Chapter 34
Ansley
I have no idea what happened.
One minute I was scared, the next my vision went white and my sword caught fire.
Then I transformed, a piece of a soul pushing forward. I don’t know how I knew it was a soul, but I just did. Same as my vision, when I saw Jaxton. Except I didn’t look like this in my vision. This is different. So, what does that mean? Could my vision be wrong?
“Okay, I… bit him,” Daisy says. “I don’t really have fangs, but I got some skin. Dead skin. Yuck! I can’t believe I thought he was hot.”
“They’re still living beings, technically,” Wyatt explains calmly while killing a vampire. “They breathe. They still have beating hearts. Their food is just blood, though, and it withers them. Makes them rot. Like being addicted to a drug.”
“Am I going to wither and rot?” Daisy moans. “Wait, no. I have Ansley’s blood, right? And she’s… this Viking Warrior Princess, so do I get to be one too? Come on, how does it work? Do I have enough blood running down my chin? Should I have one of you hold one so I can bite him?”
“Wait,” I call to my friend, taking a step back. “My vision wasn’t like this. I didn’t look like this. That means something could be wrong. We should still be careful. Maybe no biting vampires.”
“Fine,” Daisy sighs. “They taste horrible anyway.”
“Some wolves like the taste,” Remy says, tearing one apart as he marches down a hallway of blood, destruction, and bodies upon bodies of vampires.
This feels like a massacre, but the warrior in me is thriving on it.
I can feel it like a glow of approval in my chest. The warrior soul.
She approves of this. The violence. The protection.
Vanquishing evil. The sword in my hand feels like it’s always been there, and I know how to fight, but underneath it all, I’m still me.
A woman who’s pregnant, absolutely new to all this, and still really terrified.
I keep fighting. We keep killing. I mainly make sure Daisy is safe and alternate with Hayden. Thankfully, my best friend doesn’t seem to be transforming into anything. I think we’ve had enough transformations today and Super Daisy isn’t one I’d like to imagine.
Through the pack bond, I can feel my mates.
Their determination. Their protective ferocity.
Hayden’s love for our child. Jaxton’s brutal, raw rage.
Wyatt’s curiosity, even as he tears apart vampires, like he still has plenty to learn.
Remy’s faster now, and he loves it. And Storm.
He thrives on things that make him feel closer to the old world, even as he embraces the new more than his brothers.
I guess killing vampires is one of those ways.
“Almost to the top,” Hayden rumbles as he moves up the stairs.
No other vampires here. It’s quiet. Too quiet, and if the dying rasps below us weren’t still echoing, we could hear a pin drop.
“Five Alpha Wolves. A lost little… lamb,” a raspy voice echoes through the still, stale air. “And divine fury. My, my, what has been brought to my doorsteps tonight?”
Then we see him. He’s floating, moving through the air slowly, but it’s clear he’s holding back. His eyes blaze crimson, like blood-red diamonds reflecting the light. His skin is withered, hanging on his skeleton, stretched thin, bone showing in places.
“Yeah, so, Ansley,” Hayden speaks quietly, taking a step back. “There’s a difference between an old vampire, and an ancient vampire.”
“He’s old, right?” I say, mesmerized by this macabre vision. Then I realize everyone’s taking a step back, so I do too.
“I’d call him ancient,” Daisy squeaks out, now cowering behind Jaxton instead of cheering me on.
“Well, regardless, I saw you guys tearing him apart,” I try to sound encouraging, but there is a little concern in my voice as I feel theirs through the pack bond.
“And your vision could be wrong,” Hayden cautions. “But we have to fight. We don’t have a choice.”
Hayden lunges at the vampire but it catches the eight-hundred-pound wolf like a naughty puppy, slinging him towards a window.
Hayden recovers midair and avoids being thrown through the jagged shards of broken glass still hanging in the frame.
He rebounds off the window frame and all five of my mates go in for the attack.
“Weaken him first!” Remy shouts, zooming in faster than his brothers.
The vampire avoids them with a dash, and slings Wyatt across the room. He lets out a pained yelp when he hits the concrete wall. I’m torn between rushing to him or rushing to help, so I choose to join the battle, praying he’s okay.
I cut at the vampire’s leg and he dodges. He smirks, winks, and the next thing I know, he’s behind me.
“Let’s see what you taste like, little angel child,” he snickers, then he tries to sink his teeth into my neck.
Tries. He doesn’t pierce me, but it hurts so much I drop my sword. I collapse but he still doesn’t let go, trying with all his might to break through my skin. I scream, and try to shove him off, but I can’t.
“Help Ansley!” Multiple voices scream in my head, and my mates converge.
The vampire refuses to let go. He bites down harder until it feels like my spine is going to snap before Remy bites down on his arm.
“I want a taste!” the vampire screams, then he clamps down harder.
My body is shaking. I can’t move. I’m pinned. My mates are all around me. They’re tearing into the vampire, but he’s not letting go. He’s still fighting them off, even as they sink their fierce teeth into his flesh.
Then he shrieks, his fangs pulling away from my neck. He spins around and I find enough strength to draw myself away.
When I look over my shoulder, I see him moving towards Daisy. She must have distracted him, bitten him, based on the blood around her mouth. He doesn’t look happy about it in the least.
“You think you could handle even a taste of my power, little lamb!? This will be a mercy killing!” he screams, then he swipes at Daisy.
His hand almost makes contact, but Jaxton is already soaring through the air.
He clamps down on it before the vampire can connect with Daisy’s face and begins snarling and shaking his head.
I grab my sword, it ignites, and I run forward.
Hayden catches the other arm. Remy sinks his teeth into the vampire’s ribs. Wyatt and Storm each gnaw on a leg.
They’re waiting for me to strike. I aim my sword and try to run the vampire through, but I can’t pierce the chest. I’m not strong enough. My sword burns his skin and he shrieks, but I can’t get through…Wait! I remember!
“In my vision, you were missing an arm!” I snarl, then slice through the one Jaxton is holding.
Jaxton drops the arm and lunges at the vampire.
Just like my vision, he tears into his chest and rips the heart out with teeth.
The heart isn’t like the others. It’s withered, black, and shimmers like onyx.
When Jaxton crushes it, shards fall to the floor, landing and bouncing everywhere as the quietness returns after the last death rattle from the ancient vampire.
“Dead vampire,” Jaxton growls, spitting out black blood.
“Daisy are you okay?” I ask, dropping the sword and rushing to my best friend.
“I’m… I’m fine,” Daisy squeaks, shrugging her shoulders and looking around. “It tasted like what I would imagine a sewer tastes like. I only swallowed a little.”
My vision goes white for a moment, and I feel the intense warmth leave my chest. The red highlights leave my hair, my body shudders and I return to my normal size, no longer feeling the soul’s presence.
“Whoa, you glowed for a second,” Daisy says. “But you’re back to normal. No more Viking Warrior Princess. I was just kidding about you pillaging me, by the way… maybe.”
“Yeah, you’re fine,” I laugh, standing and offering her my hand. She takes it and I haul her to her feet.
“The vampires are dead, now it’s time to torch this place,” Hayden rumbles, shifting into his true Human Form.
“Oh, nice cock, handsome,” Daisy laughs.
“It’s not for you,” Hayden snaps and turns his crotch away from Daisy’s very appreciative stare.
“Not. At. All!” I reprimand my naughty friend.
“I know, I know, I can still… compliment it,” Daisy says, glancing back for a second before looking away. “I’ve got matches. Anyone bring gas?”
“Wait,” Remy growls, his ears shooting up. “I hear something. Something…”
“More vampires?” Jaxton ask, then he shakes his head. “No, I hear it too.”
I listen, not hearing anything at first. Then there’s a faint pulsing sound that gets louder and louder, turning into a rhythmic thumping. It’s distant but getting closer fast.
“Helicopters!” Hayden yells, running to a window.
“Cops?” Wyatt asks, running to a different window.
“We can outrun the cops, but that won’t help with the bodies, though,” Remy snarls. “Fuck, this will be impossible to explain. It’ll attract all kinds of attention.”
“We’ve got bigger problems than that. Much bigger,” Jaxton’s deep voice is heavy with fear. Then I can hear cars approaching too. “It’s not the fucking cops. It’s the Crimson Templars!”
“What!? No!” Hayden shouts, and I can hear the panic in his voice.
“We’ll have to fight them,” Storm says. “No choice.”
“We can’t fight them!” Hayden snaps back. “They have weapons that can kill us. And that was a long time ago. Do you really want to find out what kind of improvements they’ve made?”
“It’s true, Storm,” Jaxton growls. “As much as I want revenge, now is not the time. Especially not with Ansley and Daisy with us. You know what they do to women.”
“Not good things, right?” Daisy whimpers.
“No,” Jaxton’s sharp tone says all we need to know.
“I vote for running,” Wyatt sounds like he’s trying hard not to panic.
“Now! Now! They’re firing a missile!” Jaxton screams, then spins away.
Jaxton stops in front of me and I jump on his back, dragging Daisy up with me. Then we’re running, much faster than when we arrived. We get to the staircase, right as the top floor of the school explodes with fire, scorching my skin. Jaxton’s fur singes, and I can smell it over the rot and blood.
“Faster, faster!” Jaxton yells.
We barely touch the second floor, we’re across it so fast, paws smashing the floor to rubble beneath us where they land. Still, we barely get to the first floor in time, and stone and debris are falling on us when we get to the bottom of the stairs.
“The whole building is coming down!” Wyatt cries as we all burst through the front door.
Five massive wolves hit the ground with thunderous impact as the building crashes down behind us. I look around to make sure everyone is safe. There’s a spotlight on us. Shouting. Cars are screeching to a stop, helicopters are approaching and circling.
We’ve been spotted.
“Run, run, RUN!” Remy screams.
And we do. Jaxton leaps into the air and when we touch down, we’re out of the spotlight’s beam.
Each wolf tears off in a different direction, running for all they’re worth, winding through alleys and back streets, keeping to the dark and shadows, until joining back up many blocks away.
Daisy and I hang onto Jaxton for dear life, and I may have taken up prayer for a few minutes.
The helicopters chase us for a while, but finally the sound of the rotors fades.
We’ve lost them. By the time we do, none of the cars have been able to track us.
None of us stop moving until we all get back to The Den. We rush through the doors, Jaxton skidding to a stop and lowering himself so we can get off.
“Fuck, this is bad,” Hayden’s face is a mask of worry when he shifts into his true Human Form. “Really bad.”
“That did not happen in my vision!” I scream. “It ended right when Jaxton killed the vampire!”
“Do we run or do we hide?” Wyatt asks, a tremor in his usually gentle voice.
“It’s too risky to run right now,” Hayden says. “They’ll be looking for us. They didn’t track us here, though.”
“I’m checking all the surveillance equipment now,” Storm says, moving to the cameras. After a few seconds, he announces, “We’re clear. No alerts except the ones we triggered ourselves.”
“We could hide here, for now. Move to a safehouse later. It’s doable, but it’s risky,” Remy says. “But they know we’re in Chicago. They won’t leave until they find us. We will eventually have to leave.”
“Or fight them,” Storm says. “Ansley, do you have any souls in you that can kill Crimson Templars? Maybe a giant Gundam or something?”
“A what?” I ask, trying to convince my pounding heart to slow down.
“No,” Daisy declares defensively. “She doesn’t have a giant robot inside her. Those guys were shooting missiles. We need like … the fucking army or something.”
“We’ll lay low for the next couple days, then we’ll reassess,” Hayden says, turning to me. “But I’m sorry, Ansley. We’re probably not going to be able to stay in Chicago. We have to think of the baby, too.”
He doesn’t have to tell me that. I already know I have to put the baby’s safety first. My hand goes to my stomach and I nod. “Yeah, I understand.”
We won.
Then we lost.