Chapter 11
Ryde stood at the border of the pack lands. His pack members were spread around the line of the border, their eyes on the vampire city. The sun was setting rapidly, the inky darkness lowering to eclipse the golden orb as it settled for the night.
Finn cleared his throat. “Is this worth it?”
He glanced at his second. “Are you really asking me that right now?”
“We’re meeting vampires in a full-on battle, which hasn’t happened since our fathers went to war. Last time, we had a valid reason for fighting.”
He cut a glance at him. “Are you telling me that if you found your true mate and her people wanted to kill her that you wouldn’t ask me to stand by your side and fight for her? For you both?”
“My mate will be a shifter.”
“Why don’t you cast the mating spell and see what happens?” Ryde turned to face him after uttering the challenge. “I wouldn’t have chosen a vampire for a mate, you know that. It never crossed my mind that it was even possible for the mating spell to bring a vampire. But she’s here, and she’s mine. I don’t give a damn if you don’t like it.”
Finn stared at him hard, his lips pressed into a thin line. He opened his mouth just as Dominique strode up between Yon and Dahl. She was wearing all black, her hair up in a high ponytail, wooden stakes contained in holsters strapped to her thighs. Yon and Dahl had similar holsters, and he was thankful they’d outfitted Dominique, too. Some of his pack members were more comfortable fighting in their human form with weapons like stakes and blades, but he planned to shift and fight. He’d been trained to fight in his wolf form against vampires, although he had no doubt he could also take them on in his human form.
He kissed Dominique and rested his hand on the small of her back.
“I pinky-promised Bri that you and I would both come back to her tonight, so don’t make a liar out of me.”
“We’ll watch each other’s backs.”
She nodded, looking toward the walled city. “She could’ve changed her mind.”
Even though her voice was confident, maybe even a little hopeful, he could tell she didn’t really think that would happen. And he didn’t, either. Dominique had drawn a line in the sand, and Natasha was planning to step right over it and try to kill them all.
Suddenly, the woods grew quiet and he inhaled deeply, sorting through the woodland scents. He knew why the insects and small creatures had stopped making noise – the vampires were coming. Although they moved fast and nearly silently, he could feel the menace bearing down on them as the army traveled through the neutral zone.
“Shift now or stay human, but fight for our families and the safety of our pack!” He bellowed out a war cry, shucked his pants, and shifted. Pack members who were shifting followed suit, and soon a chorus of howls joined his. He knew there were many on the fence about his mate, but right then it didn’t matter if she was a vampire or a pink-winged dragon. It only mattered that the vampires wanted them all dead.
The vampires rushed through the neutral zone, fangs bared, row after row of furious males. Dominique brandished two stakes and let out a howl. He felt their connection as mates strengthen as she touched the part of herself that was tied to him. Through their joining, they were both part of each other. He was part vampire, she was part wolf. Immortal. Fast. Deadly.
He gave her a nudge and an encouraging bark, then braced for the onslaught. As the first vampires passed through the tree line and crossed over the border into pack territory, Ryde and his people struck. Many of the vampires were armed with guns and shooting what he was certain were silver-coated bullets. Others were armed with silver blades.
He headed for a vampire firing a gun, lunging and grabbing his wrist to dislodge the firearm. As the bones crunched in his jaws, the male shrieked and dropped the gun, slamming his fist against Ryde’s head. He ignored the blows and threw himself backward, still holding the male’s hand. The vampire flew over Ryde’s head and landed with a thud, and Ryde released his hold on the hand and jumped with his jaws wide, grasping the vampire’s neck and biting down hard. Blood filled his mouth as the male screamed and then gurgled; he gave a mighty shake and cracked his neck. With a hard pull, he jerked the head free of the body.
He saw Dominique attack two males at the same time, burying stakes deeply in their chests. Her face was splattered with blood, and her fangs were gleaming as she headed toward one of the pack members who was pinned down by a vampire. Before he could move to help, she kicked the vampire away from the wolf and then staked him.
He would be proud of her later. For now, he had other vampires to kill.
* * *
Dominique moved from one vampire to the next, pouring all her effort into beating back the army and keeping them from getting too deep into the territory. Ryde and his people were killing vampires, but some of the pack were down, injured by silver bullets or silver knife wounds. She hoped they had good medical care in the pack, because they’d need it.
She wrapped her arm around the neck of a vampire and pulled him from the wolf he’d nearly stabbed. She twisted her hand and jerked his head off, but as the body dropped to the ground, she caught a strange scent from his clothing. She bent and sniffed, touching the part of herself inside that was a wolf now, a primal beast mixed with her vampire nature.
Her sense of smell kicked into overdrive, and she knew she was smelling a wolf shifter. But it wasn’t the scent of Ryde’s pack – it was different. She inhaled again and knew she was right. But why did a vampire smell like a wolf?
She felt a familiar presence and she looked up to find her sister, dressed for war in a military uniform and flanked by guards. She was behind the vampire fighters, but she was staring at Dominique with a vicious smile on her face. Dominique frowned as she looked down at the male who smelled of wolves not of her mate’s pack.
Then it clicked.
Rodrick, the alpha with the large pack that had been trying to take over Ryde’s pack. Had her sister made an agreement with another pack? But there weren’t any wolves fighting among the vampires. It was only the vampire army.
Her heart clenched as she realized that nearly all the best fighters in the pack were at the border battling with the vampires. But the most vulnerable pack members, including Bri, were guarded by males who were expecting the pack to hold the majority of the vampires at the border, leaving them with potentially a few to fight at the most. They would definitely not be expecting an entire rival pack to come their way after partnering with the vampires, and they’d be woefully ill-prepared for a pack-to-pack fight.
Dominique bared her fangs at her sister, let out a warning howl, and took off running. Her heart thudded in her chest as she ran as fast as she could, dodging trees and undergrowth, her course straight for the alpha’s house, where Bri was waiting. She smelled smoke before she saw the flames engulfing the structure. The males who had been left to guard the house were dead or injured, their bodies scattered around the perimeter. Dozens of wolves, some in human form and some in their shifted form, prowled the grounds. She recognized the scent of the pack and knew they were Rodrick’s.
Dominique froze and looked at the house. The entire front was on fire. Glass shattered and cracked as the flames grew hotter. She knew she needed to get into the house and find Bri before the attacking wolves realized there was someone watching them. Stealing back into the woods, she hurried to the back of the house where the secret entrance was.
She hadn’t planned to fight any wolves, so she didn’t have silver-coated knives, but she was fast and strong, and no one would stop her from finding Bri and getting her to safety. Inhaling deeply, she calmed her nerves and touched the connection she had to Ryde and his wolf through their mating. She felt a burst of energy and strength, and she launched herself from the trees and raced to the secret door. Wolves attacked and she defended swiftly, punching and kicking her way through the throng until she reached the door. It was locked from the inside, but she pried her fingers into the edge of the door and pulled with all her might.
A wolf attacked her, jumping on her back and sinking his fangs into her shoulder. Pain seared through her body and she let go of the door, grabbing his furry neck in her hands. With a hard twist, she slammed his back against the wall of the house and he released his grip on her. She spun and grabbed his jaws, roaring in fury as he tried to close his mouth. She pushed up with one hand and down with the other with enough force to break his jaws, and he collapsed to the ground with a whimper.
Dominique turned back to the door and pulled on it again, ignoring the pain of her wound as the door slowly opened. The lock splintered and she fell on her butt with a grunt, shaking her head as dizziness flooded her. She knew she was losing blood from her wound and needed to feed so she could heal quickly, but she pushed aside the pain and rushed into the tunnel, calling Bri’s name.
“Dominique?” came the whispered reply.
She tilted her head and heard movement ahead of her. Then Debbie, Bri, and Elsa hurried toward her.
“This way!” she yelled, scrambling out of the tunnel. “We have to run!”
Someone grabbed her as soon as she cleared the doorway and threw her into the yard. Her shoulder smacked hard against the ground as she hit and rolled, her vision blurring as pain radiated through her. Wolves surrounded her, all but one in their shifted form. The one who was a human was naked and covered in blood, wearing a devilish smile.
Bri screamed, and Dominique rolled to her knees to help, but the wolves snapped at her, forcing her to stay put. Debbie, Elsa, and Bri were held by males in their human form.
Dominique looked at the human male. “Let me and my friends go.”
He looked her over with narrowed eyes and sniffed the air. “Your sister told me I could kill you or keep you. I was just thinking about doing the same thing with the little girls over there – kill them or keep them. They’re just about old enough to start breeding, so it might be worth it to keep them.”
Horror and rage filled her. “They’re children, you fucking monster.”
He chuckled darkly. “They’ll grow up fast enough.”
Her hands clenched, her fingers curling into her pant legs. She felt a single stake in one of the holsters, and her mind spun. Although wood by itself wasn’t a danger to wolves, driving something sharp into a wolf’s head or heart would certainly kill him. Buying herself a little time to work the stake from the holster without drawing attention to her action, she glared at him.
“My sister’s going to kill you, you know. She hates wolves.”
He hummed. “I think she hates you more. What a surprise to be approached by the big muckety-mucky vampire, offering me an alliance if I’ll only put down her pesky sister.”
She laughed. “So you do the dirty work for her and then what? You think she’s not going to turn her army on your pack?”
“Look around, little girl,” he snarled, wrapping his hand around her throat until she felt the squeeze of his fingers. “After the vampires take out Ryde’s fighters, my pack will rule this territory. I might let you live long enough to watch me kill Ryde.” He tilted her head sharply to look at the side of her neck. She cried out, using the distraction to pull the stake out of the sheath entirely. “He actually marked you. I suppose that means he’s immortal now, but no matter. He won’t live long without a head, and your sister is gunning for him. She takes out my enemy and I take out hers.”
Dominique held the stake tightly against her leg as he sniffed at her neck with a dark chuckle. She didn’t have to be psychic to know he was thinking about taking her, and the wolves murmuring in agreement confirmed her thoughts. Her skin prickled with disgust and she wanted to throw up, but instead she pushed aside everything but the sound of his heartbeat. He licked her neck over the mating mark, and she took that moment to strike.
She pushed upward, shoving the stake toward the sound of his beating heart, touching the wolf part of her and drawing on that enhanced strength. Although she was weak from her injuries, Bri’s life was on the line, and if this male didn’t die tonight, then she’d lose her new family before she’d even gotten to really know them.
The stake cut through his skin and muscle, piercing his heart. Hot blood gushed over her fist as she rammed the weapon deeper, pushing him to his back and twisting the stake for good measure. His heart thumped twice and then went still, his lifeless eyes staring up at the sky. She lifted her bloody hand and pointed at the wolves standing slack-jawed around her. With a roar that came from some deep part of her, she launched herself at the males. The only thought on her mind was securing her new daughter’s safety.
* * *
Ryde saw Dominique sniff the vampire soldier and then stare into the army. He wanted to ask her what was wrong, but he couldn’t talk in his shifted form. Before he could give her a questioning bark, she howled sharply and raced into the woods. He stared after her for a moment and then moved to the male she’d been sniffing. It took only a second for him to recognize the scent of Rodrick on the vampire’s clothes. Lifting his head, he peered through the vampires who were fighting with his pack members and saw a female with blonde hair like Dominique’s. She was surrounded by soldiers.
She met his gaze and he saw her smile. It was a dark smile. A knowing one. He glanced over his shoulder to where Dominique had gone, his mind racing. He couldn’t leave the front lines, but his mate was possibly heading into an ambush by their rival. Catching Finn’s gaze, he barked out an order, jerking his head toward Ryde’s home. Finn stared at him in question and hurried forward, sniffing at the dead vampire. His lips curled back and he growled. With an answering bark, he rushed off into the woods, Byron on his tail. He trusted them to help Dominique against the rival pack, if they were indeed attacking the house. Whatever beef his people had with Dominique’s vampire nature, they had to put those feelings aside and protect their people, and right then that included Ryde’s mate.
Although it warred with his beast’s protective nature not to run to the house and save his mate and daughter, he knew the best way to keep them both safe was to put down the threat. Turning back to the army, he focused on the female shouting orders at the army to slaughter the wolves. He grabbed a stake sticking out of the chest of a dead vampire between his teeth and lunged into the fight, moving deftly to avoid the silver blades the army was wielding. With a burst of speed, he slid between the legs of a male directly in front of Natasha and shifted as he stood, returning to his human form and grasping the stake in midair. With a war cry that was half-human, half-wolf, and pure fury, he buried the stake in her chest, her ribs cracking with the force. She gasped out a strangled cry and then slumped to the ground.
He turned to kill the males around him, but instead of enemies brandishing blades, he found the males dropping to their knees and laying their bloody knives at his feet.
Chest heaving as he caught his breath, he straightened from his defensive crouch and stared at the field. The vampires had stopped fighting, and one by one those standing dropped to their knees with their heads bowed.
He met the bewildered gazes of his own people.
“What the ever-loving fuck is going on here?” he demanded.
A soldier lifted his head slightly but didn’t meet Ryde’s gaze. “Vampire law. You killed our mistress, so that makes you our master.”
“I’m not a vampire.”
Ryde’s people slowly approached, those in wolf form growling warily.
The vampire male said, “The law isn’t specific to our kind. Anyone strong enough to destroy a mistress or master becomes the new leader.”
Leon, one of the elders, joined Ryde. “Is the law specific to this coven or to all vampire kind?”
“I only know about this coven. No one would believe that a shifter could kill a vampire.”
Dahl snorted as he joined them. “Look around, man. We were killing your people just fine.”
“I didn’t say you couldn’t, I said our people don’t expect that.”
“What’s your name, soldier?” Ryde asked.
“Argent.”
“Do you know why I smelled our rival pack?”
“The mistress offered Rodrick’s pack your territory if he would go in while you were distracted and kill everyone. He was supposed to particularly look for Dominique, but she was here fighting.”
“Damn, that’s a cold bitch,” Kirk, an elder, said.
“What happens if I don’t want to be master of the city?” Ryde asked.
Argent’s brows rose. “I don’t know.”
“I need to see to my mate’s and daughter’s safety. Gather your people and tend to your wounded, here in the neutral zone. My people will keep watch.”
Argent nodded. Ryde watched as the male stood and began to move to his people, talking quietly and pointing at Ryde. “Collect their weapons and wait for me to return. I’m going to get Dominique and see what she can tell me about what just happened.”
“Are you really master of the city?” Dahl murmured.
“It appears so,” Ryde said. “How else can you explain that they all dropped to their knees the moment I killed Natasha?”
Leaving his people to oversee the vampires, he turned and raced for home. He ran as fast as he could, praying that Dominique and Bri were safe. He trusted his mate to keep his daughter safe, but he was worried about Rodrick’s pack.
Smelling smoke, his heart pounded in his chest as he moved faster, his long legs eating up the distance from the neutral zone to his home. He skidded to a halt as the house came into view. Half of it was engulfed in flames, and wolves were carrying buckets, attempting to douse the fire. He scanned the yard and saw Rodrick and several males he didn’t recognize dead on the ground. But he didn’t see Bri or Dominique.
Striding toward a group of his people, he saw Dominique on the ground, the pack circling her. He smelled blood, and his wolf went crazy. He shoved the males aside and saw Finn holding his arm over Dominique’s mouth.
Dominique’s eyes fluttered open and she disengaged her fangs from Finn’s flesh.
“You’re okay!” she said hoarsely. She tried to sit up, but Bri, wiggling through the throng of males, put her hand on her shoulder and said, “You’re supposed to lie still like Tella said, Mommy.”
“What happened?” Ryde asked, lifting Dominique’s hand and pressing his lips to the top.
“Dominique slaughtered Rodrick and his males,” Max said, drawing Debbie and Elsa close. “They set the house on fire. While we were trying to get to the girls, they attacked.”
Bri smiled. “I got us out through the hidden tunnels, but the bad wolves were waiting for us. Mommy saved us.”
Debbie nodded. “Rodrick said he was going to do awful things to the girls. Dominique sounded like a wolf before she attacked. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“When we got here, they were dead,” Finn said.
“And Dominique was dying. She lost a lot of blood,” Tella said as she joined them. “I said she needed to feed to heal, and we didn’t know when you’d be back. Bri wanted to feed her but she’s too young. Byron and Finn stepped up.”
Finn rubbed his now-healed wrist. “She’s our alpha, Ryde. She nearly died trying to save our people. It doesn’t matter what she is anymore. I’m standing by you and her.”
Byron nodded. “I’ve never seen anyone fight like she did. If she wasn’t alpha female, I’d suggest she work as a trainer with our youth.”
Dominique tried to sit up again and Bri snarled softly. “Mommy. Stop.”
Letting out a loud sigh, Dominique smiled sweetly at Bri and grabbed her in a hug, tickling her. “I’m fine, little wolf, I promise. All healed.”
Bri, gasping for breath and still giggling, grinned at Ryde. “She’s a wolf now. Tella said so.”
Ryde arched a brow.
Tella said, “I believe the mating bond created some kind of hybrid, not only in you but in her. She howled like a wolf, and when I checked her pupils when she was passed out from blood loss, they were amber.”
Dominique finally sat up and pulled Bri into her lap, giving her a cuddle. “I feel different but the same in an entirely supernatural way. Like I’m still a vampire, but I also want to run around the woods and chase furry things.”
Ryde lifted Bri from Dominique’s lap and hugged her tightly. “Are you okay? Did anyone hurt you?”
“I lost Comet in the tunnel.”
Her eyes went luminous with tears and she started to cry. Ryde stifled a curse. That wolf was her best friend.
“No, wait,” Max said, hurrying toward the house. In the distance, sirens sounded, alerting them that the fire department was on the way. Max came back holding a slightly sooty stuffed wolf. “I saw something gray and white on the ground outside the tunnel, but I was too concerned with my family to check it out. It must have fallen out of the tunnel behind you.”
Bri gasped and lurched out of Ryde’s arms. “Comet!”
He made a face at Dominique. “I’ll try not to be offended that the stuffed wolf is getting a bigger hug than I did.”
“You and me both,” she said with a laugh.
The sirens drowned everything out for a moment, and they all cringed at the loud noises that bombarded their sensitive hearing. The sound stopped suddenly, and he was thankful for whoever turned them off. Ryde lifted Dominique from the ground and whistled at Bri. “Let’s get clear so the fire department can do their job.”
The group moved farther away from the house, and he set Dominique on the ground. She swayed slightly and then straightened. “Shifter blood is so powerful. I feel like I could run a marathon or take on a whole army.”
Ryde drew her close. “You did take on a whole army.”
“Oh, right. But I mean by myself.”
“You did that, too, when you went against Rodrick and his people,” Finn pointed out.
She pursed her lips in thought then said, “Well, I feel even stronger now. No one better ever mess with our pack.”
“Damn straight,” Ryde said.
“What happened to my sister’s army?” she asked.
Ryde looked down at her and knew he would never lie. He glanced at Debbie and said, “Keep an eye on Bri. I need to speak to my mate privately.”
“Daddy?” Bri asked.
“We’ll be right back, I promise.” He dropped to one knee and kissed her cheek.
“Pinky promise,” Dominique said. “That seals it.”
He stared up at her. “Pinky what now?”
“Pinky promise,” Bri said, sticking her pinky finger out. “It makes promises more promise-y.”
He held out his pinky and Bri hooked hers around it. “Now,” she said, “promise to come right back.”
“I promise,” he replied.
She smiled in relief. Debbie and Elsa came over, and Elsa sat on the ground with Bri as they checked over Comet for injuries, speaking in whispers with their little heads pressed together. Ryde took Dominique’s hand and walked far enough away that he knew his voice wouldn’t carry to his people.
He’d never had to tell someone he cared about that he’d killed a member of their family. And he still wasn’t sure what it meant that the vampires seemed to think he was their new leader.
Dominique stared up at him. “She’s dead, isn’t she? I can kind of feel it in a weird way.”
“I killed her. I’m…sorry your sister is dead, but I’m not sorry that the threat to your life is gone.”
She blinked rapidly, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. “She would’ve killed me. When I smelled the other pack on that one vampire’s clothing, I met her gaze through the fighting and I saw it in her eyes. She was going to kill me, you, Bri, and any other wolf she could get her hands on. She would’ve destroyed the whole pack just because a magical necklace brought us together.” She brushed angrily at a few stray tears. “Why am I crying? She wanted me dead.”
He wrapped his arms around her and drew her close, kissing the top of her head and then resting his cheek there. “Because she’s family. Even though things went south between you two, she was still your sister. Do you hate me?”
She shook her head and slipped her arms around his waist, squeezing tightly. “No.” She went rigid and slowly lifted her head until she was staring at him. “You killed her.”
“Yes.” Wariness filled him. Was she going to be angry? He would understand if she was, but he’d been hopeful that she’d see him as a hero for putting down the person attempting to kill her and every wolf in the pack.
“You’re the new master of the city. Holy shit.”
He gave her a wry smile as relief flooded him. “Yeah. How the hell is that possible?”
She shrugged. “It’s how our laws are made. When I was in school, one of the boys asked the history instructor what would happen if a human killed the master or mistress of a city. Since the wording of the law is very ambiguous and simply states that whomever kills the leader becomes the leader, the boy wanted to know if that meant anybody. The instructor said no one could kill a vampire except a vampire, and that our ancestors knew what they were doing when they wrote the laws. I guess they were shortsighted in thinking that someone might rule them who wasn’t of their own kind.”
“I’m a hybrid though.”
“True, but I don’t think it will matter. There are vampires who hate shifters because of the war, and there are those who don’t care one way or the other as long as they’re safe in the city.”
“What if I don’t want to be the master of the city?”
“Then you leave the citizens of Arbor without a leader, and that means any vampire can come in and take over. When that happens, the males are usually all slaughtered, and females and young children become slaves.”
His stomach turned at the thought of innocent lives being harmed. “The army is waiting with some of the males in the neutral zone. We need to talk to the pack first, then figure out what to do with the army.”
“Convene the elders,” she suggested. “Maybe they can come up with a solution. No one has probably ever been both alpha and master.”
“You’re with me, right?” he asked, tugging her a little more firmly against him.
She grinned sinfully. “Forever.”