Filed to story: Owned by the Alphas Novel
“Not as many. Told you we could handle them,” Kai boasted. I grinned and went over to my mom, who was smiling at Galen as he kissed a cut on her forehead. It sealed and healed. Ryleigh came over then, wiping her blade on her shirt.
“These vamps weren’t behaving normally,” she scowled, looking over her shoulder.
I frowned at that. “How do you mean?”
“Well, they only engaged once we did. From everything Vaughn and Derik have been teaching me since I turned, vamps go for their goal. But they didn’t go for anything but us.”
“They were after the humans. One of them punched a hole in the top of the hut,” I pointed out.
“But they waited for you to come for them. They could have gone right through that as soon as they punched in. They didn’t,” she said, and it turned my mind over.
“So what were they doing?”
“You don’t think they wanted the humans?” Brax asked, shifted, and tugging his pants back on. I shook my head. What Ryleigh said made too much sense.
“They didn’t go through any of the other huts. They went straight for us in the courtyard,” Kai growled, his fists clenching.
“Which means they didn’t actually care about the humans,” I came to the realization with a heavy, broken heart.
Despite wanting to avoid it at all costs, we had done exactly what they wanted us to.
We had walked into their trap.
“They wanted us here. Away from the city,” I whispered, and the entire pack felt what I felt.
A mix of fear, regret, and panic.
I checked the link for Derik. “Derik?” I asked.
There was a symphony of howls from the city breaking the tense silence of the night, and I had my answer.
The vampires were attacking the city. And I wasn’t there to protect them.
But I would be, and I wasn’t fucking around with the vampires this time; I was going straight for Silas.
38. The City
LORELAI
It was just like Beenie had said: vampires everywhere, climbing over the walls, blurring everywhere, attacking harshly.
They weren’t holding back or waiting idly for their turn to get fucked up, as it had seemed in the humans’ villages. They were baring their teeth and going straight for the wolves, especially their necks.
Derik was yelling orders in the link, the strain in his voice hard to hear. But he was with the twins and couldn’t fight. My heart raced at the idea of the twins being without shadows there, without me there to protect them.
I jumped from Kai’s back and ran through the gates of the city. There were no wolves to greet me; they were all engaged in fast fights with vampires, gnashing teeth and hissing tongues going at each other as they pulled and grabbed at each other.
I shoved through them all, using my magic to clear a path.
“I’m coming to you, D,” I said in the link.
“The twins are safe, beautiful.”
I appreciated the reassurance, but it didn’t help calm my nerves. Last time a vampire had gotten close to my children, they had taken one. I didn’t trust Silas not to try the same shit. They were winter born and held more power than I had at their age.
If he got his hands on them, they would become his ultimate weapon.
My vision flashed in my mind, and I shuddered. I wasn’t letting that be their fate, Zale or Enzi.
Nikolai was already fighting, tearing through vampires, finally getting the revenge he’d been begging for. They had attacked, and he could finally peel through them all. He was having fun doing it, too.
I glanced over at him, smirking at the grin he wore around his blood-covered mouth.
Brax was throwing bombs at the vamps, grinning when they landed and burned through the vampires attacking his pack.
“Payback’s a bitch,” he laughed in the link.
I smiled, then ran toward the mansion, avoiding the breaking city around me.
Vampires and wolves collided with stone and each other, sending debris flying. My shadows and magic blocked everything from getting to me.
The humans were on their way for backup and would bring their arsenal, so I knew we had a chance. But only if we could get to Silas.
He was here somewhere; I could feel it in my bones. He was watching, waiting for the perfect time. As soon as we showed a weakness, he would exploit it.
I was going to make sure he regretted that decision, even if it took my last breath to do it.
The thought took me to a dark place before I remembered the reason I couldn’t go there.
My unborn baby.
My hand went to my stomach as I climbed the steps to the mansion. I couldn’t take my last breath while I was living for someone else. Which meant I had no choice but to make sure Silas took his.
I took the mansion steps two at a time, then burst into the nursery. Derik was there, holding a fussing Zale as he watched out of the closed window, his eyes narrowed on the city below.
He was still barking orders at the pack, watching everywhere they needed to be. He was good at it, but I knew he wanted to be down there.
So I sent him.
“Go, Derik. Protect the pack. I’ll wait for the twins,” I said.
Derik looked back at me and grimaced. “I can’t leave you alone. Not while this is going on,” he said.
I shook my head. “I can handle this. And I’m not alone. I have my shadows, my magic. And the twins. We’ll protect each other. But your job is to make sure I don’t have to. Go, help the pack,” I urged.
Derik took another look out the window as the pack growled and howled. The vampires had been holding back before, finding our weaknesses. They had learned how we fought, what we did as a unit.
They had learned everything they needed to be a real threat. It was terrifying, but I knew I could do more from here, where the twins were safe.
And if I was right, then Silas was going to come looking for us. I would be ready for him.
“If Silas does, then I need to be here,” Derik growled.
I picked up Enzi and held her close. Even she knew something wasn’t right; her shadows, which had a gold glitter to them, were leaking out of her tiny body.
“And if he shows up, I’ll tell you. Until then, the pack needs their Alphas. All three of them. What kind of luna would I be if I let them die for me?”
“A mated one,” Derik bit back.
I shook my head with a small smile. “I’ve got this. I’ll watch from the window and use my magic and shadows to help where I can.”
Derik looked like he was about to argue when my arm burned. Red leaked through my white tunic, and I growled, looking down at the stain. “Kai,” I said as his pain became mine.
“They’re spreading through the city!” Brax warned.
“Lucky fucker lost his fangs for that bite. You okay, Little Luna?” Kai asked.
“I’m good, just be careful,” I pleaded, then looked at Derik. “Go help them. Don’t let the vampires get further into the city.”
“I won’t,” Derik finally gave in, then kissed me. He put Zale into the crib with a kiss on his forehead. He moved to Enzi and gave her one too. “Stay safe and don’t overuse your magic,” he warned.
“I know. I’ll be in the link,” I promised.
Derik took off toward the fight. He shifted as soon as he was out of the mansion and ran faster than I had ever seen him run. I put Enzi in the crib with Zale and wrapped them in my shadows, then went to the window Derik had been looking out.
I pushed it open and eyed every detail from where I was.
The vampires were moving through the city. There were just too many of them.
They were climbing the walls still, pouring in every direction. They were going for every wolf they could, but they were edging closer to the mansion, and I knew that was their goal.
Power attracted greed, and my children had it. More than me. More than this realm had seen. It had absorbed the witches’ magic without even trying. Which meant Silas wanted them.
He couldn’t fucking have them.
New Book: Veiled Desires of the Alpha King Novel
Dayson was the alpha of the largest pack in North America. Powerful figures from other packs sought to offer gorgeous girls as potential mates for Dayson. He steadfastly rejected these advances, he was not a pawn to be manipulated. But eventually there came a mysterious girl he could hardly say No. Who was she?