Chapter One

If one more thing went wrong, he was going to have a fucking meltdown.

Josiah stared at the little house as he pondered. Five of his younger brothers filed onto the sidewalk beside him, each with his hands shoved in his pockets. He had no idea where the sixth was. Did werewolves have meltdowns? Or was he the first one who was going to get locked up in the loony bin?

The little house didn’t hold too many fond memories. Aunt Edith and Aunt Edna warmed up to him at first. He was the firstborn of their baby sister. He wasn’t sure if it was Micah and Samuel’s arrival or if the boys’ true nature finally got to them. They slowly soured to the little tykes. By the time he was six, he was introduced to a wooden spoon to the ass. His aunts told him it was to beat the disobedience out of him. He was pretty sure they were trying to beat the werewolf out instead.

Now he was an adult and a deviant, according to his aunts. He heaved a sigh. He may have hated being around Edna and Edith, but right now he’d give just about anything to get them back. They were his family.

Josiah huffed as he started toward the front door. “Standing here isn’t going to change anything. And we need to stop these sons of bitches.”

He strode to the front door with his brothers on his heels. He threw open the door and then held it open for Micah to catch. He didn’t have to even step inside before he saw the blood. It was everywhere. The whole sight made Josiah’s stomach turn. There were puddles dotting the floor, and there were streaks on the walls. The faint outlines of two bodies contained only drops. The end tables were overturned. Little porcelain knick-knacks were shattered. The putrid smell of cooked cabbage and something akin to death filled the air.

The day before, his two spinster aunts, Edith and Edna, had shuffled around the tiny abode, chatting and praying and acting holier-than-thou, which was the mantra they lived by. Now, they were dead. And there was no doubt in his mind who did it. Vampires. Fuck.

Voices across the room caught his attention. He glanced up to see Caleb, the middle of the seven Hallow brothers, in the doorway of the kitchen. Littlefoot, his late father’s best friend and a second father to them, stood on one side of him. Eve, Micah’s mate and the Hallows’ resident computer hacker, stood on the other. The three of them were studying several photos in Eve’s hand.

Josiah caught Micah’s lunge forward toward the kitchen. He reached out an arm to stop him. They couldn’t taint the crime scene, not if they wanted any kind of justice. The sheer amount of blood stopped Micah in his tracks.

“Eve, baby. Why are you here?” Micah asked.

Eve turned to her mate. “I finally cracked into the right camera. I found an image of who lives in that mansion in Connecticut. The one that was bidding on Momma’s necklace and probably caused the massacre at the strip club.” Eve held the photo out to him. As much as they stretched, they couldn’t make contact.

“Let’s all meet outside on the front lawn,” Littlefoot advised. “I have images of Edna and Edith on my phone before they were taken away.”

“Where’s Momma?” Josiah questioned. His heart ached for her. She and Littlefoot were the ones to find Edith and Edna that morning. Her sisters were the only relatives she had from back in Maine. It left her all alone, the lone survivor of her family line that didn’t include werewolves.

“Back at my house,” Littlefoot answered. “Meg and Ruby are with her. I sent them with her in my truck when Cay and Meg arrived from the North Cabin. We’ll finish talking outside.”

Josiah turned toward the door and pulled it open. The rest of his brothers on the foyer side of the bloodbath followed him outside into the warm sunshine. He jogged down the steps and onto the grass. They didn’t bother with the lawn. His family wasn’t known for conformity. He reached to Eve for the photos. Micah beat him to it with a huge smirk on his face.

“Mike,” Josiah chided.

“You might be the oldest, but I sleep with her.” He held them out for Josiah to study with him. Josiah barely got a gander at them before another hard, masculine body pressed tight against him. He didn’t bother to look, and he wasn’t about to tell whoever it was to back up and give him some space. They were all heartbroken and scared shitless. They all needed to know what they were dealing with. He heard a sniffle from his right.

He sighed hard as he closed his eyes. He only needed one glance at the pictures. The figures in them had become all too familiar to the Hallows. Rock and Cort had introduced themselves as Leroy’s new partners in his mixed martial arts promotion in Duluth. It was fine with Josiah. Leroy was a cheat and a bastard, and he sucked as a promoter. But ever since that first meeting during Samuel, his little brother’s, face-off before his fight, Josiah sensed something disturbing about them. It was something ancient, something primal. Like they had been at war for thousands of years.

Photos like this just proved that his feeling might be true. They wanted his mother’s amulet. Josiah had no idea why, but they followed Samuel’s new mate, Henry, to their isolated camp. Then Henry was struck by lightning on a clear night. He flickered from himself to an ancient Egyptian.

The Heka.

Josiah hadn’t thought things could get more bizarre. He was a werewolf, after all. But in the past few weeks, they did. They were mind-blowingly bizarre.

Micah crumpled the photo paper as he clenched it tighter. “Should have fucking figured.”

Josiah shook his head as he opened his eyes and cursed. “Shit.”

“Who is it?” Sam queried.

Micah handed the photo to him. “Your boyfriend led them to us.”

Josiah watched Sam study the wrinkled photo as he muttered under his breath. “Motherfuckers.”

“So as far as we can tell, Cort and Rock are vampires,” Josiah continued.

“We know they are,” Samuel replied. “Henry saw one of them suck at his assistant’s neck. What other kind of creature does that?”

“Did he ask for their ID?” Caleb quipped.

Samuel glared at Caleb. Seven alpha males had a tendency to evoke that response. “No, smartass.”

“Then we surmise,” Josiah concluded.

“Let me add a little more information to that.” Littlefoot handed his cell to Josiah. He stared at the cell phone photo of his aunts. They were covered in blood. Yet he didn’t miss the two linear spots on each of their necks. He cringed as he handed the cell to Micah. Micah, in turn, handed it to Samuel. Each brother cringed before they passed it on to the next. “Whatever happened to those folks in the strip club happened to Edna and Edith. And there are two dots on Edna’s neck just about the distance of a human’s canine teeth.”

“What do they want with Momma’s necklace?” Ezekiel questioned.

“I might have an answer,” Samuel answered. “Delilah did research on the Heka while she’s in Egypt. The Heka was a powerful magician. The Pharaoh hired him to enchant an amulet to give to a girlfriend. The Heka did so but also spelled it to give the person who possessed it the ability to rule the world. The Pharaoh found out about it and put the Heka to death, but a local prostitute was pregnant with his son. The son inherited not only the Heka’s abilities but his evil spirit. It seems that the enchanted amulet and the Heka have been following each other throughout history causing chaos. Wars start when they reunite. I sent her a picture of Momma’s amulet. It’s the exact same as the sketch in the book.”

“Cort and Rock called Henry the Heka.”

“Delilah wants to do more research, but I begged her to come home.”

Caleb laughed. “You begged?”

Josiah rolled his eyes. Caleb had a big mouth with no filter. He had no idea why the ancient power that led them to their mates picked him first. Meg, Caleb’s mate and wife, had the patience of a saint. Before he could tell him off, Samuel did the honors.

“Shut up, fucker.” Samuel looked at Eve. “She says all her research is digital, but it’s secured. Can you help her with that?”

Eve smiled. “Of course.”

Josiah felt the long night he had before, and the loss of his aunts, wear on him. His body ached with exhaustion. He glanced at each of them. “There is quite a bit to figure out, but we need to get back. I don’t know about you boys, but I need sleep.”

“I need to get Meg and Ruby,” Caleb added.

Josiah looked at Samuel. “When does Delilah return?”

“After the full moon,” Samuel responded. Josiah didn’t miss the little smile on Sam’s lips. He’d fallen for the fiery redhead that he mated with. Samuel had two mates. Was it even possible? It seemed like it was. But the Heka worried him. It bothered him enough to piss Samuel off to the extremes.

“Good. We need her help. In the meantime, we’ll figure out what to do about Henry.”

“What the fuck does that mean?”

“I can’t speak for the other five but I’m not sure your supposed mating to him is a good thing.”

Sam’s face contorted as he clenched his fists at his sides. “Fuck you. Fuck you all.” He stormed off before Josiah could say another word. The rest of the group was silent as they watched him climb into his beat-up truck and speed off.

Josiah felt a hand clamp over his shoulder. “Let’s head back to camp,” Micah said. “Just let me kiss Eve goodbye.”

“I want to go check in on Momma,” Josiah replied.

“All right. Eve can ride in the Jeep with us. The two of us can spend some more time together then.”

Josiah watched his brother as he strode to his mate. Micah and Eve talked quietly to each other. Josiah felt a pang of envy pierce his heart. The way Eve gazed at Micah made the jealousy burn. Josiah enjoyed sleeping around. The kinky things he picked up from the women he slept with would make the devil blush. But he wanted a woman to look at him that way. He wanted a woman to love him like that

He followed the couple to the Jeep and climbed in the back.

Eve shook her head. “Joe, I can sit back there. You and Mike need to discuss this shit.”

Josiah smiled at her. “No. You need time with your husband. Mike and I can hash all this over on our very long ride home. And there’s always the next few days of the full moon. We don’t just sleep, fight, and beast out. Sometimes we degenerates talk.”

“I didn’t refer to you as a degenerate.”

“I know. But it is a popular opinion amongst some.” Josiah winced as the memory of his aunts popped into his mind. He couldn’t believe how much he already missed the old women.

“It’s not mine.” Eve hopped into the passenger side and wrapped her hand around Micah’s. Micah threw the vehicle into drive and took off after Littlefoot’s truck. Josiah listened to the couple’s small talk with each other. Their topics veered to the mundane. Their quiet, quick answers told him they were just as on edge as he was.

They pulled into Littlefoot’s drive. Josiah waited patiently for Micah to help his wife out of the Jeep. The little brother cocked a grin. “Wanna hand, old man?”

Josiah grinned. He had a special relationship with Micah. It always seemed like the two of them against the other five hoodlums. It stung when Micah and Eve mated and then married. It was like he lost his best friend. “No, smart ass. I can manage.”

“Suit yourself.” Micah didn’t follow Eve into the house but waited for Josiah. Josiah jumped out of the Jeep, and the two men started up the sidewalk to the front door.

“What are you going to do about Henry?” Micah asked.

“I’m going to talk to Littlefoot. Or Momma. Or whoever knows how to break their mating.”

Micah stopped his stride. “Would you break Eve and me apart? Or Cay and Meg? Better yet, who gives you the right to?”

Josiah turned to him. “No, I wouldn’t. I’m protecting our family. We already lost Edith and Edna. I’m not going to lose anyone else.”

“From Henry? From our brother’s mate? What threat is a guy in love with Sam?”

“Henry isn’t the threat. The Heka is. And as far as I’m concerned they’re one and the same.”

Micah bit his bottom lip. “Joe, there is no way to break our mating apart. You know that. Henry looked pretty confused about the Heka. I don’t think he has a clue how it all happened. We’ll watch for the Heka. We’ll be on our toes. But in the meantime, you need to see that Sam is in love with both Delilah and Henry. The three of them are a family. And the great power that binds us deemed him to be a Hallow. And Josiah, Henry is a Hallow. We need to treat him like a brother for Sam’s sake.”

Josiah watched as Micah continued his gait into the house. He hurried up to him as Micah stepped inside. “Who made you a fucking romantic?”

Micah winked. “Eve.”

The wail hit both of them as they stepped in the foyer. The sound shattered Josiah’s heart. His mother was such a happy, cheerful spirit. He hated hearing her like this. There was only one other time he heard her cry like this. It was a horrible fall morning ten years ago. She sat beside her dying husband with their seven sons gathered around their bed. Poppa’s breath was weak and shallow. His lungs rattled. Yet he mustered the strength to sit up and kiss his mate goodbye.

Then he settled back on the pillow and stopped breathing. It wasn’t like they could call an ambulance to come save him. One look at a blood test or X-ray would have outed Dad as a werewolf and put the seven brothers in jeopardy. So they stood there and let him die. Poppa demanded that they let him go, and they never disobeyed Poppa. Momma wailed the rest of the day and off and on for two months solid.

What the rest of the family didn’t know was an hour before Poppa died, Josiah spent a few moments alone with him. And Poppa gave him the one order that took over Josiah’s life. It was the one that Josiah was certain was going to get him locked up in a straitjacket. Take care of your mother and brothers. You’re in charge now.

Things spiraled out of control after that. Josiah and Samuel took off for Duluth every weekend to drink themselves into a stupor and then sleep with anything that moved. Micah, the ever-dutiful son, took care of Momma. Caleb abandoned them all and joined the army. And Joshua, Ezekiel, and Abraham, all too young to drink or join the military, started to fight. They’d beat each other and then head into Bemidji to wreak havoc there.

Littlefoot stepped in to snap the six remaining at home back into shape when the three youngest were arrested for battery. He bailed them out, drove them home, and gave them a list a mile long of chores to do around the camp. Then he brought young men from the reservation to teach them to box, to grapple. Skills developed. The six homebound Hallows picked up on the martial arts fast. Caleb came home and shared what he learned in the military. It wasn’t long before Josiah took his first mixed martial arts fight. He won in the first round. After that, they all caught the MMA bug and started to compete.

And Littlefoot reiterated what Poppa said to Josiah. The old man put the fear of God into Josiah back then just like his dad could. Matter of fact, he still did.

Another cry tore Josiah from his memories. He stood in the foyer alone. He strode into the spacious living room with its ivory painted walls. At least a dozen members of Littlefoot’s family sat on the sofas and armchairs.

Momma struggled out of the beige suede recliner nearly swallowing her whole when she saw him. She waddled across the living room into his arms.

“Joe,” she whimpered.

He hugged her tight. “I know, Mom. We’re going to find the bastards who killed Edith and Edna. We’ll make them pay for what they did. And we’ll be sure they don’t hurt anyone else.”

He swayed a little as he hummed to comfort her. Her tears dampened his shirt. It took almost ten minutes for him to coax her back to the recliner. He searched for a tissue and dabbed at her tears. Then he stood to look at Littlefoot. “You’ll protect them?”

“I always do,” Littlefoot replied.

“But Cort and Rock have powers you can’t anticipate.”

Littlefoot smiled wide. “You underestimate what we’ve got, Josiah. We have a little magic of our own.”

“But can it stand up to vampires?”

“It already has. Edith and Edna weren’t their first target. I was.”

Momma let go a strangled gasp. Josiah nodded slowly. It felt like a knife pierced his heart. He lost his father. He almost lost the closest thing he had to a father now.

Micah’s voice was broken when he spoke. “Joe, we need to get some sleep.”

“Yeah,” Josiah agreed. He crossed the room and kissed his mother on the cheek. “Stay with Littlefoot, please. Don’t go anywhere without him. I’ll be back first thing in the morning to help you with the funeral plans. All right?”

“Of course,” Momma answered.

Josiah backed away to give Micah time with her. Once they said their goodbyes, they made their way to the door. Eve walked out with them to the Jeep.

Micah kissed her. “I’m not leaving until you’re back in the house.”

She smiled at him. “Mike, I’m safe. You heard Littlefoot.”

“Eve, you are my soul. My world. I’m not losing you to these sons of bitches.” He kissed her again. “I love you. Be safe. I’ll come in with Joe to see you. I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

The final kiss they shared was a bit more passionate than the others. Josiah bit back a growl. There was that jealousy boiling up again. Eve waved as she strode up the sidewalk and stepped inside the house again. She turned and watched them from the closed screen door. The two men climbed into the Jeep.

Micah flipped the key in the ignition and fired it on. “Let’s go home and sleep, bro. We have a long night ahead.”

“My thoughts exactly,” Josiah replied.

Micah backed out of the drive. Both men gave Eve one last wave goodbye before they sped away.

»»•««

The chapel was crowded with folks dressed in their Sunday best. Splotches of color left by the sunlight streaming through the stained-glass windows dotted the worn burgundy carpet. There was the distinct smell of mothballs lingering in the air. Nowhere in his wildest dreams did Josiah think so many people cared for his bitter aunts. Or maybe they were here to celebrate their deaths. He could see it. They were hard to get along with. They beat and tortured him and his brothers on a regular basis when they were children. Momma fought with her sisters over their forms of punishment. Often, she stormed out of the sisters’ house with the boys in tow. Edith and Edna would remind her that they did it to save the brothers’ souls. And the truth was, the seven boys could be little hellions.

However, they all still had nightmares from their aunts’ abuse.

It didn’t stop him from missing them.

Josiah cut his sleep short each day of the full moon to help his mother plan the funeral. More than once during the night as he hunted he tried to lay down and take a nap. The maddening chaos in his mind brought on by the change that destroyed his focus didn’t let that happen most of the time. Being the beast left him feeling wired like he was on crack and a sugar rush all at the same time. But after the week he had, fatigue often won.

On top of it all, he felt a burn inside him deep in his core. It wrapped around his soul. It aroused him to the point of agony. He excused himself at least twice a day to lock himself in the bathroom and pleasure himself. It stole his breath. It possessed his mind. He was going insane.

He glanced around the chapel to survey the scene. His sisters-in-law, including the newest, Delilah, gathered around Momma to comfort her. Mother cuddled his niece, Ruby, to her chest. The baby was more soothing than all the adults put together. His brothers were scattered around the church checking their phones, pacing, or muttering to each other. The Hallows had a horrible tendency to be awkward around large groups unless they were in a cage.

That was, all but one Hallow. Samuel stood at the coffins. He looked like any other guest, dressed in a lavender dress shirt and black trousers. That was, except for the Mohawk. His spiked hair down the middle of his shaved head had nearly every person in the building staring at him. By the way his head twitched, he was glancing from one body to the other. It surprised Josiah. Samuel and Caleb were the ones Edith and Edna had picked on the most. No wonder they ended up the way they did.

What Josiah did know is that if they were going to take on the vampires, they had all better be on the same page. That included Sam. He huffed to himself and then strode to Samuel’s side beside the caskets. He noticed his younger sibling’s body stiffen as he approached.

“When are you going to get out of your snit?” Josiah demanded.

“You can fuck off,” Samuel responded.

“Grow up, Samuel.”

Samuel spun at him with his teeth gritted in rage. Josiah heard his mother gasp from across the room. Sam must have heard her too. He lowered his voice. “Me grow up? You need to get over yourself. Henry is my mate. I love him as much as I love Delilah. So you can keep your narrow-minded thoughts to yourself. I’m not giving him up.”

“Is that what you’re bent out of shape about? I don’t give a shit who you’re in love with. You’re in love with a man? Great. Fantastic. You have my full blessing to love whoever you want. I want you to be with whoever makes your sour ass happy. But Sam, we all heard Cort and Rock call him the Heka. And from what you told me, the combination of the Heka and Momma’s amulet can cause big trouble. It’s trouble that’s beyond us. It’ll impact innocent people.” Josiah motioned to the coffins. “It already has. We might not like them, but Edith and Edna were innocent of this. And there are too many coincidences pointing to Rock, Cort, the amulet, and the Heka. Something evil is brewing. Do we want the soul of it in our camp? Do you want the soul of it sharing your bed?”

Samuel swallowed hard as he looked away. Josiah followed his gaze to the door of the sanctuary. Sam’s two mates, Henry and Delilah, stood there hugging each other tight.

A force grabbed Josiah’s attention. It dragged it away from the couple to the other side of the doorway. A tall blonde, just a few inches smaller than his six-foot-three-inch frame, clenched a clutch purse to her as she studied the crowd. Her long hair cascaded around her shoulders. She wore a modest sleeveless dress that fell to her knees.

Josiah lost his breath. His body was on fire with a lust he never felt before. He wanted her. He needed her. He needed to be buried deep inside her with those long, perfect legs wrapped around his hips. He needed to taste her. He needed to hear her scream his name. He needed hours, no, an eternity of this.

Then he needed to hold her tight in his arms. He was prepared to die for her, and he didn’t even know her name.

He heard Sam suck in a deep breath. “We have to prove he has anything to do with this.”

He didn’t give his attention to his brother. He kept his gaze locked on the blonde. He was painfully aware of his thick cock pressed hard against the zipper of his trousers. He was standing in the front of a church next to his dead aunts with a throbbing erection. He didn’t know why he didn’t go up in flames right there.

“Joe?” Samuel asked.

Josiah shook his head to break himself of the hold that possessed him. It didn’t help. He cleared his throat. “Keep on your guard. All right? At least until we can figure out exactly what we’re dealing with.”

“Of course I will.”

“Okay, then. Excuse me.” Josiah gave him a quick nod. Then he spun on his heel toward the door. She was still standing there, but now she was staring at him. Butterflies erupted in his belly. Had he ever been nervous to talk to a woman? Not that he could recall. He swallowed down the lump of fear in his throat and then nudged through the crowd to talk to her.