Chapter Sixty-Two

Drake.

Beau’s gaze shifted around the group of vampires to Drake. He followed his line of sight to the woods where he noticed something moving.

It was too upright to be another hellhound. The intelligent movement meant he was human-ish.

Waverly gripped Drake’s wrist from behind. “What is it?”

Drake tried to see where the person went, but he’d disappeared into the shadows. Waverly shrieked when Beau leaped over in one big jump. “Get the girls into the shelter.”

Drake wasted no time grabbing Waverly and looking around for Sarah. She was stone-like staring at the woods.

Drake grabbed her around the waist and carried both of them over to the shelter. It was covered in leaves and debris. He opened the door and gestured them both inside.

The darkness would scare them. He found a pull-string light and it brightened the small space. Two small freezers held stored blood and, luckily, some bottled water.

Drake turned to Waverly, placed both palms on her face, and looked into her frightened eyes. “You both stay here no matter what. They have your scents, but we’re putting guards around the place. Do not make any unnecessary noises. Whisper.”

He looked around the place, found an old wooden box, tore it into pieces, and handed them both a shard of wood. “Protect yourself and scream for me if someone does make it down here.”

Waverly grabbed his forearm. “Don’t leave us,” she whispered. “We can’t fight off some blood-crazed royal—”

Drake pressed a kiss to her mouth and rested his forehead against hers. “You’ll be fine, I promise. I can hear people above us. They are getting ready for whatever is about to hit us. We have extra help, and this has to end.”

Sarah reached over and pulled Waverly into her arms. “Go,” she whispered. “Please find Roderick.”

Drake wanted nothing more than to stop these bastards, save his brother, and move on with his life. “Stay here,” he repeated.

He watched her for several seconds before walking up the stairs and shutting the doors behind him. The yard was still considering the heartbeats he heard hammering around the place.

Several vampires and two wolves stood in the area of the storm cellar.

It helped Drake walk away from them more easily. He found Beau standing in the yard. “Any movement?” he asked.

Beau slowly shook his head. “No, but I sense something.”

“Royals?” Drake asked carefully. “Vampires?”

Beau nodded. “They’re waiting on something, but I don’t know what.”

Reid whistled softly from the front porch of their cabin. “They’re surrounding us,” he whispered, knowing they could hear him.

Beau motioned for everyone to get ready. Drake must have been off his game because he couldn’t hear anything other than Waverly’s heartbeat from the shelter. Maybe it was the bond telling him that there was danger nearing. To get back to his mate to protect her. Everything in his body screamed for him to go back, but he couldn’t. He’d brought this to this camp and needed to help end it.

Alistair walked over to the group of them, glancing over his shoulder at Drake’s mother. “Reid senses them surrounding us. I say we shift, and ready ourselves.”

Beau nodded. “I agree.”

Alistair looked at Reid, and within seconds, through what Drake assumed was a mind link, the wolves shifted.

It immediately made Drake feel better about their chances. Most of the wolves snarled and pawed at the ground, daring anyone to try them.

Beau cleared his throat. “The wolves can easily take them down, but it’ll be up to us to stake them.”

Drake stretched his fingers outward and then curled them into fists. The anticipation of the battle had him unable to keep still. He felt like a newly changed vampire. A low growl caught his attention from the opposite side of the yard.

One of the wolves arched his back and zeroed in on someone walking from the woods. It was Goninan. Drake felt his adrenaline spike at the sight of him. The calm way he walked toward the wolf like he wasn’t scared felt like nails being driven under his nails.

He stopped several feet away and looked right at Drake. “Well, here we are,” he chuckled. “This is quite a show you’ve put on for us,” he said, sliding his hands into his pockets. “I wish you would have just surrendered. It is a shame that so many of you will have to pay because Drake couldn’t turn in his little human toys.”

The silence in return made Goninan laugh. “No one has anything to say? I’m going to ruin my good slacks unless you surrender the girls. They know excessively much now, and I couldn’t go on living my life knowing they got away. It’s just not in my nature.”

“We’re not giving anyone to you,” Beau said before Drake could speak. “We suggest you leave but if not, we’re ready to defend the innocent.”

Goninan laughed loudly. “The innocent? Aren’t you sweet? You’re a vampire, Son. Not some vigilante sent out to save humans. Get over it. You could rule the world. Look what you’ve accomplished here. You’ve brought so many species and people together. Think about what you could do for the vampire community.”

Drake watched Beau swallow before he answered, “The vampire community is just fine, it’s the royals that could use a good ass whooping.”

Goninan smiled, and it was very devilish. “So be it. I’ve given you all a chance.”

He disappeared from his spot in the yard, passed the wolf, and into the woods. Drake felt a vibration against the ground and the growing sound of vampires.

Beau looked at Drake, and said aloud, “Brace yourselves.”

Within two seconds, the sound of an ambush thundered around them. Vampires came from every direction, some from the roofs, and every crevice of the camp.

Drake attempted to keep himself together, keep focused, and not go to Waverly. The rabid vampires were let loose first. They barreled out of the woods on all fours as they stepped into the zombie apocalypse.

Drake bent his knees, and jumped over one, turning in time to grab his arm and sling him against the building. His strength concaved a hole into the side of the cabin, but it didn’t stop him from rebounding upward.

Drake grabbed a piece of wood from the remains, broke it over his knee, and waited. The vampire’s technique wasn’t perfected. It was wild and meant to tire them out. Drake shoved the stake into his chest, the ashes floating around him like rain.

He glanced at the wolves and vampires teaming up to take down one vampire after another. Drake searched for his brother or his father, not seeing any of them.

Allister protected the cabin, keeping the vampires from overrunning Drake’s mother who fought two at once on the front porch.

A lone wolf to his right howled in pain. A vampire gripped his leg and began dragging him into the depths of the woods.

Drake ran over, knocking the vampire onto his back, startling him, and driving the stake into his heart. The wolf nudged his shoulder in a silent thank you. Drake stood to his feet slowly, his gaze traveling toward the shelter.

The guards were all fighting a swarm of vampires. They were drawn there because of the girls’ scent. Drake took a step when he heard his father’s voice behind him.

“Don’t leave so soon, Son. We have things to handle.”

Drake looked back over at his father’s smiling face.

He felt his mother’s stare from across the yard, but it didn’t deter him from facing off with his father. “I have no reason to spare you now,” Drake said. “Mom found her true mate.”

A brief flutter of emotion crossed his face. “A wolf?”

Drake didn’t give him a chance to ponder on it. He leaped into the air and tackled his father to the ground.

His father came to his senses and kicked him yards away. Drake stood to his feet, meeting Beau’s stare from across the yard. “The girls aren’t covered,” he whispered.

Beau held a crazed look in his eyes as he nodded, and raced toward the shelter.

Drake watched his father march across the space toward him.

It was time to finally end this.