“You’re lucky you still have Quinten. Knowing that you’re going to die alone and miserable is one of the worst feelings imaginable. I don’t recommend it to anyone. Except perhaps Roger Mason. And even though I hate him with a fiery passion, it’s hard not to at least pity the man on some level.”
Her murdered her mate because they were different, and she still manages to have room in her heart for pity? If Roger took Quinten for me, I wouldn’t have room for anything other than intense hatred or possibly the capacity to make him suffer. If he hadn’t done any of these horrible things to me and those I cared about, I would have been able to pity him. He lost his entire family because of one evil vampire, and he was taking it out on others.
“Violet, you have to realize something. Roger Mason stopped being someone who deserved your pity long ago,” I said, looking Violet squarely in the eyes. “He’s no longer the caring, loving family man he used to be. Instead, he’s an evil, vindictive monster that enjoys taking out his pain and frustration on those around him. He doesn’t deserve any pity from anyone, but especially not from you or me. Not after everything he’s done to us and those we care about.”
“I know, but I can’t help but feel deep down that this is all Elias’ fault. If he hadn’t killed Roger’s family, he would have probably lived out the rest of his life in peace and quiet with his wife and children. It’s kind of funny how one person’s actions can affect so many others, isn’t it?” After her admission, Violet and I looked out at the darkening sky in total silence. There wasn’t a whole lot more to say on the subject. We’d just gotten everything out in the open, and we now understood each other better than ever.
“The sky is so beautiful tonight,” I said, looking up at the stars that were finally coming out. When my gaze drifted back down to the trees around the house, my heart stopped for one split second as Roger Mason walked out of the trees. He tilted his head to one side and a wide smile spread across his face as Violet and I both tensed. He looked eerily calm and collected for someone that was probably there to kill me and everyone inside the house.
Even though Roger was standing at the tree line more than two hundred yards from the front porch and he spoke calmly and quietly, his one word drifted across the front yard crystal clear. “Charge.”
I screamed as loud as I could, “Dad!” Mere seconds passed by before dozens of men and women burst from the tree line, making a mad dash for the house. Violet shoved me behind her before putting her hands on the porch railing and vaulting over it, landing in a deadly crouch in the grass beneath us. She charged, heading for the nearest werewolf. Before he could even register her attack, she had taken a knife from her belt and sliced open his throat without mercy. He fell to the ground with a thump and twitched once before going still.
The rest of Roger’s forces slowed down and looked Violet over, looking for any sign of a weakness that they could exploit. But Violet wouldn’t be alone for long. The front door slammed open behind me and everyone inside spilled out into the front yard. Ray, Brent, and Nolan led the charge, with the others bringing up the rear. I was still frozen in fear on the front porch as Ray and the others collided harshly with Roger’s forces.
It became a massive blur of moving bodies and cries of pain. It took only seconds for me to realize that we were outnumbered not quite two against one, and we were being forced to fight in the dark. There was a small battle going on mere feet from my front porch, and I had to do something about it before someone I loved got hurt because of me.
“Hello, girly.”
I spun, lashing out at the speaker before even getting a good look at him. He ducked under my wild swing and came up under it to slam his fist into my ribcage. I clutched my side and stomped down on his foot while I struggled to breathe. He limped back a few steps, cursing under his breath while he sized me up with dark, wary eyes. Clearly he assumed I would be easy pickings because I was pregnant.
The pain in my side lessened just as he lunged in, aiming a kick at my side. I brought my hand up, blocking it and shoving him away. He lost his balance as I darted in, bringing my knee up into his stomach. He wheezed foul smelling breath in my face, and cut off with a choked, gurgling sound when I slammed my first directly into his throat. He gasped for air, clawing at his throat as if that could somehow un-crush it. He fell facedown on the porch and I jumped over his unmoving body.
A vampire rushed at me from the side, fangs bared in a silent snarl. Acting purely on instinct, I dropped to a crouch, and he sailed over me, rolling head over heels until he was stopped by the porch railing. While he struggled to his feet, I ran across the front yard, looking for Quinten. As I ran, I started shedding clothing, preparing myself to shift.
The familiar burn spread through my body as my bones cracked and shifted around. Then I fell forward on silver paws, running around the front yard, searching for Quinten. Finally, I spotted him in a clump of other vampires. Jax and Darren were with him in the middle of the circle, but they were surrounded by three vampires and two werewolves. I charged in, knocking two off their feet as I slammed into their hips.
I curled around Quinten as he braced himself for the next attack. “Alanna, you shouldn’t be out here.”
“He’s right,” Jax said, growling at me. “It’s not safe out here for you.”
“It’s not safe for you either,” I reminded him. “Plus you guys need all the help you can get.” I knew what they were saying was true, but I couldn’t bring myself to sit out of the fight while my family and friends fought for their lives. Even though I was rather large at the moment–it was a miracle my stomach wasn’t dragging across the ground–I knew I had to help in any way that I could.
A vampire lunged at me, swiping with her sharp nails. I jumped to the side and turned my head, biting down on her hand. There was a loud crunch as my teeth bit through the bone to clamp together, and the vampire screamed as I tore her hand away from the wrist. Blood spurted across my muzzle, and she backed away from me, cradling her stump of a wrist. While she was still screaming, Quinten darted in, snapping her neck deftly in his hands.
She dropped to the ground, but a werewolf took his place, snapping at Quinten with bloody fangs. Quinten jumped back, narrowly avoiding having his arm bitten off. Jax barreled into the side of the werewolf, snapping a few ribs as he sent it rolling away from us into the dirt. Before he could get back on his feet, Jax was on him, tearing into the tender flesh on the underside of his throat.
Jax stepped away from the lifeless werewolf under him, licking the blood away from his lips. Darren and Quinten grappled with another vampire, making sure that one of them kept at arm’s distance while the other darted in real quick and inflicted damage. While the two of them kept each other safe, I looked around for someone else that needed my help.
Ray was a pitch-black figure biting and tearing into anything that came close to him or to a smaller golden-colored wolf with large green eyes that could only be Jenna. She looked so frail and dainty even in wolf form that it shocked me when I saw her latch onto a vampire’s leg and refuse to let go. She held on tight even as her vampire captive beat at her back with his hands while he screamed in pain.
His screams were silenced when Ray lunged at him from behind, gripping the vampire’s head in his massive jaws. I looked away, not wanting to see the end result of his and Jenna’s tag team efforts. But there weren’t many places to look if I wanted to avoid blood and carnage. Everywhere there were dying and dead vampires and werewolves, though thankfully there were none that I recognized.
“What’s the matter, Alanna? Need a rest before you go back to slaughtering your own kind?”
Chapter Fourteen
Turning around, I found Ilene standing behind me, watching me with a vicious look in her blue-gray eyes. It never ceased to amaze me that her eyes could be so cold and hostile while Ray’s–which were just about the exact same shade–were so gentle and loving. She was a smaller version of Ray in everything but her character. That was more like o
ur mother, and I was sure Ilene didn’t have a problem with that anymore.
“My kind tried to slaughter me first. I’m just repaying the favor,” I said, moving closer to her. “You know, Quinten and I are going to get married after all of this is over. We’ll be happy. We’ll be a loving family. And that’s something you’ll never have. I’ll have a handsome, caring, loving man by my side, and you’ll have an old, frigid, insane creep by yours. Which of us do you think will have the better life?”
She snarled at me, pawing at the ground with her long, sharp nails. “You think you’re so perfect, don’t you? You have a fiancé and babies on the way. You have dad and Jax by your side. But you’re not as perfect as you think.”
“I know I’m not perfect, Ilene. I have anger issues at times. I’m headstrong and I don’t always think things through. I’ve killed people to survive. But you know what? Deep down inside, I’m a good person. I have a heart. And even though everything that has happened to me in the past few months will probably haunt me for the rest of my life, I know I’ll have Dad and Quinten by my side. Not to mention Jax, Darren, Jenna, and everyone else that’s been there for me. And you know something else? For the first time in my life, I have a mother. A real mother. Jenna’s been so good to me. She could be good to you, too.”
She snorted, shaking her head in the process. “You and your perfect, happy little family. You disgust me. All of you.”
“You could have been a part of this happy little family,” I said as gently as possible. “You’re still my baby sister, even if you don’t want to be. You’re still the little girl that Ray and I sang happy birthday to. You’re still the little girl that used to tell me about her nightmares. And you’re still the same little girl that used to cry herself to sleep while thinking about our dead mother. You can be that girl again.”
“No, I can’t,” she said defiantly. “I wasted tears on that woman once before; I won’t do it ever again. Just like I won’t waste tears on you or Ray.”
“You refuse to waste more tears on Carmen? It seems to me like the two of you have been getting pretty cozy these last few days…”
“Well, I guess I shouldn’t be surprised you were spying on us. We were spying on you, you know. We knew about the Council’s werewolves, and about Ray’s old friends. And that old vampire you have with you. I suppose you think she’ll be able to take out Roger while you keep your hands clean,” she taunted venomously.
I growled warningly at her. “Don’t you dare mock me! I have more blood on my hands on account of Roger and Elias than you will ever know or experience! I’ve been forced to kill children because of your mate, and I won’t ever forget that!”
“Funny you should mention killing children,” she said dangerously. “Since that’s the only way this will ever end. With one of us dead and the other a killer.” Before I could comprehend her words, she threw herself at me, slamming into my shoulder. She pulled away as I snapped at her, and my teeth clicked together on empty air.
She and I circled each other, giving me time to size up my opponent. Ilene had clearly changed since our last fight, and I had no doubts in my mind that Roger had been training her to be as calculating and ruthless as possible. Ilene had always probably been a gifted fighter, but with Roger and probably Carmen as a teacher, she had become unpredictable and lethal.
“You thought his fight would be an easy one, didn’t you?” Ilene asked with a sneer. “Roger’s been teaching me a few tricks since our last fight. I didn’t have much time to practice, but I think I’m finally on your level. And with you pregnant and about to pop, I think I finally have the upper hand. Come on, Alanna. Let’s see what you’ve got…”
I lunged at her, snapping at her left shoulder. She pulled away and slashed at me with her front paw. Her nails dug into the flesh of my side before I could back away, but I was lucky; the wound wasn’t deep. She was the first of us to draw blood, and she chuckled darkly. I hoped it would make her cocky and overconfident. If she got cocky she would be more likely to make some kind of mistake that I could take advantage of.
Ilene and I circled each other, and while she was busy sizing me up again, I quickly looked around for anyone that could possibly help me. Violet and Maria were fighting side by side, holding off a handful of werewolves. Ray and Jenna were sticking together, as were Jax and Darren. Dennis and Haley were off fighting together. Brent and Nolan–two large red and blonde wolves–were busy holding off Roger.
I was alone.
Ilene slammed into my side, rolling me into the dirt. My massive stomach kept me from getting to my feet as quickly as I normally would have, but I was still quick enough to avoid being bitten. I snapped at her, forcing her to back up. “Daddy can’t help you this time, Alanna,” Ilene taunted viciously. “It’s just you and me. Nobody can save you now…”
I rushed at her, forcing her to jump to the side to avoid being head-butted. Without waiting for her to regain her balance, I made a mad dash for the trees that surrounded our home. “Think you can catch me?” I taunted back. If I could make her mad, I could make her slip up, and I could give myself the upper hand. “Roger can help you train all he wants, but it won’t make you faster than me!”
Just like I knew she would, Ilene tore off into the trees after me. She was so wrapped up in her hatred that she didn’t even suspect I was goading her farther and farther into this fight, and farther and farther away from her sanity. As it was, Ilene was hanging on by a thread, and she wasn’t going to last much longer.
I ran through the trees, careful to avoid hitting branches and fallen logs that might trip me up and slow me down. Every time I looked back over my shoulder, Ilene was right on my tail, careful to keep pace with me. When I jumped over the narrow river at the back of the house, my hind paws slid back into the water, and I hauled myself up, struggling with the effort of my extra weight.
Ilene cleared the jump effortlessly, and I cursed silently. The extra weight I was carrying around my stomach was a huge disadvantage, and I just hoped it didn’t slow me down too much. If it did, I wouldn’t stand a chance in a fight against a ruthless, vicious Ilene. She was out for blood and vengeance, and I was her main target. I forced myself to stop worrying or even thinking, and I ran blindly through the trees. I wasn’t sure where I was leading her, but I knew it had to be away from the others. This fight was between me and Ilene, and it needed to stay that way. I couldn’t risk anyone else interfering.
When I reached the cliffs, I stopped, and turned to face Ilene. I was panting and out of breath, but she was too. She stopped about thirty feet from me, and she took a second to pause and catch her breath. “You’re faster than I thought,” I said, trying to buy myself some time before she attacked again.
“You keep underestimating me,” she said, as if she thought I was dumb for doing so. “I keep trying to tell you, Alanna. I’ve changed. My time with Roger has made me more grown and mature than you could ever hope to be. And because of that, I’ll be the one to walk away from this fight unscathed.”
“You only think you’ll be unscathed, I said gently. You can tell me you’re different, but deep down inside you’re really not. I know you, Ilene. Even if you win this fight, it will tear away at your soul for the rest of eternity. If you kill me today, you’ll never be whole again. And that’s a promise…”
She snorted, shaking her head in the process. “You’re wrong. Killing you won’t affect me in any way. To me, you’re just one more obstacle standing in between my happily ever after with Roger and our future family. You’re nothing. You’re inconsequential.”
“Inconsequential…big word for a child.” If I couldn’t reason with her, I had to make her angrier.
“I am not a child! She shook her head in disgust. “Do you honestly expect me to believe you would mourn my death?”
“Ilene, despite everything you’ve done, you’re still my baby sister, and I would mourn your death for as long as I lived…”
Ilene snarled, baring her fangs as
she lunged at me. I met her head on, ramming my shoulder into hers, hoping to knock her off balance. She skidded in the dirt but quickly pivoted, snapping at me with her fangs again. I jumped back, narrowly avoiding having my muzzle mauled. Instead of backing off to give herself time to prepare another attack, Ilene charged at me again, slashing at me with her claws.
I turned my body to avoid having my face gouged, and her nails ripped deep into the muscle of my shoulder, tearing it open down to the bone. I turned my head and got a mouthful of fur at the side of her neck. She spun away from me, yelping in pain as the movement caused a chunk of her fur to be ripped from the skin. “You’re gonna pay for that,” she promised darkly.
I rushed forward, slamming into her with my injured shoulder and sending her tumbling into the dirt. The pain flared up and nearly drove me to the ground, but I forced it back for now; I didn’t have time to worry about the pain right now if I wanted to make it out of this fight alive. Before Ilene could get back to her feet, I was on top of her, digging my teeth into the fur at the base of her throat, trying to reach the flesh beneath.
She raked her sharp claws down the left side of my face, easily cutting through the fur and flesh. Blood poured down my face and into my eyes, temporarily blinding me. I backed away from her, trying to clear my vision with my paw. Ilene leapt onto my back, sinking her teeth into the side of my neck, burrowing deep to reach the flesh beneath a thick layer of protective fur.
Her teeth easily broke the skin and I yelped. I twisted and bucked trying to desperately wriggle free from her hold. She clamped down harder, tearing at the skin. Blood dripped to the ground, matting my fur together in the process. My paw skidded in the blood, and Ilene forced me lower and lower to the ground. If I lost my footing, it was all over. All she would have to do is dart in snake-like and rip open my throat, and there would be no healing from it–not after all the abuse my body had sustained lately.
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