by Tamsin Baker
I could feel him like he was right behind me.
“He’s here,” Mechelle said into my ear, her throat catching with excitement.
I nodded and turned around a little so I could squint with one eye at the spectacle.
My knees buckled and I grabbed for Mechelle. She held on tight and for the first time in my life, I was grateful for the cougar shifters.
“Don’t lose your lunch. You need to focus.”
God, he looks beautiful.
Angus had come in nothing more than a cut off pair of old jeans. Surely that was a choice for modesty, because nothing else was covered. His huge chest gleamed with good health and his abdominal muscles were as fit as any boxer. His arms were as big as tree trunks and the look on his face was one of gritty determination. He pumped his fists together and shifted his weight from bare foot to bare foot like an old boxer.
“He looks dangerous,” Mechelle said, her tone full of admiration.
“He is. But so are the vampires.”
There was a surge of lighting as the electricity in this area of San Fran got turned up.
Vincent stepped into the ring, followed by a large young male vampire.
The crowds around the ring began to quieten.
“Thank you all for coming tonight. It seems there needed to be a more public spectacle to reassure people that we are still very much in control of the city.”
There was an angry murmur around the crowd and Angus rolled his eyes.
Yeah right. Reassure people.
A smile tugged up my lips and inside my belly the fear calmed.
“Angus will face off against my best fighter, in a bid to get back some of his freedom. Although the punishment for such disrespect is death, Angus is by far one of the most productive member of our city, and would be sorely missed if he was gone.”
I held my breath, hoping for a reprieve in this madness.
“Therefore, I have decided to extend a pardon to the Alpha wolf, and will ask only for fifty years of service in replacement for his sentence.”
Anger brewed in my belly, despite the fact I should have been feeling relief. Angus would be working in that power plant until the day he died anyway, so this was not a new offer. It was a way for Vincent to get out of this fight, and for him to keep his thumb down on the wolves, while maintaining power in the city.
There was quiet as the city held its breath.
Would Angus give in at the last minute and bow to the power of the vamps?
“No thank you, Vincent. I’d rather fight.”
And die, were the unspoken words behind Angus’s decree.
A cheer went up all around us and my belly trembled in fear once again.
“Very well. You know the rules. No shifting. One on one.”
Vincent calmly stepped out of the ring and lifted his hand. “Begin.”
The crowd surged forward as the vampire and Angus faced off against one another. The vampire snarled and sneered, his ugly face grotesque in its paleness.
Stupid blood suckers. I’d like to see them looking so smug when the sun comes up in the morning.
Angus and the vampire began to circle one another. The vampire had a crew of men and women behind him, hanging off the ropes and hollering to him.
Angus had men too, which I was glad to see. They looked grim and determined, though I doubted any of them would jump up if Angus needed them to.
The vampire lurched forward and I gasped, grabbing hold of Mechelle as Angus danced sideways and swung his arm in an arc, sending the vampire flying sideways into the ropes.
“Yes!” I yelled, excitement bubbling inside me.
The vampire snarled and bared his fangs, flying at Angus and trying to bite his neck.
Angus grabbed the vamp by the throat and slammed the huge guy into the mat. An almighty crash went through the center of the city as Angus lifted his fist and beat into the vampire’s face over and over again. Angus’s arms and shoulders bunched stronger and bigger until finally he stood up, grabbed the vampire’s head, and ripped it from his shoulders.
A huge cry went up around us as I watched in disbelief. My mate had beaten the vampire’s best warrior. As he should.
My mate, my alpha.
Cold dread curled up my spine and I yelled out before my eyes even saw anything. “Angus! Behind you!”
He must have heard me because he swung around just in time to have a hoard of vampires jump on his back.
Chapter 9.
Angus.
The pain that splintered through my chest and neck was like the very fire of hell. I screamed out and tried to pull them free, swinging my fist at the vampires crowding me.
My hand connected and one of the males went down, then the next was at me. Biting my arm, drawing blood. The pain was intense, but I could feel my rage increasing. I knew it was safer to stay human. A vampire’s bite in my wolf was deadly…or so I’d thought before I’d met my mate and the cougar shifter who had explained it all so well.
Another vampire clamped down on my neck, their arms going around my shoulders to hold my body in place as they attempted to drain the core of me.
No choice now. I’d be dead soon enough if I stayed in this body.
I cried out and pulled the vamp off my back, letting go of my humanity and feeling the rise of the Alpha inside of me. The one who never should have been kept down. The shift came on me. My teeth were first.
I twisted around and sunk my newly pointed teeth into the male vampire in front of me, tearing at his shoulder and spitting out the flesh as the blood oozed between my teeth. A massive growl ripped through me as I saw a dozen more vampires jump into the ring.
The cougars were behind them, on the ground, unmoving.
My body dropped to the ground and transformed into that of my huge black wolf. I let the snarl rip through my teeth, flexed the strong muscles in my legs, and charged forward. The vampires stumbled and tripped to get away from me, but I pulled them back into the ring.
They were like rag dolls to my new and improved teeth. I dragged them back and ripped their limbs off.
Pain burned in my hind legs as two of the vampires bit me, their venom leeching into my bloodstream.
No!
I tried to ignore the panic rising in my mind. Generations of fear of vampire venom coming in to paralyze me. I twisted and turned, then two more wolves staggered into the ring and dragged the vampires off me.
My Betas. They came to help.
I leapt forward and tore at the necks of the vampires still around, black blood spewing everywhere as there were screams of panic around us. The whole city was running for their lives, and Vincent was at the center of them, standing still, as though he were the center of the world.
I’ll get to you later.
The wolves increased in numbers as my Betas stepped up to fight my fight. Other shifters were standing up too. I could see some of the lions and cheetahs prowling around aimlessly.
I wasn’t sure if they were going to be an ally or an enemy, but I’d deal with them all later.
The vampires fell in huge numbers now and as I leapt off the stage to confront Vincent, I let go of my wolf and transformed back to human.
There had been no pain with the shift, and I was confident that I would be able to shift back to my Alpha wolf quickly if needed.
“Well, it looks like you are the victor today, Angus,” Vincent drawled, not moving an inch amongst the fray of running, screaming people.
I stepped forward, carefully. Time slowing down around me as the people cleared away and the animals moved closer.
“It’s time for the vampires to leave, Vincent.”
His eyes sparkled with anger and I knew then that I was going to have to kill him.
Suddenly, I was being dragged back and down. A new group of vampires had me by the throat. The waist. My legs. I tugged and pulled hard at my captors. Vincent’s sickening smile hovered in my line of vision as vampire venom began racing through my muscles.
Tameethia, who was still standing beside Vincent, fell away and transformed into the biggest cat I’d ever seen.
The wolves were on me, tearing away the vampires at my neck.
My vision was blurring. My blood was draining away.
I was on the ground, but I couldn’t get up.
And I didn’t know why.
There was more screaming as those that had attacked me were destroyed.
Vincent was laying on the ground in front of me, choking to death on his own blood.
There was a whole group of cougars now. Huge, lethal creatures.
And at the center of it all, was my mate.
I pushed myself up higher to see. I blinked rapidly. No, it couldn’t be. They’d hidden Clayton away. Surely, he couldn’t be here.
“Angus!” Clayton was now on top of me, patting his warm hands all over me.
He seemed upset, and I didn’t know why. Tears were streaming down his face. “Don’t die, Alpha. Don’t die. You can’t leave me.”
I lifted my hand up to cup his beautiful face. The rest of the world had fallen away as my strength leeched from my muscles.
“It doesn’t matter, my lovely mate. I don’t matter. It’s only you. I want you safe. They’ll look after you now. The vampires are gone.”
I lay down, not able to keep my head up any longer. I’d never thought how it would feel to die. I’d assumed, like living, it would be painful. But it wasn’t. There was a coldness, but it was peaceful.
I closed my eyes, praying to the heavens that the cougars would take him in. Surely, they would. He was such a good man…an asset to any pack.
“No!” Clayton’s voice came through my mind like a boom gate. “Help me, what do I do?” His hands were on me, and for some reason, I could feel pain in my legs now. Aching, burning pain.
Fuck. What are they doing?
And who was he talking to?
I cracked my eyes open and I could see Tameethia, and another woman crouching over me, talking furiously to Clayton. He nodded suddenly and bent to kiss me. His lips were warm, and so lovely. I lifted up to meet him. He dipped his head and sunk his teeth into my neck, sucking hard.
“Ah!” I cried out at the pain he was inflicting. “What are you doing?”
He grabbed my face and shook me.
I opened my eyes wider, getting annoyed at him now. Why was he trying to save me?
“You are not dying on me, Angus. I need you. I love you. And I am saving you.”
I loved him too, but I’d been bitten a dozen times. I’d saved them from the vampires. That was all that was important. What did Clayton think he could do?
“Keep biting him. Suck out the venom if you can. You aren’t a shifter, so it won’t poison you,” a woman I didn’t recognize was saying to Clayton.
He shimmied down my body and set his sharp teeth into my leg.
“Ah,” I cried out, grabbing for him to make him stop.
Two people came beside me, my Betas, holding a hand each and gripping hard.
“Fuck. You guys too?”
Terry smiled, his head cut open and blood dripping down his face. “Sorry Alpha. You aren’t dying on us today. You’ve got a whole city to clean up now.”
I groaned, images of a new world rolling through my mind as Clayton systematically went from one sore spot to the next burning hot spot.
“Ah. God. Clayton.”
I wanted to scream at him, ‘you’re killing me,’ but I knew it was the opposite. He was saving me, and the road back to the living was so much more painful than the road down to death. My arms and legs began to tremble and I sat bolt upright. My stomach heaved and I spewed out a foul-tasting black vomit. I turned my head and threw up again, choking on the smell of death on my breath.
“He may need some of your blood to cleanse him, rebuild him. He’s lost a lot of blood.” That woman was speaking to Clayton again as she handed him a knife.
“Pour it in here,” she said, pointing to a gaping hole on the side of my thigh.
Clayton nodded and wrapped a hand around the blade.
“Who are you?” I asked, staring at the woman with the intense eyes and air of leadership.
“My daughter,” said Tameethia as she stepped up next to our group.
Clayton hissed in pain and I looked over to see him placing down the bloody knife, opening his hand and squeezing his palm until a steady stream of blood poured onto me.
“What are you…” I reached out to stop him, but my Betas grabbed my arms.
They didn’t need to apply much pressure. My whole body had gone weak.
“More,” the woman above me said, and Clayton moved his hand to another sore on my leg.
His blood soothed my wounds, making my muscles calm their trembling and my belly churn in hunger.
I stared at my young, small mate. My perfect other half. My Omega.
“You’re healing me.”
He looked up and smiled. “Of course. I told you I could.”
I nodded and leaned back, letting myself sink back into the earth once again. Clayton has said that he would save me and he had.
*
A few hours later dawn approached and I was finally able to stand up and move around once again.
People had formed in groups. Cautiously waiting for the call to action. To know what changes the death of the vampire reign would bring.
As I staggered to my feet, pulled on the jeans I was handed by my mate, and walked over the blood-smeared stage, a weird sense of purpose flowed over me. This was it. My moment in time when I was exactly where I was meant to be. At the exact place I should be. Doing the exact thing I was born for.
Clayton was one step behind me and as I reached a hand out, he clasped onto it.
Another piece of my shattered heart fell into place.
Clayton was my true mate. The one born for me. And no matter how we had met, or who we’d known before now, he would be my forever.
Tameethia stepped up on the floor beside me, her pack of cougars close by.
“Please, come closer.” I gestured to the groups hiding in the alleyway, in abandoned shops, and openly on the streets. “I know you all have questions, but I would like to start by introducing myself and this woman beside me. I am Angus, Alpha of the Highland Wolves. This is Tameethia, Alpha mate of the South End Cougars.”
There was a round of tittering remarks and scowls from some of the other packs.
“We need to get San Francisco back on its feet. A livable city for us all without the daily threat of our children being killed, or our lives being taken away. I liked the world before the humans died, and I would like to see us go back to that sort of life.
“Tameethia has suggested a city council. An alpha or leader from every group will need to step forth and we will band together and work out how best to make this city work for us. Those of you who are too lazy to work, will be asked to leave. This is a tough new world we all live in, and I know the only way forward is to help one another. As we used to.”
I stepped back and gestured for Tameethia to step forward.
She began speaking about the tyranny of the vampires and how we could rise to become one of the strongest families on the planet. I turned my attention away from her and focused on my mate. His intense eyes, and his soft skin. “I never thought we’d get here, Clayton. To a time where peace and unity was possible.”
Clayton smiled and pressed himself tighter against me. “I’m not sure it’s going to be an easy ride, Angus. There is a lot of people in this city that are far too used to doing nothing.” He scowled at the crowd and I ignored his fears.
“Clayton, you have empowered me to be the strongest man in this city. I am unbeatable, and from now on, my word will be law. We will get this city back to what it used to be, and life will be better
for all of us. I promise.”
I kissed his forehead and put my arm around his shoulders. I wasn’t sure if we could ever get back to the sort of life we had before the humans were killed off, but damn it, we had to try.
“I know you will Angus. Because you are a true Alpha, and you will live and die for your family.”
I squeezed my mate tightly to me and let the love I felt for him flow freely between our bond. “You’re my everything, Clayton. And I want to build a world that you want to live in.”
Clayton sighed and pressed closer.
It would be a long road back to health, and just as Clayton’s blood had painfully pulled me back to the land of the living, it would be worth it in the long run.
THE END
If you enjoyed this story, I think you’d love the first in the series.
Here’s a sneak peek for you!
The Omega Shift
By Tamsin Baker
Blurb:
In a world where only the paranormals survived... A virus wiped out all humans on Earth ten years ago and now there is a war going on between all those left standing.
Caden is an Omega wolf, struggling to stay alive among the ranks of the vicious pack he belongs to. He’s been used and abused by so many who were meant to protect him, yet is alive, unlike so many other Omegas who did not survive the rigors of the new world. His only goal is to fulfill his promise to his grandma, to survive at any cost.
Max, Alpha of the Olano pack was a cop for ten years before the world went to hell in a hand basket. Now, he fights to keep his pack on top, fed and alive. He mounts an attack against a rival pack, only to realise that a revered Omega is among their ranks, and not only that, but Caden is his fated mate.
Can Max convince the broken Caden that love and destiny still exist, or will the violence of their fractured world tear them apart?
Chapter 1.
Caden
I couldn’t feel my toes, but at least that wasn’t a permanent thing…I didn’t think. The all-encompassing cold sapped my will to move and check. The first rays of the sun stroked my cheek, but even that didn’t give me a reason to get up. This new world sucked. In every way.
