With one hundred dead humans in our town, someone was going to notice soon. We had no idea how this was going to be covered up. I was never so happy to be out of the loop as I was right now.
All of the paranormal leaders had been meeting all week. Even the vampire hunters met with them. I think their participation was the biggest shock of all.
I know Rico and Damien had been asking them for help with the pending attack. So far, they had denied the requests. So had the council. A part of me wondered if both groups were hoping the pack would be taken out. What they didn’t understand was how much the pack did for everyone. It was the pack who kept the vampire queen and her minions in line, not the hunters or the witches.
We were the ones who dealt with anyone who went rogue or when rogues came to town. This time we needed help.
“What’s going to happen to all of those bodies? You can’t just throw them to the gators. They need a proper burial and to let their friends and family mourn.” I had heard the witches suggested dumping the bodies in the swamp. It was wrong on so many levels.
“I think everyone just wants to get through tonight before we figure it all out.” Damien had been arguing for staging an accident in a warehouse. The witches didn’t like it, too messy.
“Have you spoken to your sisters? Will they stay home tonight?” Damien and I had both worried about my sisters. They always wanted in on the action, especially Jenna.
“They agreed to stay in tonight. I doubt they will get any sleep until I call them.” I coughed and tried to think how to phrase my request.
“Damien, should something happen to me, would you please look out for them?” I hoped nothing would happen to me, but when it’s your time, there is nothing you can do.
“Nothing will happen to you. Stay close to me. I’ll protect you…if you need me to.” Nice backpedaling, Damien.
We had been having this argument all week. He didn’t want me to fight, said it was too dangerous. Then he switched it up to he would be too distracted if I was on the field. In the end, he knew he was going to lose. I saw it in my vision.
“Even though I have only created one softball-sized weapon, I know it will happen tonight. Besides, I have my protective medallion on. We stocked up on spells and charms yesterday when I visited with my sisters. I’m good to go.” He wasn’t stopping me from fighting. I was meant to do this, no matter the outcome.
“I know, I know.” He put his hands up in defeat. “I just can’t help but worry about you. It’s engrained in my DNA. I’m a guy and a wolf. The sooner you understand the better.”
“And I am an independent woman who has always taken care of herself, along with her sisters. The sooner you understand, the better for you.” I arched a brow and stared at him.
I knew he was overprotective, he just better learn when to keep his mouth shut. Quietly protecting me would go a lot further than trying to stop me from fighting. Now that I had magical abilities, I would be a force to be reckoned with.
“How about a truce? We are both just doing what’s in our nature. Let’s not fight, ok? Especially today.” He did have a point. Today wasn’t the day for arguments. It was the day for us to be strong.
“Deal. Can we see Jose and Luke before we all leave? I want to warn them about something from my vision. What good is it having the vision if I don’t try to stop the worst of what’s to come?” I still couldn’t stop thinking about how Jose died in my nightmare.
I needed to find a way to stop it. The best way was to make sure both of the men stuck together. Maybe if they were closer I could have killed all of the vamps before they had a chance to kill Jose. Hard to know for sure, but someone showed me that particular scene for a reason.
We were all in the field waiting. Rico had sent our non-combatants off two days ago to the pack north of us. They sent us everyone they could spare for assistance. I just hoped it would be enough.
The sky to the west was still tinged with orange and burnt sienna, almost like a painting. It was rather beautiful. If this was my last day, it was a beautiful final sunset to witness.
The grass was still green as were all of the tall trees circling our field. What might be my last day on Earth turned out to be a canvas of color. Or maybe I had never taken the time to notice the different shades of green leaves. Some were evergreen and a deep, dark green. Some were deciduous and hadn’t changed color yet or fallen off their branches.
Fall was just around the corner. The nights were cooling down, and I could feel the crispness in the air. Tonight would be a chilly night. Would it be our final night? Hard to tell.
I looked to my right when I heard crunching through the trees. The sun hadn’t set yet so it couldn’t be vamps or werewolves. I wasn’t expecting any more allies to show up, either.
“What now? Did the rogue vamps recruit someone else to help them?” I couldn’t think who would be coming through the forest, I sure as heck hoped it wasn’t a group out for a random hike.
The hair on my arms stood at attention and something inside me, some primal emotion, told me it wasn’t human. I heard a few low growls from the guys who had already changed into their wolf form.
Damien looked at me and squeezed my hand. “Don’t worry. We got this.” He leaned down and kissed my cheek.
All I wanted in the moment was to hold him and kiss him like there was no tomorrow.
When the first person stepped into the clearing Rico ran to him with a giant smile on his face and grabbed the man in a huge hug.
I looked to Damien with furrowed brow. “Who is it? Do you know him?”
Damien’s face broke into one of the biggest and warmest smiles I had seen on him. “Yes! He’s a distant cousin to Rico. His pack is three states away. We thought they weren’t coming. I guess they changed their minds.”
Out walked two dozen men and women. Some carrying weapons such as swords and long sticks, I think Damien told me once they were called Bo or Kon. He wanted me to learn bojutsu. I couldn’t even pronounce the word. Let alone manage a six foot long stick. He suggested maybe I start with a two foot staff. I said when this was all over I would consider taking it up.
Damien pulled me along with him to meet these fighters.
“John, it’s been too long. So glad you brought your fighters.” Rico shook hands with another man who had walked into the clearing.
“Sorry we didn’t warn you ahead of time. I was worried someone might intercept my message. With everything going on, I didn’t want anyone to know my best fighters were leaving my pack alone.” John looked to me and raised an eyebrow.
“A new pack member? I don’t recognize her. Where is she from?” John directed his question to Damien, who stood next to me.
“John, I’d like you meet my girlfriend, Kat. She’s part shifter and part witch.” Damien should have just said witch, since I can’t shift yet, and the whole issue with my heritage being an abomination.
The entire group who came with John inhaled loudly with wide eyes. Most of them took a few steps back, too.
“Don’t worry. Her powers were bound her entire life. She only just received her magic. As of yet, she can’t shift. She’s the seer who foresaw what was to happen here today.” Rico tried to calm the other pack.
They seemed to relax a little when they heard I only had one power.
“How is it you lived?” John took two steps toward me.
Damien stepped between us. “Give me your word you won’t harm her, including your pack.”
“If Rico says she’s okay, then I won’t harm her.” John gave me a tentative smile. “You do know you’re the only one of your kind, right?”
“Yes, I’ve been told many times.” What was I to say? Sure, I’m extra special. What a witchy thing to say. Pun intended.
“Look, a prophecy was given before I was even born. We all believe it was about today. The witch’s council at the time let everyone think I was dead. They bound all of my powers and had me raised as a mundane.” I looked at all of John’s
pack members and realized they were all staring at me. It was very unnerving.
“I had no clue about any of the paranormal community until two years ago. It was less than a year ago, Rico and his pack found me and my sisters and gave us his protection. I only found out about the witch side a couple of weeks ago. I plan to fight today and kill every vampire and werewolf who gets in my path.” I took Damien’s hand for comfort.
The situation was awkward, to say the least.
I could only hope they wouldn’t try to kill me after we destroyed the vampire rebellion.
“I think it’s cool. Honestly, I can’t wait to see what you can do. Too bad you can’t shift yet. Will you be able to use your magic in your shifted form?” John seemed to really be interested in my abilities.
Maybe he really was cool about all of this. I was an oddity, maybe he was into the creep show factor.
I shrugged and looked to Damien who also shrugged. “I don’t really know. I guess we’ll see, if I ever shift. Maybe my magic is dominating my wolf and holding her down? I really don’t know. My magic is what I wanted more than anything when my powers were unbound. I knew it was important to get my magical mojo working.”
“Cool. I would love to see what you can do.” One of the women from John’s pack stepped up and put her hand out for me.
“I’m Becca. I look forward to fighting on your side today.” Her smile seemed very genuine and helped to put me at ease.
Damien whispered in my ear, “I have a feeling most of the other packs will react the same when they find out about you. Since Rico’s on the International Council, our pack has had to be extra careful about following the rules. Maybe others won’t be so hard?”
“Makes sense.” I knew everyone could hear us. Whispering just helped it to feel like our personal conversation.
The sun had just fully set when we heard more rustling coming from the north-east. Everyone turned their attention to the noise, and all conversations stopped.
Fifteen men walked through into the clearing with five wolves trailing them.
Damien recognized the man in the lead. “Paco! You came! I can’t believe you made it.” He ran over to the man who looked more like a Native American than a wolf shifter.
He had really long hair with a clip of feathers hanging on the left side of his head. He was tan and tall with a very lanky build. He could have been over six feet but couldn’t have been over two hundred pounds. His pack resembled him in height and skin tone.
Damien looked over his shoulder and waved to me. I joined them.
“Paco, this is my girlfriend, Kat. Kat, this is Paco, he’s a real smooth operator so watch out for him.” Damien chuckled.
“Nice to meet you.” I put my hand out for him.
He took it, not to shake, but to kiss. “What is a beautiful lady doing with such a dirty wolf as Damien?” His voice was smooth as molasses, and a chill went up my spine.
If I wasn’t already so into Damien this guy would have charmed my pants off.
“I’m teaching him how to be a gentleman.” I smirked and withdrew my hand.
All of the men around laughed, and Paco slapped Damien on the back. “She’s a keeper, my brother. Watch out, though. I like her.”
The smile Paco gave me warmed my insides. He must have had some paranormal power over women. There is no way he would have set my blood on fire without some magic.
I caught Damien eyeing me.
“What? Worried I’m going to fall for his charm? Not a chance. His magic won’t work on me.” I winked at Damien and smirked at Paco. I had his number. It was definitely magic he was weaving over me.
“Come on, I want to introduce you to my alpha, Rico.” Damien led us all into the center of the field.
The leaders were all chatting, and I stood back looking at these extra men. None of them looked familiar to me. I couldn’t remember them being in my dream.
Luke walked up to me. “What’s wrong? You look like something is bothering you.”
“My dream, or vision, or whatever, was different. These two new packs weren’t in my dream. I hope this doesn’t mean it’s not happening tonight. I really want this done and over with. Know what I mean?” I chewed the inside of my cheek and replayed the scene from my nightmare over again hoping to see these men somewhere.
“This is a good thing, Kat. It means you have already changed the future. I can’t imagine the vamps won’t attack tonight. They have recruited too many rogues who are causing so much trouble around town. If they don’t attack tonight, we will find them and attack them when they no longer have the strength of the werewolves. I’m sure they realize this as well.” Luke patted my back and gave me a reassuring smile.
“Thanks, Luke. Just remember what I said. You and Jose have to stick close to each other. Otherwise, I won’t be able to save you both.” Nodding my head, I continued the replay of the vision in my head.
Damien joined us. “Is everything alright?”
“Yes, I’m just wondering what all of these men mean to my vision.” I walked the two steps and wrapped my arms around Damien. His warmth was comforting and helped to soothe my worries.
Damien looked to the sky. “They should be coming soon.”
“Do you really think it’s going to be tonight?” I really was worried it wouldn’t happen for another month or two.
“I know it will be tonight. Even if they know we suspect, they can’t continue to live here for another month. It’s too dangerous with all of the rogues in one place. They will eventually fight each other for dominance if nothing else.” Damien pulled me tighter and froze.
“What?” I could feel something was off.
“They’re coming. What I feel out there isn’t another wolf pack. It’s something…off? Or not right. I don’t think the vamps are here yet. It could be the werewolves.” Damien let me go and looked around at all of the various packs gathered here for war.
Rico looked at us and then nodded. “It’s time. They are almost upon us. Those who are going to shift, I suggest doing so now.”
The amount of energy I felt all at once was breathtaking. All of the hair on my body stood on end as though I had been electrocuted. My chest was tight, and it was difficult to breath.
This experience was nothing like what I have ever felt before. The amount of magic required to shift almost fifty wolves at once had to be off the charts. I wondered if I could feel it so powerfully because of my magic or if it was just the sheer numbers.
All of a sudden everything changed. I could breath, and my hair returned to normal. It was as though a bubble popped, and all of the air rushed back into my lungs.
I heard a howl pierce the air right before it entered the field. Directly behind it were at least ten more. They never slowed down when they saw our numbers. They kept coming. It seemed they couldn’t even think like a predator who’d met it’s match. Maybe they thought they still had the power? I didn’t know.
All I knew was we were going to win this round. We might lose some soldiers, but we were going to win this war.
The first werewolf ran straight at Paco who sidestepped the beast so quickly I could barely see him. He reminded me of a vampire the way he moved. So smoothly and effortlessly.
Paco slammed his elbow into the back of the beast who howled and stopped. When he turned, I could see the nostrils flaring.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw werewolves fight three to four wolf shifters at a time. Since we had the numbers, everyone teamed up to fight the monsters. While the werewolves were much taller than our shifters, even in their human form, they weren’t able to fight four mouths or sets of claws all at once.
I wasn’t targeted by a werewolf, and Damien stayed at my side. Really, there wasn’t much we could do. Four of our guys to each werewolf was a bit much. Anymore and it would be tough to not hurt our allies.
My eyes tracked back to Paco. He was fighting one on one with a werewolf.
“Damien, why don’t you help Paco? He’s hold
ing his own, but it would go faster if someone helped him to kill the beast.” I pointed to where the two were trading punches and claws.
Paco stayed in his human form and only had one claw mark on him so far. The beast had several marks where blood was seeping out. Paco looked to be winning. I just wanted the thing dead. Who cared how it died as long as it was dead before the vamps arrived.
“He’s holding his own. I’ve fought with him before. He only wants help if he’s losing. I’m keeping an eye on him, don’t worry. He’s stronger than you might think.” Damien kept one eye on Paco, and the other seemed to scan the field.
It seemed crazy to me to let him lose his energy. Why not help him end the beast as quickly as possible? Men, pft.
If the vamps had timed it better, we would have lost more men. I doubt they thought we would have so many warriors joining us tonight.
I heard a loud piercing scream and looked for the source. It was a wolf. I couldn’t tell who it was, although, he was with a human from John’s pack. The werewolf bit it’s neck out before the human got his sword through the heart of the beast.
The wolf shifter returned to its human form and a man lay on the ground. From here, he looked to be dead. He wasn’t moving, and the three who had been fighting with him kneeled down and put their hands on his arms. Their heads were bowed like they were praying over the fallen man.
All around us werewolves were dying. Another wolf shifter appeared to be dead or severely injured. It was still in its wolf form, so I was hoping injured and not dead.
When I looked back to Paco I could tell he had the upper hand, literally. He had a choke hold on the werewolf while also pinning its claws between his body and the beast’s.
A howl pierced the air, and another werewolf died.
Paco was still fighting his monster when the smell of death entered the field.
Vampires.
The stench was strong. I turned to see a flood of bodies running into the field.
All of our warriors who weren’t actively fighting a werewolf ran to meet them in battle.
“Damien, we need Paco. Can I kill the beast?” I wanted to send a mage ball at the monster so badly. I felt my power building so strongly, it was difficult to keep it all in. If I didn’t let some of it go soon, I would burst.
Council of Magic Page 17