MISSY

I stood at my locker, feeling off as I stared at my books. Holland was antsy, and I had a weird feeling in my stomach. Someone walked by and bumped into me a little too hard, almost knocking me off my feet. There were laughs around me as they passed.

I shook my head, trying to ignore this weird feeling. I grabbed my books and shoved them into my backpack. When I closed my locker, I saw Julie and Emmett headed my way.

“Why are there so many fake losers at this school?” she huffed, looking around angrily.

“You think they would have better things to occupy their time,” Emmett said, rolling his eyes. I just shrugged; I was so used to the stupid taunting that it didn’t phase me much. I knew when Maddox was back, it would be like it wasn’t happening.

“You okay?” Julie asked. “You look a little pale.”

“I don’t know,” I told her, biting my l*p. “I just feel off.”

“If you need a little companionship….” Emmett wiggled his eyebrows. Julie smacked him in the back of the head.

“Are you even capable of turning it off?” she growled. Emmett just laughed at her.

“Oh, Jules, if you want me to warm your bed, all you have to do is ask,” he teased. “I take charity cases too.” I knew he was joking, but he was being a little mean to her. Julie had enough because she stormed away from us toward our first class. Emmett laughed as he chased after her.

–

The feeling continued through the rest of the day, only getting worse. By lunch, I felt physically sick, and Holland was whining incessantly. I didn’t even bother getting food. I ducked my head and aimed right for the lunch table where everyone was already eating. I sat down, rubbing my temples.

I sat down next to Allie and dropped my head into my hands. I felt a hand on my shoulder. “Missy, maybe you should go home,” Allie whispered.

“I don’t know what it is,” I said. “Something is wrong, but I just can’t figure out what.”

“Maybe it’s the mate separation,” Sulien said from across the table.

I jumped as I felt something cold splash on me. As I looked up, I realized someone had walked by and dumped their drink on our table, splashing it on all of us. Emmett stood from his chair, ready to hit someone.

“What the hell?” Sol shouted.

“Charity cases,” they laughed as they backed away from the table.

I sighed as I wiped the stickiness from my arms. “I am getting really tired of this dumb s**t,” Emmett grumbled as he grabbed a napkin and started wiping his shirt.

“Mate…” Holland whined.

“Holland, do you think he is hurt?”

“I don’t know. Something is wrong,” she said. It felt like a hole was opening up inside me. I needed to know if Maddox was okay or not. He said he would be home soon if things went well. What if things hadn’t?

LANGSTON

As I silently searched the halls of the secondary building, flashbacks of our last battle with Warwick’s army came to mind. This was above ground, but the sparse conditions and the row of bunks were the same as before. Clearly, he was rebuilding his army, but I couldn’t tell where they’d gone to. The place reeked of vampire, but it was empty, void of any leeches that called it home. Occasionally, as I searched the building, I would smell a scent mixed into the overall vampire stench that made my wolf whine and beg me to leave. It smelled like death and decay, and the uneasy pressure in my chest wouldn’t abate, nor would the hairs standing up on my neck. Something was wrong; I couldn’t tell what it was.

“I am an Alpha, Graham. Whatever it is, I’m sure we can handle it,” I told my wolf, who was fighting for control to make me leave.

“Alphas can die too,” he replied sullenly, a note of panic still evident in his voice.

I’d never heard him like this before, and it worried me. Clearly, whatever I was feeling wasn’t just in my head. With my concern growing by the minute about this unknown threat, my mind went to Maddox. I came here to try to keep him safe, and I intended to do so. The last thing I was going to do was let Liam’s daughter lose her mate; that pack and those kids had been through enough already.

“Don’t be so quick to make our own mate a widow,” Graham growled at me.

“She’ll understand,” I muttered under my breath, blocking him out for the moment.

Making my way back towards where I’d come into the building, I froze as I heard rustling from the tree line outside the door. Maddox’s head appeared, gesturing wildly for me to join him. The sinking feeling only worsened as I saw his panicked expression; something happened. Peeking my head out to look left and right, I bolted to Maddox and came to a stop much louder than I’d intended.

“What’s going on?” I asked, Maddox’s eyes still wide as his eyes darted all around us.

“I got caught,” he replied, his eyes averted from mine towards the ground in what I assumed was shame. “I went into what I think was the kitchen, and a woman’s voice appeared in my head telling me to leave. She said Warwick would know we were here any minute. We have to go!”

“Don’t be in such a rush,” a voice sounded out from within the trees near us. “I don’t think it’s time to leave quite yet.”

My heart dropped into my stomach, and prickles of dread washed down my spine. The scent from before that was making me uneasy was unmistakably coming from the direction of the voice. I wasn’t sure how he’d gotten so close to us without hearing him, but the scent of death was upon us. It couldn’t mean anything good.

“Why don’t you let my young friend go, and you and I can discuss this between us,” I forced out, my throat not wanting to work as Graham was biting and clawing at the wall I’d put up to force him out. He was desperate now that the scent was so near.

“I do not think that would be wise,” he answered, stepping out into view. “It would be best if you both remained.”

This wasn’t good. From his scent and how my body was reacting to it, I assumed he was their version of an Alpha. A Sire, Theodore had called them. With so few Sires, I wondered if they were more powerful than the more plentiful Alphas of our race. The only thing I could think to do was keep him talking until I could figure out some way to safely get Maddox out of here. I wasn’t resigned to my death just yet, but it was a chance I would take alone. I wouldn’t let Maddox die here. He needed to get our intel back to B***d Eclipse and get himself back to Missy.

“EMMA,” Graham roared from within me.

“Shut up,” I demanded, forcing him out of my mind.

“I take it you’re a Sire then?” I asked, hoping to get any amount of information out of him, indulging his apparent love of theatrics. Why else would he even be talking to us right now?

“Ah, of course, you can tell, can’t you?” he laughed. “How rude of me. Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Harlan Bygrave, Sire to the Bygrave Clan. You are?”

“I’m not sure that’s important right now,” I answered, unsure of how much information I should volunteer myself.

“Oh, come now, don’t be rude. Proper etiquette dictates that you should at least return those niceties in kind when you are introduced to someone. Don’t tell me all of you mutts are without manners?” Harlan teased, although his smile didn’t meet his eyes.

I glanced over at Maddox momentarily to gauge his response, and I could see in his eyes he was ready to fight, regardless of the outcome. His steely glare didn’t meet mine as he was laser-focused on the Sire in front of us. I cursed the Moon Goddess for my inability to link him. It would make things so much easier.

Resting my hand on Maddox’s arm to hopefully calm him, I answered the taunting of our foe, “My name is Langston. I am the Alpha of Serenity Waters Pack. This is my Beta, Hendrix.”

“Ah, an Alpha and a Beta. At least you came yourselves to desecrate our sanctuary and didn’t send someone in your stead. We should be honored, should we not?”

“We do not intend to desecrate anything,” I told him, trying to will Maddox to run. I hoped not telling Harlan he was from B***d Eclipse would make him a less appealing target. “We are simply camping in the area, and we followed the scent here.”

“Your deceit is unbecoming, Alpha Langston,” Harlan declared, his eyes narrowing. “It isn’t even a good lie at that.”

“You caught me,” I laughed nervously, my hand finding the back of my neck as I tried to make myself less threatening. “You’ve been killing so many of our wolves lately that I was hoping to seek a parlay with Warwick. I don’t care what your conflict is with Liam; it isn’t our fight.”

“My, my,” Harlan laughed, his tone more relaxed as he clapped slowly. “That… That is a much better lie.”

“The truth,” I offered quickly, hoping to keep him at ease.

“Even if it were,” he began, looking almost sadly between us. “I do not agree with the way Bancroft has handled this situation. Nethercote is no better. Wolves running amok killing vampires creates an environment where your kind don’t know they’re inferior. You think you’re at war with us, but war means that two sides with equal standing to harm the other are in conflict. No, this is a fruitless skirmish between our superior race and you upstart mutts who can’t understand the order of the world.”

“I don’t wish to be at war with you, and neither does anyone in my pack,” I told him. “We didn’t ask for this.”

“All the same, you cannot be allowed to exist any longer,” Harlan told me, his tone more serious now. “Warwick has been too lenient in his handling of your species. It’s why I volunteered to come here; we’ve known that you are here since you parked your vehicle. Warwick wanted to capture you and use you as bait. I hold no such illusions. Your kind must be stamped out wherever we find you. Only then can we end this.”

I sighed heavily, looking over to Maddox, who looked like he was buzzing with suppressed rage as he listened to this leech speak to us as if we were an inferior species. Hopefully, he would be able to use that to get to B***d Eclipse instead of insisting on staying. Graham was calm now, resigned as I was for what was to come. He knew I wouldn’t run, and we probably wouldn’t make it if we tried. Our only option was to stay and fight.

“I assume there isn’t any way to resolve this then?” I asked, knowing the answer but still stalling for time as I began to push Maddox behind me.Content rights belong to .

“I’m afraid not,” Harlan answered, slowly unbuttoning his sleeves before he rolled them up to his forearms.

“Maddox, listen to me,” I hissed under my breath. I hoped it was quiet enough for just him to hear. “I will keep him busy. I need you to run.”

“No,” he insisted, pulling away from my grasp. “I’m not leaving you here alone!”

“Get back to the pack. Tell them where we are. I will give you as much time as I can.”

“I’m not leaving you,” he continued with the hard-headedness that only came with youth.

“Get back to her,” I said simply. “She’s waiting for you.”

That seemed to finally snap him out of the rage-fueled trance he was in, and he looked at me in despair, not knowing what to do as I looked back over my shoulder at him.

“Just go,” I demanded, feeling my body swell and the fur sprouting from my skin. “Tell Emma I will wait by the Moon Goddess’s side for her.”