Distracted for a brief second, Dallin took the opportunity to shove Conrad off him again, standing in the same motion and moving towards him.
As Conrad fell, Dallin’s eyes landed on the stunning redhead several yards behind him. She stood barefoot in the grass, her wild hair radiating around her face, dark-green dress highlighting her beautiful eyes.
Dallin hesitated, staring into what to him was the face of his lost love after almost 200 years.
“Esther?”
The crossbow came up, and Dallin didn’t have a chance to react. The stake shot at him, piercing his heart as he held her gaze. He kept his eyes locked on her beautiful face as his body turned to ashes around the stake, radiating out from the point of impact.
He held a hand towards her an instant before his body fell apart, ashes scattering in the wind.
Lizette smiled at Conrad and he nodded. She turned her attention to another vampire and reloaded, just as one came out of nowhere and tackled her to the ground.
Conrad roared in anger, closing the distance between them in a few leaps and ripping the vampire’s head clean off in one swipe of his massive paw.
Lizette lay on the ground, head beside a sharp rock, blood oozing from the wound and soaking into the sand beneath her.
Chapter 10
Sterling and Conrad paced outside the room while the village doctor worked on Lizette. The rock had sliced a nasty gash in her head, and she’d lost a lot of blood.
A few vampires had escaped, but they counted over eighty killed. The Vampire King was dead and his army decimated. With the sunrise had come the dawning of a new day, and the promise of a life of freedom for the villagers.
Already, a band of Lycan and human warriors were headed towards the vampire lair, bent on destroying the remainder of them while they slept. They were completely vulnerable then, unable to anticipate the attack until it was too late. They estimated that there were at least twenty left, so the Lycan sentries had rounded up twice as many men and sentries to descend on the lair and take out the rest of the vampires once and for all.
It appeared that Dallin had spent the last fifty years slowly rebuilding his army in violation of the treaty. Conrad didn’t expect the next king to follow the treaty any better than the Dallin, so he would be exterminated in his sleep before he had a chance to do anything.
The door to the room opened and the doctor stepped out, wiping his bloody hands on his apron and walking towards Sterling and Conrad.
“It looks like Lizette’s going to make it, but it will be hard to tell for a few more hours. She’s a tough one, fighting me even though she’s unconscious. You’ll need to keep the wound clean and she’ll need to rest.”
“Did she get bit?”
“Grazed. It shouldn’t be anything to worry about. The wound has almost healed and there’s no sign of infection. We’ve had people survive a vampire attack before. As long as she didn’t ingest his blood there’s nothing to worry about.”
“No. I saw the entire thing. There was no time for that. I was on him and killed him immediately.”
“Good enough. Call me if you need me, but she’s awake and ready for visitors. Don’t let her sit up or talk to long.”
The doctor saw himself out, chuckling at the men as they both descended upon her room.
Lizette smiled weakly from the bed. She tried to sit up, but they both stopped her.
“You have to rest. I was so worried that you wouldn’t be—” Sterling’s voice caught, and Conrad looked at him, surprised by his outpouring of emotion.
“The doctor said you have to rest, but you’ll be fine as long as you don’t push yourself too hard.”
Lizette nodded softly, drifting off to sleep before she could say anything more.
*
Five weeks later, Lizette sat in the sunlight in the grass in front of the cabin watching Sterling chop the last of the firewood while Conrad worked on getting the tiny cabin ready for winter. The first snow would be coming any day.
The group sent to the vampire lair had been successful, killing every vampire hidden within the castle walls. The final count had been twenty-two. The villagers had rejoiced, finally able to live without fear from vampire attack.
Lizette had also found her place here. For the first time in her eighteen years, she finally felt as if she belonged. The fact that she happened to belong to two men, werewolves at that, wasn’t lost on her. The last month and a half of her life had been the happiest, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.
Conrad climbed down the tree beside the cabin, pulling the remaining roofing material down with him as he went. He’d patched up every hole he could find, doubling up where the roof looked weak. He also extended the roof to cover the additional outer wall that he and Sterling had built, packing the space between the new wall and the existing wall with straw and mud to help hold the heat in. In the past, the two had relied on their thick coats to get them through the worst of the winter, shifting to wolves when the weather was the harshest. With Lizette to care for, they no longer had that luxury.
Sterling stacked the last of the split wood and wiped the sweat from his brow.
Lizette watched them both, heat stirring inside her as she took in the sight of them. Both men worked shirtless, despite the chill in the air. They were taking advantage of what promised to be the hottest day before the snow came. And they were driving Lizette mad with need.
Sterling caught her looking at them, raising a questioning eyebrow at her. Conrad looked at his friend, following his gaze. He was surprised to see Lizette, cheeks flushed with arousal, standing and beckoning to them with her index finger before walking into the house.
Sterling and Conrad looked at each other, and Conrad shrugged.
“If the lady wants.”
They joined her in the bedroom, both nearly naked by the time they got halfway down the hall. They discarded clothes as they went.
Lizette was ready for them when they entered, dress pooled on the floor beside the bed.
Sterling looked at the faint scar on the side of her head, which was nearly healed.
“Are you sure about this? The doctor said to take it easy.”
“I’ve been taking it easy for five weeks. I can’t wait any longer. Either join me, or I’ll work it out myself.”
Conrad through back his head and laughed. He looked at Sterling and smiled.
“You heard the woman.”
With that, they slipped into bed with their woman, rocking her world and claiming her heart.
THE END
Bonus Book
We just want to say “THANK YOU”.
You support always means a lot to us. In this book, we have included 40 special bonus stories as a way to show you how much we appreciate your support. We hope you enjoy the stories as much as we do.
Bonus Story 1 of 40
Before I Die: A Vampire Romance
The air smelled of fresh wood and smoke, the sounds of the bustling village providing a soft background noise to his thoughts as Dallin worked to form a sturdy wagon wheel to match the one he’d just finished. Already calloused from years of work at the tender age of 19, Dallin’s hands moved skillfully over the nearly finished piece, smoothing bumps and knots to make it perfect.
In the six years that he’d been his father’s apprentice, Dallin’s work was already being praised by the locals. Cannon Upchurch was a patient teacher, but he never let Dallin cut corners or sell shoddy work. Cannon’s standards were high and as a result he made more than a typical woodworker. The father and son drew customers from neighboring villages as well, keeping them busy year-round.
They still struggled, living in a single, wood shack with the rest of the lower class members of South Ungerland. But they had everything they needed, and there was always food on the table. In a time when many people struggled to find their next meal, Dallin was happy to have the life he had.
He continued working, thoughts drifting off as he did. The shop was open on t
hree sides, with the back being solid wood boards held tightly together with thick twine woven between the boards. Dallin rolled his eyes every time he thought about the back wall and its construction. He wanted to use nails, but his father was a miser. With nails being relatively new to the villages outside of the more populated cities, Dallin had been frustrated when his dad balked at the price.
“Father, why not use nails when they’re less than a single pence for one hundred?”
“I have lived since 1620 and never needed a nail. I do not intend to start now.”
Just like that, the discussion was closed and Dallin was dismissed. He tried to argue with his father that he could do so many things that were otherwise quite difficult to manage, but his father was set in his ways.
“But Father, with nails I can produce so much more.”
“Speedy is not equal to quality. If it can be done without nails, we haven’t need to be wasteful.” His father turned back to his work, signaling that the discussion was over. “I’ll not suffer another moment wasted on the topic.”
And just like that, Dallin was left to follow his father’s lead as always.
Unlike his father, whose woodworking talent leaned toward carpentry and cabinet-making, Dallin was a talented wheelwright. With the popularity of phaetons rising, the demand for his wheels was increasing steadily. Since a phaeton had four wheels, he made twice as many per customer than he would for a chaise, which only had two wheels.
Dallin was distracted from his musing by the sound of footsteps passing by in front of their stand.He watched the ground in front of him, listening to the two women as they came closer. Dallin didn’t have to see them to know that it was Esther and her mother coming around the corner.
He kept his eyes down, waiting until they’d nearly passed by to look up. Esther walked on her mother Hannah’s left side, putting herself between Hannah and Dallin.
As her mother spoke, she turned her head slightly and gave Dallin a shy smile. Her green eyes twinkled merrily. Pale-faced with a light dusting of freckles across her pert nose, her curly red hair fell around her face and framed it perfectly.
The sight of her took his breath away. He smiled back and quickly went back to work, looking from side to side to see if anyone had noticed their exchange.
“She’s out of your league, Boy. You’d do best to remember your station in life,” Cannon said, his voice low but without anger.
“She isn’t royalty and people should be able to marry for love.”
“She is beguiling to be sure, but how would you be paying your portion for her hand in marriage?”
Dallin sighed, going back to work and leaving the question unanswered. Esther’s family was wealthy in their own right, though far from nobility. His father was right, but Dallin didn’t care. He would work every hour of the day and night to provide Esther with the life she deserved, even if it killed him.
He put the finishing touches on the wheel and gave them to his father to inspect. The old man looked them over with a critical eye for a moment before returning them.
“That’s fine work, Dallin. Your mother would have been proud of you, Son.” Cannon wiped his face with a handkerchief, hiding the unshed tears from his only son.
Genevieve had disappeared when Dallin was twelve, leaving Cannon to raise their son alone. She’d never been found, and it was something that weighed heavily on both of them. There was always talk amongst the villagers about what could have happened to her, but they would never know. Her body had never been found and no trace of her had ever turned up.
It was like she’d vanished into thin air.
Dallin hefted one wheel in each hand and headed to sell his latest work to the wainwright.
*****
Esther sat at the dinner table, trying her hardest to hold her temper at bay. With her mother sitting across the table, chattering away without noticing that Esther was silent, it was hard to keep from exploding.
“And then there’s Abraham in Bradenton, who is quite brave and a good provider. He’s already offered quite a portion for you, and tis much more than most men can afford. You’d have a comfortable life and want for naught with him as your husband.”
Esther pushed her food around her plate, ignoring her mother’s chipper voice as she went on incessantly about the pros and cons of each man. Esther dreamed of marrying her prince charming. All this talk of suiters was exhausting her.
“Darling, are you ill?”
Her mother’s voice jarred her out of her thoughts, forcing her to engage in a conversation she wanted to avoid at all costs.
“No. I’m just tired.” Esther shook her head but kept it down, hoping her mother wouldn’t see the telltale pink in her cheeks and realize that she was angry.
“Well if you must, retire for the night so you can rest. We have a busy day tomorrow.”
Esther was shocked. A busy day?
“Whatever do you mean, Mother?”
“Our phaeton will be finished on the morrow and we need to find a second horse to pull it.”
“What do we need with a bigger carriage? Tis only you and I traveling around town in it.”
“Darling. It isn’t about need. The phaeton is all the rage in the city and we’ve the best wheelwright in the region. It’s a solid investment and I thought for certain that you would be happy with a second horse and more room in our carriage.”
Esther resisted the urge to roll her eyes, and focused on the task of pushing her food endlessly around the plate. Hannah didn’t understand her daughter and probably never would. The nice clothes, the constant accumulation of material possessions to keep up with what was fashionable now was too much for her. Esther had a simple heart and simple desires.
And the last thing she wanted to be was a kept woman for some old man in another village where she was a virtual stranger.
“May I be excused?” She asked quietly.
“Yes, of course. Shall I accompany you?”
“No Mother, I can make it to my bed.” She stood slowly, though she wanted to flee from the room. She bent low and kissed her mother on the cheek before shuffling off to bed.
She measured her pace so that her mother held onto the notion that she was tired and possibly ill. It would be easier to avoid all this talk of suiters and she could avoid the shopping trip into town altogether if Hannah thought Esther needed her rest.
Esther slipped under the large, hand-made quilt and pulled it up to her chin. She turned on her side, facing away from the door.
It wasn’t long before Esther heard her door creak open slowly, the light of her mother’s candle casting a soft glow on the room.
Hannah stood for a moment, watching Esther sleep. When she was satisfied that Esther was indeed asleep, she closed the door softly and went to her room for the night. The big, empty bed awaited her, and she was counting the days when her husband would return from the latest battle, or if he would return at all.
But fighting the growing vampire population was necessary work, and Nathaniel Hawkes was doing God’s work. Because of his leadership, vampires rarely were able to make it beyond the front line of the human resistance. As long as brave souls like Nathaniel and his men continued the good fight, the rest of the world could rest easy. The empty bed was lonely, but it was worth the sacrifice.
In the other room, Esther listened quietly through the wall. She could hear her mother moving around in the bed, trying to get comfortable. She waited for a few minutes until she was certain that her mother had fallen asleep.
Quietly, she moved the covers back and slipped out of bed. She was still dressed, wearing a heavy gown in deep red. She slid her feet into her slippers and turned to the bed. With pillows lined up just so it was easy to believe she was still lying in the bed. Unless her mother came all the way into the room, she would never know that it wasn’t Esther lying so snuggly beneath the heavy quilt.
She climbed onto the low dresser and out her window. Esther was careful to push the shutters closed
completely, making it appear that they were locked from the inside.
Keeping to the shadows, Esther crept along the side of the house and through the rows of modest houses. From a few houses came the sound of quiet laughter or boisterous conversation, but most of the houses were dark and completely quiet.
Esther left the narrow row of homes and stole through the village proper, careful to stay deep in the shadows to avoid detection. She heard footsteps and quickly ducked into a narrow space between stands and waited. She held her breath as two guards passed, talking to pass the time while they protected the tiny village from intruders while the townspeople slept.
“I’ve heard tell that they’re going to start making duty compulsive.”
“That will never work. Some men aren’t born brave.”
“They haven’t a choice. More and more, the vampires are breaking through the ranks and making their way into the villages and woods beyond the battlegrounds. It won’t be long before they’ve made their way here in droves.”
Their conversation faded as they continued, and Esther realized she’d been holding her breath as she listened.
Vampires? Here? She wondered how much of that was simply idle chatter among the men. Here and there, a vampire had slipped through their defenses, getting closer to the villages than anyone was comfortable with. But, for the most part, the evening patrols were able to catch and kill them long before the villagers were ever in danger.
Esther was willing to bet this was just a case of two young people trying to one-up each other.
She moved on, slipping through the gates and out into the clearing between the main fence and the forest.
When she reached the forest’s edge, she picked up the pace. She knew this area like the back of her hand so the soft glow of the moonlight was sufficient to guide her way. She came upon a small clearing and her breath caught when she saw a man step out of the shadows.
Two Wolves For Lizette Page 7