Chapter Sixty-Four

Drake.

He ran full speed at his father.

It was time to finish this once and for all. He couldn’t focus on anyone other than the man who betrayed his entire family over and over.

How could he do the things he did with no conscious?

For a brief moment, as he was flying backward away from his father, he wondered about the look of shock on his face when he told him about his mother’s mate.

It told him there was something left inside of him other than a power-hungry vampire, but Drake wasn’t sure how far down it was anymore. It wasn’t worth saving, or his father wouldn’t be attempting to kill him.

His father jumped from his spot, and landed behind Drake, kicking him in the back. Drake attempted to keep his mind from wandering to Waverly. When he caught a glance, he noticed the shelter door was open.

Had a vampire got inside? He couldn’t focus long enough to see who guarded it. His father threw a right hook at him, missing by inches as Drake tossed him down to the ground.

“Where is Roderick?” he asked.

His father only smiled, pacing in a semi-circle in front of Drake, almost in a dance, while he watched Drake like the predator Drake knew he was.

“Miss your brother, Drake?” he asked. “You’ve been dragging him down for so long. I hope he never comes back,” he said.

Drake’s vision blurred with red. Unless his father was lying, that meant Roderick was alive. It lessened the weight on his shoulders.

His father dropped to the ground and swiped Drake off his feet. Before he could get up, his father leaped on top of him and lifted his fist. Drake expected him to punch a hole through his chest, and end him right then and there, but a wolf knocked him off.

Drake stood up, seeing Alistar and his father square off. Adrenaline coursed through him. Alistar gave him a side eye, asking permission to fight. The jealous side of him wanted to be the one to kill his father for everything he did. He wanted to see him hurt for hurting him and their family.

For tossing them to the royals, and not caring about Waverly or Sarah.

However, he needed to get to the girls. Drake glanced at his mother fighting a female vampire, and nodded at Alistar, giving him the go-ahead.

Alistar was bigger than his father, but Drake knew his father would give him a run for his money. Drake raced over to the shelter, hearing Alistar howl before wrestling his father to the ground.

Drake darted through fighting vampires to the shelter. The closer he got he realized no one guarded them. Had someone got them? Were they okay? He tried to reach out through their bond to see but his head was too foggy.

He was scared and unable to find her heartbeat.

Drake raced down the stairs and found both of the girls on the floor. The smell of a vampire and wolf hung in the stale air of the shelter.

Sarah stood up, helping Waverly to her feet. “A wolf killed the vampire that tried to take us. He pulled Waverly’s shoulder out of the socket."

He sighed in relief and pulled Waverly closer by the back of her neck. He kissed her forehead and then her face until Waverly was crying in liberation against him.

Sarah wrapped her hand around her elbow. “Is it over?”

Drake pulled back and shook his head. “No. I just needed to make sure you were alright. Stay here—,”

“No,” Waverly yelled, shaking her head. “We’re scared, Drake. I tried to kill the vampire but I didn’t get the stake in far enough.”

Drake saw the fear on both of their faces, but he couldn’t stay with them. “I need you both to be brave—,”

A shadow formed behind him, and he glanced over his shoulder at Goninan standing at the top of the stairs. Drake felt Waverly stiffen in his arms.

“Cowering, are we?”

Drake whispered to Waverly, “Go sit in the corner, grab your stake.”

Goninan laughed as both girls took a spot next to the freezers. Goninan stepped down casually toward Drake. The elegance in his steps made him look less harmful but Drake knew he was powerful and fast.

The older you grew the stronger you became. Goninan was old. Drake wasn’t that old. Part of him wanted to go finish off his father and leave Goninan to several vampires at once. He figured it would take that many to kill him, but he had to give it his best shot.

Drake looked at Waverly, in case he didn’t make it out of this fight. He hoped she saw the love in his eyes. He didn’t dare say it and bring his fears into existence.

“You wish,” Drake said, looking back at Goninan.

Goninan looked at the girls and winked. “It was smart for your little friend to bring in the wolves. I can’t say I wasn’t shocked. I don’t like the dirty dogs, but they are good fighters apparently, most of my army is gone. They have a leg up,” he chuckled at his joke. “Beau … could do so much with his leadership skills. I hate that he’s wasting it here but,” he said, lifting his arms, “what can you do?”

Drake waited for him to make a move. His ease and nonchalance put him on edge. “Don’t worry,” Goninan said. “I’m not going to fight you in here. I’d like to have my space to finish you off. Come on. Let’s let the girls hide in vain. They’re going to die today regardless.”

Goninan walked up the stairs and waited for Drake.

“Don’t go,” Waverly whispered behind him. “Please stay.”

Drake shook his head without looking back. “Stay here. Don’t leave. Scream at the top of your lungs if someone comes in here. I can’t feel you out there. There is too much going on. Scream my name, please.”

Drake imagined her bottom lip trembling in fear, but he took her silence as compliance and left.

Goninan waited at the top as he promised. The fighting had decreased, but bodies littered the campground. Drake didn’t look around to see who had made it and who hadn’t.

He watched Goninan watch him with a sinister smile on his face. “Your father is dead,” he said bluntly. “That big dog got him. I’m assuming you’re not too sad about it, but I am. He had a good chance at becoming the next me, but I assume you also do not care about that.”

“You assumed right.”

Drake felt a weight slide off his shoulders, and break into pieces at his feet. Goninan was waiting on something but Drake didn’t want to give him a chance to pounce, so he did first.

He leaped forward, missing Goninan as he maneuvered around him. “You’ll never kill me,” Goninan said. “You may get away but I can’t die.”

Drake launched forward and took him to the ground. His psychotic laugh echoed in Drake’s ears, but Drake couldn’t see anything other than the chance to kill him. More fighting began behind him, but he didn’t look.

He grabbed Goninan’s neck and slammed his head into the rocks beneath him until Goninan kicked him off. Drake slid against the gravel to stop himself and braced for his attack.

Goninan smoothed his palms over his hair, and his gaze moved behind Drake. He followed his line of sight to the wolf pack standing behind him, with the vampires from the camp.

Goninan looked unbothered, but Drake could see the fear in the corners of his eyes.

“Let me,” he heard a voice behind him.

He glanced at Reid who had shifted. “The pack can take him down.”

Goninan laughed in a hysterical joker-ish way, while Drake gave him the go-ahead. The wolf pack swarmed him, chasing him as he darted off into the distance like a madman.

Drake listened as Goninan’s laugh turned into a scream. Reid’s palm touched Drake’s shoulder. “Are you okay? What about the girls?”

“They’re fine,” Drake said. “Your father? My mother?”

“Also fine,” he said, gesturing his head toward the cabin. They both stood there together, Alistar seemed to comfort her, and Drake sighed in relief.

“Is my dad really dead?”

“Yes.”

“Did they find my brother?”

Reid frowned. “No.”

Drake felt dread fill him like cement. “I have to find him,” he said out loud.

Reid nodded. “We’ve got the girls. Go find your brother.”

Drake looked out at the dead vampires and wolves on the ground. Reid shook his head. "Don't look, just go. We'll take care of everything here."

Drake swallowed his shame and raced into the woods to find Roderick. He prayed he found him in one piece.