When Sebastian hadn’t arrived within the specified time, his first thought had been to blame his unknown accomplice but the hatred in her voice had been unmistakable. She sent him here, I’m sure of it. Something must had happened to make him stay away. As another hour ticked by with no sign of the wolf Vincent concluded that the werewolf wasn’t coming. He might not be coming here but that doesn’t mean we should go home unrewarded. I don’t care if the woman has no memories, I’m sure I can coax them out of her. The corners of his mouth lifted in a sadistic smile.
“Alright men, pack everything up and get back into the cars, we’re heading to the wolf’s cabin.” His loud voice travelled easily around the area and his men sprung into action quickly and efficiently disassembling the plan that had taken days to prepare and readying themselves for their leaders new and spontaneous idea. All the men he had commandeered for this mission piled into the two large cars that had brought them to their current location, taking their equipment with them. Taking a final look at his failed plan, Vincent slid into the passenger seat of his own car, trusting that David would drive them to the correct location quickly. The drive to Erica and Sebastian's cabin was conducted in silence and as darkness began to fall Vincent felt a sense of foreboding creep into his stomach.
“Stop here,” he commanded once they were close enough to the cabin to be able to see with assistance but sufficiently hidden that they wouldn’t me immediately seen should a wolf leave the inside of the cabin. David did as ordered and the car ground to a halt. Reaching into the glove box, Vincent pulled out a pair of binoculars and proceeded to peer through the gaps in the window blinds. He couldn’t see everything but he could see well enough what was going on. The wolves were packing and judging from the number of boxes and suitcases that were littered around the rooms he was able to peer into they were nearly finished. His blood churned in fury at the very idea that they were trying to escape him.
Damn it! he cursed. If we’d gotten here any later they might have left.
“Sir?” Dominic probed.
Turning to face the man seated in the back of the car, Vincent barked, “What?”
Dominic wished he could take a prudent step back or simply leave the car and be free of his superior’s ire but that wasn’t currently possible. Thanking god for small favours, he was glad that the oncoming darkness was hiding the flush of embarrassment that would inevitably have coloured his cheeks. “We were just wondering what your orders were sir?”
A further glance through his binoculars made his decision for him. He stepped out of the car, signalling for those in the car behind his own to do the same. Once they were all gathered he answered Dominic’s question. “We attack. We can’t let them escape. We need a survivor, remember that when taking aim.”
“Sir, are you sure this is the wisest decision? Couldn’t we just wait until they leave? They would presumably return to their people.” Dominic pressed confused, there were much simpler ways to do this that would decrease the number of casualties they were likely to have.
“We can’t be certain of that, they might simply have gotten wind of our plan and decided to move to another location. And if you ever question my authority again I’ll rip your intestines out and strangle you with them am I clear?” Vincent's grey eyes were hard as stone silently promising that he would do his best to fulfil the threat.
“Yes sir,” Dominic responded immediately.
“David?” he barked, turning to the man that never left his side.
“Yes sir.”
“Organise the men. Send our two long range shooters into the forest, they will fire at the first available target on my signal. Another two will go around the back of the house and the rest of us will stay here. Make sure that they are aware that I want at least one of those monsters alive, I don’t care who.”
“Yes sir,” David agreed before turning around to begin issuing the orders. He, like Dominic, wasn’t sure that this plan was the best course of action but he had learned long ago that it was in the best interests of his health to follow through with Vincent's orders regardless of what they might have been.
*****
Inside the cabin, Erica and Sebastian continued packing, unaware of the danger that was lurking just outside their door. They had decided earlier that now that Erica's memories had returned it would be safe to return to the clans and leave the small town that had given them shelter during Erica's recuperation. The boxes were piling up thick and fast and Erica turned to Sebastian confused.
“I didn’t think we had this much stuff. Are you sure that all of this is ours?”
He smiled, his hands never ceasing their movements. “Of course it is, no one would just put extra things into another person’s home, it doesn’t make any sense. I honestly think that most of this extra baggage can be blamed on those two.” He jerked his head in the direction of the window where Dylan and Wyatt were attempting to help with the packing and proving to be more of a hindrance than a help. “They brought so much with them and then kept asking for more while they were here. All of this extra packing we’re having to do is your fault isn’t it?” he laughed.
Dylan moved away from the window, placing her hands on her hips as she prepared to give him a stern telling off. “It’s your fault for agreeing to buy it. Nobody forced you.”
“You tell him Dylan,” Wyatt chuckled.
Sebastian bent down preparing to tell her exactly what he thought of her statement when he heard the sound of breaking glass and the distinct whoosh through the air made only by bullets. Time seemed to slow as his eyes landed on Wyatt, the bullet seemed to be moving in slow motion but he couldn’t move fast enough to stop it. The projectile collided with his small body and he fell. His screams seemed to signal that time should once again speed up and it did. The threat to his family had his senses flaring and he realised that they weren’t alone. Pressing Dylan close to the floor, he watched as Erica ran to her brother pulling him out of the line of fire.
“Erica, it hurts,” Wyatt moaned clutching his arm in agony.
“I know it does sweetie.” Her voice was soothing though calm was the furthest thing from her mind. She pressed her hands to the wound hoping to stem the flow of blood until his body healed itself. Her head lifted as she scented the air and as an unwanted scent reached her nostrils her grip on Wyatt tightened as the wolf within her struggled to be free. “Vincent,” she snarled.
“He’s here?” Sebastian demanded, slowly shuffling across the floor with Dylan at his side. Her face was streaked with tears but she followed his firm guidance towards her sister and bleeding twin.
“Yes, the bastard shot my brother. I’m going to kill him.”
“Erica, I need you to get out of here. Take the children and get as far away as you can.”
“And what? Leave you here?”
“Yes. I’m going to attract their attention. The shot came from the front of the house so I want you to go out back. There may be people there but hopefully I can make them come towards me.”
“I can’t leave you Sebastian.”
“Yes you can sweetheart. I’m not going to die trust me. I have too much to live for. I have you and our family but look at Wyatt.” Though the wound was now healing and the blood flow lessening, the little boy was very pale. “You need to get him and Dylan out of here.”
“We can fight Sebastian,” Dylan informed him though her voice quivered in fear.
“I never doubted that you could little one but I need you to look after your brother, he’s hurt. Promise me that you’ll stay with him.” She nodded her head solemnly though her lips trembled.
“Erica…”
“You had better not let anything happen to you Sebastian. I mean it. You gave me your word, made me an oath that you had better not break.”
“I love you Erica.” He moved forward and pressed a desperate kiss against her mouth, hoping it conveyed the wealth of emotions he felt for her. “Be safe.” He stood up defiantly, daring anyone to shoot him
. “Vincent!” he bellowed, striding to the front of the house and throwing open the door. “Vincent, I know you’re out there, come and talk to me.”
“Wyatt, can you manage to change for me sweetie?” He nodded his head and began the transformation. “You too Dylan,” she instructed before beginning the change herself. Once there were two small wolf cubs in the place of her siblings, she gently grabbed the scruff of her brother’s neck between her teeth urging her sister onwards. The wolves burst through the back door and ran frantically towards the woods. Erica immediately sensed they weren’t alone and urged her sister to run faster. Once she was certain that they were out of harms reach she placed Wyatt against a tree. “Stay here,” she barked before springing away from them.
If Sebastian thinks that I’m going to let him fight alone then he has another thing coming. I smelled two males when I left the house, I’ll take care of them first. The thought brought a feral smile to her lips.
Vincent stepped forward at Sebastian's summons, his swagger confident. The wolf was surrounded and outnumbered. He had won. Sebastian's lips drew back in a snarl, this was the man that had harmed his mate. There was no need to disguise his true nature nor what he wanted to do to him. The man in front of him was more physically built than he was but Sebastian knew that didn’t matter, if he could get the man alone, he could kill him. “So, you’re the one who hurt my Erica.” It wasn’t a question; they both knew the truth.
“I didn’t know her name at the time.”
“Well you know it now. I plan to kill you, you do realise that yes?”
“I know that you would like to kill me. I also know that the likelihood of that happening is nil.”
Sebastian laughed at the man’s claim, he could already picture his fangs sinking into Vincent's flesh as he ended his life.
Our mate and the pups are safe, his wolf began. Kill him. That’s all that matters. This man can’t be allowed to live Sebastian, I forbid it.
I told Erica that I’d try to get out of this alive, Sebastian reminded it.
I would rather die than allow this threat to her life to continue breathing. Give me control for five minutes, that’s all I’ll need. I’ll end his life quickly, it’s better than what he wanted to do to Erica.
He ran his tongue over the pointed edge of an elongated fang, a wild smile appearing on his face. There’s no need for you to do that. I’ll take care of him. The change washed over him almost instantly and he leapt forth, missing Vincent and attacking the man at his side. The smell of silver had flowed heavily from him and he couldn’t afford to have such a potentially dangerous enemy at his back. Vincent lifted his arms and begun firing rounds of bullets in Sebastian's direction but he’d already moved, attacking the man on his other side. Sebastian moved like the wind, there one moment and gone the next, his touch fleeting but devastating as the men that had surrounded him were quickly and easily dispatched. Their bodies littered the ground and Vincent gulped convulsively in fear, he and the wolf were alone. David, his right hand man, his protector had been the first to succumb to the animal’s claws and fangs and the rest of his men had swiftly followed suit. He waved his hands frantically trying to catch the attention of the men who were positioned further away from the cabin but there were no shots fired to help him. Erica stepped out from the trees ensuring that Vincent could see her body shift from that of a wolf to her human form. She wanted him to know that despite all he had done to her she was very much alive while he wouldn’t survive the next few minutes.
“If you’re trying to get help from the snipers that were positioned not too far from here then I think I should inform you it isn’t coming. They’re already dead.”
“Just like you.”
The deadly whisper had the hairs on the back of Vincent's neck rising in terror. His scream filled the air as his fragile human bones broke under Sebastian's grip.
“My arm!” he screamed, looking down at the limb hanging uselessly from his side. “My arm!”
“Now you can’t shoot anyone, trust me it’s a good thing but I wouldn’t be worried about your arm, I’d be more concerned for your life. It’s going to get a whole lot worse for you soon. Run,” he hissed. “Run.”
The change washed over him and as he scanned his surroundings with new eyes he found that Vincent had taken his advise and fled leaving only Erica and himself, both in lupine form in front of the house. A low snarl slipped past his lips as she trotted to his side. She snarled back in return, refusing to be cowed, she was going with him and that was that. A resigned sigh left his lips. They ran in perfect unison, following the easily identifiable trail Vincent had left behind in his haste. The scent of fear was heavy in the air as they closed in on their prey and Erica couldn’t help but smile. The man she was hunting had hunted not only her, but her family, it would feel good when he was dead. Vincent quickly came into their line of sight, he hadn’t managed to get far away with two wolves on his trail. They howled long and loud in warning before they fell on him, tearing, clawing and biting away at the man with a ferocity that only wild animals are capable of possessing. Within minutes, Vincent was dead, his corpse laying cold against the ground, his blood staining the earth but Erica couldn’t stop. Her claws continued to shred, her mind a haze of fury and anger. Sebastian pulled back, changing into his human form and dragging his mate from Vincent, smiling as she transformed in his arms.
He held her close to his chest, gently stroking the long strands of her hair. “It’s ok sweetheart, he’s gone. You’ll never have to worry about him again.” She shuddered in his arms and he held her closer. “I thought I told you to take the children and run,” he whispered against her hair.
“Wyatt has already healed. Him and Dylan are safe. Besides, I thought I told you to try and keep yourself alive. Being this reckless could have gotten you killed if I hadn’t dealt with the men in the trees.”
“I would apologise but I don’t feel sorry for doing what’s necessary to protect my mate, my family. Him and all like him deserved to die after what they did to you, I can’t help it if when it comes to you I can’t seem to think straight.”
“I guess I’m not the only one who’s stubborn,” she chuckled.
He laughed, “You love me anyway.”
“I do and you know it. Sebastian?” she breathed.
“What is it?”
“Let’s go home. I don’t care who knows that we’re mated; I don’t care if your whole family knows. It’s not as though I’m ashamed of you, I couldn’t be prouder to have you as a mate. I just want to go home,” she sighed.
“I couldn’t agree with you more Erica, let’s go home.”
Epilogue
The cabin that Erica had always called home was small, a fact she had always known. When her father had built it over two hundred years ago, the family he’d intended it for had been correspondingly small so size hadn’t been an issue. Even as the family had grown with the addition of Dylan and Wyatt, it had contracted at the same time with the death of her own twin sister not long after their birth. Size had never been an issue until now. Her home was now bursting at the seams with members of Sebastian's family and in comparison to her own family of four, there was an awful lot of them. His mother, his father, his brother, his cousin, his cousin’s mate, his aunt, his uncle…the list seemed endless and that wasn’t even taking into consideration all the people they’d brought with them. Her head was reeling from the sheer number of introductions she’d had to undergo. Now it was spinning for an all together different reason.
The reason her home was now overflowing with guests was also the reason for her massive headache. Her new extended family had descended on her familial home to help her move to her new one. The cabin was a whirlwind of activity as furniture, clothes and all of their many possessions were packed and moved. She’d never thought of herself as particularly emotional but the idea of leaving behind the only home she’d ever known was beginning to get to her. She walked outside, resisting the urge to run becaus
e of all the attention it would result in, attention that she didn’t want especially when there were so many people around. She should have known better than to expect she’d be left alone. Sebastian's rich scent enveloped her before his arms did, wrapping her in the safety of his arms.
He pressed gentle kisses against the side of her neck before he spoke, the simple touch calming her more than she would ever have thought possible before she’d found her mate. “What’s wrong sweetheart?”
She shrugged. “Nothing.”
“Don’t lie Erica,” he growled pulling her tighter against him, his grip possessive and unyielding.
“I’m not lying, it’s genuinely nothing for you to be concerned about. It’s just me being stupid.”
“You know there’s nothing about you that isn’t of interest to me. Tell me.”
She sighed, the air leaving her lungs in a long breath. “I’m going to miss this place that’s all. It’s all I’ve ever known and I never once thought that I’d have to leave.”
“Because you never thought you’d be mated,” he suggested.
“Exactly. This place has been my life since…well since forever.”
“I’m sorry.”
“For what Sebastian?”
“It’s my fault you have to move.” She didn’t respond, how could she? It was true. Instead, her gaze was drawn to the surroundings she’d spent her life in, taking in as much as she could before they were forced to part. “Erica, we don’t have to go.”
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