The mention of the wolf intruded on Andrei’s more romantic notions and he frowned deeply. “I came close to killing him,” he admitted darkly. “If the children hadn’t been there.” He never lied to her. He knew she had probably already worked it out for herself but he felt he had to tell her the truth.
“If they hadn’t been there in the first place then the need to kill Dayton wouldn’t have surfaced,” she answered dryly, pointing out the obvious which he had clearly missed.
He was trying so hard not to kill anyone. It was difficult because it was second nature for him to destroy anything or anyone who got in his way. The last time he’d taken a life he’d almost lost his sanity in the process. He could still remember what it had felt like to dismember Roberto slowly for the harm he had done to his mate.
Since then he hadn’t taken even one life. He had been tempted on numerous occasions and he’d used violence to achieve his ends, but he had stopped short of actually killing. Loretta’s faith in him that he could be a better person was what kept him grounded, what helped him to fight the urge to destroy.
But his children’s safety blew that all away. He would kill anyone and everyone who tried to harm them or his mate. Nothing would be able to hold him back if so much of a hair was touched on any of their heads.
He smiled in acceptance, knowing that she wouldn’t fault him for protecting his family or the Pack. Every one of them would do the same, including his wonderful mate. Killing to protect those you loved wasn’t a bad thing though he supposed he should have tried to determine if Dayton’s intentions were hostile before he wanted to shred the wolf into pieces. That was the hard part to adapt to.
Loretta leaned into his wide chest, giving him time to rationalise his thoughts now the killing rage had been blunted. She was so proud of all he had managed to achieve in the last five years. She knew he still doubted himself sometimes but she never did.
“Andrei, our children can speak mentally to wolves,” she sighed quietly. She knew it was only Lily who had done so today but most probably that meant Kallum could too, and the others.
The mated vampires’ children were a complete unknown to everyone. The first of their kind to survive a Were/Vampire mating, nothing was known of just what they were likely to turn out to be. So far there had been no sign of any vampiric abilities. The children didn’t need blood to survive like their fathers though they did prefer their meat to be ‘blue’. Apart from that they ate everything else humans and Weres did.
Their scents were a combination of both Vampire and Were, they grew at the same rate as normal Were children despite the fact that their gestation rate was two months rather than the standard nine. Up until now, they had displayed no signs of being either vampire or Were, though most Weres didn’t shift for the first time until puberty or just afterwards. They hadn’t expected to learn anything more until round about that time.
This ability for them to be able to speak to wolves not of their own pack was unheard of. The fact that they could converse with a wolf while still in human form made it even more of an anomaly.
Weres could only communicated mentally with their pack mates when they were wolves. The Alpha could speak to pack member in either form but for their human halves to be able to communicate in this manner only occurred between the mated pairs.
From the little knowledge Loretta had just gained, her children appeared to be able to talk to anyone mentally and that was worrying. Lily was way too adventurous in nature. Now she could do this with one wolf there was no telling what she would do.
“Do you think it’s only wolves?” Andrei finally asked, stroking her back lightly to try and ease the tension he could feel gathering within her.
“I’m scared it’s everyone,” she admitted, a slight tremor of fear running through her. “What if there’s no distance limitation either, Andrei? What if Lily reaches out and connects with someone who wants to hurt her? We would never know.”
He tensed too, his eyes blazing at the thought of his wayward daughter getting herself into that kind of trouble. Loretta’s fears could be justified but until they tested out these new abilities they couldn’t go borrowing trouble that might not even exist.
He leaned down kissing her gently. “We’ll call a pack meeting, discuss this with Rafe and the others. This affects all the children and pack safety. Until then we’ll just keep a closer eye on them.”
He soothed his mate gently, kissing her deeply as he took his own comfort from the quiet strength she gave him back.
*****
Rayne walked confidently through the Pack, hidden securely by her abilities. There was still a hint of newness to the place though it was apparent the compound had been around for a few years at least.
It was smaller than any other Were compound she had walked through before but there was room for development. In the centre was the large community hall which was so favoured by Weres, where they could come together and eat, have meetings and just socialise.
Surrounding it were smaller, individual homes that could house reasonably sized families. All the buildings were made from wood from the forest, from the trees levelled to create the space for the compound. Weres were in tune with nature, the animal side of them instinctively at home in the wilderness.
The largest house was set back and a little apart from the others. It was three storeys high and quite imposing to look at. She knew this was the Alpha’s home though it was larger than most others she had seen. Knowing the nature of this Pack she had a feeling that the Alphas didn’t reside in that house alone. Possibly some of the Betas lived there too, or it was used for activities other than just a home.
The medical centre was close to community hall and she knew that it would be state of the art inside. It had to be because Weres couldn’t go to a normal hospital. Their secret would be revealed with the first blood test taken and that couldn’t be allowed to happen under any circumstances.
Rayne smiled slowly as she watched the early morning hustle and bustle going on around her as the inhabitants of the compound slowly came to life, waking up to a new day with sleepy laughter filling the air. The Pack had a good feeling to it, a homely feel which called out to her.
She wasn’t here for that reason though despite what she had told Dayton. She had a very specific destination in mind and she scented the air deeply before her smile grew and she headed towards the largish wooden house to the left. It had two storeys and was designed to house a growing family, a feeling of permanence about the place.
There was a large oak tree at the side of the house and she jumped up nimbly, easily scaling the thick branches as she followed the tantalising scent that she had smelled earlier in the forest. There has been a lot of people around at the time but she knew the scent which attracted her came from the two little ones.
She had recognised it instantly and been rooted to the spot as she’d listened to Dayton talk with the female Were. In all her time walking the planet, she had never before come across the sweet fragrance that drew her almost like a drug. It called to her loudly, sang a siren’s song to her very soul. She had to investigate the children, she couldn’t resist the urge.
Rayne was almost at the upper window when she was suddenly seized from behind in a powerful grip. For an instant she was completely stunned. She was using her shadowing abilities. No one should have been able to see her! But somehow someone was aware of her presence and she was flying silently through the air away from the house and the compound, entrenched in a band of steel wrapped around her body.
It happened so quickly it could only be a vampire who was speeding her through the trees. A spark of fear ignited in her soul. Only one who was millennia older than she was would have the power to find her when she was shadowed. She had never come across a vampire that old before.
She shifted into her panther form and clawed at the masculine arms holding her so tightly. A furious hiss sounded in her ear and the arms tightened around her, threatening to break some ribs if she didn’t retract her claws. In answer she locked her strong jaws around one of the arms and bit deep.
Another hiss sounded but the arms did not release her. Instead they tightened further and the panther let out an agonised mewl as ribs cracked loudly. Rayne released her bite to cry out, agony searing her damaged left side. A muffled roar escaped her before she suddenly shifted again, unable to hang onto her animal as the arms around her kept squeezing tighter.
It was a human scream that escaped her this time, long and full of pain and then she was falling from a great height, no trees close enough to latch onto as she plummeted through the air. The pain in her side was nothing compared to how bad it was going to feel when she hit the ground which was quickly rushing up to meet her. The fucking vampire had picked the most inopportune moment to release her was her last thought before the pain in her side caused her eyes to roll back in her head and everything went black.
To be continued…