet you.”

  “Likewise,” I told him. “Be careful and stay safe. If you can find any of the others on the way, keep them with you. There’s safety in numbers.”

  “Will do,” he said.

  I watched him disappear into the night, then headed in the other direction feeling lighter than before. At least I had someone on my side. I never thought hope would come in the form of a defiant dhampir who had pointed my own gun at me, but there was a first for everything.

  A scent caught my nose. I hurriedly limped in the same direction. Lemongrass and sage led me down a faint path toward the west. Soon enough, the smell of freshly cut wood, metal, and even the scent of horses drew my nose. I stepped out into the moonlight and found myself staring at the lamp-lit scenery of the old west.

  “You’ve got to be kidding me,” I muttered at the sight of horses tied in front of an old-fashioned saloon. “The man’s crazy.”

  The horses snorted and tugged at their leads when I passed by them. I limped around the side of the first building and then stopped short.

  Fray and Revna huddled at the end of the next short alley; the scent of their fear flooded my nose. A figure faced them about halfway down. The man with the dreadlocks had his back to me and the gun he held caught the light of the moon.

  “If I’d known I’d find a couple of pretties like you out here, I would have come prepared with rope,” the man said.

  Revna held up one of her iron-bound hands. “If I had my magic, you would live the rest of your life as the weasel you are.”

  He merely laughed. “I like you. You’ve got spunk.” He took a step forward. “But I didn’t come here for a conversation.”

  “What did you come here for?” Revna asked.

  His voice was a low growl when he said, “Blood.”

  Chapter Eleven

  The bolt from my crossbow sunk deep into the back of the man’s skull just as he squeezed the trigger. His gun fired harmlessly into the wall to his right. He slumped to the ground, then fell forward in a heap.

  “Zev, thank goodness,” Revna said.

  She rose, but a hand shot out and gripped her leg. Fray’s teeth bared. I didn’t know how she had gotten the mask off, but her fangs glittered in the moonlight as she pulled the witch toward her.

  “Help!” Revna shrieked.

  I lunged for Fray and managed to grapple her to the ground. The dhampir fought with the strength of the demons inside of her. As soon as Revna broke free, she ran to the front of the building. I struggled with Fray, but her strength was terrifying. I had to turn my head to each side to avoid the bite she tried to land. My heart pounded in my throat. I had to subdue her, but I couldn’t hurt her. She was still my Fray, trapped inside her own body with the demons who tried to control her.

  Revna appeared with a length of rope in her hands.

  “Turn her over!” she said.

  Fray landed an elbow to my jaw and another to my ribs, but I managed to lock her arms behind her back and tie them with the rope.

  “I-I thought you left,” I gasped out.

  The witch shook her head. “You chose me. We’re in this together.” She looked down at Fray with a worried expression. “But she’s not doing too well.”

  I rolled the dhampir onto her back. She lunged at me with her teeth bared. Revna pulled me away before the dhampir could get a good bite.

  “Oh no,” I whispered.

  Fray’s eyes glinted in the moonlight. The complete darkness of them was unmistakable. She shook her head and tremors ran through her body as we watched.

  “What do we do?” Revna asked.

  Her voice broke the hold the sight of Fray’s eyes had locked me in. I blinked and looked at her.

  “I-I don’t know.”

  I had seen terrible things in my life, but nothing could have prepared me for staring the dhampir I loved in the eyes and no longer recognizing the person inside.

  “Zev.”

  I looked back at the witch.

  “Zev, how are you supposed to help her?”

  I sucked in a breath. “Silver and paranormal blood.”

  I pulled out a gun and aimed it at my left arm. By my estimate, if I shot high enough into the muscle, I wouldn’t slow myself down enough that I couldn’t help.

  “What are you doing?”

  Revna’s voice contained a mixture of horror and amusement. The tone was enough to make me look at her.

  “Mixing silver and paranormal blood.”

  The witch sighed and held out a hand.

  “What?” I asked. “We don’t have time to—”

  She yanked the gun from my hand and released the clip. She then pushed out five silver bullets onto her palm.

  “Werewolves,” she said with a shake of her head.

  She flipped the gun over, set one of the bullets on a rock near where we knelt, and hit the bullet with the butt of the gun until the cap came off. She held it up for me to see the liquid inside.

  “There’s your silver,” she said. “You don’t need to go shooting yourself.”

  The numbness of my shock at seeing Fray had faded enough that I realized where the witch was going. I pulled off my vest and turned it over, forming a crude hollow out of the middle. I was about to slice my hand with one of the wooden stakes when the witch cleared her throat.

  “You know, I can donate paranormal blood just as easily as you can,” she pointed out. At my look, she raised her hands. “Fine. Werewolf boyfriend is all about bleeding his heart out for his true love. Be romantic. Just hurry it up. If the Hunters find us, we’re goners.”

  I sliced across my palm. A real knife would have been easier, but the handles of the silver blades in the ballroom hadn’t been wrapped. There was no way I would have gotten away with the burns that would have been caused by trying to slip one in my vest, though a cauterized wound right then would have been far easier to deal with. I squeezed my hand into a fist and let it drip onto the vest. I then watched Revna carefully pour the bullet full of silver into the blood. She added two more before mixing it all carefully with a stick.

  I glanced at Fray. The dhampir’s eyes were locked on the blood in the vest.

  “She doesn’t look right,” Revna commented quietly.

  I moved closer. A silent snarl formed on the dhampir’s lips. My heart slowed.

  “Fray, you’ve got to still be in there.”

  She watched me without any sign that she recognized me. Her black eyes showed pupil-less in the moonlight. I missed her gray gaze so powerfully I cou
ld barely breathe.

  “Fray, it’s me, Zev. You’ve got to fight. Don’t let them win.” My eyes burned as I pleaded. I crouched in front of her and reached out a careful hand. Softly and slowly, I set the backs of my fingers on her cheek.

  “Fray, where are you?”

  She blinked.

  “Zev?”

  My heart leaped into my throat. “Fray? It’s me. It’s Zev! I’ve come to get you out of here!”

  She shook her head. “They’ve won, Zev. I don’t know where I begin and they end anymore. It’s all a jumbled mess in my head and I don’t belong here in my own body.”

  I put my hand on her shoulder. “Yes, you do, Fray. You’ve got to believe that. It’s you who belongs there, not them. Don’t let them win!”

  “I can’t remember,” she said.

  “Can’t remember what?” I asked, my voice thick with desperation.

  She closed her eyes. “I can’t remember how it feels to be me.”

  I did the only thing I could think of.

  “Maybe this will help you,” I said.

  I leaned closer and put my lips on hers. It was a true kiss, gentle, safe, and filled with the emotions I didn’t know how to express in words.

  When I sat back and opened my eyes, she was staring at me with the familiar gray gaze that made my heart leap in my chest.

  “Zev, I…I….” Black snaked back across her irises.

  “Revna, now!” I said.

  The witch knelt with the vest in her hands. I lifted it from her and up to Fray’s face.

  “Drink, hurry,” I urged. “It’s the only chance you have to fight them.”

  I thought the demons would make her refuse. The darkness warred in her eyes like clouds across a tumultuous ocean. I realized that I had seen it before. I had thought my dream with Borig and Aspen had occurred on a beach as thunderclouds moved in to steal the light from the sky. I now realized that it was her battle I had witnessed, light against darkness, humanity against demon.

  “Drink,” I whispered and thought, begging her in every way I knew how to take up the liquid that could save her life.

  Fray lowered her head and began to suck up the blood.

  “Thank goodness,” Revna said.

  “Keep drinking,” I told Fray. “Every drop. I think that if—” A sound caught my ear and my head jerked to the right.

  “What do we have here?” Demon Destroyer said from the mouth of the alley.

  “Is he feeding her his blood?” Silver Wolfkiller asked her husband in horror.

  “Looks like we’ve stumbled upon something really sick, Tammy. Look out.” Destroyer raised his gun.

  Two things happened at the same time. Revna fired the silver loaded gun at Wolfkiller and I pulled the trigger of the crossbow that I had set across my lap in case of just such an occurrence.

  The bullet hit Wolfkiller between the eyes. Her finger bone necklace clattered against the boardwalk when she fell to the ground. Destroyer stumbled backwards with a crossbow bolt in his shoulder and blood dripping down his chest.

  “What have you done?” he demanded. His gaze roamed from his slain wife and back to us. “What have you done!”

  He lifted his gun again. I raised the crossbow and shot him square in the heart as another gunshot echoed between the buildings. His bullet grazed the top of my shoulder deep enough to make me wince before it vanished into the night. He fell motionless to the ground.

  “I won’t miss them,” Revna said firmly.

  “Me, either.”

  We both stared at Fray. The blood dripping from her fangs down her chin was terrifying, but my eyes locked onto her searching gray gaze.

  “Thanks for coming,” she said in a voice that was clear and familiar.

  “You told me not to,” I reminded her with such relief I felt like crying and laughing at the same time. I told myself either would make them wonder if I was crazy, so I settled for untying her wrists.

  “I’m glad you ignored me,” she said.

  I smiled. “I’m going to remind you that you said that.”

  “I’m sure you will,” she replied. A small laugh escaped her, but she winced. “I’m not going to be much good to you here.”

  “You don’t need to be,” I told her. “I’ve got this.” I gestured to the saloon across the street. “You two hide in there.” I picked up the guns from both Destroyer and Wolfkiller. “These should keep you safe until I come back.”

  “Are you going to be alright?” Revna asked.

  I nodded with a glance at Fray. “I’m going to be just fine.”

  Fray’s small smile filled me with warmth and chased any lingering feelings of doubt from my mind.

  “I’ll be here when you get back,” she said.

  “Then I’ll be back soon,” I replied.

  My last glimpse was of Revna helping her across the street. I ducked into the forest with a renewed determination in my step. I followed my trail back toward the doors to the mansion. The sound of gunshots made me limp faster. I figured I had two minutes before Seth started up whatever commotion he could cause. The thought of other paranormal men and women being hunted throughout the arena made me want to rush, but the lives of even more counted on me biding my time.

  I stopped in the shadows and watched the four guards that stood in front of the door. Two waited at the top of the steps and two at the bottom. Each were armed with machine guns. I wondered what kind of bullets they used. Either way, that many rounds would make an impact that would be hard to survive. I may have been able to take down one or two, but four was pushing it.

  A giant crash sounded followed by a roar. The sound was loud enough that I startled and glanced in the direction of where Seth had run. A massive wall of flames tore up through the trees. My mouth fell open.

  Fortunately, I had the sense not to move. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the guards look at each other in shock. Three took off toward the flames, leaving one to guard the backdoor.

  “We have a problem,” he was saying into his headset.

  I aimed the crossbow carefully. If I miscalculated, he would radio for backup. I had plenty of practice shooting at shades, but this was different. I let out a breath as I squeezed the trigger. The wooden stake made a quiet snick when it left the weapon. It whispered through the air and sunk straight through the guard’s headset into his head. He slumped to the ground without another word.

  I limped up the stairs, slipped the keys from his pocket, and pushed through the door. Nobody was in the ballroom. Apparently, there was no need to guard it after the Hunters were in the arena. A grim smile crossed my face at the thought that the weapons left behind would shortly be put to very good use. I grabbed a sash from the wardrobe rack and wrapped it around my palm to stop the bleeding, then made my way down the winding steps to the basement.

  The scents of fear and depression gripped my heart. I pulled open the door and stepped into the dim light beyond.

  “The werewolf?” a dhampir near the entrance said.

  “The werewolf!” someone else called from further down the row.

  I looked around at the cells.

  “Your brothers, sisters, parents, and friends are out there fighting for their lives, and the odds are stacked against them.” I held up the keys. “What if we even the odds a bit?”

  A cheer rose into a roar. The men and women in the cells hit their bars in anticipation. I unlocked one and then another. Witches and dhampirs spilled from the cages. I handed the keys off to one of the younger dhampirs to continue.

  “There are weapons upstairs. Grab what you want and head to the arena. It’s time for a little payback,” I said.

  “You’re a lifesaver,” a witch told me. She lifted her hands with the irons on them. “Any idea how to get these off?”

  “We’ll figure it out. Come on,” an older dhampir woman said.

  They both made their way to the stairs.

  “D-do we let the werewolves out?” a smaller dhampir asked. “They�
�re still in wolf form.”

  I looked down the row at the golden eyes that watched us expectantly from behind the bars. My heart went out to them.

  “Of course,” I said. “They’re the best defense you’ve got.”

  At her hesitation, I held out a hand.

  “I’ll take care of it.”

  She set the keys on my wrapped palm and gave me an apologetic smile. “Sorry. You’re the first werewolf I’ve ever met. And you’re not half bad.”

  That made me chuckle. “Glad to hear it. Good luck out there.”

  “You, too,” she said. She took off running after the others.

  I unlocked the first werewolf cage. The wolf who came out headed for the stairs.

  “Wait!” I said. I grabbed the chain that held the moonstone around his neck and ripped it off, followed by the thick muzzle.

  The wolf gave a sigh of relief and shook his coat.

  “Now you have the control,” I told him.

  I unlocked the next cage and did the same thing.

  By the time the werewolves were free, the pile of moonstones at my feet felt so strong it was all I could do to keep from phasing. I limped up the stairs with the werewolves around me. The fact that they didn’t just run on, but kept with me, surprised me. I had to remind myself that I was one of them, that I belonged, and that with them at my side, we could turn the tide of the battle that warred outside.

  The sight of the mostly empty tables in the ballroom filled me with grim satisfaction. No longer were the paranormal unarmed and defenseless. I could only imagine the chaos of the arena.

  We stepped through the back doors in time to hear gunshots followed by a howl of pain. The werewolves around me took off down the stairs. Several paused at the bottom and looked back at me. The moonlight cloaked my shoulders, reminding me that I hadn’t phased in far too long. The call of the wolves drew me forward, beckoning for me to join them. My leg ached, but I barely felt the pain. I was one of them. I needed to be one of them.