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“Dad?” Henry tapped my elbow and I turned to him, dropping to the ground beside him to yank him into a hug. “Dad, are you leaving again?”
I practically crumbled with the way he just asked me that. “I have to go fight with Donovan. Protect the alpha. Protect the pack.”
“Okay, Dad. I’ll protect Charlotte.”
Henry amazed me. With everything he went through, he still thought he was tougher than nails. Maybe something about that curse had changed something fundamental inside him.
Maybe it made him stronger.
I tried to smile while rising to my feet. My family tearfully watched me, both of them worried sick about what was going to happen. I felt their fear. I reflected it in my determined expression.
I wasn’t about to let them down.
“Charlotte, I need you to watch Henry,” I said.
Her nails dug crescents into my skin. “Adam, don’t…”
“You can do it,” I assured her while grabbing her shoulders. “Breathe. You’ve got this.” I looked at Henry. “I’ll be right back, son.”
The whimper that escaped her when I darted out the front door lashed me just like the siren. I shucked my jogging pants and leaped over the steps, shifting in the air. My paws hit the ground with a decisivethumpand then I raced toward the origin of the siren, tapping into the network I shared mentally with my alpha.
What’s going on?I called out.Somebody, talk to me.
Lucius was the first to respond,North of the cabins. Between the rec center and Alpha’s yard.
Dirt skittered behind me as I forced my legs to run faster. Doors slammed as I sprinted past the cabins, the road opening up to a miniature square and then to the rec center. Beyond that was the alpha’s home.
And in between those buildings was the issue.
Four vampires waved something as they retreated toward the forest. Growling, I doubled my speed and leaped into action, grabbing the first throat within reach. I wrestled the vampire to the ground and pawed his chest, trying to beat him into submission.
He pressed something round to my face that burned like acid.
Howling in pain, I jumped back and scratched my snout, whimpering as I tried to get the smell of burned fur out of my nose.
“Stupid mutt,” the vampire spat. “You’re not pure blood. No wonder your son didn’t give us what we wanted!”
I fixed my fierce gaze on him.
Lucius stepped up beside me, a low growl sounding in his throat that he directed at the vampires.What the hell did he just say to you, Adam?
Something about pure blood, I replied.
He pawed the ground.We need to take that item from him.
What’s the item?I asked. Every time I tried to focus on it, the image blurred.I assume that’s our mysterious artifact that no one can remember.
You would be correct, he responded.Go left. I’ll go right.
As Lucius barked orders for Iver and Nort, I slipped to the left to circle the group of vampires. It must not have been that important if only four of them showed up.
Unless…
My eyes widened.It’s another trap!
Lucius and the others dove into battle. The vampire in front of me screeched while extending a blade, the tip of it glowing with what I knew was the same resin that would take me down. I nipped his knife hand, barely scraping his knuckles as he hopped back.
“It doesn’t mean anything to you!” the vampire accused. “You should let us have it. It’s not for you to keep!”
