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Raf appeared from the tree line, but he wasn’t right. He didn’t move like a wolf. He moved like a—
It couldn’t be. He smiled, showing off fangs.
Laura gasped and covered her mouth.
Az heaved. “What have you done to yourself?”
“Given myself immortal life.” Rafael laughed. “Instead of throwing it away.”
“You sold your people out for a longer life?” Dominic spat on the ground. “Blood traitor.”
Rafael hissed.
“So you’re one of them now?” I asked, pulling the focus off my mate.
“No, I’ve become something better. I’ve done what they have long wanted to do with your blood. I’ve evolved. You wouldn’t understand because you have no ambition. I will take over the pack after I kill you, and we will create a new super species.”
My stomach turned. “It will kill you.”
“We’ve tested it and perfected it. Look at me. I’m stronger than ever. They only told those lies about our blood mixing to prevent a better kind from being born. It’s just lies vampires told.” Rafael seemed confident in his assessment, but there was documented proof. He was alive for now. But my gut told me it would kill him. If vampires could change wolves they would have done so hundreds of years ago.
“So you’re helping them harness our power, and you will die. You can’t mix the healing power of our bodies with the change in undeath. It will kill you and only they will benefit.” Surely if pointed out he would see my logic.
The vampires get something from drinking our blood, but it was temporary. His entire being was made of that healing power, and it would go to war with the death now creeping through his veins. It would poison him from the inside out.
“You only believe that because you’ve been told so. The Vampire Council has been lying to everyone for hundreds of years so none of us gain power.” Rafael really believed his words.
“The pack won’t follow you. You’re a blood traitor. They all know you’ve sold out their sons and daughters to vampires.” Dominic growled and stepped forward, his eyes going black.
“They will when they see the power I wield and how we can use it to win our war and get rid of those who want us dead for good.” Rafael might have been right about that. When people were tired of losing their children, they would go to extremes to protect them.I suddenly had a terrible feeling in my gut. Not only was this an ambush, but I didn’t like our odds of winning, and I didn’t think I could get Dominic to back down. Nor should he. Waiting for them to amass more strength and attack was no better.
“They won’t accept half-wolves. They won’t even accept daywalkers. So you’re back to the same problem. Still in a war. We are no better than they are if we become them.” Dominic’s nails turned to claws as his wolf took more and more of him, nearly forcing the shift. “Can you even still shift?”
“I don’t need to. This is your last warning to get off our land.”
“You have no claim to this land. I am returning it to the throughway.” Dominic used a tone I’d never heard from him. It was commanding and powerful, echoing with the magic of the earth. It gave me hope. He had the land on his side.
“Our uncle gave them this land after he killed our father. He had the right to it and the right to sell it.” Rafael smiled, fangs and all. “You know so because you killed him to reclaim the pack.”
Gabriel and Azreal gasped, turning toward Dominic.
“It’s true,” he confirmed, his black eyes never leaving Rafael. “After we freed ourselves from our human captors, I went after the one responsible for leaving the pack there to rot. I killed him for my place, and I’d do it again.”
“You never told us…” Az shook his head.
“I guess betrayal runs in his blood. Rafael is his child. But I’m betting you already know that?” Dominic stared his brother down. “Your own father left you there, too. He didn’t care about you any more than these bloodsuckers you stand with.”
Rafael’s expression flickered with shock, but only for a second before he schooled himself. “He was weak. He wasn’t smart enough to imagine immortality for himself. He took his money and ran. I won’t do that. I will make our people better.”
Dominic leapt at him, shifting mid-air, and his brothers followed half a step behind. I pulled the stake from my belt. I’d never killed a vampire, but if we had any chance of winning this, I had to even up the odds.
I took the first vampire by surprise, slamming the stake into his chest with all the force the fear of losing Dominic had given me. He shrieked and clutched his chest, stumbling back. I turned to find the next, but the sight was a savage blur of wolves and vampires moving too fast to get between. If I went in with the stake, I’d risk hitting a wolf. I spun around to find Dominic. He and Raf tore at each other.
I ran at them but was grabbed from behind. Razor-sharp nails pierced the base of my throat. Pain ripped through my chest as I whipped around, lifting the stake. But he was too fast, and I couldn’t keep up. Every move I tried to counter, he anticipated, his impossible speed getting past my defenses.
Az screamed, but I couldn’t go to them. All of us would have to handle the vampires we faced alone. The vampire spun circles around me, and I couldn’t keep up, let alone see past him to see how the other fights were going. My heart hammered in my ears, and I slowed myself down. I was already bleeding from all over. If I didn’t gain some kind of control, I’d be dead. I had to use experience to combat his speed.
I ducked, twisting out of the way instead of going for a blow. He hadn’t expected that, and Laura’s wolf jumped in, biting down on his thigh. We tussled, falling to the earth, the vampire gaining the upper hand with his greater strength. He pinned me to the ground, but Laura caught him by the back of the neck.
