34. Raul

34

RAUL

I marched towards my pack with my shoulders squared and my head held high. The wolf's presence made itself known by scent and exuding dominance. The low conversations trailed off as I approached, but they exchanged nervous glances with one another.

"Pack," I said, stopping a few feet in front of them. "You feel fear. I get it. And I'll be honest with you. I felt the same before I took on our former Alpha, Brad. I feared his retribution if I failed. I knew that if I didn't win, these three…" I pointed at my siblings. "They would have suffered the most if I had lost. You all know how he was." There were murmurs of assent and agreement, but the fear still permeated the air.

"I didn't fail!" I raise my voice letting it echo over them. "I beat him in honorable combat. I know what you're all thinking, why do I speak of the past when the threat before us is greater than any of us has faced in our lifetimes?

Well, here's your answer.

Tonight, we aren't fighting an oppressive Alpha, and it won't be one-on-one or honorable. We're facing our ancient enemy, a clan of undead motherfuckers. The kind of monsters that don't give a shit about the sacredness of life!

As far as they're concerned, anything with blood in its veins is food. Anything except us."

I was winning them over, one by one. The aura of fear and uncertainty was giving way to one of confidence. They were embracing their true nature. Hunters and protectors. I felt it happening as well as saw it. They were almost where I wanted them.

"If we lose, everything you see around you will be gone," I made a wide sweep with my arm to include all of our town and people. "All our people, everyone we've sworn to protect. Anyone who does survive will be forced to become nomads.

Dawson, our home, will become one huge, vampire's lair. Well, not now . Not on my watch. Let's hunt those sons of bitches down. Let's show them what the wolf is really capable of. For Dawson!" I cried out, thrusting both of my arms up.

As one, the pack's battle cry rose, filling the air, echoing back to us and bringing a smile to my face. A forest of arms rose, tearing any notion of doubt to shreds. Fear didn't dwell in them any longer. In its stead, there was a fierce determination to defend everything they held dear. The sounds of the many transformations followed our echoing battle cry. In a matter of seconds, the Dawson pack cleared the parking lot and headed into the woods. The hunt was on.

Ready to write history, I charged past the border of the woods. Sammy's white wolf and Ray's dark-brown on my flanks, I focused on the trunks up ahead. My mind traveled back to Louisville, remembering the smells, sensations and feelings as I galloped across the forest floor.

Five seconds later, I discovered how unnecessary that was. The stench of death filled the air with a disgusting, cloying odor. That foul smell hovered above us, causing some to snarl in protest. Letting out a nasty bark, I quickened my strides and put distance between me and Sammy. Fifty yards ahead beckoned a gap between a balsam fir and an elm tree.

Bursting through it, I reached a clearing. My gaze landed on my targets. They were spread out over the clearing, kneeling in the tall grass. Dorian's clan was watching my pack, but I wanted him.

I scanned their ranks until I found him. He was near the middle, standing a little to the left. The deep scar on his cheek was illuminated by the moonlight. At the sight of him, ferocity grew three-fold within me. I raised my upper lip and exposed my canines, without slowing my pace. Paws flattening the fresh grass, I closed the distance between us.

"Come on, you fool!" He cajoled, flashing a devilish smirk and spreading his arms wide. "Come feel the cold embrace of death!"

I growled and used my back legs to propel myself towards him. With a lunge, I leaped through the air, intent on clamping my jaws around his neck. The vampire's speed kicked in and saved him from my slathering maw.

A powerful jab to my ribs disrupted my flight. Knuckles smashed into my body, sending me flying to the left. A yip of pain left me as I tumbled midair.. I hit the ground and rolled. Around me, the noise of screams, growls and bodies crashing together was deafening. Many of my comrades had literally crashed into their foes and forced them to the ground. I quickly rolled over and got back to my feet, but not quick enough.

Damian's superior speed became apparent the moment I gained my feet. His body blurred as he rushed closer, clenching his fists, the moonlight reflecting off of his leather jacket. Throwing his arms down, he rotated them in mid-air. The simultaneous hit on either side of my ribcage caused an unbelievable level of pain that caused stars to dance in my vision. I yelped and jerked my head back, pointing my mouth to the sky.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Helena's red glow coming from behind me. By the time I looked in her direction, the light had engulfed me. Holding her cloak out in front of her, she glared at my rival with gritted teeth. I realized what she had in mind, only this time, I wasn't going to accept her help.

A harsh glare and a yip of complaint were all it took. She disappeared into the dark, in the same way she had shown herself. I threw my head forward and thrust my snout down. Damian attempted to punch me again but I dodged. Instead of my head, his fist slashed through air inches above my fur. I closed my jaws around his left ankle and with a violent, backward jerk dropped him to the ground in a heap.

My fangs pierced through the fabric of his jeans. I targeted his speed, intent on leveling the playing field. My teeth ground against cold skin as my canines dug in, met with the resistance I remembered from the previous fight.

I bit through ice-cold blood and tissues, Damian's mouth shot open wide. His palms clenched the dirt first and then reached forward in an attempt to get me off of him. It wasn't going to happen.

His fingertips stopped short, three inches from my snout, and my teeth plunged into him. When my fangs met, I jerked my snout right and left. One thrash didn't do the trick. Neither did two. At the third, I heard the double, almost simultaneous crack of his bones. A sharp crackle afterwards, and foot and ankle were severed from the leg. His icy cold blood shimmered in the moonlight.

Before I could do anything else there were two, even louder, cries of pain. I glanced up and saw that Sam and Ray's wolves had latched onto Damian's arms just above the shoulders. They chomped hard and pulled them up over his head. I stepped up and onto him until my face was right over his.

As I felt the cool leather of his jacket underneath my paws, I went straight for the throat. My jaws closed around his Adam's apple, locking together with deadly purpose until his screams faded into nothingness.

Silenced and incapacitated, he could do nothing but surrender to his fate. One of his minions flew overhead in a red bubble, as I bit down harder. Chunks of glass-like skin broke off his neck. I shook him to the left, eager to hear the beautiful sound of finality.

It filled my ears on the second attempt. The crack went past his Adam's apple and reached the other side of his neck. A feral snarl flew out of me as I brought his miserable life to an end. Damian's head rolled across the ground as I jumped off his carcass. Just like the one I'd killed before.

The battle continued to rage around me. The vampires were using bursts of speed and attempting to get closer to my fellow shifters. If they could grab hold of any shifter, they would be in trouble. Sammy was caught between two of them nearby. I bounded towards him, ready to even the odds in his favor.

Four strides into my run, Ray's brown form leapt over our brother, his front paws smashing into one of our rival's jaws. I missed a severed arm in my path and stumbled, but Ray had saved Sam.

I scanned the clearing to assess the battle. Further down, Helena was proving her worth. She had two vampires pinned against the trunk of a cedar tree. As I watched, she tossed her staff aside and extended her arms with her palms facing upward. Her voice was overshadowed by barks and hisses, but two fireballs sprang from her palms and hovered there.

Throwing her arms forward, she unleashed her deathtrap. Fireballs struck the vampires' bodies. In an instant the fire spread up and down, engulfing our foes. As the fire continued upwards, it lit the tree too, sending lush light across the clearing.

The war wasn't over yet, a point I realized in the next moment when a tremendous amount of force smashed into my right side, knocking me off my feet. I rolled over and over in the dirt. One second looking up at the stars then the next blackness, over and over.

In my crazy course I caught a glimpse of my rival's fangs. Beams of moonlight brought out the brilliant white of the canine on the left side of his mouth, leaving the rest of his teeth in the shadow. When I stopped tumbling, I was on my back lying on top of my opponent.

" Ten seconds are enough for a vampire to shatter your ribs."

Helena's words echoed in my thoughts as his arms rose on either side of me. I flexed every muscle in my back as his palm came down on the right side of my chest. I leapt up and off. Landing to one side, I whirled and rushed him.

A few feet away Sam chased another vampire who was running away. I growled at my opponent and leapt up, clamping my jaws around his head even as it dawned on me that we were winning. The vampires superior speed had vanished. It was clear that they had exhausted their power and were getting tired. That had shifted the battle in our favor.

Adjusting my jaws around his head, I watched out for my enemy's hands. Swinging upwards, they tried to grab on as his legs thrashed. I scraped my teeth up his cheeks until I reached his temples.

His hands landed on either of my shoulders, but I knew I couldn't back down. He might be strong, and he could definitely do a lot of damage, but I had the upper hand. My fangs pierced through his skull.

I felt his power clamping onto the bones of my shoulders, like he was trying to squash them. It was too little, too late as I bit down with all my might. The thrusting of his legs ceased and his grip loosened as his hands dropped to the ground.

Holding half of his head in my jaws, the wolf savored the sound of another skull being crushed. His hair brushed the back of my throat before I opened my mouth to get rid of the remains of one more bloodsucker.

I turned and watched my brothers tear apart one of the few remaining foes. The scene was of devastation in all directions. Dozens of bodies and body parts lay scattered across the clearing.

Arms, legs and heads crushed the grass beneath them, frozen blood on their edges glimmering in the moonlight. Amongst them, lay the bodies of some of my pack. I spotted Collins' and Stones' amber and gray coats as the last dreadful hisses of the vampires were silenced, once and for all.

Two, frenetic yips from my brothers confirmed our victory. Our eyes met across the clearing, and they offered me the chance to announce our victory to the entire valley. I charged forward, paws striking the cold flesh of our fallen enemies.

I sprinted past Sam's wolf, heading for higher ground. Hopping on top of it, I threw my head back and howled in victory. Tremendous and proud, it resonated throughout the valley as my packs' howls joined in. Echo upon echo lingered in the air as I relished the moment.

The pack of Dawson, my pack, had emerged victoriously from the most vicious battle of our whole lives.