by Hazel Gower
She slowly walked down to the bridal store at the end of the strip. It was a little cottage that had been converted into a store. She looked behind her and grabbed Arden’s hand, needing his strength, as she used her other one to push the door open.
A sales assistant came up to her within minutes. “May I help you?”
“Yes, my friend Sara is here with the rest of her bridesmaids. Can you point me in their direction?”
The lady smiled. “Sure, they’re in the back. Come this way.”
Remy followed her to the back of the store. The woman parted a curtain, and Remy saw Ava, Kirby, and Sara. Ava and Kirby wore different color bridesmaid dresses, and Sara wore a big, puffy wedding dress covered in sparkly stuff.
“You look stunning, Sara,” Remy said as she stepped into the room.
The sales assistant nodded to Sara and left.
Sara’s eyes widened when she saw Remy. “What the hell are you doing here?” She was angry, and Remy understood. “I don’t want you as my bridesmaid. You left me when I needed you. The wedding is in a week and you’ve only just come back. We have barely heard from you, and don’t get me started on how worried all the guys are about Arden. For Christ’s sake, Remy, at one stage they were discussing the fact that they might have to put him down because he was starting to go feral. You’re so selfish.”
Remy was getting upset. She’d always been there for her friends, and the one time she wasn’t they treat her like this. She didn’t understand it. “Look, I know I messed up but—”
“Don’t. Remy, you and I have been best friends since primary school. I can’t believe you just up and abandoned us.”
Remy needed to get Sara to understand why she left. To not turn away from her like Faith had. Nothing was going how she thought it would. Remy had thought her friends would be happy to have her back. She’d expected a bit of anger, but thought they would forgive her. Taking a step further into the changing room, she glanced at Kirby to see if she would help, but she bit her lip and looked away.
“I was scared. Sara, I almost died, I think I did and was brought back. I ran because I didn’t want to be tied to all this anymore. I wanted different choices. I wanted to be given a choice. This fight is not what I wanted in my life. Everyone else got a—”
Sara advanced on her, holding the wedding dress skirt in her hands, fury entrenched on her face. “You selfish bitch. Do you think this is what I wanted? I love a man who goes out every night to protect the world from creatures that are worse than anything anyone could imagine. I help by using my powers to do what I can. While you have been running away, pretending this isn’t all happening, I—we, Faith, Kirby, and all of us—have been praying our loved ones come home every night. I don’t sleep at night anymore, because I’m terrified if I do I might miss information, or I’ll find out someone I love didn’t come back this time.” Tears trickled down her cheeks. “I understand you didn’t want a werewolf as a mate, a husband, but you know what? Tray is the best thing that ever happened to me, and I can tell you now that I would go through this all again, and more, if I got to spend even a day in his arms. You don’t deserve the gift you’ve been given in Arden.” Sara brushed her tears away and straightened her back. “I can’t have you as a bridesmaid. Right now I can’t even—”
Glass smashed and screams cut Sara off. Remy watched as Ava, Kirby, and Sara reached for their bags, pulling out iced knives and other weapons. They started preparing, looking around for places to hide and escape. Remy’s heart sank as she realized what she’d missed while she’d been running scared. They’d been training and preparing themselves.
Remy was good at one thing that she didn’t need practice at—finding exits. She searched quickly, noting all the possible escape routes before peeking out of the changing room to see what was happening. The front windows were smashed, and Arden and some women were moving everything solid they could in front of them, stopping what looked like zombies from coming inside.
“Arden and some women are blocking the windows and doors, but it looks like tons of zombies are storming us,” Remy reported.
She sighed in relief when Arden came around the corner, feeling safer with him close to her, but her relief vanished at his look. Three women followed behind him and huddled in the corner he pointed to.
“Stay down, and remember, no matter what you see, we are the good guys,” Arden said in a deep, clear voice.
The women nodded and the one who’d showed her to Sara stuttered, “W-w-what are t-they?
“Zombies.” Arden dismissed the women and turned back to them. “I’ve called in reinforcements, but they won’t be here in time. I’ve never seen so many zombies. I have faith that your training will help you kill these monsters.” His eyes clouded. “Ava, Kirby, Sara, and Remy, you have to promise you will fight until your last breath. These zombies are different from what I’ve seen. They still have life in them, and they are determined. Don’t let their difference fool you or make you hesitate.”
“If they still have life in them, maybe we can save them,” Ava said.
“No. I barricaded the door and windows as best I could, but these zombies are stronger, more eager to do their master’s work. I can see it in their eyes. You cannot let them take you.”
The sound of the barricade breaking had them all jumping to attention. Arden stood in front of them, and Remy watched wide-eyed as the zombies came at them. They moved faster than the ones she’d seen before, and they looked more human, not as white. The eyes still held light, but it was a hopeless light. The zombies outnumbered them three to one, maybe more.
She knew she had to do something. Looking at her best friends, she bit her lip as the sight of Sara in her wedding dress, ready to fight, and Kirby and Ava in bridesmaid’s dresses doing the same had Remy knowing she had to do something to help them all escape. Remy could save them. She’d been working with her powers while she’d been on the run.
“Go out back now. I’ve been practicing. I can light the—” Her words were cut off as zombies grabbed, pulled, and fought to get them with a strength only a super undead had. They were trying to hold them and drag them away.
Concentrating, Remy started a ball of fire in her hands and let it spread until her entire body was covered with fire. She felt her clothes burn away. The sprinklers turned on and the fire alarms went off, but she kept the flames covering herself. The zombies who were trying to capture her screamed and moved away from her. She stood still and bounced balls from one hand to the other, building the fire bigger and higher. Looking around, she saw Sara and knew her power was useless against zombies as they weren’t demons and water didn’t kill them. Sara was getting better at fighting, but Remy knew Sara wasn’t really the fighting type.
The sprinklers turned off, and Remy focused on Sara’s attackers. Moving as close as she could, she threw the ball of fire onto a zombie and built the blaze to consume the whole thing. The zombie dropped to the floor and rolled, but the flame remained, and Remy built it more until the zombie finally stopped moving. Sara killed another zombie, but more kept coming.
“Stay still,” Remy yelled at Sara before she circled her with a ring of fire.
The zombies around her and Sara moved away, and Remy knew she had to help whoever they’d gone to now. She winced when she turned and saw Ava guarding the humans along with Kirby who stood behind her while Arden was attacked by at least ten or more zombies. Arden hacked at them, killing them quickly and efficiently. He was in his half-change mode, and he now stood over nine feet tall, covered in black hair, and looked like a werewolf straight out of a horror film.
Kirby looked terrible, and Ava in her own half-change mode didn’t look much better. These zombies were strange, they weren’t going for the neck to choke them, and when she’d been grabbed before she burned them, they hadn’t tried to squeeze her to death.
Zombies kept piling into the shop, and Remy knew she had to do something. There was no way they’d survive until reinforcements arrived
. She’d practiced this only once before when she helped kill the demon with the other werewolves when she’d been on the run. She could survive a fire as it was a part of her. It didn’t even burn her hair off. She controlled it. She could walk through flames. She needed to kill all the zombies to save the people she loved.
Running through the horde of zombies, she burned any in her path, and when she stood in front of Arden she yelled, “Get them all out now. Trust me. All of them out now.” He stared at her, hesitating. “I can hold them off. I can kill them. Leave.”
She was surprised when Arden listened to her and moved back, grabbing the huddled women as she hurled firebomb after firebomb into the mass of zombies. She let the ring of fire around Sara fall, knowing she could take out the rest.
“Run. I’m doing this now,” she yelled, and turned to the hordes of zombies trying to get to her friends.
The zombies had now figured out that she needed to die so they could get to the others, and they were willing to sacrifice themselves to accomplish it. Moving into the mass of what she continued to tell herself were dead bodies and she couldn’t save, she lit herself up and exploded, letting the fire come out and hit everything close to her. She prayed that her friends had gotten somewhere safe, because now that she saw things melting and falling around her she knew she hadn’t really thought this through.
The zombies were giving deafening screams, and Remy fought not to give into despair. She had a lot to live for, people who loved her and who she loved. She cried out in pain as the zombies started crashing down everywhere, their heavy bodies hitting her.
Remy frantically gazed around for her own escape only to whimper as the ceiling fell down. Fearing she wouldn’t survive, she got down on the ground and crawled toward the front. She could do this. She had to do this. She would get out of there. She wanted things, and a family was a big need, want.
When she started to feel the hot glass beneath her she stood and made the fire around her higher. She needed to know the zombies wouldn’t survive. Stepping out of the store, she ignored the pain of the scratches from the falling debris and zombies, and slowly walked away, using every ounce of strength she had to get to the people she loved. They all stared at her, shell-shocked, with backup that had arrived to help them.
Knowing she was safe, she let the fire that coated her body recede and went straight to the man she’d fallen head over heels for.
* * * *
Arden stood transfixed as he watched his amazing mate walk out of a burning blaze. Flames covered her naked body, and she looked like some avenging goddess.
“Holy shit, man. I never knew Remy was so hot. Fuck me. I think I just came in my pants.”
Turning, he launched himself at Jamie. The fuckwit was looking and talking about his mate. “Don’t you fucking look at her. I’ll kill you.” He wrapped his hands around Jamie’s throat as Jamie fought to get him off.
“Arden, it was hard not to look. She is naked,” Jamie choked out, and Arden squeezed him harder, not caring about Jamie’s nails as they dug into him.
Arden snarled and growled as two sets of arms pulled and yanked him off Jamie. He turned, ready to fight off Jamie’s rescuers when he saw Ava and Logan. Ava looked like she... Shit, she was covered in cuts and bruises that were slower to heal because she was pregnant.
“I know Jamie’s a dick, but leave him be and go to your mate.” Ava’s eyes were filled with worry. Logan’s arms came around her, and his eyes were hard as steel as he glared at Arden.
Looking behind them, Arden saw the flames on Remy were almost extinguished. Nodding to Logan, he took a deep breath in and slowly let it out. “I’m sorry.” He reached up and gently caressed his sister’s face. “Thank you for everything.”
A tear slid down her cheek, and she forced a smile.
“I’m so sorry,” he said before he let his hand fall and he walked to his mate. He knew his sister knew he was apologizing for how he’d acted the last couple of months and how he’d treated her that night.
Remy came straight to him, and he yanked his shirt over his head and gathered her to him, easing away only to put the shirt on her. Remy wiggled into it, and it fell to her knees. She sighed and snuggled into his embrace, and he wrapped his arms around her.
“I did it,” she whispered.
Smoothing her hair—surprised after what he’d seen that she still had it—he hugged her tighter. “Yes, you saved us. Don’t ever do something as stupid as that again. I swear to God I’ll spank your arse so hard.”
She snuggled in his arms and crossed her arms over her chest. “You wouldn’t bloody dare.”
“Oh yes, I would, my little pixie.” He grabbed her and smoothed his hands over her arse, giving it a light tap.
Rane cleared his throat loudly, and Arden shot him a glare. “Remy, that was something special you did back there. Thanks, you saved my mate.”
Remy pushed at Arden’s chest, and when he eased his hold she peeked around his arm at Rane. “I don’t need thanks. You do what I do all the time, just in a different way. Is Kirby okay?”
Rane blinked and shook his head. “No. What you did was different. You could have died. I saw the roof cave in. Fuck, I was one of the three werewolves who held Arden back from going in after you.” He scrubbed his face. “Look…just…just thanks. We’ve never had that many zombies before, and they were different, with more strength than usual. They were more determined. We’ve never had an attack from zombies this close to home. My God, you are only half an hour away. I can’t thank you enough.” Rane closed his eyes and the smell of fear and pain surrounded them. “I couldn’t live without her. Kirby is my whole world.”
Arden was surprised when Rane opened his eyes and they glistened.
“She’s with the paramedics,” Rane said. “They’re taking her to the hospital. I wanted to come over and thank you before I left with them.”
Remy’s body shook against Arden, and he felt tears hit his skin. “It’s okay. She’ll be fine. Promise you’ll call us and tell us, even if it’s good news?” Remy asked as she leaned into him.
Rane nodded.
“Good,” Remy said. “Now go.”
Rane turned and left.
A sob escaped Remy. “I need to find Sara. I surrounded her with fire. I need to know she’s okay. I saw your sister, is she good?”
Arden leaned down and kissed her. He’d been so worried about her. He thought she’d follow them, not go into the horde and make sure she got all the zombies. “Ava will be fine. Logan will look after her. She just needs rest. Come on, we’ll go find Sara. We need to get you checked out too.”
“I’m fine, other than some small cuts and bruises.”
“I’d feel better if you got looked over, even if you just did it to put my mind at ease.”
Remy nodded. “Fine. But I want to find Sara first.”
He moved her to the side and held her hand. Bringing it up, he kissed her knuckles. “Okay, but you have to get checked out after.”
Together they walked to the ambulances. Kirby was in the first, then two of the humans from the shop, then they came to Sara. She still wore the wedding dress, but now it was covered in black soot and blood. Remy let go of his hand as soon as she saw Sara and ran to her. Sara had an oxygen mask over her face, and Tray sat in the ambulance, talking to the paramedic.
Distress and worry came off Remy in waves as she sat next to Sara. “Oh, Sara, I’m so sorry. When I circled you with the fire I didn’t think about the oxygen or anything else. I just wanted the zombies off you. Please forgive me, please.”
Arden didn’t know what to do. Did he comfort Remy and tell her she did the right thing, or did he let her get everything out? Arden looked at Tray who had stopped talking to the paramedic and was staring at Remy.
Sara took the mask off, and Tray shook his head and snapped it back on, holding her hands so she couldn’t take it off again. Arden watched as Tray and Sara seemed to have a silent conversation while Remy was at her o
ther side crying.
Finally Tray nodded but didn’t take his eyes off Sara as he spoke. “Thank you, Remy. Sara will be fine, and that is thanks to you. She encased her throat in ice by absorbing every drop of water she could to protect her skin and whatever else she could. The paramedic is surprised she is fine.” Tray’s hand fell to his side.
Remy stopped crying and sat up straighter, gazing at Tray, hope in her eyes. “So Sara is going to be okay?”
“Yes, thanks to you.”
Arden chuckled when Sara lifted the oxygen mask and rasped out, “You stupid little fool. You could have died. You do not get to die so you can save me…to save us.”
Tray growled and pushed her hands away and put the oxygen back.
Sara shook him away and gave him her best death stare, then turned it on Remy. “I have only just got you back. I get to be angry and hurt at you leaving. How dare you do this? Now I have to forgive you, you stupid bitch.” Sara gave Remy one last glare before she put the mask back and opened her arms.
Tears streamed down Remy’s cheeks, but she chuckled and hugged Sara, whispering, “I’m so, so sorry. I promise no more running. I’m so sorry.”
Sara rubbed her back, and Arden saw that Tray still hadn’t taken his eyes off Sara.
“We’re ready to go now. I’m sorry, but only one person is allowed to come with us. They have called ahead so the OB-GYN will be ready when we arrive,” the paramedic said.
Remy eased out of Sara’s embrace. “I love you. Call me when you’re ready for me to visit.” Remy didn’t wait for a reply, she just backed up and returned to Arden.
“You did good, Remy. I’m proud to call you my mate.” He moved them back a safe distance as the ambulance left. “Let’s go get you checked out.”
Spotting Kane, Arden waved him over. He came over, his eyes scanning Remy as he walked. “Good work. You killed a lot of bad guys. Thanks.”
Remy crossed her arms over her chest. “I didn’t do it for you, so there’s no need to thank me.”
