MISSY

“We should definitely go back to the trampoline place again,” Sol giggled. “That place was so much fun!”

“Agreed,” I told her, squeezing Maddox’s arm that was comfortably nestled between mine as I leaned against him. “Thank you for planning that,” I said, looking up at him without moving my head. His cedar and citrus scent filled me with a calm warmth, and I was enjoying his proximity.

“I just wanted to have a day with you and our friends,” he shrugged. “I think you already thanked me at dinner… thoroughly,” he added by link. I felt my face burning as I tried to keep everyone from seeing me blush, but of course, Emmett scoffed.

“Ugh… quit linking her dirty s**t Maddox,” he g*****d as he launched a throw pillow at Maddox.

“Maybe you should focus on why you don’t have anyone to link dirty things to,” Maddox replied simply with a shrug, laying his head on top of mine after deftly avoiding the soft missile aimed at his face.

“Too bad she doesn’t exist,” Julie snapped back, her laugh filling the room as Emmett stared at her open-mouthed, unable to come back with anything.

I noticed Allie blush and look away from everyone during this, but I wasn’t sure what it was about. I didn’t think it was a good idea to put the spotlight on her for it, though, so I left it alone. We’d been sitting in our living room just spending time with our friends since we got out of school. It was a nice day out, and I’d left the door open to let the breeze blow through. I was enjoying the cool fresh air against my skin as I cuddled into Maddox’s side. My stomach started to growl, and I ignored it, not wanting to ruin the moment.Content rights belong to .

“I think someone’s hungry,” Maddox said in a low voice, leaning down to speak into my ear. His tone and nose nuzzling my ear lobe sent pleasurable shivers down my spine.

“I’m fine,” I lied. My stomach was mutinying as if it heard Maddox and wanted to lodge a protest for my neglect of its needs.

“I’ll be back,” he told me, pulling his arm from my grasp. I g*****d in disapproval at losing his warmth and presence, but he stopped in front of me and pulled his hoodie over his head. I swallowed hard when his shirt lifted to show his recently sculpted stomach, but then it was gone as his shirt returned to its normal place, and he handed me his hoodie. He leaned over to place a soft k**s on my lips and then my forehead, “I hope this will do until I get back.”

Even Sol g*****d at that one, but I didn’t care. He’d left a soft warmth in my belly, and as I pulled his hoodie over my head, his scent covered me.

“While you’re all complaining about the lack of love in your life, is anyone else hungry?” Maddox called out from the kitchen.

Everyone confirmed that they were indeed hungry teenagers, and they all graciously accepted his offer of food.

MADDOX

“I swear, she’d ignore that she was hungry for days if I didn’t feed her,” I lamented, turning on the sink to wash my hands before prepping food for everyone.

I felt a familiar chill down my spine as I finished washing my hands; it felt like I was being watched. I looked around and out the window, but no one was around. I pulled out the ingredients to make pizza and began to brown sausage for it. I couldn’t get the feeling out of my head, though, and as time went by, I felt more uneasy.

“Something is wrong,” Tom piped up. I could feel him starting to get restless.

“I know; I just can’t tell what.”

That’s when I smelled it. Missy had most of the windows open along with the door, and through the kitchen window, wafted in a scent I didn’t think I’d come across again. It smelled like Bygrave, but wrong.

“I can smell you,” I told him, my voice as quiet as I could make it. My mind was spinning, trying to figure out how it was even possible. Even if I didn’t like to think about it, there was no doubt that I killed Bygrave outside Warwick’s hideout.

I could still hear the sounds of laughter and fun in the other room, so he must be outside the kitchen window and upwind of the front door. They don’t know yet, and I need to keep him away from Missy.

I could feel my heart hammering against the walls of my chest, and I knew this spelled trouble for all of us. For a Sire to show up on pack land in broad daylight was bold, even if he did have a grudge against me.

“Do you think we can get him away from the house?” I asked Tom.

“I don’t know,” he muttered, pacing. “I don’t think it’s that vampire either.”

“Who could it be?” I questioned, as much to Tom as to myself.

“I found you,” a feminine voice called from beyond the window over the counter. The face of an impossibly beautiful woman appeared in the window, smiling as if she’d been given everything she’d ever asked for as she looked at me intently. “I believe you’re the one who killed my destined.”

“Destined?” I asked, not understanding what this woman who smelled like Bygrave wanted. Then it hit me, “Like… Your mate?”

“Yes, I do think the equivalent for you dogs is called something like that,” she spat, her smile now gone. “Don’t reduce us to your animalistic terminology. Harly was my soul. I was his in return. His Charlotte. We don’t all find that person; it is much rarer than your kind mating like rats. You… You took that from me. Now, I’m here to make you pay for it.”

“Alpha, the mate of the Sire I killed is here at our house, and she is talking about revenge. I don’t know if she brought other vampires with her. I need help,” I linked Liam, hoping he’d be able to send warriors to me immediately.

“Assume she has more vampires with her. They just attacked my mother, too. I’m trying to get to you, but I need you to take care of this in case I can’t. Protect my daughter, Maddox.”

“Yes, sir. I’ll protect her if it’s the last thing I do.” This was it. Help might not be coming, and I had the Sire’s mate here to kill me. I realized the living room had gone quiet.

“Maddox?” Missy’s voice came from the doorway. “Is everything okay?”

“Yea, all good in here! I’ll be there in a second,” I lied, hoping this woman would ignore Missy. Charlotte’s fight was with me. I was about to link Missy and tell her to be ready for a fight when she said the words that would end any hope I had at trying to take this fight somewhere else.

“Okay, I love you!” she yelled, going back to talking.

“Your mate?” Charlotte gasped, her eyebrows raising to the sky as she took in this revelation. “Killing you would be too easy now. You need to feel what I feel, and when you beg me for death, then I can decide whether to give it to you or not!”

“Vampire version of a Luna here. Get everyone out. NOW!” I linked Missy. Charlotte turned to run toward the front of the house, but I launched myself at the window, barely managing to catch her by the hair. The blonde strands felt strawlike in my grasp as my upper body hung out the window, but I yanked roughly to keep her from running.

I heard screams from the living room as I pulled Charlotte to me for dear life, twisting my fist in her hair to get a better hold on it. I heard snarling from the other room, and Tom was begging to be let free; Missy was in danger.

“You didn’t think I’d come alone, did you?” she asked, her voice strained as I held her tightly to the side of the house. “I’m going to make you watch as I drink every last drop from her veins.”

I tightened my grip further and ground her face into the siding while using the wall for support. I could already hear it groaning and creaking under her. A flash of pain in my hand was followed by her pulling herself out of my grasp. Looking down, I was holding a fistful of now b***d-stained golden hair. She’d cut herself free, scratching me in the process, and now she was about to go after Missy.

“NO!” I shouted, unwilling to let her get away.

Without thinking, I launched myself toward the window. I could have fit through, but I shifted as I jumped. As I grew, the window exploded around me, and my paws hit the ground on the outside. She looked over her shoulder as she reached the front door and laughed as four vampires stopped me. I knew they couldn’t be Sires like Bygrave, but they smelled old. This was going to be a problem. The only thing that mattered was stopping her from hurting Missy.

“How the hell do I get past them?” I desperately wondered to myself.

“Kill them all. Get to Missy,” Tom growled.

“Let’s do it.”

MISSY

“Okay, I love you!” I yelled.

Something felt odd. Maddox got really quiet in the kitchen. Typically, I can hear him cooking, but it was like he just stopped. I could faintly smell something, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on why it smelled familiar. No one else seemed to notice anything wrong, so I resigned myself to listening to Maddox and trying to figure out what I was smelling. That’s when it hit me: I could see myself in that cold dark room, the vampire attacking me.

It was then that I knew, “They’re here.”

Maddox’s voice invaded my thoughts, “Vampire version of a Luna here. Get everyone out. NOW!”

“What do you mean ‘they’re here?’” Emmett asked, looking around the room incredulously.

“Vampires…” was all I could get out before an explosive sound in the kitchen turned our attention in that direction. Everyone was instantly on their feet. As I turned to run to Maddox, she appeared at the door. The vampire looked like she’d been painstakingly carved by a cruel goddess bent on deceiving her prey into thinking this wasn’t a monster.

“Which one of you is the lady of the house?” she asked, her voice dripping in derisiveness. No one said anything, but most of the group instinctively turned to look at me. As they did, she smiled, and her eyes locked onto mine, “So, it’s you that I’ll be killing today.”

“W- W- We won’t let you,” Sol squeaked. She was ashen; all the color had left her face in absolute terror.

“I do not intend to afford you that choice, but I applaud you for the effort,” the woman declared, looking Sol up and down in curiosity. “Her mate killed my Harly, and now, I’m going to make him watch her die, slowly. You’ll all be disposed of as collateral.”

“Let them go, and you can do whatever you want with me. They haven’t done anything to you!” I pleaded, looking around at my friends.

“Ah, but they don’t have to,” she chided. “They’re all mutts the same as you, and you all need to be scrubbed from the Earth. It’s what Harly would have wanted, and it is what I will give him.” A small wave of her hand sent multiple vampires through the door, and all hell broke loose.