Chapter 11
CHAPTER ELEVEN
DONOVAN
I closed the cabin door behind us, locking out the cold night and whatever horrors the woman had barely escaped from.
She was still trembling, her breaths sharp and ragged, her eyes darting wildly around the room like she expected a fresh nightmare to emerge from the shadows.
I knew that feeling.
The kind that kept your body tense long after the danger had passed, convinced you had to keep running, keep fighting, because the moment you let your guard down, something worse would come.
She flinched when Declan moved.
I saw it in the way her fingers clenched around the damp fabric of her torn sweater, the way her wide, terrified eyes flickered toward his face, then down to his mouth.
His fangs.
I wasn’t surprised. She’d seen him in his most monstrous state, fangs bared, eyes dark with hunger.
It didn’t matter that he’d been fighting for her. He was still something to fear.
“Hey,” I said softly, crouching in front of her. I kept my movements slow, careful, as I reached for the cup of water I’d set on the table. “You’re safe here. No one’s going to hurt you.”
She barely acknowledged me, her gaze locked onto Declan like she was trying to keep track of his movements.
Declan stood stiffly by the counter, arms crossed, his expression unreadable. But I knew him well enough to see the tension in his posture.
He didn’t like this. Didn’t like the reminder of what people saw when they looked at him now.
“Here,” I coaxed, gently nudging the cup toward her. “You should drink something.”
Her fingers trembled as she reached for it, but she didn’t pull away. Good. Progress.
She took a small sip, her throat working as she swallowed. I let the silence settle, gave her a moment to breathe.
Finally, she rasped out, “What…what was that?”
I didn’t have to ask what she meant.
I glanced at Declan. He was watching her carefully, still as stone, his sharp features unreadable.
I knew he wanted to step away, maybe even leave the room entirely, but that wouldn’t help.
“That was a rabid vampire,” I answered for him. “You saw how it attacked without reason, without hesitation. It’s not like—” I hesitated. Not like him.
She swallowed hard, looking at Declan. “But he’s a vampire.”
“He’s not like that.” My voice was firmer now, leaving no room for doubt.
She stared at me, her breath coming faster, like she was trying to decide whether or not to believe me.
I reached for her hand, slow enough that she could pull away if she wanted. She didn’t.
“What’s your name?” I asked gently.
She hesitated, then whispered, “Lena.”
“Lena.” I repeated it. “I know you’re scared. I would be too. But you have my word. Declan isn’t going to hurt you.”
She swallowed, her fingers tightening around the cup. “You trust him?”
“With my life,” I said without hesitation.
Declan tensed, but I didn’t look at him.
Lena exhaled shakily, looking between us. I could see the war in her eyes. Fear versus reason. And then, slowly, reason won.
She nodded, just barely, and took another sip of water. I let out a quiet breath of relief.
We weren’t in the clear yet, but at least she wasn’t looking at Declan like he was going to lunge at her throat anymore. It was a start.
Still, Lena’s hands trembled as she clutched the warm cup between them, her knuckles white against the ceramic.
She looked better than when we first found her. Her breathing had steadied, and some of the wild panic had faded from her eyes, but she was still shaken, still coiled tight with fear.
I waited, giving her time.
I knew she had something to say, something that had been clawing at her since we brought her inside. She just had to find the strength to say it.
And then, finally, she did.
“They attacked my home.” Her voice was barely above a whisper. “The same thing that attacked me. They came out of nowhere, just ripping through us.”
She sucked in a shaky breath, then continued. “I ran. I didn’t even think. I just ran.” She pressed a hand to her mouth, as if that could stop the guilt from spilling out. “I don’t know if anyone else made it.”
A heavy silence fell over the room. I felt Declan go still beside me.
Lena looked up at me then, and there was something almost desperate in her expression.
“Please,” she murmured. “I need to go back. I need to know if anyone, if my family’s still alive.”
Just like that, I knew what needed to be done.
But before I could speak, Declan did. “You’re talking about a community?” His voice was careful, measured. “A whole group of people?”
Lena nodded, her eyes shining.
“A small one, but yes. There’s not many of us, but we’ve lived there for years.” She hesitated, then exhaled, her shoulders squaring. “We’re shifters. Sparrows. That’s why I got away. I shifted, but I got clipped. I couldn’t keep flying. I hit the ground and ran as fast as I could.”
A sparrow shifter.
Unlike wolves or big cats, sparrows didn’t have brute strength to rely on. They weren’t built for battle, for claw-to-claw fights in the dirt.
Their power came from speed, from their ability to vanish into the sky before a predator could sink its teeth in.
They thrived in numbers, moving together, watching each other’s backs.
The Guild had never bothered with shifters like them. They weren’t a threat.
Predatory shifters like wolves, lions, bears were the ones the Guild kept on a tight leash. But peaceful clans like Lena’s?
They were left alone. But if a nest of them had been caught unaware by rabid vampires…
A lump formed in my throat.
They wouldn’t have stood a chance. I turned to Declan, already knowing the argument forming behind his gaze.
“No,” he said immediately.
I clenched my jaw. “Declan—”
“We can’t.” His voice was firm, but not cruel. He ran a hand through his hair, frustration bleeding into his expression.
Declan continued, “You know why, Donovan. We’ve already stayed too long as it is. The Guild will come looking for you, for us. And if they find us, it’s over.”
Lena flinched, shrinking into herself.
I ignored him for a moment, lowering my voice. “Lena, when was the attack?”
She blinked, confused, but answered. “An hour ago or maybe two.”
That did it.
I turned back to Declan. “Then we don’t have time for this.”
His jaw tensed. “Donovan, no.”
“We can’t just ignore this,” I snapped. “People are out there dying, Declan. Families. They’re running for their lives, and if we don’t help, they won’t make it.”
He exhaled sharply, like I was pushing him to the edge of something he didn’t want to confront.
“This is exactly why I became a hunter,” I said. “Not for the Guild. Not for the paycheck. But because I couldn’t stand the thought of people being slaughtered while I stood by and did nothing.”
His gaze flickered, something dark and pained flashing through his expression.
I knew what he was thinking. He’d spent his whole life trying not to become a monster.
He’d fought his instincts, his cravings, because he never wanted to be the thing people ran from in terror. But now? Now, people were terrified of him.
And the idea of stepping into a shifter community, of fighting and killing, had to feel like he was walking straight into the nightmare he’d been trying to outrun.
But that wasn’t who he was and I wasn’t going to let him pretend otherwise.
“I know it’s dangerous,” I said, my voice softer now, steady despite the turmoil in my chest. “I know we have to be careful. But we can do this, Declan. We have to.”
Declan gritted his teeth, dragging a hand down his face like he was physically trying to wipe away the weight of this decision.
His jaw tightened, his eyes dark with frustration, with something else. Something like fear. Not for himself. For me.
I knew every instinct in him was screaming to say no. To get us as far away from this place as possible. To avoid yet another fight, another risk.
But I also knew him. Knew the man behind the fangs and sharp words. He couldn’t just walk away from this any more than I could.
He muttered a curse, jaw clenching.
“This is a terrible idea,” Declan grumbled.
But there was no bite behind the words. No real protest.
A grin tugged at the corner of my lips, despite everything. “I’ll take that as a yes.”
Declan rolled his eyes, muttering something under his breath that sounded suspiciously like reckless idiot, but he didn’t argue. Didn’t tell me no.
Instead, he shook his head, exasperated, and when his gaze met mine again, the fight was already gone.
The resignation was there and that was as close to agreement as I was going to get.
“We were doing this.” I turned toward Lena, heart hammering. “Lead us there.”
She blinked, startled, but nodded quickly, already moving toward the door.
Declan and I moved fast. I yanked open the duffel I’d stashed near the table, pulling out my gear. Silver-lined knives, extra clips of blessed bullets, my sidearm.
My fingers worked quickly, muscle memory taking over as I strapped my thigh holster in place and slid a blade into my boot.
Across the room, Declan was arming himself just as efficiently, knives disappearing into the folds of his clothes, his movements methodical, effortless.
Lena watched us, wide-eyed, her breath shallow.
“You two—” She hesitated, then shook her head. “You’re hunters, aren’t you?”
I didn’t bother denying it. “We were with the Guild,” I told her, shoving a spare clip into my pocket. “Not anymore.”
She didn’t react the way most people did when they heard that name. No fear, no recognition, just a blank stare. She’d never heard of them.
Which meant her people had been so far removed from our world that the Guild hadn’t even touched them. Lucky them.
But none of that mattered right now. All she cared about was that we could fight. That we could help.
“Let’s go,” Declan said, already at the door.
The three of us slipped into the night.
The woods swallowed us immediately, the darkness pressing in from all sides.
The moon hung low, its silver light just enough to illuminate our path as we moved quickly through the trees.
Lena led the way, her small frame darting ahead with the practiced ease of someone who’d spent her whole life navigating the terrain.
She kept her voice low as she spoke. “We’ve always been peaceful,” she told us, her steps light despite the urgency. “We don’t take sides, don’t get involved in things outside our land. We trade with the villages nearby, we hunt, we live. That’s all.”
A simple life. One that had nothing to do with vampires, hunters, or whatever the hell was happening now.
“What changed?” I asked.
Lena hesitated, her shoulders tensing. “It started two weeks ago,” she admitted. “At first, it was just missing animals. Then it was our scouts. Our people started vanishing, one by one.” Her breath hitched. “We thought maybe it was another predator. Wolves, maybe.”
She stopped short, her entire body going rigid, and I didn’t even have to ask why. Because I heard it too. A sound drifted through the trees, faint at first, but growing, sharpening.
Screams. High, panicked, raw with terror.
And then, cutting through the night like a blade, came the eerie, bone-deep howl of something that had once been human, but wasn’t anymore.
My stomach clenched. That sound wasn’t natural. It wasn’t even animal. It was hunger, madness, a nightmare given voice.
Declan and I exchanged a look, tension snapping taut between us.
No more talking.
No more hesitation.
We ran.