Saving the Pack

RHIANNON

Distant screaming in the darkness jolts me awake. Isaac is already awake, his tense body holding me tightly. He’s lying perfectly still, listening. Another scream breaks through the quiet.

“Get up, get dressed,” he tells me as he springs out of bed.

As I jump up, I freeze in front of the window. People are running toward the tree line, shifting mid-run.

A pounding boom against the door startles me out of my frozen state.

“Vampires,” Alpha Hunter yells from behind the door. Isaac rips it open, Hunter is standing half dressed, panting. “They overtook the border guards. They breached the perimeter.”

Isaac nods, then slams the door closed and pulls me against him.

He presses a soft kiss to my forehead before his authoritative alpha voice booms through the room, “You stay with me, at all times.”

He grabs my hand and we join the pandemonium of the rest of the pack house.

People are scrambling everywhere, obviously trying to follow protocols set up to keep everyone safe.

“Everyone designated for the safe room, move, now!” Beta Morris is directing people through the house. Women are carrying scared, crying children down the long hallway.

“We could use you, Jacko,” Alpha Hunter tells him. “But my mate is safe at home. No one will be upset if you stay with her.”

I can feel the war in his mind. The deep, innate need to protect me against his place as an alpha, leading and defending the pack.

“Let me get her to safety,” he says with a nod before pulling me down the long hallway after everyone else.

We follow the frantic people into a large library. A shelf is pulled forward in the room, revealing a large doorway.

Isaac pulls me to him, holding me in his arms against his chest. The line moves forward and I can see that the doorway leads to a staircase leading down, to what I can only assume is underground.

“I’m staying with you. I can’t leave you here,” his tortured voice whispers against my ear.

“Isaac, they need you. I’ll be safe here.” I want him to stay, but as an alpha, he needs to be fighting.

I want to tell him to stay, but I feel a strange push in my mind—he needs to go, he needs to protect the pack. I don’t understand it but it’s strong.

His chest rumbles as he pulls me closer, desperately holding me against him. He steps down onto the stairs, never easing up on his tight grip.

When we get to the bottom of the stairs, we’re in a large cellar. People are nervously huddled together.

Alpha Warner’s luna is dealing with a family issue out of town. I think back to Mag Mell, to how unprepared we were for an attack, to how afraid I was.

I kiss Isaac and wiggle from his arms. I start directing people further into the room, making space for incoming pack members.

Eventually, Isaac pulls me to the side. His brows are furrowed and his heart is pounding loudly in his chest.

“I’m going to go make sure the door is properly secured and join the warriors defending the house. I love you, little mate. Please, please, stay safe.”

I throw my hands around his neck tightly. “I love you, Isaac. Come back to me, promise me.”

“I promise,” he kisses me before breaking away. I watch him move quickly through the crowd. Just before he pulls the door closed, we make eye contact.

His eyes are full of emotion, begging me to be safe. He steps forward like he’s going to run back into the room.

I want to run to him, to throw myself into his arms and wrap myself around his body. He’s frozen in the doorway, grappling with his warring desires.

He steps back, forcing himself to walk away, to go where he is needed.

When the door thuds closed, I turn my attention to the room. I see two girls huddled together crying.

“Girls, come sit over here with me.” I lead them to an open space on one of the many sofas.

“Thank you, Luna,” they say through sniffles.

“Call me Annie. What are your names?”

“I’m Lottie and this is my little sister Penny,” the older girl answers.

“It’s so nice to meet you both.” I try to give a convincing smile through my own fear.

“Our parents are both warriors, are they going to be okay?”

I pull them into a hug. “Everyone is working together to keep the whole pack house safe. Warriors are trained to handle this.”

Myself and several of the other adults move through the room, comforting and quieting everyone.

After several moments, my blood freezes in my veins. There is a cry and light tapping against the door. It sounds like a child.

Everyone looks around, horror written on their faces.

“We can’t leave them out there, they will lead the vampires right to us,” a young teenage boy says.

I snap my eyes to his. “We can’t leave them there because they aren’t safe,” I say with an angry snarl.

My feet are moving before my brain can catch up. I pull the bar on the door, opening it to reveal a shaking child, maybe ten years old. I pull her into the room. “Did you close the top door?”

“N-no,” she sobs.

I push her toward one of the other women and fly up the stairs. I hear glass breaking as I reach the top.

“Bar the door!” I scream down the stairs.

A huge, pale vampire with long blond hair steps into the room just as I get the shelf pushed against the wall.

He smiles a sickening smile and steps forward.

I fly straight for the window, wrapping my wings around myself like a shield from the glass. I land in a courtyard outside the library window. As I move to fly up and hide from danger in the sky, a voice calls my name.

I turn quickly—I know that voice but…it’s not possible. It can’t be.

“Mirele?”

I step toward her, ready to fling my arms around her when I feel a sharp crack to the back of my head and everything goes black.