by M. L. Briers
“I just need to clear my head-”
Harley started to explain, but Tandy didn’t want to hear it.
“What about Colin?” Tandy scowled at her friend. “No, what about Ginny?”
“Ginny’s mated to Michael now. I came here to curb her magic and keep her from doing something stupid, but she’s settled now…” Harley’s mind was running riot- she couldn’t think surrounded by the pack and mated friends and family. She needed to get her bearings…
“So, you’re doing something stupid instead,” Tandy tossed up a hand in frustration. “I can’t believe you’d do this.”
“Look, Tandy…” Harley took a step towards her, but Tandy held out her hand and shook her head to keep her in place.
“Just leave if you’re going,” Tandy didn’t want to listen to anything else. She turned on her feet and made a fast exit out of the room. If Harley could turn her back on her mate then she wasn’t worth the effort to try to persuade her to stay.
Harley fisted the keys to the truck and closed her eyes for a long moment. She needed to still the conflicting emotions within her and that kind of reaction wasn’t going to help her. With a nod of her head, confirming her resolve, she made for the front door.
Her eyes caught sight of Ginny and she stopped in her tracks, opened her mouth to speak, but Ginny gave her such a look of disbelief that she couldn’t think straight. When Ginny turned on her heels and stalked away, Harley cursed aloud… maybe she was taking the wrong path- she had no intention of turning her back on her mate, but she needed to close every chapter in her past to make way for the future and wrap her head around it all… why couldn’t everyone see that?
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Ginny stormed out of the back door and headed towards the woods. She wasn’t like Harley one little bit- she preferred to embrace life, fate, and all the good in other people, and yet Harley was turning her back on her own mate… it was wrong on so many levels that she felt ashamed of her sister.
She had to wonder how she would be able to face Michael knowing that Harley had left her mate to take his chances with becoming a rogue. If the worst happened and the pack was forced to hunt down and kill one of their own… She didn’t want to think on it, it was just too upsetting.
All she wanted to do was get back to the cabin and not have to deal with anyone else today. Trying to reason with Harley was like trying to wrestle a rabid Rottweiler, and she wasn’t adept at either.
Harley’s behaviour had taken the shine off of her happiness, her bonding with Michael and beginning a new life, and she hated that her sister could be so selfish.
By the time that Ginny realised that she had become turned around inside of the woods, it was already too late. A sense of direction had never been her strongest gift. And as she stood in the darkening woods- she knew that somewhere out there was her cabin, but she just didn’t have a clue how to get back to it.
“Whoops…” she muttered into the silence.
CHAPTER ELEVEN
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Barker kicked up a tuft of rugged grass and bit down on a new expletive for that minute of the day. It had taken him well into the night to commit to a plan of challenging Meredith over how she’d thought he had acted all of those decades ago, and he’d been in the general vicinity of her cabin ever since.
Now night was falling again and he was no closer to taking that walk towards her front door and confronting her. He was also in no hurry to walk away either- which left him in the unenviable situation of hanging around with his proverbial thumb up his backside, caught between a rock and a hard place- something that he wasn’t used to.
He noted the sound of fast paws and turned his attention towards it. When the alpha broke cover through the gap in the trees and headed straight for him, he wondered if the beast was planning an attack.
Then Benjamin shifted into his human form and eyed him with a certain amount of suspicion.
“Why are you lurking outside Meredith’s cottage?” Benjamin’s voice was full of his beast.
“Taking in the sights, looking at the wildlife- you know how it is, right?” Barker didn’t know this man. He wasn’t about to have a damned heart to heart with him.
“Meredith is pack-”
“Rest easy on your moral high ground there alpha. Not every vampire is gung-ho to unsheathe his fangs.” Barker offered back. “Although for some this might signal an existential crisis-”
“I don’t have to be a proctologist to recognise an asshole when I see one, Barker.” Benjamin growled back.
“Oh, a funny!” Barker mocked him. “My sides ache from laughing so hard.”
“If you’re planning on-” Benjamin took a long step forward.
“Now, Alphie, don’t go accusing me of planning anything. I’m more a fly by the seat of my pants kind of a monster, while you…” he motioned towards Benjamin, “don’t wear pants.”
“Cute,” Benjamin growled. “And now it’s time for you to leave pack land, willingly- or-”
“Let’s not finish that threat. I’d hate for this blossoming friendship to be cast into doubt,” Barker shot back.
“You’re a smartass-”
“Is it that obvious?” Barker tossed up his hands and shrugged his shoulders.
Under different circumstances, Benjamin might have liked this man, vampire or not, but he posed a threat to Meredith and that couldn’t be ignored.
“Leave,” Benjamin growled out.
“I’m getting the distinct impression that you’re not a very welcoming kind of guy,” Barker shrugged again, turned, and was about to take off… when the sound of a female’s scream pierced the air. “Not just yet.” Barker spat out as they both turned towards the sound, and each moved on fast feet towards it…
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‘Does anyone have a damned clue who that was or have sight of what’s happening?’ Benjamin growled into the pack’s link as he shifted and raced through the woods as fast as his paws could carry him.
He knew the vampire was ahead of him. The man would be faster and more agile over the rough terrain than his wolf could manage, but still he ran as if the demons of hell were snapping at his paws behind him…
Silence greeted him. Not one member of his pack acknowledged the question which meant that nobody had a damned clue as to what was going down in the very heart of their land.
That didn’t bode well for whatever female had issued that blood curdling scream. The moon had risen from its slumber and Benjamin was taking no chances with anyone else’s life…
‘We assume we’re under attack from the werewolves, everyone on full alert and guard the pack,’ he growled out his warning.
The scent of blood greeted his nose and his stomach pitched. The Fae essence told him that it was a mate, but not his- he knew Tandy’s scent and that wasn’t it, Leanne’s too, Meredith was in her cabin… that left Harley or Ginny, and his gut wrenched at the thought of either female having come under attack by savage beasts.
The scent grew stronger the closer that he got, and his beast came to a skidding stop as his eyes encountered the scene…
Barker had already hitched the injured female onto his lap in the small clearing… the scent of her blood had come from the claw marks of a wolf, and the bite mark that branded her body was bleeding profusely…
“Vampire trumps Werewolf,” Barker’s eyes were locked with his. He doubted that the bloodsucker was asking permission as he lifted his wrist and his fangs elongated- he wasted no time in biting down into his own flesh…
Benjamin’s beast growled at the sight in front of him. It was bad enough that one of his pack had been attacked on their land, but worse still was the sight of the vampire feeding her his blood. Benjamin shifted into his human form…
“You’re blood won’t cure the bite,” he knew the legend well enough to know that much.
“Not cure, but it’ll give her a stronger chance of fighting off the shif
t into the beast,” Barker’s eyes took in the bite, it was deep and the venom would have been injected close to her heart- that didn’t bode well, but he wasn’t going to sit by and do nothing…
Colin’s wolf broke into the clearing and his heart hit his ribs at the sight that befell him. Anger fired within his blood like lava, and his wolf took another step into the realm of becoming a rogue…
“Easy, brother,” Benjamin could feel a shift in his brother’s beast, but when Michael’s wolf appeared- he knew he had bigger problems.
“Colin, take him down…” Benjamin growled out, but it was too late, Michael was already headed for Barker, snarling and snapping his jaws with the intent to kill him.
Barker moved fast. By the time that the wolf got to the vampire, he was already gone, and Colin and Benjamin immediately backed off as the wolf shifted into his human form…
“Ginny…” Michael growled out. Dropping to his knees on the ground beside her and lifting her gently into his lap as he tipped his head back on his neck and a distressed roar escaped his lips.
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‘Keep the lines tight and close off all escape from our lands. I want every Were hunted and killed, no mercy.’ Benjamin growled out as he and Colin accompanied Michael back towards the main cabin.
Michael cradled his mate within his arms, snarling and snapping if either wolf got too close to them on the long walk back home. Benjamin led the way, while Colin brought up the flank, protecting the mates from further attack as they tried to get the witch to safety.
Benjamin knew that the vampire was close. He could feel the supernatural element of the man on his senses, and his beast wasn’t best pleased, but Benjamin was grateful for the reinforcement.
“The kill is mine,” Michael growled out, “it attacked my mate.”
‘Easy, brother. Your mate needs your strength now to fight the bite, let us take care of everything else.’ Benjamin knew the way of it, and yet he also knew that Ginny had a fight on her hands.
If the bite didn’t kill her, and the vampire’s blood didn’t cure her, then she would lose her Fae powers as her body accepted the werewolf’s venom and she became one of them. None of this boded well for the pack or for Michael.
‘Ross, how’s it looking out there, do you have the scent of the beasts yet?’
‘Not yet, Benjamin… I don’t think we’re looking for beasts, more likely a rogue mutt or we’d have picked something up already.’ Ross’s words didn’t lift the gloom from Benjamin’s heart. One beast was enough to get into the heart of the pack, and now Ginny and Michael might pay a heavy burden for that.
‘I’m coming back from the mountain, Alpha,’ Tom informed him. ‘I’ve tracked the mutts path, and it would appear that their leader has led his people up there.’
Benjamin knew in his heart who was left. Travis had been banished from the werewolf pack after the last attack, and it was he who had perpetrated this atrocity on Ginny.
‘I think we’re looking for Travis alone, but don’t discount that he may have dragged more into his madness,’ Benjamin warned.
“I’m going to rip him limb from limb,” Michael growled with all of the hate that he felt within him.
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“Harley!” Tandy skidded to a stop the moment that she found her friend standing by the window peering out into the night. She’d used her magic to track her down the moment that one of the pack had told her what had happened to Ginny- she’d been more than surprised to find that she was still at the cabin…
“Don’t shout, I’m not deaf- just stupid,” Harley bit out, turning to face Tandy and encountering the look of horror on her face. “Tell me?” she demanded, feeling that imaginary fist hit her stomach, and knowing already that something was desperately wrong.
“It’s Ginny-”
“Ginny!” Harley reeled at the news. Colin, out there fighting werewolves sure, but Ginny? She didn’t understand.
“She was outside when the attack happened,” Tandy started to close the distance between them, but Harley was already heading for the door…
“No!” she spat out. “That’s not possible, that’s not…” she shook her head in denial and moved on fast feet through the house.
“Michael’s bringing her back,” Tandy tried to reassure her, but Harley wasn’t listening. She needed to get to Ginny, needed to see for herself what had happened…
Harley blindly yanked open the back door and ran out into the night. She called on her magic to lead the way to her sister, allowing it to guide her as she set off into the woods…
“Damn it,” Tandy spat out, moving on fast feet behind her. There was no way in hell that she was letting another one of her friends go off alone.
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Barker heard them coming before he saw them. He swooped down from the trees and positioned himself in the way between the witches and the wolves coming from the other direction. Michael was in a fragile state of protectiveness, and sister or not, Harley ran the risk of his wrath should she get too close.
“Get out of my way, Barker,” Harley warned him.
“Let’s not be rash-” Barker held up his hands to try to stop her, but she was coming at him like a steamroller.
A moment later and she’d lifted her hand and swept him aside with a wave of her magic… Barker hit the ground and immediately rolled back up onto his feet…
“Damn it, Harley,” he bit out, shrugging off the pain of landing on the hard ground, and getting between her and an angry mate once more.
“Learn,” Harley bit out as she repeated the process of sweeping him off his feet, out of her path, and depositing him on the hard ground meters away.
“You can’t teach an old vampire new tricks,” he ground out, getting back in front of her again like a damn boomerang.
“So help me Goddess, I will put you in a damn tree,” Harley bit out.
CHAPTER TWELVE
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Barker had run out of time, and had decided to change his tactics. He reached out, wrapped an arm around her body, and turned her against the nearest tree trunk, caging her in just as Benjamin’s wolf appeared, followed by Michael carrying her sister.
Harley had just been about to unleash her magic on the vampire once more when her eyes locked onto Ginny and she froze in place.
“Tell me she’s not dead,” her voice was nothing but a whisper.
“Not dead, and she has my blood in her veins fighting the venom of the bite…” Barker kept his lips beside her ear making sure that every word he told her went into her brain and was understood. “She needs to fight it too, Harley.”
“I’m going to kill the mutt that did this,” Harley bit out.
Colin had shifted into his human form the moment that he laid eyes on his mate and the vampire. His hand fisted Barker’s collar and he wrenched the man away from his mate on a snarl of warning. Tossing him aside as his beast roared with the need to kill him.
“Don’t touch my mate,” Colin growled out, turning back towards Harley- only to find her gone.
“Nice work, mate,” Barker bit out. He knew Harley, and that witch wasn’t going to stop until she’d had her vengeance.
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Harley threw up a shield to rival any witch. Cloaking her scent for those she knew would pursue her. She dug deep within the realms of her magic to track the mutt that had bitten her sister.
Her magic prickled against her skin, leading her through the maze of trees deep within the woods, and showing her the way towards dousing the fire of vengeance within her. Revenge burned alongside her magic, just as brightly, and just as needing of her attention.
Every step that she took was fuelled by hate. Every breath that she breathed was laced with vengeance. And every beat of her heart was filled with guilt for having a hand in this.
Whether Ginny lived or died- stayed a witch or
became a monster- she would never forgive herself for not stopping Ginny and explaining her cause until the day that she no longer drew a breath on the Earth.
Harley changed direction and followed where her magic led her. Down the incline and towards the deepest, darkest heart of the woods.
The closer that she got to finding her prey- the more her magic buzzed and grew within her. It needed an outlet and fast. Revenge was a heady mixture of hatred and danger when it was so closely wound with magic, turning it dark if it wasn’t carefully controlled.
Right then Harley didn’t care what magic she called upon to end the mutt’s existence, just so long as she made it happen. If dark magic claimed her soul then it would be a small price to pay.
She stopped in her tracks- her magic told her that the mutt should have been right there, right in front of her… but all she found was empty space…
“No, no, no, no, no…” she cursed out on a whisper.
Then the hard prickle of her magic stabbed at her back, and she knew that she’d left herself wide open to attack in her haste to kill the thing that had hurt Ginny…
The sound of a snarl came from behind her and she whirled around to face the ugliest mutt that she’d ever seen in her life. Its red rimmed eyes held her spellbound, as its top lip pulled back pulled back in another snarl and revealed the length of its fangs…
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Barker didn’t stop running the moment that he spotted Harley staring down the fangs of the werewolf. A second before he snatched her up from the ground and out of harm’s way, she had released her magic at the beast- the scent of scorched fur greeted his nostrils, as the sound of the beast roaring as he was blasted from the ground through the air, greeted his ears, but he was already tossing her around his body and behind his back by the time that the mutt hit the ground once more.