The van pulled to the rear gates of the club. The massive steel gates slid open as a couple of Ariana's scantily clad (angels of death) dancers peered over the wall.

Dustin pulled the van inside and parked away from where the vlads were still cowering in the shadows. It wouldn't be long before the sun covered them all and they would blow away in the breeze. All that would remain was a heap of half-melted zip ties.

Declan walked up to the row and grabbed hold of the first beast his hand reached (his anger hadn't subsided) and then hurled it into the center of the yard. The creature squirmed and smoldered. It burst into flames as the golden beams of the warming sun rose above the rear buildings and slowly crept along the cobbled pavers.

“None of you are going to survive. And after you are gone, we'll do the same again until not even one vlad remains. We have a coalition of hunters who are eager.” Declan paced up and down the line. “Eager to kill again. Before it was us. Now humans and wolves have a joint enemy, and I am more than happy for them to take up arms again.”

The vlads listened and quaked in their shoes. No matter what Declan said, they'd be dead anyway, within the hour. Declan grabbed one of the beasts. He called Gabriel over and pulled one of the knives from its sheath. He stepped behind the animal and cut through the zip tie. He crouched and cut his ankles free.

“Let this one go,” Declan called to the girls on the gate. The steel gate opened enough for the beast to push its way through. “You can run, but you can't hide. Tell your brethren we are coming for them tonight.” Declan shoved the vlad toward the gate. It glanced at the snarling line of beasts that were shackled. It scurried through the gate and found shadows where it could hide itself the best it could.

“Why did you do that?” Gabriel quizzed Declan.

“If we attack, they'll hide now that Sanders has left. This way they'll be trying to defend themselves. We'll round them up and help them to burn in hell.”

“What about Drake?” asked Gabriel.

Declan pushed the blade back in the sheath. His hand fell to Gabriel's shoulder. He smiled. “Let me worry about that for now. A day or so isn't going to make much difference,” Declan added. “I have a plan.”

Declan walked to Dustin. He spoke quietly into his ear and then turned to Ariana and asked if he could use her office.

“Me casa es su casa,” she replied.

Declan looked at Ariana seriously. “I want you in there with us.”

Ariana stood behind her desk. Declan and Dustin stood facing Noelle, Gabriel, Kelvin, Sascha, and Maria. They all huddled on the couch. Girls on the cushions and the two guys sat on the arms. They listened intently to what Declan and Dustin had to say.

Declan said his piece first. “We all know Drake has now been taken. Long before Sanders and you all arrived in Miami, I spoke to Dustin and Maria, and on separate occasions. We ran through all eventualities of what could happen,” he explained. Declan urged Maria to stand and to say a few words before Dustin wrapped up the conversation.

“All the way we’ve been searching for the same shaman as Sanders. Now he has a head start, and he knows the location of the shaman. We don't, apart from the town Vera Cruz, but this could be anywhere. Sascha's aunt (as everyone knows as the witch) is trying to find the location via the spirit world,” Maria explained in detail. She stepped aside and Dustin took over to speak.

“Once we have the location, we can set off. By all accounts.” Dustin looked at Gabriel. “If this shaman can't help, then Gab here has no chance of getting his wolf back,” Dustin explained.

Gabriel's face dropped slightly. Sascha put her hand on his leg to calm him. She mouthed the words. It'll be okay, I promise. Gabriel smiled and covered her hand with his.

“We know Sanders is a devious bastard. We took this into consideration. His route from Miami to Mexico is a hell of a trip, and he needs to backtrack the way we all came.”

“What are you saying?” Kelvin asked.

“He has possible routes away from Miami, so chasing him isn't an option. We need to leapfrog him.”

“How do we do this and be sure of it?” Kelvin asked, confused.

Dustin grinned. “At the moment, all everyone needs to know is that it will be a smarter and quicker way than what Sanders would consider.”

Declan finished by saying they needed the club for another couple of nights. Miami would be clean of vlads by the time they left. They should have the location by then. The club was to remain closed. Ariana agreed they could use it as the base station for rounded up vlads. Declan said she'd be compensated for the closure, and she said it wasn't a worry. It'd make the guests all the more hungry to come, and she could give it a little care and attention while it was closed too.

Teams were to stay as they are, and Dustin (the undertaker) and Renegade were to carry on with the transport. Returning back to the club at eight for a weapons check.

They walked back into the yard and walked toward the van. A good day’s rest and they'd be ready to do it all again. Dustin waited outside the yard until he heard the large black gates close. He drove back to the condo as the sun breathed life into the city once again.

“I'm ready to hit the sack,” Kelvin murmured from the front seat.

“You can bet your sorry ass we all are,” Declan replied.

The van crept into the condo parking lot. The pack stepped out, stretched, and made their way to the staircase. Declan held his arm out. He heard voices from by Noelle's and his apartment.

“It appears we've got visitors,” he whispered to Noelle. He pushed her behind him. It was the safest place. They crept up the stairs. The voices got louder and more familiar. Noelle tugged on Declan's shirt. He turned his head.

“Yeah, I know,” he whispered. They walked across the landing and rounded the corner.

Noelle stepped from behind Declan and placed her hands on her hips. “Mom, Dad, what are you doing here?”

Gabriel stood against the railing outside of Sascha's apartment. His face was covered in guilt. He'd already spilled his concern that it was all his fault, and now Garrett and Abigail sprang a visit from out of nowhere. He felt that they were obviously going to be pointing their fingers at him.

“What's wrong?” Sascha asked, now stepping back into the hallway and reminding Gabriel not to lean too much. The railing was missing from when Declan had ripped it from the pillars. Come in for a while and have a seat.”

“I still can't go back to my room. It haunts me that I've caused all of this.”

Gabriel sighed and sucked air through his teeth. His head shook, and he exhaled slowly as Sascha approached him. She pulled on his arm and said she'd make him a nice cup of cocoa. Just like his momma made. Gabriel huffed and told Sascha his mom had made him the crappiest cocoa ever.

“You can try mine and then get some rest. It sounds as if Declan's got another heavy night rounding up the vlads.”

Sascha stepped into the kitchen as Gabriel pulled off his jacket. He felt the thud on the side of his leg. He reached into his pocket.

“I found your cell down the back of the couch,” he explained as he slid it onto the counter.

Sascha turned and shook her head. She looked at the phone.

“That's not mine.”

“Who else has been in here?” he asked.

Sascha turned and placed the hot cocoa on the counter. Her brow furrowed because the only other person who'd been in her apartment for any length of time was...

“Megan,” they said together.

Gabriel pushed the button and found that the battery was flat. Sascha pulled out her charger and plugged it into the phone. They stared at the phone and at each other as they sipped on their drinks. The battery image lit and the percentage grew. One percent followed by a sip or two. Two percent.

“Jesus! I don't want to sit here watching the percentage creep up,” Gabriel remarked.

Sascha placed her cup on the counter and looked into his eyes. “Have you got any other suggestions?”

“I think bed sounds really nice, but after that skirmish on the bridge I stink like I don’t know what.” Gabriel hitched his shirt up to his nose. “Death, I think.”

Sascha placed the cups into the sink. She wiped her hands and turned. “Shower then, that sounds logical to me,” she said.

Gabriel stood and followed Sascha to the bathroom. She said she’d get him a clean towel and then she walked to the bedroom. Gabriel lifted his shirt over his head and looked at his broad chest in the mirror. He’d gained a few bruises from the night’s events, but nothing overly drastic.

If I had my wolf these would vanish by the morning.

He slipped from his pants and stepped under the warm water. His fingers ran through his short hair as he shampooed his head. His eyes closed as he let the water wash the remnants of the vlads from his head and shoulders. He peered through the smoked glass. The apparition of a body was outside the cubicle. It silhouetted from the light in the living room. The body stood up straight.

I hope that's Sascha…

Gabriel ran his hand over his face and he watched the curvy figure as it finished undressing. The door opened and Sascha stood naked in the entrance to the shower.

“Move over and let me in; will you.” Gabriel stepped back in the shower. Sascha pushed up against his muscled body and let the overhead stream of water wet her hair. She pushed it over her shoulder and blew the drops from her mouth.

“That feels nice,” she said, giving a sigh. She looked down as Gabriel's arousal began pushing against her leg. “That feels nice too.”

She giggled and cupped his balls. She stepped closer and ran the tips of her fingers up the length of his shaft. He felt her breasts heave as she pushed herself hard against his chest.

“What were you saying about bed?”

Gabriel placed his hands on either side of the shower. Let her take control and enjoy the ride.

Sascha pushed her wet body harder against Gabriel. Her breasts dripped seductively with water from the shower as she gazed deep into his eyes. Her hand wrapped around his shaft and caressed his manhood to a semi-erection.

“Does that feel good?” she asked. Gabriel nodded immediately.

“It sure does.”

Sascha let go of his hardening shaft and laughed. “Good.” She turned to face away from him. “Now you can soap my back.”

“I thought, you were gonna...”

She cocked her head over her shoulder and winked. She bit her lip then said there was more than enough time for that. All she wanted was a nice shower and to hit the sack.

“You women are all the same,” he replied in a jovial tone. Sascha turned and glared. Her eyes shimmered with the color of her inner wolf.

“I'm nothing like other women, and don't ever forget it.”

“Hang on, I was joking.”

Sascha mimicked the sound of a cat and pretended her fingers were claws. She ran them down the taut skin of his chest.

“Meow,” she purred and giggled.

She turned the lever and the water dripped over their naked bodies. She stepped from the shower and wrapped her body in her robe. Gabriel wrapped himself in the towel she handed to him and they stepped back into the living area.

Gabriel glanced at the cell and spotted that the charge was full. He powered on the cell and watched it in his hand as the home page blurred into view.

He sighed. “Megan must've had two phones. I never saw her using this one,” he said.

“Maybe she was too fucking devious for all of us.”

He checked the messages. There were none. It appeared that Megan had deleted all of the messages. Sascha said to check the deleted folder, because she might’ve forgotten to...

“There isn't a deleted folder,” he replied. “I'll ask Kelvin later, he's at a better age to understand these technological things.”

Gabriel turned the phone off and placed it onto the table. He slapped Sascha on the ass. She giggled and ran toward the bedroom.

“Catch me if you can,” she squealed out with delight.

Gabriel pulled the towel from around his waist. Sascha stared at his naked body approaching her and bit her bottom lip.

“Oh! I see you're still ready,” she cooed.

Gabriel chuckled as his muscled body scooped Sascha up into his arms.

“Ready? I was born ready!”

“Pull the lever and take a breath, watch the beasts fall to their death.”