Juan’s blood-curdling, husky voice comes at us from the far corner. By the huge four-poster bed, I am drawn to the figure sprawled out like a lording king in his domain. He doesn’t seem fazed at all by us. He’s sprawled out, one arm propped under his chin, so he’s semi-sat up. His glowing amber eyes are coming at us from the darkness of this room, and I wonder why they have no lights or power in the manor. If this is to cloak them and give an advantage or if there’s something wrong with the electrics up here.
“You were expecting us?” Radar bites back with a sarcastic laugh, moving to the front of our party and putting himself directly in front of Sierra in a protective manner. That cocky confidence on show of a seasoned warrior ready to go at it in a blink.
“I was expecting my son, but his bitch, and his mother are fine by me. Guess I have to deal with you first.” Juan laughs, and the sound is manic, blood-curdling, unlike the man I remember. He seems to have changed drastically since the last time I laid eyes on him, and I wonder if he has lost all sense of sanity in recent months. His eyes are wild and burn with something terrifying in the depths. I shudder and break contact with him, looking across at Sierra, who is locked on in a death glare and has no intention of relinquishing.
“All these years haven’t been kind to you, Juan. You look old and worn and have lost any alpha energy you once possessed. You’re a sad old wolf with hopes of grandeur and zero ability. Give it up before you hurt yourself!” Sierra’s words cut through the air like a knife, dripping venom, but Juan laughs at her with a throaty cackle.
The air in here is stale and sparks with heightened tension. A feeling in this place of unease, I shift closer to Carmen, who is beside me. She grabs my hand and yanks me to her side before clawing up and fully encompassing my fingers like a shield. She is making it clear she isn’t going to let me go and that Sierra is trying to stoke the embers of a fiery fight.
“Maybe like you, I should have slept a decade away and left my son to fend for himself, huh?” he smirks at his own words, and I catch a glimpse of Sierra shifting forward before Radar steps in front of her and pushes her behind him once more. Her anger is flaring, and she is losing her sense as despisal fuels her.
“We’re here to take you outside. The Vampire lord wants to see you. You can either come easily, or we can do this the hard way. I have no doubt you won’t be the victorious one in this.” Radar moves closer to him to shorten the space between them and leave Sierra where she stands. I flinch, eyeing up the other wolves in this room. All eyes homed in on us, yet they don’t move. Seemingly uncaring about trying to. I nudge Carmen to eye them up too, and as she scans the rest of the space, she furrows her brow at the lack of motion from his so-called loyal. I knew he would have some here, but I expected some attempt to shield their alpha.
“Try. You think I didn’t expect this?” Juan laughs again, that mighty and snarly sound as though he has some great superior secret. His cackle curdles my blood, and I start to sweat with this invading nervous energy that tells me to be alert. The inner powers inside of me are swirling because I’m afraid.
My guards move out from our circle of protection, linking to Radar for direction, and I watch as they move towards the figures around the room, preparing for them to intervene while Radar and another wolf head right for Juan. A tactical move to position themselves between themselves and their Luna and Rema. I don’t understand why this seems so easy, why he’s so smug, or why his protectors are motionless and watching. It’s all a little too simple.
“Wait. I don’t like this.” I strut forward fast and grab Radar’s arm from behind, yanking myself free from Carmen. The witch, however, seems irritated with the pause and waves her hands in the air with a huge sigh.
“Oh, for god’s sake, Juan, whatever trick you have planned, get on with it so we can move and get home before dawn. This is tiring.” She walks brazenly towards him, pushing from between us easily, like we’re made of paper, and his eyes narrow as he focuses on her face. Instant recognition lighting him up, now his attention is on this dark-cloaked figure standing behind us.
“So much for being neutral to the species, Leyanne. Long time no see. Are you going to make this an unfair fight by intervening with your powers? There’s no fun in that, and I thought it was against your rules, your highness.” He mocks her, and she only shrugs with one shoulder as though she expected him to say something so juvenile. I, however, squint at what he just addressed her as.
Highness?
“Not if I don’t have to, but at the end of the day, preserving a species sometimes needs a little intervention. My goal has never changed. I will always be neutral but never inactive when keeping this world in check and balance. Your species needs to be rid of toxic influences to thrive. Don’t call me that anymore. It’s been long since I resigned from the high council.” Leyanne shuts him down with a bored tone and haughty response as she adjusts her outer robes. She means business and walks confidently towards him, with no fear of anything he can do because I truly believe she is above being harmed by any creature on this planet. She’s unlike any witch I have ever heard of, and her constant, unwavering calm tells me she knows she is invincible.
I have heard of the high council; it’s known to be a collection of the most powerful species and exists to keep us all in check. I find it strangely unsurprising that she was once one of them, but I wonder why she isn’t anymore.
“Hmmm….. shame you’re immortal. It would make my day to see you, of all people, fall at my feet. The great and powerful Leyanne Cruden, a deserter of her position and back turner of her sisterhood. So high and mighty, yet so self-absorbed and alone…… Now we're all gathered here…. Do you want my presents? Let’s make things fun!” He shifts up from his lounging position, having no effect on her, and all around, minus me, instantly shifts to wolf form from the threat in his tone. They all sense the incoming danger, and I recoil behind Sierra automatically, shielding my abdomen with the gut feeling this is about to go off. Leyanne, on the other hand, brushes her hair from one shoulder and gives another disinterested shrug.
“I didn’t know you knew the meaning of the word fun, Juan…. Also, you’re too selfish for gift-giving. So, what is it?” Leyanne mocks him right back.
“I knew I could never take out any that came for me, so I prepared a parting sentiment. I just expected it to be a gift for my son, yet the coward doesn’t even show face to his father…HAH….. This is an end to all of this, but my bitch mate will have to do instead. She always did put herself in front of children anyway. One life takes four, right?” Juan snaps sudden anger in his sardonic tone and jumps up, clutching something in his hand. Something dark and clunky, as he springs to his feet, suddenly virile. Still the only wolf apart from me in human form, and it happens so fast it’s like a blink. I don’t get a second to think or take in his sudden shift.
The unmistakable click and pop that, despite never hearing in life, I know instantly what it is. It seems unreal, yet it flips my heart inside out, and I lurch with fright as it dawns on me that it’s the noise of something firing. The object in his hand is smoking, his eyes glare bright and amber with disdain, and I’m transfixed on what he’s holding. Everything around me halts instantly as time ceases to progress, and I’m focused only on what he just did.
The long, cold, and terrifying silhouette of a pistol gripped in his large hand, the scent of silver and wolfsbane permeating the air around me as everything moves in slow motion. I watch in despair as a bullet takes a slow flight through the shadowy air and careful aim right at the forehead of Sierra. She’s leaping through towards him, right in its path of destruction, everything frozen in a moment of time suddenly, and I have no idea why. Somehow, it’s as though only I can see this happening without the restraint of my actions, and all those around me have become almost still as seconds slow to minutes.
All I know is that I’m seeing it this way, the descent of death upon Sierra, the slow-motion movements of my entire guard as they fly for targets and the looming figure of that snarling and smug Juan before me. I lift my hands impulsively, shocked that I can move freely and normally. An orb of translucent energy forms around my fists as instinct takes over. My weapon of destruction and the only thing I have within me to protect my Rema. I lift my fists above my head and throw everything I have at that bullet, that lingering shrapnel of evil hanging between him and her.