Arena Wars Trilogy

by Hoffman, Samantha

  Darren nodded from the kitchen table. “I’m in contact with two of them, and they’ve agreed to get me in touch with the others. I think I can persuade four or five of Roger’s dhampirs to fight with us. Now that they’ve readjusted to living in the outside world, they’re ready for their chance at revenge.”

  “Good,” Ray said. “We’ll need everyone we can get if we’re going to stand a chance at surviving. I’ve just heard that the Council is in the process of electing new officials. By the end of the week, the Council will be up and running things again and I think they’ll finally come after us. Plus Eli and Roger have to be ready to make their next move by now. Frankly, I’m concerned we’ve gone so long without seeing or hearing from them.”

  Jax nodded. “I know. Either one or both of them should have attacked us by now. Eli’s hand will have healed, and Roger will be needing his next fix of crazy obsession. I think we’ll have to assume it’ll be any day now. Definitely before the babies are born,” he said, looking at me. “Alanna’s a great fighter, and she won’t be able to help. We’ll need to compensate for that.”

  “Plus Jenna will remain by Alanna’s side through any fighting, in case she goes into labor,” Ray said. “That leaves me, you and Darren, Quinten, Dennis and Haley, and hopefully Violet and Maria,” he said to Jax. “We don’t have enough. I hope Darren can convince the dhampirs to help, or else we’re in serious trouble.”

  I looked around at all of these people willing to fight for me, and my heart squeezed painfully. Some of them could get seriously hurt, or even be killed, and it’s all because of me. They shouldn’t be so willing and ready to fight for me; it’s not right…

  “Quinten, I think I hear the delivery truck coming up the driveway. I’ll need you and Jax to help me unload it, while Alanna gets off her feet and gets something to eat. Jenna, take care of her until I get back inside.”

  I took a seat on the couch while the men left the room, and Jenna brought me a plate of breakfast. “I hate being pregnant,” I said irritably. “Nobody lets me do anything other than waddle down the hall to the bathroom or set the table. I’m not an invalid; I’m perfectly capable of doing the dishes, or cooking, or helping plan things.”

  “We know, honey,” Jenna said soothingly. “But it’s safer for the babies if you sit back and relax. We’re not sure how different they’ll be from normal babies, and you’re going to need your rest before the delivery. I think things will go smoothly, but we have to remember what Darren said about his birth.”

  A shudder of fear when through me. Exploded womb. That’s what I could be dying of this time next week. What if I don’t live long enough to even see my babies?

  Jenna patted my shoulder. “Don’t worry. Everything will work out for the best.”

  “Is that a promise?”

  She didn’t answer, but I didn’t really expect her to. Nothing was certain at this point, other than the fact that I was pregnant with half-werewolf and half-vampire babies, and that there was a war starting. If we were lucky, we’d manage to outlast this war unscathed, but that probably wasn’t going to happen. There was a very real chance that in the near future, I could be losing some or all of the people that I cared about.

  How would I go on? If I lost Quinten, or Ray, or Jax, or even Darren or Jenna, what would I do? Would I be able to pick myself up and dust myself off? Or would I end up mourning for someone for the rest of my life. What if I have to raise these babies without Quinten?

  Ray, Quinten, and Jax hauled three mattresses into the garage, and they came back in through the back door. Quinten immediately took a place on my left, and he wrapped his arm around my shoulders, pulling me closer. He kissed the side of my head. “Well, Dennis and Haley are sleeping on a mattress in the garage, and so are Darren and Jax. We’ll find room for the others when they arrive.”

  “If they arrive,” I said.

  He nuzzled my neck. “They will. Violet’s gonna find Maria, and Darren’s dhampir friends will pull through for us. By the time any fighting starts, we’ll have an army of people to stand beside us, and with their help, we’ll survive. We’ll be able to start our lives together, without having to constantly look over our shoulders. Life will get better, Alanna, and when all of this is over, we’ll start by getting married.”

  “Don’t forget to send my invitation,” Ilene said. She was standing in the kitchen, and I was so busy talking to Quinten that I hadn’t even heard the back door close. She crossed her arms over her chest and her eyes went straight to my bulging stomach. “Nice stretch marks,” she said with a smirk.

  Quinten jumped to his feet, and Jax threw open the bedroom door. Ray and Jenna exited his bedroom, and everyone stared at Ilene. She acted oblivious to everyone’s hatred, but I thought I saw a flicker of sadness when she looked at Ray. “What are you doing here, Ilene?” Ray asked coldly. Ray had officially run out of patience for his younger daughter, and she would never be welcome here again.

  The hardness returned to her eyes, and she squared her shoulders. “I just wanted to let you all know that Roger hasn’t forgotten about you all. You’ll be paying soon. He’s just been a little bit busy with other things.” She looked at me and Quinten. “Some of them not so different from what you’ve apparently been doing.”

  Ray frowned. “Ilene! Fourteen is way too young to be having a baby. Are you out of your mind?”

  She sneered at him. “I’m not a child, daddy. I’m mated, happy with the way my life is going, and if Roger wants a baby, I’ll give him one.” She smiled slyly. “Though I’m surprised it hasn’t happened yet, especially considering the way we’ve been going at it. Like rabbits,” she added with just a hint of glee at Ray’s discomfort.

  Ray flinched. “Ilene, please come home.” His voice broke, but he took a deep breath and forced himself to continue. Maybe he wasn’t as fed up with her as I thought. “Leave that horrible man, and move back in with us. I miss you, Sweetheart.”

  She narrowed her eyes at him. “You don’t miss me. You just miss the picture perfect family you thought you had. I won’t be your “sweetheart” ever again, and you won’t ever be anything to me again. I’m done with all of you.”

  I got up from the couch, and her eyes zeroed in on my stomach again. Her face twisted into a horrible sneer. “Ilene, these are your niece and nephew. Your family. Can you really let them die? Can you let your mate brutally kill them? Where does it end with Roger? What if he loses his temper with you or your future children? Will he kill them?”

  Her eyes lifted to mine, but she looked unsure. “Roger was a great father, and he’ll be that way again. He still loves his dead children, even though they’ve been dead for over a hundred years.”

  “What about his dead mate?” I asked, earning a glare from her. “She’s been dead for the same amount of time, but he can’t still love her, because he loves you, right?” I asked sarcastically. “If he loves his dead children so much, what makes you think he’s not just using you to get to me?”

  “Why the hell do you always think everything is about you?” she screamed, stamping her foot angrily. “The world doesn’t revolve around you, Alanna! There are other people and other things in this world aside from one manipulative, worthless, bitch like you. Roger isn’t using me to get to you. He wants to have a family again. He wanted that from you at first, but when he realized that I would be better at giving it to him, he switched his way of thinking.”

  “I’m almost an exact replica of his dead wife,” I said quietly.

  She froze. “You’re lying.” Her voice trembled as much as her hands.

  “I’m not. I’ve seen a painting of the two of them. They were in front of his mansion and they were surrounded by their four children. She has dark red hair, the same dark blue eyes, the same build, the same height, everything. I look like Charlotte; that’s why he wanted me. He didn’t think you would make a better mother, Ilene, he just wanted to make me pay for refusing him.”

  She shook her head in disbelief. �
��I don’t believe you. Roger cares about me, so much that he wants to have a family with me. He loves me!”

  “No, he doesn’t,” I said, taking a step forward. We were within arms reach, and I opened my arms. “Ilene, come home. Listen to Dad; he knows what’s best for you.” I put my hand on her arm, and her eyes got the same hard, angry look they almost always had.

  Before anyone could even move, she shoved me harshly, and I spun away from her. My stomach slammed into the corner of the countertop, sending a quick stab of pain shooting up my side. Before I hit the ground, Quinten’s arms were around me, catching me. Ilene bolted out the back door, but not before I heard her harsh, distraught sobs.

  Quinten carried me bridal style back to the couch, while Jax and Darren chased after Ilene. They had to stop her before she told Roger about the pregnancy. If he found out, it would just give him one more reason to come after us, and he’d probably speed up whatever plans he might already have. If he attacked before I went into labor, things would be disastrous.

  “Alanna! Are you alright?” Quinten asked worriedly. His hand pressed gently against my large stomach, and he slowly rubbed the area. “Are the babies alright?”

  I gasped for air for another minute before I could answer him. “Yes, I’m fine, and I think the babies are both fine. The pain is already gone.” That was a bit of a lie, but the pain was beginning to fade, and I didn’t want to worry him any more than I had to, especially with everything going on.

  Jenna sat on the couch beside me. “Do you want me to do another ultrasound?”

  I should have had her do it, but the pain was already gone, and my stomach had already healed itself. Plus, I just felt like there was nothing wrong, and I’d learned to trust my instincts; they’d kept me alive for so long, and I couldn’t start doubting them now. “No,” I said. “I’m fine, and so are they,” I added, putting my hand on my stomach.

  Jenna nodded. “Alright. If you experience any pain or discomfort, let me know right away,” Jenna ordered. “I mean it. You can’t be too cautious with these kinds of things.”

  “Alright, but I don’t think anything is wrong. I feel fine. There’s no cramping and no bruising. I’ll be alright with some rest.”

  Ray took a seat next to me. “My friends are on their way. They’ll be here in ten days at the latest. Hopefully they’ll get here sooner though. With Ilene’s visit today, I doubt Roger will hold off on destroying us for much longer. I’ve heard rumors that he’s been gathering a fighting force, similar to ours.”

  “If he attacks before your friends get here, we’re doomed,” Jax said.

  Strangely enough, I had the sudden urge to laugh, and it must have been evident on my face, because Ray frowned. “It’s just so amazing how many times we’ve said those words,” I said. “It seems like we’re always doomed, and always expecting the worst, but we’ve survived. We’ve survived, and we’re still together, all of us.”

  Ray put his hand on my shoulder. “And we’ll keep surviving. It’s what we do best.”

  I nodded, and curled up against Quinten’s side. “What’ll happen now? If Roger builds his “army” first, we’re in serious trouble. This place won’t be easy to defend. We’ve got the woods all around us, plenty of spaces for the enemy to hide, and we’ve got the cliffs to our back. If one of us takes a tumble off those, we’re dead. We’ll have to keep the fighting away from them, and probably the lake, too.”

  “Alanna, let us worry about fighting strategies. You won’t be doing any of the fighting. You’ll be safe and sound, preparing to have those babies,” Ray said, eyeing my stomach with a fond expression. “We can’t risk you shifting; you might hurt the baby. Normally a female werewolf can only shift during the first few months of the pregnancy, but once the baby starts to really form and grow, shifting becomes a danger to both the mother and child.”

  “I’ve been thinking about these babies,” I said, capturing everyone’s attention. “I think these babies might already be werewolves.” I hadn’t explained my idea to everyone yet, and they looked at me with interest now. “We turn when a vampire’s venom is introduced into our system, but these babies are already part vampire. I’ve considered that this might be the reason my pregnancy is progressing so quickly, but I can’t be sure.”

  Darren spoke first. “Alanna, I have a question. How come a vampire can feed from someone without leaving venom in their system? I mean, if they only have to bite you to turn you into wolves, doesn’t that mean that biting a human would make them a vampire? And how come Quinten can feed from you without hurting you with his venom?”

  “I can feed from a human without leaving venom. Biting someone and feeding from someone are two different things. If I want to attack someone and kill them, I could force venom into their system. Carmen explained to me that our venom isn’t in our saliva, like a lot of people think. It’s actually in our fangs, like a snake or a tarantula. Our fangs are hollow, and the venom is in a gland that secretes through our fangs.”

  “So you can decide whether to bite with venom or without it?” Darren asked, in awe. “Because I don’t have venom. I can’t turn people into vampires. I think that might have something to do with my human side, but the other dhampirs in the dungeons weren’t exactly up to talking, so I didn’t get a chance to ask.”

  Quinten nodded. “Yes, I can choose to bite without injecting someone with venom; I do it when I feed, so I don’t go around making a new vampire every time I have to…eat. If we turned someone every time we had to eat, the world would be overrun with vampires, and there wouldn’t be any more humans to feed on. We’d starve.”

  One of the babies kicked particularly hard, and I sighed. “I think I should go lay down.”

  Quinten helped me to my feet and steadied me. “Alright. Get some sleep, Alanna. We’ll wake you if anything important happens.”

  I kissed him, and waddled into the bedroom, before collapsing onto the twin-sized mattress. The second my head hit the pillow, my eyes closed, and I drifted off into a fitful, restless sleep.

  Chapter Four

  When I woke up the next morning, there was a surprising visitor in the living room. Violet stood with her back to me, and I was inexplicably happy at the mere sight of her. It was strange to think that one person I didn’t know very well could make me so happy, but she did. She was a sight for sore eyes, as was the person standing by her side.

  Her hair was a mousy brown color, and it hung in gentle waves past her thin shoulders. She was a few inches shorter than me, which was probably on account of the fact that she was only about twelve years old, physically. Her eyes were large and bright blue in color, but they were glassy, and had an almost dead appearance.

  She was obviously not a child, even though her physical form was. This creature was a cold-blooded killer, and she had probably killed indiscriminately for centuries. She used her young, friendly, child-like appearance to ensnare her victims, and then she used them up and threw them aside like they were garbage.

  “Alanna, this is my maker, Maria. She was born a very long time ago. So long ago in fact, that she can’t even remember her own mother’s name anymore. Maria is the oldest vampire that I have ever met, and she is very, very powerful. She also knows Elias, and is willing to tell us about him.”

  Maria forced herself to pull her gaze up from my bulging stomach, and her eyes met mine. “Roger has every reason to hate Elias, to the point where he would try and kill him, even if it meant saving your life in the process. I’m sure there is not one person on this planet that Roger hates more than Elias.”

  It suddenly dawned on me, and I felt stupid for not realizing it sooner. “Eli is the vampire that killed Roger’s family isn’t he?”

  “Yes, he is. He was passing through this place, which seems to be a favorite of his, and he happened across a beautiful young woman that was out tending her garden. She invited the weary traveler into her home, which was expected for her time, and he then slaughtered her and her children. Elias is pa
rticularly fond of eating children. Anyway, Roger and Henry alone were the only two that survived the change form human to werewolf. The others died horribly.”

  “No wonder he attacked Eli like he did,” Quinten said. “He didn’t care about saving Alanna’s life, or saving her so he could kill her himself. He just wanted Eli to suffer and pay for what he’d done many years ago.”

  “Well, at least we don’t have to worry about the two of them teaming up anymore,” Jax said cheerfully. “Roger would probably rather die than work with the vamp that killed his mate. I know I couldn’t bring myself to work with an animal like that.”

  Darren sighed. “We’ve still got two mortal enemies that’ll be coming after us. We know that Roger’s gonna attack with everything he has, and soon, but we have no idea when Eli will make his next appearance. If he attacks when Roger does, it could be disastrous.”

  “Well, we’ll have to be on constant lookout. If we can get even just a five minute warning to any attack, we’ll be able to get Alanna out of the house and away from harm’s way.”

  I looked at Ray. “I’m not gonna just leave when all of you are still here, fighting for me! I’m not fragile, Dad, please don’t treat me like I am. I’m a better fighter than Darren, Quinten, and Jenna. You need me to help you.”

  “It’s too–”

  “Don’t tell me it’s too dangerous!” I snapped. We’d had this argument several times already, and I was sick of hearing it. “I won’t let you all risk your lives for me while I’m out hiding in the woods somewhere. If you guys aren’t going to come with me, then I’m going to stay here with you. You will not risk your lives for me.”

  “Alanna, you and these babies are more important than I am,” Ray said, trying to get me to see things his way. “And I think most of the people in this room probably feel the same way. If you give birth to these babies, you could end the fighting between vampires and werewolves. Can you imagine that, Alanna? A truce between the species. We’ve never had one of those before, and it could spare a lot of lives in the future.”