Robert and I were led through a couple of doors and into a large room with numbered slots all along the walls. The man with us walked over to a section of small spaces and began scanning for the correct number. When he found it, he inserted a key and turned it. “You can put your key in now as well,” he said to me.

I walked over and pushed my key into the hole. As I turned it, I felt could faintly hear the mechanism turned. I let go, and the man opened the door to the slot. He pulled out a box, shut the door, and removed his key. I did the same. “I’ll take you to a private room,” he said. He led us out of that room and down the hall into a room labeled ‘Private Banking.’ He set the box on the table as we entered the room.

“This room has no cameras inside, so you have complete privacy,” he said, looking at Robert warily. “The cameras are positioned outside the door. When you are finished, you can leave the box in here. Follow the sign on the wall to the secure exit.”

I nodded my head. “Thank you,” I said.

He nodded his head as he backed out of the room, pulling the door closed with him. I turned and went over to the table, sitting in one of the chairs. Robert came to stand behind me but neglected to sit. I pulled the box close and inserted my key.

When I swung the lid to the box open, I wasn’t entirely sure what I was expecting to be inside. The only thing in the box was a small, rectangular velvet box. I pulled it out carefully, pushing the deposit box to the side. I looked up at Robert, who was frowning at it.

I carefully opened the box to find a watch inside. The watch was pretty simple; the face was white with gold metal around it. The band looked to be made of leather, and it was pale brown in color. I carefully pulled it from the box, looking it over. On the back, there was a singular word engraved on the watch face.

Exaequo.

“Do you know what this means?” I asked Robert. He squinted, leaning closer to read the inscription; he shook his head.

I turned the watch back over in my hand, being careful with it. I noticed the hands weren’t moving; they were stuck in place. It made sense that it would need a battery after sitting in a deposit box for years.

“Why did he want you to have a watch?” Robert asked, taking it from my fingers. He turned it all around, inspecting it.

“I don’t know. Maybe he didn’t. Maybe I am just stuck with this because he knew I would be taking care of all his things after he passed,” I said. I grabbed the watch box and turned back to Robert to take the watch from him but stopped when I noticed a small piece of paper sticking out of the velvet seat for the watch. I removed the velvet and found a note underneath.

One must only recite while adorned with the totem to bring those opposed to them to equal standing. Be warned; magic can balance the scales for but a fleeting moment.

All I could do was look at the paper, puzzled. Recite what? Adorned with a totem? Equal standing?

“Do you have any idea what this means?” I asked Robert behind me. He stopped his inspection of the watch and took the note from me.

“This is magic,” he said. “It has to be the directions of a witch.”

“A witch?” I asked incredulously. “No way!”

“There are plenty fake practitioners of magic, but the way this is written gives me the sense that this is real. Witches like to use gilded language like this,” he commented.

“So, do you know what it means?” I asked, taking the note and the watch back.

He dropped his voice down low. “My guess is the watch is the totem referenced. And when you wear it and speak the magic word, it will in some way make you equal to those around you.”

“What do you mean by making you equal to those around you?” I asked.

His face screwed up in thought. “I don’t know. Maybe make someone less physically strong? It’s magic, so it is hard to know without knowing the witch’s intent on the spell itself. It’s obvious, though, that it will only last for a short time by the fleeting moment part.”

My brain couldn’t fully wrap itself around this. Why did Mr. Greyback have a magical watch? Why was he hiding it like this? I looked at the watch as I began to wonder if I really knew anything about the old man.

I sighed. “Let’s get out of here. Hopefully, Azeron had enough time to run his errand. I want to get back to the kids,” I said. I replaced the note and watch into the box like I found it and carefully put it in my bag. I stood and nodded to Robert.

He led the way out of the door and down the hallway, following the exits signs. There was no one around that I could tell, and I felt a chill down my spine. Robert paused when we reached the exit door.

“What?” I asked.

“I can’t hear anything beyond the door,” he muttered.

“Well, it’s already a quiet place. Banks aren’t very loud generally,” I said.

He shook his head. “No, it’s still,” he said. “Let’s go quickly.” Robert reached back and grabbed my wrist as he wrenched the door open. He stormed forward, pulling me along with him. I stumbled at first, not expecting him to move so fast or grab me, but I quickly recovered and tried to keep up with him.

His grip around my wrist tightened. “Vampire,” he whispered before we turned the corner around, and he stopped. I almost crashed right into him as he dropped my arm and stayed in front of me. His large frame was hiding me from sight.

“Leaving so soon?” someone said.Content rights belong to .

“I will give you one chance to leave this building unharmed,” Robert growled. I could see his shoulders flexing; he was still in impeccable shape for being a retired Alpha. I tried to peek around him to see what was in front of us.

My stomach dropped as I saw two vampires standing between us and the exit doors. I didn’t recognize either of them from when we arrived a while ago, and I saw no one else as I cautiously scanned the area around us.

“You don’t want to fight us, you old mutt,” the first vampire said. He was tall with dark, ashy-colored skin. His clothes were business casual, almost like he would fit in at this bank. He had dark hair smoothed back from his face, but he wore a dangerous smile.

“Just give us the b***h, and we will think about letting you go,” the second one said. He wasn’t as tall as the other. He was very pale with vibrantly orange hair. It was long and wavy. He didn’t look quite as confident as his counterpart.

“I do not like demands,” Robert said. His voice was growing deeper, more carnal. “You won’t be laying a finger on her, so I suggest you leave before you don’t have an option.”

“You’re locked in here with us; you think you have an option?” the first vampire said.

“Suit yourself,” Robert replied.

ROBERT

I knew something was amiss when we walked into the cursed bank. Nothing had felt right since we arrived, and Azalea was too trusting, as usual. The two vampires in front of me wanted Azalea, but no matter my reservations about Liam’s mate, they wouldn’t be touching my pack’s Luna. The ginger kid looked like he would be easy to kill, but the other one… I didn’t know what was different, but he didn’t smell like the nervous one. The bastard smelled like a moldy library, with books so old they were warped by time. He must be older, and that could be a problem. I still trained in retirement, and I’m a former Alpha. I wasn’t what I once was, though.

Marshall begged to be let out from within me, and I weighed my options with Azalea at my back. If I shifted, it might be harder to keep myself between the vampires and Azalea, but if I didn’t, I might not be able to handle these two myself. I could smell her fear, and I worried it wasn’t unfounded.

“Azeron!” I linked, trying to find the damned fool, hoping he was back from his selfish errand.

Nothing, I was greeted with silence. Of course, he wasn’t anywhere to be found. I silently cursed Liam’s choice in bodyguard for his mate, but there was nothing I could do now; Azalea disregarded the safety risk this little trip posed and let her watchdog leave. It was up to me. I breathed deeply, feeling the cool air fill my lungs and b***d rushing to my extremities as my heart pounded, a war drum inside my chest preparing my body for battle. It had been too long since I’d felt like this.

“Azalea,” I whispered as quietly as possible. “I will kill these two, but if you see an opening to leave, I want you to take it. Try to find Azeron outside; he isn’t answering me. If you can’t find him, find a police station or somewhere public and call Liam. I will be right behind you once I’m finished here.”

“I don’t want to leave you, Robert,” Azalea demanded, firmly rebuking my demand to run.

“This will be messy, Azalea,” I admitted, hoping she would listen to me. I didn’t want to admit that I wasn’t sure I could do this by myself, but I needed her to listen to me. “You need to go. My son cannot lose his Luna, and I will not let my grandchildren become orphans. You will do what needs to be done.”

I heard her gulp behind me, and her voice trembled, “I’ll go, but please be careful. I won’t make Lyssa a widow either.”

Now that Azalea was going to listen, I gave the two abominations in front of me my full attention. They were maybe twenty yards in front of me, standing on the other side of the bank lobby in front of the doors. I would need to move them to let Azalea escape. I began to walk towards my left, hoping they would follow suit, circling to stay in front of me. It was a tactic we used to control the space we fought in, and it worked. The ginger started circling, and although he smirked as he looked at me and then his partner, the one I was worried about, followed suit. Azalea stayed behind me, and for a moment, I thought I might be able to circle until our backs were to the door.

“That will be enough,” the confident one announced, wagging his finger in front of him as if he were scolding a child. “No more games; she won’t be walking out of those doors unless it’s with us.”

“Fine,” I growled, feeling my clothes burst at their seams as Marshall got his wish. Fur burst from my skin, and I fell to all fours. My growl of frustration became one of murderous intent, and Marshall leaped forward, resolved on ending this quickly.

AZALEA

Robert shifted, and now he was fighting the vampires. I looked around, wondering if there was anything I could use to help him fight them, but it was just a normal bank. As usual, I felt helpless and wished to the Goddess that I could shift to help Robert. The way he told me to leave scared me. Robert was so confident all the time, and it sounded like he was resigned to me escaping, even if it killed him.

The snaps and snarls of Robert’s muzzle missing by inches as he lunged at the vampires echoed through the empty expanse around us. Robert danced around them with grace as they lashed out with their claws and tried to bite him in return. The nervous-looking one seemed to get more worried as they fought, his face flush with anxiety. As much as Robert tried, though, the three of them appeared to be at a stalemate. Whenever Robert found an opening to the ginger’s neck, the other vampire would step in and throw an attack at Robert, effectively stopping him in his tracks.

“Vampires, vampires, vampires,” I chanted in thought as I looked around. I was desperately trying to find anything that I could use to even the odds for Robert. I slowly moved towards the desks, away from the fighting. That’s when my eyes fell on the letter opener.

“Hey!” I yelled, trying to get their attention. They didn’t look towards me, although I did see a smile stretch across the darker vampire’s face as his eyes quickly darted over to me and back to Robert. I stretched my hand out in front of me, my palm facing up. I prayed to the Goddess that this would work as I plunged the letter opener into my hand, ripping it across my skin to open it. B***d poured through my fingers and down my wrist as I fell to my knees in pain.

The ginger’s demeanor changed almost immediately. His veins became visible in his neck, his teeth extended, and his face became feral as he forgot about Robert and tried to lunge over him towards me. It was all the opening that Robert needed, and his teeth flashed as he jumped up and over the cocky vampire to catch the other one in his maw. A loud crunch followed as Robert landed on his feet hard, crushing the vampire’s skull under the former Alpha’s bite. Robert snapped his muzzle upward and then down to the floor quickly, smashing the vampire’s body into the concrete. He ripped his muzzle side to side violently until the vampire’s body was sent flying, no longer attached to the head in Robert’s mouth.

“Well, that’s unfortunate,” the remaining vampire lamented out loud, standing and watching the end of his comrade. “No matter, I’m much older, and I should still be able to kill you myself.”

Robert’s snarl needed no translation as he stalked towards the vampire, b***d dripping from his lips. I noticed that Robert was limping, and my heart fell. Would he be okay?