It was near sundown when Kay called the pack together. Briefly, she explained her plan. As expected, not everyone was thrilled at the idea of drinking vampire blood, even if it was just a little. Deciding a picture was worth a thousand words—or, in this case, a demonstration—she asked Brett to shift.
Murmurs ran around the room as several of those gathered thought she was kidding and others scoffed, saying it was impossible for Brett or any of them who weren’t Alphas to shift when the moon wasn’t full. When it wasn’t even fully dark outside.
“Brett.” Kay nodded in his direction.
There were gasps of surprise and exclamations of disbelief as Brett shifted, then glanced around the room with a wolfish grin.
Kay looked at Greta. “Wow, I’ve never seen him shift that fast before!”
“I know. Do you think a little vampire blood would enable me to shift faster, too?”
“I don’t know.” Kay smiled as she overheard the comments of those closest to her. “But I think the pack’s convinced it works.”
Tyler and a werewolf named Hatten Red Shirt, scheduled to patrol the outside of the fence line that night, were the first pack members to drink Gideon’s blood. The rest of the men came next, then went out two by two to take their places on the outside of the fence. It was decided that the women, who were even less thrilled about drinking Gideon’s blood than the men had been, would wait until the following night.
Kay paced the floor. The house seemed too quiet. Brett and Gideon had gone out with the men. Greta was in the kitchen, making coffee. Isaac was in the living room, playing a video game with one of his friends.
Needing someone to talk to, Kay went into the kitchen. “I hate waiting! How long do you think it’ll be before Rinaldi’s men make their move?”
Greta shrugged one shoulder. “These things are usually done in the wee hours of the morning, you know.”
“I know.” Kay tapped her fingers on the tabletop. “I should be out there.”
“If they need you, I’m sure they’ll send for you.”
“That’s not the point. I’m the Alpha now. My father wouldn’t be hiding out in the house.”
“You’re not ‘hiding out,’” Greta said. “You’re keeping an eye on the home place in case they decide to try and sneak in here.”
“Right.”
“The other women and kids are gathered in the clubhouse watching a movie. Do you want to go over there?”
“No, I don’t feel like a lot of company.” She huffed a sigh. “I wish I knew what was going on out there.”
Gideon moved quietly through the night, his feet making no sound as he followed the fence line, checking on the wolves who were lurking in the shadows.
He had circled the perimeter four times when he picked up the scent of a trio of Green Mountain Pack members stealthily approaching from the north.
A thought took him toward that end of the property. Brett was patrolling that section of the fence on the inside; Tyler and Hatten were hidden in the brush on the outside of the fence.
Gideon dissolved into mist, hovering near the branches of a tree. It would have been easy for him to take out the three intruders, but it wasn’t his fight. The Shadow Pack hadn’t asked for his help, only his blood. Coldhearted as that sounded, he knew this was something Kay’s pack needed to handle on their own. If the fight turned against them, then, for Kay’s sake, he would interfere.
As it turned out, they didn’t need his help. As soon as the intruders approached the fence, Brett shifted and vaulted over the wire.
Taken by surprise, the three men reeled backward.
Brett killed the first one.
On silent feet, Hatten ghosted up from behind and took out the second one, while Tyler finished off the third.
It was over in less than a minute.
Gideon assumed his own form as Brett shifted.
Brett and the other two men grinned at each other.
“All too easy,” Brett said, wiping his bloody hands on the dead man’s shirt.
Hatten nodded. “Wish I could have seen the looks on their faces when you shifted!”
“It was priceless,” Brett said, laughing. He clapped Gideon on the back. “Let’s go dump these bodies outside the Green Mountain compound and then go home.”
Kay had just poured herself a third cup of coffee when she heard Gideon’s voice in her mind, assuring her that the fight, short as it had been, was over and no one had been hurt.
Greta looked at her and frowned. “What are you grinning about?”
“It’s over! Our men are dumping the bodies outside the Green Mountain compound and then they’ll be home.”
“Brett?”
“He’s fine.”
“Oh, thank goodness.” Greta sagged in her chair.
Kay nodded, her relief short-lived as she realized that they’d only won a battle, not the war.
Greta looked up, her expression suddenly grim. “It isn’t really over, is it?”
“No. It won’t truly be over until Rinaldi calls a truce. Or …”
“Or you defeat him,” Greta said, finishing Kay’s thought.
“Or he defeats me,” she said, and saw the truth of it in her aunt’s eyes.
Kay tried to put the thought out of her mind when Gideon, Brett, Tyler, and Hatten came into the kitchen, laughing and grinning and high-fiving each other.
“Where are the others?” Kay asked.
“I thought it best if we keep watch the rest of the night,” Brett said. “Hatten and Tyler and I will go out and relieve some of the others as soon as we clean up.”
“Good idea,” Greta remarked, noting the blood stains on their clothing.
Gideon sat at the table, listening as the men bragged about their kills. Greta poured coffee for everyone, including Gideon. She grinned sheepishly when he lifted one brow in amusement.
When Tyler and Hatten finished their coffee, they excused themselves and went to get cleaned up. Brett and Greta followed a few minutes later.
Gideon remained silent as he watched Kay rinse the dishes and load the dishwasher. She wiped off the counter and the stovetop, emptied the dregs from the coffeepot, and refilled it with fresh water.
“Kiya.”
“What?”
“Sit down.”
“What’s wrong?” she asked anxiously.
“Just come and sit down.”
She dried her hands, placed the dishtowel on the towel rack, then sat across from him, her hands tightly folded on the tabletop. “What?”