He picked up on the first ring. “Hey, Lance, what’s up? Is everything all right with your wife?” he asked as concern filled his voice.I took a deep breath. “Actually, that’s why I’m calling,” I said, pausing for a moment, wondering how to ask, but thought that the direct approach was best. “Do you think that Kalyssa could come over and sit with Leila for a while? I’m going to be helping Elias and Amy today.”There was silence at the other end, and then Xander came back on. “You’re going to help them to create the cure for vampirism?”Lance nodded, even though Xander couldn’t see me at the other end of the phone. “Yes.”Xander took a worried breath. “You’re not volunteering to be their test subject, are you?”“Xander, please …” I said, ignoring his comment.“Lance, Elias said that if you take the cure and

Amy waited patiently, and then asked, “How are you feeling now?”I nodded. “Better,” I said as I straightened. Then, I noticed something different about my body. “I’m starting to feel different somehow.”“Here,” Elias said. “Give me your hand.”I did as he asked and he cut the palm of my hand with a knife. “Man! That hurt!” I said, unable to believe it. Normally, a cut on the hand would have tinged a bit, but would not have actually hurt.“Look!” Elias said. “It’s not healing!”“You mean I’m becoming human?” I asked.“You aren’t fully human yet, but it definitely means that we’re on the right track,” Amy said. “We’ll need to observe you to see how long these affects last.”I nodded in agreement. “How long do you need me to stay?”Amy sighed. “At

I needed to feed her; I just hoped that my blood was enough. A slight twinge of guilt pulled at my chest, knowing that after I was fully human, I wouldn’t be able to feed her my blood to heal her. I made a mental note to start filling blood bags with my blood to save for her. I would speak with Elias about it in the morning. Also, I needed to ask Kellen if he would feed her his blood in the event that I couldn’t.“If I told you, then it wouldn’t be a surprise,” I said, smiling as I opened the door. Two vampires wheeled in a cart covered with a white cloth and silver trays. The men entered the room and the smell of Italian herbs and spices filled the room, smelling heavenly. I thanked them, and a moment later, they headed out, but when I opened the door, Amy was standing on the other side. “What? Are you stalking us?”Amy smiled. “I was just about to knock.”I laughed. “Get in here. You’re just in

Leila nodded and turned back over, pulling the sheets over her curves.Suddenly, the scent of her blood wafted toward me and my throat began to burn with thirst. I needed blood and I needed it now. Rushing from the room, I threw three blood bags into the microwave as the scent of Leila’s blood followed me into the kitchen. I took a deep breath and I could smell Jase’s blood, as well.“What’s happening to me?” I asked myself as I shoved a straw into the side of a blood bag and drank it down greedily. But it wasn’t enough.Discarding the empty pouch onto the floor, I grabbed another and repeated the process, drinking it down, as well. After the third blood bag, the need and urgency to feed finally started to dissipate.As I started coming to my senses, I knew one thing for sure: I couldn’t trust myself around Leila and Jase until the transformation was complete. Without thinking twice, I rushed to the closet, pulled

The ride to the cabin was long, or at least, it seemed that way. In truth, I hadn’t been to the Diamond Pack compound in years. But, although we were driving the same path, we weren’t going there today. We passed by the airport and drove on I15 N, away from the city and into the desert. Soon, the bright, neon lights gave way to a desolate wasteland, marred with dismal peaks in the distance. It was a sharp contrast to the sensory overload of the city to which I had become so accustomed to. Soon, we pulled onto US 95 and then onto NV 157. On the right side of the road was an old abandoned buckboard that had been there since the 1800s, a rusted reminder of the barren desert through which we were traveling. We drove up a deserted mountain, but as we arrived at the top, a forest of lush foliage was on the other side, a green oasis within this desolate wasteland—Charlestown Peak. This was the area that belonged to the wolves.Elias took a right turn down a seclude