Chapter 48 #2
The last hint of moonlight spreads a delicate scarlet shade over the field, toppled grass and weeds carrying the faintest scent of her.
Her wolf began to slow here, and whether it was out of fatigue or the effects of the blood moon waning off, I’m not sure.
All I know is we’re closing in on her, and fast. When she shifts back to her human form, I can’t imagine she’ll have the strength to keep running while fighting to stay conscious.
Where she is running to is the question.
The thing pushing me forward when every muscle in my arms and legs screams for reprieve.
There is something else, though. Another scent. One that isn’t hers.
I haven’t heard any signs of the soulless horde in miles, but that doesn’t mean they’re not still out there.
A wolf might chase their prey across entire continents, but I don’t know enough about those things to assume they hunt the same way we do.
And when roars echo from behind me, my heart lurches as what’s left of his pack stops altogether.
Bones crack. Monstrous growls fill the air.
I have to rake both of my claws into the earth to slow myself down, and when I finally do, I race toward them, preparing for another fight.
It’s only when I close the distance that I notice the wolves aren’t being attacked despite their bodies thrashing in torment. They’re shifting.
Clément and Jade are the first to shed their forms, scratching away the wolf to reveal a human body beneath.
Then, the rest of them do the same. A chorus of distorted voices ring out.
Flesh drops to the dirt in ribbons. Their claws retreat, and once their wide jowls split down both sides, the skin breaks apart to reveal four distressed faces.
Most drop to their hands and feet, gasping for breath while Clément is the only one able to remain upright.
His bare chest heaves. Anger twists his features.
And when his eyes lock with mine, a rage unlike anything I’ve seen from the alpha becomes strikingly clear.
Fire engulfs my insides as I shift back, letting the wolf skin fall off in pieces and land at my feet.
With each discarded piece of flesh, my blood paints the yellow grass beneath me bright red.
My heart rate spikes as my human form takes hold, and I ignore the need to double over, strangling down what little air I can.
“Where are the rest?” he seethes, waving a hand to Jade and the two pups incredulously. His voice is low. Menacing. And when I don’t respond, he screams with unbridled fury. “Where is my pack?”
I lower my head. “We’re all that made it out.”
“Did you know?” The alpha stomps toward me, every muscle in his arms and neck tensing. “Did you know he was working with them? You better choose your next words carefully, Vostik.”
“I. Didn’t. Know.” I raise my voice and wince at the migraine hammering away at my skull. “I didn’t know those things even existed. And I couldn’t have known he’d turn the captives we shipped here into some soulless fucking army.”
He pauses a few feet away, his jaw ticking. “What do you mean, captives?” The murderous tone in Clément’s voice softens.
“I saw them, Clément. I chose some of them for the godsdamn hunt myself. When they arrived at my family property, they were still very much human.”
A stern huff. “Newly turned vampires. A brood of newly turned vampires slaughtered my entire pack.” He nods and chuckles, but the sound is nothing short of disgust. “He wanted to spit in my face one last time by using the same creatures I tried to warn him about. The reason every other pack turned their backs on us. Un-fucking-believable.”
I step forward. “We need to keep moving. Who knows if they’re still—”
Clément waves his hand and cuts me off. “No need.” He points to the sun slowly rising behind the mountains overlooking the barren field. “They won’t be following us now. Sunlight. One of the few things that kills them. They will have buried themselves or found a rock to crawl under.”
Sunlight? I find it hard to believe something as simple as sunlight would be able to stop a monster capable of reattaching limbs. “What else kills them?”
“Conversation for another time. Let’s focus on getting the hell out of—” He stops and scans the barren field. “Where are we exactly?”
“Fifty miles outside of Samara, give or take. And our ride is almost here.”
It wasn’t difficult to keep an ear on the military vehicle trailing us from the Vostik property, and while the other wolves might not have noticed, I picked up on the distinct hum of a drone following our movements overhead.
Dimitri and Alexey. They made it out much to my relief and gods do we need them right now.
When the truck becomes a small dot in the distance, the rest of the wolves stagger to their feet.
Dimitri at the wheel, he parks the truck and jumps from the driver’s seat.
Alexey stumbles out behind him and hunches forward, one arm cradling his stomach. “There’s a crate of clothes in back, big man. I planned ahead for nakedness this time.”
Dimitri does so without a complaint, though I’m sure he’s thinking more than a few curses in his head. I grab the first shirt and sweatpants I find and slide them on, my muscles screaming in forfeit.
When I’m clothed, Dimitri wraps me into a bear hug and squeezes, only proving the night was more taxing on my body than I originally thought. “Glad to see you alive, moy brat.”
I return the gesture, clapping my palm on his back. “You too, brother.”
Clément and the rest of the wolves take turns clothing themselves, heads hung low, and the unmistakable look of grief in their solemn features. Jade hasn’t said a word since she shifted back. None of them have besides Clément.
“Alexey,” I say and move to the side of the truck. “I need you to send the drone ahead. Natalia can’t be far—” I pause when I take in the soldier fully, still doubled over in the shadow of the truck, his face pinched tight with strain. “What happened to him?”
Dimitri shrugs. “Don’t know. He’s been like that since we leave property.”
“Alexey?” I say again, noticing the way his heart pulses at an irregular rhythm. “Are you okay?”
When he lifts his head, his two bloodshot eyes find mine with hard red lines carved in the whites. He winces and draws in a shallow breath, spit dribbling down his low-hanging mouth. “Uncle Alexey needs a minute.”
Clément Duval shoves his way forward, his glare widening. “Were you bitten?”
Silence fills the air as we all take turns glancing from Clément to a disheveled Alexey struggling to stand. He doesn’t say anything at first, only rolls up the sleeve of his military top one inch at a time.
Gods.
The flesh of his forearm is mangled, practically bitten clean through with horrible black lines spreading under the skin like spiderwebs.
I don’t know how I didn’t smell the blood before, not with the amount collecting on his sleeve.
The color drains from his face with each passing second, and as a cough rattles out of his lungs, a short hiss follows.
“Bastard surprised me,” he finally says, a slight grin stretching his sunken cheeks.
Clément positions himself in front of me. “Your friend is going to become one of them, Nikolai. He doesn’t have long either. We have to end it now before he turns fully.”
“We need to what?” Dimitri says, his voice rising defensively. “Yesterday, the soulless were a fucking myth. We don’t know anything about them or how they turn.”
Clément’s eyes darken. “I’ve seen it happen. And I know the soulless’s venom is spreading through his body right now like a cancer. Don’t believe me? Ask him,” he says and gestures to me.
Dimitri’s gaze shoots to mine, uncertainty settling on his brow.
I close my eyes and nod, unable to look at anyone.
Not even Alexey. I don’t know why I didn’t sense it before.
How thick his blood is. The way his heart is struggling to feed it through his veins.
The hissing he swallows down with each strangled breath.
“He’s right. I fucking hate that he is, but he’s right. ”
“What in the fuck are you muttering about?” Alexey asks, his face twisting with pain.
“Alexey,” I start and slam my mouth shut. Guilt spreads throughout my body as aggressively as the heat from a shift, only this sensation leaves bile reaching the back of my tongue. How can I tell him? How can I possibly look my friend in the eyes and say he’s going to turn into one of those things?
“No,” Dimitri says and shakes his head. “There must be another way. A cure.”
“A cure for what?” Alexey screams, his voice hoarse and distorted. “Tell me.”
“You were bitten by a soulless,” Clément blurts out, silencing the rest of us. “And now you will turn into one of them.”