Greg was starting to move again. His paws began to twitch and he was opening and closing his mouth, but did not get up. I kept a close eye on him.
Thomas was now running circles around the other vânâtor, the one William was taking great pleasure in toying with. He occasionally ducked in to swipe at the beast, focusing most of his attentions on its rump and hind legs so he could force it to the ground.
Peter stepped forward, his scar illuminated in the soft glow of the moonlight as he held his hand out in front of him in readiness and concentration. Light rippled from his fingers and struck the last wolf, his cry of ‘
Hevannatara
’ still on the wind, and it was easy for both William and Thomas to dispatch their helpless foe.
Other than John, the only other vânâtor left in the clearing was Greg. He had climbed unsteadily back to a standing position. With a baleful glance, he howled at me before taking off on all fours directly towards Thomas and William. They looked up from their latest kill, Greg’s fur, teeth, and powerful claws a blur that was already only meters away. But they were faster than the wolf, much faster than Greg had anticipated. Thomas and William had already advanced, their bodies leaping through the air and fronting the attack.
Greg skidded to a stop, quickly turning on the spot and bounding back towards me and John—but William and Thomas were already there. No matter which direction Greg tried to run in, William and Thomas intercepted him, pushing him back towards The Protectors who were standing ready.
‘Allow me,’ Susan said, casting the Light of Mellar and throwing it directly at Greg. The shimmering ball left her hands, trailing light across the clearing and streaking through the night before slamming into the side of Greg’s head.
Both Thomas and William advanced on Greg, watching as he helplessly wandered from side to side, howling out for a help that was never going to come. John had made no move toward him, no doubt hanging onto me so he could use me as a bargaining chip. He wasn’t going to risk his neck for Greg, especially now that he had failed John. The disdain he felt for Greg was clearly evident on his face, in the cruel twist of his lips.
Thomas leapt up onto the wolf’s back and stomped heavily onto his spine. The wolf howled the most pitiful, pain-filled scream I had ever heard, and then fell to the ground, twitching and helpless.
William wasted no time, lowering his head and tearing at the flesh and fur at Greg’s neck. He spat out the chunk of flesh, blood oozing down his chin before he went back for seconds, draining him so vigorously that soon Greg was limp and lifeless.
John had obviously seen enough. He pulled roughly at my arm, dragging me back towards the edge of the forest clearing and towards the path that led back up to the house. I stumbled repeatedly, tripping not just on the fallen twigs and uneven earth but on John’s feet as he used me as a shield, dragging me backwards. I could sense his fear. His breath came quickly, the hot sweetness of it fanning across the side of my cheek and tickling my ears. I was tempted to smile, but I was nowhere near out of trouble yet. If John got too desperate, he might still kill me.
‘Um, a little help, please?!’ I yelled out as John pulled me, my legs obeying despite my head’s desire.
John clamped a hand over my mouth and nose, silencing me and cutting off my oxygen.
My eyes went wide as I saw the two Protectors who were steadily approaching us. It was Kim and Sarah, the only people among the group that probably wouldn’t care if I suffocated to death. I started to panic, my legs wildly trying to kick out at John, my nails scraping against the flesh of his fingers, digging in and drawing blood. But he resisted me and was strong.
He grunted as a few of my kicks landed blows against his shins, and hissed as my nails left bloody trails on his skin. I tried to concentrate on fighting him off, straining for oxygen, but the light-headedness robbed me of sensible thought.
John continued to drag me, though the task was made difficult by my flailing limbs. My vision started to blur—everything was tinged with red. I saw William abruptly stand up from Greg’s lifeless body, his eyes narrowing at the hand that threatened to kill me.
William pulled himself fully erect, the muscles of his arms corded and deadly as his hands balled into fists at his sides. His fists were so tight his nails drew blood from the palm of his hands.
William snarled, the sound tearing through the night air and making John twitch, his hand leaving my mouth long enough to grab both arms and drag me back faster.
I gasped, dragging in air as quickly as my lungs would allow, tripping over a small stone and falling back against John’s chest. I coughed, my throat dry and air still evading me. When I looked back at the group, William was gone. He appeared only a second later, just in front of us, only a few meters away, halting our pointless backward dance.
John’s arm snaked its way around my waist and he pulled me in close. ‘Be careful, Vampire. Do you really want to be the one to get Elena killed?’
William’s chest heaved up and down as he stared at John’s arm that was tangled intimately around the bare flesh of my waist. His face was covered in the blood of dead wolves and his eyes were as black as the night. His fangs were still dripping with Greg’s blood, and the fierce expression on his face said he was more than willing to add John’s blood to the mix. Every powerful muscle of his chest, stomach and arms were tensed, his veins pulsing dangerously against the surface of his skin. He was a masterpiece, a carving of the most magnificent marble statue that you could imagine. A rage burned in his eyes as he looked back at John with disdain.
‘Let her go,’ he said, his voice strong and demanding.
‘No, I think not. Elena and I appear to have a lot in common and I plan on making her mine.’
William growled and took a step forward. ‘You’ve seen what we did to the rest of your pack. The odds are not in your favour, vânâtor. I suggest you let her go immediately.’
John laughed. ‘She is quite happy here with me. Aren’t you, Elena? You want to stay here with me.’ He paused. ‘Say it, Elena. Say that you want to stay here with me.’
As he spoke the words in his alpha timbre and a fresh wave of his scent engulfed me, I was powerless to do anything except agree with him. ‘Yes … I want to stay here with you.’ My teeth gritted together as I spoke, my whole body stiffening, wanting to repel against the words.
The Protectors approached us cautiously, but hanging back should William need assistance. There was a hiss from Lucas as he heard me utter the words, my eyes tearing over as every one of them looked at me with disbelief, and to some extent, contempt.
William focused his gaze on me, his dark eyes searching my face for the truth of my words. ‘Is this true?’ he whispered, the words catching painfully in his throat.
A single tear rolled down my cheek as I fought against every aspect of John’s hold on me, my head aching from the strain of trying to resist.
John tightened his hold on me to get me to answer.
‘Y-yes.’
An uproar of muttered disbelief and shock ran through The Protectors, and Sarah looked at me as if she had known all along that this was all I was ever going to amount to. Susan and George were both covering their mouths, incredulity etched on their features, while Lucas looked on angrily. Surely he was the one person who would see through the ruse? He knew me better than anyone. He would know that this was not something that I wanted.
Wouldn’t he?
He stared at me for a long time, my eyes pleading with him to search his heart. ‘She’s lying,’ Lucas said. ‘I don’t know what he’s doing to her, but look at the fear in her eyes. Elena would never want this.’
Thank god!
John ran his hands possessively across my stomach and then spun me around to face him. William and everyone else watched on in horror. ‘Are you sure about that?’ John said. ‘Elena, why don’t you kiss me and show everyone just how much you want to stay with me?’
‘I don’t—’
He silenced me with his lips. They pressed down hard upon mine, so strong and so powerful that I almost believed that this was what I truly wanted. His breath was hot inside my mouth, his lips soft but demanding as they caressed my lips with heated need. I all but succumbed to him as he wound my arms around his neck and then pulled me close against him again.
He felt so good.
He tasted so good.
In the next instant we were being heaved apart by William with such force that I was sent flying backwards into the arms of my family. Lucas caught the brunt of my weight, both of us toppling over and onto the ground.
‘Don’t you ever touch her!’ William roared as he punched John so hard he flew halfway across the field.
His body sailed through the air above us, shimmering and shaking as he attempted a shift in mid-flight, the grey hair of the beast ripping its way through his skin. He landed in full vânâtor form, snarling.
Lucas and I struggled back to our feet as The Protectors surged forward. Thomas and William were already at the centre of the clearing, circling John. ‘Tell me that you didn’t just enjoy that kiss?’ Lucas said, dusting off his pants.
I ignored him, wrapping my arms around his neck and pulling him in close. I was so happy to see him alive and well.
He held me away from him and looked at me in disgust, his nose wrinkling. ‘You stink.’
I laughed and hugged him again. ‘I knew you’d come for me, Lucas. I knew you wouldn’t give up on me.’
He patted my back with one hand and held his nose dramatically with the other. ‘Yeah, well, the house is really lonely without you. You’d be surprised how much I miss being called dumb ass.’
My responding smile dimmed and my heart began hammering as across the clearing I saw John leap to attack William. They met head on, a blur of teeth and claws colliding, a thunderous
crack
echoing around the clearing. They fell to the ground growling and clawing at one another, each grappling for purchase on the other. My eyes strained to see the detail of the action through the darkness—I dared not move any closer.
I took a step backwards instead using Lucas as my shield. He felt safe, comforting.
‘How did you find me, Lucas?’ I asked.
‘I didn’t find you. I mean, I wanted to, but William was the one who spent the last two days hunting down their trails. He even figured out how many vânâtors were going to be here—that’s why we’ve gathered everyone, just in case they needed our help. It’s William you should be thanking. He hasn’t stopped looking for you since he found out you were missing. I think that guy has it for you pretty bad, Elena.’
‘How did he find out? He was supposed to be hunting that night.’
Lucas shrugged. ‘He must have come back for some early-evening delight or something, and saw the state of the car, the front of the house, and the fence you’d demolished. Somehow, he pieced it all together.’
I could remember the fight with Patrick vividly, and inside I shuddered.
I shook my head, hoping to dispel both the thoughts and images of the present. ‘Do Susan and George know about me and William?’
He shook his head. ‘I don’t think so, but given how pissed he was about that lip-locking that you just gave the alpha, I think they might now have an inkling.’
I looked out over the field, noting that Thomas had now joined the fray. His talons slashed at John’s hide, taking him down much the same way Thomas had dispatched the other vânâtors, disabling the hind legs and rendering crawling as the only viable option. The Protectors merely watched, Susan and George standing towards the front, their gazes locked on the battle.
‘I was hoping they wouldn’t find out any time soon,’ I murmured, watching Susan and George intently as they studied every move both the vampires and vânâtors made.
Lucas laughed. ‘Seriously? You’re worried about them finding out about you and William when you just made out with a dog?’ He chuckled at me. ‘You’re nuts.’