Chapter 8

Georgia had just finishedher second bag of blood after taking a shower and changing into more comfortable clothes, when someone knocked on the door of the apartment.

Sylas glanced at her as he walked to the door, peeked out the peep hole, and then unlocked it.

"Hey, are we interrupting?" Ronan asked.

Georgia leaned forward on the couch and saw Alanah, Dredge, and Taryn behind him.

"Not at all," Georgia said. "Come on in."

The group walked in and Sylas shut the door. "Can we get you guys anything?" she asked as they sat in the family room. Sylas joined her on the couch, putting his arm around her.

"No thanks," Taryn said. "First, we wanted to make sure that you were all right."

"I'm better now that I've had some blood to drink and cleaned up."

"You're good?" Ronan asked, looking at Sylas.

Her mate had shifted back while she'd been cleaning up. She'd loved seeing him as a sabertooth tiger. He was massive, with long, curved canines and soft blond fur. She had fangs too, but his were enormous. She'd called the restaurant when they'd gotten back to the apartment and they'd sent up several raw steaks, and he'd purred while eating them.

It was entirely adorable.

Her sexy predator.

"We've got Julian's location. His kiss has about twenty members, but he's also got humans working for him, which is how he was able to cause problems during the daytime. Devon told us about the place they're holed up, the security in place, and Julian's plans," Ronan said.

"You believe him?" Sylas asked.

Ronan nodded. "He was being tight-lipped to start with, but it didn't take much to convince him to tell the truth."

"What's going to happen to him?" Georgia asked.

"He's being held until the threat with Julian is ended, then Caleb will reach out to the vampire council members in the state and have whoever's alive after the battle picked up and imprisoned."

"Battle?" Georgia asked.

"There will definitely be a battle," Sylas said. "What's the plan?"

Dredge said, "We're going to move upstairs to the main section of the club. All the mates will be there along with the female kiss members who aren't part of the security team. I'll be guarding with the wolves. Both alphas have sent extra pack members to guard while we're gone. The North pack will be at the hotel, the South pack will be here."

Taryn nodded and looked at Georgia. "They want to get on the way as soon as possible."

Sylas turned his head toward her and smiled. "I'll be back before you know it."

"I just got you," she said, her voice going thick with emotion.

Ronan cleared his throat. "We'll give you a minute."

The small group left, and when the door was shut, Sylas pulled her into his arms. "Sweetness, I'm coming back to you, I promise. But I have to help. I can't let my family fight without me, I need to make sure that not only I come back, but so do Ronan and the other sabers."

"I wish I could change you right now so you'd be immortal and much harder to kill," she said wistfully.

"I may need my cat for this fight, so it's probably best I have it if I need it." He gave her a sweet, lingering kiss, then stood. She rose to her feet and hugged him tightly, listening to his heartbeat. He kissed the top of her head. "We can discuss my turning when I get back. The sooner I'm like you, the better. I want our eternity to start as soon as possible."

She smiled. "Me too."

They left the apartment, catching up with his family—which was her family now since they were mated—and then before she knew it, she and Alanah were saying goodbye to their mates and joining the others in the main club.

The lights were on, no music was playing or strobe lights flickering. "I don't think I've ever seen this place with the lights on like this," Lia said, joining her, Taryn, and Dredge.

"It's weird," Taryn said. "Like it doesn't look like a club at all."

Dredge chuckled and kissed her cheek. "I'm going to patrol outside with the wolves. You ready?"

"Ready for what?" Georgia asked.

"I'm part of the security team, so I'm going to patrol inside," Taryn said.

Lia hummed. "I need to sit down, my feet are killing me."

"Do you need anything? A cold drink or something to eat?" Georgia asked.

Lia sat at the nearest table. "You're not my assistant after hours, you don't have to get me stuff."

"I may not be your assistant right now, but I am your friend. What can I get you?"

Lia looked thoughtful, then said, "I could go for some cranberry juice and lemon lime soda, with a lemon slice. Oh, and see if they have any olives too."

"You got it," Georgia said.

She checked in with the others, trying to help calm everyone's nerves. She was definitely concerned that Sylas was going to a battle with vampires who were not above using toxins and car bombs to try to take out the kiss leaders, but she knew he was a fierce and capable male. He'd more than proved he could handle anything when he'd taken down an SUV to save her.

Aubrey joined her behind the bar. "I freaking hate this so much, I feel helpless."

"Me too," Georgia said. "But we'd just distract our males if we were with them, they'd be too worried about our safety."

"Yeah, but at least you're strong and fast, I'd definitely be no match against a vampire."

"As if Alaric would let anyone get anywhere near you," Lia called out. "He's as protective as the rest of our mates. But I agree, we'd end up causing more trouble than we'd help with that's for sure. Caleb's already extra-strength crazy with my safety since I've been pregnant, I can't imagine if I was in actual danger in a battle."

Taryn appeared from one of the halls. "Everyone okay?"

"We're good," Georgia said. "All quiet out there?"

"Yep. We've got a handful of wolves outside with Dredge, and there are four more in here walking the halls. The hotel's being covered as well. I don't think Julian will expect anyone to come after him, I doubt he's even realized his man is gone yet."

Georgia finished fixing the cranberry and soda, and grabbed a jar of cocktail olives. "I just want this to be over and I want our mates back here safely."

"Me too," Aubrey said. "I need…something to take my mind off this. Can we put a movie up on one of the screens or something? A rom-com maybe?"

"Yes, definitely," Lia said.

One of the female vampires jumped up and said, "I can do it, I've handled the electronics before when we've been short-staffed."

Taryn hung around a little longer, stealing some olives, then she disappeared for another round.

While a romantic comedy started on the big screen on one wall, the lights were dimmed, and snacks were passed out to the ones who could eat and bagged or synthetic blood to the vampires.

Georgia sat next to Lia and glanced at her phone.

"They'll message when they're on the way home," Lia whispered.

"I know, I just wanted to check."

Lia bumped her shoulder and smiled. "They'll be home before we know it, with heroic tales to tell, Belle Terra safe once more."

The sooner the better.

* * *

Sylas rolled his neck and stared at the building. The street was deserted as it was nearly three a.m. Devon had told the others that Julian and his kiss were holed up in an abandoned bakery that they'd boarded up and were using as sleeping quarters during the day. On either side of the bakery were two more closed businesses, a laundromat, and a hardware store.

They were fifteen minutes outside of Belle Terra, in a tiny town that didn't have a single supernatural creature in the town limits, aside from the vampires that had stolen into the foreclosed businesses and taken over. He wasn't sure that the humans in the town even knew that vampires were living there.

Ronan was on his right and Galen was on his left.

They'd discussed shifting, but in the end they'd opted to stay in their human form and fight hand to hand, using stakes and blades to take out the vampires if they couldn't subdue them. Caleb didn't necessarily want to kill everyone, but he wanted their mates and the kiss to be safe, and if blood had to be spilled to make that happen, then it would happen.

They moved silently into position at the back of the building, several of their people in front to catch anyone who ran out that way. There was a muffled pop as the back door was forced open, and then they rushed inside, stakes at the ready.

The moment they breached the building, it was clear the vampires had been waiting for them, because the battle went from zero to full force in seconds. He and Ronan fought side by side, slashing with claws and stabbing with stakes, hacking their way through the crowd to try to get to Julian. He'd seen a picture of the male who'd been turned in his late teens and had a baby face, with pale blond hair and thin shoulders.

"There, damn it!" Ronan shouted as a vampire slammed his fist into his jaw and sent him spinning.

Sylas saw his brother had pointed to a wall where a blond disappeared through a doorway.

Sylas jumped on the vampire and broke his neck with a swift tug. Then he grabbed Ronan's hand and hauled him to his feet and the two took off after Julian. They were joined by Caleb and Alaric, chasing Julian down a long hall. The young male slammed his shoulder against a door, but screamed when he tumbled right into Slade, who grabbed him by the face and slammed him against the wall of the building.

Vampires, who hadn't been inside when the battle started, poured around them from the outside, and Sylas and his brother found themselves fighting their way through another throng as Caleb fought Julian, demanding he call an end to the battle and stop coming after their people.

"You won't win, I'll never stop," Julian screeched like a peacock, darting just out of Caleb's reach. He looked like a lunatic, dancing around Caleb, trying to get away but also seemingly interested in mocking the furious male.

"You won't live to see another dawn if you don't stand down," Caleb said.

"I think I'll live just fine, and one day I'll take you out, but not before I fuck your female and tear your baby from her belly."

Alaric let out a furious roar at the threat to his sister, shifting into his beast. As his clothes shredded around him, Sylas ducked to the other side, rolling under Alaric as he leaped at Julian.

The young vampire spun out of Alaric's way, avoiding Caleb as he struck out with both fists, but he didn't avoid Sylas, slamming into his chest with a grunt.

Sylas grabbed the male by his arms and spun him around, slamming him into the building with every ounce of force he could muster. The vampire stumbled to the ground, and Caleb and Alaric moved as one, parting his head from his body and sending him into the afterlife, where Sylas hoped he'd pay dearly and forever for the terrible things he'd done in the name of vengeance.

Sylas and Ronan returned to the inside of the building, rounding up the remaining vampires, along with Slade and Galen, who used their brother's shifted form to keep everyone in line. Some tried to escape and they met a swift end, but the rest resigned themselves to their fate at the hands of the ruling council of vampires and their court system, which at a minimum would see them imprisoned for a few years before they'd be allowed to join other kisses with masters that would ensure they stayed on the straight and narrow.

It apparently wasn't against the law to try to take out a master, but with Julian dead, they were without a leader and they'd participated in illegal activities in their attempts to take out Caleb. They were guilty of many infractions, and Sylas was glad that none of them would see the light of day for a long time.

He texted Georgia.

I'm so glad you're safe and the threat to the kiss is gone. When will you be home?

They were waiting for the vampires to be picked up and taken to the state's prison system, and were told they were about an hour away.

Over an hour, but I promise I'll get back to you as soon as I can. All's well there?

Yes, I just miss you. I'm so glad you're safe.

I miss you too, sweetness.

He almost told her that he loved her, because he did. But he decided the first time that he told her he loved her was not going to be over text, but to her beautiful face so he could look in her blue eyes and see love in the pretty depths.

Ronan clapped him on the shoulder. "What a fucking ride, huh?"

"What?"

"Two weeks ago we were on our way to try our hand at shifter fights, and now we took out a kiss that endangered our mates and our new friends. It's been a crazy couple of weeks."

Sylas laughed. "Yeah, it has been. I'm just glad the threat is over and we can go back to living our lives and loving our mates."

"Hell, yes." He gave him a long look. "Are you going to be turned?"

"Yep."

"When?"

"I don't know. Soon. I don't want to keep aging. And she's worried about me not being immortal, too. Why?"

"If you stick around until the full moon, we can hunt one more time. I'd like to do that as a family before you can't shift anymore."

"That works for me. Let me run it by my sweetheart, I'm sure she won't mind waiting a little."

"You'll stay at the club?"

"We've talked a little about moving to the hotel, but I think the apartment under the club is perfect for us."

"Just be sure to come visit. After the sun sets of course."

"You know it. You've got another sister now, and we're all mated. I can't believe it happened to all of us so fast."

"I love how our family is growing, and I can't wait to have kids with Alanah."

"I'll be happy to spoil them as their favorite uncle."

They waited until the vampires were taken into custody, gave their statements, and then got back in their vehicles and headed home.

He couldn't believe that he finally had a real home now. They'd lived in the RV for such a long time and never put roots down, but he could do that now with Georgia. His beautiful vampire had made all his dreams come true, even the ones he hadn't known he'd been hoping for: a place to call home, his family close, and a beautiful female in his arms forever.

He was one lucky sabertooth tiger, that was for damn sure.

He couldn't wait to see what the future would bring.

* * *

Thank you so much for reading Sylas's Captivating Mate! I hope you enjoyed visiting with the sabertooth tiger shifters and supernatural people who call Belle Terra home! I hope to visit Belle Terra again with more stories, but in the meantime, check out my wolf shifter series, The Wolf's Mate Generations with Book One: Lyric The Cats, which is FREE at all retailers.

She-wolf Lyric Gerrick knows her alpha wolf parents want her to settle down with a pack member and build a life in Kentucky, but her restless wolf isn't interested in anyone in Allen. After exhausting job options in Allen and the surrounding towns, she answers an ad for a teaching job at Ashland Elementary, a town in Indiana full of mountain lion shifters. Her parents happen to know someone in Ashland willing to let Lyric stay with them during the interview process. What she wants is to get the job. What she doesn't expect? To find not one mate, but two.

Mountain lion shifters Elliott and Evan Fallon have been working for the Ashland police department from the moment they graduated from the police academy. They both love keeping the humans and shifters in the sleepy town of Ashland safe. When the daughter of their mother's old friend arrives in Ashland for a job interview, they know the moment they lay eyes on her that the delectable Lyric is the one female for them both.

Lyric's parents are not okay with her having two mates who are mountain lion shifters who'd like her to move to Ashland with them. Old wounds are exposed, and painful memories dredged up, but it's not Lyric, Elliott, and Evan's fight—it's their parents'. Can the blooming love between the wolf and mountain lion trio bring their two groups together, or will things be over before they start?

* * *