James felt the adrenaline leak from him, leaving him shaken and weak, as he once again regained control. He looked down at himself, his now nude frame was covered in blood and he knew none of it was his. “James… James, do you hear me?” he heard someone say and he had to blink a couple of times to chase away the fog. He looked over and saw Tony kneeling next to him so he could look James in the face.
“Are you alright man?” he asked and James looked around them. All six vampires were on the ground and only two were in mostly one piece. The rest the beast had torn apart, limb by limb. The sight and the smell made his stomach turn and before he could move, he vomited onto the pavement. Tony jumped away but quickly returned to his side when he was done projecting his lunch and threw a blanket over his shoulders.
“Silvano… sent them,” he said breathlessly and stood slowly. He walked over a decapitated vampire. His curiosity now outweighed his disgust at what he’d done. He took off the silver colored mask and looked into the unfamiliar face. “Why were they wearing masks,” he wondered out loud and Tony shrugged. There had to be a reason, James swore and went over to another and took off the mask.
This one looked familiar, but he wasn’t sure where he had seen her before. Tony joined him then swore. “That’s Kennedy!” Tony said in shock, and James looked at the vampire to his friend confused.
“You know the vampire?” He asked, surprised then looked back down to the creature. She had been one of the first to attack him, the one he killed by ripping out her throat.
“She’s not a vampire but one of us. She’s an enforcer. One of our newer ones but loyal. My god, James I was talking to her this afternoon as Keon set up the patrols…” Tony said in awe and shame and guilt washed over him. How could he not have noticed she was a shifter? What had he done! Who else had he killed? James began rushing over to the bodies and unmasking them quickly. Tony identified another enforcer and James felt his stomach turn again.
James came to the last one. The body was one of those that hadn’t been torn to pieces, but the dark cloak was shredded and drenched in blood. James lifted off the mask and stared in horror. No, no, no, no! “Chris!” he cried out and Tony raced over to him. He couldn’t have killed Chris! Tony pulled out his phone, tapping it violently then set it next to him as he kneeled. He ripping off the shredded cloak and James stared in horror. There were deep gashes all over his body.
“He’s breathing!” Tony said, sounding ecstatic and James closed his eyes and silently thanked God. “Litefoot get over to the pack meeting hall ASAP! Chris Lyons has been severely injured and if you don’t get here in like ten minutes, I don’t think he’ll survive,” Tony barked once his call had been answered and James felt crippled with guilt. How did he not know it was Chris? The beast wouldn’t have ever attacked these people if he’d known they were werewolves.
“Lily, you shouldn’t be here,” Tony said with a worried tone as soon as she entered the small building. “It’s almost nightfall!’
Ignoring his question she walked up to him worried. “What happened? Sandy just told me that Chris was hurt,” She asked, wrapping her arms around her waist.
“James was attacked,” Tony started and Lily looked at him horrified.
“What? Is he alright? Who attacked him,” she demanded and her brother gave her an impatient look.
“If you would shut up I’ll tell you,” he told her and she glared at him but closed her mouth. “When he was coming to talk to me some vampires attacked him. They were sent to by Silvano and they weren’t all vampires. Three of the six were actually werewolves from our pack. James didn’t know. To him they all smelled like vampire and… two are already dead and Chris is… he’s still up in the air,” Tony explained and Lily closed her eyes and swore softly.
Her throat closed in on its self with dread. “And James?” She asked.
“He’s fine, a really nasty bite on his shoulder, but it’ll be alright,” He said then walked over to her until he stood right in front of her. “I’m sorry Lily. You were right. We found the bodies of two of our enforcers on the boundaries in the forest. Their throats had been ripped out, but the charms Qin Xuan had given us were still around their necks. The two werewolves James killed were their partners and didn’t have charms. They took down four of our enforcers and I didn’t have any idea until tonight.”
“I didn’t want to be right Tony and God knows I didn’t want this,” she told him and he wrapped his arms around her in a hug.
“Sorry I’ve been on your case so much,” he told her and she shrugged, hugging him back.
“It’s cool. You’re the alpha and that’s your job,” She told him and he grinned at her, giving her one final squeeze before letting her go.
“Come on let’s go see if there is any news about Chris,” Tony said and they walked deeper into the hall and into a waiting room. Her skin prickled with ever growing tension. Ever since Xavier had kidnapped and experimented on her, Lily couldn’t stand hospitals or anything that looked or smelled remotely like them. The waiting room was white and sterile with cheap cushioned chairs. Nearly all of them were filled with people, looking grim as they waited.
Most of the people she knew and called family, while others like that redhead from the dinner she didn’t know or didn’t bother to know. Why was that woman here, she wondered. What did James say her name was? Oh right, Ginger, she thought then realized why she was here. The woman was practically drooled and cooed over James and fussing over his bandaged shoulder.
Noticing the bandage, Lily remembered James had been bitten. Shouldn’t he have healed from that? A small frown crossed her face with the growing concern for James but seeing he was already busy with Ginger she decided to ignore them both. Not, my problem, she told herself. “Any news?” Tony asked and Andrew shook his head.
“He’s still in surgery, but some good news is that Qin Xuan is in there with him and working her magic to help heal what she can,” Andrew explained and Lily sighed, comforted by that.
“She’ll make sure he’ll pull through,” Lily told them and partially telling herself. Guilt welled in her. This was her fault and the Aequivalere, they brought him here. Andrew gave her a nod and a tight smile. “Qin Xuan is almost as powerful as a full-blood witch and I think the bond she has with Chris will just strengthen the affects her magic has on him,” she explained then only realized too late that only James knew of their mate bond.
“Bond? What bond?” Andrew asked and Lily pinched her nose with a sigh. Chris was going to kill her for this. “Qin Xuan and Chris are mates. Qin Xuan recognized him the moment she touched him. No, we have no idea how it’s possible except that Xavier must have done something to Lacy and Chris so he could control her more,” she started to explain, hating her slip of the tongue and bringing up such painful memories.
She could still see the pain in the Robert’s face at the mention of her daughter. “My poor baby,” Sandy said quietly and started to cry on Andrew’s shoulder. Lily’s throat tightened with more guilt and mentioning Xavier out loud made her anxious tension grow even more. The room seemed to grow small and hotter to her as memories of her time in captivity and the secret lab in Montana came back to her.