Chapter 20

Vena gasped,and I thought it was because she'd seen the message from Cross.

Then a hand closed over my throat, and my world spun as MC lifted me off the ground and turned toward Shepard with me. I couldn't see Shepard, only MC's rage-twisted canine muzzle and Doc standing just behind him.

Doc moved as I dropped my phone and gripped the arm holding me up.

"No interference," the old man yelled to Doc

I hit the arm holding me and gasped for air. His claws slowly broke the skin, and I felt the trickle of blood that ran down my neck.

A low growl sounded through the D.C. pack.

"You need to deal with this on your own, Shepard," the old man said as a warning to everyone.

"Even though he's killing her?" Vena shouted.

"Choose, Shepard," MC said. "Everly or your ring?"

"Screw the rules!" Vena charged at MC, but before she could attack, the shed door burst open, and a blur streaked through. Vena was knocked aside.

Suddenly freed from MC's grip, I staggered a step as he dropped to the ground, holding his muzzle.

Cross stood between us. His dark, vampire eyes flashed in fury. I waited for them to return to normal, but he was surrounded by men who began shifting into their wolf form at the mere sight of him.

Pants were shredded from their transformation, littering the floor with material.

Cross looked at Shepard. "They're coming!"

The words barely left his mouth before more vampires flooded into the room.

Groaning, MC rolled to the side as wolves clashed with vampires. Growls, screaming, and shouting echoed in the shed that was becoming smaller by the second as vampires continued to arrive.

"Get them to safety," Shepard said to Cross.

But there was nowhere to go. We were being pushed into a corner with no exit. It looked as though the other women were being cornered off as well.

Cross cut down any vampire that came near us and swatted any wolves who incorrectly assumed he was a threat.

"Get back to the fight," Cross shouted after he smacked a wolf in the snout.

Doc ran for us in his human form with Sierra in tow. He placed her in our corner.

"You're hurt," I said when I saw blood seeping from his shoulder.

"Already healing," he said.

"Then stay here until you're fully healed," Cross said. "I'll tag in. If the girls come to harm, I will kill you myself."

"Go," Doc snarled at Cross as he pulled off his shirt and shifted into a wolf.

Cross was gone in an instant. He left a path of dead vampires in his wake.

It was like playing whack-a-mole, though. More vampires kept coming. There had to be three vampires for every one wolf. More than I would have guessed.

The wolves fought fiercely as they tore into the vampires, but the sheer number threatened to overwhelm them. Wolves dropped to the ground along with vampires. The dirt floor soaked up blood by the gallons, but even it couldn't keep up, and soon, puddles formed.

Doc defended against two vampires who attacked our corner. His back was ripped to shreds by one vampire as he tore out the throat of another. He tossed the vampire to the ground and twisted, clawing through the other vampire's chest.

Sierra peered around Doc to stare into the chaos of the main space.

"What are you doing?" I pulled her back. "Stay close."

She looked at me. "I think I saw my old master."

Vena and I looked at each other. "Master?" we said at the same time.

"You mean the cat guy?" Vena asked, glomming onto Sierra. "Where is he?"

Sierra pointed to a black cat that was scaling the rafters.

"He's going to escape," Vena said.

I wasn't so sure he wanted to escape. The way he paused as he looked down at the fight made me suspect he was waiting for something.

The cat moved a little farther and looked down again. My gaze followed his and landed on Shepard.

I realized his target was Shepard.

"Time to hunt a cat," Vena said, edging around Doc and the vampires he was fighting.

"We're not going out there," I said. "We'll get killed."

"But we have to–"

"Vena, stop. The wolves will take care of him."

"They didn't even notice him." Vena pointed to Shepard, who was fending off three vampires. "Do you really think Shepard can–"

We watched the cat on the rafter above transform into Master. He was completely naked except for the cat ears on his head.

Vena cursed. "He's going to jump on Shepard."

She pushed into the fray, and like the loyal idiot I was, I followed.

We're dead, I thought to myself as we dodged and weaved through pairs that fought too fast to track. I tried not to think about the warm liquid that splashed into my shoes and saturated my socks as we jumped over bodies.

Vena veered to the side as two vampires attacked a wolf.

"If we get to him, maybe we can stop this fight," she said.

Master looked at us then. A grin grew from ear to ear as he leaped down, his nakedness coming flush up against me.

"Just the little human I need," he said, the hard band of his arm tightening around my waist.

I heard the sizzle from my charm a second before the acrid burnt smell filled my nose. It didn't stop the master, though. His head darted down to the puncture wounds on my throat from MC's claws.

"Shepard!" Vena yelled as I gasped.

The master's tongue licked the skin, and I felt his mouth open wide. I pushed at his chest in panic as Vena swore and tried beating him off me.

A wild snarl erupted next to me as the vampire was ripped away. I glimpsed him flying backward, a smirk on his face, before the view was blocked by the broad expanse of Shepard's back.

He stood in front of me, taller than before, with his back covered by golden fur. He swiped out his hand superfast at the master, who spun just out of reach in front of him.

"Do you think I fear you, Alpha King?" The vampire blurred and appeared next to a wolf fighting two vampires a few yards to the right.

As we watched, the master jumped on the wolf's back and tore into his neck with his teeth.

Shepard growled and lunged for him, knocking his cat ears from his head. The master danced away with a laugh. Rather than follow, Shepard retreated back to us and put out his arm like he was shielding us. I set my hand on his back, letting him know where I was as Vena crowded close to me, her back to my back. Not that it would do either of us any good. We didn't have claws or weapons.

I wished more than anything they'd allowed Vena to keep her knife.

Shepard tensed under my hand and disappeared a moment later. I saw him closing in on the master, who was attacking another wolf.

I grabbed Vena's hand and pulled her in the direction of our safety corner.

Wolves and vampires were fighting all around us. So many vampires.

They saw us. Several stopped helping their companions fight the wolves and turned toward us.

As the first one blurred toward me, I screamed one desperate word.

"Cross!"

The sound that filled the room wasn't like the wolf snarls and growls or the vampires' hisses. It was pure rage and savagery and scary enough that I wanted to close my eyes.

Cross appeared in front of me, his suit jacket ripped and glistening with blood in the overhead lights. He moved wickedly fast, breaking the oncoming vampire's neck then moving to the next in a blur. One by one, they toppled in a circle around us.

Cross looked over his shoulder at me, his eyes completely black with the veins visibly spidering around it.

"You're still bleeding," he said. "Get to Doc."

I nodded, grabbed Vena's hand, and towed her with me as we followed Cross and his body trail to the other women. More wolves were with Doc, protecting the women there. They growled at Cross. The sound he made back sent shivers running down my spine.

He turned toward me.

"Do not leave this circle again."

I nodded and watched him disappear into the chaos.

Vampires littered the ground. I saw wolves too, but not nearly as many.

Through the churning bodies, I saw Shepard, still fighting the master. Another familiar vampire was fighting not far away. He wasn't facing a werewolf three-to-one but one on one. And the werewolf was losing.

Pet, or as Cross knew him, Vivian Di Rossi.

My gaze swung back to Shepard's fight with Master.

"Pet's here," I said to Vena. "If Cross can kill him–"

Master looked directly into my eyes from across the room. The lapse in focus cost him. Shepard's wicked claws raked down the vampire's front from left shoulder to right hip. The vampire hissed and scrambled back, blood trailing down his pale skin.

Shepard pressed the advantage, moving crazy fast. Another vampire was thrown back from the wolf he was fighting and collided with Shepard's back.

Shepard spun around, claws already slashing. That vampire didn't stand a chance. Blood sprayed, splattering Shepard front then back as he faced Master again.

The interruption had lasted a few seconds at most, but it was enough time for Master to disappear.

"Where did he go?" I asked Vena, knowing she was watching the same thing.

"Rafters," she said.

I looked up with her and saw Master walking along the rafters like he was a cat but still in human form. Naked human form.

"That's disturbing," I said.

His gaze was locked on us, and he was closing in fast.

I looked at Shepard, who'd started killing the closest vampires. Cross was close to the door, doing the same. The vampire numbers were finally thinning.

"Shepard! Cross! Look up!" I yelled, pointing where I wanted them to look.

Both glanced my way then up at Master.

Shepard yelled something I couldn't hear. Cross nodded and continued fighting.

Shepard leapt over the heads of half a dozen people. When he touched down, I saw the way his thick thigh muscles bunched as he crouched and jumped again. His claws sunk into Master's foot on the beam, and he pulled him down with him as he fell.

Shepard landed gracefully on another vampire, breaking its neck in the process, and grabbed Master by the throat before he could escape. Shepard's grip tightened as he punched his other hand into the master's chest.

Eyes wide and unable to look away, I stared at the horrific scene as the vampire's death cry filled the room.

Another tortured cry rang out. Pet cut down a wolf as he bellowed his fury and sorrow. Wolves charged at him, and he fled from the shed. As if his retreat signaled their loss, the remaining vampires abandoned their fight and tried to follow in his wake.

I breathed a sigh of relief, my gaze sweeping the gore-spattered room as the wolves fought harder to stop those who remained from escaping.

Chest heaving, Shepard tore his hand free of Master and met my gaze across the space. Concern in his golden eyes forced me to smile my reassurance that I was okay.

Behind Shepard, a wolf crept closer. His eyes were on Shepard. I opened my mouth to warm him, but the wolf lunged forward, and his jaws clamped onto Shepard's neck from behind.

I didn't understand what was happening until someone said, "No interference. The challenge stands."

I couldn't believe what I was hearing. More than half the wolves were still fighting vampires, and they wanted Shepard to continue with the challenge?

Shepard growled and flipped MC off of him. The wash of blood had me cringing as MC landed and sprang to his feet. Not fast enough, though. The back of Shepard's hand sent MC into the wall where he dazedly slid to the floor.

Shepard glared at him, but his attention was pulled to the retreating vampires.

Cross blurred through the room, finishing off any injured vampires. But as their numbers diminished, the wolves targeted the vampire doing the most damage.

"Cross," I whispered his name. His blackened gaze caught mine.

"Go. Please." He gave a slight nod and blurred out of the shed.

The wolves took care of the remaining vampires trying to flee behind Cross.

Many began shifting back into human form, their nakedness causing me to look away a few times, especially when Gunther walked over to Master and let his bladder loose, shaking every last drop on the dead vampire who had given him so much pain and suffering. He then turned and walked away.

A growl ripped through the shed, drawing my attention to MC as he launched at Shepard again. MC collided with him, knocking him to the ground and biting into Shepard's shoulder.

I wanted to castrate every wolf in the building except Shepard for their ridiculous rules. They'd just fought vampires, had so many seriously injured or worse, and they were still okay with MC pulling his bullshit? I fisted my hands and watched Shepard throw MC off.

As MC skidded along the ground, drenching his fur in blood, Shepard landed on him.

Growls and snarls filled the room as the fight for dominance continued, each wolf already at their limit. The packs watched on the perimeter, giving them enough space. But with so many bodies and blood on the floor, I didn't understand how they didn't trip and fall.

MC cried out as Shepard threw him into the wall. Shepard was right there, not giving MC a chance to recover as he shifted into human form and grabbed MC by the neck. The choking noises MC made were music to my ears.

MC's fur retreated, and he shifted to human, frantically pulling at Shepard's unforgiving grip.

"I…concede," MC gasped.

"You attacked me from behind twice," Shepard said with a growl. "You no longer have the right to concede."

"Please," MC choked as Shepard squeezed again.

No wolf in the room made a move to save MC, not even his pack.

MC's wild eyes searched for a savior, but when he realized he was on his own, he pulled at Shepard's arm again. "I'll trade you," he said. "My life for Anchor's."

Shepard growled. "What do you mean?"

"I have him. I'll bring him to you."

Shepard shoved MC hard, knocking his head against the wall. "You have Anchor?"

With Shepard's pressure on him, MC could only nod.

"Why?" Shepard growled.

"Vena is mine," MC choked.

"Someone get me my knife," Vena seethed. "MC is about to stand for Mangled Castration."

"I conditionally accept the trade. Anchor's life for yours." Shepard shoved away from MC. "Doc and Army, watch MC until we have Anchor."

Shepard accepted a small stack of clothes from Lisa, and I studied the rafters as he tugged them on. When Vena nudged me, I saw he and a few other men standing close to him had shorts on. But there were still many men who didn't wear anything.

He moved around the room, checking each fallen wolf and speaking to his people. He had sympathy for those who were grieving, compassion for those who were injured, and patience with the ones who remained as he divided them into groups to help with cleanup, injured wolf removal, and vampire tracking.

"We need half our uninjured to hunt the vampires that fled. Follow their scent trails and stick to packs of three or more."

Half the number left the shed in a hurry.

"A bunch of naked men scouring the area," Vena said with a grin. "That should be interesting."

"Most of us keep extra clothes in our cars just in case," Gunner, who was closest to us and completely unfazed by his nakedness, said.

"Griz? Tank? Get the farm truck." Shepard looked at his people as they hurried out. "I wish we had more time to mourn those we lost. But this location is no longer safe. We need to bury our dead quietly. I need ten volunteers. The rest of the uninjured need to escort the injured and females home."

His people divided up as several of the women quietly cried over still bodies.

"Work fast," Shepard said softly. "I don't want to lose anyone else."

Shepard headed outside with Vena and me on his heels. He stopped just outside the shed in the moonlight where a group of men stood.

"What the hell was that?" one of the men asked. "Were you aware D.C. had an infestation?"

"The vampire problem was bigger than I thought," Shepard admitted. "We had no indication it had grown this big."

"What about MC's accusation that you're working with vampires?" the man asked.

"There is a lot you don't know," Shepard said. "And it will take more time and privacy to explain than what we have at the moment."

"If the vampires have grown this large in D.C., what other cities are infested?" another man asked.

"We need to speak about this," someone said.

"I agree, and we will," Shepard said. "Tomorrow at dawn. Spread the word. All delegates should attend. For now, go home and recover. My home is open to you for however long you need."

Once the men began moving away, Vena was on Shepard. "We're not going home, right? We're getting Anchor."

I could feel the weariness coming off Shepard in waves, but he nodded. "I don't suppose you'd wait at my house while I get him?"

She shook her head. "We can get him on the way back to your place, right?"

Shepard called for Doc to bring MC.

Part of me feared MC would go back on his word and fight Shepard yet again.