Vincent pov
I reach for my shirt and pull it over the bulletproof vest I ordered for everyone to wear tonight. I'm not here to risk any lives, especially when the pack has to deal with the Alliance. There are many different hunters out there, but the Alliance ones are a different breed. All of their members are trained to perfection; their only goal is to kill. Their hunters use silver bullets, and if there's one thing I am absolutely sure of - they don't miss. Ever. Besides, that son of a bitch Red is going to lead the attack on my pack. Better safe than sorry.
I button the last button as Aros invites himself into my bedroom. I stare at him, but I don't say a word. I know what he's like.
My Beta raises his hands and grins. "It's not like I haven't seen that booty before," he laughs. It's just another comment I roll my eyes at.
"Is everyone ready for tonight? We should be leaving in a few minutes." My decision to avoid any sort of confrontation works out, as Aros' expression instantly turns serious.
He nods his head and sits on my bed. Great, now I have to change the sheets; only the Goddess knows where this man has been. "We have managed to warn everyone in time. They come prepared; everyone's wearing bulletproof vests in case the Alliance really does attack us. I feel like we have a mole here; we won't see the results until later tonight. If someone warns the Alliance that we are expecting them, there might be no attack on us. Either way, we are ready to fight them." Aros declares as he stares into the distance. I understand his doubt and the hint of fear that flashes in his eyes. Everyone has someone in our pack, and we're all afraid of the outcome. I can only beg the Goddess to protect us and show mercy, so no one loses their loved ones tonight. Hell, this was supposed to be the best night for young wolves, and maybe even for me; we were all hoping to find a mate. I can't focus on the thought alone, and to my surprise, I hope I don't see them tonight.
"Alright, tell everyone we are leaving. When the shit hits the fan tonight, we will be ready for it. Stay safe, brother." I watch Aros get up and walk toward me for a hug. Whenever we are in danger, he hugs me, and after the threat is over, he comes up to me and tells me he's glad we didn't embrace for the last time. He's annoying, but Aros is as close to me as a real brother. I wouldn't know since I'm an only child, but I am glad I found a family in him.
Without a word, Aros lets go of me and walks away. He looks at me for a moment, nods his head, and leaves my bedroom. I follow his lead and trudge out of my bedroom straight for the main entrance. Part of me wants to stay aside and see if the fight actually happens. But the leader in me demands the blood of those who killed our people. And that's exactly the part I'll follow- a part that craves blood and vengeance. If Red shows his face around my people tonight, this will be the last night he has any face at all.
Masses of wolves walk past my packhouse and head for the clearing in the middle of the forest. It's where we hold our moon rituals every year. My eyes follow the group of women giggling and sharing their dreams about the man who will be their mate. If only I could feel a little of their happiness, but the big day became the centre of my anxiety within a few hours.
Once I ensure that everyone is on their way, I follow the crowd. Yes, I am the pack leader, but unlike other Alphas, I have made my own rules. I see other Alphas on the front line, while I am the only one who always walks behind his people. The front line of my pack is made up of our best warriors, and I walk behind everyone else to make sure no member is left behind and no danger that comes at us from behind.
When the fire appears in my sight, I sign. There's no sign of humans near the clearing, so my body relaxes. I stop clenching my fists and gritting my teeth. Maybe, just maybe, this night won't be as bad as I feared.
Only after walking a few laps around the ceremonial territory do I sit down and watch the wolves mingle. Many have found their mates, so the number of participants has dwindled within half an hour, if not less. I sit on the bench near the campfire and gladly accept the bottle of beer offered to me by one of my warriors. I pretend that nothing has changed while I notice the stench of the hunters from the first sip of my beer. Half a bottle later, I have given everyone the news about our uninvited guests. Thankfully, they follow my order and act as if nothing has happened. Alliance members or not, this lot must be stupid if they think we didn't see this coming. Even if we weren't prepared, we'd pick up their scent.
Aros sits down beside me and leans closer. "Do you feel it?" He whispers, and a few wolves turn their heads toward us. I hum in response and take another sip of the beer. I act unbothered even though everything seems to be falling apart before my eyes. Such a wonderful celebration, literally ruined by the goddamn humans. "What do we do next?" Aros asks as his eyes scan our surroundings. I can see he's looking in many directions, which can only mean one thing - the Alliance has us surrounded.
I shrug and chuckle, trying to make it seem like we have an ordinary conversation. "We wait, brother. If they attack, we strike back. No wolf will make the first move; we don't want any unnecessary bloodshed in this place. Besides, we don't know if they are planning an attack or just watching us to develop a plan later. Either way, we should wait until things escalate."
And at the very moment when these words pass my lips, we hear a movement from the shadows. Hunters, one after another, running straight at us. Our men hide women behind their backs, and some order them to leave as more and more humans appear around us. There is only one way free of them, and the she-wolves chose it as an escape route, while we all hope they don't run into the hunters still hiding there. I scan the crowds, but my eyes don't find the infamous red cloak, which angers me even more. Not only did they ruin a sacred ceremony, but the coward Red didn't give me a chance to kill him myself. I howl at the top of my lungs as the hunters raise their weapons. Only a minute has passed, and the whole place is covered in blood, both ours and theirs. My howl is all my pack needs to attack. Some warriors decide to take them down in human form, while others shift. I stand with those who choose to shift, for I won't allow the Alliance the luxury of an easy victory. They came here to fight monsters, so the monsters are what they get.
The sound of breaking bones almost drowns out the chaos of screams and cries of agonizing pain. As an Alpha, I stand proud to be, I am much larger and more massive than my pack members. As soon as someone catches a glimpse of my wolf, they know I hold the highest rank. My wolf and I have polar opposite personalities. I scan the crowd and attack those who endanger my people the most, but he will never be nearly as selective. He charges and slashes bodies along the way, ripping out throats and leaving deadly injuries with his claws. The Alliance doesn't have enough time to get medical help for those who are bound to die.
A loud cry for help catches our attention, and we immediately turn to the source of the sound. We see Aros pushing a young woman to the ground. She's a human, dressed in Alliance colours, far too young to be one of them. No wonder he mentioned that the Alliance is taking in children now, those lowly bastards. As the girl struggles under Aros’ paws, another voice appears in the background, and we turn our head in its direction. That's when we see him- that damn red cape freak. The bastard's here, and he's about to attack Aros. Over our fucking dead body. We take off and lunge at the bastard, jamming our claw into his ribs. Now the bastard definitely won't survive - the injury is way too deep, and he's losing too much blood. The fight ends right before our eyes. The Alliance doesn't seem to be showing the loyalty it claims to offer, as every human around us backs away and disappears into the shadows. We watch Red fall to his knees and smile inwardly. Finally, the secret weapon is out of our game.
We walk toward the trembling body of the fucker and shift to the human form. I grab the hood and pull it off his face, cursing in disbelief. It's a woman, not Red. This must be some sick joke, or worse, a trap. "Retreat, that's not him! That's not Red; go to the packhouse; he could be there attacking our women and children!" I command the wolves around me, grab the woman, throw her over my shoulder, and run for the packhouse. If she survives, she will give us some answers.
Vincent povThe pack and our guests return to the packhouse in time. To my relief, Red isn't here, and the loss on our side is almost nonexistent. Unless I mention a few wolves injured during the fight with the Alliance, we only have to bid goodbye to one man. He was a lone wolf in our pack, always avoiding anyone who got in his way, as he lost his mate a few years ago. Jarrod was a wonderful part of our pack, despite his odd behaviour, and we will miss him dearly. If it weren't for that damned trap the Alliance set near the forest, he would still be with us. I must arrange a funeral, and on top of that, I have a hunter bleeding out over my shoulder. I can feel her heartbeat, it's faint, but it's there. This woman is a fighter; that's all I can give her credit for.I focus my attention on the woman. She's the only one who can give me the answers I need, s
Dirk povThe tech team sets off the alarm and opens the gate. I watch as our hunters run back in rows like a horde of frightened wild rabbits. How dare they call themselves hunters; how dare they claim to be part of my beautiful Alliance when they have left the battlefield? All I see are the faces of cowards, low life forms, and people not worthy of belonging to us. A disgrace.The only real problem I see with the situation is that I don't see the blood-read hood. Usually, when Enya returns, she always holds the hood over her face so I can notice her arrival, but not this time. I leave the techs behind and head to my office. A hunter will come to me, explain what happened, and hopefully give me a valid reason why they decided to retreat.As usual, I am right. There is a knock at my door, and a young woma
Enya povI wake up with severe pain in my side. I want to scream, cry, or even hiss in pain, but my father's voice echoes in my head and reminds me to hide everything I feel. I can't show any emotions or feelings. If I give in to my primal instincts, I will become weak. I tear open my eyes and feel that nothing has changed. The darkness that surrounded me a moment ago still surrounds me. The best guess would be that I woke up in the middle of the night. I lie still wherever I am- this is not my home or my room. It doesn't smell like leather, sweat, or the metallic scent of silver. Instead, I'm surrounded by a strong odour of oak trees and orange peel. Until now, I thought I was the only one whose room had a specific scent to it, but as it turns out, I couldn't be more wrong.Slowly I try to sit up; perhaps this will help me to perceive my surroundings. I'm not trapped,
Vincent povShe is frightened; I can see it by the look in her eyes. I'm not quite sure if she's afraid of me, of what might happen, or of the unknown. If there's one thing I know about women who join the Hunter Alliance, it's that they only accept virgins for some reason. I don't understand their intentions behind the requirement, but it is what it is. No wonder this woman blushed as soon as I mentioned sex and stared at me like a scared rabbit. Not going to lie; I kind of enjoy the look on her face. She's like a cornered animal trying to escape the predator. Now, look how our roles have reversed; she's no longer the hunter- I am. And if I wanted to, I could do unimaginable things to her body. With my knee, I push her legs apart and position myself between them. Just for fun, I grind against her a little. Not that I want to force her to have sex with me, but for the sheer enjoyment of her frightened state, I all
Enya povI struggle to pretend to be asleep. I keep my eyes closed and wait for the perfect opportunity to strike. As his breathing slows, I sit up and wait a moment. I need to make sure he's fully asleep before I do something I might regret. I get up and move to the side of his bed. The faint hint of moonlight illuminates the dark room, my eyes linger on his face, and I wonder how a monster can look so incredibly peaceful. "How can someone so vile look so handsome?" I think to myself as a strange feeling of warmth spreads through my body like wildfire. Silently, I scold myself. I came here with a goal in mind, but now I'm acting like a teenager who doesn't know what she wants but won't give up until she gets something.I let out a breath, and in my right hand, I grip the knife I sna
Vincent povI look down at her and trace her curves with my eyes. My dick is harder than ever- to feel her ass press against me makes me want nothing more than to shred what she's wearing and take her like I'd take a bitch. The mixture of fear and confusion in her eyes excites me more than I am willing to admit out loud. Our kiss is deep, far too passionate to feel real. My tongue explores every corner of her mouth, and I could swear she moans into the kiss. I shift my weight as I lean on my right arm. I move my left hand down her side to her leg and pull it up. I dig my fingers into her leg and slowly grind against her as our lips part. My eyes catch a glimpse of her flushed cheeks; her lips are parted, glistering from the kiss. I want to ravish her, bury myself deep inside her and show her how a real man loves a woman. I regret the promise I made to myself; I regret all the times I claimed I wouldn't sleep with
Enya pov Today, the pain in my side is not the only thing for me to complain about. The idiot cuffed my hands, kissed me like no one ever has, and carried me to the sofa. Well, thanks for nothing; no wonder everyone calls you a goddamn animal. I curse under my breath and try to free myself. I'll jump out the window if that's what it takes for me to break free. I probably look like a turtle as I try to roll around and get to my feet, but I don't care. There could be an entire audience watching my struggle, and even then, I wouldn't care. My soul almost leaves my body when I look at the bed and notice the outline of what looks like a body under the sheets. Cautiously, I move closer and have to restrain myself from bursting out laughing. There's a pile of pillows and a sheet thrown over them. I scan the room, it doesn't look like anyone, but I have been here for an hou
Vincent povThis woman, she is impossible. Sure, some of her ideas about nicknames were both offensive and hilarious, but for the most part, they were impossible to digest. I told her not to play games around me because I take no responsibility for Damian's actions, but she does everything to throw him another challenge. The words he hurled at her excited us both. Something about this human invites us to get a taste of her, but we both know how wrong that'd be. I tower over her and close my eyes as I fight my wolf. He wants to get out and show her who's in control, but I can't let him. "If I see you near that damn window again, I'll throw your ass in the cells and leave you to rot among the fucking rogues. Think twice about your next escape attempt because I'm not going to treat you like a child. You are a grown woman, so act like one, damn it!" In the heat of the moment, I punch the wall right next to her head. I don't bother to stay around and l