The fighting had begun, and Rose had to suppress the bile that formed in her throat as heads rolled and bodies were ripped apart with eagerness. Blood splattered across her chest as one vampire came at her, preparing to destroy her, when Hector, in one long swipe, split him in two, the pieces falling on either side of her. She knew this was Hector because no one, werewolf or vampire, could match his size. She had never seen anything like this in her entire life, and she would be terrified if she wasn’t so worried about Raven’s survival.
Randolph was the first vampire overtaken. With his white skin and hair, he was an easy target.
Rose watched the vampire Maurie, in an almost awe at how easily she wielded her whips, slicing anything that came at her. She did not seem to be affected by the sun at all, and every werewolf her whips touched would shriek; the blood splattered as it sliced. But Maurie soon became surrounded by werewolves hungry for her blood. It had quickly turned from a fight for her, to survival. Somehow it seemed sad, and Rose made herself look away from the scene.
She struggled to tell one werewolf from another, but she felt she would know her brother, Eli from anywhere. She was relieved when she spotted him running to Raven and slashing the chains free. Raven fell limply into his arms. He ran his claw over his own arm and pressed the wound to Raven’s lips, but too soon a vampire jumped him from behind. The two fought wildly until Eli got a hold of him around the neck and swung him like a baseball bat into the nearest tree. The impact splintered the tree and twisted the body in an unnatural fashion. Eli quickly returned to Raven. Wait, that wasn’t Eli. Eli had a white patch under his chin. It was Levi. They indeed did look exactly alike. But where was Eli? She searched through the bloody chaos and flying body parts. Her eyes finally distinguished Eli, and to her horror, he was fighting Griffin. He was taunting Eli; circling him with speed. Eli swung out trying to hit him, but Griffin was too fast, and the blows never made contact. Rose suddenly had a bad feeling come over her.
A hand swung out of nowhere and punched Eli in the back of the head, sending him flying. He crashed hard to the ground but was straight back to his feet and ready for more. And more punches came; one to the face, two to the stomach, and one last one to the chest which sent him flying into the air. He flipped so that his feet hit the tree and then he catapulted himself off, did another flip, and landed on his feet in front of Griffin. With an angry growl, he swiped his paw; claws extended forward, and slashed Griffin through the chest. Griffin, stunned, stared down at the open wounds as blood spilled out onto the ground.
His face turned smug as he stared up at the huffing, snarling beast. “You stupid werewolf! You cannot defeat—”
In one swift swipe, his head was gone. And just like that, Griffin Vanderburg, the vicious tyrant and their number one enemy, was no more.
Chapter Nineteen
Levi watched the scene unfold before him.
Eli slashed the chains holding Rose to the tree and pulled her into his arms as he shifted into his human form. “I was so worried about you, Rose. Are you okay? Did they harm you?”
“I’m okay, Eli. I just have to see Raven.”
“Of course.” He picked her up and in seconds he lowered her to the ground at Raven’s feet. His eyes were barely open but his coloring was returning. Instead of a ghost pale, he was returning to a normal pale, and the pink was slowly returning to his lips. Levi’s blood was doing the trick and healing him quickly.
“Raven,” Rose whispered, touching her hand to his face in a delicate motion; careful not to harm him further.
His eyes opened fully then. He took her hand and brought it to his lips. “I am okay, my love. Now that you are free and here with me, I am okay.” He smiled, and the relief on Rose’s face was evident. Her face brightened and she seemed to be breathing more steadily. Levi could hear it. She was at peace until the next words were spoken.
“Levi,” Raven said, peering up at him, “Sophia and I must leave North Carolina as soon as we can.”
“What?” the entire pack said in unison, stopping what they were doing and staring in confusion.
“Sophia is with child. Griffin knew and he told my father, Julius, who is on his way here. When he finds this mess he will be angered and desperate to find me. He will want to destroy our child. He believes it to be an abomination. He will seek to destroy the three of us. We have to disappear. At least for a while until we feel it is safe to return. Do you understand?”
Levi was rubbing his chin, deep in thought. “Hmm, yes I think I do. And I agree. It isn’t safe for you here. We have a fellow pack in Alaska. You will be welcomed there—and safe. You’ll also have less sunlight to deal with so you’ll have more freedom. I’ll make contact with their alpha, Sergeant they call him, and for good reason. But he’s a good man—and a good friend to us.”
Raven took his hand. “Thank you, Levi, for everything. I don’t deserve it.”
Levi smiled. “You’re a friend, and now family as well. You deserve it and more. And you’re welcome.”
Levi noticed Wesley watching this exchange with seemingly curiosity. Something that was spoken intrigued him greatly, but he remained silent.
More than a dozen werewolves collected and piled the bodies of the dead vampires in the middle of the yard and set them ablaze. The others had shifted back into their human forms and were discussing the outcome. Twenty-five vampires were destroyed, including Griffin, their leader. The only ones left alive were Maurie, who somehow managed to escape though no one knew exactly how, and a female inside the house who was huddled in a corner, crying. The werewolves couldn’t bring themselves to harm her. This, of course was Cassie. Reluctantly, Levi let her go, knowing she would find, and join, Julius Vanderburg. Levi wasn’t worried about Julius. Too many vampires were destroyed. He knew he would most likely never be able to replenish the numbers needed to take his pack down. Julius would know their numbers were great, especially with them being joined by the Windsor pack.
Levi walked into the mansion to call Charity and let her know they found Raven and Rose, that everything was fine, and they would all be returning very soon. He knew her well enough by now to know she was pacing, anxiously awaiting news, despite the fact that she was supposed to be on bed-rest.
Afterwards, he dialed up the Mason pack from Alaska. “Sergeant Mason, this is Levi Drake.”
“Levi! What a nice surprise. How are things in North Carolina?”
“Things are good here. Um, Sergeant, I have a favor to ask of you.”