Page 33 of Meeting Her Mate
Not to mention the imminent danger that both Alexis and the pack were in. Why did it have to be like this? I was not going to stand guard by her apartment as a sentry. If she were to be in danger again, I would be preternaturally alerted to it, just as I had been alerted today. That left the matter of the pack to deal with. I could not just sit idly by and wait for calamity to strike again.
This left me with no other recourse than to track down where the vampires lived and where they conducted their illicit business from. Knowing was half the battle, and I needed to know how deep their operation ran and how many vampires there were. I was holding on to a lot of pent-up rage that I had contained during my confrontation with Alexis, and this rage would consume me alive if I did not channel it. What better way to release it than hurting some vampires?
Thankfully, the downpour had stopped, allowing me to move through town without getting drenched. It surprised me a little that I did not feel quite as chilly. Maybe that was one of the abilities that I had gained. It was too soon to tell. I did think that it was cold, but the cold wasn’t bothering me in any way.
From shadow to shadow, I snuck through the town and headed down to Fiddler’s Cove. I was deep into the wilderness now, beyond the city. Rather than go down to the cove through the main road that led through the forest, I decided to circumvent and approach it via the beach. If there were vampires operating there, they would not see me coming from the beach. The cove was cut-off from the beach on both sides thanks to the rugged cliffs.
As the dark of the night deepened, and as my path veered further to the right, I finally came to the beach and could make out the shimmering lights coming from the cove. This was the base from where they operated their cartel. It had to be. The cliffs sheltered the cove from above, not even allowing moonlight to shine through.
Suddenly, to my left, a car raced through the forest. I tucked myself behind some shrubs to hide from whoever was driving to the cove. But this was an interesting development, prompting me to follow the car. I was not going to do this in my human form. As strong as I was, I could not chase a car in this body.
I shifted in the full light of the moon and chased the car from a safe distance, not coming too close to the road. In my wolf form, I charted a path through the wilderness that was sandwiched between the beach and the road and came to a halt just a quarter mile before the cove.
From here, I could see who was coming out of the car. I could even see and smell the vampires as they came out of the cove to greet the person getting out of the car.
Fumes billowed from my nostrils as I identified the person. It was Maurice Grimm. Alexis was right all along.
“What was that all about, Maurice?” a gnarly voice came from the shadows.
“Ralph, I swear. I didn’t even know,” Maurice replied.
The vampire, whose name was Ralph, came out from the shadows. He was taller than all the other vampires standing around him. His face and his arms were riddled with scars. There was a giant patch of burned skin on his right cheek. Unlike most of the vampires, Ralph was not completely bald. He had a thick head of black hair that made his persona look menacing. He resembled a fierce nocturnal animal, standing there in his long leather trench coat.
“The deal was, Morty, you’d let us have the Abode, and we’ll help you in the next election. I don’t have the Grimm Abode. Does it look like I’m operating out of the Grimm Abode? No! Will I help you with the next election? No!”
“It’s not like that. I asked the pack to retreat. If it weren’t for that fucking Will, the pack wouldn’t have fought. I can tell you that if he’s around any longer, we’re both gonna be out of jobs,” Maurice said.
“Morty, Morty, Morty, that sounds like a threat to me. Are you threatening me?” Ralph crooned in a singsong voice, fiddling with the revolver he was holding.
“Fuck no. I’m telling you, we have a common enemy. But we also seem to have a common friend, someone who shares our vision,” Maurice said. “And don’t call me Morty. I’m not ten.”
“Fine. Maurice, it is. Tell me about this enemy. You say he just appeared out of nowhere all of a sudden?” Ralph asked.
I crawled to the edge of the wilderness. The only thing between them and me was Maurice’s car. As my blood boiled with fury, I wanted to take on all of them at the same time. Having learned that Maurice was a betrayer had driven me to the point of insanity. I sought no reason. The only thing that I wanted to do was fight the vampires and kill Maurice.
But then, at the last moment, right before I was about to pounce into the clearing, Alexis’s face came into clear focus. I remembered the words that she had spoken to me. Keep a cool head, she’d said.
So, rather than attack, I listened intently, barely able to control myself.
“Smells of wet dog here,” Ralph said, sniffing loudly.
“I told you I didn’t appreciate your wolf-phobic humor. I can’t help that I’m a werewolf any more than you can help the fact that you’re a vampire,” Maurice said.
“It’s not you. We’re used to your smell. Someone else is here. Did you rat us out?” Ralph growled.
“I swear I came alone,” Maurice replied, raising his hands in the air and waving them frantically.
“Look around, men!” Ralph said.
Before I could so much as move, I saw a group of vampires, all of them armed, coming out of the cove, poking around everywhere with the barrels of their rifles.
I slunk back into the wilderness, retreating into the shadows, surrounded by the thickets of trees and bushes around me. Here I waited in silence as the vampires prodded around.
I even shifted back into my human form so that they wouldn’t be able to smell me.
To my right, Maurice’s car veered and revved up the road. Had the vampires not been searching for me, I’d have chased Maurice and would have found out where he was hiding. I would have interrogated him ruthlessly and found out what he was planning.
But for now, I just lay low and waited for the vampires to move back into the cove.