Chapter Six
Sherese
I fold my arms across my chest and stare up at him. “You know why I didn’t return to them?” His dark eyes assess me, but he doesn’t say anything. “Then I would no longer be able to make your life miserable.” I grin at his expressionless face.
“Come on, Vamp.”
I follow him, my long-legged stride easily keeping up with his even longer legs. I figure we’re walking back, but he surprises me by stopping at a car. “We’re taking your car?”
In the time I've been with the Phoenix Pack, I’ve never actually been in Hunter’s car. He eyes me across the roof of the fancy black sports car, though I have no idea what it is. “Don’t make me regret it.”
I climb in, surprised at how low to the ground it is. “Do you even fit in this thing?” I ask, glancing over at him. He doesn’t respond. The car thunders to life when he starts it. “That’s a powerful engine.” I lean forward and unzip my boots.
“What are you doing?” he asks in a low voice that I ignore. A moment later, my boots are off, and I put my sock-clad feet on the dashboard. I’ll admit—it's not comfortable in the least. I’m all scrunched up, but it’s the principle of the matter. “Do you mind?”
“I don’t mind at all,” I tell him, shifting against my seat.
I fiddle around looking for the buttons.
I try all of them until I find the one that makes the seat recline.
I breathe a sigh of relief when it gives me more space.
He doesn’t say a word, and I glance over at him.
I can see the muscle ticking in his jaw, but he stays quiet.
I stare out the window as we drive back to pack territory.
I take in the nightlife, enjoying myself immensely.
I really haven’t been off the pack lands since I came here a few weeks ago.
And before that...Well, it’s been a long time since I’ve ridden in a car and taken in the sights.
Hunter doesn’t say anything the entire ride back, which is only about twenty minutes. When we park in front of the pack house instead of his house, I’m curious. He turns off the car and speaks without looking at me. “Bryce called for a meeting, and you’re supposed to be there.”
“When did he call for a meeting?” I ask curiously.
“As soon as he left the mall.”
I turn to him in surprise. “He knew I’d choose to come back.”
“No.” He turns his head towards mine. “Ava did.” Without another word, he climbs out of the car and heads into the pack house.
I wait until he’s inside to open my door and climb out.
I feel eyes on me and count at least six shifters surrounding the house, and I’m sure there are more further out.
None of them stop me. Bryce would have given them orders to stand down.
Still, I keep my head down and head right inside.
Vampires are the natural enemy of the wolves, and I am never unaware of what I am.
There are many wolves who have lost someone to the vampires, whether recently or in the war between wolves and vampires.
I am always conscious of that fact and always watch my back.
That’s why I’ve mostly stayed at Hunter’s.
If I go anywhere, it’s just to spend time with Ava at her house.
Every once in a while, I visit Brandon, her brother.
I periodically check in on him to see if he’s improving.
He’s been doing well and making progress.
It’s slow, but he’s progressing. He hasn’t had what I call a “red-eye moment” since the day he thought Bryce was hurting Ava.
Ava had gone into Brandon’s room to see him, and he’d already been off.
He was agitated and on edge. Bryce entered the room and could read the aggression in Brandon, so he tried to protect Ava and get her out of the room.
But Brandon, in his aggressive state, had attacked Bryce, thinking he was hurting Ava.
There were still days when he was off and extra aggressive, but since that day, he hasn’t attacked anybody.
I’m always cautious when I go into his room.
I could possibly trigger him, since the vampires were the ones who took him and did all sorts of awful things to him.
When I check on him, if I feel any aggression or aggravation at all, I don't go in. Most days, he sits at his desk and journals. That’s the way he’s coping.
I’m not sure what he’s writing, but I hope it’s helping him.
He’s a nice kid, and it isn’t fair what’s been done to him.
They took him at the same time they took Ava, but they’d kept them apart.
She had no idea he was even still alive.
They experimented on him and finally turned him into a super soldier.
They were putting vampire serum into him and the others that were still trapped in there.
It made them incredibly strong, but it also made them easy to control.
I’d watched many times when they had one of their supercharged wolves that now had vampire speed and power coursing through his veins do whatever they were told by Rizo or Ajax.
The guys would act on instinct, like they weren’t even human.
I’d seen some awful things that they’d done under those commands, things I could never even speak of because they were so terrible.
I step inside the pack house and close the door behind me before making my way to the room where pack leadership meets.
I’ve only been in there once or twice in the time I’ve been here.
Tonight, when I enter, Bryce sits at the head of the table with Ava at his right and Ryan, his beta, at his left.
Cody, Alicia, and Leo all sit on Ryan’s side.
Ava grins at me and pats the seat next to her.
I close the door and finally notice Hunter.
He’s leaning against the wall, arms crossed.
His dark eyes meet mine for a moment, but I turn away and sit next to Ava.
The room is silent and thick with tension. “Hey,” Ava says, breaking the silence.
I don’t say anything; I’m not naive about this meeting.
Rizo, a master vampire, showed up here on pack territory last night and then today at the mall.
This is no small thing. But I’ve never been invited to a meeting, and by the looks on faces, I don’t think I want to be again.
Leo, their IT guy, sits behind his laptop, fingers tapping a mile a minute.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen him without his head buried in his laptop or phone.
Cody sits in the middle. I’ve never really gotten a read on him.
He’s the one who lets me into Brandon’s room, but he never says much.
Alicia sits next to him. She’s never been friendly towards me.
I don’t take it personally; I know what I am to them.
The enemy, and I won’t ever be anything else.
Ryan gives me a polite smile. I don’t know him very well, either, but he seems like a nice guy.
“Thank you for joining us, Sherese,” Bryce says, leaning back in his chair. He exudes power and calm, but I know he has to be uptight from what happened. He meets my gaze directly. “What happened at the mall?”
“You mean besides the hours of trying on clothes your mate forced me into?”
His eyes flick to Ava, and his expression softens. “Besides that.”
I can feel Hunter’s gaze on me, but I focus my attention on the alpha. “Well, you know that Rizo was there. He approached me along with two of his vampires. I didn’t recognize either of them. They’re not high in the chain of command, then. I’m sure they had more outside and nearby.”
“They did,” Bryce confirms. “What did he say to you?” Bryce asks, leaning forward.
I meet his gaze head-on. “He asked me if I thought they were just going to let me leave.” There’s no ounce of warmth in my voice.
“What did you tell him?” That comes from Ryan.
“The truth. That I wasn’t given a choice.”
“After that?” Bryce asks.
“I told him if they could get me out of there, I’d go with them.
” I hear someone suck in a breath, but it’s Ava that responds viscerally.
But I continue without looking at her. “He asked who was all with me, and I told him the alpha, enforcer, and another of the alpha’s personal security team.
I also told him I was sure there were more nearby. ”
“Anything else?” Bryce asks in a low voice. I can tell he’s been pushed, and I really want out of this meeting before he snaps and I become the target.
“He threatened me if I didn’t come back.”
Ava spins to face me. “He threatened you?”
I shrug. “I’m their most valuable asset. They’re not going to just let me go.”
“Can you heal?” Ava asks.
Her question surprises me, and it takes me an extra second to respond. “No.”
“Are you sure?”
I look at her. “Yes.” My answer is resolute.
“Then why are you valuable to them? Why do they want you back so badly?” Ava asks.
"As far as I know, I’m the first female they were able to turn successfully.”
“Were you turned recently?” Bryce asks. “Did they just figure it out?”
I’m quiet for a moment. “No.” I squeeze my pant legs with my fingers for just a moment before I relax them. I realize there’s no getting out of this. I force the words from my mouth. “I was taken when I was fourteen and turned shortly after that.” Stunned silence follows my announcement.
Ava turns to me, her face full of horror. “But you’re,” she pauses.
“Twenty-one. Yeah, I was with the vampires for seven years.” It’s absolutely silent in the room.
“Sherese,” Ava starts.
I cut her off. “Don’t.”
“If they had a successful turn, why did all those other females die?” Bryce asks in a hard voice.
“I’ve had a long time to think about it. I think there are two reasons. One, I was a healer.”
“How did you know?” Bryce asks.
Memories fill me of a time so very long ago, and I push them deep down.
“I healed someone once, accidentally, really.
I had no idea I could; it just sort of happened.
The second reason I think my turn was successful is that Rizo was the one who turned me.
He's a really powerful vampire.” I force myself to continue.
“When things started heating up with the wolves, he took me along with a few other vampires and went underground. He avoided the war and came out after and set up the site in West Virginia.”
“Why didn’t he turn others?”
“Each time a powerful vampire like that turns someone, it takes some of their power. Normally, a powerful master like that would turn someone, and then their sire would turn others. Masters crave power and will do anything not to lose it. So, they don’t sire often. I guess I’m just the lucky one.”
It’s absolutely silent as everybody takes this information in. Ava studies me a moment, like I’m a puzzle she’s trying to figure out. “They don’t know you’re a healer, do they?”
I take a moment to answer. “No.”
It goes quiet in the room. “How do they not know?” she asks softly.
I shrug. “I’ve only ever healed that one time.
I’ve never told anyone what I am. I think maybe the vamps finally gave up on me and decided they grabbed the wrong girl.
And whatever the healers give off, I don’t because my vampire side overrides it.
I think back then, they probably didn’t even recognize it.
Isn’t the healer with the Northwoods the first healer that’s shown up in generations? ”
“Sage?” Ava asks.
“Yeah.”
Ava turns to Bryce. “She is, right?” Bryce nods.
“So, you’re telling me that we’re currently housing the only sire of a very powerful master as well as an unmated healer?” Cody asks. There’s no heat in his words, but he’s not wrong. “Are you the last unmated healer?”
“No,” Ava says. When Cody turns to her, she doesn’t give him a whole lot. “We know of at least one more we’re working to track down.”
I take that in, wondering who this healer is.
I don’t know of any currently at the facility, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t any.
The vampires are so fixated on the healers for their blood and healing energy.
They've always been fixated on them, but now that they’ve been successful with their shifter/vampire super-charged soldiers, they’re even more focused on it.
I’ve known all this, but hearing it out loud is like a wake-up call.
They’re not going to stop coming after me.
My gaze flicks to Ava and then Bryce. “I’m sorry. I would never have gone out with her if I’d known they’d show up.”
“This is not your fault, Sherese,” Ava says. “Right, Bryce?”
He doesn’t answer, and she turns her head towards him.
I know she’s communicating through their link.
I’ve seen her do it enough to recognize it.
I have a feeling Bryce is getting an Ava lecture right now, but he doesn’t show anything on his face.
But when she sits back and pins him with a look, I get that they’re not going to agree on this.