44. Change of Plans II

Ican easily sense Dante's worry through our bond. We have left our cars behind and are on our way over the small path we have scouted. It should lead us to the meeting point without being spotted from the street or somewhere else. Julianus and I walk on the main path while the others remain behind us. It's eerily quiet, but I try to shake the sense of dread off, blaming it on my strained mind. The whole situation is clearly fucked up, so of course I am feeling eerie.

That is until I can feel a shift of mood around me. I turn around, gazing at the shadows the others are walking in to remain hidden. Nefeli's senses are sharp and I can make out Liam and Elden. They have both stopped walking, their expressions confused at first, then pained. "Change of plan!" Liam growls.

"What?" Dante exclaims.

"The boys," Liam states while Elden shifts into his majestic lycan and disappears into the darkness of the forest. Liam turns to Silas. "Please help Dante and Ella."

Silas furrows his brows but nods. Before any of us can ask anything else, Liam has shifted into his strong lycan and follows his father, the darkness of the night swallowing him easily. Silas and Julianus remain quiet, scanning the forest ahead of us.

Silas furrows his brows. "Was that a scream?"

I thought werewolf senses work well, but those vampires are something else. Though it's probably more Silas's power as an ancient one. I shove that thought aside for now, though. If Liam and Elden just took off like that, it's not a good sign. I let Nefeli come forward again to scan our surroundings. In the far distance, I swear I hear some noises.

"Okay, I heard it too!" I say.

Another low yell can be heard. "Oh fuck!" Dante curses.

"Follow me," Silas instructs. "The girl is running!"

"Charlie?" I ask breathlessly.

"Yes, I can feel her presence," he says, picking up his pace until he is running. We follow him hot on his heels. There is no use in being silent and stealthy anymore. Something went wrong clearly or Charlie wouldn't be on the run.

"How can you feel her?" I yell.

"I just sense the presence of a vampire hybrid," he hurries to explain. "Her blood smells different to those of wolves or humans."

"Faster!" Dante commands, shifting into his lycan before dashing ahead. It seems like he was able to pick up Charlie's trace. I decide to put my faith in him and shift to Nefeli's form before following him. For a few minutes I can only hear his and my panting until the two vampires and our two warriors catch up behind us.

The forest is lulled in darkness, almost peacefully quiet.

But the silence gets disrupted by growls and yells further away. Did Elden and Liam reach their destination? Hopefully! And hopefully they came in time to save the twins. Meanwhile I am able to pick up Charlie's scent—finally. She seems to be coming closer and closer.

"Do we need to take prisoners?" Silas yells from behind.

I growl, hoping he will get my message. No prisoners. We have all the information we need and more, thanks to my necklace.

"Good," Silas sneers right when Charlie's frame appears through the trees in front of us. There are two male wolves chasing her. Charlie slows her pace when she sees us, giving Dante the opening he needs. He stalks around her and jumps right towards the man behind her. I notice how Julianus catches Charlie, saving her from tripping and hurting herself.

"We will protect her," Silas reassures me, hiding Charlie in his arms and forcing her to look away from where Dante rips into the wolf. "Go and rip them to shreds."

He doesn't need to tell me twice. I leap forward towards the second wolf, attacking him headfirst. He reeks of alcohol, Nefeli sneers. Let me end him fast.

She is right. His movements are somewhat clumsy and uncoordinated. What a bunch of idiots! Channeling all the pent-up anger, resentment, and fear I've hidden inside me ever since Charlie disappeared, I attack him. Nefeli and I let go of him before pouncing again at full speed, knocking him to the side. Nefeli buries her teeth in his ear, ripping it off. He howls in pain, but Nefeli's anger is just as sizzling as mine, and she attacks his tail next, then his hind legs.

Next to me I notice how Dante, or rather Sylvan, tosses the lifeless body of his prey aside. Part of me wants to engage in this slow killing game Nefeli and I started, but my bloodlust subsides when I spot Charlie and see how she is trembling in Silas's arms.

She is more important than getting my revenge.

I kill the guy off swiftly before turning my attention back to my niece and shift back to my human form. Julianus leaves her side now, approaching me and handing me my change of clothes. "I will deal with the bodies," he mutters in a low voice.

I nod before hurrying towards my girl. "Charlie!" I call out.

Silas lets go of her, allowing her to finally run towards me. "Ella," she sobs, hurrying into my arms.

"The twins," she blurts out. "They need help, they—"

"Alpha Liam and his father went to save them," I reassure her. "We felt something was off, and they took off immediately."

"Liam just linked me." Dante's voice reaches me from the side. He is fully clothed again and looks equally relieved and exhausted. It seems like the tension of the last few days has finally caught up with him. "They found Felix and Dario."

I feel his strong arms wrap around both of us.

Alive? I mutter, anxiously waiting for his reply.

I'm not sure. Seems like one of them got hurt badly, he says quietly.

"I'm so sorry," Charlie sobs. "I shouldn't have wandered around on my own. You warned me so often about it."

"It's not your fault," I try to reassure her.

"I didn't even know what to do," she mutters sadly. "I… I tried to think of ways to escape, but—"

"No one is prepared for such a situation," Dante says, gently brushing over her hair.

Out of the corner of my eye, I see Silas approaching us while Julianus remains in the background. He watches us, a hint of sadness in his eyes. I wonder what he is thinking now. Does he mourn the missed chances and opportunities? The years he wasted being loyal to Aloysius?

I feel sorry for him. I might not understand and approve of all he did, but he lost so much and is all alone now. There is no way he will ever be able to return to his coven without Aloysius killing him. But he also can't join Silas, because the latter doesn't trust him anymore.

It sucks because his demise is his own fault, which makes it just so much sadder.

Charlie looks up when she sees Silas approaching. She seems to hesitate at first. "You are a vampire," she says, sounding both curious and anxious.

"I am," he says.

"Silas is from the joint pack and coven I told you about," Dante tells her. "He helped us a lot."

"And the other one?" she asks, gazing at Julianus.

"He helped me," I explain. "And back in the day, he helped your mom." I pause. "Silas here, he is—" I look at him, and he nods at me to tell her. "He is your father's cousin."

I can see the surprise in Charlie's eyes. "Really?"

"Yes." Silas smiles at her. "Your dad was my cousin. He was a great man and I liked him a lot. It's an honor for me to meet his daughter."

"See," I say. "You still have family out there and someone from your dad's side."

Her eyes light up curiously, and I'm glad we distracted her a bit. Meanwhile, Julianus and Dante swiftly deal with the bodies of the two wolves. Eventually, the novelty of having met her uncle or rather great cousin wears off, and Charlie is back to being worried. "Felix and Dario," she says. "I need to see them. They are alright, aren't they?"

There is blood oozing from an open wound on my stomach. I press my hand against it, trying to roll to the side while Dario is being overpowered by the three remaining guys.

Fuck it, why can't I be stronger? I train so much and try to listen to all the tricks Dad shows me, but while I'm agile and fast, I seem to lack real talent while fighting. Or I wouldn't have been bested the way I was. I had a surprise moment on my side. I had a knife, yet I couldn't do anything. It's like I have never learned how to fight.

At least Charlie got away. I saw her disappear into the forest. I had hoped that maybe Dario would follow her, but while he had an opening, he instead came to help me. No other person in the world means more to me than Dario. He is not just my brother; he is my best friend too. Mom always says the twin bond is magical, but now it feels like a curse.

He is getting hurt because he wants to help me, instead of running to safety.

He fights hard, but he is no match against the three of them. Soon they tackle him to the ground. The man… the one the alpha called Dylan, is kneeling above him, his hands around his throat. "You little bastard," he hisses.

Hearing Dario gasp for air and trying to claw at Dylan's arms raises my fighting spirit again. I can't allow them to hurt him… he can't get hurt.

I roll up again, using the moment of distraction to drag myself forward. My vision is getting blurry, and my head is so dizzy I can barely stand. I grab a rock from the side of the path and hit Dylan on the back of his head with it. A grim sense of satisfaction fills me when I see him curl over.

The moment of victory doesn't last long; soon, I feel a hot pain shooting through me. I don't know what happened, just that suddenly everything around me goes white in pain. Someone grabs me before I can drop down to the ground and punches me into my stomach. More hot liquid leaves where I have been stabbed earlier.

I can hear Dario scream my name. I can't see what's going on anymore. Everything is blurred around me. I feel so tired.

Close to me, a loud growl cuts through the air, and I swear I see a gigantic black wolf appear out of nowhere. I try to force my eyes open and focus on my surroundings. The men seem to scramble around in fear.

What's going on?

A second wolf appears. A similarly black and majestic one. I feel warmth surrounding me, like something is pulling them towards me. It makes me feel safe and warm.

Dad, is that you?

Dario crawls closer, brushing the hair out of my face. "Felix," he mutters.

Something warm drips down on my face.

Why is he crying?

In the chaos, I can see a woman appearing. She looks like… "Mom," I whisper.

She shifts to her wolf form. Through my blurred eyes, her fur looks almost silver, like it's gleaming under the moonlight.

Magical. I must be dreaming.