by Alexis Davie
She closed her eyes and looked up at the rainforest-style shower. The warm water splashed across her face, washing off all her worries of the last few days. They were actually safe for the first time since they’d met in that parking lot. How long had it been? A week of running and constant danger? Two? She couldn’t even begin to understand why Reuben hadn’t immediately taken them straight to the manor and why he’d gone to Eddy at all.
Eddy was a great guy and Cara thought he was a perfect godfather, but he was only one man. He could only do so much. Reuben, meanwhile, had all the protection he could ever need at the manor. He’d just been too proud, or too scared, to ask his father for help.
When she got out of the shower and pushed open the glass door, the full body mirror was cloaked in steam. She caught a blurry look at her naked body. After a second, she wiped the steam off the mirror around her head to look deep into her own eyes.
She had to make a choice.
Right then.
She could let Reuben fight her battles for her. It was honestly the smartest choice. The guy was more prepared for fighting in every possible way. And then there was option two. Option two appealed to her on a more gut level. She fought her own damn battles. Sure, she might not be as capable as Reuben or his werewolf pack, but she wasn’t a woman that would cower in the corner while her man did all the work. That wasn’t who she was anymore. She had a choice to make. One road was safer and would cement her as the meek, submissive woman she had always been. She knew that if she chose that road, she’d live that way for the rest of her life. The other choice was admittedly far more dangerous and it scared the living hell out of her, but she had a chance—a small chance—to become the bold, confident woman her parents would have wanted her to become.
She stared into her own eyes, past the emerald iris and past the pupil. Deeper. Into her heart. Was she enough of a woman to stand up for herself? Or was she the same coward from before that wouldn’t say anything to her cruel boss when he told her to rewrite the same damned article for no reason?
Would she put her head down and submit like she always had, or, for the first time in her life, would she summon who she really was and do something?
She made her choice.
She’d fight.
She wouldn’t be going up against Ezekiel on her own. She’d have a small army of werewolves to back her, along with Reuben. The odds were that the werewolves would overrun the vampire fortress long before she even saw combat, but if it came to it, she’d fight. She felt a chill dash across her spine. She was going to take a stand. With this decision came a powerful rush of emotion, most obviously a swell of intense pride that blossomed in her chest.
She pulled on the luxurious bathrobe and left the bathroom feeling refreshed and empowered. Reuben was standing at the door, speaking to another werewolf. He glanced back over his shoulder at her before sending the guy off. He shut the monumental, expensive door.
“You look refreshed,” he said. He cocked his head at her curiously. “Are you okay?”
She smiled at him.
“Better than ever, actually.”
And she meant it. Deciding to take her life into her own hands, instead of quietly deferring to someone else, was an incredible feeling and one she had rarely felt. She normally let life push her around, from her job to her house to, well, everything.
“I’m glad to hear that,” he replied, looking just a tad unsure what she was talking about.
That was okay. It was within her. It was personal.
“You’ve been invited to a celebration.”
“Oh?” She looked around the room. “What am I supposed to wear?”
He walked to the wardrobe and pulled out a sleek red dress, like the kind that superstars wear on the red carpet. It was striking, and Cara could tell instantly that it would fit like a glove.
“That’s beautiful!”
“Nothing but the absolute best for you,” he replied, handing it to her.
She quickly changed and went to check herself out in the mirror. Cara nodded in quiet admiration of herself. All that working out, eating well, and general self-determination had paid off.
“How does it fit?” Reuben asked from the other room.
He hadn’t come in for some reason, though she would have been fine if he had.
“Do you look good?”
“I look damn good,” she replied before heading out to the main bedroom. “What are you doing out here? Why didn’t you just—”
She came out of the bathroom to find Reuben there, on one knee with a ring in his hands. Her words caught in her throat. A bolt of adrenaline shot through her. Oh God. Oh. God. He was proposing. Right there. She hadn’t planned on it. She hadn’t known what he was doing out in the bedroom. Oh God.
“Cara.” His voice was gentle and his nervous eyes were looking deep into her soul. “Would you make me the happiest werewolf on earth? Will you be my bride?”
“Yes! Reuben! Yes! A thousand times yes!”
He slid the huge diamond ring around her slender finger and grabbed her around her waist. Using his tremendous strength, he spun her in a circle, laughing and crying. Cara herself was tearing up. It had happened. It had finally happened for her.
Finally, he set her down. He slowly, passionately embraced her small frame. She rested her head against his strong, bare chest. She could feel his heart thumping way too fast. He was terrified. The werewolf, the powerful werewolf that could rip through solid steel, was petrified. His chest rumbled as he spoke.
“My grandmother gave me that ring,” he said. “It’s been in my family for hundreds of years.”
He looked down at her and brushed a lock of hair out of her eyes. “I could not have chosen a better mate.”
He kissed her once, then glanced towards the door.
“We better hurry. We’re going to be late.”
He found a professional-looking tuxedo from the ancient wardrobe. As he dressed, he grinned the whole time, staring right at Cara.
“You don’t know how happy you’ve made me,” he told her with a twinkle in his eye.
She still felt like she was floating on a cloud. She was getting married to the man she loved.
“What’s the celebration?” she asked him as he fastened the last buckle on his top. “You returning?”
He took her hand and walked out towards the main hall of the manor. “Why, our engagement of course.”
“You set up an engagement celebration before I said yes?”
He gave her a knowing, happy look as they walked through the manor to the great hall. They came to two tall oak doors.
Reuben paused before he opened them and said, “I knew. I knew you were the one. From the moment I first saw you in that parking lot, I knew we were meant to be. You’re so special, so talented, and so beautiful, and now I can’t imagine life without you.” He laughed. “I’m rambling.”
“That’s okay,” she said, nervously.
His eyes were sparkling.
He kissed her once more and held it for a second. She swooned, letting herself go into the kiss. She felt like she was in paradise. Then he pulled away and pushed open the door.
“They’re waiting for us.”
The doors revealed a long table with dozens of male and female werewolves in their human forms, wearing suits and dresses. When they saw Reuben and Cara, they all raised their glasses and roared in congratulatory chatter. Their elation echoed through the hall as Reuben and Cara entered.
Cara’s eyes landed on Duke, who was standing at the head of the table. A beautiful woman was standing next to him: Reuben’s mother.
Reuben’s parents rushed to greet them. Duke introduced his wife, Sarah, as she embraced Cara and welcomed her to the family. Sarah then embraced her son as tears fell from her eyes. It was the first time she had seen Reuben in many years. She was just as excited as Duke to have him home.
That night, Cara was the happiest she could remember ever being. She was part of a family –
a big family.
They drank and danced all night. The music was elegant. She couldn’t quite pick it out, but it was some sort of soothing classical music that went with the feast and then the dancing afterwards.
Reuben was an excellent dancer so Cara let him lead. They swayed across the dance floor together, up against each other. When she was looking up at the crystal chandelier high above and accidentally met Reuben’s orangish eyes, he gave her a wink. She felt warm feelings pulse through her. The night was a blur, but she would remember bright moments from it forever.
Later, when the festivities were all over, he took her out to the balcony and looked out over the expansive wilderness. The moon was high in the sky, lending Reuben an almost supernatural look as he leaned against the balcony railing. A magical feel cooled the night air. Cara could still hear the party inside, but Reuben had closed the doors so nobody could see them. They were alone.
“You look breathtaking tonight,” he told her, while taking her hand in his. “I think red is your color.”
“You don’t look too bad yourself,” she replied, leaning up against her protector.
“I think you mean I look damned handsome,” Reuben corrected.
She laughed.
“Yeah. That’s what I meant.”
“Probably just lost in translation,” he suggested with just the slightest hint of a smile on his lips.
He had told the truth. Cara had not seen him in formal clothing before. She’d only seen him in ragtag old clothes… or naked. In these clothes, he looked regal and powerful. With sudden ferocity, he turned to her and took her other hand.
“You’re finally safe,” he said. He was talking fast, rambling again. “No matter what, you will never have to go through anything like what we’ve experienced the past few days. Nobody would dare attack the manor. It’d be a suicide mission. Ezekiel knows that.” He moistened his lips and looked around before continuing talking. “We could forget him,” he said. “We could be safe here. We could protect you.”
“Ezekiel would come for us,” she told him. “He won’t give up.”
“This place is a fortress,” he replied. “We’ve got thousands of werewolves all around us. Even Ezekiel wouldn’t dare invade us.” He got close to her, teasing her lips with his. “Let’s forget about him. Let’s live our lives, here, now.”
“I want to fight. We can’t live our entire lives here, Reuben. Don’t you ever want to leave South Dakota? You know, travel the world?”
“I don’t want to lose you,” he urged. “I want to keep you here. Safe.”
“Reuben, I—”
“Yeah. I know. I just wanted to give you a chance to get out of fighting. I feel the same way you do. I’ve already contacted the other packs and we’ll take him down.” Reuben lifted Cara’s chin and looked her in the eyes. “But until then, I’m just a man and you’re just a woman, and I’m madly in love with you.”
She bit his lower lip.
“What are you going to do about it?”
He moved closer to her. She closed her eyes. He grabbed her shoulders, pulling the straps off her dress.
Suddenly, she felt his hands tense up and he threw her to the ground. Her eyes flashed open in surprise.
“Reuben, not so rough!”
That’s all she managed to get out before something smashed through the railing right where she had been standing. Whatever the projectile was caught Reuben full in the chest and hit him with enough force to launch him straight into the doors that led back into the manor.
“Reuben!” Cara shrieked.
She afforded one quick glance over the edge of the balcony. She spotted something big moving through the trees. It caught the moonlight with a metallic glean.
A tank.
Ezekiel and his mercenaries were coming for them.
9
Cara dashed over to Reuben, who was coughing and hugging his ribs. The front of his suit had been disintegrated.
“Fucker!” He stumbled up.
“Are you okay?” he quickly asked Cara, with terror in his voice.
“I’m fine, but you’ve been shot!”
Reuben kicked open what remained of the doors that led into the manor.
“We’re being attacked!” he bellowed at the top of his lungs. “Defend the manor!”
The party guests didn’t even ask questions. They simply dropped whatever they were doing and shifted into their werewolf forms, with coats ranging from brown to black to cool grey. One by one, they bounded to the windows and looked out. One group of them caught a tank shot, which sent all of them flying and several motionless, strewn across the table that had been used for celebration only moments before.
Somewhere an alarm was raised and started blaring loudly.
Utter pandemonium ensued.
As the tank got closer, it tripped up some of the defense protocols that the manor apparently had, hitting several minefields that rocked it around wildly and tore off part of the treads – but it kept rumbling along in a broken fashion. The part that mattered, the turret, was fully operational and kept pumping the manor full of bullets, shattering windows and bringing down ancient parts of the house. One caught a column, shattering the marble and causing part of the front of the house to collapse.
Right after the tank came creatures – so many of them that they looked like ants emerging from a colony. Cara didn’t get a good look at them as Reuben was trying to get her away from the window, but she saw some vampires and goblins with some sort of other beasts mixed in. When they activated the defense mechanisms, they weren’t as fortunate as the tank. The mines detonated, sending bits and pieces of enchanted creatures everywhere.
She heard shrieking from the advancing hoards, but they just kept coming. The werewolves, completely taken by surprise, scrambled to find weapons and took positions on the windows, firing into the oncoming hoards with assault rifles.
Reuben got Cara as far away as he could. “Stay here!” he snarled.
He shifted into his werewolf form just as Duke flipped the table to provide extra cover for the werewolf gunmen. He was in his werewolf form, but somehow Cara knew it was him. It made no sense, but she knew.
“Get down, son!” Duke ordered before seeing the remains of Reuben’s suit. “Did they hit you?”
“I’ll be fine,” Reuben said, accompanied by a fit of coughing. “I can’t believe Ezekiel’s doing this! He’s more obsessed than I thought!”
Before Duke could answer, another tank bullet zipped through the ancient architecture, bringing down a shower of stone onto everyone inside. Duke shrugged off a piece as big as a man. Cara was starting to see why he was in charge.
The next few minutes were a bit of a blur. Cara had been expecting to go to a nice party with her fiancé. Instead, the manor was ambushed by Ezekiel’s vampires and Widowmaker’s goblins. Reuben seemed certain that none of them would survive. The werewolves weren’t prepared. Soon, the attackers would manage to get through the minefields.
Eddy showed up a little while later. Cara had spotted him at the party, but he still looked perfectly clean like he’d just put on a newly ironed suit. “I just saw outside! There are too many! Our reinforcements are coming from other manors, but they’ll be here too late!”
“This place has its own reinforcements,” Reuben snarled. “Eddy, watch over her!”
Eddy kneeled beside Cara and put his fist to the ground. A shimmering shield formed in the air over Cara and a small group of werewolves. The werewolves formed a circle around Cara, pointing their weapons towards the windows and doors. Where they had all gotten their weapons, Cara didn’t know. Maybe they had an armory hidden somewhere nearby. Not that she cared. She had more pressing things to worry about.
“Give me a gun!” Cara demanded, amazed at how far the pack would go to protect her. They were willing to get between her and a bullet just because she was Reuben’s fiancée.
Most of the werewolves that were at the windows were lying motionless or slowly dy
ing. The ground troops had silver bullets. Apparently, the oncoming hoards weren’t too bad of shots.
A goblin poked its head over the window, using his long claws to scale the vertical wall. One of the werewolves popped off a small stream of bullets into his body. He fell off the tall building to the ground far below with a horrible scream.
Cara couldn’t see much of Reuben, but she saw him running towards the fireplace, throwing off goblins and vampires as they quickly flooded the ballroom despite the best efforts of the werewolves. He got to the fireplace, yelled something, and slammed his hand against the stone fireplace.
The fireplace peeled itself off the wall and collected itself into a huge stone golem. Nothing kept its stone skin together, but when it moved the rocks ground against each other and made a loud, horrible sound.
After Reuben had touched the stone, he’d been utterly overrun by goblins and vampires. Cara jerked the gun up to her shoulder, hoped she wouldn’t shoot Reuben, and unloaded the clip into the attackers that were still coming in through the windows. They exploded into dust left and right, but each one that Cara or her defenders shot, two more piled in. Reuben hadn’t been exaggerating when he said Widowmaker had a “small army” of goblins.
The fireplace monster bellowed and tore into the attackers, who squealed and tried to get out of the way to no avail. The fireplace creature wasn’t a beautiful fighter and was rather slow, but the gunshots simply deflected off the stone. It smashed some of the monsters that were covering Reuben, leaving Reuben to stumble up with streaks of golden blood all across him.
“Get upstairs!” he ordered as he came back towards them. “There’s too many of the bastards! Go!”
The remaining werewolves, Cara, Eddy, and Reuben all made a mad dash for the staircase that led upstairs with the attackers not far behind them as a swarm of attackers tackled the golem out the window, killing all of them and crushing a dozen more below. Cara was reminded of the Viking berserkers, who were known to ingest dangerous, hallucinogenic painkillers before battle, lending them nearly supernatural pain tolerance. The goblins and the vampires each took several shots before they evaporated.
