by A. D. Ryan
Dropping off the food wasn’t the only reason Marcus and Miranda stopped by, though. While Miranda and I put the food in the kitchen, Nick and Marcus went for a walk. When they returned, I pulled Nick aside and he informed me that Marcus was checking in to see if we’d had any more problems. He was relieved to hear the rest of our evening was uneventful, but he still wanted to send the guys over to patrol after sunset. Nick refused, saying he’d call if we needed the help.
Until then, we decided to have a normal Christmas—or as close to normal as we could get.
Because I didn’t know my parents would be visiting, I hadn’t been able to buy them a gift yet. I hadn’t bought anyone a gift, to be brutally honest. After everything that happened with Karl, shopping was the last thing on my mind.
My parents dismissed my apology as they handed me a small gift-wrapped box, telling me that Nick flying them out to spend the holidays with their daughter was the perfect gift. The charm bracelet inside was absolutely beautiful, and they’d taken the liberty of adding three charms. The first represented family; the second was the zodiac symbol for Scorpio, which was my and Bobby’s sign; and the last one was a cactus, probably intended to remind me of the arid heat of Arizona. It was touching, and I found it hard not to get emotional as Nick helped to fasten it around my wrist.
Mom and I spent the afternoon in the kitchen preparing the food that Marcus and Miranda had given us. We chatted over a bottle of wine while we cooked, and Nick kept my father company. What they talked about, I had no idea. It had to be innocent enough since Nick was still walking by the time we put dinner on the table.
Having my parents stay with us definitely brought back happy memories, but with every day that passed, I still grew more and more anxious. I worried about plummeting backward in all the progress I’d made recently. These feelings were only made more prominent as the moon slowly rounded out. I had five days until the next full moon, and I could feel the wolf growing stronger and more dominant with each passing day. I could keep her in check, but she wanted out. And soon.
With an hour until we rang in the New Year, Nick, my parents, and I were hanging out in the living room, drinking our second bottle of champagne. The sky outside was clear, millions of bright stars shining against the black backdrop, the almost full moon lighting the mountains below. It was incredibly serene and absolutely beautiful.
Mom and Dad were set to fly back to Arizona the morning of the forth, which was cutting it pretty damn close to the full moon, but I chose to think of it as a test of my control. I was confident I could manage my urges until then…as long as nothing took me by surprise.
Before tonight, I hadn’t given much thought to what my resolution might be, but after everything I’d been through over the last few months, I decided to embrace this life. Seeing my parents, I knew they were adjusting to life without me nearby, and it offered me solace. They seemed happy for now, having witnessed me in this new environment.
I’d fought the wolf for far too long, and it kept me from experiencing the full potential of its power. I was tired of living moment to moment, constantly in fear of what could possibly go wrong. Too many times I’d tried to accept what had happened to me only to be punched in the gut when something even worse would transpire. After almost a decade of this happening, I was beginning to think that happiness always came with some dark price.
Well, no more. That ended now. Life was what you made of it, and I was tired of letting the darkness win. It was time I took control of my life.
A warm hand touched the small of my back, and I smiled fondly as I caught Nick’s reflection in the large window in front of me. I glanced up at him, admiring his crooked grin.
“Penny for your thoughts, beautiful?” he inquired, his thumb moving idly over the satin of the dress I wore the night of my birthday; it was all I had, and even though it was only the four of us, I wanted tonight to be special.
Likewise, Nick was dressed in dark jeans and a crisp, white button down shirt. He forewent a tie, instead leaving the top two buttons undone, and his hair was as tamed as it ever would be. Mom and Dad were also dressed in casual-dressy attire. Mom wore a simple little black dress that fit her upper body and flared out into a knee-length A-line skirt while Dad was dressed in a nice gray suit. They were both over by the fire, talking and laughing while I had stolen away for a moment of quiet contemplation.
My third glass of champagne had made its way into my bloodstream. I was still quite aware, but that warm tingle had started moving through my limbs. I hummed contentedly, leaning into his touch a little too openly. “Just…anticipating what’s to come and coming to terms with everything we’ve been through,” I replied honestly before turning to him. “I’m ready for this. It’s time for me to fully accept what happened to me the night Jackson bit me.”
The smile faded from Nick’s face, and he took my champagne flute from me, setting it on a neighboring table before gripping my hands in his. His expression grew somber, and it worried me. Something was wrong; I could sense it as it shot through my veins, and I felt it as the tiny hairs all over my body stood on end.
“I need to tell you something,” he began. “I don’t want there to be any secrets between us going into the New Year.”
I inhaled deeply, preparing myself for whatever Nick was about to say, and that was when I realized I was sensing something else entirely. Cautiously, my gaze drifted back toward the window, and awareness rippled up my spine until alarms blared loudly in my head. There was a flash of movement in the darkness and then a loud crash as the floor-to-ceiling window shattered beside us.
Mom screamed, and Dad shouted a profanity as Nick threw his arms around me to shelter me from the falling glass. Tiny shards sliced my skin, but the pain was forgotten the second I heard the laughter and caught a whiff of them. Nick released me and darted toward the broken window, both of us having spotted the five figures running off into the night.
“Nick, wait!” I cried. “We can’t go after them alone. That’s what they want.”
“We’re not,” he responded. “I am. You stay here with your parents and keep them safe. I’ll call for help on my way.”
I was torn. My stomach churned with the decision to stay with my parents or to back Nick up. Both made sense. On the one hand, my parents needed to be kept safe, on the other, Nick’s five-to-one odds didn’t look good, and at least five-to-two was better.
As Nick hopped the low rail of the patio, my parents flanked me, both of them pulling me from the window as I watched helplessly. Less than a minute passed before I heard a familiar howl echo through the night, and something inside me stirred: the wolf. She wanted out. She craved the kill at the end of this fight. It grew more and more anxious with every second.
Even though it went against every instinct I had, I kept her restrained, but my senses remained sharp. I strained my ears and listened for the Pack. Nothing. Either they didn’t hear Nick or they took an alternate route to get to him. I tried convincing myself that it was the latter because it was the only thing keeping my feet firmly rooted to the floor.
Then I heard it: a long yowl of pain that carried on the cold winter air and sent a chill straight down my spine. It was Nick. I could feel his pain as though we were somehow tethered to one another. Was it because of our history or because we’d grown closer lately and were part of the same pack? Whatever it was, it was unsettling, and I couldn’t wait here any longer.
It wasn’t until my Dad yanked back on my arm that I even realized I was trying to go after Nick.
“Brooke, where do you think you’re going?” he demanded, eyes wide.
“I need to make sure he’s okay,” I explained. “I’ll be fine, I promise. I used to do this sort of thing all the time on the job, remember?”
He hesitated, but I could see him trying to justify it in his mind. He shook it off, maybe sensing something wasn’t quite right with this entire situation. “No. He told us to stay here.”
“Dad,” I argued, my
voice shaking. “There are five of them and one of him. He needs backup.”
Again, he contemplated this. He opened his mouth, likely to argue with me again when I caught the scent of the Pack outside before hearing their frantic footfalls and panicked sniffing. I pulled away from my parents and ran for the broken window. I leapt over the broken shards of glass with ease, landing safely on the snow-covered patio before kicking off the low-heeled shoes I wore and catching the attention of a wolfed-out Colby and Zach hidden in the shadows.
“Where are the others?” I asked them.
Colby blinked up at me before releasing an annoyed snort and tossing her head toward the darkness. She was pissed, and I could only assume it was because Marcus ordered her and Zach to guard the house.
I glanced back at my parents, who remained in the middle of the living room, watching me, and then down at Zach and Colby. “Stay with them. Protect them,” I ordered in a low voice. “Nick needs my help.”
I was certain she wasn’t happy about it, but she nodded her acquiescence and I hopped over the railing.
“Brooke!” my parents cried after me, but I couldn’t stop. My feet moved as if I was no longer in control of them.
My skin blazed against the cold air, and the snow melted quickly beneath my feet as my temperature climbed rapidly. I could feel the beginning transitions in my body—my muscles tensing, everything inside me shifting in preparation of my change—but this time, it didn’t send me to my knees; I wouldn’t let it. My body continued to propel forward, my strides longer and more graceful than ever before. I covered almost twice as much ground in half the time. Reaching behind me as I ran, I unzipped my dress and lifted it over my head as my skin burned with heat. The wolf was just below the surface, salivating and looking forward to her release. I welcomed her; invited her to take over.
My bones cracked, momentarily making me stumble. But I pushed through it and carried on running. Just like every transformation before, I felt everything; I felt my bones break and realign, my claws cutting through the ends of my fingers and toes. I cried out in agony, forcing myself to accept the pain as part of what I was. If I denied the pain, I would black out. I knew this. I needed to be in control. The wolf and I needed to work together if we were going to get to Nick in time.
My skin continued to crawl as red fur started to cover my entire body, and the one final snap of my spine forced me to the ground. I rolled through the snow a couple of times before standing up and shaking it off. That was when I realized I was on all fours. I didn’t revel in the realization for long before I launched forward and howled to signal that I was on my way.
I caught his scent within seconds and increased my speed. I caught subtle hints of the rest of the Pack, but Nick’s was closer. Maybe they’d run into their own trouble or maybe they hadn’t reached him yet. Whatever the reason, I kept moving. The scent of death was strong.
Another yelp and a whimper in the distance, and I growled. My hackles rose as I slipped beneath a low-hanging branch on a tree and weaved between some bare-branched bushes. There was a clearing up ahead, and near the center of it were the vampires. They had Nick surrounded, and I could smell his blood. He’d been hurt. As I got closer, I noticed one of his front legs wasn’t touching the ground, the paw dangling almost lifelessly above the snow as red dripped onto the white snow.
One of the vampires reached for Nick, and he snapped in response. He caught the bloodsucker by the forearm and started to shake him, trying to dislocate his shoulder. Because Nick was so focused on this task, he didn’t sense one of the others as they grabbed him around the torso and lifted him off the ground.
Nick released the arm of the one—but not before having done some damage to it—and whined as the vampire squeezed. His legs kicked, and his neck flailed as he tried to reach around to stop his attacker.
I sped up. I needed to hurry, and I needed to take them all by surprise. I turned left and stayed hidden in the shadows for as long as possible before taking a sharp right. The growl that had been building since I caught the scent of Nick’s blood finally escaped, and I launched myself into the air. I turned my body in mid-flight, my jaws open wide and eyes locked on the vampire who clutched Nick to his chest. Nick and the coven noticed me, but it was already too late for them to counter my attack.
I felt the impact as my mouth wrapped around the vampire’s head, and the three of us fell to the ground. Nick was released as I tightened my jaws, and the vampire screamed. His hands reached up and tried to pry me off of him, but with one shake of my neck, his head was torn clean from his body. The taste of death and congealed blood coated my tongue, but I didn’t have time to focus on that; the four other vampires had their sights set on me, and Nick was down a leg. Beside me, he stood as tall as possible, ears pinned back and teeth bared, but I knew he wouldn’t be able to hold his own with a broken leg.
Thankfully, he wouldn’t have to.
The rest of the Pack came barreling from the trees just in time, and the nine of us took on the four vampires, disposing of them within minutes. As soon as the last vampire turned to dust beneath me, it’s almost black blood still dripping from my teeth, I turned and watched Nick fall to the ground. Not only was he exhausted, but he was covered in his own blood. Beyond his broken leg, I hadn’t noticed the cuts and tears on his body.
His eyes were open, but barely, and his breathing shallow. He wanted to let them close, but I couldn’t let him. I nudged him with my nose and licked his cheek. He huffed, and it looked like he smiled a little as he regarded me with gratitude.
Soon, a hand was on my shoulder, and I growled from being startled. It was just Miranda.
“Let me take a look,” she said, kneeling next to Nick, completely naked.
He whimpered as her hands moved through his soft brown coat and down his broken leg. When she grabbed above and below the fractured bone, I held my breath. Nick wasn’t going to like this.
She yanked once, and the howl he released was excruciating. It made my stomach flip with nausea. I hated seeing him like this. Even though I knew she was only trying to help, my ears flattened against my neck and I growled at her as I stepped over him protectively.
She nodded once and backed away. I leaned forward and started to lick the blood from Nick’s leg. As the fur shifted beneath my tongue, I noticed his wounds already starting to heal. Would he be able to shift back right away? How would his arm be when we returned to the house?
That was when I remembered my parents.
With a gasp, my head snapped back in the direction I’d originally come from. Were they okay? Would they question the two wolves stalking around the house? What would I tell them when I brought Nick back beaten and broken?
Nick groaned beneath me. I must have been lost in my thoughts for far longer than I thought, because when I looked back at him, he was human again. His skin was covered in gashes that were slowly healing. His forearm was bruising, and was clearly broken, but he was able to walk. Marcus and Jackson, also naked, stepped forward and helped Nick to his feet.
As they held him up, Jackson looked down at me. “Your clothes are a couple hundred yards from the house. You want to shift back now or wait? We need to get him somewhere to dress his wounds ASAP.”
I was too shaken to shift back just yet, so I walked alongside them for a bit, always looking back to make sure Nick was okay. He was lucid and walking, but he did have to rely on Jackson and Marcus to stay upright. We found Nick’s clothes first, and he pulled them on as quickly as possible. His shirt gave him the most grief, and he needed someone to help him with the buttons. Jackson manned up. Nick thanked him, and it was one of the first times I noticed the animosity between them seemed thinner. Maybe Nick forgave Jackson for what he did to me that night in Chaparral Park.
By the time we found my dress, I was calm enough to focus on shifting back. Surprisingly, changing back into my human form was easier than it had been in the past. I took pride in it for a brief moment before pulling on my blue dres
s and heading toward Nick.
He looked relieved to see me, and let me throw my arms around his neck. I was mindful of his arm as I whispered my relief against his neck. “Thank God you’re okay,” I said, tears burning my eyes as I clenched them shut. “I’m so glad I found you.”
“I told you to stay,” he murmured, threading the fingers of his good hand through my hair and pressing his lips to my shoulder repeatedly. “Always so stubborn and reckless.”
I pulled back and held his face in my hands. I looked him over. “I felt you,” I mumbled. “You needed help.”
“She’s right,” Marcus cut in. “They’re getting good at covering their tracks. They had us going in an entirely different direction. If Brooke hadn’t gone after you, we might not have made it in time.”
I swallowed the lump that had formed in my throat from the mere possibility that something could have happened to Nick had I not arrived in time to help him. Sensing my distress, Nick pulled me back toward him and held me. He kissed the top of my head, and I melted into him. “Reckless but intuitive. That’s my girl.”
“You should get him back to the house and bandage him up,” Roxanne said from behind us. “He needs to rest.”
I nodded before something occurred to me. “The window,” I said aloud. “It’s completely shattered. We can’t stay there.”
Marcus stepped forward. “I’ll call into the city and see if I can make reservations at a hotel there. I’ll call Nick’s cell with the information. The two of you should stay with them until they leave the country. Keep them safe.”
I nodded. “Thank you,” I whispered, glancing up at Nick again and back at Marcus. “For everything.”
After leaving the Pack in the woods, Nick and I walked around the house and entered through the front door. Mom and Dad came running as soon as we stepped over the threshold, and threw their arms around me, knocking Nick and me back a step.
When they pulled back, they noticed the grimace on Nick’s face before they noticed the blood seeping through his white shirt.
