by Alice Cooper
“Hello, Tara.”
She froze as Matthew imitated the female voice. It melted away into the familiar voice that she once knew. It was raspy and cold. She pushed up from the ground and stared in horror as Matthew approached her.
“You. You’re responsible for all of this. What the hell do you want?”
He chuckled. “All in good time. You are a bit of a kink in my plans, but we’ll deal with it soon enough. First, I need you to do something for me.”
She stared into his eyes and gasped when they turned bright red. “You will kill the alpha, second-in-command, and security agent.” She felt him press a gun into her hands. “You will kill the alpha, second-in-command, and security agent. They are going to harm the human population. They are staging a coup. They must be stopped.”
“They must be stopped,” she repeated. “They’re going to hurt people.”
Matthew bent down and picked her up from the ground. Suddenly, she heard people yelling at them from all different direction. Tara gripped the gun and watched as Micah, Jackson, and Brent came into view.
“Shoot them,” he whispered. “Kill them.”
“Kill them,” she murmured.
“De’Massier!”
“I found her here with the gun,” Matthew yelled. De’Massier? “I can’t talk her down.”
“Tara.” She heard Brent’s voice penetrate the fog that was around her. “Tara, put the gun down.”
Her hands shook as she raised the gun. “Must be stopped. Going to hurt people.”
“Shit. Micah, get down!” Jackson yelled as he dove for the alpha.
Tara stared at Brent. Horror bloomed on his face, and she smiled. When she saw a mix of confusion, she winked. Suddenly, she whirled around and pointed the gun at Matthew. Without hesitation, she pulled the trigger.
He hissed as the bullet struck him, but she should have known it wouldn’t stop him. In an instant, he grabbed her and whirled her around. “Move, and I’ll bite her,” he threatened.
“Why are you doing this? I thought you wanted peace?” Brent said in a neutral voice. He held his hands up.
“I don’t give a shit about peace,” de’Massier hissed. “For too long, the vampires have been the low man on the totem pole. We can’t even reproduce. We’re dying.”
“Dying? You guys live for centuries,” Micah pointed out.
“And then you turned a human, and no one blinked an eye. Do you know how unfair that is?”
“Okay,” Brent said. Tara clawed at the vampires arm, but he didn’t move. “But that doesn’t explain the tunnel. Or Tara.”
“I needed a way into the grounds. I tried the tunnel at first, but without an invitation, I couldn’t get in. I couldn’t manipulate a shifter, so I tried a human. You followed her trail effortlessly, but I couldn’t get close to her again.”
“Why? What the hell do you want?” Jackson asked.
“I want to prove that we’re on top,” de’Massier screamed. “We are the more powerful force. I want to kill each and everyone one of you!”
“No!” Tara heard Brent scream before she felt the fangs bite into her neck. Immediately, she felt her life force leaving her. She sagged limply against the vampire as he continued to suck her.
“Power,” de’Massier said as he threw her to the ground. “She tastes like power. Come on boys. Let’s see if the three of you can take me. I’m far older and stronger.”
Tara whimpered as she saw the three men attack the vampire. It wasn’t long before all three shifters were flying through the air. The vampire cackled, and Tara suddenly knew without a doubt that they were going to die.
Suddenly, a bear came flying out of nowhere and attacked the vampire. He howled as the bear tackled him. She watched as a beautiful woman emerged from the woods, chanting.
“The waning moon has come to dark, but let its powers not depart. Give your strength to these bears three, so they may defeat the enemy.
Tara turned over and started crawling. She could feel the blood draining for her body, but she couldn’t just lie there and do nothing.
Under the witches spell, the three men shifted. Now, four bears advanced the vampire, and his screams were horrible as they devoured him.
The witch held up her amulet. “Reverse,” she whispered. “Reverse.” She knelt down next to her as the four bears shifted back to humans. “Shh. My name is Natalie.”
Another woman scrambled by her side. “Brent,” she called out. She pressed a hand to Tara’s wound. “She’d dying.”
Dying. Yes. She was dying.
Brent looked at her helplessly. “Micah,” he said harshly. “Please.”
The alpha nodded, and Tara saw Brent shift just before the darkness took her.
Chapter Seven
“Let me get this straight. You three faced the vampire leader and got your ass kicked. It took the empath witch and the alpha female to help you kick some ass?” Gratsky asked.
Brent narrowed his eyes. “Not the point,” he hissed.
“Right. Well, I will say this much. You three bring me the most interesting women,” Gratsky said with a sigh. “A newly turned bear. A witch. And now a human bit by both a vampire and a bear. I should probably consider asking for a raise.”
“Is she going to be all right?” Brent asked tightly.
“Will she live? Yes. Will she be a bear shifter? I don’t know.”
“Will she be a vampire?” Jackson asked. Brent glared at him, and he shrugged. “What? You don’t care?”
Honestly? Brent didn’t care. He didn’t give a damn how Tara woke up from the bed as long as she woke up, and she was happy. It didn’t matter whether she was a vampire, a shifter, or some freak hybrid of both.
“Doubtful. To change into a vampire, you have to actually die. And since Tara here is still very much alive, there is no way she can be a full-blown vampire. Now whether the vampire bite mingles with the shifter bite remains to be seen. What’s really interesting is that Tara was fairly immune to de’Massier’s charms.”
Brent’s head shot up. “What do you mean? Is that unusual?”
“De’massier is a powerful vampire. To have someone immune to him is quite intriguing. It’s more than just your relationship with her. She’s resisted his requests from the very beginning. That means that there is something very special about your Tara Schmidt.”
“What do you think it is?” Micah asked.
Gratsky shrugged. “Most likely, it means that humanity is evolving. They’re finding ways to defend themselves against more powerful species. It’s a fascinating thought. But what I can tell you is that between your three mates, absolutely no one is going to mess with this pack.”
“Sure. We have nothing to do with it,” Micah said sourly.
Gratsky grinned. “You do deserve credit. How you got Stacey and Natalie to fall in love with you two is beyond me.”
Brent tuned them out. He was watching the door to Tara’s room anxiously. Part of him wanted to be by her side right that very minute, but he knew she wouldn’t be happy to find her by her bed. She’d been perfectly fine in her life, and then he had to put her danger.
And turned her.
“I need to leave,” he said abruptly. “Keep me posted.”
“You’re leaving?” Jackson stared at him. “She’s going to want to see you when she wakes up.”
“I doubt that very seriously,” he muttered, and he slipped out the door. Deep down, he feared he would never see here again.
* * *
“It’s so romantic to wake up and find that your boyfriend isn’t there,” Tara said sourly. Brent’s head shot up from his desk, and he stared at her. “It’s even better when two whole days pass, and he doesn’t even send you flowers. Or a card.”
“Tara,” he breathed.
“It’s even better when a stranger has to tell explain things to you. You know, the part where the guy you were dating turned out to be the leader of the vampire clan and was trying to manipulate you. And the fact t
hat you alpha female can shift at will. And that your second-in-command married a witch.”
He lowered his eyes. She was pissed. Of course. She had every right to be angry. “I wanted to tell you.”
“But you didn’t. That’s okay. I just thought that you should know that I’m alive and kicking. I thought I’d come by to say goodbye and tell that you I’ve leaving.” She waited a heartbeat which she watched his reaction. She was rewarded with the sad look in his eyes. “Except that I’m not leaving.”
“You’re not?” he muttered.
“So then, I thought I’d come by and say hi and give you a kiss, but I’m pissed at you. So that’s not going to happen.” Her eyes narrowed when he leaned back in his chair and regarded her with interest. She was not going to let him get the upper hand.
“I couldn’t figure out why you’d stay away from me. I don’t really take you for the wham-bam-thank-you-ma’am approach. I think we both know that it was more than that. And you can’t be pissed about putting me in danger because de’Massier did that. Not you. And you can’t really be distraught over biting me because I’d be dead if you didn’t. But you’re a really hard guy to read. So tell me, Mr. Jenson. What’s going on through that head of yours?”
“Marry me,” he said softly.
Of all the words that she expected to come out of his mouth, those were not even in the top thousand. “What?” she whispered.
He scooted his chair back and stood. “I love you, Tara. I’ve loved you from the very beginning. I didn’t have one single reason for keeping you close to me except that I selfishly wanted you. And for the first time since I met you, I finally realized that you’ve had no say in this. So I gave you a choice. You’ve had days to leave. And you’re still here. By choice. No one is keeping you.”
She tried to hold her ground as he stalked her, but soon she was pressed up against the wall. “And you think that because I decided to stick around that I should marry you?”
“I think that you stuck around because you love me. And I’m going to marry you before you have a chance to change your mind,” he said softly. His hands skimmed her arms, and she shivered.
“Jesus, Brent. I do love you. But you have no idea what I’m going to become. When the full moon rises, I might be some weird bear vampire creature. I could be hideous.”
“You could four heads and still not be hideous,” he murmured. “And I don’t care what you become. You’ll always be you, and I’ll always love you. Marry me.”
“Once again, no flowers. No ring. No candlelight dinner. You know, at some point, I’d like to feel wooed and courted,” she pointed out. He frowned, and she reached up to stroke his face. “But nothing about this relationship has been traditional. So yes, Brent Jenson. I will marry you.”
He captured her lips, and she held him close. For the first time in forever, she finally felt at peace. “I’ll spend the rest of my life courting and wooing you,” he whispered.
“Oh, I know you will,” she said with a grin. “And I’ll protect you until the day I die.”
Three weeks later, when the full moon lit the Woodland pack and everyone stared at her nervously, she watched as everyone else shifted.
But her. As she stood in the middle of the woods, surrounded by the most dangerous creatures out there, she never felt more powerful. She didn’t need to be a bear or a vampire. She had the strength of both running through her veins, and the love of a man devoted to her.
So she ran with the pack, human on the outside, and powerful on the inside. And she knew that this was where she was meant to be.
THE END
ALPHA’S HEART
There was a chill in the air and a light, wet haze covered everything I could see in the pale moonlight. My senses guided me through the trees as I clutched my rifle close to me. For once, the field was quiet, but I knew that was only because we hadn’t been spotted yet. As soon as me or one of my men made the wrong move the whole land would come alive with an uproar of bullets and blood.
Thankfully, I was the only one still in human form. I usually was, but only because my job was the most precious. As soon as we neared the base I had to take the sentry out while my brothers, still in wolf form, took the base. This time, however, I knew it wouldn’t be so easy. Vampires are never easy. Then again, taking out the cold-blooded freaks would be even harder to do for a ‘normal’ person. Normal people… Do they even really exist?
The entire reason my unit was made was to take out those leeches. In some ways, I could be grateful to the men who made it possible, but for my boys and I, something about the whole thing was just…unsettling. Night after night we’d stalk the fallen remains of battlegrounds long after the winners and losers were decided. Do they think we’re cowards? I wondered, eyeing a wolf’s tail and then another on my opposite side. We’re wolves, not vultures.
I growled, feeling my wolf stirring and clawing at my heart. Just a few feet ahead, I could see a dim light coming out from a short structure in the distance. As we neared the clearing, I slowed down and then stopped completely. I held a hand up to tell the others to stop and all at once, the air was still. Very faintly, I could hear my pack’s breaths. The slow, controlled breaths we had to do in order to keep the vampires off our tracks.
Where are you…? I wondered as I scoped out the base with my night vision binoculars, looking for a trace of movement. Perched atop a tower overseeing the whole base, I could make out subtle movements. I raised my rifle and took aim, but as I slid my finger onto the trigger and peculiar scent graced my nose. After giving my head a firm shake, nearly knocking my helmet off, I readjusted my hold on the weapon only for it to falter again. Out of frustration, I growled and tried to pin the scent to a memory. The sweet, Earthy scent reminded me of something, but I couldn’t remember what.
My ear twitched on upon reflex as someone shifted back into human form and walked up behind me. I could tell it was Jack based on his heavy, musky scent now covering the old scent’s. Growing more frustrated, I snarled at him, but he put one of his heavy hands on my shoulder.
“Hey, what’s the hold up?” he asked in a whisper right into my ear.
I tapped his hand twice, signaling him to let go. As his hand slipped off, I replied, “There’s something weird about that guy up there. He doesn’t smell like a normal vampire.”
Jack coughed up a dry laugh. “So? Take him out.”
A part of me wanted to reach back there and punch Jack right in the shoulder. No matter what we did, he always had to be so short sighted. No, there has to be more to it than that. “I want to investigate,” I stated, taking a step forward. I turned around as the other wolves walked up beside Jack. “I’m going up there to check it out for myself. I’ll give a signal when it’s safe to go in, all right? If you don’t see the signal for a while, well then…”
Jack crossed his arms, glaring at me. “I hope your hunch is right, Ross.”
I smirked and said, “Hasn’t steered me wrong yet.”
The soldier wearing only a few weapon belts and a large backpack nodded to me and the wolves around him scattered into various sections of the forest—surrounding the base. I took a deep breath and turned to the structure. Just the size of it made my heart skip a beat, but I was determined to see why I couldn’t pull the trigger.
In the back of my mind, I didn’t truly know whether this was the right choice or not, but as I ascended the tower, I felt surer in my decision. It was easy to convince the others that I was confident, but much harder to convince myself. I climbed up the tall, thinly built structure with one hand since the other was holding my rifle, but eventually I made it to the top.
Standing before me, back facing me was a soldier unlike any other. The scent that rolled off of them was sweet—almost like perfume and they weren’t the size of a regular soldier at all. They were big—bigger than I thought their uniform could fit them, and yet, I found myself enjoying the size. They wore a tight outfit of cameo, but part of their midsection was exposed.
I knew it’d be too easy to kill them, so I figured that I could do them a favor and spare them since I had the choice.
I crept up behind the unsuspecting soldier, pulling out my knife to hold against their throat as I raised my foot to kick the gun out of their dangling hand. The solder flailed in my grasp and it was difficult to keep a hold of them, but digging into my werewolf muscle helped to keep them secure.
“Pl-please! Oh, please! Have mercy!” cried a feminine voice, making me stop for a moment.
Am I hearing things…? “What was that, soldier?” I asked for confirmation.
“I… I…” The voice choked out, making me release my grip a little. “I don’t want to die…”
Oh my God! A woman… A woman…here? Of all the places. It’s weird. She doesn’t smell like them… She’s even feels warm. I clicked my tongue disapprovingly. “Hey now, no one’s killing anyone.”
“Yeah…?” she asked weakly, now trembling in my hands.
“Yeah,” I replied as I pulled my knife away, but pulled her weapon to me with my foot. Just in case you decide to change your mind… I thought as I looked down at the pistol. She turned around to mouth the words, ‘Thank you,’ but I forced myself to focus on the task at hand. Looking around at the other stations, I asked, “So, where is everyone else? Looks like it’s just you.”
She clutched her arm, looking away as she said, “Yeah, well… The guys said that they didn’t need the extra protection ‘cause I’d do well enough. No one goes after guys like them.”
I raised an eyebrow. “You say it like you’re not one of them either.”
For a moment, she looked as though she was stumbling through her options. I knew what the base was full of, blood sucking husks, but something about her was different. The way she carried herself and the way she looked at me with her big, blue eyes made something in me stir. Eventually, my gaze went past her eyes and down her body, checking every curve and perfectly shaped handle.