24. Ronyn

24

RONYN

The stench of death filled the air, even before Bexley emerged from the house. I looked over at Dom, who immediately walked back towards his place with the crying little girl in his arms. Shifters of all shapes, sizes, and ages came out onto their porch. I knew they smelled it. We all did. The hairs on the nape of my neck prickled as Bexley stood on the front porch of my lieutenant’s home, cradling the dying woman in her arms. With every passing second, the smell grew. Some of my men filtered out of the woods, their eyes glowing and their claws bared.

Stand down, I said as I reached out into groupthink, one of Alpha Bexley’s has been turned. Give them some space.

Bexley held her head high as the compound silenced itself. Dom slipped into his house with the crying little girl, and I released the breath I didn’t realize I had been holding. Good. She didn’t need to see the shit about to happen with her mother.

I watched as tears glistened upon Bexley’s cheek as Merida rushed up behind her. I watched our lead healer place her hand in between my mate’s shoulder blades before ushering her toward the northern edge of the compound.

Were they going toward the river?

What next, Ronyn? one of my women asked as she reached out.

Keep the compound surrounded in case someone tries to come retrieve the new vampire. Get everyone back into their homes and keep them there. It’ll be an early night for all of us.

My men got to work following my orders, and without any other words exchanged, I followed Bexley toward the woods. Voss was hot on my tail, jogging up behind me as Merida led Bexley and Angela into the woods. We climbed the small hill that perched us on the creek bedside, the water rushing down the rocks in a steady waterfall. I stood at the edge of the woods much like I did the night Voss brought Bexley and her pack to us. I leaned against a tree as Bexley hopped onto a smooth rockface with Angela in her arms. Merida jumped along with them, moving from rock to rock until they found their way to one lone rock in the middle of the river. Right at the edge of the waterfall.

It was my favorite place to sit and think.

Fish jumped up from the water to try and catch a little bit of the moonlight in their gills and frogs croaked. Crickets chirped all around us, their sound growing to a fevered pitch. Water slammed against the rock, splashing its spray everywhere as Bexley sat in the middle of that rock, holding Angela’s torso against her chest.

Staring out over the expanse of the thick forest that lined the horizon for hundreds of miles.

I watched Bexley dip her lips to Angela’s ear before the dying woman nodded. Bexley resituated herself, leaning the woman against Merida before I watched my mate slip into the water. I stood there like a hawk, drinking in her every move beneath the moonlight as she turned the woman from her pack toward the water.

Even I heard Angela sigh with relief as Bexley dipped the woman’s feet into the rushing water.

Voss passed by me. “Let’s go see if they need?—”

I reached my hand out and grabbed the back of his shirt. It stopped him in his tracks.

“We stay put,” I said as I released his shirt.

Then, Dom jogged up beside me. “What’d I miss?”

I rolled my eyes as Voss peered over his shoulder. “Where’s the little girl?”

Dom slid his hands into his pockets. “Oh, Ashley? I took her to my place before Gerald came over and said that the kids from Bexley’s pack could have a sleepover at his and Mira’s place.”

I nodded slowly. “Good on him.”

Gerald was a faithful soldier to me for the majority of my career. He was one of the first men I ever retired, and happily. Most soldiers don’t live long enough to retire. Not in this climate with vampires on the prowl for us more than ever. It was an honor to retire him. It was an honor to throw him a celebration fit for the fighter that he was.

I knew the pups would be safe with him for the night.

Suddenly, the wind changed. It kicked up Angela’s stench as her head fell back and her jaw unhinged. My eyes widened as I watched the fear overcome her face. She looked at us upside down as Bexley rocked her and shushed her softly. The pain behind her wide eyes rooted me to my spot. The fear and anguish chiseled against her features as she silently screamed gave me pause.

I heard Dom swallow before he dipped his head toward the ground.

“Jesus, what a process,” he said breathlessly.

Voss sucked air between his teeth. “And to think, some willingly go through with it.”

I’d never in a million years understand why people willingly wanted to become vampires.

I’d rather gnaw off my own dick.

Angela relaxed against Bexley. Well, not relaxed. More like collapsed. She panted for air as Merida lifted the poor woman’s head, settling it back on Bexley’s neck. I saw my mate nod her head as she rubbed her hands all around Angela’s tired body. I saw our lead healer, Merida, who was damn near a certifiable genius if anyone asked me about it, dig around in the pocket of her healing robes before pulling out a hunk of juniper.

And I knew the ritual was about to take place.

Voss clasped his hands in front of him. Dom kept his head bowed. I watched, though. I watched my mate stare off into the distance as Merida chanted. I watched as her body shivered with the gusts of wind that kicked up. I watched as her tired, aching arms pulsed with a need for rest as she held a thrashing Angela against her, with beads of sweat pouring down her skin.

I’d never met a woman stronger than her.

I found myself growing honored to be called her mate.

I watched as Merida slipped juniper leaves into Angela’s unhinged mouth. I watched her slap some of the leaves in her hands before rubbing the juniper salve against her palms. Bexley slipped Angela’s shirt up and that’s when I saw them. The two spidering black puncture marks against her ribcage. Merida rubbed the juniper deep into the wounds, causing Angela to contort in silent pain. And the entire time, Bexley sat there. Stoic. Still as stone. Moving with Angela and holding her steady, even as she thrashed.

I wanted to go out there and hold her just so that she knew she wasn’t alone in all this.

Juniper, in all its forms, is a paralytic for vampires. In small doses, it can render them helpless. In larger doses, it can stop vampirism in its tracks. But, we all knew Angela was too far gone to reverse the process. We didn’t have enough juniper distilled down to even begin that process with how much had already changed about her. The biggest thing with juniper, however—and the reason why we stocked it up—is because it’s a huge pain killer. Massive. We use it as a basic, everyday painkiller. But, in its raw form? It can take even the biggest pains away.

Including the pain of being changed into a vampire.

“Come on,” I grumbled beneath my breath, “work. Let her have some peace.”

Voss slowly peered over his shoulder at me, but I didn’t care. I watched the scene unfold as Merida slipped juniper leaves and rubbed juniper salve all over that woman’s body. Over every wound. Over every puncture mark. Over every aching joint that Bexley nodded to, Merida was there, rubbing Angela down and massaging her muscles.

Then, I watched Merida pull a knife off her hip.

“Oh, boy,” Dom muttered as he came to stand beside me.

“It’s time,” Voss said.

I watched as Merida drenched the knife in juniper. I held my breath as Bexley shifted herself, wrapping her arm around the woman’s neck. I swallowed thickly. My brow knitted together. It didn’t take a tactical genius to know what the hell she was about to do.

“She’s gonna kill Angela herself?” I asked as I looked over at Voss and Dom. “Are we really going to let her do that?”

Voss shrugged. “Do we really have a choice?”

And as my gaze whipped back over to my mate, with her shoulders hunched and her sniffles growing louder, she torqued her arm before a resounding snap echoed throughout the forest. Bats took to the sky and crickets stopped chirping. Fish went silent and even the frogs stopped their incessant croaking. It was as if the entire world knew what just took place. It was as if the whole world knew of the debauchery and sins that were brought down upon us.

And as Angela laid there, lifeless in Bexley’s arms, Merida quickly sliced the juniper-laced knife down Angela’s carotid artery in her neck.

The two of them leaned Angela’s body over the edge of the rock and allowed her blood to be forever washed away in the river.

“Now,” Voss commanded.

The instant he gave the order, we charged out of the woods. Guided by the light of the moon hanging above us, Bexley held Angela’s dead body against her as the river washed her tainted blood away. Voss crashed into the river, sloshing the water around and dispersing the blood before it had a chance to taint or affect anything in the water’s ecosystem. Dom leapt onto the rock where Bexley was perched, wrapping himself around her from behind as her crying grew audible.

And me?

Well, I walked over to the river’s edge and kept watch on our immediate surroundings as I reached out in groupthink to my troops.

Prepare a burial site fit for a vampire.

On it, commander, Lieutenant Reggie said.

Location? one of the women of my troops asked.

I debated the question before responding. She was one of ours. She wanted to die with dignity before the transformation took her. We bury her like a vampire, but she gets a shifter’s honor.

The woman didn’t hesitate. Our burial grounds. Got it, commander general.

I nodded. Good. You have your orders. You’ve got half an hour.

I counted down the seconds in my head as Voss continued jumping around in the water, no doubt trying to rid himself of the angry energy that I saw on his face. Angela’s body had long stopped bleeding, but Bexley didn’t have the strength to pull her body out of the water. It took all three of them—Merida, Dom, and Voss—to haul the dead woman’s body out of the water.

And when Bexley peered over her shoulder at me with those tear-stained eyes, I made my way toward her. I leapt silently onto the rock and crouched down in front of her. I reached out and brushed a sweaty piece of hair away from her forehead. The pain behind her stare slammed into a part of me I hadn’t entertained for many, many years, and all I wanted was to scoop her into my arms and take her back to the safety of my bedroom.

I resisted the urge, though.

She was going through enough.

Site’s ready, commander, my lieutenant said.

I nodded as I held my mate’s gaze. “We have a safe place to rest her. Give her here.”

I held out my arms for Angela’s body, but I was ready for a fight. I knew she wouldn’t give up someone’s body from her pack that easily. Especially to a man she bumped heads with the second she got here. I took burials seriously, though. Especially burials for fighters. And Angela? She was as much of a fighter as I’d ever seen. Fighting to stay strong. Fighting to stay humble. Fighting to stay alert. Fighting through the pain. Fighting just to die with dignity.

She deserved a burial with honors, as far as I was concerned.

“Okay,” Bexley said with a soft sniffle as she moved Angela’s shoulders toward me.

I buried the shock rushing through my system as I quickly scrambled to get the lifeless woman into my arms. I was stunned that Bexley let me have her body. No fight. No argument. No explanations. Just a simple obeyed instruction. I cradled Angela’s body in one arm and closed her eyes with my free hand. Her skin was cold to the touch, and she reeked of putrid death, but I swallowed the gags working their way up the back of my throat.

My men would bury this woman with the respect she deserved.

“Thank you, Ronyn,” Bexley whispered.

I turned toward her with Angela in my arms and saw her gazing out over the muted horizon. Stars twinkled above our heads, numbering in the millions, and they all illuminated her features as her face sank with sadness.

“I’m so sorry, Angela,” she whispered into the wind.

I wanted to stay with her. I wanted to comfort my mate. But, as Dom wrapped his arm around her waist, Voss came and placed his hand on my shoulder.

Let’s get her body back to the compound. It needs to be prepared , he said in groupthink.

Neither of you come back until she’s with you, I thought as I turned on my heels and jumped off the rock.

Then, I headed back into the woods toward the compound.

We had a funeral to prepare.