“Are you doubting your ability to take down a few vampires?” I ask breathlessly, aware of how close he is standing. Instead of answering he pierces me with those intense gray eyes.
“Parker.” His father’s command snaps him out of his thought, leaving me to stand alone as the two disappear outside. Patricia appears by my side with two crossbows. Where they were stored I have no idea. When she offers me one I shake my head.
“I won’t need it.”
I trail the small horde with my eyes, curious about their plan of attack since no member of a wolf pack in their right mind would allow entrance to a home. Vertical blinds sway like someone just walked past and I think about Gemma and Dylan’s innocent children, their three-year-old little boy with his curly blonde hair and bright blue eyes. The vampires would show him no mercy.
With that burning thought I prowl through the hedges lining the Collins’ home, staying nimble on the balls of my feet. A large wolf launches from somewhere ahead of me in sync with another coming from the other side of the house, their large paws pounding against the pavement alerting the enemy of their advancement.
A growl rips through the night as two more wolves spring from the house stalked by the vampires. Two are taken down from proximity of the attack, but the others quickly recover to fight the onslaught. Tearing away from the bushes I cross the street in silent stealth, my nails elongating and adrenaline pumping through my veins.
More wolves come bounding from both sides of the street to join the fray surprising the vampires. A couple stragglers attempt to desert their assault only to be hounded down before making it more than fifty feet.
I cut one down trying to sneak up on me only for another to take its place. Before I can make a move against him a wolf leaps onto the vampire, ripping him apart with one shake of his massive jaws. Intelligent gray eyes look back at me and I know it’s Parker.
The fight, while not lasting very long, is physically draining because of the restraint I have to show. There are too many bodies in close proximity and while the wolves may be able to communicate their location and strikes, I don’t have the luxury of being in the know. Because of this I frequently have to withdraw an attack to avoid slamming into a wolf’s face.
By the time it’s over, bodies litter the ground and I wonder if the pack owns the whole street. Hopefully they do otherwise this cleanup is going to need to happen quickly, not to mention the unavoidable noise of snarls and yells piercing the night.
A squirming body thrashes beneath two colossal paws, silenced with an aggressive bark. Members from the pack begin disappearing back to their homes to change form. With the lone surviving vampire, I figure they want to know why there was an attack on such a large pack and need information. A couple men come dashing back down the street to haul off the writhing vampire, but they aren’t nearly as strong as in their wolf form.
After a scary moment of the vampire slipping out of one of their grasps I intercede. Crossing the distance in a matter of moments I grab the free wrist, tightening my hold as I twist his arm painfully behind his back. His other arm slithers free which I have pinned before my brain registers the action. He bucks against me but I hold firm, oblivious to his desperate attempts for freedom.
The two men unable to contain the vampire stare at me with suspicion clouding their eyes, almost as if they’re unsure if I’m a vampire myself. After all, how else would I be able to restrain such a creature?
“This way,” one of the men directs, pointing me toward a house a few doors down with all the lights on.
The vampire heaves his head back in a blow which would have broken my nose had I not dodged it in time. Quickly grabbing the back of his neck, I throw him to the ground. My knee pins his back to the road while one hand restrains an arm, the other hand putting a coaxing pressure on the back of his neck. I lean close to make sure he can hear me, ignoring the sickly-sweet scent filling my nostrils. “One way or another you will reach that house. Whether all your limbs are still attached to your body when we arrive is up to you.”
Certain he got the message, I haul him to his feet, following my guide to a basement room I hope is reinforced with silver. Members of the pack converge on the house when I travel back upstairs, so I assume it belongs to the alpha.
Patricia beelines for me when she enters, throwing an arm around my shoulder and squeezing. Her eyes convey a worry she doesn’t have to verbally express. Others file in and it takes me a moment to realize I’m looking for Parker amongst the rest of the group.
“Do we know why we were targeted?” a voice asks from the other side of the room, opening a floodgate of voices and answerless questions.
“Will they come back?”
“What were they searching for?”
“Did they know they were on our land?”
“Enough,” a singular command declares and the room falls silent. Definitely the alpha. “There is much we don’t know but for tonight it seems the threat has passed. There will be more information by morning. The council will meet then and communicate any pertinent information to the rest of the pack.”
Guilt worms in my stomach of the real possibility that the attack was because of me. It would match my track record. Parker sidles up to me and his mother with wet hair and fresh clothing. I don’t catch whatever was said next because of, I’m partly ashamed to admit, my ogling Parker. Only when dozens of eyes turn toward me do I wish I heard what was said.
“No,” the alpha says in response to whatever was asked.
“I don’t understand why she isn’t a suspect,” the brunette snips, calling to attention the fact I’m the only foreigner in the room.
“Don’t,” Parker retorts, his shoulders straightening back to make him appear bigger. Others shift uncomfortably, or maybe it’s just my perception.
“We deserve an answer. It’s unnatural for a human to do what she did. Maybe she’s working with them.”
Parker’s eyes turn a stormy gray and I put my hand on his forearm, somewhat worried he’s going to attack her. “Parker,” I whisper.
“It is in your best interest to stop talking.”
“I think she’s working with them.”
“Stop.”
“Why? Because your perfect mate would be uncapable of such an act? Don’t you find it odd that the night she is here our people are attacked?”
Mate?
“That’s enough!” the alpha orders, his voice containing power behind the command. “She is not on trial and is a member of our pack. The matter is closed. What we need to discuss . . .”
His voice carries on but I’m no longer listening. My eyes trail up to Parker’s face, waiting for him to deny the brunette’s accusation. It feels like an eternity before Parker returns my gaze. His eyes are now clear and I realize he won’t deny it.
Oh gosh.
My foot bumps into the bottom stair behind me, but before Parker can reach out to steady me I’m already bounding to the front door and down the street. Taking the staircase two steps at a time at Patricia and Rich’s home I burst into the guest room, closing the door behind me before sinking to the floor. My heart pounds in my chest like I just ran ten miles but I can’t slow it down.
He bonded. And with me. But the only way for them to know about a bond is finding out in their wolf form, and the only time I’ve seen him is tonight.
No, that’s not right. That first night. The night Dmitri and Viktor attacked when I was on a date with Nathan. He leapt from the roof in his wolf form. This whole time. He knew this whole time.
My face burns with embarrassment at my naivety.
Blood roars in my ears muffling the knock from the other side of the door. I don’t answer. I don’t even move. It feels like time is racing forward at breakneck speed but I’m stuck in slow motion. After a while the knocking stops.
Sometime in the early hours of the morning I drag myself to the bed, refusing to sleep on the floor just because some boy kept a secret to himself. Part of me wonders if I sh
ould lock the door, but that part is quickly overridden by sheer exhaustion pulling me toward fluffy pillows and blankets. Before I can talk myself into getting up, I’m asleep.
A buzzing somewhere near my ear pulls me from unconsciousness. My phone vibrates against the sheets and I see Eliza’s face filling the screen. Hoping my face isn’t too puffy, I answer the early morning call. She looks frantic, her messy hair puffing around her head in a disheveled mass like she hasn’t slept. Ben’s face bobbles in and out of view with similarly wild hair and I wonder what kind of night they had.
“A while ago we were talking to this guy online—”
“Not just any guy. He’s well versed in—”
“Yeah, yeah,” Eliza interrupts, waving her hand like she’s shooing away a fly. “We were talking to this knowledgeable guy about the influx of vampire activity in the Denver area and what could be causing it. Well, he got back to us last night, and what he found isn’t good.”
Ben’s head bobs sideways into view as Eliza adjusts the angle. “He studied Mythology and Folklore at Harvard and is pretty decent at tracking vampire activity through an online community. Based on what he’s found, he has a theory—”
“They want you to make babies.”
“What?” I ask, my jaw dropping slightly as I’m unsure what Eliza just said.
“There’s a crazy rumor floating around, I have no idea how it started, that you will be able to produce a daywalker. The idea of a fully matured vampire able to walk in the sun is why the Master is trying to get to you.”
I feel like a guppy with the way my mouth moves up and down without sound.
Ben’s delve doesn’t help much. “This guy we were talking to remembered some obscure manuscript talking about a death cheating heroine who because she walked in the light and dark without harm can offer the same to her children.”
“That’s a pretty insane leap to make . . . besides I didn’t have a brush with death! Faking your death and actually dying are two separate things!”
“I told you she would freak out,” Ben mutters to Eliza.
“Freak out? Freak out! I have every right to freak out!”
“Well it doesn’t matter because we’re going to stop him before he gets to you.” The fierce determination in Eliza’s eyes does little to make me feel better.
Parker stands in the now open doorway holding a breakfast tray, his face white.
CHAPTER 10
HIM
I think I’m going to throw up.
CHAPTER 11
HER
Parker looks like he’s going to throw up.
CHAPTER 12
HIM
My temples pound and all I can think about is someone wanting to take my mate. A shutter runs down my spine and I have to repress the powerful urge to shift. I set the tray woodenly on the dresser just inside the door, torn between crushing Tess to me and running through the woods in my wolf suit to hunt down every vampire in a five-hundred-mile radius.
Taking a slow step toward the bed, I approach her cautiously, unsure how she’ll react from the news last night. The bed dips where I sit and I gently put my arms around her, giving her plenty of opportunity to pull away if she wants. I pull her tighter when she doesn’t object, tucking her head under my chin where she releases a heartbreaking sob into my chest. Her fingers entwine themselves in my shirt as I gently rock her and I can feel my blood boiling. The Master won’t have a chance to come near her.
“Hello? Hello? Tess?” a voice calls from her phone which is upside down on the bed. She tenses when she hears the voice. Reaching around her to pick it up, I tell Eliza that Tess will call her back before hanging up.
Reluctant to leave her in such an emotional state we sit for another ten minutes in silence. Basking in the physical contact from my mate I rub her back soothingly, offering what little comfort I can. When she pulls away the tip of her nose is adorably pink.
She sniffles and turns her head like she’s embarrassed. Not wanting to cause her any discomfort, I avoid mentioning anything regarding last night. The last thing I want to do is push her away and she needs time to process that big reveal. I can give her time.
The council meeting should be finishing up soon so I head downstairs to wait for my dad. Those vampires weren’t from Bulgaria, but I can’t rule out the possibility of Tess being the target. If she was, then maybe the one that was captured can give us information about the Master. It’s doubtful there are many living Masters occupying the country since vampires are territorial about their hunting grounds.
“How’s Tess doing? Any better? I have to say she was amazing last night. I have never seen anyone fight like that.” My mother’s concern for my mate makes me happy. When I called to let her know we would be coming for a short visit I told her of our connection but skimmed over a few other pertinent pieces of information.
“She needs time to process things. But yeah, she’s a one-of-a-kind fighter.”
“Well I know you were planning on leaving today, but is there any way I can convince you to stick around? Have a day to unwind from last night?”
“As tempting as that is,” I strain, use to my mother’s antics, “there are a few things I need to do tomorrow afternoon.” With Tess aware of the bond and the way she gets roped into fighting vampires, I’m not planning on taking the trip in two stretches like we did the way here. Plus, I feel more comfortable in my home that’s reinforced with silver in the framework, so if by chance a vampire was able to get in, they wouldn’t be there for long.
We pack up and are on the road shortly after my father returned home with news that the previous night’s attack was purposefully aimed to increase the vampires hunting ground by wiping out the pack. They planned on forcing families to flee their burning homes to keep from facing everyone at once.
My mother had hugged Tess tightly at the doorway and I wish I knew what Tess had been thinking. She still hasn’t said much and we’ve been on the road nearly three hours.
“How long do you think it will take before finding the Master?” she asks, her gaze never straying from the world outside.
My hands clench the wheel and I wish she didn’t have to worry about a Master, or a stupid rumor that upended her second life, or vampires at all. “We have the name Stephany Wares to go on. Plus, I have a friend doing some research. But Masters are illusive. Even if you find where one lives, it’s generally a heavily guarded labyrinth designed to confuse trespassers until they’re hunted down and killed. There’s a reason Masters live a long time. They’re powerful and paranoid.”
“So a long time?” she says quietly.
“Possibly,” I sigh, wishing for better news. “But we will find him. Then you can own a dance studio or do anything else you want to do.”
She stays quiet, pensive, as evergreen trees flash by at a dizzying rate.
“I think I’m going to go back to my apartment. Enough time has passed that it should be safe.”
I swerve to the shoulder, breaking hard until the car stops with a jolt. Turning to her I wonder what on earth could possess her to think something like that. Part of me wonders if it’s because she found out she’s my mate. “You have a Master chasing after you, and you think living in an apartment with five other girls over the summer will somehow protect you? You really want to explain to your roommates why they can’t let anyone in? Because you will have to enact draconian measures to stay safe and I don’t think any college girl will go along with that.”
“I’m a college girl.”
“Who turns into a giant panther! Your life is not normal and never has been! I’m sorry, I wish you could live a normal life doing normal things with normal people, but from the sound of it that ship sailed long ago.”
“I can’t live with you forever.” The sentence is like a vise around my heart but I don’t show it. She heaves a great sigh and slumps further into her seat. “Eventually I’ll need to go after the Master. But at least don’t make me a mooch. I should pay rent.”
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There is absolutely no earthly reason she needs to do any such thing, but if it makes her feel better then she can. Five bucks a month should do it. At least she isn’t pressing the matter of staying at her old apartment.
I ease back onto the road, thankful I took a less travelled path back to Colorado. The atmosphere in the car is awkward and I don’t know how to make her feel more comfortable. None of the humans I dated ever had trouble relaxing. I guess Tess didn’t either until Harley told her what she means to me. Maybe I should suggest going back to the way things were before she found out. I definitely want to be with my mate, but I’m afraid if I even put my hand in her personal space she’ll jump out of the car.
“Your parents,” Tess starts, “are they . . . bonded?”
I try not to show my excitement at her talking about the bond. Part of me was worried she would clam up at the topic. “They are. He was twenty-two and she was twenty when it happened.”
“Do they ever fight?”
“Ha! Frequently. And loudly.” I look at her out of the corner of my eye. “Being bonded doesn’t mean it’s all smooth sailing. It’s a relationship, just like others have.”
“Then what’s different about being bonded?”
I take a deep breath trying to sort my thoughts. She’s already heard this information from Caleb and Lorelai, but now that she knows she’s part of it, it’s different. “You’re perfectly compatible with the other person. It’s who you’ll be happiest with.”
“But I thought there were potential mates. How do you know you’ll be happier with one versus another?”
I chuckle at the question I have wondered my whole life. “I guess it’s about choice. That, and knowing which one is the right one.”
She gets quiet again which I expect.
“And me?”
“What about you?” I ask with a smile to which she gives me a look. Her eyes are squinted and her mouth is turned down in a small frown. “Do you really want to know?”
Hunting Tess Page 10