Chapter Ten

Duncan

“Are they coming for me?” Coral asked the question that I already knew the answer to, but I knew had to be answered for everyone to hear. Luz had confirmed the answer to this question last night, but I knew that there had to be more that was learned when Raina met with Luz and Victor. 

Raina was struggling to find the right words, so Callan spoke.

“The warlock, Luz, told of an elder vampire who foretold the future of the vampires, and it was led by the last red wolf.” Callan paused, and I could see Talia and Coral looking at each other. 

“Talia is the last red wolf.” Coral stated, her body tensing as she spoke. 

Callan nodded. “Yes, Talia is technically the last red wolf. But the elder vampire specifically stated that the future of the vampires would be led by the last red wolf at the compound, and that is Coral.” Raina placed her hand in Callan’s and she looked up at him, and I knew that she had calmed herself down and would speak. 

“Each of the red wolves has unique abilities. As the first red wolf, I am the most well rounded in my skills. With each new red wolf, unique abilities have been identified in each of you. You each have a slightly different specialized area of skills that exceeds my own abilities. We don’t know all of Coral’s skills yet, but we know that she is going to be very powerful. I mean, come on, she was able to stop all of the fighting during that battle a month ago. While I have stopped fighting, I have never stopped over such a large area. I am not sure I could!” Raina smiled as she spoke. I had been in that battle. Coral’s sister had been shot and the battle was not going well. Coral yelled out and everyone froze. All those involved in the fighting, whether in the area of Coral or further away, had stopped fighting. The red wolves weren’t impacted and her guardian wolves were only momentarily impacted, but Coral’s words held everyone else in place. It had been absolutely amazing to witness. 

Raina continued. “For many years, the vampires just wanted wolves gone, but after the elder vampire spoke of the future and the need for the red wolf, their approach changed. They knew how many red wolves there would be and they had to wait until we knew who the last red wolf would be. That is why the Crimson River Pack and the Silver Springs Pack were working with vampires. The Alphas of those packs promised the vampires Coral in exchange for allowing Coral to be Alpha Carlson’s mate.” 

Coral was uneasy. She was fidgeting with her hair and shifting uneasily in her chair. Conan paced. He did not like that his red wolf was this worried. 

“What is their plan?” Harley asked, moving her seat even closer to Coral. Harley was not just a guardian wolf to Coral, but also her sister, and I had no doubt that Harley’s wolf was in overdrive. 

“The vampire we work with, Victor, is not part of a coven, but is very connected. He left the coven due to family problems, but he maintained all of his other connections, including his grandmother, who serves as advisor to the vampire elder. I say all of that so that you understand that the information he provided us is reliable.” Raina looked down at her hands. “And, to answer your next question, his grandmother has significant concerns about the plans and that is why she came to Victor. She knew he worked with wolves.” 

I could feel a shiver run through Coral. I took a deep breath and waited for Raina to continue. 

Raina shook her head and closed her eyes before she continued. “Because Coral is so powerful, the vampires plan on capturing her and then mating her with the son of the vampire elder. Once this happens, they will then have Coral use her abilities in order to take out all wolves.” 

Gasps sounded around the room. “But how the hell would they make me do that? I would never do anything like that.” Coral was pissed, as was I. I had to clench my fist to try to control Conan. 

“When someone is part one creature and part another, that person can use the abilities of either creature. We have never done anything with the vampire side because we didn’t know it was there. I would imagine that we use some of it as part of the red wolf. But Victor indicated that the vampires plan on working with a witch to ensure that the vampire side becomes the side that Coral is loyal to.” Raina stopped talking, allowing all of us to process this. 

“I think I still don’t understand. If they have some potion or something that causes this to happen within Coral, wouldn’t this impact her red wolf?” Grace, one of the red wolves asked. She held the same confusion I did. 

Talia spoke up. “No. They are banking on the fact that the reason that there is a red wolf is because the red wolf is half vampire and half wolf, right?” 

Raina nodded. “Yes. The vampires believe that the only reason that the red wolf has her abilities is because of the vampire side. Although our human forms have long ago lost any bit of vampire that we might have, the elder vampire prophecies say that the red wolf is still half vampire. At least, that is how we think they are interpreting it. If they are taking it to mean that Coral herself is half and half, well, they might try to focus on separating those two out. And that could be bad.”  

“Do we have any details about their plan to take Coral?” I asked, Conan demanding to know what else was known. 

“Apparently the potion will only work if given within a week of the last full moon of the year, which is  two weeks out. That is probably why there has been an increase in activity over the last few months, including the attack last month. They are trying to get you to ensure that they have you in time for the full moon.” I felt Coral suck in a deep breath as Raina spoke. She was worried and upset. 

Callan stood, the former Alpha exuding his ire for vampires. “We know nothing more about their plan at this point, except that we expect a steady increase in efforts to take Coral.” 

“But why me? My abilities are untapped. I keep hearing everyone say I am going to be powerful and I don’t know anything about my abilities! How the hell am I going to be any use to anyone if I can’t do anything with these abilities?” Coral stood as she spoke, her voice rising. “And now I am bringing this threat to all of you here!”  She gestured around the room, before she shook her head and sat back down. 

Raina approached and I moved back, allowing Raina to sit next to Coral. “For a long time, I felt a lot of guilt about being a red wolf. My parents were killed because I was a red wolf. The Red Moon Pack was attacked and wolves died because of me.” She paused, wiping a tear from her cheek. “I still struggle a lot with that, especially my parents being killed. It hurts me a lot to think about, although I have learned that none of it is my fault. Am I a red wolf? Yes. But anyone, in any pack, could be a red wolf. If it wasn’t me, it would have been another she-wolf. While I don’t feel like I am special, I know that I am, and I have embraced my role. It took a long time.” 

Coral sighed, looking down at her hands. Raina placed her hand on Coral’s leg. “One of the things that the vampires do not understand, and honestly, something we don’t fully understand, is our combined abilities. Together, the ten of us red wolves are unstoppable. Are you powerful? Absolutely! But part of that comes from being with us, all together. We are all more powerful now that there are all ten of us together.” 

“And you think that the vampires are underestimating this?” Coral asked, looking back up. 

“I am saying that they don’t know anything about it. They would need to capture all of us to do what they think just one of us would do.” Raina looked over at Callan, who approached. 

“We know that they will try to take you because they think that you are all they need. But we are going to make every effort to keep you as safe as possible between now and the next full moon. It is the full moon right before the winter solstice, so, according to Victor, they will need to do whatever they are going to do by that full moon.” 

“In the meantime, we will continue to do training. Security will change but nothing else will. We will meet tomorrow morning as scheduled and will continue to train.” Raina smiled at Coral. 

Conan was pacing. He wanted to know about the security plan. I knew that was coming, but my wolf wanted to know now. How are we going to keep her safe?  Anders came and stood next to me. I could feel his wolf, Grey, was just as uneasy. 

“What is the security plan?” I asked, my voice coming out in nearly a growl. A sense of calming washed over me, and I took a deep breath. In a room full of red wolves, any one of them could have sent the calming emotion. Although I wanted to be pissed off, I was grateful for the action. I really didn’t need to be mad at this moment. I needed to be clear and focused. 

“There are a lot of different ways to approach this. We could have Coral stay in the compound, or at one of the packhouses, but honestly, the safest place is her own house. The security system we have there is top notch.” Callan had started walking as he was speaking, heading back towards the window in the room. “And before you can ask, because I know the guardian wolves all too well,” he smirked, but continued, “I was thinking that the sitting room in the back of her cabin could be converted temporarily to a place where a guardian wolf could stay. She would then have a guardian wolf in her cabin with her, as well as those who live around her.” 

I could sense Coral’s mood was changing. She seemed to be a tad more relaxed, as if the plan was helping to put her at ease. Conan, however, was still not happy. 

“How will we decide who is going to stay when and for how long?” Adam asked. Coral still did not have all of her guardian wolves, and three of the six had other responsibilities. 

“Obviously we will need to work some of those logistics out, especially since three of her guardian wolves have other responsibilities.” Raina stated, looking over at Anders and Harley. They were newly mated, and from conversations I had with both Anders and Harley, the numerous responsibilities that they had were weighing heavy on them. 

“I will take the first duty.” Keith replied. I scowled as he spoke. I had wanted to be first. Before I had a chance to speak, Keith continued. “I can take the first two nights. That will give us a chance to work out the rest of the details and figure out the rotation. I know all of us want to make sure that Coral is safe. If anyone else’s wolf is like mine, then they have been barking in your head the entire time about keeping her safe.” 

“You got that right!” Anders stated, turning towards me. I couldn’t help but laugh at him. Conan and Grey were strong wolves and if Grey was anything like Conan, he had been jabbering nonstop since this discussion had started.

“Whatever we decide, I will take the second watch.” I stated, feeling the need to pace. Taking a step away from Coral, Conan made me feel frozen. It was as if I could not move.

‘Shit, Conan. What is going on?’ I asked my wolf, stopping right behind Coral.

Before Conan could respond, my Beta Tobias reached out via mindlink. “Alpha, we have identified a threat just to the east of our pack lands.” 

“What type of threat?” I replied, looking over at Callan. The former Alpha could clearly sense the threat. 

“Vampires.” 

We left immediately, leaving the red wolves and most of the guardian wolves at the Red Wolf Compound. Anders, his father Callan, as well as two of Raina’s guardian wolves made their way towards the threat. Conan ran hard and fast.  Patrol from my pack had already been out trying to address the attack, but I felt an almost urgent need to get to the threat. With everything that we had just learned about the vampire threat, any new sightings of vampires around or on the packs or the compound needed to be addressed immediately. 

“Alpha, it seems as if the threat is moving away from packlands. We have, however, captures a rogue.” My Beta, Tobias, said as we approached. “It didn’t appear as if they were actually trying to enter, but more of checking our security. They are completely gone from the area.” 

I turned to Anders, who had just shifted and stopped next to me. “None of this is good. They are getting bold. They are getting close. And, if we aren’t careful, they are going to get her.”