Midnight Guardian

by Tamara White

  I run after him, despite my parents’ terrified cries. I have no idea whether they’re following me or if they remain frozen in fear, but I know I can’t just stand idly by. When I catch up to my brother, I dive on him and kick out at the wolf’s face, forcing it to let go of my brother’s ankle.

  Jarrod screams as the wolf is forced to release him, but not before ripping his ankle to bloody shreds.

  The wolf turns to face Jarrod and me just as my parents arrive behind us, having finally caught up. The wolf bares its teeth and growls lowly in its throat. Its hackles are raised in anger when I sit up in front of Jarrod, protecting him. Still, I keep my gaze firmly fixed on the eyes of the wolf, refusing to let it focus on my brother.

  “Mom, Dad,” I say slowly, a calm taking over me. “Take Jarrod and slowly walk away. I’ll keep it distracted.”

  My father reaches into my pocket, takes out the pocketknife I carry everywhere, and slips it into my hand. The cold metal of my knife is a small comfort as I stare at the wolf, my gaze unwavering.

  I don’t know where my mother and Jarrod are right now, but my father is just behind me, remaining silent.

  The wolf stares, and if I didn’t know any better, I would swear it was smiling at me. Twigs snap and bushes rustle behind the wolf, sending fear pounding through me. And for a good reason. The wolf isn’t alone.

  More wolves appear from the trees behind it, and all hope that we could get out of this unharmed fades like the wind.

  A loud scream pierces the night just as the wolves surrounding us decide to attack. I flick my blade open, determination settling into my bones. If I die here tonight, I’m taking some of them with me.

  Drake

  I storm through the house, anger radiating through me with each step I take. Fucking council and their intimidation tactics.

  I knew my family wouldn’t understand why I had to do this, but when the council demands your presence, you drop everything and start kissing ass, or they begin throwing threats at you, which is precisely what they did.

  My brother is my one weakness, and the whole fucking council knows it.

  Even though Tristan’s life is severely messed up—no thanks to me—I would do anything to protect him.

  The council realizes just how unstable he is, though, and have used that to reel me in like only those who abuse their power can.

  I’ve spent the past year at home, trying to help my brother move past everything that’s happened, his turning and our mother’s death, but no matter how much I try, he’ll never forgive me. He will never see that I did what had to be done.

  Wrenching open the door to the attic, which also doubles as my bedroom, I stalk straight to the closet, ignoring the harsh clatter as the door to the room slams shut behind me. The closet door slides open easily enough, and I grab my duffle from the top shelf before cramming shit from each of the shelves inside. I shouldn’t need too much, but you can never be over prepared.

  My bedroom door crashes open and the energy that precedes Quinn tells me everything. He’s fucking pissed.

  “What the fuck are you doing?” Quinn growls, stomping across the room and grabbing me by the back of the neck. I freeze under his touch, abandoning my attempt at packing.

  He may be my dom in the bedroom, but in the real world, I’m Alpha here, and I won’t back down to Quinn. Whether he likes it or not, I have to do this. If I don’t, the council will make our lives a living hell. Not to mention the not so subtle threat that Elder Jebediah already aimed at me.

  Shaking myself from the emotions threatening to surface, I sigh deeply. “Just back off, Quinn. I don’t have a choice in this.”

  “Really? So you’re just gonna leave Tristan like he means nothing?”

  His hold on me tightens, and a growl works its way up my throat, the animal part of me disliking his dominant hold on me.

  “After everything he’s been through, are you really just gonna leave him? That’s gonna fuck him up worse, man.”

  Growling softly, I reach up and cover his hand with mine. “I’m doing what I fucking have to. It’s a simple job. Tame the rogue, that’s all. Once my work is done, I can return home.” I spin to gaze into those deep blue pools of his, squeezing his hand softly as I remove it from my neck. “A week or two tops, I promise. Besides, it may help Tris for us to have some time apart. He still blames me, and he won’t stop anytime soon.”

  I can tell Quinn is struggling with the very idea of me leaving, but I can also see his uneasy acceptance. He knows deep down what the council will do to Tristan if we don’t obey them. He also knows that the friction between Tristan and me isn’t getting any better with me in close proximity to him. If anything, it seems to be causing more resentment.

  Finally, his expression settles into one of defeat. “Fuck!” he swears and pulls me close, his lips barely an inch from my own. “You better come back, or I’ll hunt your sexy ass down!”

  I chuckle softly and grip him just as tightly. “I will always come back to you and our family. We’ll figure out a way to be free from the council one day, and then we’ll never need to fear their wrath again.”

  He presses a quick kiss to my lips and I melt into his touch. All too soon, he lets me go so I can continue packing.

  Once my bag is ready, I haul it up over my shoulder and prepare to face the music from the rest of our little family. We may not all be blood, but we are the closest thing each other has to true family.

  The limo rolls to a stop just before the path that leads to the compound’s main door. I go to suck in a breath to steel myself for this encounter, but don’t get a chance, because the door is opened from the outside.

  My gaze snaps up, and a smile immediately comes to my face at the sight of my old friend. I take his hand as he tows me out of the car.

  “Well, if it isn’t the devil himself come to tame the beast,” Jordan teases, as he grasps me in a hug. When he pulls away, he claps a hand on my shoulder and we both turn to face the monstrous compound before us.

  The property this base was built on is big enough to house twenty large family homes if they saw fit to make them, but no, they created this large, military-like garrison. Even the land around the base is owned by the Council of Supes.

  It isn’t the only building the council has, but it’s the largest of its kind. It has a whole level built underground, one that houses its own prison ward for those supes who commit crimes and need to await their sentencing. Not just that, but the facility has a medical wing and a section of impenetrable holding cells for those who are newly turned.

  “Still can’t believe you came,” Jordan remarks, as the limo drives back the way we came.

  “Yeah, well, you know how it works. The council calls, you say no, then they threaten your family. So I had no choice. Although I find it surprising they want me here after what happened last time. Must be a rabid shifter for them to call on me.”

  Jordan rocks on his feet before turning to me with a sigh. “Yeah, about that… I made them call you.” At the look on my face, he hurries to continue before I can rip into him. “They fucked up, man. The Supreme Alpha was dying, so he went out on a hunt to find a new heir. He broke all the fucking laws we have by hunting a family. He wanted a boy young enough to raise as his son and he found one. But when he tried to take the kid in the dead of night, his family fought for the boy.”

  I growl, my body vibrating with anger. The Supreme Alpha tried to take a human child? What the fuck was he thinking? We have laws for a goddamn reason. No one is above them.

  “She killed the Supreme Alpha, Drake. Used a motherfucking pocket knife to gut the bastard. It turns out the fucker had bit her before he died though, and well…now she’s rabid. That’s why they called you in. Because I couldn’t help her.”

  My eyes widen with disbelief. “You called me here to train a rabid wolf that’s not only a female but our Supreme Alpha? I’m good, yeah, but I can’t work fucking miracles.” I reach up and grab my hair in a vise-like grip, a m
igraine already forming. What the fuck’s been happening since I left this godforsaken place?

  “You think I would fucking call you in if I didn’t need the help? She’s the strongest supe I’ve come across in my life. And I’ve been across the fucking world working for councils everywhere. Her power rivals them all.”

  Jordan is one of the oldest vampires I’ve been around in my time. He was turned at the delicate young age of eighteen, but he’s not some young teen. His age sits near five centuries if the rumors are true. Not that he’d let you know his exact age.

  To think that this girl is more powerful than any supe he’s met, especially so recently after a turning, is a little shocking.

  “Yeah, trust me, it was a big shock to me too. I went in there the first time she was in wolf form and she nearly ripped my throat out. It was fucking hot as hell!”

  “So, what, you couldn’t tame her, but you think I can?” I scoff in annoyance. If Jordan can’t, then what chance in hell do I have to tame the beast.

  “Look, I don’t have any fucking options right now. The council has made it clear that we need to tame her, or they are gonna chain her and throw her in a room with a bunch of new candidates and hope one of the people survives the change.”

  Holy fuck.

  “There’s more, bro.”

  I throw my hands up in frustration, turning on him with a glare. “Just fucking spit it all out, Jordan.”

  “I think the council hunted the family they attacked on purpose. They claimed it was an accident, that the family they went after wasn’t what their information had led them to believe, but I think it led them exactly where they wanted.”

  He paces around, his eyes darting over his shoulder to ensure we aren’t being watched. “I started digging, and the shit I found—God, I don’t know if I believe it, but the records of the family that was attacked, well, a lot of them were forged going back generations. The more and more I dug, the more suspicious I grew until I found a name linked to them, one that stood out to me and most likely the council—Alexandra Walker.”

  I stumble back a step at the name, sure he must be fucking kidding me. Alexandra Walker once ruled as Supreme Alpha. It was with her death that changed the rule of turning the new Alpha. She was unable to conceive an heir, and as such, her legacy died out. She was the first to turn the next Supreme Alpha and train him for the role.

  “Oh, and did I mention that the girl downstairs in the dungeon doesn’t just shift into one form?”

  My gaze snaps to Jordan. He seems to be enjoying this slow leak of information, but I’m growing tired of it real fucking fast.

  “Her first shift was a big, black wolf that looked terrifying enough to have me crapping my pants when I went in that room with her, but less than a few hours ago, I watched as her form shifted from the majestic wolf into a striking arctic fox in the span of a millisecond.”

  “No fucking way!”

  Jordan nods, a prideful gleam coming into his eyes before he goes serious suddenly. “The council isn’t quite aware of that, though, so I suggest you keep that little tidbit to yourself. I’ve done my best to protect her, but I could really use your help on this one.”

  “You, the council’s most loyal lackey, is hiding information from them? Just what the fuck is going on?” I ask, feeling as if my old friend has turned the world on its axis. The fact he’s betraying the very oath he once made to the council tells me this is way bigger than I thought.

  He stares at me with a mixture of anger and desperation, but there, underneath it all, I see a burning hope. “Because, and I know how fucking ridiculous this sounds, but she’s exhibiting all the signs of one of the Original Alphas. It should be fucking impossible for her to shift into two forms, let alone maintain them without being weakened. All of her family’s birth records going back at least ten generations have been altered. It was fucking weird, man. When I saw Alexandra’s name, I knew I needed outside help. Someone who could help me train her, because if there is even a smidgen of a chance that girl in there has an ounce of DNA from the lost Alpha line, then she could change everything.”

  Chapter One

  Isobel

  Two years later...

  My paws are silent as I hunt my prey in the dead of night. The scent of blood is so close I can taste it, and I’m sure if I were in my human form, I’d have drool on my face.

  The vampire I’m hunting was too stupid to clean himself off after our tumble, so it’s easy enough to follow his trail, especially with how eager my animal is to kill. I’ve been holding the instinctual sides of my nature back lately, but it feels good to be part of them once again.

  I pick up my pace when I realize the vamp is scouting for yet another meal tonight. Cocky bastard. You’d think snacking on one human would have been enough, but no, he’s still lurking in the night, looking for a home he can easily slip into and have a quick meal.

  This town, while shrouded in darkness, is filled with humans that believe their little city is safe. Most people don’t even bother to ensure their doors are locked before going to sleep. Which is how this bastard has been getting his meals so easily.

  He’s been gliding into his victims’ homes, feeding on them and leaving them none the wiser. At least that was the case until he killed one and got a taste for death. The first two fatalities were teenagers, who were assumed to have run away from home. The only reason I wasn’t alerted to his kills was simply due to the fact that the coroner had missed the fang marks in his reports.

  His third victim, however, was an eighty-year-old woman who had recently been released from the local health clinic after a blood transfusion, and she was someone who I’d grown close to in the past month.

  When they said she died of a heart attack, I broke into the morgue, looking for answers. She was as healthy as a damn child, apart from the mild anemia that plagued her, so for her to die so suddenly, especially after a transfusion, raised my suspicions.

  That was the night I discovered that not only had a vamp been living in town, but he’d developed an obsession for draining his victims.

  I stick to the shadows to avoid having any unsuspecting witnesses see me in my wolf form as I trail the streets after the slippery vampire. Maybe he thought being in a small town meant no one would notice their strange deaths, and perhaps I wouldn’t have if he hadn’t chosen the wrong fucking victim.

  Mrs. Carter was a retired old woman who had lost her husband and son in a car accident a year before I came to town. She had rented out her son’s former apartment to me and we had grown close in that short time. Her death brought up many dark memories of my family, and I vowed to get to the bottom of it, to find answers as to why she was taken from the world.

  When I found out it was a vamp, I was beyond pleased. It gave me somewhere to direct my anger and hunger. I’d been laying low in this town, only hunting in the larger cities a few miles away, but this vampire definitely deserves death. I will hunt him down and make his demise as slow and painful as Mrs. Carter’s was.

  It’s been a week since he killed Mrs. Carter. I’ve been out here every night since, watching and waiting for him to grab the next human. It was pure luck that I caught him with a teen on my way home from my weekly hunt, trying to convince her to go back to his house with him.

  I sprung on him the moment I saw him, not caring if the girl saw my wolf form. I should have been worried about the fact that a wolf attack would make national headlines, but the girl was living on precious time. I had to step in, or her life would have been over before she could blink.

  The girl ran away screaming, but since the vampire didn’t have a chance to sink his fangs into her, I knew she would be fine. She could tell people that she saw a wolf attack her date, but without evidence, everyone who heard her story would think she was nothing but hysterical and delusional after a traumatic incident. If she insists on it being the truth, the council will eventually step in and wipe her or kill her. It depends on what witch they send to clean up the mess
.

  My victory was short lived, though, because the vampire was faster than I anticipated and managed to slip through my grasp, but not before I ripped a chunk out of his arm. Now, he’s leaving a bloody trail all over town, unable to heal from the venom in my bite.

  That’s one advantage of my different form. While I am a supe with the ability to take many different forms, I am so different to any other supes I have seen. I’m different and while sometimes different can be a bad thing, for me it has worked out in my favor.

  I turn the corner, my eyes taking in the dark alley the blood trail leads me to. There are a few dumpsters the vamp could be hiding in, as well as a few hidey holes on the fire escapes that are attached to the buildings on either side of me. I feel his energy, but it’s hard to pinpoint exactly where he is, which tells me he’s powerful. Not many supes can hide where they are from me.

  “Why are you hunting me, young wolf?” The man’s voice echoes off the alley walls softly enough that I can’t quite determine where it’s coming from. Tricky little vampire.

  My ears flick back and forth, trying to ascertain its source. The last thing I want is him trying to blindside me.

  After a moment of silence, the vampire speaks again. “It’s been a long time since I had a wolf for a meal,” he muses, a note of excitement in his voice. “They taste sweet, like cotton candy,” he purrs, the echoes nothing short of creepy. “And feeling them struggle in my arms as they put up a fight is an aphrodisiac of the best kind. Maybe I’ll use your body as well as your blood. How does that sound, young wolf?”

  Sick fucker! I shift, letting my body change from wolf to human. I stretch out my naked body, knowing full well the vampire will be able to see. He’s got to be in a spot where he can see me, otherwise, he wouldn’t make such taunts. He wants me to run so he can give chase, but he’s not the predator here, I am.