The Midnight Hunt

by L. L. Raand

  Niki protested weakly, “Don’t stop her.”

  Jody tried to bury her incisors in Niki’s neck again. Sylvan rumbled a warning and dragged her back a few more inches.

  “More,” Jody growled, her chest heaving.

  Becca released Niki, who curled up on the floor, her face slack with satiation. Carefully, Becca half crawled to Jody and caressed her cheek, unheeding of the dangerous incisors flashing inches from her hand. “Jody. Jody, it’s all right.”

  “Need more.”

  “I know, I know,” Becca murmured, stroking the back of Jody’s neck. “But you can wait, can’t you? You don’t want to hurt her, do you?”

  Jody shook as if in the throes of a violent chill and stared at Becca, recognition slowly dawning in her eyes. With a jolt, she broke Sylvan’s grip and pushed away from the others. “Get away from me. All of you. Get out.”

  Sylvan grasped Niki by the back of the neck and lifted her upright.

  Supporting Niki with an arm around her waist, she said, “My Pack is in your debt, Vampire.”

  “You may not thank me when your centuri wakes up hungry,” Jody said. “I need to be there when she does. When I’ve taken care of my needs, I’ll come.”

  “We’ll look after Lara until you arrive.”

  “You need to see to your own wounds, Wolf,” Jody said, her gaze on the still-bleeding hole in Sylvan’s shoulder.

  “Don’t be concerned. We’re not as delicate as you.” Sylvan sent a silent call to Andrew and the door opened.

  “Alpha?” Andrew asked.

  “Take Niki.”

  Andrew carried Niki outside and Sylvan followed him to the door.

  “Watch your back, Vampire. The shooter’s still out there. Perhaps he has more than one target.”

  “His bullets were silver,” Jody reminded her.

  “Enough bullets would put you down long enough to take your head,” Sylvan said. “And I need you in good health to look after my wolf.”

  “Don’t be concerned. We are not as slow as you.”

  Sylvan’s eyes flashed at the challenge and she smiled. “We’ll see one day. Take care, Vampire.”

  Once the room was clear, Jody gave Becca a flat stare. “You need to leave. Use the phone down the hall to call a cab. Take a raincoat from the closet by the door to cover your clothes.”

  “I’m not leaving you like this. You were practically dead.” Becca got unsteadily to her feet. She was soaked in blood, but she wasn’t physically hurt. Jody no longer looked like she was on the verge of death, but her face was gaunt and hollow, her eyes sunken. She was dangerously weak and trying to hide it. “I know you need to feed more. Feed from me.”

  “I don’t want you.” Jody gave her a mocking smile. “Don’t worry, I’ll be well taken care of.”

  And then she was gone. Becca blinked, looking around the blooddrenched foyer. She was alone and the house was completely silent.

  “Fine, you ungrateful bastard, I’ll go.” Becca stormed over to the antique phone and yanked the receiver out of its cradle. “But you haven’t gotten rid of me.”

  ———

  As Andrew rocketed them north toward the Compound, Max sat with his back braced against the sidewall of the Rover with Lara, nude and in skin form again, in his arms. Niki slumped beside him, slowly regaining strength and awareness.

  “How is she?” Sylvan asked.

  “She shifted back as soon as we got outside,” Max said. “She’s unconscious.”

  Sylvan struggled to stay upright on the bench across from him.

  She needed to shift, and soon, if she was going to have any hope of healing her wounds. The acid burn spreading through her chest and abdomen signaled the toxin was spreading fast. She unbuttoned her shirt and examined the bullet wound high on the right side of her abdomen, the one she had been careful not to let the others see. Had her centuri realized the extent of her wounds, they might have been able to overpower her and force her back to the Compound, and she could not leave Lara or the Vampire to die. The flesh around both bullet wounds was black and festered. Silver. She shivered and broke out into a sweat.

  The muscles in her abdomen and legs contracted violently and she fell to her knees on the floor of the van, barely catching herself with an outstretched arm. She couldn’t shift here. If she did, and the fever took her, she would be a danger to them all.

  “Alpha!” Max cried.

  Niki shook herself and crouched down beside Sylvan, circling Sylvan’s shoulders with her arm. “Alpha, you need to shift.”

  “Not until we reach the Compound.”

  “We’ll be there in fifteen minutes,” Niki insisted. “Please, Sylvan—shift.”

  Sylvan held Niki’s gaze fiercely. “Secure our borders. This might have been the first wave of an all-out assault.”

  “Andrew,” Niki called, her focus never leaving Sylvan’s face.

  “Call Callan—tell him to reinforce our borders. General alert.”

  “Yes, Imperator,” Andrew called back.

  “Drake.” Sylvan coughed up blood, black with silver poisoning.

  “Safeguard her.”

  “Yes, Alpha,” Niki said, her eyes wild with panic.

  “I love you, Niki.” Gritting her teeth against the excruciating pain, Sylvan cupped Niki’s face in her palm and forced herself to stay conscious until she could give what might be her last order. “Lead my Pack. Protect my wolves. When the time comes, kill me.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

  Leo Revnik burst into the recovery room where Drake was hastily pulling on her clothes. “Sophia, Elena just called. You must return to the Compound immediately.”

  “Why?” Sophia exclaimed.

  “What’s happened?” Drake demanded.

  “There are wounded.”

  “Sylvan!” Drake winced as the pain in her chest exacerbated.

  “She’s hurt, isn’t she?”

  “I don’t know.” Leo hesitated. “But you are safer here. The Alpha would not want you in danger.”

  Drake wanted to howl in rage. Ignoring him, she grabbed Sophia’s arm. She needed to be with Sylvan. Nothing else mattered. “Hurry.”

  The wait for the elevator was interminable. The huge ground-level atrium was filled with male and female Weres in gray BDUs, armed with sidearms and assault rifles, streaming toward the entrances. A dark-haired female stopped them before they reached the exit to the parking lot where Sophia had left her car.

  “We’re needed at the Compound,” Sophia explained.

  “Yes, ma’am. A security team will escort you both.” The female inclined her head toward Drake deferentially.

  “I have my car,” Sophia said.

  “We are at general alert,” the guard replied. “I cannot permit you to leave without protection.”

  “Fine, whatever it takes,” Drake said, “but we must hurry.”

  Even as she spoke, an armored vehicle similar to the ones she’d seen at the Compound screeched to a halt in front of the door. More guards hurried inside and quickly surrounded them. Drake allowed herself to be shepherded into the rear of the vehicle.

  “We’ll be there soon,” Sophia murmured. “How do you feel?”

  “I just need to find Sylvan.” Drake clenched her fists on her thighs and closed her eyes. The surface of her body burned despite the fine sheen of adrenaline-spiked hormones coating her skin. She smelled Sylvan, and her, and their unique union. She didn’t know who she was or what she would become or if she would even live long enough to find out. She didn’t care. She knew all she needed to know. She needed to be with Sylvan. Her every instinct, every emotion, every physical impulse told her this was true. A truth she might not understand, but could not question.

  She clambered forward between the seats occupied by two male Weres, their expressions fiercely savage. “Stay on the highway as long as you can before turning onto an access road to the Compound. You’ll make better time. Do you have a radar detector in this thing? We don’t wan
t to be picked up.”

  The male Were behind the wheel glanced at her, nostrils flaring.

  His eyes dropped to the level of her shoulder. “Yes.”

  “If anyone attempts to intercept us, try to outrun them. If that fails, run them off the road. Just get me to the Compound.”

  He straightened to attention and snapped, “Understood!”

  ———

  No one tried to stop them on their mad dash north. Perhaps local law enforcement recognized the vehicle as one of Sylvan’s and passed them on. Still, the thirty-minute journey seemed endless, and by the time the Compound came into view through a break in the forest, Drake was ready to claw her way out of the back of the Rover. The gates, heavily fortified with armed guards stationed on a narrow walkway running along the top of the stockade, swung open at their approach.

  Their driver barely slowed as they careened through.

  “The infirmary,” Drake ordered. She didn’t wait for him to stop but shoved open the rear doors and jumped out while they were still moving.

  She hit the ground running, barely noticing the jarring sensation as she landed. She’d never felt so strong, so certain of her destination. Max and Andrew flanked the door to the infirmary. “Where is she!”

  “Inside,” Max said, moving to block the door, “but—”

  He was sixty pounds of muscle heavier than her, but she had speed and will on her side. She caught him by surprise when she turned her shoulder into him, hitting him square in the chest. He grunted and gave way. Drake slammed the door open and barreled into the building.

  “Stop,” Niki shouted, barring the way to a closed door halfway down the hall.

  “Get out of my way,” Drake growled.

  Niki, her eyes hunter green, snarled a warning. She lunged forward before Drake could react and knocked her onto her back. Pinning Drake with a knee on Drake’s chest, she thrust her claws into Drake’s throat, millimeters short of tearing out her trachea. “You don’t belong here, mutia.”

  Drake’s wolf went wild. She would not be dominated. She would not be kept from Sylvan. Acting on pure instinct, she clubbed Niki on the side of the head, stunning her for a few critical seconds. Rearing up, she grabbed Niki by the throat and threw her off. Before Niki could retaliate, Drake leapt, straddled her chest, and choked her. “You will not keep me from her.”

  Niki thrashed, snapping at Drake’s arms, slashing Drake’s shoulders and chest.

  Going for the kill, Drake’s claws shot out and she thrust them into Niki’s neck.

  Howling in agony, Niki arched and writhed. Blood jetted from the wounds in her throat onto her chest. Her agonized cry was that of a dying soul reaching out in the darkness for connection, for family, for home. For Pack.

  Her cry struck Drake’s heart, and the red haze of her fury evaporated. Niki was Pack. Niki was Sylvan’s. Niki was hers.

  “She needs me,” Drake said, easing her hold on Niki’s neck.

  She pressed down on the punctures she’d made and they immediately stopped bleeding.

  “No one can help her.” Tears streamed down Niki’s face. “It’s too late.”

  “You’re wrong,” Drake whispered, as certain as she had ever been of anything in her life. She got to her knees, letting Niki slide out from under her.

  Sophia, followed by Max and Andrew, crowded around them.

  Sophia exclaimed, “Oh my God. Drake, your arm.”

  Drake stared at the arm that was no longer an arm, but a limb covered in sleek black fur and tipped with lethal claws. When she spoke, her words were thick and guttural, barely recognizable to her own ears. “What is happening?”

  Niki touched Drake’s face, her own features contorted with shock.

  “You’ve partially shifted. No one but the Alpha can do that.”

  “The Alpha’s mate can,” Max murmured.

  “Is Elena with her?” Drake got unsteadily to her feet. Her arm ached and when she looked again, her hand appeared like her hand once more.

  “No one is with her,” Niki said. “She ordered us out when she shifted. We wanted to stay, but as soon as she shifted…” Niki’s voice broke. “She waited too long and there are too many wounds. Too much toxin, spreading too fast.” She straightened, her face a mask of sorrow.

  “She’s not broadcasting to us. She’s lost in her wolf. She’s rabid.”

  “No, she isn’t,” Drake said. The place inside her that only Sylvan had ever touched resounded with life. She knew if Sylvan were gone that space inside her would become a cold, dark void that would expand until she was swallowed by darkness. If that ever happened, she would surrender without a struggle. Without Sylvan’s warmth and passion and light shining somewhere in her life, she would be lost. “She’s not gone.”

  Niki looked at her without anger, but with endless pity. “She ordered that I execute her, and I will follow her orders unto death. You will have to kill me to stop me.”

  “If the need ever comes, I won’t stop you. You are her right hand and her brave heart. But you will not die today, and neither will she.”

  Drake cupped Niki’s jaw. “You are her second, and right now, you need to safeguard the Pack. Who is her third?”

  Max stepped forward. “I am.”

  “Then you both know what you need to do. I am not going to let her die.” Drake turned to Sophia. “Help Elena prepare an operating room.”

  “She won’t recognize you,” Niki cautioned as Drake reached for the closed door. “She’ll tear you apart.”

  Drake paused and brushed the backs of her fingers over Niki’s cheek. “She won’t hurt me. But if I’m wrong, don’t let her suffer.”

  ———

  Drake eased into the moonlit room. The bed was empty. A low, ominous growl emanated from the far corner of the room.

  “Sylvan?”

  The growl became a snarl. The fine hairs on the back of Drake’s neck stood up and her wolf stirred uneasily. Drake recognized her wolf now, her wariness, her strength, her bravery. Her stubborn refusal to be dominated. Her wolf wanted to shift. Drake wanted it. Her bones slid over one another, the pain nearly dropping her to her knees. Her muscles stretched to the point of tearing. Her sex spasmed and tears ran from her eyes. She brushed her forearm impatiently across her face.

  She couldn’t shift. She still didn’t know how to give her wolf control without losing herself.

  “Sylvan,” Drake said gently, lowering herself to her knees. She let her hands fall open at her sides, exposing her chest and belly to the darkened room. “It’s Drake.”

  She had no warning—no scrape of claws on wood, no flash of silver pelt in the moonlight—before the massive beast struck her in the torso and took her down by the throat. Every instinct primed her to fight, and her canines and claws thrust out. But she didn’t fight. The silver wolf snarled in her face. She lifted her chin and gave the wolf her neck.

  “Sylvan, I won’t hurt you. I will never hurt you.”

  Claws gouged into her chest and raked her belly, drawing fire and blood. The wolf-gold eyes staring into hers were filled with nothing but rage and pain, completely devoid of recognition. Blood matted the thick fur on the wolf’s chest and belly. Drake’s heart ached for Sylvan’s pain.

  Slowly, Drake raised her hand. “Let me help you. Let the Pack heal you.”

  The wolf pulled back her lips, her eyes narrowed, and her ears slanted back. She was preparing to attack.

  “I love you.” Drake stroked the wolf’s powerful head. “I need you. We all need you.”

  The heavy muscles in the wolf’s shoulders bunched.

  “They hurt you,” Drake whispered, gently caressing the wolf’s uninjured shoulder. Her tears mixed with Sylvan’s blood. “But you’re strong. Your wolf is strong. Sylvan. Find her. Help her.”

  Drake wrapped both arms around the wolf’s neck and rested her cheek against the enormous muzzle. Blood dripped onto the floor and the huge body swayed. “Fight, Sylvan. Please, love. Fight.”

&
nbsp; The wolf shook her head, whined uncertainly. Drake pushed to a sitting position and drew the great silver head to her chest, ready to beg and bargain with any power that might exist to spare this glorious creature, this brave and noble being whose fierce strength and generous heart had captured hers. She buried her face in the ruff that smelled like Sylvan and her and them together.

  “I love you. Sylvan, please come back. I need you. I need you so much.”

  The wolf licked her neck and, with a sigh, lay down in Drake’s lap.

  Careful of the wounds, Drake wrapped her arms even more protectively around her. “I love you.”

  You shouldn’t have come here. Sylvan’s voice, steady, strong.

  Drake’s tears dampened the glossy fur beneath her cheek but her heart raced with joy. Where else would I be?

  Somewhere safe.

  Drake rubbed her chin on the wolf’s head. I’m always safe with you. Will you trust me?

  Always.

  Will you let me help you?

  Yes.

  Then the immense wolf closed her eyes and surrendered to Drake’s embrace.

  Niki, Drake telegraphed, we need you.

  CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT

  Jody pulled the Porsche into the Were Compound just before dawn. She walked around to the passenger side and opened the door. “Are you sure?”

  “Of course, darling,” Marissa Sanchez said. “I can’t wait. Especially after you dragged me away from work but refused to let me feed you.”

  “This could be dangerous—she’s going to need to feed every few hours.” Jody had already warned Marissa that newly turned Vampires in bloodlust were insatiable and could easily kill a host. “I can find a Were to feed her.”

  “No.” Marissa’s color heightened. “You know I want this. And I trust you.”

  “If she needs more than you can give, I’ll still need a Were to join us.”

  “All the better.”

  “I hope you arranged for coverage at the morgue—we won’t be leaving here today.” Jody led Marissa toward Niki, who, shirtless and barefoot, stood on the porch of a nearby building with her hands on her hips and legs spread wide, watching them through narrowed eyes.