by Lane, Terri
* * *
“Take a breath first,” said Kai. “Are you sure you want to leave now?”
“Yes, I’m sure Kai. We can stay in a hotel until the money for the house is cleared,” I said.
“I’m not worried about that,” he said. Kai walked me to the couch and sat down with me. “The wolves are just as frustrated with the Hunter situation. Though they’re less inclined to killing us on sight, they’re trying to keep us out of our running grounds,” he said.
“Has your father called a meeting of the region’s alphas?” I asked.
“Yeah, it’s tomorrow,” he said slowly. I studied his face and saw it in his eyes that he wanted to go.
“You wish to attend?” I asked.
“I’m unsure about it,” he admitted.
“I can tell you, it will be a bunch of people arguing on the best way to defeat the Hunters and agreeing on nothing,” I mumbled. Kai chuckled.
“Yeah, you’re probably right. I guess I just wanted to go to see our original pack come together. Each alpha of the smaller regional packs was once under my dad. It would be the first time the North Pacific got together since we all split off,” he said. I took a small breath and nodded.
“You should go then,” I said.
“But I don’t want you to be in any hot water with the vampires,” he said.
“It’s fine, I…nothing too dramatic happened,” I told him.
“Are you okay to be here for a while longer?” he asked.
“Yes, everyone thinks I’m ‘resting’,” I said. Kai picked up my feet and rested them on his lap. He slid off my shoes and ran his hand up along my bared leg.
“I kind of don’t like that men saw you in this dress,” he murmured. I smirked.
“You’re the only man that’s touched me in this dress,” I pointed out. Kai grinned.
“Good,” he said. He rubbed my feet and a huge yawn escaped me.
“It’s been a while since you fed,” he said softly. I nodded and reached for his hand. I put his lips to my wrist and bit into his vein. The taste of him was like a drug to me. I held his gaze as I drank from him and saw in his eyes that he was aroused before his other hand squeezed my thigh. I finished drinking from his wrist and he moved quickly. One moment we were sitting, the next he was on top of me. I kissed him hard and bit his lip gently. His moan resonated through me. I gripped his waist as he ground his erection against my core. I pushed him back to unzip my dress and get it off. He stood with me and quickly got out of his jeans and t-shirt. He picked me up and we were both on the bed before I could count to ten. Kai tore through my panties and trailed impatient kisses down to my navel. When his lips brushed over the lips of my sex I couldn’t help my moan.
His tongue circled my clitoris and I slid my fingers into his hair, tugging on the thick locks. He licked and sucked until my legs started to shake, I let him go to twist my fists in the blankets. He turned his head to kiss my thigh right before I could find release. I sighed and reached for his chin. He stretched out over me and brushed his lips over mine. I slid my hand down his taut stomach to stroke his thick sex. He groaned as I slowly guided him to my entrance. Kai took his time with me. Though I wanted fast and urgent, he pushed deep and slow, building up an orgasm that left me dizzy.
“Kai…” I sighed his name after we’d both climaxed.
“Hmm,” he murmured. I laid against his chest, wrapped in his arms.
“It’s getting harder and harder to leave you,” I said.
“One day…Just one more day and we’re gone,” he said. “Then we won’t have to worry about leaving,” he said.
“Good,” I said.
We stayed like that for a little while longer. Then I forced myself to get out of bed and freshen up.
“Your belly got a little bit bigger,” Kai said. He watched me get dressed from the bed, still naked and lounging.
“It did…” I said while checking. The small bloated-looking bump had increased just a fraction. It wouldn’t be notable to a human’s eyes, but for a vampire’s, and a wolf’s, it was obvious. “The time will fly by and before we know it we’ll have a little monster on our hands,” I said. Kai laughed.
“At what age does your kind mature into normal vampire characteristics?”
“Any time between fifteen and seventeen,” I said. “Which is the same for a wolf’s first instance of shifting?” I asked.
“More like seventeen to twenty, but pretty much, yeah,” he said.
“But with a hybrid…who knows,” I said.
“Maybe we can find one…and ask him or her questions,” he mused. I zipped up my dress and went about sliding on my heels. “Wait,” he said. I did. Kai got up, then bent down at my feet to put them on for me.
“I doubt we’d be able to simply find a hybrid, if any do exist,” I said. “No doubt they’d be deep in hiding,” I murmured.
“Do you have to be back right away?” he asked. I glanced at the clock on the wall. There were still four hours left until dawn.
“I should go back. I didn’t tell anyone that I was leaving…someone could be looking for me,” I sighed.
“They would’ve called you right?” he asked. I glanced at my phone. It was face down on the floor in front of the couch.
“I wouldn’t have noticed if they had,” I chuckled. While Kai pulled on his clothes, I checked the phone. There were no missed calls, and only one text from Alexis. She asked about my outburst during the meeting, but that was all. Kai walked me outside. It was strange and exciting to have him next to me out in the open. For a moment, I got a taste of what our life in Montreal would be like, and how free we’d be together. It was exhilarating. I could barely wait for it.
“I wish I could hold your hand,” he murmured. We stood just in front of his building, waiting for my car to arrive.
“I wish that too,” I said with a small smile. He glanced around for a second. His hand shyly inched towards mine, but then he froze. Kai’s gaze was riveted to the street corner on our left. There was a dark alley between his apartment building and the neighboring one. I searched the shadows until I saw what he was fixed on.
“Vampires,” I breathed.
“They’re watching us,” he murmured. By then, we were like deer in headlights. The two male vampires watching us knew we had seen them, yet they weren’t moving. I noticed how finely they were dressed. Not for hunting, nor for a general outing among humans.
“I think they followed me from Prime Coven,” I whispered.
“We can’t let them go back. It’ll mean your death!” Kai said, quietly but urgently. But before I could stop him to think things through, he was quickly striding towards the alley. The vampires disappeared deeper into the shadows. I had no choice but to follow.
“So, you run off to meet with a wolf after all that talk at conference?” one of the vampires asked.
“Who sent you to follow me?” I asked.
“Arya. She had her suspicions when she saw you leaving the house using the secret exit. You aren’t the only vampire to know of its inner workings,” he said.
“The dog’s scent is all over her, I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s her lover,” the other vampire said. Kai growled. He stood like a wall between me and the two. The street was several yards behind me. We were deep enough into the alley that if a fight broke out, no passing human would be the wiser.
“Either way she should meet justice by Wraith,” the other said. “Will you truly betray your own kind by defending this mongrel?”
“It seems only two of us will be emerging from this ally tonight,” I said in an even tone. They both hissed and launched at us. I caught one by the arms and he had mine in a vice grip; we were locked in an odd wrestle while Kai shoved the other vampire back with brute force. He had more strength and speed than a human, but he wasn’t at his peak unless he shifted into wolf form. I kicked the vampire I was wrestling in the chest and he slid back, hitting the concrete wall hard. I used my brief advantage to grab him by
the throat and throw him down to the ground. I stepped on his windpipe, then bent down to snap his neck. Apparently, Arya sent spies with inferior fighting ability.
I quickly turned to find Kai in hand-to-hand combat with the other vampire. He had a bloody lip and bruised cheek already. He was mostly blocking and dodging the vampire’s blows, as he was the weaker in his human form. As I dashed over, Kai took a blow to his temple that dazed him. Before the vampire could hurt him further, I shouldered Kai’s assailant into the opposite wall. He recovered quickly and slapped me across the face wildly. I barely felt the hit, but Kai did. He let out an enraged growl and tackled the vampire to the ground. Kai crushed his windpipe and broke his neck easily with the added strength that came from his anger. It took Kai several deep breaths to calm down after his attacker was dead.
“Are you okay?” he asked, his tone gruff.
“Are you?” I replied.
“I’m fine…please tell me they didn’t hurt you.” Kai looked me over anxiously.
“No, they didn’t,” I said. Neither of them had the strength of a pureblood, nor the skill of a fighter,” I added. Kai gently took my face in his hands and made sure for himself.
“Honestly…I’m fine,” I said. He nodded and then took a deep breath.
“Why don’t you wait until daylight before going back to Prime Coven?” he asked. “Arya will assume her spies are still out because you are,” he said. “Please, it’ll make me feel better about your safety,” he said.
“Alright,” I said, nodding. “We should do something about them though,” I gestured to the bodies lying on the ground. Kai glanced down.
“You go upstairs and I’ll…figure something out,” he murmured. I went back inside, glancing over my shoulder every so often. I paced around the studio until Kai came back, twenty minutes later.
“What did you do with the bodies?” I asked.
“Tossed them in a dumpster,” he mumbled.
“Are you alright?” I went to study his bruises. His nose wasn’t that crooked; he’d likely popped the cartilage back into place.
“I’ll look good as new in a few minutes. I just need to wipe the blood off me,” he said. He went into the bathroom and I heard the shower turn on. Only after a moment’s hesitation did I join him. He let me wash him and we created our own atmosphere of brief peace for the rest of the night. It was rare that I shifted my sleep/wake pattern to that of a normal human’s or a werewolf. But I fell asleep in Kai’s arms and slept till morning.
“I had a weird dream…” Kai said. I blinked the sleep out of my eyes and looked at him questioningly. “I don’t think I should have tossed those vampire corpses in the trash. It could lead Hunters sniffing around here,” he said.
“Well what else do you want to do with them?” I asked.
“Dump them in the woods,” he said, getting up. I didn’t understand his waking stress. Perhaps he was anxious about the pack meeting he would be attending later, or anxious in general about our situation. I didn’t think I’d return to the coven meeting at all. I thought I would stay in Kai’s studio until he was ready to head north.
“The woods?” I asked.
“It’s daytime. Hunter activity is low,” he said. As he got dressed, I rummaged around in his bureau for something I could wear.
“Where are you going?” he asked.
“With you,” I said. “I can’t stay cooped up here while you’re gone,” I added. He sighed and helped me find a flannel shirt that looked like an oversized sweater on me. He even managed to find a pair of black exercise tights that weren’t too loose on me. Kai had a smaller pair of running shoes that I slid on as well.
We headed out to the garage. Kai drove a pickup truck, which already had a tarp handy in the flatbed. We drove to the dumpster he put the vampires’ bodies into. I could tell their skin was already starting to burn slowly from sun sensitivity. That told me they couldn’t have been fully pureblood.
I helped Kai load them into the truck and cover them up. “Forest Park would be a good place…” I suggested.
“You read my mind,” he said. We shared a brief smile, then he focused on the road. I studied the way his shoulders grew tense and his brows furrowed after a moment. He was getting caught up in thought.
“Talk to me Kai,” I said.
“Sorry I just…I got this bad feeling in my chest, you know?” he said.
“About what?” I asked.
“The war with the Hunters. Maybe it’s just guilt that I’ve been repressing, I don’t know. But what if we skip out and it turns out Hunters decimate our region?” he asked.
“Our kind are more than capable of dealing with the Hunters, I’m sure,” I said. “It isn’t our war anymore. Our fight is for us and our child; keeping him safe in a world of supernaturals and Hunters that will want to kill him,” I said.
“Yeah…you’re right,” he said and let out a deep breath. “You’re right.” I rubbed his back and felt him relax a bit. We drove to the forest and had to go off road in order to get the bodies out discreetly. Kai found a brush-filled ridge to conceal them in.
“I get into fatal fights all the time, but I’ve never felt like…a murderer,” I said slowly. Kai actually laughed.
“You’ve never stashed a body before?” he asked, laughing again.
“No, usually I just leave them where they lay,” I said. “Then again, all my fighting takes place in the forest.”
“Yeah, leaving bodies in the city gets tricky. Drawing ordinary human attention only draws Hunters’ attention,” he said.
As we turned to go back to the truck, I heard the snapping of a nearby branch. Immediately after, silent bullets sprayed our way. Kai and I quickly took cover behind a couple of thick trees. I peeked and saw three elite Hunters closing in on us.
“Fuck…they’re always around,” Kai growled. “Climb up Sophia,” he said.
“No, that’ll leave you vulnerable,” I said.
“You have two lives to think about and one of them isn’t mine,” he said. I huffed, but quickly clambered up into the tree. One of the Hunters departed from their three formation to gun Kai down. I chose to ignore his request for me to stay out of things and dropped down onto the Hunter just as he was about to reach Kai’s tree. I snatched the gun from him and shot him once in the head, before turning around to shoot at the other two, who were then forced to take cover.
“Sophia!” Kai yelled at me angrily. I tossed him the gun and climbed back up into the trees. But one of the Hunters started to shoot up at me. Kai quickly stepped out of cover to shoot at them while I found a safe thick branch to stand on. I couldn’t stand sitting by while Kai shouldered the danger for my sake. So I swiftly and quietly moved through the trees until I was behind the Hunters.
“Where’s the vampire?” the Hunter asked his partner.
“I lost sight of her,” the other answered.
“Well find her!”
Before another word could be said, I dropped down and snapped the shooter’s neck. The other stared at me in wide eyed shock. Kai took that time to shoot him dead.
“Why can’t you listen? I had a plan you know!” he said.
“I couldn’t live if you died and I’d done nothing to help you,” I told him. Kai kissed me hard when he reached me.
“Let’s get out of here, okay?” he said.
I nodded. But the forest wasn’t done with us yet. The sound of human footfalls was fast incoming behind us. Kai growled then shifted into his wolf form. His ears pricked to the left and he let out a long and loud howl. Meanwhile, I counted four more Hunters incoming. I took to the trees before Kai could make any gesture. He howled again and I finally heard the heavy, tearing sprint of two wolves coming to our aid. I waited until the wolves had the Hunters engaged in melee before dropping in to help. The wolves spared me shocked glances for fractions of a second. But we were all invested in the fight. Our odd group took out the Hunters with ease. Kai huffed at us and took off towards the truck. We all ran b
ack to it. The wolves shifted and stared at me in wide-eyed shock as I got into the front with Kai. No one said a word as he sped away from the forest.
“Ah…um…Kai?” I pressed my lips together and glanced in the rear view mirror. One of the wolves I recognized. He was Kevin, Kai’s second. The other, a burly bulldog looking one, I didn’t recognize. He was staring a hole into the back of my head.
“Yep,” Kai said. His tone was almost carefree, as if my being in the car with them was perfectly normal.
“Why is there a vampire in your truck?” the bulldog asked.
“Relax Erickson, she’s…this is Sophia. The vampire I made it out of Gifford with,” he said. Erickson’s gaze softened the barest bit.
“So, you guys are talking again about fighting together?” Kevin asked. It seemed that he hoped Kai would agree without hesitation and he did.
“The vampires had their own conference about dealing with the Hunters. She wanted to talk to me about suggesting a coalition to Ephraim,” he lied smoothly.
“So, this is the Princess Sophia?” Erickson asked. I rolled my eyes.
“I go by Sophia and nothing else,” I said.
“So, the vamps want to work with us huh? Can’t handle the Hunters on their own?” Kevin asked.
“Neither would you all be able to. Not definitively anyway,” I said. Erickson huffed.
“Please. You came to us, there’s no shame in admitting it,” he said. Kai glanced at me with a slightly pleading look. I took a deep breath and then shrugged.
“Either way, it’s going to take a lot to flush them out of this region and cripple their ability to train more elite Hunters,” I said.
“I agree. That’s the first time we encountered the fully decked out Hunters,” Kevin said.
“What were the two of you doing in that forest anyway?” Kai asked. He sounded upset with them even though they had saved us.
“Erickson wanted to—”
