The air around them grew colder even as waves of heat slammed into all of them, causing Drake to back away a step, his hands shaking.
Elijah stepped forward while worry swirled within his stomach, when Keta bared her sharp teeth as she continued to shake. Elijah stopped and turned his attention to the sky where the full moon shone down where they stood.
Bones cracking echoed through the night, Keta’s body arched and her mouth opened in a silent scream as she her body changed. Her hair lengthened, covering her entire body when she dropped down on all fours.
Elijah shook his head in disbelief. His heart stopping for a second as he watched Keta back away, her teeth bared at him and the vampires surrounding them. Keta is a werewolf, not a vampire?
Keta turned her head left and right, her pupils dilating before she lunged forward, knocking Drake to the floor.
Elijah spun around when the vampires pointed their guns at the wolf and grabbed one of the guns and smashed it into the owner’s face. As he staggered back, Elijah spun and kicked him hard in the stomach and turned to fire a shot at the closest vampire. The bullet went through his leg and he screamed as he fell. Elijah punched him in the face, hard enough to knock him out before turning to the next vampire.
A gunshot that didn’t come from his gun went off into the night, scaring the birds from the trees. Elijah spun around, still keeping a tight hold on one of the vampires and watched Keta dart off into the trees, swerving left and right as more bullets fired her way.
Elijah watched her go, unable to make himself move.
Chapter Eight
Keta stirred as broken twigs and rustling leaves echoed around her, the noise pounding against her skull. She pushed herself up, saw she was naked, and covered herself. Her heart hammered in her chest. What happened?
Elijah trudged through the trees towards her and she lifted her hands to sign, to ask him what had happened when he threw her clothes at her feet. She could feel his anger rippling across her sensitive skin.
Elijah sat on his heels, his jaw jumping as his eyes swept across her. “Why didn’t you tell me you were born wolf?”
Keta rolled her head on her shoulders, easing a cramp she must have got last night. She lifted her heavy arms and signed. You assumed I was born a vampire. I didn’t tell you otherwise because I didn’t trust you.
“And now?”
Keta turned her head away, fighting the fear that stirred within. I can’t. I just can’t.
Elijah exhaled hard. “Keta, we had sex—a vampire and a werewolf. That kind of relationship is forbidden. If anyone was to find out, we’d be killed.”
Her eyes filled with tears as she faced him again. I didn’t think.
“No, you didn’t.” Elijah stood. “I’m going to search for Katrina. I’ll deal with you after I’ve found her.”
Keta tried to grab him, but he stepped back before she could. She felt her heart break as he backed away from her.
“You don’t understand! They’ll make me kill you with my bare hands before they kill me. I am a wolf as well as a vampire, Keta. There are just some things I can’t do without consequence!”
Keta raised her hands to explain, but Elijah turned away, his entire body shaking, and left her alone in the woods.
Keta let her tears fall as she struggled to breathe. What had she done? She should have told Elijah the truth straight away, or tried harder to escape instead of falling for him.
* * * *
Elijah made his way to the old ruin the vampire had spoken about. He was still angry with Keta’s betrayal. She knew what she was, she knew what he was and she never told him, choosing to give in to her own passions without considering the consequences.
Liar.
Elijah stopped where he was, hanging his head in shame. Keta never would have used him to get what she wanted, he knew that. After what she had been through he was still surprised by her act to save him with pleasure instead of pain.
One thing was clear—Elijah would rather be dead than alive, knowing he would never be able to live without Keta, or knowing what she did. They would both be hunted and he would be forced to kill her with his own hands before he got his punishment.
The laws hadn’t changed in centuries. Both vampires and werewolves still held their laws seriously, and viciously.
Elijah turned away from the direction he faced, his decision already made. Rio! He put all of his strength into the name and waited, knowing Rio wouldn’t resist his chance to put another command on him.
“The half-breed called?”
Elijah clenched his hands into fists as anger surged through him. He held in his temper and faced the man he wished he could kill. “I can’t find Katrina—it just isn’t possible, not with the dead lead you threw me on.” Elijah didn’t see the point in wasting time. He just wanted everything to end.
“You have not really tried.”
“I’ve done more than you,” Elijah spoke through gritted teeth and waited for a blow from Rio. It didn’t come.
“You realise what will happen now?”
“I do.”
“I was under the impression you didn’t give up easily.” Rio chuckled.
Elijah didn’t bother speaking and didn’t bother explaining that he wasn’t giving in for his own sake, but for Keta’s. Despite what she did, the secrets she kept, Elijah didn’t want to kill her with his own hands. He knew he couldn’t, but if forced, he’d had no choice. At least she’d be able to escape without harm.
“Be at my home at midnight. You will face your punishment in humiliation in front of the entire pack. Do not be late.” Rio turned and without a word, left.
Elijah resisted the urge to follow the wolf and kill him when he heard someone behind him. He spun around and a wolf lunged at him. He staggered back and fell. He rolled into his feet as Keta got to hers.
What the hell do you think you’re doing?
“Why do you care? You’ve sealed our fates. I’m just planning to go before I’m made to kill you by my own hands.”
Keta pushed him hard. Coward! You want Rio, of all people to kill you just so you can escape?
“I have no choice!”
Fire erupted from within her eyes. Everyone has a choice. Some are just unlucky and have theirs taken from them.
Elijah exhaled hard. “Keta, I’m sorry—”
No. You want the easy way out. Well let me tell you a little something about the man who plans to kill you. He was the one who attacked Katrina. He was the one who sold her off to the vampires.
Elijah straightened up and frowned. “What?” Rio attacked his own daughter?
Keta didn’t speak. Instead, she turned and, after shifting, walked away.
Elijah followed, walking a short distance until they both stood in front of a large, looming ruin. The old bricks faded brown and broken. Half of the front wall at the top and bottom was completely gone and all the windows were smashed.
He stripped, folding his clothes neatly and placed them next to Keta’s on the small wall surrounding the building before he changed into a wolf. There were many scents here, the strongest coming from a bunch of dying flowers planted in the hard soil close to the wall.
Katrina often came here, she liked old buildings, but this was also where she was born, and where her mum had died giving birth to her.
Elijah turned to Keta, listening to her words.
She briefly met his eyes as she passed him. When she got to the dead flowers, she bowed her head and continued. She would plant her mum’s favourite flowers every year. This was what she was doing before she went back home. When she did, her dad followed her all the way. She let him in and then he attacked her and dragged her out of the house. She was too weak to fight, but when he handed her over to the vampires, she fought to get away, and never stopped until she did. Keta turned looked away from the flowers and shifted into her human form.
Elijah shifted also, not speaking as Keta pulled on her clothes while he dressed himself, thinking about h
er words. Rio sold her off to the vampires? Why? And how does Keta know this? Did she meet her while in the hands of the vampires? He watched Keta as she began to sign.
Katrina didn’t know why her dad betrayed her and sold her off to the vampires. She never did understand that.
“How do you know this?”
Keta stared off into the distance. The soft breeze blew against her as she swallowed. When she met his eyes, they were filled with tears and pain.
Not because she hadn’t told Elijah about her being a wolf, he could see that clearly—though the hurt was still there. The pain he could see now was something entirely different.
Because I’m Katrina Riviere.
Chapter Nine
I never once thought Rio could have a hand in what happened, but I saw him, saw him take those poor innocent girls, the ones he swore to protect, and treat them like dirt before he gave them to the vampires, laughing. Keta shook her head, wiping the tears before they fell. He saw me and I ran before he could say anything. I went to the building my mum died in, and after I planted flowers, I told her what I’d seen. I don’t know what I expected. Guidance? Strength? I don’t know, but I got nothing. So I went back home and I was aware that Rio followed me. I didn’t care—I planned to confront him on what I saw anyway.
I didn’t even make it into the living room before he attacked me. It’s hard to say what happened after that. I know I was dragged out of the house and then I was surrounded by vampires, gagged and blindfolded. I didn’t stop fighting even for a second. They were too strong and they always got what they wanted.
Elijah growled, pacing in front of her. His hands clenched into tight fists at his side. “Why? Why is he selling women off? Why and how could a werewolf do that?”
I don’t know, but it’s what he does and it’s how I became the Silent Killer.
“How did you become Keta?”
I became Keta after they changed me into a half-breed, wanting more of a challenge and while I was filled with hunger and anger, they threw a woman into my cell. I attacked her, drinking her to the point of death before I could control it. I apologised and that’s when she told me she knew what happened, knew what I was and how I became that way. She didn’t blame me. When I asked her what her name was, she told me it was Keta Torrez. That’s when I told her that her name wouldn’t die in vain. I would find a way to avenge her, and all the others who suffered.
“And so Keta died, and Keta was reborn,” Elijah finished.
Keta nodded, inhaling to calm herself down. She hadn’t spoke about what happened to anyone. Speaking about it now brought some relief inside, but it still hurt. Also, I can’t be connected to Katrina with this name and Rio can’t find me. That’s why I hunt vampires. I’m tied to the wolves just as you are, so I can’t touch them. I needed revenge on the ones who had a hand in what happened, and vampires were the ones I could touch without trouble.
“So that was one thing you didn’t lie about then. Rio really did sell you off to the vampires.”
Keta turned away, her eyes filling with tears again. She couldn’t blame Elijah for still being mad at her for what she’d done. She didn’t even deserve to be in the same room as him now. What will you do?
“My fate has been sealed. If I don’t show up, Rio will find me and command me to take my punishment in front of the pack.” Elijah ran a hand through his hair as he continued to pace.
Keta jumped when he laughed.
“I was hunting Katrina long before he even mentioned her.”
Though he spoke to himself more than her, Keta didn’t mind. She just listened while he figured things out. When he wanted her to speak, she would.
“If he knew—if the entire pack knew what he did.” He stopped pacing and turned to face her fully, a huge smile on his face. “This is my way out—our way out—they need to know what he did, and they will know. But how to do it without him commanding me into silence before I can even get the words out.”
Keta was confused. Her face seemed to show it because Elijah sat next to her and took both of her hands in his.
“Nod for yes and shake your head for no. Do you want to become alpha female and pack leader? Just as we discussed.”
Keta shook her head instantly, her hands tightening in Elijah’s for a brief moment. She didn’t want to be leader of a pack she didn’t belong in. She didn’t want the others to walk on glass around her, afraid because of what she had been changed into.
“Okay. I will challenge the pack and kill Rio so you can be free.”
Keta forced a smile. Thank you. She turned away from him, hiding the feelings she knew showed across her features. Elijah still wanted to set her free like he always wanted to, but not be with her or start a new pack with her.
To be rid of her.
* * * *
It was close to midnight when Elijah finally stepped into the circle of Rio’s pack.
“I didn’t expect you to show up.” Rio stepped away from the large pack, looking him over with a slight curve to his lips.
“You should have commanded me to show up if you were worried.”
Rio grunted as he walked around Elijah. “I would have been able to find you if you had ran. I was not worried.”
Elijah didn’t speak, keeping his eyes on the darkness of the trees ahead of him.
“Elijah stands here before you, to take his punishment!” Rio’s voice rang across the pack. “I gave him a command, a command to find our beloved Katrina and he refuses to do so!”
The pack stirred, baring their teeth and growling. Of course they would believe anything Rio told them. They would never suspect what he was capable of doing.
Elijah stiffened when Rio stepped close to him, sneering. “You will be whipped and condemned to death. If you wish to explain your actions, do so now while you can still speak.” Rio stepped away.
“I have only one question to ask.” Elijah stared at Rio’s back when his shoulders began to shake.
“A question, for whom?”
“You.”
Rio faced Elijah, his smile still in place and his eyebrows rose. He swept his arms out. “Do ask.”
Elijah kept himself from hitting Rio’s smug expression from his face. “Why did you sell your own daughter to the vampires?”
Rio stiffened and his smile slipped from his face.
The entire pack went silent.
“What?”
“You heard me. Why did you sell Katrina off to the vampires? How could you do that? She’s your daughter, your own flesh and blood, your—”
“Enough!” Rio put his face close to Elijah’s. “You have no right to question anything I do—”
“Answer the question, Rio.” A young man, taller than Rio stood up and the whispers from the pack died down. “Why did you sell your daughter—my sister to the vampires?”
Rio shook with laughter. “Debt, my dear son. Debt. I owe the vampires and they don’t want anything but blood and…” He chuckled. “Well, women. I captured women to give to them but it wasn’t enough. Katrina was sacrificed to keep this pack safe.”
Elijah shook with rage, his hands clenched into fists as the pack began to yell, the women screamed and the children cried. He hadn’t kept the pack safe, he had ruined it.
“Silence!”
As the pack quietened, Elijah spoke loudly and clearly, his words full of rage. “You spoke so casually, why?”
“Elijah, Katrina is dead and I am pack leader of this pack. I don’t need to worry, I have control and those who move against me will be condemned to death, just as you are.”
The pack stayed silent.
Elijah couldn’t help but chuckle. The time for his payback had come. “Who said Katrina was dead?”
Chapter Ten
Nervously clenching her hands into tight fists, Keta stepped out of the shadow, her eyes on her father as the pack gasped in shock. Anger replaced the nerves when she saw his eyes widen in shock, his mouth hung open as she walked towards him. She hated t
he man stood in front of her, hated what he did to her, what he put a lot of women through, all because of his debts.
Keta punched him hard, putting all the hurt, the anger and betrayal behind it. Pain shot up her arm as Rio’s head snapped back with the force. Keta didn’t care. She took satisfaction as he staggered back a few steps.
After licking his bloodied lip, he growled, his hands curled into fists as he lunged for her.
Keta stayed where she was and waited for his attack, ready to take him head on, when Elijah stepped in, wrapping his fingers around Rio’s throat and slamming him into the ground. Keta raised her eyebrows, shocked, surprised and a little turned on by Elijah’s actions. Damn.
“Rio, I challenge you!” Elijah lifted his head to the pack. “Anyone who tries to stop me from killing him will face their own death!”
No one stepped forward. No one spoke and no one came to Rio’s aid.
Keta felt relief sweeping through her. She was worried that Rio had commanded the entire pack to do his bidding, and, challenge or not, they would have attacked. But she was also worried they would attack to protect Rio, despite what he had done, who he had hurt.
Elijah met Keta’s eyes.
Do it quickly. I know he doesn’t deserve it, but I’m tired of seeing his face. At least my promise to Keta will be fulfilled.
“I have a better idea. How about we give him over to the vampires? He can pay off his debt with them and then face death by their hands.”
Keta smiled. That’s a great idea.
Rio fought against Elijah’s hold. “I comman—”
Keta jumped when a loud crack echoed around the quiet night and put her hands over her mouth in shock when Rio stopped fighting, wheezing and gasping for breath while clutching at Elijah’s hands that clenched around his throat.
“Any last words?” Elijah chuckled when Rio opened and closed his mouth, but didn’t speak.
“Wait!”
Liam! Keta saw her brother move forward away from the pack. She moved forward and pushed on his chest, stopping him from moving while she shook her head. Liam couldn’t side with their father. Not after what he did. He deserved to be punished.
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