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Articus looked at the other alphas for confirmation and they nodded in unison. He got a bunch of keys from the desk and unlocked the locks on the chains.
The chains clattered to the ground as Rowan stood up. He rolled his shoulders and stretched out his muscles. Without hesitation, he rushed toward the window and smashed through it.
He hit the ground running and took off toward the town square without breaking stride. He heard sounds behind him and grinned. His friends had followed after him, of course.
***
Despite the lockdown order, almost all of the wolves in Moonwood had gathered outside. They pointed at the sky, which had been clear and bright a few moments ago.
‘GET INSIDE! Find some cover,’ Rowan shouted wildly into the mindlink. He couldn’t tell if they had heard him, or if they were willfully ignoring him.
He dispatched his friends into the crowds. They had all transformed into towering, terrifying wolves. “Get them inside. Get them out of here as quickly as you can. Do whatever you have to do, but evacuate this square. Things are about to get very ugly very soon.” They nodded and dispersed into the crowds.
Rowan felt the vampire long before he saw him. He had a crushing presence that beat down violently against Rowan, threatening to force him to his knees.
Powerful winds zipped around the square, and in the middle of it, behind a hurricane wall, the vampire floated. The day had turned as dark as night.
Rowan watched with stark disbelief the amount of power that pulsed out of the vampire. The vampire exuded more mana than Rowan would have considered even possible for one person.
Despite the alphas’ best efforts to evacuate, too many people still hung around the square, watching the spectacular display of power. Their fear soaked him through the mindlink, and he shut himself out.
He couldn’t feel fear. He had work to do.
Rowan rushed toward the vampire and made an unbelievable leap several feet into the air. The vampire glanced down and saw the massive streak of black fur hurtling toward him.
His face showed the briefest hint of surprise, but he regained his composure as he drifted to the side immediately. Rowan missed him by a few inches, but lashed out with a tenacious kick of his hindlegs that caught the vampire on the thigh.
There was so much force in the kick that it sent the vampire spinning downward. Just before he crashed however, he righted himself and settled lightly on the ground.
Rowan slammed into the ground across from him, his own landing so hard it caused a tremor and created a small crater in the street.
“Where is my mate?” Rowan growled angrily, walking toward the vampire. “If you’ve hurt her, I promise—”
“Oh, please,” the vampire said dismissively. “None of your threats. Don’t make promises you don’t have the capacity to keep. I see it’s you who tainted the witch. I will make sure you die for your insolence.”
“I would like to see you try,” Rowan spat, and lunged forward with blinding speed. The vampire dashed to the right, away from Rowan, and Rowan turned the angle with him. He swiped outward with a vicious clawed paw, and scraped the arm of the retreating vampire.
Frustrated, he threw a flurry of attacks at the elusive vampire. He had lost the element of surprise, unfortunately, and the vampire managed to stay away from all his attacks.
He moved with unbelievable speed, veering at will as Rowan lashed out at him. He had a grin on his face that infuriated Rowan. The vampire focused on staying on the defensive, remaining out of the reach of Rowan’s endless attacks.
The vampire weaved and bobbed as he moved, his feet barely touching the ground. When he soared into the air, Rowan jumped after him, soaring with outstretched claws to grab a dangling foot.
The vampire swerved away, this time avoiding Rowan’s counterattack. As Rowan shot upward past him, he reached out and grabbed his hindleg. Rowan felt ice seep into his veins as the vampire touched him.
Before Rowan could react, the vampire spun him by the leg with a strength Rowan had not expected the frail-looking thing to possess. He sent Rowan flying down to the ground as fast as a crossbow bolt.
Rowan slammed into the ground with his shoulder, creating an even bigger crater with the impact. The force of his landing made the ground shake with a disturbing tremor.
His body trembled from pain and he could feel a few broken ribs. He got up shakily and the pain lacerated through him, even as his body started to slowly knit itself back together.
Still disoriented, he looked up just in time to see a fist flashing toward his face. The vampire’s bony knuckle connected solidly with Rowan’s jaw and sent his head reeling backward.
The force of the blow caused a shock wave to spread out around Rowan and the vampire. He went flying backward, crashing into the ground several times before he came to a stop several yards away.
He got up slowly and felt a hot, white pain in his jaw and knew that it had been shattered. He limped, his front legs faltering as his shoulder had not fully healed. The vampire floated toward him slowly as he felt his jaw. The vampire grinned at him and licked his lips with a pale tongue. “My turn.”
Rowan had no idea how to escape the blows that rained down on him. He ducked as furiously as he could, but half the strikes connected, and he felt pain blossom in a dozen different places.
