Page 31 of Justice
“You wouldn’t see it.” A close-minded vampire would never find it out here. That was the point. Our location was designed to hide from those seeking to find us unless you knew the exact location already. If they were here, I knew eyes would already be on us, waiting and watching to see what our move would be. We were trained to act first, and ask questions last, especially in situations that involved our home, and I only hoped they recognized me before their teeth attempted to tear into my flesh.
“Nothing is here,” Sterling echoed.
Libby took Oak’s hand as she walked, and his body visibly relaxed. She was a balm, her touch having magical properties on the menacing man. “If Justice says they are here, then I believe him.”
They continued their chatter, and I tuned them out, inhaling deeply with my eyes closed, trying to catch a familiar scent. It had been years, decades, since I had smelt the familiarity of my people, and a part of me feared that I wouldn’t recognize the scent. That maybe with time, my senses had dulled, and my ability weakened. But on my second inhale, I caught it. It was faint, barely recognizable, but it was there.
My body jolted in the direction, my legs moving without instruction, carrying me toward my people. Taking me home. The further I walked, the stronger the scent got, the more the anticipation inside of me sprung to life and danced with glee. I felt more alive than I’d felt in years. My body itched and burned to shift, to howl with delight, and pounce with joy.
They hadn’t questioned me as they followed, and I appreciated that although we may not have mutual trust, they respected me enough to do what I needed to to find my people. I was getting close; of that I was sure. The familiar scent was growing stronger, the urge to quicken my pace hard to fight.
My foot lifted, finding a cement platform. The moment my shoe touched down, a ferocious snarl broke the silence before four wolves appeared, their jaws snapping, spit flying, as they locked eyes on the group of people behind me. My body tensed; my jaw locked with the tension. When they lunged, my body sprung into action, shifting before I could think. I pushed my way forward, pushing Libby back until I stood between her and the wolf who skidded to a stop in front of me.
He snapped his teeth, a low growl filling the air, and for a second, he thought he could leap over me. He learned too late the repercussions, his blood flinging in droplets through the air and landing in nearly black puddles against the sand. My jaw released his throat, and his body fell limply to my feet.
The roar that left me was unearthly. The sound cracking the cement under my paws like a spider web, spreading its fractures under the two remaining wolves as they jumped to get to stable ground. The shaking under our feet intensified as another rumble left me, the power behind it forcing the wolves onto their stomachs as my bones and joints shifted to human.
I stared down at them, my eyes hard from anger. The nerve, the bold ass audacity they had to go after my mate.My. Mate. I growled again just for good measure, taking pleasure in the whines that escaped their lips, savoring the look of fear radiating in their eyes. I was their king. Their fucking king, and they dared treat me this way. To my left, a slow clap broke the silence, but I dared not turn toward it for fear that the wolves at my feet would retaliate their friend’s death.
“They are still young, my King.”
My head snapped toward the voice, and suddenly, my legs were nearly too weak to hold up my weight. The sorrow I had buried for all the lost years surfaced, and my voice cracked as I let out in a whisper, “Horo.”
Fates be damned. Please don’t let me collapse right here. “It’s been a while, brother.”
He stepped forward reluctantly, and I didn’t know if I should cower away or stand straighter. But this was Horo. My beta. My best friend. My brother by choice. “I -”
I didn’t know what to fucking say. But I didn’t have to. Horo stood in front of me, eyeing me up and down silently, judging me for what I had become, maybe for where I had been longer than necessary, before he clapped me on the back and pulled me in toward his body, embracing me in a way that told me that even after all these years, he needed me as much as I still needed him.
“They all thought you were dead.” His voice sounded choked, but I knew Horo never cried. “They all thought we lost you, but I knew you were alive.” He pulled back from my body, and I ignored the distinct glistening of his eyes. His chin went toward the vampires behind me, “Care to explain?”
“They saved my life.” Which honestly, was true, but not the full extent of it.
“Did they? Want to tell me about the family crest on that one’s chest then?” He used his chin to gesture toward Libby, and fuck, he never missed a damn thing.
“I don’t know,” I admitted. “I don’t understand what’s happening.”
“I see.” He nodded, his eyes never leaving my mate, a fact that made me slightly anxious. “But, you protected her.”
I did. I did it without thinking. I did it selflessly. And I suspected if the opportunity arose again, I would repeat the action. Despite what I claimed, I couldn’t let her get hurt. I could not neglect my duties in protecting her. “She’s my mate.”
He didn’t try to talk me out of that logic, or bring up that she was in fact not a shifter because Horo was always more level-headed than I was, always more faith in what the fates dealt than I ever could. “Okay then, so are you going to order them to shift or leave them there all afternoon.”
The thought of leaving them in the desert heat after they tried to kill my mate held it’s appeal, but I didn’t want my first act back to be one of malice and revenge. I peered down at the wolves at my feet and gathered all the strength I could before pushing it behind my voice. “Shift.”
Seconds later, two teenage boys were bowing at my feet, quivering with fear as my power washed over them.
Chapter 15
LIBERTY
We followedbehind Justice and his friend, keeping a couple feet distance. It wasn’t that I questioned Justice's judgment, but his friends were trying to kill us mere minutes ago. That was an act I didn’t easily forget. His friend, Horo, peered at me over his shoulder, assessing me in such a way that I felt raw and vulnerable. I was conflicted. A part of me wanted his friend to like me, to give his approval, and another part said it didn’t matter. But it did. Horo was a part of Justice’s life, his beta, in other words, his best friend. He knew Justice better than I could ever dream to at this point, and even if I hadn’t wanted this whole mate thing, I felt like I needed his approval.
“The entrance is down here.” Horo pointed to a door that was pulled open in the cement, leading down a few steps to a round cut out.
Oak walked over and peered inside, the blankness a sharp contrast to the spark of light at the bottom. Ellis joined him, looking down into the hole for a moment before bringing his hands to his hips. Without taking his eyes off the hole he said, “Well, that looks like a nope from me.”
“You scared?” Justice taunted.