by A. D. Ryan
There was another loud crash just ahead as Cordelia discarded Colby and Zach like wet noodles. Zach groaned, eyes closing as he lost consciousness, and Cordelia grabbed the fallen cage door to brace herself as she stood, pulling away with an angry hiss when her skin sizzled.
“Don’t let her bite you, Colby!” I shouted before Bobby’s sharp claws pierced my burned back, digging in as the other hand gripped the back of my neck. He flipped me over his head, slamming me into the floor and leaving me winded again. I gasped for breath, each intake sharp and piercing, which left me feeling even more breathless.
Cordelia appeared above me, looking down at me. Her lips curled back off her fangs, wrinkling her furry snout, and her chest heaved with exertion. It was then, when her eyes met mine one last time, that I realized there was no bringing her back. Even if her soul were still a part of her, seven years in hell had likely brainwashed all of her compassion away.
Still unable to move without pain ripping its way through my body, I tried to prepare myself for Cordelia’s attack. I wasn’t sure what was coming—was she lucid enough to know Bobby wanted me alive, or had my insubordination from the very beginning suddenly made me exempt to his plans? They were both hybrids now, and if our research was right, they’d be able to build their army all on their own. They didn’t really need me anymore…
Cordelia’s mouth opened, a howl building, and she leaned down, shoulders tensed, fingers curled and ready to strike. She raised her thick arms and let out a feral sound as I tried to shield myself from her. Before her claws could connect with any part of my body, her victory howl died until it was nothing more than a gurgle. There was a heavy thud by my right shoulder followed by a wet squish before something bumped my bicep.
I slowly lowered my arms and looked up to find Colby standing where Cordelia had been moments before. Her hair was disheveled, and she was breathing heavily. There was blood spatter consistent with arterial spray covering her entire upper body, and as my eyes travelled down, I found her right hand gripped tightly around the hilt of a long sword, its silver blade soaked in dark red blood.
The tip of the sword was hidden behind a furry black mass that I instantly recognized as Cordelia, and I launched myself off the floor when I felt her warm blood against my arm. I stepped over the hybrid’s body and wrapped an arm around Colby’s trembling frame, both of us staring down at her sister’s headless corpse.
An agonizing roar jarred us back to everything that was still happening, and before I could even anticipate Bobby’s next move, he tossed Nick toward us and bolted for the staircase. He was still transitioning, but it didn’t seem to incapacitate him the way it sometimes did me. Was that another perk of being a hybrid?
As Bobby reached the top of the stairs, I found myself torn; was I supposed to go after him, or make sure Colby was okay?
“G-go,” Colby stammered, seeming to read my thoughts as she stared down at her sister’s fallen form, tears sliding down her cheeks. “You need to stop him before he can do…this to someone else’s family.”
She was right. Even in the face of such tragedy, her mind was clear enough to see that. She’d lost her parents and her younger sister…and as much as I hated to even think it, who knew how Corbin was faring in all of this. I could only hope he was okay. I couldn’t lose another member of this pack, and she couldn’t lose her only surviving blood relative.
Nick and I raced upstairs to the main level. Even with Alistair’s barrier spells on all the doors and windows, the coven had made their way into our home. The stench of their burned flesh as they crossed the thresholds grew thicker the closer we got to the living room.
The picture window in the living room had been broken, and Vince and Jackson were fighting a couple of the intruders, whose undead flesh was burned and smoking. The rest of the Pack was spread around the room, and even Alistair was there, his lips moving in a silent chant. Suddenly a large burst of energy emanated off him, pulsating outward and pushing the vampires back a few steps. I felt it go through me, but I was able to keep moving forward to secure our line of defense and go after Bobby who was tearing through the house and headed for the broken window. It was slightly off-putting to have this magical energy passing through my body, making the surface of my skin tingle, but it also loaned itself to my rush of adrenaline.
The number of vampires storming the manor was alarming; I hadn’t realized just how many of them there were. I had thought we’d gotten rid of most of them before I’d been taken prisoner. I’d only ever seen a select few around the compound, after all.
Nick and I hopped into the fray immediately as we chased after Bobby, who had now completed his transformation. His clothes hung off him in shreds due to being larger than Cordelia, but he also seemed to be a little more man than beast in some ways. While they both stood on their hind legs, Bobby wasn’t completely covered in hair the way a werewolf was, but his skin had darkened. His face shape had changed slightly, only his muzzle didn’t extend quite as far out as ours, and his ears remained human. I thought Cordelia was terrifying to look at, but whatever Bobby was surpassed even that. It had to be because he was a vampire who’d been turned, while Cordelia had been a werewolf. There must have been some truth to the theory about the basic genetic code of each species determining the outcome of the hybrid process.
On his way through the house, Bobby grabbed a vampire and tossed it our way. My body warmed, muscles tightening as the wolf leaped forward, hungry for the kill. The hairs on the back of my neck stood on end as I grabbed the vampire and held him. He struggled in my arms, trying to free himself and twisting his neck in an effort to bite me. Seconds later, Nick was there, moving fluently, and ripped its head off. It took seconds for the creature to turn to dust, and then we were moving through the chaos once more.
But we couldn’t find Bobby; his distraction had been successful.
A feeling formed in the pit of my stomach, gripping and churning until it was all I could focus on. I soon recognized the feeling as awareness; something was wrong. Looking away from the vampire Nick was currently dismembering, I turned to the left and found Roxanne being held against a wall…by Bobby, whose hands were wrapped tightly around her neck. My only guess was that she’d tried to stop him, and he wasn’t having any of it. Her face quickly turned red, and was on the verge of turning purple as I made my way toward her.
With a growl of anger and frustration, I leapt forward, claws engaged. In seconds, I was there, grabbing Bobby and swinging my right arm, striking him across the face. He barely reacted, his face hardly budging, yet his eyes widened in horror. I allowed myself to revel in his fear for a moment before his hands slackened around Roxy’s neck, allowing her to slide to the floor, gripping her neck and coughing. I was just pulling my arm back to slash his throat when I noticed him gripping his stomach. Glancing down, I noticed smoke coming from behind his hands, and then he was engulfed in flames, turning to ash right before my eyes.
I stared in disbelief, unable to process what the hell just happened. His death was kind of anti-climactic, if I was being entirely honest, but it no less satisfying. He just…spontaneously combusted. How was that possible?
It wasn’t until Alistair ran into my line of vision, helping Roxy to her feet that it all fell into place. She wrapped her arms around his neck, her voice hoarse as she thanked him. His hands were red, almost blistered, but he didn’t seem to be in any pain, and they were fading in color by the second. It had been a spell. He’d cast a spell, and judging by the look of distress on his face, it was one that might be frowned upon when his circle found out. He hadn’t used it to defend himself, but to save one of mine, and he looked worried about the possible consequences.
I opened my mouth to thank him as the room fell deathly silent. While Alistair tended to Roxanne, I looked around to see that the fighting had stopped. My pack was bloodied, but not beaten, and the few vampires that remained appeared horrified, having just watched their leader burn from the inside out.
&nbs
p; Realizing their fate, the vampires tried to run, but my Pack took care of them before they were able to get too far. Soon, the Pack was all that remained amidst a haze of ash, and for the first time in months, it felt as though a weight had been lifted. The constant cloud of gloom and doom had cleared. We were finally free…
Slow, dragging footsteps pulled my attention to the entry where Colby was, arms wrapped tightly around her torso, Zach holding her, and I remembered just how much this freedom had cost us all…especially her and Corbin.
Corbin rushed toward his sister, sporting a limp that we would have to tend to sooner rather than later, and he eased her down onto the couch where she told him everything that had happened in the pit. He pushed her hair back, assessing her skin beneath the blood, making sure it wasn’t hers, and I listened as everyone assured her she did the right thing. Much to my surprise, she wasn’t as broken up about what happened in the pit as I thought; she sounded relieved. She had achieved vengeance for her parents’ murder, and it alleviated any and all guilt that she might have held under different circumstances.
Arms wound their way around my waist, hands resting on my lower belly, and I jumped, my back still tender and my body still a little strung out from everything that we’d been through. Nick’s scent filled my head, and I relaxed in an instant, settling back into him.
“You good?”
I sighed, the tension melting and oozing from my pores. “I am.”
Nick pressed his lips against my clammy neck. “It’s over now—for good, this time.”
“Hard to believe,” I replied softly, placing my hands over his.
We stood in silence for a brief moment, and fear shot through me again when I remembered everything we’d just been through; I’d been tossed around like a ragdoll and beaten…what if something had happened to the baby?
Always so in tune with my thoughts and picking up on my body language, Nick pressed his hands flat against my bare skin. “And the baby?”
There was an uneasy feeling in the pit of my belly that soon turned into the strangest of flutters. It wasn’t too long ago that I didn’t want kids, but now that there was a possibility that I might have done something to harm it?
Nick’s hands retracted quickly, and he pulled away from me. Slowly I turned, worry creasing my face when I saw the startled expression in his eyes as he looked down at my belly. I opened my mouth to voice my fears when he pointed. “I think it moved.”
I snapped my mouth shut, perplexed as I looked down at my belly. “What?” That nervous flutter flared up again as I placed my hands on my belly, and that was when it hit me like a loaded freight train: the flutter I felt wasn’t borne of nerves and fear; the flutter was the baby moving.
Happiness swelled in my chest, consuming me until I smiled so wide my cheeks started to ache. “I guess she’s just fine,” I responded, grabbing Nick’s hand and placing it on my stomach, wanting to share this with him.
The baby kicked again, this time a little harder, and we laughed—genuinely laughed—for the first time in a couple days. The sound drew the attention of our packmates, who gathered around to share in the joy. I worried it might be a little insensitive, but seeing their love and support told me this was exactly what they all needed right now.
There had been casualties in this war, but we’d come out victorious. We’d come together and destroyed our enemies successfully. They accepted me as their leader when they didn’t have to, and we worked together to put an end to this centuries-long war.
I looked up at Nick, smiling. “What happens now?”
Leaning down, he kissed my nose gently. “We live happily ever after.”
“Easy as that, huh?”
Nick’s grin widened as he nodded once. “Easy as that.”
Epilogue | extraordinary
Months had passed, and I could happily admit that they were the most relaxing they’d been since I’d first been bitten. While I was still learning the ropes as the new Alpha, there was this tranquility that now surrounded the Pack.
With Bobby gone, there was no longer a threat to us…
At least, not from the coven.
There seemed to be an increase in strange attacks in and around the city—some attacks spreading far into other provinces, and even the northern territories, from what I was being told.
Jackson and Nick were sure it had to do with Marcus’s death; rivaling Packs as well as strays would try to contend for territory, or worse, to take over the Pack. News of my ascension to Alpha had started to circulate, and I could only assume that others saw this as a prime opportunity to strike.
Because it was the responsible thing to do, I’d sent some of the Pack out to investigate these attacks. Eighty percent showed signs of a werewolf attack—the bites, the smell of an unknown wolf in the area, the huge, looming attacker that disappeared shortly after—but the others were just your run of the mill muggings that the police could handle without our interference.
A baby’s cry pulled me from the dossiers I’d been reading in an effort to strengthen my knowledge about our history. There was still so much to learn, and I needed to know everything about our laws if I was going to help enforce them and maintain control of my Pack and our home should anything else happen.
I looked up to see Nick enter the room, holding a fussing baby boy. He was staring down at the baby, smiling wide as he murmured something. It warmed my heart to see him so affectionate and attentive.
“Where’s Layla?” I asked.
Nick looked up at me, still smiling that infectious grin. “She and Vince went for a run, so I offered to watch Samuel.” Watching as I pushed myself to my feet and rounded the desk, Nick’s expression changed, his eyebrows furrowing with concern. “How are you feeling?”
I groaned and laid a hand over my gigantic stomach, trying to calm the baby from doing its daily acrobatic routine. “Exhausted…” I sighed, and then I winced. “Restless. I would kill to get out and run.”
Nick leaned forward and kissed me. “We’ll try to head out tonight, sweetheart.”
My lips tingled with the memory of Nick’s kiss, and suddenly I was craving an entirely different stress reliever. Sensing this, Nick snickered softly, handing Samuel to me. The transfer was awkward, and I was still getting used to holding something so small and fragile, but I wasn’t nearly as nervous as I was a few months ago when he was born. Having never been exposed to a lot of other people’s children, cuddling someone’s young wasn’t a skill I had ever mastered.
There was still another month or so before I gave birth, according to Layla. I was both strangely excited and absolutely terrified. It really depended on the day—some days I flipped back and forth often enough to give me whiplash.
The instant Samuel was cradled in my arms, he quieted, his big blue eyes looking up at me briefly before closing. He inhaled a shuddering breath before releasing it in one contented sigh, and then began sucking his lower lip.
In that exact moment, I wished it was my baby I was holding.
Just mere months ago, holding a child wouldn’t have had this affect on me. Maybe it was the wolf’s maternal instincts, or maybe it was mine, but my arms ached with the desire to hold my own child, to feel the warmth of its skin against my own.
“Looks good on you,” Jackson said as he sauntered into the room.
I smiled. “Thanks. How were things in the city?”
The smile fell from his face as he leaned against the desk and crossed his arms. “Nothing’s changed. Strange attacks, victims are alive, but bitten.” He sighed. “I haven’t seen an influx of attacks like this in years.”
“You still think it’s strays?” Nick asked.
“Unless a neighboring Pack has encroached on our territory, yeah.”
“Is that a possibility?” I inquired, bouncing slightly when Samuel stirred in my arms. My stomach tightened briefly, forcing the baby that was housed in there to stretch. It was uncomfortable, but it passed after a moment.
“Anyt
hing is possible,” Jackson replied, eyebrows pulling together as he eyed me with concern. “But do I think it’s probable? No. The neighboring packs have always been supportive and loyal to Marcus and his pack. I would bet the farm that strays are up to this.”
“How many victims were there this month?” I asked, trying to run the numbers in my head.
“About five, last I checked.” Jackson ran his hands over his face. “It doesn’t seem like much, but when you add it to the thirty-three others that have been attacked in the city alone since Marcus died in January, we’re looking at an army…not a pack.”
“So we’re expecting five people to shift for the first time tonight?” I confirmed.
Nick nodded. “Brooke, this is the second full moon this month,” he reminded me. “A blue moon is rare, and there’s an added boost that comes with it. It’ll probably force the others from the past couple of months to shift as well. We could wake up to several fatalities and more potential wolves.”
I thought about what he said, my head bobbing. “What are the chances of recruiting? Finding them before they shift? All of the attacks have been reported, we have most of their names. What if we could make them understand?”
“You want to bring strays into the Pack?”
I cringed, remembering Karl, but I shook it off, not wanting to give up on these people who had no choice. They were no different than I was in the beginning. “I don’t know, but I do know we can’t just sit back and do nothing while we wait for them to make a move.” I paused, another idea coming to me. “Maybe we go out tonight as a pack and run with them, and when we wake up, we can make them understand.”