The four strangers walked into the meadow under the full moonlight. It was amazing how the light of the moon appeared to radiate from their skin. It was as though they were almost glowing in the dark. My eyes widened when I watched their slow and cautious approach.
“Julie?” A voice called out. I recognized it immediately. The same tones I heard over the phone which stung in my ears were like a high-pitched musical note mixed within his voice. The background tones wouldn't normally affect humans in the same way it affected Lycans, however, with his voice raised the effect on us was like a silent whistle to a dog, painful.
“Yes?” I called back while Daniel’s hand tensed around my arm, squeezing it too tightly. He, of course forgot his own strength. “Stop” I whispered to Daniel. I turned back toward all of them and watched as they immediately stopped. Amazing, did they hear that whisper?
“Nathaniel?” I asked.
“Yes. May we come closer? It’ll be easier to talk.” He asked. I noticed Daniel, Jason and Heather had a hard time with his voice as well. It was clearly annoying when he yelled.
It appeared that we could only take his voice in a low tone. What kind of person was this Nathaniel, I wondered.
“Yes. I was actually talking to Daniel when I told him to stop.” I took the chance they did hear my whisper.
“Oh. We thought you meant for us to stop because we surprised you.” He said as they started walking toward us again.
Daniel drove me crazy with the thoughts which ran through his head. His overly protective nature annoyed me. He had a problem with Nathaniel. A low growl rumbled from him as they neared. The floral smell, which exuded from their bodies, was fairly interesting. Daniel’s senses ran wild. He had an uneasy feeling concerning them. I imagined if he were a wolf right now, the hair on the back of his neck would be standing up.
“I’m Nathaniel.” The youngest of the four stepped forward and held out his hand. He was tall with blond hair and what appeared to be brown eyes. His attraction surprised me. He was absolutely the most beautiful man I had ever seen. His beauty was unreal.
Daniel released another low warning growl. This time it was meant for me. I pushed him aside and stepped forward to greet Nathaniel. Daniel moved out with me not trusting this strange smelling person.
“Nathaniel, it’s nice finally to meet you.” I extended my hand to touch his. Nathaniel’s hand touched mine lightly. Surprised I jumped slightly, realizing almost too late, that I would have to catch Daniel. He felt the fear rush from me as I watched him lunge forward. I turned quickly, his body slammed hard against mine. “Get a grip!” I shot the thought in my mind to him. Daniel relaxed enough as not to be to intimidating.
“I can understand the uneasiness.” Nathaniel began. “I’m sorry I surprised you.”
“No, I just hadn’t expected your hand to be so cold.” I replied hoping that I hadn’t offended him.
He laughed softly. The tones rang lightly in my ears. “I suppose I should have warned you of my hands ahead of time.” Looking back to the others, he stepped aside so I could have a clear view of them.
“This is my brother Richard.” He continued.
Richard was different from Nathaniel. The family resemblance was clear, but at the same time Richard’s beauty captivated me. The same pale skin, only Richard’s dark brown colored hair set them apart. His dark blue sweater couldn’t hide the well-built and formed body. Toned and tightly muscled, a truly exquisite specimen of the image of man. No, more like a Greek god. There were no other words I could use which would describe the beauty that my eyes beheld. Richard in his early thirties, I guessed, was the most breath taking man I’d ever seen.
“My closest friends, I call my brothers, Lance and Raphael Dupree. I guess you could say we are blood related.” Nathaniel continued motioning to the other two men.
Lance and Raphael were definitely brothers. They both had the same dark sandy brown hair and shaped face. They appeared to be in their late twenties, not too much older than Nathaniel. Lance was a little more on the stockier side than Raphael. Raphael was taller and lean. One thing other than their pales skins, they were all very beautiful.
“This is Daniel, Casey’s brother.” I motioned with my hand. “And this is Heather and Jason McLaughlin.”
“Irish?” Nathaniel nodded toward Jason. I was guessing it was the war kilt that gave Jason away.
“Borne and bred.” Jason retorted.
Nathaniel chuckled a little. “I suppose we should answer the obvious question first.” He said with his attention now on Daniel and me.
From the corner of my eye, Daniel’s body stiffened. He glared at Richard. Daniel’s thoughts ran wild with jealousy, primarily because Richard’s attention was focused on me.
Daniel carefully watched him and noticed his never left me from the time I stepped in front to shake hands with Nathaniel. Richard’s interest was very clear to everyone around. I tried to ignore his jealous thoughts and concentrated on Nathaniel.
“We are not human as you probably guessed.” Nathaniel continued.
“I figured as much. I know you’re not one of us, a Lycan.” I spoke softly.
“You would be correct. We are not werewolves either. We are actually vampires.” He said as a matter of fact.
Jason and Heather tensed and released a loud gasp. Daniel drew in a breath and bent forward shoving me behind him with his arm. The other three behind Nathaniel bent forward in a crouching position. They were prepared for an attack.
“Oh stop it every one of you!” I was simply sick of this. I pushed Daniel’s arm out of my way. “We’re not going to harm you Nathaniel, nor your brothers. I speak for each of us when I say we are a little startled. I’ve never met a vampire and frankly didn't even know they existed. They were only legends and stories.”
“Touché,” Nathaniel chimed. “We were not aware that such a thing as a Lycan existed until I met Casey. Imagine my surprise.” He chuckled. “There are two things I can tell you that we have both in common. Firstly, vampires and werewolves are mortal enemies. Secondly, I love Casey as much if not more than you do.”
“How can you love my sister? You don’t even have a heart!” Daniel hissed.
My heart dropped into my chest by his reaction. I noticed Daniel could feel the sadness that gripped my heart by his outburst. I painfully noticed when Nathaniel dropped his head as if Daniel’s words cut through him.
“That is not entirely true,” he sighed. “I do have a heart. It may not beat as yours does, but I assure you I have all the strong emotions just as you when it comes to love.” The sadness in his voice pulled at my heart.
Appalled at Daniel’s outburst I wanted to confront him, but I understood this was a shock to him. His sister was with a vampire. It was a shock to me as well.
“Nathaniel, I’m not holding what you are against you. You have to understand, what little we know of vampires comes from the stories that they feed off of humans.” I spoke up quickly.
“We don’t hunt humans. My brothers and I try to live peaceably among humans. There are other ways we obtain what we need. Just as you eat animals to survive, we do also.
There are a few other vampires out there that are like us. We didn’t choose this life but have learned to live with it.” His eyes traveled to all of us. “I hope you can understand we’re not your enemies.”
“I agree with Julie.” Heather shot in. “Nathaniel does have a pure soul. He’s telling the truth.”
“All right then. I trust my wife and what she sees. Nathaniel, you and your brothers are welcome to join us tonight. It appears we’ll need your help. So how much experience do you have in killing werewolves?”
“I would say around a few hundred or so years worth.” Raphael, the tall, well-built sandy brown-haired vampire spoke out.
“Well, I guess that settles it then.” I hoped Daniel would leave his thoughts of Richard alone for a while.
“Okay, here’s our plan.” Jason began. “We can’t fight
in close quarters. We have to be in the open. Our plan was to somehow to lure the werewolves here.”
“Wait a minute.” Daniel spoke up. “Bring your friends?” He turned to me.
Thinking back, I remembered what he mentioned. “We have a problem then.” I started. Everyone shot me a strange look, like I’d lost my mind or something. “Casey’s Mom received a phone call. Telling us to bring the pack, meet them at the barn and bring your friends. We didn’t know what they meant at the time. I’m guessing they meant you. This is someone who is planning on all of us showing up there.” I rambled on.
“No one knows who we are. The only person who does is Casey.” Nathaniel’s expression turned to concern.
“Nathaniel, someone knows you are linked to Casey. That someone is a werewolf. Think. Why would someone go after all of us?” I tried to find a reason while my mind ran through several scenarios.
“It’s late. Since they are expecting us to show up, I wouldn’t want to disappoint the creatures. We will go and lure them here to the meadow.” Richard spoke up. His deep sexy voice tingled in my ears.
“What about Casey?” Jason tossed in.
“She’s how we will lure them here. We’re much faster than werewolves. Nathaniel will go in first and take her away from them. He can carry her back here luring them directly to you. Then once in the meadow we can all take them down.” Richard’s plan sounded precise and clear.
“Sounds good to me.” Jason agreed.
“Okay, Casey’s parents will be in my house. Take her directly there. They will be expecting her. You’re going to be a surprise for them, so please don’t be offended.” I pleaded to Nathaniel. “Follow the path back to the house. The patio door is open. If she is hurt her Dad will call Dr. Miller.”
“We’ll try and keep them from following you to the house.” Jason nodded to Heather.
“I guess that leaves you and me to confront the head on attack then?” Daniel looked to me.
“Don’t worry; we’ll do our share of the fighting. Hopefully we can take out a couple of them before they end up here.” Richard spoke directly to me.
“Well, let’s get to it.” I felt we needed to start somewhere.
“See you in a few minutes.” Nathaniel turned and they all disappeared through the woods.
I turned toward Daniel, taking note of his concerned expression.
“I don’t like that Richard.” He huffed.
“Because he has a thing for me?” I teased.
“I better be the only one that has a thing for you!” He growled. “Besides can a vampire actually have an erect… ”
“Daniel!” I shot at him in surprise.
“Well, I was just wondering.” He shot back.
“Rumor has it, they are huge.” She laughed and darted off changing into her wolf image.
Jason roared loudly with laughter as he followed her changing into his wolf image. There was no way I could contain my laugh when I looked into Daniel’s astonished face. I unzipped his robe and slid it off his shoulders. The shock remained on his face. Smiling I slipped out of my robe.
I turned my head slightly to the side. “Darling, you have nothing to worry about.” I purred and then burst forth into my wolf image. I padded down the field with Daniel not far behind me. We moved into the woods where we had previously searced for the firewood. I sat down on my haunches and waited for Daniel to come to my side. We waited.
My ears flicked a couple of times when I heard Jason and Heather on the opposite side of us across the meadow. A couple of short barks let us know they were in place and ready.
Daniel’s body stiffened. His breathing stopped while his ears perked forward intently listening to the vampires. He snorted. The vampires had made a confrontation with the werewolves. I listened carefully. Daniel’s hearing was far better than mine. I raised my head and sniffed the air. I couldn't smell the werewolves. The only scent I could pick up was the one of the vampires. He snorted again. A low growl rumbled in his throat as he dropped his head. A warning someone was coming and fast. I raised my head again and sniffed the air. Vampire.
Standing to my feet, I peered through the woods. A flash of something glowed against the moonlight moved quickly into the meadow. It was Nathaniel and he was headed toward the house with Casey in his arms. Daniel’s head lowered while he let out another low growl. Turning my head, I saw Jason and Heather move out blocking the path behind Nathaniel when he flew past them. Daniel jerked his head up and nudged me with his shoulder. I could smell it. The werewolves were on their way. Three of them fast approaching.
Daniel and I moved cautiously. They would aim for Jason and Heather. The sickening stench grew heavier as the three werewolves came fast through the woods to the open meadow. The horrible creature was exactly as I remembered in my dream. The hair bristled on my neck when they slowed down. Apparently, they caught our scent. One of them turned toward where Daniel and I stood. The other one quickly approached Jason and Heather. The third creature lingered in the center as if expecting an attack.
Daniel and I bolted from the woods with lightning speed. I heard his thoughts clearly while fixed my eyes on my prey’s ankle. Daniel made a pass by the huge horrid creature and snapped off its right hand. Before the creature had time to react, I’d already taken off its left foot. The taste in my mouth was utterly the worse taste I’d ever experienced.
They taste as bad as they smell. Quickly turning we flanked the single creature.
This one was not as surprised by us. Cautiously Daniel and I moved around, circling it. I kept a close eye on the damaged one. It managed to balance itself on the remaining limbs. A loud roar came from the damaged one, it wasn’t exactly happy we dismembered it. Watching the one in front of us, I lowered my head, giving Daniel the signal of my attempt to attack. My prey’s attention locked on me when I bolted into a charge. I flew into the air. Before I had a chance to make contact with my prey, a hard thump hit my ribs and I fell to the ground. The air had been knocked out of my lungs. I yelped in pain when I felt the sharp claws of the damaged one rip into my side. Turning my head to the side, I snapped ferociously at this creature. He was on top of me, his mouth snapping its huge teeth backed by the powerful jaws toward my neck. I knew I had to get to Daniel; he had already made another pass at the one creature, distracting its attention away from me. He wasn’t thinking clearly, as his concern was on me. My hind feet pushed the damaged creature off me. I stood quickly. My sides stung and burned from the torn flesh. The smell of my own blood filled my nostrils as it poured freely from the open wound.
In the distance, other werewolf roared while either Jason or Heather yelped in pain. The battle had to be going better for them than it was for us.
Keeping my eyes fixed on the damaged creature we both limped in a circle facing off one another. Both damaged. At least I still had all of my members. I planned to take another part of him off before he had the chance to kill me. Daniel yelped in pain from behind me. He growled angrily while I heard his teeth snapping. I couldn't help from turning my head. Daniel was on his back and blood poured from an opened wound in his shoulder. My heart raced. He needed my help. My mistake, I took my eyes off my prey. I moved too slowly, I felt the pain of teeth in my shoulder. I yelped out in pain.
A flash of white flew by my face and then I felt the flesh tear from my shoulder. The weight of the creature was gone. I was determined to move. I needed to get to Daniel. I turned quickly to see Richard locked into a battle with my attacker. My attention turned back to Daniel. Ignoring the pain in my sides, I launched forward with all the strength I had left. I landed onto the back of the wiry haired werewolf that had Daniel pinned down. Locking my teeth into the fleshly part of its neck, I closed my teeth down. The soft flesh felt much like I was biting into a too ripe peach. I wished it tasted the same. I jerked my head back while its head rose in the air. The ripping noise was evident when I pulled part of the creature’s neck from its body. Daniel reached under the neck and clasped his teeth
around the tendons. The bones crunched loudly between Daniel’s strong jaws. The stinky creature fell sideways. I sniffed the creature to make sure it was dead. It was definitely dead.
Glancing around, I saw Heather and Jason finish off their kill. Richard had torn the head from my attacker. Pretty handy and useful, these vampires. I limped over to Daniel.
He appeared to be all right except for the nasty gash in his shoulder. My body stiffened and I growled when I saw two more figures coming through the woods.
“Don’t worry, it’s Raphael and Lance. They are bringing the bodies back here.” Richard announced. I watched while the vampires dragged three bodies to the wood pile.
Daniel burst forth in his human form. He went forward onto the ground. The wound on his back had already begun to heal. Jason and Heather changed and brought our robes down to us. I exhaled slowly and closed my eyes. My body lunged forward and I fell to the ground. I heard someone behind me gasp. For a moment I couldn't move.
A cold hand clasped onto my shoulder. Daniel’s head rose quickly. I saw the excitement on his face when he jumped to his feet. “Get away from her!” He roared. I couldn't understand what was wrong. Daniel rushed to me. Heather and Jason suddenly moved between Richard and Daniel. Standing, I turned to look at Richard. His eyes were wide and his teeth glared in the moon light. His brother ran to him and pulled him back.
Richard glared down upon me. His expression changed when his eyes roved over my naked body. Heather moved to my side and quickly robed me. Now I understood what Daniel meant. Richard had saved my life. I owed him that much.
“I’m sorry.” He said quickly. “Please… please forgive me. I have never smelled blood like yours. It took me by surprise. I honestly didn't intend to harm you.” He pleaded.
“Just keep your distance from her.” Daniel roared loudly. I touched Daniel on the arm to let him know there was no need for his rush of anger.
Dark of kNight Page 24
