by M. L. Briers
“Yeah, Tony, what’s up?” Petra watched the changing mood of her mate as he listened to the caller. A moment before the call he had been playfully teasing her as to her Fae powers, now he seemed distant and slightly anxious by what he was hearing. “Give me an hour and I’ll be there.” He growled into the phone before snapping it off and stuffing it back into his pocket.
“Trouble?”Petra asked bringing his attention back towards her.
“Could be. But it can wait until we take care of this.”Dale wrapped his knuckles on the hardwood front door to the cabin and the door was pulled open before Petra could answer him.
Jade’s eyes took in the Fae before her. A flare of recognition for just how much she looked like her mother was evident in the elder’s eyes, and then the veil slipped back into place and she greeted her with a welcoming smile.
“I’d know you anywhere, Petra.”Jade offered as she swept the door all the way open as an invitation for them to enter.
“Why don’t you go and take care of that phone call?”Petra offered, hovering on the doorstep. Truth be told she was probably more nervous in finding out about her mother with him there than she would be if she was alone. For a long moment Dale took her in, unsure of leaving her.
“I can walk her back home if you like.”Jade offered and Dale felt slightly more assured. He sensed Petra’s anxiety, but he didn’t think his presence would offer much by way of assurance. This wasn’t a physical thing it was in her mind, a past she needed to come to terms with, and she looked more than eager to do that alone.
“If you’re sure?”He asked his mate, trying to judge her reaction. The quick nod of her head and slight pleading look in her eyes confirmed to him that she wanted to do this by herself and he took a step back from her, motioning for her to go inside.
“I’ll make us a nice cup of tea…”Jade offered as Petra stepped away from her mate and entered the small cabin.
“What the hell is this and where did it come from?”Dale growled down at the pile of handguns that sat on the ground beside the old oak tree, ripped packaging littered the site around the deadly arsenal, and his Beta palmed the tree trunk with one hand and sighed.
“Rafferty asked me to check it out. He followed Jed out here last night…”
“Jed..?”Dale growled out his annoyance. The man had always been a pain in the backside, but this… “Why was Rafferty following Jed?”
“He was worried Jed would try to attack your mate. He had me checking on him during the patrol last night, and Cole said he came across Rafferty around your cabin in the early hours of this morning…”Tony offered up everything he knew. For one thing it was always good to give credit where it was due, and he felt that the Alpha should know that Rafferty was doing what he felt was right where his mate was concerned. For another, if Rafferty’s fears were real then the Alpha should be made aware of that too.
“Rafferty…”Dale scratched his head and dropped his eyes to the Omega’s stash. On one hand he was as mad as hell that the elder hadn’t cared to share what he was doing with him. On the other, he was more than grateful for the old man’s concerns. The man had a big heart, but an even bigger hole where his brain should have been, but at least he hadn’t challenged the Omega with this. Although, the old man probably still could have take Jed with one hand tied behind his back.
“Get this stuff back to the main house. Is Jed still on patrol?”
“No. He’s at his cabin. I had one of the patrol drop by there a little while ago.”
“I think I need to have a little chat with him.”Dale growled out and Tony felt the anger coming from his Alpha loud and clear. He wouldn’t want to be in Jed’s shoes right about now that was for sure.
Petra looked down at the array of information that Jade had spread out on the counter for her to look at. She’d got as far as her mother’s picture and hadn’t gone any further. It was kind of strange having your face looking back up at you, but knowing that it wasn’t you in the picture. But the resemblance was uncanny. The clothes were all wrong of course, but they could have been twins.
“How alike you are.”Jade offered from the other side of the counter.
“Did you know her?”Petra tried to lift her eyes from the photograph but her mother’s eyes seemed to hold her like a captive. It was as if she was trying to communicate with her with just a look, as if she had something to say. Petra felt a long hard shiver run through her body. Perhaps her mother was finally reaching out to her from beyond the grave. The magic that had been gifted to her from her ancestors was engrained within her very being. It wasn’t unreasonable that now the door to her past had been opened she might be able to finally see inside.
“I knew her. I knew all of the coven witches.”Jade’s tone held a trace of bitterness that she couldn’t hide, and that bitterness caused Petra to finally tear her eyes away from the picture and up towards the elder. What she saw there made her wary. The old woman’s eyes showed disdain. “They were a blight upon this pack.”
Petra felt the icy tingle that traced up her spine. Her magic was trying to tell her something was wrong, whether that was her ancestors or not she didn’t know, but she didn’t need the long since dead to tell her that the old woman didn’t care for her kind. A rush of anxiety ran through her and she took a step away from the counter.
“Perhaps I should leave…”Petra saw the old woman move out of the corner of her eye to counteract her own movements. The woman was putting herself between Petra and the door and it was more than clear from the look on the elder’s face and the stance that she took; arms down and out slightly from her body, her legs spread and her feet planted, and even the subtle drop of her chin, that if Petra wanted to leave she would have to go through her first.
“It’s too late for that.”The deep growl that underwrote each word told Petra what she already knew; the woman was out for blood. “Your witches took my son from me that night. The Alpha might be blinded to the blood feud because you’re his mate, but I’m under no illusion that you are worthy of such an honour. You should have died that night, now it’s time to remedy that.”
CHAPTER TWELVE
Jade didn’t wait for a reply. Her fangs descended and she flicked her claws out as she made a swipe towards Petra’s throat. It was only be sheer luck that Petra was already backing away from her that she didn’t connect with Petra’s skin.
Petra acted purely on instinct. Drawing on her magic, she pushed out towards the old woman with her energy, taking her from her feet and sending her backwards into the solid wooden unit. The sound of pictures and ornaments scattering over the surface and hitting the floor as Jade’s upper body slammed into them filled the air, but it was the roar of her fury that shook the cabin walls.
Quick on her feet, she pushed herself up and came across the room at full speed towards Petra. The intent on her face was clear, she meant to kill, and Petra knew that if she was going to survive here today she couldn’t be so conservative with her magic. She needed to stop thinking of her as an old woman and start thinking of her as a killing machine.
Petra had just seconds to react to the threat. She lifted her hand out in front of her, but it was batted away with one hard blow as the other hand rallied towards her. Razor sharp claws flashed before her eyes an instant before she felt the pain of them tearing through her skin like molten lava, opening a wound down her cheek, into her neck and over her collarbone as the sound of wood cracking and splintering echoed through the room.
Petra felt the room spin about her, the force of the blow sent her whirling sideways. She was falling and there wasn’t a damn thing she could do about it. By the time she hit the floor her mind had only just told her to raise her arms to ease her fall. She realised that the sound of bone breaking was her own as the pain screamed through her body.
“No!”The deep voice boomed out into the room, echoing inside her mind as one she knew, and yet she couldn’t quite place it. Her mind was becoming foggy, shutting down to protect itself from the
pain that was screamed within her. Petra tried to shake it off, but it had nowhere to go. It was as if sleep was calling to her, as if she hadn’t slept in so long, and the fatigue was slowing everything down about her.
Petra rolled backwards upon the hard floor. For the briefest of moments her eyes locked onto the vampire at the threshold to the cabin. His face twisted in rage and hopelessness. Jerome… He can’t get in…He can’t help me… ‘Always go for overkill’ His words from the night before floated into her mind, as the momentum of the force of impact between her body and the floor continued to roll her body backwards, until she locked on another pair of eyes. More rage, this time it was mixed with a bloodlust that filled the elder and made her pause to savour the kill she was about to make.
Petra felt her mind starting to slip away with the pure energy that was flowing out of her, the loss of her life blood. It took everything that she had, but she was determined that she wouldn’t slip away quietly without a damn fight. With a cry of pure determination that tore from her lips, Petra thrust her hand out and in her mind she envisioned twisting the woman’s head on her neck, with a quick flick of her wrist she forced her magic at the elder and watched as the woman’s head snapped sharply to one side, eyes still wide open as her body started to crumple, before the darkness swelled around her and she gave in to sleep.
The moment the elder’s spinal cord was severed Jerome practically tripped over his own feet into the room. The magic shield that had prevented him from entering while the old woman lived had been lifted and the doorway was suddenly wide open for him. In a heartbeat he was on his knees at his daughter’s side. For the first time in longer than he could remember he’d felt real fear as he was powerless to intercede in Petra’s struggle to stay alive. She had done her part, now it was up to him.
He tore into the palm of his hand with his fangs, uncaring of the deep wound that he inflicted upon himself, knowing that time was of the essence if he was to save her life. Her heart was already a shallow slow beat within her chest and she’d lost more blood than he cared to think about as he tipped her head back and forced his blood inside her mouth and down the back of her throat, but if she didn’t even have the energy to swallow it she couldn’t be saved…
The thunderous roar that shook the very walls of the cabin was the least of Jerome’s worries. He forced more and more blood into her body with the time that he had left. Her mate probably couldn’t be reasoned with and he knew that he was crossing a line between the Alpha and his mate, but it couldn’t be helped.
Strong hands gripped him and wrenched him from where he was knelt beside her. The sight of the room tore past him when he was thrown clean across the small cabin. Hitting the far wall with full force, he rebounded and ended up face down upon the hardwood floor. A second later he was back on his feet. His eyes locked on the sight of Dale cradling Petra within his arms and he knew it would take a small army to prise the Alpha away from his mate now.
Dale bent over his mate and nuzzled against her ear. “Don’t leave me my love.”He begged. The sight tore a chunk out of Jerome’s heart. He screwed up his face with the torture of waiting to see if she would respond to his blood, and the rage that tore through every inch of him for what was happening. He wanted to bring the damn elder back to life just so he could rip her limb from limb. His mind was in turmoil as he concentrated on only one thing, the sound of Petra’s heart beating, for it was her heart that would pump his blood through her body, and that was the only thing that could save her.
“No!”Jill flew into the room a step behind her mate. The whole pack had been alerted to what had happened as Dale broadcast his every though, his every feeling through the link between their minds. A crowd was gathering outside the door, and a pack was collectively holding their breath for the worst.
“Don’t.”Brad wrapped an arm around his mate and snatched her safely back against his body as the alpha growled out a warning to stay away. His fangs were down and his claws were out, he was ready to defend his injured mate with his life from any perceived threat. With his wolf so close to the surface and the knowledge within him that his mate was dying, he was more than unpredictable, he was deadly. “He’ll kill you if you get too close.”Brad whispered against her ear.
Brad could scent two different bloodlines. Fae and Vampire. He knew that Jerome had somehow managed to feed Petra his blood and he kept the hope within him that it would work, even if she was brought back a damn vampire, at least she would be back. If the worst happened they’d find a way to keep her newbie bloodlust at bay so she wouldn’t eat the entire damn pack, after all they had two vampires to hand to be able to train and contain her. He had to think that way, anything else meant he would lose his best friend, and the thought of Dale going rogue made him feel physically sick.
With his mate inconsolable in his arms, he saw Jerome move out of the corner of his eye. It was the first time that the vampire hadn’t been like a statue since they entered the cabin. But when he flicked his eyes in his direction he found him unmoving again.
Dale soothed his mate as best he could. If she was to die he would follow her to the other side, swiftly. He would ask Jerome to keep to his word and end him this very day. He couldn’t live without her. He wouldn’t live without her. Even if he didn’t become rogue, there would be no life for him without his mate. It was his vowel to her, to her ancestors, to her damned spirits that had forsaken her this day, and to his own God’s that had failed him so badly.
“Stay with me…”He breathed against her ear, trying to breathe the very life back into her body. He reached out to her with every part of him, offering her his strength, his willpower for survival as she lay helpless within his arms. If only they had bonded he could have spoken to her very soul, begged her not to leave him, and perhaps she would have heard him, would have fought to stay with him. He wasn’t even sure she could feel his arms about her, feel him with her or hear him willing her to live.
“Petra, don’t leave me. Fight, sweetheart, please fight…”
Jerome heard the hard thud of her heart, as if it beat hard once just for her mate, an answering call to his words perhaps? He went to move forward but held himself firm, not tempted to offer false hope in the face of so much pain.
“You are my mate. I claimed you as mine. You have my mark in your skin…”Dale whispered against her ear and then he tossed his head back upon his neck and he howled with the pain that tore through him for his love. He dropped his head back and growled long and hard at her. “Live…You-will-Live!”He growled long and hard as if commanding her to survive, Alpha to pack, mate to mate, he unwillingly to let her go without a fight.
Jerome heard the hard thump of her heartbeat again and swallowed down the rush of excitement within him. Just one beat… one more… come on… come on… The sound was like a rush of pure adrenalin through his body. It thumped again… and then again…and again.
“Thank God.”Jerome bit out. “Her heart, Dale, listen to her heart.”He heard it thump again as he saw Dale’s head lift slightly and cock to one side as he stared down at him mate, willing another hard thump, and then another.
“She’s going to make it.”Brad whispered to Jill. His mate’s body had been tense against him; she’d hardly taken any kind of breath into her lungs for the longest time, now it was as if she had suddenly come back to life as Petra did within Dale’s arms. Brad turned her in his arms and she melted against him. The silent tears she had shed were openly sobbed now, but with happiness instead of pain.
“That’s it sweetheart, come back to me.”Dale growled gently against her face, pressing kisses against her cold skin and thanking the Gods, his, hers, he didn’t want to leave anyone out. But he knew the person he owed everything to was standing not ten feet away from them, and he forced his wolf back from the surface, steadying the beasts hold on him. He looked up at the vampire and saw the pure joy and relief on his face. “Thank you, Jerome.” He growled out.
“Hey, she was my daughter before
she was your mate.”Jerome shot back, offering him the same words he had used the day before. But he nodded his head in acknowledgement of the Alpha’s heartfelt thanks. But in the grand scheme of things, he was still old enough and wise enough not to take a step towards the mates.
Dale wasn’t taking any chances. He had both vampires sitting like bookends on either side of Petra while he attended the pack meeting and dealt with, not only the issue of Jade’s vengeance, but any possibility of it happening again. Apparently she wasn’t even supposed to leave the damn sofa until he returned, something which Jill found more than amusing as she taunted her from across the room.
“Look what I can do.”Jill teased as she got up from the armchair and walked a couple of paces forwards as if she’d just discovered what her legs were for. Petra sighed and rolled her eyes. Jill walked back over to the armchair and flopped back down against the cushions.
“Why don’t we go and grab a coffee?”Jill offered with a grin of amusement at Petra’s predicament and Wesley snorted a chuckle behind his hand.
“You know what. Screw this.”Petra announced fisting the cushions next to her legs and pushing herself upwards.
“Sit.”Jerome reached up, snagged her wrist and yanked her back down to the cushions where she landed with an unladylike flop. “I promised the alpha we’d watch you.”
“You can watch me just fine in the damn kitchen.”Petra bit out between clenched teeth. She’d had enough of this. She wasn’t made of glass, she wasn’t helpless, and yes she might have nearly died, but still…
“Could.”Jerome offered her hope. He turned to look at her. There was a small smile on his lips that he let die. “Wont though.” He added with a sarcastic grin.
Petra huffed. Pressing her back into the cushion, she folded her arms across her chest and pouted like a five year old. “I thought vampires were supposed to be devil-may-care, why did I get the only two faulty vampires out of the bunch?”She growled, doing a pretty good impression of her mate.