Ties to the Blood Moon 2nd Edition (31 page)

More Lycans appeared from deeper in the woods and surrounded us. I wasn’t sure how to react. As an Adlet I was just getting comfortable in my skin. Now, I wasn’t sure.

Luna and the twins arrived, leaping from the thick underbrush. Joshua and James tore through Lycans like two massive tornados, working like a tag team, biting, ripping, and tearing apart their prey.

I felt the cacophony of hearts beating in my head. The thick smell of flesh and fresh blood filled the air around me.

Luna’s screams quickly pulled me back to reality. I turned around and found two Lycans pinning her down. I went nuts, snatching both beasts into the air, biting into their flesh, then ripping their heads off. I threw their lifeless carcasses to the ground. I really don’t remember too much about what the others did after that moment. Once I tasted blood, I was no longer in control. Something inside me took over and I went through the Lycans like a Tasmanian devil, biting and ripping out their throats.

The battle ended quickly. William was shaking me, because my adrenaline still surged through my body. “Genevieve. It’s okay. You can stop now, they’re dead.”

I kind of shook my head to clear it, and noticed a strange look on William’s face. He let it fall away quickly when Joseph walked over and shook his hand and gave him a one shoulder hug. For a brief moment I thought I was dreaming.

“Thanks, Gen,” Luna said, hugging me tightly, and smiling. “You saved my ass, girl.”

Chapter 51

It was nearing midnight and I noticed the night sky was the darkest I’d seen so far. Luna said the nights would continue to grow longer and darker until winter, when there wouldn’t be any more daylight until spring. She told me even though she’d lived in Alaska her whole life, months of nothing but darkness still took getting used to each year.

We walked a few steps ahead of the guys after exiting the woods. They wanted us up front in case the Lycans decided to attempt a sneak attack from behind. Something in the sky caught my attention, and when I glanced up I noticed the stunning green and red lights of the aurora borealis waving through the sky. It reminded me of the first night William and I were together at the bonfire, and busted out with a huge smile.

“This is really cool, you know,” Luna said, smiling.

“What is?” I asked earnestly. She couldn’t be talking about the northern lights because she wasn’t looking up.

“Up until an hour ago everybody was on edge, my brothers hated William’s guts, and I thought our friendship was over. Now, look at the guys,” she said, and we both looked over our shoulders.

All four guys talked about how, together, they had put a major hurt on the Lycans. I was surprised when I heard James give Luna and myself credit for helping.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m ready to take on more,” Joseph said, then briefly threw his arm around William’s shoulder. “Me and William kicked Lycan ass!”

Of course, that started a major testosterone debate on which one had killed the most Lycans. It was actually quite comical to watch until suddenly a terrifying vision shot through my mind.

“Hey, you guys,” I uttered, after stopping in the middle of the road and grabbing both sides of my head. I fell to my knees when my vision blurred.

“Genevieve!” William rushed to my side and pulled me to my feet.

I was weak and unable to speak even though I could hear everything going on around me. “He’s hurting her … he’s hurting my mom,” screaming, I grabbed two fistfuls of William’s shirt.

“Talk to me, baby.” William wrapped his arms tightly around me, trying to comfort me. I heard someone’s heart speed up and beat much louder than the other’s and I knew it was Joseph. Unfortunately, if I could hear it, William could, too. So I quickly got William to focus his attention on me.

“I’ve got to get to Tok,” I said, pulling free. “I’ve got to save my mom.” I bolted toward the house before anybody had time to speak. The rise in multiple heartbeats told me everybody chased after me.

When I reached the house, I ripped open the locked garage door. All I wanted to do was jump in my aunt’s truck and go find my mom.

“Wait, Genevieve. You can’t just run off and go down there,” William said, slamming me up against the wall.

As everything faded to white, I heard an unfamiliar growl. It sounded more ferocious than anything I had ever heard. When I could see again, I thought I was in some kind of weird nightmare. Everything around me was moving in slow motion again, then my vision quickly faded to black.

I woke up in the garage floor with my head in William’s lap. Everyone stood in a circle around me and William. And they had strange expressions on their faces as they stared down at us. “What happened?” I asked, trying to scramble to my feet. Luna gave me a hand up, and Joseph did the same for William.

“You screamed and then passed out,” William said, but I knew he wasn’t telling me everything.

“I need to go to Tok. My mom was screaming for me. Zane was hurting her,” I said frantically.

“You’re doing exactly what Zane wants you to do. It’s a trap,” William said, not unkindly. “James and Joshua are going to run down there and check it out. They know the town, they know where the cave is, and since they’re natives, they can move around freely when they get there without raising suspicion.

I knew he was right, but that realization didn’t make it hurt any less. I grabbed his upper arms, searching his eyes. “What if she dies and I didn’t try to save her?” I asked.

“That’s all he would tell me. I had to beg to get that much, but at least we know your mom won’t die by Zane’s hands. He knew I would tell you, that’s why he didn’t say more. He said no one can interfere with your destiny.”

I dropped my shoulders, feeling defeated. I had to trust him. I needed to believe what he was saying was true. I didn’t think Joseph would ever lie to me.

I quickly told the twins everything I’d learned about the cave in Tok, and made them swear to call as soon as they learned anything.

James and Joshua jumped in their truck and sped out of the driveway. William made sure he told me how he felt that it was a waste of time, because he just knew Zane wouldn’t be there.

Luna followed me into the kitchen while William and Joseph stepped out onto the deck. Although I was happy to see they weren’t at each other’s throats, I wasn’t sure just how well I liked their new found friendship either.

I sat down at the kitchen table and scooted my chair next to Luna. She was staring into space and jerked slightly when I spoke. “Did you see what happened in the garage?” I asked pulling up my knees, and wrapping my arms around them.

Luna chewed at the inside of her lip when she peered at me, tilting her head. “Huh? When we got there you were on the floor. William said you just took a few steps and passed out.”

“Oh, okay. I was just wondering because I don’t remember.” The truth was I did remember most of it. When I heard the growling, I thought maybe it was Joseph thinking that William was hurting me. Something very weird was happening and I intended to get to the bottom of it.

Waiting on them to come in, and Luna off in a daze, gave me time to think. The realization of needing an actual plan had set in and was weighing heavily on my mind. A pit in the bottom of my stomach ached terribly at the thought of losing my family. Whatever we were going to do we needed to do it soon. Zane wasn’t going to sit idly by and just wait for me to show up. His patience would eventually wear thin, and he might just kill them both.

I sensed Luna was taking sidelong glances at me, which told me she wasn’t sure how she felt about the new me. Hell, I didn’t even know how I felt about the new me. One thing I did know was I couldn’t sit around and wait to hear about my mom’s fate. I stood and headed for the doorway.

“Where are you going?” Luna asked, and started to stand up.

“I’m going to grab a quick shower. William didn’t tell you to hold my hand in the shower too, did he? Because it would like, seriously make it hard for me to wash my hair one-handed.” I informed dryly.

“Uh …” Luna trailed off, embarrassed and blushing.

My heartbeat started to rise, which wasn’t good, so I sang the alphabet song in my head. William and I were in tune with each other because he was the one who turned me. I knew if I was going to be successful at sneaking away I had to focus on keeping it slow and steady. If not, he would realize I was up to something and be waiting to stop me before I got out of the driveway.

I turned on the shower water and quietly slipped back out of the bathroom. Another good quality I had obtained when I turned was the ability to walk without making a sound. Well, for the most part anyway. I was still working on mastering my new found vampire skills.

I stepped lightly across my bedroom floor to the window facing the street. I couldn’t go out the back window, which was the easiest way, because it sat right over the deck where William and Joseph were.

When I slid the window open and stuck my head out, I made the mistake of looking down and my heart jumped. “Damn it,” I mumbled.

William would be up the stairs any minute if I didn’t calm down. I quickly shut my eyes and took some deep breaths to slow my heart rate, then tripped while climbing out onto the window ledge while singing the alphabet again. I fell head first out the window and promptly thought maybe jumping hadn’t been one of my smartest ideas.

Chapter 52

A huge grin covered my face while driving my aunt’s truck. Somehow, I had managed to land on my feet after falling two stories. I was quickly finding out being a vampire had more perks than I ever realized.

When I turned onto the main road, a bunch of red and blue lights flashed ahead in the distance. I didn’t think anything about it because car accidents seemed pretty common in Alaska.

When I got closer, I spotted a rusted pick-up truck smashed all to hell and laying on its side in the ditch, and my heart stopped. I whipped my aunt’s truck off the road, and jumped out. “Oh god,” I gasped running toward Luna’s grandfather’s truck.

A group of cops were standing around at the top of the hill and attempted to stop me when I was running down the hill. “Hey you! Come back here,” one of the cops yelled, and bolted after me.

When I reached the truck, I checked underneath and inside, but it was empty. It was odd that the windshield appeared to have been busted from the outside. I looked closer and that’s when I spotted large dents in the hood. I inched a few steps nearer, trying to get a good look inside the truck. I threw my hand over my mouth and gasped, stepping back after I saw bloody claw mark gashes in the back of the seat.

I felt a hand grab my arm, and without even thinking I spun around, and swung.

“Whoa, Genevieve,” William whispered, grabbing my fist and gazing down at me with tender eyes.

I looked up at him wondering how he always seemed to find me, or just show up exactly when I needed him. I buried my face in his chest. “It’s all my fault.” My words came out muffled.

“Everything bad in life is not your fault,” he said, gently, stroking my hair, and pressing me against him. “Shh, here come the cops. Let me do the talking.”

“You kids know anything about this?” A short Native American state trooper asked in an even tone.

“It’s our friend’s truck. Was anybody hurt?” William asked, sounding innocent.

The cop took one look at William and was totally captivated. When he spoke, I heard the lust in his voice. I remember William saying that vampires could literally get away with anything in a human setting. All we had to do was get a human to look us in the eyes and they would become completely spellbound.

“Um, we didn’t find anybody. The truck was empty when we got here. it looks like maybe a pack of wolves got whoever it was,” he said, motioning us to follow him. The whole time we walked he kept looking over his shoulder at William. “See the drag marks?” He asked, and pointed to the ground. “We followed them to the edge of the woods, then they just disappeared.”

When we walked back to the truck, Luna and Joseph were standing beside it. Joseph had his arm around her shoulders and she was crying silently. She glowered at me.

“You guys, I’m—”

William cut me off, squeezing my arm a little too tightly. “Not now,” he whispered harshly, and nodded toward the group of cops on top of the hill. “Let’s go to my house. We’ll talk there.”

“I’m not with riding her.” Luna gave me a look filled with hate.

“Joseph, take Luna in the truck and follow us to my cabin. We’re going to get the twins back, but first we need a plan.”

***

William didn’t talk during the ride, and that made me feel even worse. I pulled my knees up to my chest and sunk further down into my seat. It killed me to know William was upset with me.

“I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have tried to run out on you guys,” I uttered, looking at William.

His hand gripped the steering wheel so tight, his knuckles turned white and I actually heard the steering wheel make little cracking noises. When he turned a corner, I saw the dents in the steering wheel. William was much stronger than I ever imagined.

“Why did you do it?” he asked angrily. “I’ve done everything for you, and this is how you repay me? By taking off without so much as a good-bye?”

My voice sounded throaty. “I’m—”

He cut me off. “Yeah … I know. You’re sorry. You’re always sorry, Genevieve.”

“I thought I was doing what was best for you guys. I didn’t want any of you to get killed because of me. This is my fight, and I have no right to drag you or them into it.”

“That’s just stupid. I love you. They love you. We chose to help you. You didn’t make us do anything.”

“Technically, that’s not true. They’re royal servants, and they didn’t have a choice,” I dropped my shoulders, staring silently out the window.