GRAYSON
THE NIGHT OF THE VAMPIRE
ATTACK…
Leaving Belle n*ked and disappointed in my bed was the hardest thing that I had ever done in my life. My wolf was beyond pissed. He wouldn’t stop growling in my head, sending me mental images of Belle’s beautiful, sad face as she lay nearly n*ked in a sheet, watching us leave.
I growled loudly. She deserves better than
this.
I made my way to the edge of my territory, frowning when I saw Kyle and some of my pack warriors standing around doing nothing.
“What the f*ck is going on?” I snapped as I approached them. They all turned and immediately fell to their knees and bared
their n*ecks to me.
“Kyle,” I said. “Come here.”
Kyle stood and approached me slowly, obviously sensing my touchy mood.
“I thought you said this was an emergency,” I said when he was in front of me. “What’s going on here? You said there were vampires on the territory.”
Kyle opened his mouth to speak but then paused. He slowly raised his nose to the
air and sniffed.
“Whoa!” he said as a knowing smile formed on his l*ps and he covered his nose. “Interrupted something, didn’t I?”
I crossed my arms over my chest and growled. I didn’t have time for his games right now—not when my mate was alone in my bed during her first night here.
“What the hell are you talking about, Kyle?”
Kyle chuckled and shook his head in amusement. “I hate to tell you this, Alpha, but you’re giving off some serious alpha–male mating pheromones right now.” He wiggled his eyebrows. “You and Luna were having a little fun, huh?”
My wolf surged forward in my mind, immediately bristling with anger. He tried to take control, wanting to remind Kyle of his place and who Belle was to him.
“Kyle,” I growled as I tried to rein in my wolf. “I suggest you change the subject to why you mind–linked me here. “Otherwise I think you might just find out how angry an alpha male who’s giving off mating pheromones but was just taken away from his mate for seemingly no reason can be.”
Kyle swallowed hard.
“Yes, Alpha,” he said quickly, nodding his head. “Uh, Beta Adalee is scanning the territory to see how many vampires
are out there. We don’t think they’re aware that we know about them yet.”
I nodded. I was the fastest in the pack, but Adalee was fast and quiet, making her the best for scouting out sticky situations.
“How long ago did she leave?” I asked.
“I’m right here,” someone called from behind us.
Kyle and I both turned to see Adalee coming out of the woods nearby. She approached us with a serious look on her face. “There are ten vampires scattered across the territory.”
I growled. What the f*ck were vampires doing in my territory?
No creatures–not even werewolf rogues —had been foolish enough to break into my pack in years. My pack had too many members for anyb*dy to get through unseen and uninjured.
These vampires were about to learn that. “What are they doing?” I asked.
Adalee shrugged. “I don’t know. They’re just standing around.”
“You mean they’re not doing anything? Do they have any weapons?” Kyle asked.
Adalee shook her head. “No. No weapons… Nothing. They’re seriously just standing there like a bunch of
robots.”
“Something is off,” Kyle said. “I don’t like this.”
“Me neither,” I said. “No weapons will make our lives easier, but I don’t want anyb*dy letting their guard down. Something is definitely wrong.”
I looked around at my warriors–around thirty of them, standing proud and strong, all awaiting my orders. “Hopefully, this will go over with no problems.” I looked at Kyle. “You know what to do.”
Kyle nodded and bowed his head slightly. “Yes, Alpha.”
He walked over to the warriors and began giving them orders. I had been through enough battles with Kyle to know that I didn’t even need to tell him what to do.
Kyle was a natural leader. He knew how to give orders but still be personal with my warriors.
There was no one I trusted more in my pack, which was why I’d made him the leader of the pack warriors. I watched as they listened to Kyle intently and then shifted into their wolves, preparing to put all of their training to good use.
I was about to shift and join them and lead the fight when I made eye contact with Adalee. She had an amused look on her face, with her eyebrows raised and her hand covering her nose.
I rolled my eyes and growled softly. “I
don’t want to hear it,” I said, knowing she was referring to my smell. “Kyle already told me. Just breathe through your mouth.”
Adalee nodded and laughed. “You got it, Alpha,” she said. Then she turned to me fully and her eyes went a shade darker with the presence of her wolf.
“You know, I’m really, really glad that you’ve met your mate, Alpha.” A strange look passed over her face as her l*ps formed into a smirk. “It’s going to make things a whole lot easier around here.”
I raised an eyebrow at her. Odd thing to say. “Right…,” I said. “I’m glad too.”
She smiled wider and nodded. “Better get going. The warriors are going to need their big strong alpha to help lead them.”
She winked at me and then, without warning or waiting, shifted into her wolf and ran into the woods without us.
Odd thing to do, I thought dismissively.
***
We were prepared for an intense battle with the vampires. In fact, my warriors
-who’d been training for
years without being able to use their skills–even
seemed excited for a fight.
But we didn’t get one.
The vampires allowed us to chase them off the territory without any resistance. Like some sort of game. We chased them for a while, then they slowed down and let us get really close to catching them before speeding up again.
Zigzagging and changing directions, they had us running in circles like we were playing tag.
We continued like this for longer than I’d like to admit, vampires being naturally faster than werewolves. We could keep
up with them, but it would’ve taken the fastest in the pack to catch one.
And usually that wasn’t necessary, as vampires liked getting right to the juicy part and attacking–battling it out until there was a winner.
What was happening now was strange. Vampires weren’t known for being cowards. They didn’t just run away from a fight. What they were doing made no sense at all. And it was pissing me off.
I wanted to get back to Belle. I had told her I’d be back before she fell asleep. All I wanted to do was hold her and watch her cute little face relax as her breathing evened out.
She always did this thing where she would nuzzle into my chest and let out a contented sigh right before she fell asleep. I’d hold her tighter and smile every time.
It was my favorite part of the night. I loved her with everything I had in me. God, I wish I was with her right now.
Thankfully, the vampires eventually seemed to get tired, fleeing the territory all at once as if having decided telepathically that they’d had enough.
Kyle and I stopped next to each other and shifted. We put on the shorts that were tied to our ankles by elastic bands. We looked at each other in confusion.
“What the actual f*ck?” Kyle asked, saying exactly what was on my mind.
I shook my head. “I have no idea. Are they all gone?”
Kyle paused and his eyes went gray as he mind–linked with the other warriors who were likely scattered across the rest of the territory. I tuned in, listening to what the other warriors had experienced.
Kyle nodded when his eyes opened a few seconds later. “The same thing happened to all of them. They’ve all been driven off our territory.”
“We’re not going to let our guard down,” I said. “I want wolves posted around every section of our territory, all night. There’s something more going on. It cannot have been that simple.”
“I agree,” Kyle replied.
I looked back toward the pack house longingly, desperately wishing that I was with Belle. I knew now that I wouldn’t be able to spend the night with her. I needed to stay out here and keep my pack safe.
“Why don’t you go ahead and go back to the pack house, Alpha?” Kyle said, watching me. “I can take care of this. It’s what I was trained for.”
I shook my head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”
I sighed as I imagined Belle waiting up for me, wondering where I was, worrying about me, alone on her first night here.
She was probably wet from just getting out of the shower, her chocolate–brown hair splayed out all over my pillow.
I imagined her wearing only my shirt and my boxers, with–oh God–her beautiful long legs out on display. I knew that the minute I joined her in bed, one of those beautiful legs would be thrown over my waist like always as she snuggled into my chest.
I would pull her closer so that she was basically on top of me, then begin to run my hand up and down her back and play with her gorgeous, silky hair.
I could already feel the sparks dancing along my skin. God, I miss her.
“Okay,” Kyle said, clearing his throat loudly.
“I’m about to suffocate from your mating pheromones. Go back to your mate, Alpha. I promise you that I am more than capable of handling a few vampires who aren’t even in our territory anymore.”
I looked at Kyle, then back at the pack house, then back at Kyle once again.
“You’re sure you can handle it?” I asked.
“Positive,” he confirmed.
I sighed heavily. “Okay,” I ran a hand through my hair and began to walk back to the pack house. “Try not to bug me for the rest of the night,” I joked. “And I mean, if you do, I want multiple people on fire.”
Kyle laughed. “You got it, Alpha. Say hi to Luna for me.”
And then he ran off into the night.