East wheat field, Lucius replied.I’m guarding Donovan. I need you to take the rear, Adam.
On it!
My alpha growled in my mind.Too many damn vampires.
Where did they come from?I projected.How the fuck did they get here so quickly?
That’s the million-dollar question.
Nothing felt more perilous than realizing that both Charlotte and Henry were in a cabin where the action was taking place. I veered left and headed to the east away from the sunset. Even now, the long orange streaks grabbed after me as if desperately trying to cling to the earth. How much I wanted them to stick around to defend us.
But they couldn’t.
And somehow, I didn’t think that was by chance.
Absolute mayhem exploded in my vision once I broke through the brush separating the wheat field from the cabins. Vampires descended upon packs of wolves like wasps attacking a tarantula, fangs and daggers shimmering in the blue hue of the evening. The sun had disappeared far too quickly for my tastes.
But there was nothing I could do about that right now.
The rear of the field teemed with fangs cornering a group of wolves. I lunged into the pack and sprang forward, knocking one of the vampires to the ground. He attempted to slash me to no avail as a wolf clamped his throat with a powerful crunch that vibrated my paws.
This wasn’t a war anymore. This was aslaughter.
More chaos clattered around me, a mixture of warning howls, barks, and shouts all mingling into a sickening soundtrack. Each vampire I attacked went down without too much of a fight, the ease with which I shredded through fangs snapping away at my resolve.
This is too easy, I told my alpha.We have to fall back, Donnie!
You don’t give the orders, Donovan snapped.We push forward!
Fury lanced me when my alpha refused to listen to my pleas. Trying to nudge Lucius provoked the same irritation, causing me to fight faster, bite harder, and swing fangs around as carelessly as I pleased.
Out of my peripheral vision, a black spot shifted between fangs. Focusing on it produced a double-take, the kind only reserved for those things that are truly so spectacular in the minds of supernatural creatures that it’s nearly comical to witness such an expression.
I could have sworn that was a black wolf…
But my eyes hadn’t deceived me. A massive black wolf ripped through groups of fangs like they were toilet paper. It wasn’t familiar to me with a coat as rich and wondrous as the dark of night. Save for the few flecks of white decorating its breast like a bow tie, he blended into the shadows, using his size and speed to his advantage.
My gods, it was like he sprang right off the page of a storybook.
A slice to my shoulder produced a vicious snarl. I turned my attention to the attacking vampire, snatching his wrist and tearing it clean from his arm with a swift shake of my head. Tearing and chomping became instinctual responses at this point, pushing the fairy tale black wolf out of my mind as war consumed me.
Blood and sweat caked my fur. Each time a new fang charged me, I diced it to pieces, not caring anymore what I was doing. My only goal was to defend my alpha, my pack,my kid. Nothing could have prevented my victory. Nothing could have torn me away from this battle.
Except for the smallest cry for help leaking through the chaos of my mind.
Adam…
My body stiffened while I stood between the three remaining fangs and my alpha. The black wolf was gone, a distant memory. Donovan struggled to stand on his shaky legs. Lucius growled while stepping up beside me, his maw soaked with blood while the rest of him went rigid to prepare for another attack. While I registered his words of warning in my mind, they were faint compared to the familiar voice rushing into my soul.
Adam, I need you! HELP!
The decrepit earth of war gave way to freshly tilled soil and then a thick brush. Evergreen trees sprang up on either side of me as my muscles worked overtime. Exhaustion lingered on the edge of my awareness, barely capturing my attention over the chanting of my name.
On and on that voice cried until I launched into my yard and skidded to a halt next to the cabin. It lured me to the front lawn where bodies littered the grass and wolves limped through the sandy streets.
Alarms blared through my head and resonated in my body.
Charlotte. Henry.