Balance

by Leia Stone

  Holy shit balls, I was hammered. My own thoughts were slurring, maybe I should find Sylvia. No, I had to pee so badly! I rubbed my face, which felt numb. Maybe one glass of witches’ wine was equivalent to two bottles of regular wine. The bathroom! I stumbled through the door, my shoulder hitting the wall hard causing me to bust out laughing. I found a stall and somehow managed to lift up my dress and actually pee in the toilet and not on myself. Holy shit, I was wasted and Kai was going to be so pissed. Maybe Sylvia could ‘be gone’ it away. The thought made me laugh harder. After finally finding the handle to flush, I decided to skip trying to wash my hands, and just find Sylvia. Leaving the bathroom stall, I found four witches from Prudence’s clan waiting for me.

  Well, shit. I busted up laughing.

  They were grinning ear to ear.

  “You look a little intoxicated, dear,” one told me.

  “Oh my gawd, yer so obserbant,” I told her, feigning shock.

  Her jaw set. “Bitch,” she roared and came after me.

  Okay, shit. I was drunk off my ass, about to get jumped by four witches. Did one of them have a knife in her hand? I blinked but the world was getting blurry.

  ‘Kai, I’m druuuunk n bout to get jumped in the bathrum. Help, peeze.’

  Before I got my arm up to block it, the witch slapped me hard in the face. Another laugh ripped from my chest. “Who slaps people? Hit me!” I roared at her.

  The one with the knife advanced on me. “Pin her down. Let’s get the blood.”

  Shit. My immediate future was looking bleak and I was beginning to think they had gotten me drunk on purpose. I decided to shift to my wolf and make it harder on them. Looking down at my body, I tried to force the change. I wasn’t changing! I had forgotten how. Dammit! Stupid drunk. I slapped my forehead as one of them grabbed me hard and the protection ring on my finger heated up.

  “You guz r bitchez.” I decided shit talking was all I was capable of at that moment. I put my arms out in front of me and let mist pour from my palms. It was raw and undirected magic and I had no idea what I was doing, but it was my only defense.

  “Step back!” Sylvia roared from the door. My white magic was met with Sylvia’s advancing white cloud and all four women were thrown hard into the wall.

  “Yer such a badass, Sylvia.” I fist pumped as the protection ring lost its heat.

  She came closer to me and sniffed. “Witches’ wine? That’s been illegal for decades.” She shook her head in anger, then her eyes rested on the ring. “That probably saved your life. It absorbed all of the dark magic.”

  Wha? I tried to stare at the ring but it was blurry. They were throwing dark magic at me? I didn’t even feel it. I should go back and tip that lady.

  Sylvia placed an arm around me and dragged me out the door. I heard screaming coming from the entrance to the convention center and saw a commotion. Blinking rapidly, I tried to clear the image and see better.

  “Shit.” Sylvia never cussed. “Calm down, Alpha! She’s fine,” Sylvia roared and her voice was magically amplified to the entire hall. She walked me quickly to the front of the dining hall but my feet kept tripping and I fell. Suddenly, Adrian picked me up and jogged me to the front where I could see that the twin warlocks guarding the front door were bloody and unconscious. Kai and Max looked feral, fists bloody and fur rippling along their half-human forms. Kai’s mustache and glasses were long gone. The second Kai saw me in Adrian’s arms he rushed towards me. Adrian sat me down quickly and backed away as I tried to keep my face calm.

  Kai pulled me into his arms and took a deep breath. “What’s that smell?” he roared as everyone looked on.

  Sylvia had caught up now. “Witches’ wine. It’s illegal. I will take care of the matter. She wasn’t hurt.” Sylvia held his gaze.

  Kai’s eyes went yellow, he was breathing deeply, trying to control himself. Horrible timing, but I busted out laughing.

  Max couldn’t keep a straight face. “You’re three sheets to the wind,” he declared.

  Kai growled, sending witches stumbling backward as he scooped me up and exited the dining hall with Max trailing behind us.

  “You smell good,” I told Kai and winked. His face was blank, eyes yellow. We got to the car and I made him put me down. Max reached over and opened my door as I looked over at him. Max. Dirty blond hair, blue eyes, rock-hard build.

  “Yer a gud looking guy, Max,” I told him as his eyes widened and his face went red.

  “Are you trying to get me killed?” Max looked horrified.

  I laughed as the veins bulged in Kai’s neck. “What? Max is gud looking, not as hot as Kai but still.”

  “Okay, Aurora, enough.” Kai pushed me into the back seat and I lay down laughing. Man, car seats were so comfy. That was the last thought I had before sleep took me.

  Witches’ Wine

  I awoke with a headache from hell and all the memories of last night. Shit. My throat was so dry, my head pounded. I squinted against the light filtering through the curtains. Kai wasn’t next to me.

  ‘Are you awake?’ Kai asked.

  ‘Shhh … turn it down.’ I grabbed my head.

  The door opened and Kai entered with water.

  I prepared for the bitchfest that was undoubtedly going to come down on me. Kai spoke softly. “After hours of being completely livid with you, I’ve decided that last night wasn’t your fault, so I’m not mad at you.”

  He handed me the water and I squinted as my head pounded, trying to work out what he had just said. No fight? Seriously? Yes!

  I sighed. “Thanks,” I whispered. “Can I have some Advil? Like an entire bottle?”

  Kai shook his head. “Won’t help. Sylvia said to take a bath in two cups of salt and lavender oil.” He said Sylvia’s name with anger. She probably got the bitchfest.

  I sipped some water, letting the cool liquid quench my parched throat. Then I slowly stood and stumbled to the bathroom to draw a bath, tossing the salt and lavender in. The sound of the rushing water was too loud, so I plugged my ears. My thoughts went back to last night. So I got drugged with some illegal spell wine? Bitches. They probably planned the whole thing. What were they going to do to me in that bathroom? I shivered thinking about it. I hadn’t been able to change into my wolf. The thought made my eyes widen. What kind of wine was this?

  I eased into the bath and immediately felt some of the head pounding dissipate. I stared in shock as the water became deep purple. The salt was pulling the witches’ wine out of my skin. Whoa. Note to self. Thank Sylvia. I soaked until I felt somewhat normal again and then drained the purple water. Had I called Max hot last night? I smacked my forehead and changed into skinny jeans and a tight tank top. Padding out of the room, I went to find Kai. He was with Max in the backyard working out. Since Jeremy and Alek had taken over the basement, our workouts were limited.

  “Feeling better?” Kai stopped doing pushups and stood to greet me.

  “Much better,” I told him and turned to Max who was avoiding looking at me. “Max, about last night.” I started to apologize and his hands went up, face red.

  “Didn’t happen as far as I am concerned.” He looked nervously at Kai who grinned.

  I chuckled. “Okay.” I glanced at my watch. It was midday. Wow, I must have slept eighteen hours.

  “So, I talked to Sylvia about the incident last night.” Kai’s voice was full of anger.

  “It’s not her fault–”

  He put a hand up. “I know, but someone drugged you and she said four witches associated with Prudence’s clan tried to jump you in the bathroom.”

  I frowned. It sounded really bad when said out loud like that. That witch really needed to die.

  “What do you think they wanted?” he asked.

  My memories of that incident were hazy. “I dunno. Blood, capture. What do they always want?”

  Kai’s phone rang, distracting him. He pulled it from his gym shorts and glanced at the number, groaning.

  “Shit. I forgot abou
t this meeting with the government. I’ll be in my office.” He answered the phone and dashed into the house.

  Max shook his head as Kai left. “He deals with a lot.”

  Suddenly, I felt awful for my mate. He dealt with so much shit on my behalf. All of this drama with the humans was because of me. He did it all to protect me. Saying goodbye to Max, I went to listen at Kai’s office door.

  “Sir, with all due respect, my people will not be tagged like cattle!” He roared and I flinched.

  I couldn’t hear what was said on the other end of the line, but Kai didn’t seem happy.

  “Tell them we are doctors, lawyers, waiters. We are just as much a member of society as the humans!” His fist hit the desk, making me flinch again.

  “Fine.”

  I heard the phone slam in the cradle and I contemplated opening the door.

  “Come in, Aurora.” He sighed.

  Damn. Life was so much better when I was a human and could sneak around spying on people without being smelled.

  I slowly walked inside. Kai sat at his large wooden desk, his tight black V-neck t-shirt clung to his large muscles, his breathing heavy, eyes yellow.

  “What was that all about?” I cut right to it.

  His lips pressed together. “The United States government has suggested we wear some sort of tag or tracking device.”

  My mouth dropped open. “You’re kidding, right?”

  He ran a hand through his thick, wild hair. “I wish I was, Aurora.”

  He looked at me and through the mate bond, I felt his guilt at coming out to our people. His fear that it was the wrong choice.

  Sitting on his lap, I wrapped my arms around him. “Hey, you did the right thing. Now humans are aware of the vampires. The militias have tripled our numbers. Dozens of feeder clubs and dens have been shut down. Who knows how many human lives we have saved?”

  He draped his arms around me and pulled me closer. “In the short term, yes, I think I did the right thing. After the smoke has cleared and the vampire problem is solved, I’m not so sure the humans will be so welcoming.”

  I groaned. “Tagged? Like, a microchip? They really said that?”

  He had a far-off look in his eye. “They said it would be voluntary. A way of showing the reluctant humans that we aren’t hiding.”

  Bullshit. “They want to know how many of us there are. What cities we are in, what jobs we hold.” Mist began to leak from my skin. All of a sudden, Luna leapt out from behind the curtain and hissed at me. Kai jumped up and I fell off of him, crashing to the floor.

  “Jesus Christ! That cat. I didn’t even smell her.” He clutched his chest.

  I busted out laughing and Luna came to purr and rub up against me. I winked at Kai. “A little spell I did to increase Luna’s odds at survival.”

  Kai scowled at me. “Seriously? You took her cat smell? That’s not fair. She could be anywhere and I wouldn’t know it.”

  I lay on my back as Luna jammed her paws into my belly. “The coven and I are trying to figure out how Layla and her vampires have no scent.”

  Kai looked impressed. He inhaled again as Luna looked at him and hissed.

  Kai’s eyes went yellow and he growled, sending Luna scampering up my shirt and flying across the room to hide behind a potted plant.

  “Kai, you scared her!”

  He smiled. “Just having some fun.”

  He kissed my cheek. “I should bring this matter of the tagging to the council. Can you run the pack training session tonight?”

  I nodded.

  After he shut the door, I pulled Luna out from behind the plant.

  “Don’t let the big, bad werewolf scare you. He’s harmless,” I told her.

  “No, I’m not!” Kai said from the hallway.

  I laughed but it sounded fake. I couldn’t forget what Kai said on the phone about tagging us, like animals.

  Practice

  We were gathered in the barn, all of the wolves and a hundred militia. A month ago, we had paired up, one wolf to one human, and we were teaching them how to fight. Teaching them how to kill vampires. Some of them had become friendly, would chit chat after practice, but some just came to learn and left. I guess you couldn’t expect everyone to be on board but it saddened me to see wolves on one side of the room and humans on the other. Max walked up on stage with me.

  “I like when Kai’s gone and you’re in charge,” he said.

  I chuckled. “Oh yeah, why is that?”

  “Because it makes me second again.” Max was back, all of my witch wine drunken rant forgotten.

  I rolled my eyes. “Well, get ready because I’m going to shake it up a little. We need some bonding time.”

  Max looked at me like I was an alien. “Please tell me you did not just say bonding.”

  I whistled loud. “Listen up!”

  The murmuring quieted and I held my hands up. “Kai had business to tend to, so I will be leading tonight’s sparring session. Since I’m in charge, I thought we could do something different for a change.” I raised an eyebrow.

  Max frowned and I scanned the sea of confused faces.

  “Who wants to play flag football?”

  My question was met with a resounding cry of support.

  Max looked at me, impressed.

  “We will start with two thirty-minute games. Rotate every thirty minutes for the next two hours.”

  “Humans against werewolves?” someone shouted.

  I shrugged. “Up to you. Who wants humans against werewolves?”

  The humans started chanting. “Human, human, human.”

  I laughed. “Okay! You got it. Humans against wolves.”

  People began high-fiving and talking crap to each other. As they turned to leave, I shouted. “Wolves!”

  Everyone turned back to me. “Go easy, they’re fragile.”

  Earl gave me a grin and twisted his mustache. “It’s on.”

  *

  There was a football field at the high school in Welches. We were still technically on Mount Hood but farther away from our homes. One of our wolves worked as a coach for the school and opened up the locker rooms for us, which had everything we needed.

  I sat on the bleachers looking out onto the game. It was the fourth quarter and the humans were winning. This was doing exactly what I had intended, boosting morale. Even though we were playing humans against wolves, the two teams were smiling and high-fiving each other after good plays. There was respect growing. We were showing them that we were like them. Max, drenched in sweat with a stony expression on his face, pulled the wolf team into a huddle. I saw Tara on the sidelines checking him out and it made me smile. Who knew a simple game of football could make everything screwed up in the world feel so normal.

  “Come on, Max! Make us proud!” I shouted.

  He smiled and shook his head, embarrassed, as Earl rounded the corner and stepped up onto the bleachers, taking a seat next to me.

  “This was a good idea. We should make it a weekly thing.” He winced as he sat down and straightened his leg.

  “You okay?”

  He waved me off. “Just getting old. Nothing you will have to worry about.”

  I smiled. True, weird, but true. Max made a touchdown and I jumped up clapping and whistling.

  After I sat back down, Earl leaned into me. “You know, it’s been months since the incident with the vampire queen.”

  I rubbed my neck. Incident. Yeah, where she bit me in a bid to get pregnant.

  “My guys are getting antsy for action. Raiding the clubs is good, but we want to take her out.” He had the fine lines around his eyes and mouth that told of a happy life, lots of laughter. I liked Earl. He was a good guy I didn’t want to disappoint him.

  I met his gaze straight on. “You have no idea how bad I want that. I promise we will get her. We’ve got a new lead. When Kai gets back, we will call a meeting to discuss it.” I placed an arm on his shoulder and he nodded.

  I stood again and hollered in
excitement as Max scored another touchdown. Earl chuckled, but before I could sit back down, his face froze in horror and his eyes fixed on my chest. What the …? Suddenly, his hand reached out and pushed me hard. I fell backward and cracked my head on the metal bleachers as a sharp pain sliced into my leg. Looking down, I saw at least five red sniper dots following me. Shit!

  “Go!” Earl shouted as I rolled onto my tummy and started to army crawl across the floor of the metal bench. I was wedged into the small space and extremely exposed. What the hell was going on? The sound of snapping bullets hurt my ears. My head filled with a symphony of chaos, screaming, roaring, wolves shifting.

  ‘Kai, I’ve been shot. We’re under attack.’ His meeting was in Portland, but the mate bond was strong, so I hoped he’d heard me. Earl groaned behind me and I turned to look back at him. He was slumped over, flat on the bench floor, red laser dots lined all over his back. Oh, shit! He was human; there was no way he could come back from that. Earl was pack as far as I was concerned.

  “No!” I jumped up, ignoring the searing pain in my leg, and threw myself over him as bullets riddled my back instead of his.

  Getting shot is exactly as you think it will be. Hurts like hell and does a good job of cutting open your insides. I couldn’t breathe; what little breath I could take was hard and rattled like water in my chest.

  I heard Max roar, “RAIDOS! In the trees!”

  The militia returned RAIDOS’ fire with gunfire of our own. Then, strong arms were around me and I felt someone pick me up off of Earl, who was alive and looking at me like I was a ghost. I didn’t feel pain anymore, just cold. Mist was leaking out of my skin like air from a balloon with a small hole in it.

  Max’s face suddenly came into view. “You’re not allowed to die on me, Aurora!” he screamed.

  I felt him rip my shirt off and press something hard to my back. A painful scream tore from my throat as the pressure on my back caused me agony. RAIDOS. Yes, of course they wanted me dead. Vampire baby-making problem solved. Dammit, couldn’t a girl just watch a football game in peace?