Chapter 9
Elijah
Leaving Ashleigh with Theo was one of the hardest things I’d ever done. I kept telling myself that she would be safe, that he was the strongest man in my pack and he would jump in front of a bullet just to keep her safe, but it was still difficult.
I focused on the bond for several moments. I could feel that she was safe. She was worried slightly and that warmed my heart. It brought me relief that I could not sense her fear.
I took a deep breath and turned my attention to the problem at hand.
My pack and I were working our way up into the mountains.
I knew from the satellite imagery that there was a den of them stationed up on the cliffs, hidden away in the pine trees so that it was barely visible from below.
I led the way for my wolves through the woods at the side of the road, using it as cover.
I took precautions as we drew closer, scenting the air and taking several moments to observe my surroundings in case the vampires had laid any traps.
Surprisingly, I didn’t find a single one. They were either supremely overconfident or just incredibly stupid. By the time the cabin came into my sights, I’d decided it was probably the latter.
I’d decided in my initial plans that this outpost would be the first to go. It overlooked the main road into the biggest town in the surrounding area, which also doubled as their main hub. They’d taken over a mansion in the center of town, using it as their base to rule over its people.
I crept closer to the outpost, taking note of the heavy curtains and boards that closed off the windows. My men circled it with me, and I noticed that there was a rear exit that seemed to have fallen into disuse. From the looks of things, it had been nailed shut long ago.
The only way in was through the solid front door.
I crept along the perimeter, using the surrounding brush for cover. I doubted the vampires were looking out the windows themselves for fear of the sunlight burning them into a crisp, but from the looks of things, there were at least a few cameras mounted along the roofline.
I lowered myself to the ground, listening closely for signs of life.
The rank scent of vampire was fresh on the air.
One of the floorboards inside the cabin creaked loudly as someone walked around inside.
The sound of hushed voices flittered on the breeze and the raucous roar of laughter soon followed.
I crept forward, noting that the conversation continued. There was one camera focused on me and either they were ignoring the feed, or it was only there for show. I expected some retaliation by the time my men and I climbed up onto the porch, but still none came.
I’d waited long enough though. I threw my entire body weight into the door, causing it to smash inward with a massive crash. My wolf form took up much of the entryway and a ring of male and female vampires looked up at me with abject surprise.
There were about a dozen of them in the cabin.
None of them looked particularly strong. It was as if they had all just entered their senior year of high school and all the guys had yet to actually hit puberty. They sort of looked at us like we were mythical creatures of some kind. To be honest, it was really quite amusing.
I burst forward and ended the one closest to me with my teeth.
My men poured in behind me, swiftly tearing through the grisly group of vampires as if they were nothing more than paper dolls.
It was bloody and extraordinarily violent, but in the end, it needed to be done so that I could create a safe place for my pack, my mate, and my future sons and daughters.
By the time we were finished, the floorboards were soaked through with blood, all of it from the unfortunate vampires that happened to be guarding this outpost.
I did a quick survey of the cabin, noting that it was outfitted with nothing more than basic necessities. There were two additional rooms and when I walked into one of them, I was horrified at what I found.
A woman hung from shackles on the wall. She was naked, her skin covered with fresh bites.
She’d been here for a long time from the looks of it.
There were a terrifying number of white scars that had long past healed over, as well as several that were still mending.
There were no bandages or ointment and it appeared that she was barely hanging onto life. Her heartbeat was almost inaudible.
They must have freshly fed on her and it was clear that they’d taken it too far.
I took a step into the room, only to find out that she wasn’t the only one. There were more inside. Both human men and women alike hung from the walls and all of them seemed to have been used like an endless buffet by the vampires we’d just torn through.
I tore the shackles from the walls. They crumpled under my strength into piles of rust. I caught the woman in my arms before she fell, hating how her skin was cool to the touch.
This was cruel even by vampire standards.
I laid her down carefully on the floor. Beside me, my fellow pack members destroyed the metal cuffs and freed all the humans that were still left alive.
“I want someone to stay behind and make sure everyone here gets the medical help they need. Kaden, Riley, since you two have the most experience, run back to the caravan and bring everything we’ve got.
Keep them stable and once you’re able, get them to the nearest hospital,” I instructed once they were all free.
The two wolves I’d called out nodded hurriedly. I watched them sprint off with urgency.
“I need one of you to stay behind until Kaden and Riley come back. The rest of you follow me. If this clan is allowing these kinds of atrocities out here, I can only imagine what’s going on inside their stronghold,” I added.
My wolves growled with restrained fury.
“What are your orders for the vampires?” Atreyu asked boldly. He’d always been a loyal soldier but had found it increasingly difficult to put his hatred for vampires aside while under Amir’s rule. I, on the other hand, had no intention of limiting that hatred.
I would remember vampires for what they truly were. Monsters.
“I want them dead. Every last one,” I growled, unable to tear my eyes off of the suffering humans they’d left behind.
“You got it, boss,” Atreyu grinned.
“Let’s go,” I snarled.
We made quick work of the mountain. The men that followed me were battle-hardened soldiers. All of us were strong and fast, used to maneuvering our way through a fight and doing whatever it took to ensure that we came out as the victor.
When we reached the town, the roads were quiet.
It was as if the town had been abandoned and the silence that reigned over the beautiful homes and shops was more suspicious with every passing moment.
There wasn’t a single face in the windows.
No children laughing. The shops weren’t open. Some of them were even boarded shut.
I didn’t like it one bit.
I stopped several blocks away from the town center where the vamps had set up their home base. My ears flicked from side to side, listening for signs of life.
Then I heard something. It sounded like someone crying.
Now that my hackles were fully raised, I crept forward until the mansion in question came into view.
An army of humans was guarding its front gates. I stopped, still well out of the limits of the range of their vision.
“Circle around. We attack from the rear. Break into the mansion first and eliminate the vampires. Avoid killing the humans as much as you can. They are simply prisoners, and I will not punish them for that,” I commanded.
Quickly, my pack broke apart. We used the cover of the abandoned buildings all around it and when we approached the back of the mansion, there were only a few humans guarding the back.
With great care, we dealt with them as quickly and as quietly as possible, either sneaking around them or knocking them out when we had no other choice.
They would eventually wake up with a headache, but they were alive when we left them.
We broke into the mansion all at once. Some of the windows were open, some had to be broken.
A number of back entrances were locked, but that didn’t stop us from barreling through the door and knocking it straight off its hinges.
There were a few vampires we ran into as we rushed inside, but they were too caught off guard to do anything against the likes of us. I didn’t give them the chance.
I tore through each one, ignoring the bitter taste of vampire blood on my tongue. We ran into more as we hurried through the halls, but we ended those too.
Word seemingly traveled fast. Soon enough, we started encountering larger groups of vampires.
They didn’t give us too much trouble, but they were prepared enough to start slowing us down.
There were a few that rushed us with silver weapons, but we handled those quickly and efficiently so that none of my men got hurt.
By the time we finally managed to get to the central room of the compound, the vampires were fully armed and much stronger than the ones we’d encountered so far.
A large group of them were waiting for us.
I paused, studying what appeared to be a hastily organized last stand.
An alarming number of vampires were aiming guns in our direction.
I assumed that it was more than likely that each one was loaded with silver bullets.
Several were holding silver knives in their grasp too.
These ones at least knew who we were.
I hesitantly sniffed the air. The scent of wolfsbane burned at my nostrils. Some of them had sprigs of it tied around their necks.
Wolf shifters were weak to wolfsbane. Ingesting it would render us paralyzed. Aerosolized wolfsbane burned through our skin like actual fire. Touching it would be painful, but it would also weaken our strength. We would have to avoid it as much as possible.