YENA The knocking on the door stopped but then the voices got louder and more frantic. They were panicking, listening to the machine that was telling them their patient had stopped breathing. I gulped in a huge inhale, covered Nolan’s mouth with mine again and blew every bit of breath I had into him.   “Come on,” I begged when I came up for air. “Please wake up, Nolan.” And just when I started to seriously doubt that my prince would ever breathe on his own again, he did. His eyes opened first. And then he gasped. The sound was dry and frightening. “Nolan! Oh thank Goddess, you’re alive!” He coughed, gagging, as he tried to exhale. My hands were clasping his face. His next breath was a little better but still stertorous. His eyes flickered around my face, recognizing but not recognizing me, and he whispered hoarsely, “Yena. Is that really you?” The ecstatic relief that was washing over me allowed me to burst

Nolan found Yena was awake when he went back into the bedroom. She was seated cross-legged in a chair at the dining table and devouring a piece of chocolate cake. “You’re up.” He smiled and made his way over to her, stroked her hair and kissed the top of her head. “I’m glad you’re eating. I just heard about how you ran all the way here from the airport.” Yena finished licking frosting off her fork and set it down. Took a sip of water, wiped her mouth, and smiled. “I was just thinking about that too. I can’t really believe I did that. It was just instinct, though. I didn’t even think about it.” Nolan sat beside Yena, absentmindedly stroking her back as she continued eating. “I’ll tell you this,” she continued, “food has never tasted this good in my life. I was so, so tired.” “I’ll bet. I drank a lot of your blood, Yena.” He frowned, looking pensive, and gently swept her hair back over her shoulder, inspecting the bite wound on her neck.&nb

YENA I woke to the smells of breakfast and the distinct sound of TV news reporters talking. Nolan wasn’t in bed. I rubbed my eyes, sat up and looked around. He was over by the TV, standing right in front of it, his body tense and still. “What is it?” I asked, my voice raspy with sleep. “What happened?” He wheeled around and immediately headed over to the bed, meeting me at my side. He sat on the edge and gave me a quick, soft kiss. “I’m sorry to wake you up like this. But some humans went missing overnight. I’ve got to get dressed, meet my team and start dealing with this.” My brain was still waking up. “Missing? How many of them?” Nolan glanced back at the TV. “At least a dozen have been reported so far. I’d bet even more were taken, their absence just hasn’t been noticed yet.” “Taken? By whom? Adan?” I’d answered my own question while stuttering through it.  Nolan nodded. “I know it’s him. I just hope

ADAN The first thing Adan heard was a very faint sound, what could have been the patter of bipedal footfall overhead. That was when he knew they’d been discovered. He warned his comrades immediately but they hardly had any time to react before their fortress was breached. The air pressure changed when the hatch had been opened, letting in the cold night air and the smell of fresh pine. Then a thud told Adan someone had dropped from the surface all the way down the entrance passage. Then another. And another. A tall werewolf with a huge ugly scar down his face rounded the corner into the open center area of the bunker, and suddenly they were engaged in a firefight.  Adan was first to fire, pulling the trigger of his pistol twice as he ran backward for the corridor. He aimed for center mass but hit the intruder in the shoulder instead. The man hardly reacted. He growled, jerked his shoulder back and sprayed the room with b

YENA An eerie quiet took over the mountainside, as if every creature on the road and in the woods was holding their breath. All eyes were on the tree line. The soldiers were still as statues. And then something very strange happened. The mountain suddenly trembled. It was a short, jarring movement, like the quick reverberation from a big impact. It happened and then was over in an instant. My brain wanted to tell me that it was an earthquake, though I’m quite sure that phenomenon hadn’t ever happened in this part of the world, at least not in my lifetime. Some glances were exchanged amongst the Gamma warriors, but that was their only reaction. Another couple minutes passed. My eyes were getting sore and tired from staring out into the spotlight glare. And then finally the trees stirred to life, like something big was moving through. And out came the brothers. They were both covered in blood. Nolan was, for some reason, shirtless. He was bloody all over but walking tall and l