Missy
As I heard Maddox move to Lea’s door instead of mine, a figure appeared at my window. Glass broke, and the bars were pulled out; a face replaced them. A man who didn’t look much older than me crawled in through the window as I retreated, eventually pressing my back against the wall as I tried my best to get far away from this strange man that I knew wasn’t here to rescue me. Once he was in the room, he grinned.
“Warwick isn’t going to need you anymore. I can do whatever I want to you now,” he said, licking his lips and rubbing his hands together.
“Get away from me,” I said, my voice wavering as I tried to think of what to do.
“What’s going on in there?” Maddox said, linking me again.
“Just get my mom out of there!”
“Is there someone in there with you?” he asked, an edge in his voice I’d never heard before.
The vampire crossed the room so fast that I barely saw him move. He grabbed me by the throat, slamming me into the door.
“What is going on in there?” Maddox roared from outside the room.NôvelD(ram)a.ôrg owns this content.
“Get my mom!” I yelled out; my words choked as I gasped for air and tried to push him off me. “Don’t worry about me. Get her out!”
“NO! Help Missy!” Lea screamed from her cell beside mine.
“I’m here!” Liam yelled from outside the door.
“Get Missy first!” Lea screamed again, her voice becoming hoarse. A cry of pain followed almost immediately, and then Lea went quiet. I could hear Maddox arguing with Liam, but I couldn’t tell what they were saying. My focus was on the vampire pinning me to the door by my throat and trying to loosen his grip so I could breathe again.
“Maybe if you’re a good girl, I’ll keep you as a pet,” the vampire said, his grin widening as he looked me up and down. “A nice collar would suit you well, and I can pass you around the barracks down here to keep up morale.”
A cold chill traveled down my spine as he suggested that I become their slave. The implications of his words made me want to vomit, and my knees almost buckled. The only thing keeping me standing was the fact that I was being held up. His free hand brushed my cheek and then slowly down my body as he leaned forward, licking from my neck up to my ear.
“Should I name my new pet, or do you want me just to call you my b***h?” he whispered, his voice cold but entirely serious.
“F**k…you,” I gasped through gritted teeth and with little air. My vision was starting to go black. I regretted stopping Liam and I’s training now. Then I remembered. I reached above my head with both hands, clasping them together, and brought them down hard on the vampire’s elbow joint. It bent and loosened his grip, allowing me to finally breathe. I changed my mind about training with my dad, but on those runs with Maddox, he’d stop and play fight with me. I always thought it was innocent, but now I realized he was trying to prepare me since I wouldn’t let them. We’d play fight, and he’d pin me down until I got frustrated with him. He always took mercy and showed me how to get out of his hold.
Turning away from the wall, I threw myself at the floor while holding onto the vampire’s arm with both of my hands. One of my feet went to each of his h**s, and as my butt hit the ground, I kicked him up and over me. He skidded across the room, slamming into the wall. Maddox called that one a suicide throw. I stood up, massaging my throat, still gasping for air.
“I’m…not…anyone’s…pet. I am Missy Blackfur, daughter of the Alpha of B***d Eclipse!” I wasn’t going to be a victim here, and I damn well wasn’t going to be one for this monster. My wolf was howling and ready, desperate to be let out. She wanted to tear this guy apart.
“Okay, Holland; he’s all yours.”
Maddox
The sound in Missy’s cell stopped, and my wolf was in complete overdrive, trying to break free to get to her. I heard talking, and then a large thud like something hit the wall, followed by the sound of a wolf growling.
“She shifted. I need to get in there!” I thought, desperately trying to find a way to get into her room as I only barely paid attention to Alpha arguing with me about who to get out first. When he heard Missy shift, he looked at Luna’s cell and yelled, “Azalea, I have to get Missy first. I’m coming for you; please hold on!”
Alpha immediately started hitting the door with solid punches, over and over. Unlike when I tried to break the door down, it was moving every time he hit it. As we heard more snarling and the sounds of fighting inside, I jumped in to help by kicking above the lock, trying to break the door free from its frame. The door began to buckle as I became increasingly angrier at my inability to protect my mate.
BOOM!
The door fractured, sending us both lurching through the door frame in surprise. When we looked up, we paused, mouth agape. I thought Missy was in trouble, but she was covered in b***d, but it didn’t appear to be her own. A vampire was backed into a corner of the room while she tried to find her opening. He was swiping impossibly fast at her to keep her at bay, but she was relentlessly attacking him. Wounds were evident on his arms and leg, with part of his left hand missing entirely. He looked at us as we broke through the door, terror written into every inch of his face. His eyes then darted towards the window, presumably trying to figure out a way to escape now that the odds were even further out of his favor now.
“Maddox! I can’t finish him. He’s too fast,” she linked, hearing our entry. Her voice no longer sounded scared but determined. It probably wasn’t the time, but it was incredibly attractive to hear her so sure of herself and see her holding her own.
“Let me have him,” I said, happy to end the vermin trying to hurt my mate.
Missy paused her assault, stepping back to survey her opponent, and he immediately bolted for the window. As he started to climb through, she caught him by one of his legs, sinking her teeth deep into the muscle. He screamed, turning around to try to hit her. She whipped her head furiously to the side and released her grip on his leg. The vampire was thrown towards Alpha and me.
“All yours,” she said, turning her head hard towards me. Her obsidian fur shined from the moonlight streaming in through the broken window at the top of the room.
Tom broke through like water bursting from a dam, and I shifted in the air as I leaped to meet the creature who dared to touch my mate. My teeth found his neck, and I ripped my head in the opposite direction Missy had thrown him. His head was dashed into the opposite wall as it was pulled from his body, b***d splashing the ceiling. I landed in front of Missy, shifting back and putting my arms around her, instinctively trying to protect her from anyone else that would try to hurt her. Her soft, b***d-soaked fur became even softer snowy skin under my touch, and she melded into me, her head tucked under my chin. She clung to me in a way that made me want to hide her somewhere so no one could ever try to hurt her again. Her skin against mine sent a ripple of pleasure across my body.
“Get her out of here!” Alpha bellowed as he ran from Missy’s cell to Luna’s.
“You need to help my mom, Maddox,” Missy said, looking up at me, her eyes fierce with determination.
“I have to let Alpha help your mom; you’re my priority right now. He gave me an order, so…” I shrugged and picked her up. I couldn’t let her fight me to stay here; it was too dangerous.
“I can walk!” she yelled indignantly.
“But you won’t, and you know it!” I said as I hurried from the room. As I sprinted down the hallway, I almost barreled right into a large group of wolves coming down the tunnel.
“Where is Alpha?” one of them asked, not bothering to shift back.
“He’s back that way,” I said, pointing towards where I’d left him. “He sent me away to get Missy out of here. I need to get her to Doctor Ron.”
“Is she okay?” he asked, his head tilting in concern as he took in the sight of her over my shoulder, naked and not happy about it.
“I’m fine! Let me down!” Missy yelled, hitting me in the back.
“Split up,” he said, looking around at the group. “You three go with Maddox.”
“Thank you,” I said, grateful for the help in getting her to safety. The wolves split up, and the three ordered to stay with me ran ahead, leading the way. Luna’s scream pierced the otherwise quiet of the subterranean network, and the rest of the wolves darted towards her.
Luckily, there weren’t many vampires on the way out, and the wolves made quick work of the few that did appear. Once we got outside, the fighting was still raging, but the wolves were clearly winning.
“I have Alpha’s daughter!” I linked broadly to my pack members on the battlefield. “Help me make a path out of here!” Without reply, the wolves started attacking with more fervor and driving the vampires away from the path to the forest.
“We can only hold them in place for so long; get her out of here!” Sean bellowed, his voice breaking through the myriad of internal war planning I was doing to figure out the best way to get Missy to safety. As soon as I heard the command to go, I sprinted like a runner with a starting pistol. I don’t know how fast I ran, but the expanse of the estate’s grounds surrounding the house passed by in a blur. It was not time before I was through the trees and laying Missy down on Doctor Ron’s already prepared table in his medical tent. I took the blanket that someone shoved in my hand and laid it over Missy to cover her since her clothes were in tatters in the cell where she shifted.
Liam
I ordered Maddox to get Missy to safety and ran from the room. I didn’t spare the dead vampire another thought as I rushed to the next door that was keeping my from my mate.
“Azalea!” I called loudly. She replied with a stunted cry. I could feel her pain and panic. Gavin was close to snapping. “Hang on,” I told her through the door. With a sharp inhale, I chambered my leg and push-kicked the door right above the locked with all my might. It almost completed buckled with just one blow. Azalea’s whimpers could be heard more clearly now.
“Liam,” she called weakly. A second blow blasted the door open. I was instantly inside, and I could smell b***d, my mate’s b***d. Azalea was in the corner of the room on top of a small, dirty blanket. I could see b***d below her legs. She was pale, and cold sweat beaded on her skin.
“Liam,” she said, squeezing her eyes shut and holding her round stomach. Before my name had finished leaving her lips, I was by her side. I grabbed her face in my hands, checking her over.
“Are you hurt?” I asked quickly.
“The baby,” she g*****d.
“I need to get you to my uncle, now,” I said. Voices sounded behind me from the doorway.
“I can’t…” she trailed off. She looked like she was ready to pass out. When she wasn’t clenching from pain, I could see her tiny frame shake.
“Alpha, we need to move,” one of the wolves said behind me. There was no more time to lose; with Azalea bleeding like this, the baby needed to come out as soon as possible. As gently as I could manage, I eased my arms under her knees and behind her back. Pulling her to me, I lifted her into my arms.
“I’ll move as gently as possible. Hold on,” I told her as I turned toward the doorway. I could hear the hurried footsteps of dozens of people that didn’t smell like wolves. They were coming back for us.
“Alpha, they’re all running back inside; get out of there!” Sean called to the pack from outside. The sound grew louder and closer with every passing second. I turned towards the wolves waiting with me and standing guard in the hallway.
“I want a closed arrowhead formation around Azalea and me; I can’t help you fight, but I need your help to protect her and get to the medical tent.” Everyone around me nodded their assent, and in unison, they started to move outside. Azalea screamed, her hand digging into my arm as I felt her entire body tighten from her pelvis outward.
“Breathe, baby; I have you now. We’re going to get you to Doc; he’s going to get the baby out and make sure you’re both okay,” I said, drawing her closer to me as I walked sideways out the door, careful not to hit her with the doorframe. “I’ll keep you safe.”
“Just help the baby,” she panted, her head falling into my chest with exhaustion as she tried to catch her breath after the contraction.
“Both of you, Azalea. Both,” I growled through gritted teeth. I wasn’t willing to compromise on this one. I’d fight the Moon Goddess if I had to. Everyone shifted as I stepped into the tunneled hallway, and they formed a wedge-shaped triangle in front of us as they closed the read with a solid line. The rear line was six wolves wide with two rows, and there were ten wolves in front of me forming the tip of the arrow. This formation was created to protect the Alpha in war, with the extra wolves in the rear protecting my back and filling in if anyone fell in the front. I looked out over their backs, and I saw them. The vampires were flooding the tunnel, blocking the view of the end. Surprisingly, there were also vampires crawling on all fours on the ceiling towards us like some perverted spider hybrids. It reminded me of a horror movie.
“Go!” I bellowed, giving the signal to move.
Paws sprang into action all around me as we moved in a practiced tempo towards the coming onslaught. We met the front line with an audible collision as both sides growled and snapped at the other, the scent of b***d soon pungently permeating the air. The arrowhead formation worked as designed with the wedge-shaped front splitting the massive group in two as it forced the group down each side of the formation into the waiting jaws of a wall of wolves. We moved quickly, but the vampires coming from the ceiling slowed our movement. Our formation didn’t account for that. Gavin was screaming within me to let him protect our mate, and our combined frustration exploded from me in a roar. The wolves stopped in their tracks, but so did the mass of vampires, several falling from their perch on the ceiling. It reverberated so hard that I could feel the floor beneath me shake, and the wolves around me swelled as if it strengthened them. As we started to move again, the vampires didn’t seem to be as set on dying for their cause. I began to wonder if Warwick had some degree of control over his kin like an Alpha does his pack. Anytime they were surprised or frightened by extreme violence, it seemed to break them from their trance-like actions. Without command, we all moved as one again, breaking through the line like a hot knife through butter. Soon, we found the stairway in the room where Damien and I fought Warwick a short time ago. Damien was there, fighting a group of vampires of his own. They fell from the second floor above right into the fray while Damien and the other wolves tried to keep them at bay. He was covered in b***d, and I started to wonder if it wasn’t just Warwick’s.
“GO!” Damien’s voice cried out from over the sound of death all around us. “Get her out of here!”
“I’ll come back for you,” I told him.
Our formation had lost wolves, but we closed ranks. We pushed through to the front porch and finally to the grass outside. The vampires were stopped by the combined forces outside as they swallowed our group and let us through while holding off the dwindling number of vampires behind us.
“Finish them,” I linked to those outside as I continued sprinting to the forest. “Don’t leave any of them alive. We can’t let them go out and make another army.”
Finally, I could smell Missy, Maddox, and my uncle. I’d made it. Azalea let out another scream, and Doc ran towards us to meet me before I could get to him. “This way,” he called as he stopped and turned back the way he came, now running at my side. He was looking over Azalea as we moved. I didn’t like the look on his face as his eyes moved to my arm, where her b***d was coating my skin.
“What?” I growled.
“Is she bleeding?” he asked as Azalea stifled a scream. I nodded, unable to bring myself to say the words.
“Azalea, how long have you been bleeding?” he tried to ask her as we made it to an enclosed tent. Missy held the flapped door open, and I breezed right inside.
“Arghhhhh,” Azalea cried, her eyes squeezed shut.
“Place her on the table!” my uncle instructed. He moved over to a washbasin, quickly sterilizing his hands. I gently placed Azalea onto the table, one of her weak hands still feebly squeezing at my arm.
“Liam,” she whined. “Liam, I can’t feel it.”