Roane grabbed me around my waist and flew out of the alley. We were in the park within moments. When he stopped, I was plastered against him and a wolf was in the air. He had leapt in the air with his mouth opened, fangs extended, but Roane reached up, grabbed his hair and flung him across the park. The wolf bounced against a tree. As it snapped in two the wolf threw his head back up and snarled at us. He took off again. Bounding towards us, he tried to go around us this time. Roane bent down and sped towards him. He met him halfway and caught the wolf unaware. With another throw at the same tree, the wolf was impaled on the broken stump. The body twitched and jerked to get free, and a high pitched whimper came from its mouth as it did. Two more wolves snapped to attention. They had been stalking Wren, but whirled around. As one went to its mate the other flew at us.
Roane tucked me behind him. 'Under any circumstance, no powers. You are human and only human. Got it?'
I gave him a mental salute, but the wolf was on us. Roane ducked underneath the massive jaws, caught him around the neck and twisted. It snapped in two and the giant body fell limp at his feet.
Five wolves froze in place. As one body, they turned and regarded Roane. Wren plunged a dagger into one of their necks. Gavin took hold of another and threw him, but the other three bounded towards us.
"Gregory!" Roane called out.
The Viking vampire looked up, saw the situation, snapped his wolf in two and took three long-legged strides towards us. He jumped and grabbed me from his leader’s arms in mid-air, just as the three wolves ascended on Lucas. Brown smiled at me from underneath Gregory's long arm. She held onto one of his belt loops with a knife in hand.
"Hi, Davy. Isn't this exciting?"
"Brown." I shook my head at her. "You are crazy."
"I tried doing spells, but they didn't work. So then I tried to twist their tails when I caught them. I distracted a few, but one of them just swished me away." She showed me a red welt on her cheek. "It got me good so now I just hold onto Green's belt."
"Green?" I said faintly, but was distracted when Gregory deposited us both of the ground. We were away from the fight now and I expected him to return. He didn't move. I knew his job was now to guard us.
"It's my nickname for him. I think the leader called him Greg, but I like Green." Brown spoke as if we were shopping for a couch.
"
Not much fazes you, does it?"
She let out a puff of air. A strand of her hair flew back in place. "Not much, no. You fight. You either live or die. It's easy to know what to do. Other stuff's harder to figure out."
Gregory glanced back and we quieted.
From there we watched the fight unfold. Roane was quicker than the others. He reacted faster and with more strength than the wolves expected. The body count grew around him, but the fight continued. Wren and Tracey had their own system. Wren would distract the wolf and lure it in while Tracey would come behind with the fatal stab. After the first one they killed, I saw that Tracey knew where to hit their heart. The wolves fell instantly. Gavin and the other vampire, the one who Roane had called Bastion, didn't fight with weapons. They threw the wolves around or were thrown by the wolves. Eventually, each of them would have enough of a hold on the necks to snap them. They just weren't as quick at it as Roane.
Kates fought her own way. She punched, twisted, rolled underneath them. I realized that she used her smaller size against them and moved around until they couldn't keep up. That was when she'd bring her gun up and shoot them in the head. Her arm was steady, her feet planted apart. She knew what she was doing and she had no qualms about it.
For some reason, the other vampires didn't bother me when they killed the wolves, but watching Kates brought chills down my back. She was human, but she wasn't at the same time. Was that how I was going to be? Was I going to become like her? I shuddered at the thought, but I knew I couldn't hide much longer.
When only seven remained, the wolves began to disperse. A few tried to drag their fallen comrades with them, but then Roane announced, "We will allow you to take them with you as long as you do not come back. This is my territory. No wolf will come in and take what is mine. Take that message to your Mother Wolf. Tell her that she's mine."
All of them stopped in their tracks and then turned to one in the back with a fur coat of sleek black. He padded forward and lifted piercing blue eyes.
Roane waited and held his gaze.
The wolf lowered his head in submission. The fight was done, simple as that.
I looked to my far right. Pete stood in an alley with his fists bunched at his side. He wanted to go out and fight with them. I felt the immense control it took to keep him where he stood, away from the fight. It was costing him. Sweat poured down his body to puddle around his feet.
His eyes caught mine and he jerked back in surprise.
As I held his gaze, I let him see inside of me. I wanted him to see inside of me. I was strong. I wasn't afraid. And I knew, without a doubt, that I'd have to deal with him at some point. Pete felt all this from me. I didn't let him go too far, not far enough to sense the Immortal, but I wanted him to know that I wasn't scared of him. The vampires had defended me this time, but there was going to be a time for my fight. I was starting to look forward to that now.
Then Roane stood in front of me and blocked my view. He snarled at Pete, "Leave."
I grabbed Lucas' arm. "No. This is my fight."
"It's not!" He turned on me and grabbed my arms. "It's really not, Davy."
"Yes." I took his fingers and lifted them off my arm. "It really is." But when I moved around him, Pete was already gone.
I was conscious of Brown's gaze. She watched every interaction between Roane and me, but I didn't feel judgment from her gaze. Then she took my hand and I felt her calm slip into me. Immediately, my heart slowed down. Rational thought returned and then I was able to remember Emily and Pippa.