Kelvin's arms rested on the back of the chair as his head swung from side to side. His muscles cracked and creaked as he stretched further and further. He thought about what he could do to help, and how he might find out more. What was now known was, it was his blood they wanted. Kelvin also thought back to when he was a kid. Why had his mom never mentioned the fact he could be a hybrid, or at least linked to one in some way? As with Dustin and Maria, he now assumed that he was somehow tied, and the hunt for him wouldn't stop until they got hold of him.

Kelvin rested his chin on his arms and looked over to Kat who laid sleeping. She’d recovered pretty-darn quickly, but on the other hand, she still remained tired and very sore. It was one hell of a gash she’d received on her shoulder, and from what he could see, it was inflicted from razor-sharp nails or claws, rather than a blade of any kind.

Who has fingernails that are razor sharp?

Kat stirred and opened her eyes, she looked over to Kelvin who smiled from ear to ear. Since they'd returned to the Towers, Kelvin had pictured himself as an alpha, and Kat was his mate in his mind, at least. Things wouldn't be that easy, but it was good to dream of what he wanted to achieve in the future.

"Hey there," Kat muttered, now lifting her head. "Have you been here all night?"

"Yeah! You're not out of the woods yet, so I'm gonna stay here until you're back on your feet," he replied. "Anyway, I like looking at you. Not in a stalker sort of way, don't get me wro—"

She interrupted him. "I know you’re not a stalker, and I don't mind you watching over me. It makes me feel protected," Kat replied as she plumped her pillows and sat still, looking at him. "The main thing is, what are you doing for protection?"

"There's no need to worry about me. I can handle myself, and I’ve got Dustin and Maria watchin’ my back," he replied. "I was thinking of going on the offensive."

"You want to go and attack something when you don't know what or who it is?"

"Something like that, I was going to suggest we try and draw them out into the open," he explained. "You know, see if we can get a glimpse of who is watching over us."

Kelvin hadn’t really possessed that thought at all. At least; not until Kat mentioned it and asked. It made him appear brave and eager to show her that he wasn’t afraid. He didn't have any notion of being afraid, it was more a thought of worry that filled his mind. What ifs.

"Whatever you do you, you should be careful," Kat remarked, picking up the glass of water and taking a sip through her still-cracked lips. "I don't suppose you have any lip balm, do you?” Gosh, my lips are cracked."

"Sorry, if I have cracked lips I lick them when I'm a wol—" he started to explain and then he quickly silenced himself. "I have no need for it, I mean."

"Kelvin, I don't know why you’re trying to hide the fact from me that you’re a wolf. I guessed as soon as I saw you in the back of the ambulance," she said. Kelvin looked shocked because he’d never made any attempt to tell Kat he was a wolf, and as far as he was aware, none of the others mentioned it or made it blatantly obvious.

How the hell did she know that?

'"I wasn't as unconscious as you thought when you found me. I saw the signs. I am a nurse after all."

"I’d better get you some lip balm, we don't want those plump lips cracking," Kelvin commented, looking at Kat's perfect lips and thinking how much he’d love to plant his own lips firmly against them. "Is there anything else you want?"

"I'm bored while you’re not here. Do you have anything with an internet connection?" Kat asked.

Kelvin nodded as he walked into his room. He returned holding a laptop. He handed it to Kat and explained his password was Alpha1wolf2. Kat thanked him as he left the room. She waited until he was gone for sure, and then opened the laptop.

Kelvin made his way to the lobby and walked to Maria's office. He saw that Dustin was inside with Gabriel. They scanned over the whiteboard. "Hey, what’s up?" he said as he tapped on the door frame.

Gabriel turned with distress, it was showing, deep in his eyes. "Don't tap like that. I had a freaky dream last night."

"You were scared of a nightmare? You do know they aren’t real, right?" he said. Gabriel nodded and turned back to face the board. "What are you two doing, anyway?"

"We’re trying to come up with a strategy of what to do," Gabriel remarked as he scribbled on the board. "We can see the numbers have risen, and with what we’ve learned over the last day or so, we are up from ten or twelve to, at a guess, over twenty vlads walking the streets of the Creek."

"Fuck, they’re breeding faster than freakin’ rabbits," Kelvin said as he stood next to Dustin and stared at the whiteboard. "I was thinking of a plan."

Dustin and Gabriel faced Kelvin as he folded his arms and pushed a finger against his bottom lip and his chin. He tapped it against himself as if it helped him to think, just like a teacher does in school.

"Come on then, Brains," Gabriel said as he leaned further forward than Dustin, he looked curiously at Kelvin's professor-like pose.

"Well, it doesn’t matter what is written on here, does it? Because we still have no idea who is controlling all these vlads."

"Yeah! So… what?"

"I thought we could draw them out into the open, you know, like a cop sting. Set them up." Kelvin started to grin as he revived the thought buried deep in his mind.

"How do you plan on doing that?" Dustin asked, now stepping away from the board and resting the cheek of his ass on the desk corner.

Kelvin started to grin more as he stepped back away from the board and held his hands to his sides. He looked like someone who’d offered themselves and saved the world.

"Me."

"What do you mean, YOU?"

"I propose to use myself as bait," Kelvin said. "We can draw them into the open, a place of our choosing."

"You're fucking crazy," Dustin commented as he inched his ass further onto the desk. "However, I tend to agree, weirdly… it could work if we are careful."

"Dustin, you’re freakin’ kiddin’ me?” Gabriel madly stormed around the office in frustration. “You agree with him?"

Dustin unfolded his arms and held them out in front of him. His palms were up and shaking slightly. "Apart from losing Kelvin, and giving King Vlad (or whatever the fuck we want to call him) everything he needs to create an immortal race of—” Maria walked into the office, looking a little ragged from her stroll down ‘Whiskey Road.’ “Daywalkers. Yes, I think it’s the only way we're going to find who we’re up against."

"What have I missed?" Maria asked, slipping herself unremarkably into her chair.

"Kelvin here has volunteered himself as bait," Gabriel stated in a huff.

Maria ruffled her hair with her fingers and screwed the cap off a bottle of water. The cracking sound of plastic filled the office. "Well. I think it has to be done."

"You agree with him as well?"

"I'm not agreeing with anyone or anything," she said. "I spent over two hours on the phone to Declan asking his advice."

"How is he; where is he; and what did he suggest?"

"He’s fine, he’s in Miami staying at Sasha's place, and he sugges—" she started to say.

"Who the hell’s Sasha?" Dustin asked, spinning on the desk.

"Well, Sasha is Judy, you remember the nurse he told us about?" she replied. "She used Judy as a cover, and now the hunters are finished… so she has slipped back to her old family name."

"I like that name," Gabriel remarked. "I know the meaning of that."

Maria rested her head in her hands. "How do you know the meaning of a name?" Maria asked in a very quizzical tone.

"Never judge a book by its cover. I was top of my class in history."

"Oh yeah! When was that?" she asked Gabriel.

Gabriel laughed and plonked himself onto the couch. "You know… I can't remember."

"As expected."

"Only kidding. It means ‘Defender of Man,’ or something like that."

* * *

Maria rested back in her chair as the dull throb of a hangover settled in. She closed her eyes and tried to relax. The office was quiet until Dustin returned and closed the door behind him, a bit too loudly.

He sat next to the desk and spoke earnestly. "You didn't mention the advice that Declan gave."

"I realized that, but everyone was too busy thinking of Kelvin being bait and the best way to do it," she replied, unwillingly opening her eyes and reaching for the nearly-empty bottle of water.

"I think you better tell me what he said. We both know there was a little more to it," Dustin said. He leaned on the desk, propping his head on the palm of one hand.

Maria needed to tell Dustin about what was said. It was going to change everyone's lives in the Towers, and she wouldn’t be able to arrange it all on her own.

"His advice was to leave the Towers and run."

"Jesus Maria, that's totally off the charts from what I was expecting you to say."

"Now you see why I’ve got a freaking hangover. It was one of those conversations," she said, trying to give a smile.

"I bet. What does Declan suggest for the Towers?"

"He's instructed me to start moving out the wolf residents and change them for humans," she said. "The Towers will no longer be a safe haven for new wolves."

"How many years has he had it?"

"Don't know, but they say all good things must come to an end," she went on. "We have to speak to the pack members on a one by one basis. A pack meeting is only going to panic them and then all hell will break loose."

"I'll help with that. We can start later when you’re feeling better," Dustin remarked. "And what about Kelvin, what do you think of his proposition about being bait?"

Maria shuffled in her chair. "You know, I know it's really risky, but if we start shipping pack members away from the Towers, the vlads are soon going to find out that something is wrong. The last thing we want is a swarm of vampire-werewolves knocking at the doors."

"It’ll divert some of the attention, but we have to be on top of our game. We have to do it in a natural way, it can't be a matter of Kelvin stood out in the open, that’ll look pretty darn obvious." Maria nodded as Dustin started to stand. He rested both hands on the desk and spoke down to Maria who looked up into his eyes. She trusted his judgement. She had done for many years. "I think with Kelvin, if we find an area that’s safe, then we can lure them into it with no risk to any of us," he said as Maria nodded at the thought. "I'll take Kelvin out, and we'll have a scout around and see if we can come up with some possible areas. He has to be familiar with them. If he’s running blind, we don’t stand a chance in hell."

"I know there are some side streets around by the coffee shop, they have tall buildings either side, so one of them might be a good choice." Dustin smiled in agreeance and walked to the office door and left Maria in peace.

She closed her eyes again and rested her head back on the wrinkled leather. She embraced the softness of the padding and thought of how she would empty the Towers, without the vlads knowing what was going on.

Bang—bang—bang. Maria felt the throbbing of her pulse in her temple. The whiskey ingloriously took its toll, and it’d be a few hours before she’d feel okay. She slowly stood from her chair and left the office. Maria put her hand on the stone handrail and dragged herself up the stairs toward her apartment. She heard voices as she reached the top, just as Gabriel and Tanya reached the bottom of the stairs from the second floor.

"Jesus Maria! You look rough." Tanya giggled as Maria looked at her through eyes that she knew would appear a little on the red side.

"I overdid it. It's been a long time since I succumbed to that big a drink, and I know why I don't partake very often." She gave a forced smile. "I need to speak to you both later. I’ve briefly spoken with Dustin already, and it’s all about what we need to do."

"No problem," Gabriel replied.

"I think though, your plan to go and find this shaman of yours might be coming quicker than we all expected. Things are going to change around here," Maria said as she placed her foot on the first step of the stairs and then added her hand to the handrail. Her head turned to face Gabriel. "This place is never going to be the same." Maria planted her feet firmly on the steps and walked up to the next floor.

Gabriel and Tanya turned to descend the steps and Tanya turned to Gabriel. "What do you think she meant by that?"

Gabriel shrugged his shoulders. He had no idea what Maria meant, although he thought about the worst that could happen. He knew how Declan put the priority of the pack before anything else. Declan would be an alpha until the day he died, and protecting his pack was the only thing he thought of, especially in times of trouble.

"I don't know, but even if Declan isn't here, I think it will be all about survival."

"Maria mentioned the shaman. I reckon she’s going to tell us we have to run.”

"Declan only runs as a last option. He stands and fights unless there’s no chance to overcome the adversity. Never back down and never surrender. Ever since he watched that movie he has taken on the motto for the pack’s survival. He gives one hell of a rousing speech when he belts that out at the end.”

Tanya wrapped her arm tightly around Gabriel's. Although he was still human, she could feel his muscles as they rippled underneath his skin. "I'm starting to think we don't have a chance," she remarked.

"Same here," he replied. “Shit!”

“Men are what their mothers made them.”