Page 75 of Fractured Mates
We’re back on our feet and notice Kyler has one wolf down already, but he’s bleeding from his right flank.
We need to finish this, I tell my wolf, but it’s more of a reminder for me that there’s more on the line tonight than Jules and killing Astor. This isn’t just about me anymore. I’ve found a mate and brought him into this nightmare. I need to make sure he survives as well. Anything else isn’t an option unless my own death comes with it.
The two wolves attack us at the same time, but the darker one is slowing down. I ignore the silver one in favor of finishing the other. Getting a neck bite in is going to be difficult with both of them this close, so we go for her stomach again.
My wolf’s claws snag the bit of intestines that are already showing, and she pulls hard. Not once, but twice. Blood gushes from the other wolf’s stomach, and organs begin to drop to the ground. Her eyes widen, and she starts to teeter. The black one behind me howls, a sorrowful sound that makes me hurt for my enemy.
Based on that chilling cry, I assume they were mates, but I can’t not defend my own life. This is the price they chose to pay when they decided working for a psychopath was more important than doing what is right.
The male wolf comes for me as the female falls to the ground, the life leaving her eyes.
I’m ready for him, but that doesn’t mean he’s going to be easy to defeat. We circle each other and my wolf calculates the best plan of action.
He’s out of his mind with grief, she says. We need to put him down quickly. The best way to do that is?—
Her words stop as we watch with mild astonishment as the wolf’s left eye suddenly has an arrow sticking through it and going out the back of his head. Another follows quickly after, landing right at the center of his chest.
What the fuck was that? The smell of decaying flesh hits me a second later. Vampires.
Yet that’s the least of my worries when I hear Kyler’s snarls.
We race for our mate but come to a halt as a woman dressed in all black with long, dark hair and wielding a dagger cuts in front of me, beheading two wolves with just as many swings.
She turns around and waves her free hand at me. “You must be Sophie. I’m Amersyn.”
The name rings a bell, but I don’t recognize her. At least her eyes are a muddy red, telling me that she feeds from a bag and not a corpse.
I shift and by the time I’m on two feet again, so is Kyler. He’s at my side in the next second and is looking around. “Where’s Maciah?”
“Dealing with the group that was coming in from the south,” the vampire says, then she smirks. “He thought he could come out in the field again without bringing me. I laughed in his face. At least now I can prove I was right.”
“We had them handled,” I tell her, not meaning to be defensive, but I don’t need a vampire taking credit for a fight that we were nearly done with.
She smiles, and the action is friendly instead of condescending like I expect. “Yes, you did, but do you know how long it’s been since I’ve gotten in on the fun?” She slides her dagger in the sheath on her hip and rolls her neck, revealing the bow on her back. “Too long.”
Howls sound from closer to the pack, and another figure comes speeding through the shadows, stopping at Amersyn’s side. He looks her over, seeming to check every inch of her body before he turns to nod at Kyler. “Everyone’s in place. River is fighting for Astor still until we all arrive and then he’ll break cover. We need to hurry.”
Finally, someone else who’s ready to charge in. It only took two damn days.
The male vampire nods at me. “Sophie. I’m Maciah.”
Another howl sounds through the night. “Yeah, I think proper introductions need to wait.” My eyes meet Kyler’s, and he nods, stepping away from me.
I’ll be right by your side, he promises as we both start to shift. By the time we’re on four feet again, the vampires are gone and we take off at top speeds toward the pack.
It’s time to end this nightmare, I tell my wolf, whose chest rumbles in agreement as she moves with little effort between the trees, taking a path that used to be familiar to us.
We start to pass by the homes of the other shifters. The lights are off, but the reflection of eyes through the windows isn’t hard to see. At least the entire pack hasn’t been infected with Astor’s bullshit. Just those like my father.
Continuing on, we arrive at the pack house. There are wolves and vampires battling Astor’s chosen warriors. The fight seems to lean heavily toward our side, assuming the wolves protecting the vampires are with Maciah.
A looming and rather significantly large shadow flies over our heads, and I’m forced to do a double take to understand what I’m seeing. I’d heard of the dragons that had begun appearing around some of the packs and communities, but hearing about them and seeing them are two totally different things.
With dark-red scales and a wingspan possibly wider than the pack house, the enormous beast soars over the crowd, then releases a stream of fire from his mouth that splits the crowd and catches several people on fire before he lands.
I lose sight of him as he flies around the back side of the house. Right then, I know I have to admit that everyone else was smart to stop me. There would have been no chance of saving Jules if I’d shown up with just Kyler yesterday, as I wanted. We would have died, and it would have been for nothing.
That serves to motivate me more than anything, though. I have the help I need—possibly more than necessary—and I’m going to take advantage of that before anything has a chance to go to shit.