“Ten years ago, it was about all wolves… a species that dared to kill his woman and his unborn child for merely existing. When he found out she lived and died at the hands of the Santo pack and he thought his child too, he concentrated his hatred on one pack alone.” Leyanne wanders casually across the floor, shrugging as she goes, and all eyes follow her. An awkward quiet around the room instantly as we all digest this.
“That’s why the fog stayed only with us and them … nothing further out. We saw no vampires in our entire trip to find Leyanne.” Meadow fills in the blanks, adding to what I guess she spoke to the witch about, and brings my mind to the truth of her observation. Outside the Santo domain, we never picked up on a single vampire in eight hours of cross-country travel. Not one sense of them, no scent in the air at all. It’s why Leyanne didn’t care about leaving us out in the darkness alone. She knew we weren&rs
“I do. I happened upon some helpful hints in a grimoire or two in my luggage that gave me some answers. We’re lucky enough to be in a part of the world that grows what I need, so I’ll be back before we leave…. I have to go find some very rare plants.” That upbeat tone of a woman who is smug with her new discovery and confident in her own remedies.“Wait.” Colton hesitates, grabbing her arm as she moves to pass and my heart stops in my chest, which is already hammering like a war drum. I know he’s hesitating about whether he wants this or not. He probably has the same thoughts swirling in his head as I do about the outcome should Sierra be free of my life burden.“This is a good thing, Cole…. Sierra and Alora unbound. Sierra is already so far through her life cycle, Alora has barely begun ….. you know when Sierra’s time comes, Alora will leave too if they are still bound.” Meadow is the voi
The day passes like a blink and it feels like time is sand in my fingertips, that I can’t stop from filtering away no matter how hard I try. Clinging on with anxious determination, yet it slips right through. Like an awful countdown to something I don’t want but can’t run from, and I know this is inevitable and everything before was leading us back to this moment.To the mountain that was once our home, to the man that started everything and the fight we have been avoiding, to stay alive. Fate really did make sure that we had no choice but to come full circle, ready to battle and put things to rights in the oddest turn of events. The wars, the prophecy, the people involved in everything that came before…. we are all convening in the place where it began. The mountain. The Santo Valley.Jasper is coming back to the place that I watched him walk away from with my family a decade ago, to avenge their death, whether I want him to or not. Everything
I steady my hands on my lap and screw my eyes shut forcing myself to calm my racing heart and breathe as slowly as I can, nerves eating me inside out and I am trying not to show it.Sat in the dark interior of one of our trucks, in the rear, listening and waiting patiently as the sun goes down. Colton and the twins are out running the perimeter of where we wait to get as close to the mountain as possible.We have a convoy of a dozen trucks all nestled together in a deep dark forest on the far eastern side of the valley below the mountain. A place that took us half the day to get to because of our long detour to go all the way around in a wide berth to a part that Juan can't see from his position. We needed to be close before sunset and yet we needed to be hidden incase Juan got any ideas about starting a battle before the real threat arrived.We know from some of our pack that the mountain too had been released from the fog spell at the same time as we were and
The tension of the cool night air prickles my skin and I watch in dismay as the wolves nearby scatter off into the preplanned groups and move towards the village. Leaving me feeling like we are vulnerable and few. They are to try and gain alliance with those we left behind, from the shadows, and we’re to wait here as a front line for the invaders heading our way. They will drive us back towards the valley where we will be met with reinforcements and hopefully will have thinned out the invaders a little.The witch can see them coming and we don’t have long yet it seems like it’s already been hours. Tense and hidden and waiting as our numbers lessen and our pack melts into the village to try and reinforce us with the ones we left behind. We need the numbers to stand a chance, and to avoid a collision with Juan beforehand in case we get distracted. Juan won’t focus only on them, but his desire to see Colton fall will push his hatred both ways.My h
Getting close to the manor is easier than I thought it would be. Domi was right about the fact the valley is almost like a deserted prison camp. Everything around the manor is still and empty while the valley has all those who are no longer loyal to their alpha, pushed away. Separated by electric fences, speakers playing nonstop the silent frequency to stop the vampire weapon being used against them. The whole place is eerie, like a deserted army barracks and strangely dark despite all the spotlights hanging from posts. None are on.It’s almost like the aftermath of a battle in itself and if it weren’t for the distant chaotic noise of a real war going on, it would be as silent as the surface of the moon. There are no birds, no small animals, not even any kind of patrols and all the security cameras are facing the ground.It feels like life has slipped away in what used to be a bustling busy home filled to the brim with an eager pack. Most of the windows are
We know. Vampires are trailing off and heading your way. Get inside the manor and find the control room to try and disable it.Colton’s fast response is ragged and strained and I can tell they are really in the thick of it and not doing so well. I can feel his fatigue, hear his stress levels in just one link. Without seeing what’s going on, I can tell the valley must be a bloodbath right now. They are fighting hard to stay in control and god knows how many have died already.Are you okay? I reply in panic, not knowing how to feel with the way things seem to have suddenly combusted and are no longer in our control. Our plans have gone to hell and I feel useless and somehow cut off from what’s going on. No sense of what to do or how to help.We’re holding on and pulling villagers with us. We’re coming to you as soon as we can but just do as I ask. There are more of them than us and half of the Valley wolves are w
We make light work of moving fast in unison and tracking back down the corridor towards the main entrance to the grand staircase. Sierra takes the lead and Carmen runs behind the witch and I, both of them in wolf form, as we start our search for the infamous Juan. My heart’s pounding through my chest because I know radar will be hot on our heels and Colton is going to be so mad about this. His fury will know zero bounds when he finds out I disobeyed him and ran from Radar and the Luna’s guard, but my gut tells me to trust Sierra and do this. Sierra has a point and finding Juan first, pushing him out there for easy access may be the cure to this war and the end to this night’s battle. If we shackle him and hand him over to Varro then there’s less chance of Juan being killed in the process and maybe I can beg Varro to protect Sierra’s life in keeping him alive for the rest of his.We barely make it to the open entrance and foot of the stair when a
My energy blows out like an explosion and takes everything in its wake with it. Uncontrolled due to my sheer fear, mounting hysteria, and suddenly time ceases to cling on in the slow mo. Wooosh, the clock restarts and everything in my wake is thrown wide like the after implosion of a nuclear bomb.Sierra, Radar, the bullet and Juan are all catapulted away from me with force. Flying into a chaotic crash landing of limp bodies against the far wall behind the bed, taking a pillar and the canopy with it, in a crashing chorus of thuds and growls. It’s a monumental fallout from something that I didn’t mean to deliver so viciously.I have no idea where the bullet has landed or if I manage to set it off course and I scramble forward to unravel Sierra from the mess of bedding and debris around her, shielded by the hunched over wolf form of Radar. Even in freefall eh somehow managed to cling to her and protect her as they went down.I sense Juan pulling