They burst into a long hallway that stretched out before them, opening into what looked like a dimly lit room. The four of them pushed forward, eager to meet the combatants that were soon to come swarming toward them, head on. When they hurried into the large room, Richard glanced around before disappearing down another hallway to their left.

The best Derek could think was that the building had once been a small storehouse of sorts, though for what, he couldn’t begin to guess. The hallway they’d entered through reminded him a bit of the hallways that stretched around the outside of Sean’s factory. Single doors lay to their right along with another hallway, and another set of double doors stood before them. The only lighting came from a couple of bare bulbs hanging from thin wires on the ceiling.

Another set of shrieks echoed off the walls, sounding as if they were coming from every direction all at once. Derek twisted around, trying to find the source of the sound without seeing anyone. Immediately, he was struck by a sense of being closed in. The only fighting he’d done had been in the open forest, with more than enough entry and exit points if he needed to change position. Fighting in the confines of a building would be a totally different experience, and one he was already sure he wouldn’t like.

“Sounds like we got some light sleepers,” Sean growled, sounding eager.

“Then we better move quick,” Stephan replied, shifting uneasily.

Sean nodded toward the right-hand hallway. “You two, get moving. Don’t let any leech you see make it past you in one piece.”

Stephan barreled forward, shoving his thick shoulders into the doors to burst them open as Richard had done with the outer ones. Derek followed and thought to himself that perhaps they could have gone for a stealthier approach. As another pair of unearthly screams echoed in his ears from down the dim hallway, he realized that the time for that had long since passed.

The hallway they entered was a short one, turning to the left at the end. Derek figured it probably led into the main storeroom, which is where he assumed both Richard and Sean would end up. He and Stephan’s path was blocked, however, when a hissing form burst from a side-room just before they reached the set of doors that lay at the end of the hallway.

Derek hesitated, but Stephan didn’t, barreling forward to meet the snarling vampire. In the low light of the hallway, Derek could only just make out the face of the vampire. It was a young male, and he would have considered him handsome if it wasn’t for the fangs bared in an animalistic display of aggression. The vampire’s nails had somehow extended into claws, and he had them held out before him as he met Stephan.

Werewolf and vampire came together with furious abandon. The vampire slipped from Stephan’s grip before the werewolf could bear down on him, weaving around the larger fighter. The swipe from the vampire’s claw, meant to open up Stephan’s side, missed only because Stephan twisted about, regaining his footing. The vampire clearly hadn’t expected Stephan to recover as quickly as he had, and his surprise was enough to make him drop his guard enough to allow Stephan to dive forward. As the werewolf’s large, clawed hand gripped the vampire’s shoulder, his huge muzzle closing around his throat, Derek knew the fight was over barely before it had begun.

Blood dripped from Stephan’s muzzle as he edged away from the vampire’s twitching body. “There are more still, so be ready for them to come from every angle once we get out there.”

Derek nodded, saying nothing as he hurried forward, bounding over the bloody shape on the floor. The doors they came to swung wide with a sharp push, opening up into a large, open room. There was a wall to their left that only extended halfway down the length of the space, separating it partially from the rest of the room. It reminded Derek of the storeroom they had back in the sept, with dividing half-height walls to separate sections of the building to make it simpler to organize their goods by type. He guessed Sean and Richard were in the other sectioned-off parts of the room, making it so all entrances and exits were covered.

He glanced around hurriedly, trying to get a measure of the area they were in and check to see if there were any immediate threats. His earlier assumption about the building having been a storeroom was confirmed by the sight of large shelving units, most of them having fallen apart in a rusted pile. There were pieces of various boxes scattered about, though the aisles between where the shelves had once stood were clear of any debris.

“Not much room in here,” Derek noted as he eyed the minimally cleared space in the aisles.

“Hit them hard and fast then,” Stephan advised.

Derek wasn’t sure if he could pull off the same trick as Stephan had in the hallway. He wasn’t used to fighting in confined spaces, and he thought perhaps that was something he should advise his father to remedy for their warriors in the future. Even if the sept fighters never stepped foot in a human settlement, there was always the possibility they might still face confined spaces for fighting. There were plenty of caves in the mountains that might be the staging ground for a battle, and parts of the forest were thick enough that they could be as confined and hemmed in as the storehouse.

His introspective thoughts were ripped apart by a harsh clatter in front of them and another series of shrieks. There were more voices than just the two they’d heard when they first entered the building. Apparently more vampires were awake now, and to Derek’s ears, it sounded like a lot more than just a few of them. Either Sean’s information hadn’t been correct, or he was more confident in their abilities than Derek was.

He didn’t have time to question the situation further when the next vampire showed up in the left-hand aisle. Before he could react, another one appeared in the aisle on the right. Stephan jerked his head to the right, barely glancing at Derek as he shot off to the left. Derek hesitated a moment longer, watching the vampire at the end of the aisle he’d been assigned to, bracing himself before charging forward.

Derek had expected the vampire to move faster than he could manage, but he was still startled when the man leapt on top of one of the rickety shelves in the aisle. His training surged to the forefront as the vampire leapt at him, claws outstretched. He heaved himself further up the aisle, ducking down to avoid the attack. Shifting around, he shoved all four limbs into the ground, twisting himself around and leaping at the vampire just as the monster scrabbled to recover.

His body seemed to act of its own accord as he slammed into the vampire. Bloodlust overtook him as he ground the vampire down onto the floor, his teeth closing over the soft flesh of its throat. There was another shriek behind him and he twisted away. His mouth closed as he twisted, tasting blood as it spurted over his tongue.

Claws flashed before his eyes and he was forced to let go of the vampire he had pinned. Another vampire had arrived, helping its fellow comrade before Derek had been able to finish the fight. Derek had dragged the other vampire with him, bleeding from its neck and spitting curses at him. The second vampire lunged for him, and he threw himself into the shelving to avoid the blow, still holding tight to his original opponent as he shifted position.

His body dodged and weaved, still maintaining its grip on the first vampire as he tried to avoid the second one’s series of rapid blows. All thought was wiped from his mind as he swerved, reacting purely on instinct as he struggled to get the upper hand. The longer he attempted to simply dodge the other vampire’s attacks, the more he risked wearing himself down and opening himself up to a deadly blow.

In a desperate bid for a counterattack, Derek waited until the second vampire attempted another lunge. This time, he leapt backward, and flung the hand wrapped around the first vampire out, throwing him forward. Both vampires collided, the second barely keeping his feet as the first crumpled before him in a heap.

Derek seized the opportunity, digging his clawed feet into the crumbling concrete and leaping forward. The second vampire barely had a moment to register what was happening before Derek was on top of him. The fight was over the moment Derek’s teeth sank into his neck, jerking his head to the side in a sharp motion. The first vampire had just begun to stir when Derek bore down on him, finishing the job he had started.

His chest heaved as he caught his breath, letting his conscious mind try to catch up to what had happened. He couldn’t tell if the fight had lasted only seconds, or several minutes. Never before had Derek had to fight an opponent so brutally focused on trying to kill him, let alone two. The metallic taste of blood in his mouth sent his heart pumping, and his own blood felt as if it were soaring through him. He was finally understanding the thrill of the fight that he had heard so many of the sept’s warriors speak about before. The fear and worry he had felt was gone, replaced by a silent roar within him, one that wanted to give voice to his victory.

Movement at the end of the aisle caught his attention, snapping him from his thoughts. The bunching of his muscles eased when he realized it was Stephan. The werewolf was watching him carefully, eyes darting down to the two vampires Derek had downed. Blood caked the both of them, but Derek didn’t see any significant wounds on Stephan. The both of them had gotten through their respective fights without any real trouble it seemed.

Stephan padded his way, grinning. “Guess Sean owes me some money.”

Derek frowned as best as his wolf muzzle would allow. “You bet on me?”

“Yeah, but he bet against you. Can’t wait to tell him he owes me double. He’s gonna be so pissed,” Stephan crowed.

“I guess I should be happy you believed in me, but I’m a little miffed that you both felt there was any need for a bet at all,” Derek told him with a snort.

Stephan’s grin widened. “It’s the only way you can get Sean to admit he was wrong. Make him bet on something the next time you wanna prove him wrong. You won’t get him to verbally agree, but when he hands over the money, it’s close enough.”

Derek found he couldn’t stay irritated with Stephan. The man had believed in Derek’s abilities enough that he was willing to lay money down in support. He found that his pride in his own abilities was eclipsed by the strange understanding that there was someone else who had believed in him. Stephan had done it without a second thought, and didn’t seem to realize how odd it was for Derek to hear.

Before he could consider explaining it to Stephan, who was beginning to look confused, Derek spotted movement over his shoulder. Derek reacted, leaping over Stephan’s crouched form just as the vampire he spotted leapt forward silently. This one had been more clever than the others, and had snuck up while they were distracted.

The blow meant for Stephan’s exposed side went wide when Derek slammed into the vampire. A streak of burning pain lanced up his arm as the both of them hit the concrete. With a sharp yelp, he found himself rolling away from the vampire. The burning in his arm continued, and he whined slightly as he began to push himself upright again. His mind clamped down on the pain, shoving it aside as he prepared to finish off the vampire.

He paused when he realized that in the time it had taken him to get up from the ground, Stephan had spun around and pounced on the stunned vampire. Derek had gotten up just in time to see Stephan’s head jerk, finishing the vampire with one swift motion. Stephan lifted his head, smacking the vampire’s severed head away from the body with a dismissive motion.

“Hell, you okay?” Stephan asked as he got closer to Derek.

The pain felt as if it were trying to sear deeper into his skin. They hadn’t been kidding when they warned Derek that wounds from a vampire could be almost as bad as ones from silver. Derek remembered all too well the sensation of silver burning his skin. As part of his training regimen growing up, his father had insisted that Derek be taught just how painful a silver wound could be. It wasn’t quite the same, but it was close enough that he couldn’t tell if there was that much difference.

“Don’t think it’s bad,” Derek grunted, eyeing the wound critically.

In truth, it could have been far worse. By smacking down the vampire’s attack, it had gone wide and found its mark on Derek’s arm instead. The wound was on his upper arm, but he could tell it wasn’t anything to worry about. He would have to wrap it later though, since it didn’t look like it was healing as quickly as a normal wound would. They hadn’t said it, but Derek guessed that just like a wound from a silver weapon, wounds caused by a vampire’s claws or fangs probably healed much slower.

They both turned when they heard the sound of footsteps. They eased their posture when they saw Sean and Richard approaching. Both werewolves had their own splatters of blood in their fur, but no wounds on them.

“Ha, managed to get yourself hurt, did ya?” Sean crowed, grinning wide.

Stephan snarled at him. “He did it saving my ass, you ass.”

Sean paused at that. “He did what?”

“I wasn’t paying attention, and probably would’ve been hurt worse than he is if he hadn’t spotted the leech and taken it down. Took the hit that was meant for me,” Stephan growled, sounding almost as if he were trying to threaten Sean.

Sean’s furry brow bunched together in what Derek thought was annoyance. “Since when do you let your guard down in the middle of a fight? That’s fucking sloppy, Stephan.”

“You think I don’t know that?” Stephan snapped.

Derek shook his head. “I’m fine. The wound isn’t that deep, and it most certainly isn’t fatal. I can continue.”

Sean snorted. “Don’t worry about it. We already took care of it. How many did you two get?”

“I got two,” Stephan answered, still sounding irritable.

“The same,” Derek said, trying to keep the pain out of his voice.

Stephan leveled his gaze with Sean’s. “At the same time.”

Sean blinked in surprise at Derek. “No shit. You got two at once?”

Derek disliked the sound of surprise in Sean’s voice, but swallowed it down to nod. “The second one attempted to ambush me when I was trying to finish off the first.”

“Well, consider me shocked. Here I thought a pampered wolf from the sept wouldn’t know his head from his ass in a fight,” Sean said with the same arrogant tone he’d adopted from the beginning.

“Are we done here or not?” Stephan asked brusquely.

Sean glanced over his shoulder. “Richard?”

The quiet werewolf nodded. “I found them. Only about half are going to make it.”

“The humans?” Derek asked.

Sean eyed him. “What, you didn’t think we’d look for them?”

“You just…never said anything about them in the plan,” Derek said, uncomfortable that he hadn’t thought of the humans as well.

“We do our best to keep humans out of the fight, and I figured they’d be locked away tight, which meant out of the way. We don’t just keep the vampires in line. We do try to help the people who get caught in between,” Sean told him, sounding both insulted and haughty.

Derek blinked up at him, glancing at Stephan for some sort of guidance. Stephan shrugged, turning his head so Sean couldn’t see him roll his eyes. Derek fought back a smile, nodding in understanding at Sean instead. He could fully appreciate trying to help the innocent and helpless, but Sean’s delivery sounded so noble that it was almost absurd coming from the cocky man. The exasperation on Stephan’s face told him that this was the first time he’d done something like that, so Derek decided to let it pass.

“Anyway, can we get him fixed up now, or do you have more to add?” Stephan demanded.

Sean gestured with a clawed hand. “Yeah, go get him patched up. Good job on being useful, Sept Boy.”

It wasn’t what Derek would call praise, but he would take it.