Chapter Fourteen #5
I hear the sickening sound of bones cracking as I turn my head and look to see one of the vampires crushing the throat of a werewolf.
Weston rushes forward, but the body the vampire throws to the ground is lifeless and there’s little Weston can do.
Thankfully, as three of the wolves tear into the vampire, my father goes in for the killing blow, but it nearly costs all four of them their lives as the other vampires rush into the fray.
Werewolves are strong, but they’re at their strongest during a full moon. Out here like this… up against vampires who are clearly hundreds of years old, we’re not strong enough. Especially when we’re not fighting as a pack.
Fuck, fuck, fuck. I need Casimir. I need Casimir to come and save us. I need him to help us.
Yorick grabs me again, trying to drag me away from the others as I jerk back. “Come on, pup-pup. You don’t want them to kill you, do you? You can be mine. I will treat you well.”
I growl as I snap at him and my father rushes forward, making Yorick drop his hold on me to deal with my father.
Stepping back, I bump into something and turn, only to realize that it’s another wolf lying dead behind me.
Yes, I can fight, but I’m not like Casimir.
I don’t know how to fight. I can fight through instinct or I can run, but if I run, how many more will die?
Half of the pack has already realized that we are nothing compared to these ancient beings, and if they want to live, the only way is to flee.
Hazel throws my father like he’s a mere child, and I realize that we’re going to fucking lose this fight. We’re going to lose, and they’re going to pin me down and tear me apart unless I run, but I need to help. I need to stop panicking and help them.
Anxiety eats through me as I dash toward the fight and try to get the vampire’s attention off my father. Some of the pack is helping, but others are running as the vampires try to drive them away.
I leap onto the back of a man who was rushing for my father and sink my teeth into his neck.
The man reaches back and claws at my side that is thankfully protected by my thick fur as I try to drag him down by pulling him off balance.
He turns fast and rips me off him. I hit the ground a moment before another vampire speeds toward me, but before he can make contact, my father tears him to the ground.
“ Julian, run !” he yells, but there aren’t many left here to fight them. If I run, that’s one less to fight. The smell of blood is thick in the air, and I don’t know what else to do. Yes, we can keep fighting, but the vampires just keep healing.
Another rushes up to help the vampire, and as I try to move back, I hear Olive cry out and my attention shifts to her, leaving me open for the vampire who grabs me and slams me against a tree.
Terror floods through me as he flashes his fangs at me while he goes for my throat. I thrash against him, trying my hardest to get away, when he suddenly stops moving.
He looks down as his grip loosens, and I realize there’s a wooden stake driven into his back and straight through his heart. He drops down to his knees as I see Casimir’s attention shift to another vampire who’d made the mistake of thinking they’d be next to rip me apart.
Casimir slams into them as the female races forward to draw Casimir off. She’s fast, nearly as fast as him, and now that there are multiple vampires on him, he can’t seem to focus fully on killing just one at a time.
I hit the ground on shaky limbs as I realize I need to help him—at least distract them—but I’m afraid, and that fear keeps me from rushing forward.
“Don’t go, pup-pup,” Yorick says as he grabs me from behind and pulls me back to him. He leans down, mouth close to my ear. “Just watch the fun?”
I thrash, trying to rip out of his arms as he holds me crushingly tight. I twist hard as he laughs like he’s enjoying my struggle. When I’m finally able to fall free, I realize it’s because my father is charging him.
“Oh, I’ll have fun later when Casimir isn’t here. Ta-ta,” Yorick says before disappearing into the night.
My father rushes after him, but he seems to be favoring his right foreleg, so he doesn’t go far.
One of the vampires flings Casimir back as they all fixate on him, but he manages to rip into the one closest to him.
While it’ll heal, it at least gets the vampire off him for a moment.
So I steel myself and run forward, clamping hard onto Hazel’s leg since she’d been focused on Casimir.
One of the other vampires kicks me hard, but the momentary distraction allows Casimir to lop off her head and send it rolling.
It puts him at risk, and one of the male vampires tries to stake him, but he’s fast and avoids it with ease, using the man’s own makeshift stake to drive it into his heart.
And just as Casimir turns to face the last vampire who is standing, Ezio pops up and plucks their head off.
“You are welcome for saving your life,” he announces as he shimmies back to keep blood from squirting out onto him. “Please don’t all praise me at once!”
Casimir stares at Ezio in disbelief. He’s coated in blood, his clothes are shredded from when he’d been trying to fend off four at once, and he has a stake sticking out of his arm that he yanks out. “What the fuck took you so long?”
Ezio seems to realize that not all is right. “I was checking that my baby was okay.” It comes out quietly, like he has maybe realized there’s an issue.
Casimir grabs Ezio by the throat.
“And I now see that maybe that wasn’t the best idea… ha ha?”
Casimir shoves him without saying a word and looks around at us as I find myself quickly walking over to him, tail tucked.
I can’t stop shaking, and right now, he seems to be the only safe space as I press into his leg.
God, I feel like an idiot. What kind of big bad werewolf am I, shaking like a fucking leaf and running to the vampire for reassurance.
He reaches down and slides his fingers into the fur on the back of my head, and it’s like his steady hand just washes all of my worries away. Suddenly, I can breathe again as the fear and anxiety melt with just a simple touch of his hand.
I lean into his thigh and take a deep breath.
“Were there more?” he asks.
“ Yes, the one who threw us from the window was here .”
“Which way did he go?”
I nod and he starts toward it, but I bite onto his pant leg. “ What if there are more? You wouldn’t catch up at this point anyway. He ran off a while ago.”
Casimir hesitates and looks down at the carnage. “You’re right. Many need medical attention. Ezio, get the doctor the wolves work with ready for them now.”
“I can do that,” Ezio says as he grabs one of the wounded and makes his way toward the bar.
I shift into my human form and look around for Olive and Willow. “Olive?” I call. “Willow?”
Before I get too far, Casimir hooks me and pulls me back. “You’re fine,” he says, voice reassuring as I swallow the lump in my throat. “They’re dead or gone. You’re alright.”
I catch his deep brown eyes and give him a determined nod. “Yeah, I am. Thanks.”
He lets go of me and I confidently rush off in the direction Willow and Olive had gone.
When I see Olive in her human form, relief washes through me. “Are you okay? Where’s Willow…”
“Willow ran for help. Benny got hurt really badly trying to help me,” she says as I realize she’s leaning over a wolf. “The vampires?”
“Casimir came and killed them,” I say, not sure how he ended up here, but I’m well aware if he hadn’t, more—or all—of us would have died.
“Oh fuck… Oh, thank fuck,” she says as I reach down and pick Benny up who doesn’t even respond.
He’s extremely heavy, but the adrenaline rushing through my body keeps me moving forward as I make my way back to Casimir who is being bitched at by Weston like Weston’s not aware how close we all came to dying.
“If you don’t fucking shut up, I will shut you up,” Casimir says, voice sharp.
“Weston, knock it the fuck off,” Dad barks. “If you have the energy to bitch, help someone.”
“Weston, can you get him back to the bar?” I ask as I hold Benny out to him.
I notice his mouth looks burned from biting me, but he takes Benny without hesitation.
When I glance over at my father, I see that he’s shifted back into his human form and seems to be struggling—making me question if he’d broken his arm when he was thrown against the tree—but I don’t know what to do or say to him.
He’s kind of been a dick… but he’s always been a bit of a dick.
The only reason we’re still on speaking terms is because I continue to forgive him again and again.
Every time, I deal with it again and again and…
Stopping, I turn to face my father. “This is your fucking fault.”
He looks at me like he’s surprised.
And maybe I should stop there. Maybe it’s awful of me to blame it on him and make him feel guilty, but I can’t stop.
“If you’d have gone to the goddamn meeting to help keep this from happening, these people wouldn’t be dead.
But because you’re so fucking obsessed with your own bullshit that you couldn’t just listen to me, they’re dead.
If it weren’t for Casimir, the rest of us would probably be dead as well. ”
There aren’t many wolves here who aren’t severely injured, just Olive who is trying to help someone, a new wolf I don’t know the name of, and my father. I’m sure he’s going to get pissed at the shit I’m spouting, but he lowers his eyes.
“You’re right.”
I stare at him in surprise because I don’t think my father has ever thought I was right in my life.
“I fucked up,” he admits.
I don’t even know what to say now that he’s agreed with me.
I was prepared to fight him some more, but now, I feel unsure of what to do, so I hurry over to assist Olive.
Helping one of the wounded up, the two of us start carrying him back to the bar that should be closed at this point in the evening.