Chapter 39 Star
Star
That sounds like our cue!
Max and I had been crouched behind the kitchen island together for several minutes—partly so I could stop him from “rescuing” Damon, but mostly so we could listen in on the drama from afar, before doing anything rash.
Like rushing in to “rescue” Damon when he’s got it handled.
I knew Max probably didn’t like hanging back, but that had more to do with him not wanting his mates to get hurt than doubting Damon’s abilities.
Pretty boy was a gunslinger at one point.
As soon as Damon started talking, I could tell what his game was. Vlad was a textbook narcissist—probably why he and Heather got along so well—and all you had to do was play into their fantasy of being the smartest person in the room to get them talking.
And talk he did…
As soon as he flat out admitted to being behind the hit on Chaz’s father, the energy in the cottage changed. Our sweet werewolf was the one I’d been worried about in this situation, but the instant ol’ Vlad ran his mouth, my favorite himbo went into beast mode real fast.
“Not even vamps have enough brainpower to avoid walking into a dog’s trap.”
Burn!
Wait a minute…
Learning our himbo werewolf had managed to set a trap was a bombshell in itself, but I didn’t get the chance to consider the angles because Max was suddenly attempting to stand, swearing under his breath as he tried, and failed, to shake off my deathgrip.
“This is my fault, Star,” he hissed under his breath as the sound of wood splintering filled the air. “I’m the one who killed those rival wolves!”
Shocking.
“You need to stop blaming yourself for all the things, Max,” I hissed right back, awkwardly rising along with him to maintain my hold on his bicep. “Just… cut the shit, okay?”
As soon as we cleared the island, I spotted Damon standing only a few feet away—backed against the dining room table as he watched whatever the fuck was happening in the living room.
Good.
Because he needs to hear this as well.
“So you’re finally telling us you were hired to take out the wolves that killed Chaz and Cash’s father,” I continued in Max’s ear.
“Newsflash: We don’t care, and I would bet the úlfr pack doesn’t either.
They knew damn well there might be consequences someday, but they—and you—did what needed to be done to set things right.
Your sense of justice is one of the many things we love about you, by the way. ”
When are you gonna figure this out already?
Max scowled, apparently determined to continue beating himself up, despite my excellent argument. I let it go—for now—because he’d already agreed to contact Dr. Sylvie and set up his first therapy appointment.
And I didn’t even need to be on his dick to make it happen!
The main reason I filed it away for later was that something told me we might need to jump in and rescue someone after all.
Unless it’s Vlad.
That fucker can die.
The chaos in the other room had gone eerily quiet, so I peered around the corner to find Chaz totally wolfed out, fully-shifted, and standing above the remains of the chair he’d previously been tied to, growling like…
Well, like an animal.
Pearl was in Vlad’s arms—gross—but it was obviously the last place on earth she wanted to be. In fact, it looked like our old nemesis had snatched her against her will and was now holding a blade centimeters away from her neck.
Okay, now I’m getting Heather ambush flashbacks.
“Wolfsbane…” Damon muttered with an imperceptible glance our way out of the corner of his eye.
Max quietly swore again as Vlad chuckled. “Yes, I felt it would be poetic justice for the úlfr pack to die in the same way your rivals did.” His beady eyes narrowed at the werewolf in front of him. “Starting with the youngest.”
“No!” Pearl exclaimed, then cried out as the blade pressed against her throat.
He wouldn’t kill her…
Would he?
Unsurprisingly, this threat of violence did not go over well with Chaz, who snarled so viciously, my hair stood on end. I was also in no mood for this abuser’s bullshit, so I prepared to intervene, but then Max beat me to it.
“Pack úlfr didn’t kill the rival werewolves, Vlad,” he said, stepping into view of the living room, taking responsibility for everyone else, per usual. “I did.”
Here we go.
Vlad’s wrinkly mouth dropped open, giving him a comically-accurate surprised Pikachu face, before he rallied back to his loser Dracula persona.
“I should have known you would be involved somehow!” He glared so hatefully at Max, I felt it. “What was your ultimate plan after all the dogs were dead, hmm? To challenge me for the coven?”
Wow.
He and Heather really were perfect for each other…
Too bad she lost her head.
Of course, Vlad wasn’t finished with his delulu conspiracy theories on Max’s M.O.
“It all stems from your mistaken belief that you are entitled to show up somewhere you don’t belong and take whatever you want from the people who were there first!” he proclaimed.
Ex-fucking-scuse me?!
Max paled, uncharacteristically silenced in the face of such audacity. This only enraged me more, because I could only imagine how triggered he was, seeing the parallels between Vlad’s accusation and what had been done to his community by the conquistadors.
Self-awareness is never strong among those willing to invade but paranoid about being invaded…
Unwilling to sit back while my man was hurt, I stepped into view, calling upon every ounce of my Lone Pine Valley Girl origins to verbally murder this asshole.
Then I’ll kill him for real.
“What about you, Vlad?” I sneered, placing myself between him and Max.
“Didn’t you once sail across the Atlantic as cargo with the rats just to show up and act like you owned the place?
We heard aaaaall about how you got your little panties in a bunch back in Opalite, as if you were the first guy to claim stolen land as your own. ”
Vlad tossed Pearl aside like a ragdoll, and I winced as she hit the wall with a dull thud. Chaz was immediately by her side, carefully checking on the tiny vampire with his massive werewolf paws, so I remained focused on my opponent.
Come and get me, you oversized mosquito.
“I should have killed you myself, you disrespectful tramp,” Vlad spat, and I rolled my eyes at the boring insult.
Yeah, I’m a horny ho.
Tell me something I don’t know.
“I doubt you would have dared,” I drawled, feeling my fangs lengthen as I prepared for a fight. “You were clearly too afraid of Max back in the 1880s, so you threw a mantrum for the next 150 years instead of challenging him directly, like a giant, bloodsucking baby.”
“HOW DARE YOU, YOU WHORISH HARLOT!!” Vlad squawked, racing across Chaz’s living room at vampire speed, big mad about his own lack of originality.
You can’t burn me, bitch.
I was born in the fire of the Valley.
Both Max and Damon attempted to throw themselves into harm’s way, but fate intervened. Before any of us could get tackled by a shroud-covered bag-o-bones, the entire front wall of Chaz’s cottage crashed inward, revealing two towering, snarling werewolves.
Fuck, I hope they’re on our side…
Apparently, they were, as they pounced on Vlad and dragged the shrieking vampire outside in a cloud of drywall dust.
We were all hot on their tails, but by the time we made it through the rubble, they’d already pinned our common enemy to the ground using iron stakes from Chaz’s garden.
That’s one way to do it.
He wasn’t dead—just trapped like an angry butterfly, thrashing among the zinnias—and the two werewolves had morphed back into two equally enormous guys I hadn’t seen since the day we escaped L.A.
Ohhh, so these were our “guardian angels”…
“Hey, Axel! Hey, Magnus!” Chaz trotted out in human form, his dick swinging in the unashamed way of werewolves who constantly shredded their clothes. “Thanks for stepping in. I thought I had it handled, but…” He discreetly glanced at Pearl as she joined us. “I got distracted.”
Mate problems.
“Hey, little bro…” one of the wolves replied absently, his flashing gaze fixed on the struggling prey at their feet. “Glad we could deliver Pearl safe and sound.”
“You mean use me as bait?” Pearl huffed, stomping around Chaz so she could square off with two naked men three times her size. “I trusted y’all to help me escape my ma… my maker, not tell him exactly where I went!”
Girl, get ‘em.
Only Chaz had the decency to look apologetic.
“I’m sorry you got caught in the middle of this, Pearl.
It was a long time coming and Vlad was just too powerful on his home turf.
We needed to wait until Max and company were settled somewhere safe, but not endanger them in the process of me repaying my pack’s debt. ”
So that’s why he’s hung around so long?
“There was no debt left to repay,” Max quietly cut in, sounding exhausted.
“Your pack helped me and my family escape and find sanctuary. That alone more than made up for me getting rid of a few wolves.” His gaze dropped to Vlad.
“And I would have gladly disposed of this vile creature had I known he was behind the death of your father.”
Chaz vigorously shook his head. “Nope. Vamps aren’t supposed to kill vamps, just like wolves shouldn’t kill wolves. That’s why we hired you, and it’s why we—I—wanted to take care of this for you in return.”
Murder as a bromantic love language.
“But if you’d like to do the honors, Max…” One of Chaz’s brothers held out a long wooden stake to my mate. “It’s not like anyone here will talk.”
“Oh, but he’ll forever know how dishonorable he was.” Vlad smirked with an evil glint in his eye that reminded me so much of Heather, I shivered. “Which makes sense… considering how unworthy he is.”
What a fucking asshole.
Max’s mouth was set in a grim line as he snatched the stake and glared down at the vampire beneath him. “You don’t know anything about me.”
“I know everything,” Vlad taunted as Max positioned the stake over his heart. “I even know who your maker was and where to find them.”
Oh, shit.