Chapter 33
Jaxton
I’m the biggest now. A true Alpha.
It’s strange, feeling this much power coursing through my veins. For centuries, I was broken and incomplete. A shadow of what an Alpha should be. That hurt almost as much as the void in my chest.
Now I tower over even Hayden, my muscles coiled with strength I’ve never known. And my wolf? Almost a thousand pounds of pure fury, yet every movement feels effortless. Every breath fills me with energy.
For the first time since Joanna died, I don’t want to die. I feel alive. I want to protect my mate. My brothers. The child growing in Ansley’s belly. I want to tear apart every vampire that threatens the future we can now have.
And for the first time since that horrible night, I feel Joanna’s presence. Even now, a part of her still lingers, melded into my mate’s soul. A love so deep, it left a mark across generations until it found a way back to me.
“It’s getting dark,” I transmit my words to the entire pack silently. “As soon as the sun sets, we’ll strike.”
“Wait, am I supposed to be able to hear that? I heard the big guy talking in my head!” Daisy exclaims. “Have you guys been talking telepathically this entire time?”
“Sometimes,” Hayden says. “But the mating ritual is complete, the pack is complete, and you’re Mitra. You’re part of the bond, just like Ansley.”
“Hmm, okay. That’s wild, and very convenient,” Daisy’s face is full of wonder and possibly devious planning. “What other secrets are you keeping from me?”
“Nothing you need to worry about,” Ansley says, apparently unready to share her newest secret with her friend.
We’re approaching the vampire lair. I’m feeling uneasy about this. Wyatt showed Ansley a few things, but she’s not fighter. I’m not sure that sword is going to do much in her hand, no matter how confident she is.
I also don’t like that we’ve brought Daisy along.
She’s unarmed. Basically defenseless, except for the fact the vampires can’t feed on her.
Doesn’t mean they can’t hurt her. But we’re trusting our mate’s vision.
Ansley has to be here. Daisy has to be here.
It’s up to us to protect them, if things go wrong.
“Almost there,” Hayden transmits and we slow down.
Lincoln Elementary School is a brooding gloom looming up out of the surrounding darkness. All of us are in our Natural Form. Ansley is on Hayden’s back. Daisy is on mine. There’s no jealousy. No anger or rage, except for the vampires. This is just the most logical way to get all of us inside.
“Remember, Daisy,” I speak to her through our pack bond and feel her startle a bit. “Once we’re inside, you have to get off my back so I can fight. I won’t be able to do much if I’m protecting a rider.”
“Yeah, I remember. Get off your back. Find somewhere to hide,” Daisy chimes, reiterating the plan we settled on. “I plan to keep as many of you between me and the vampires as possible.”
We wait in still silence until the sun has long since disappeared.
Thankfully, the abandoned area is dark and lonely with no humans wandering around.
Hayden gives the order and we charge as one.
We don’t worry about staying hidden, or how much damage we’re causing when we run. Now isn’t the time for that.
Get in. Kill the vampires. Burn this lair to the fucking ground.
Then we can live happily ever after.
“They’ve spotted us!” Remy transmits. “Vampires!”
Remy’s not at full speed, and I still don’t know which one of us would be faster if we raced, but I rush past him and skid to a stop.
I was hoping we’d make it inside before they spotted us, but they must have posted lookouts. I guess that shouldn’t be a surprise, considering how many we’ve killed so far. We also left our latest kill on the ground not far from the here.
“Off!” I transmit to Daisy.
“It’s a long drop!” she squeals.
“Ugh, fuck,” I grumble, lowering myself to my belly.
Daisy slides down my side, and I wait until her feet are on the ground before I rise up. There are five vampires headed our way, all makers, but none of them are old. Too bad that’s just the tip of the rotten iceberg.
The vampires fan out, trying to flank us.
They’re fast. Faster than any human. But we’re faster, especially now.
With pack bond between us, even Hayden will be stronger than he was.
An Alpha is always strengthened by a bond like this.
We’ve fought together for centuries, but now, we’re practically a single unit and we’re capable of massive devastation.
“Five on five,” Storm transmits. “A fair fight.”
“Nothing fair about it,” I snarl back. “They’re already dead.”
I speed ahead of my brothers and meet the first vampire head on. He lunges at me, fangs bared, moving at supernatural speed. I let him bite me. Fuck it, it doesn’t matter now. After we marked Ansley and tasted her blood, we’re all immune to them now.
“Doesn’t even hurt like it used to,” I chuckle, then my jaws snap shut on his arm, tearing it clean off at the shoulder.
The vampire screams and black blood sprays across the pavement.
I don’t give him a chance to recover. My massive paw comes down on his chest, and I pin him to the ground.
I press down until I hear bones snap and splinter, then I rip his chest apart, my fangs finding his heart before he even realizes how close to death he is.
I rip his heart out, crush it, and spit it on the ground. One down.
Ansley is off to the side, sword ready. Daisy is behind her.
They’re not in danger, so I turn to my left, where Hayden is a blur of charcoal-grey fur and fury.
He may be smaller than me now, but he’s deadlier than ever.
The vampire he’s fighting tries to dodge, but Hayden anticipates the movement.
He catches the vampire mid-leap, jaws clamping around his midsection.
The creature screams, clawing at Hayden’s face, but his black fingernails don’t break skin.
They just slide across the fur without penetrating.
Hayden shakes his head violently and the vampire’s body tears apart.
I leap over my brother and help him tear open the chest, but I leave the heart for him.
“Thank you, brother,” Hayden says politely. We both flash wolfy grins before he reaches in and tears out the heart
Two down. The odds are much better now. We turn our attention to the one Remy is fighting. He’s moving so fast that he’s just a black streak. The vampire is swinging wildly, biting the air, and screaming with frustration.
One moment he’s standing, and the next, Remy is behind him, fangs bared.
Remy snatches the vampire’s leg, snapping it off at the knee, and he goes down hard.
Hayden and I move in to help, but Remy is too quick.
He goes straight for the stomach, burrows up into the vampire’s chest cavity with his claws, and its heart is splattered on the ground before we can take another breath.
Three down. Nothing to worry about now.
“Let’s help Wyatt,” Hayden sounds almost perky. “Storm looks like he’s doing fine on his own.”
I glance towards the silver-white wolf. He’s got the vampire pinned down and he’s tearing him apart.
He doesn’t need our help at all. Wyatt’s battle strategy is always more methodical, even now as an Alpha.
He uses practiced speed and grace to avoid the bites and swipes, even though he’s immune.
He catches the vampire by the throat, and the rest of us join in, tearing the creature into pieces before Wyatt crushes the heart.
Four. I look over at the viscera surrounding Storm. Five.
“The welcoming committee is taken care of,” Storm says. “But I don’t think it’ll be any better once we get inside.”
“No,” I agree. “But we’ll be ready. Ansley, Daisy. Stay behind us.”
“Don’t have to tell me twice!” Daisy chirps.
We move towards the entrance, and I hit it with two paws, tearing the rotted wood from the hinges and destroying the plywood covering the door. As soon as I land, I see more vampires. At least a dozen. This is the real welcoming committee.
“School’s out,” I growl. “Forever.”
“And they say you don’t have a sense of humor,” Storm chuckles, rushing past me.
Now it’s two versus one at a minimum. I distract three of the makers and pull them off to the side so I can fight them. They’re hungry and angry. That’s fine, I am too, but I don’t need their blood. I’m hungry to watch them die.
I snap at them as they close, but before I can attack, one of them stops. They growl, thrash, and then a blade pushes through the front of their chest, the tip dripping with blood.
“Got one!” Ansley says as the vampire slumps on her blade, then falls to the floor.
The other two vampires spin around, fangs bared, claws ready to launch an attack.
“Stay back,” I snarl, then I snatch a spinal column out through the one on the right’s back.
It injures the vampire but doesn’t kill him. I leap on his back, pin him down, smash through his ribs and rip out his heart, but the time it takes gives the other one the chance to advance on Ansley. She swings the sword wildly. It’s light in her hand, but she’s not trained on how to wield it.
But she doesn’t have to be. After parrying a few attacks, she lowers the tip.
“Come on, bite me! I dare you!” she taunts.
The vampire doesn’t hesitate. In an instant, its fangs are on my mate’s neck. I snarl and jump at him, but Ansley drives the sword upward, piercing his abdomen and embedding the blade in his heart.
“Don’t fucking let them bite you,” I almost yell, even though I just did the same thing. “It still hurts.”
“A dead vampire is a dead vampire,” Ansley sasses back.
My brothers are still fighting with the others, so I join the attack. Being immune to their bites is a blessing, especially with this many, because their venom would eventually cause paralysis if we get bitten too much.
“This one’s dead,” Hayden declares, tearing out another heart.
“This one too,” Storm transmits.