Balance (7 page)

                We
were gathered in the barn, all of the wolves and a hundred militia. A month
ago, we had paired up, one wolf to one human, and we were teaching them how to
fight. Teaching them how to kill vampires. Some of them had become friendly,
would chit chat after practice, but some just came to learn and left. I guess
you couldn’t expect everyone to be on board but it saddened me to see wolves on
one side of the room and humans on the other. Max walked up on stage with me.

                “I
like when Kai’s gone and you’re in charge,” he said.

                I
chuckled. “Oh yeah, why is that?”

                “Because
it makes me second again.” Max was back, all of my witch wine drunken rant
forgotten.

                I
rolled my eyes. “Well, get ready because I’m going to shake it up a little. We
need some bonding time.”

                Max
looked at me like I was an alien. “Please tell me you did not just say
bonding.”

                I
whistled loud. “Listen up!”

                The
murmuring quieted and I held my hands up. “Kai had business to tend to, so I
will be leading tonight’s sparring session. Since I’m in charge, I thought we
could do something different for a change.” I raised an eyebrow.

                Max
frowned and I scanned the sea of confused faces.

                “Who
wants to play flag football?”

                My
question was met with a resounding cry of support.

                Max
looked at me, impressed.

                “We
will start with two thirty-minute games. Rotate every thirty minutes for the
next two hours.”

                “Humans
against werewolves?” someone shouted.

                I
shrugged. “Up to you. Who wants humans against werewolves?”

                The
humans started chanting. “Human, human, human.”

                I
laughed. “Okay! You got it. Humans against wolves.”

                People
began high-fiving and talking crap to each other. As they turned to leave, I
shouted. “Wolves!”

                Everyone
turned back to me. “Go easy, they’re fragile.”

                Earl
gave me a grin and twisted his mustache. “It’s on.”

*

                There
was a football field at the high school in Welches. We were still technically on
Mount Hood but farther away from our homes. One of our wolves worked as a coach
for the school and opened up the locker rooms for us, which had everything we
needed.

                I
sat on the bleachers looking out onto the game. It was the fourth quarter and the
humans were winning. This was doing exactly what I had intended, boosting morale.
Even though we were playing humans against wolves, the two teams were smiling
and high-fiving each other after good plays. There was respect growing. We were
showing them that we were like them. Max, drenched in sweat with a stony
expression on his face, pulled the wolf team into a huddle. I saw Tara on the
sidelines checking him out and it made me smile. Who knew a simple game of
football could make everything screwed up in the world feel so normal.

                “Come
on, Max! Make us proud!” I shouted.

                He
smiled and shook his head, embarrassed, as Earl rounded the corner and stepped
up onto the bleachers, taking a seat next to me.

                “This
was a good idea. We should make it a weekly thing.” He winced as he sat down
and straightened his leg.

                “You
okay?”

                He
waved me off. “Just getting old. Nothing you will have to worry about.”

                I
smiled. True, weird, but true. Max made a touchdown and I jumped up clapping
and whistling.

                After
I sat back down, Earl leaned into me. “You know, it’s been months since the incident
with the vampire queen.”

                I
rubbed my neck. Incident. Yeah, where she bit me in a bid to get pregnant.

                “My
guys are getting antsy for action. Raiding the clubs is good, but we want to
take her out.” He had the fine lines around his eyes and mouth that told of a
happy life, lots of laughter. I liked Earl. He was a good guy I didn’t want to
disappoint him.

                I
met his gaze straight on. “You have no idea how bad I want that. I promise we
will get her. We’ve got a new lead. When Kai gets back, we will call a meeting
to discuss it.” I placed an arm on his shoulder and he nodded.

                I
stood again and hollered in excitement as Max scored another touchdown. Earl
chuckled, but before I could sit back down, his face froze in horror and his
eyes fixed on my chest. What the …? Suddenly, his hand reached out and pushed
me hard. I fell backward and cracked my head on the metal bleachers as a sharp
pain sliced into my leg. Looking down, I saw at least five red sniper dots
following me. Shit!

                “Go!”
Earl shouted as I rolled onto my tummy and started to army crawl across the
floor of the metal bench. I was wedged into the small space and extremely
exposed. What the hell was going on? The sound of snapping bullets hurt my
ears. My head filled with a symphony of chaos, screaming, roaring, wolves
shifting.

                ‘Kai,
I’ve been shot. We’re under attack.’
His meeting was in Portland, but the mate bond was strong, so I hoped he’d
heard me. Earl groaned behind me and I turned to look back at him. He was slumped
over, flat on the bench floor, red laser dots lined all over his back. Oh,
shit! He was human; there was no way he could come back from that. Earl was
pack as far as I was concerned.

                “No!”
I jumped up, ignoring the searing pain in my leg, and threw myself over him as
bullets riddled my back instead of his.

                Getting
shot is exactly as you think it will be. Hurts like hell and does a good job of
cutting open your insides. I couldn’t breathe; what little breath I could take
was hard and rattled like water in my chest.

                I
heard Max roar, “RAIDOS! In the trees!”

                The
militia returned RAIDOS’ fire with gunfire of our own. Then, strong arms were
around me and I felt someone pick me up off of Earl, who was alive and looking
at me like I was a ghost. I didn’t feel pain anymore, just cold. Mist was
leaking out of my skin like air from a balloon with a small hole in it.

                Max’s
face suddenly came into view. “You’re not allowed to die on me, Aurora!” he
screamed.

                I
felt him rip my shirt off and press something hard to my back. A painful scream
tore from my throat as the pressure on my back caused me agony. RAIDOS. Yes, of
course they wanted me dead. Vampire baby-making problem solved. Dammit,
couldn’t a girl just watch a football game in peace?

                My
eyelids were fluttering. It was so cold. How cliché but true, you got super
cold when you were dying. I was dying, right? Werewolves regenerated, but we
also died of blood loss. By the looks of Max’s clothes, which were dripping
with my blood, I was a goner. When I thought I couldn’t stay awake any longer,
a sudden burst of energy flooded my body.

                Kai.

                ‘I’m
coming! Keep talking to me,’
Kai told me but I was too sleepy.

                ‘Blood
loss.’
My thoughts weren’t working
right. More power flooded me. Alpha power. Kai was giving me all that he had.

                I
looked up at Max. His eyes were wild, face streaked with blood. “If I die, you
can be second again,” I joked with a slurred voice.

                His
retort was garbled as he reached out and smacked my face hard, making my
drooping eyelids fly open. I tried. I tried so damn hard to stay awake and keep
talking but in the end, I failed.

                I
awoke with a racing pulse and a headache from hell. Witches’ wine had nothing
on this sucker; there was a constant pounding drum in my brain. Sitting up too
quickly, I was slammed with a wave of dizziness. Kai grabbed my shoulders and
pressed his face to mine. “DON’T EVER DO THAT AGAIN,” he commanded.

                I
winced. “Shhh.”

                He
backed up a little.

                “I
didn’t plan on getting shot. Geez.”

                I
reached around slowly and felt my back. Smooth skin. I took a deep breath, clear.
This werewolf healing thing was insane.

                “I’m
like indestructible,” I stated.

                Kai’s
eyes were yellow as he glared at me. “No, you’re not. You almost bled to death.
Max saved your life and you’ve had two blood transfusions aided by the witches.”

                Shit.
Then all of the memories from last night came back to me.

                “Earl!”

                Kai
nodded. “Took one in the arm but will be fine. Has already been discharged from
the hospital. You saved his life.”

                I
sighed and reached out for Kai’s hand. His hair was wild and I knew he hadn’t
slept. I hated that I did this to him, but it wasn’t like I asked for it.  

                “RAIDOS?”
I knew the answer.

                I
could hear Kai’s teeth grind from my place on our bed. He nodded. “They
intended to take you out. Semi-automatic long range rifles. Waiting in the trees.”

                I
frowned. “How did they know we would be there? The drones are all gone, right?”

                Kai
seemed to consider this. “I think we have a mole.”

                I
sat up straighter. “Really? In the pack? No way!”

                Kai
shook his head. “No, in the militia.”

                There
were over six hundred guys in the militia and Earl couldn’t know them all
personally. It was a definite possibility.

                I
whistled low. “What do we do?”

                He
shrugged. “Keep a close eye for now. I told Earl about it. We should stop
sparring practice with them, pack only.”

                That
didn’t sound like a great plan.

                “Kai,
we were just starting to bond with them.”

                “Pack
only!” His neck veins were bulging so I didn’t argue. Maybe later.

                There
was a knock at the door. I inhaled. Max.

                “Come
in, Max,” I called out to him softly, trying to will my headache away.

                He
opened the door and met my gaze, shaking his head.

                “I
can’t believe you did that to me.” He threw his arms in the air.

                I
laughed. “Everyone needs to quit acting like I wanted to be shot!”

                Max
sat at the edge of the bed. “All I’m saying is trouble sure seems to follow
you. Kai would have killed me.”

                Kai
nodded. “Yes, I would have.”

                Max
smirked but I leveled his gaze with mine. “Seriously, thank you.”

                Max
returned my serious look and nodded. “You realize Kai will never let you out of
the house again, right?”

                I
glared at Kai, who glared back. “This just means we have to take out Layla now.
RAIDOS won’t be after me once they know she is gone. The sooner we end this
threat, the sooner we can move on.” Anger rumbled in my chest. “Enough bullshit.
Let’s kill this bloodsucker.”

                Max
stifled a laugh at my comment and Kai cut him a glare.

                Then
Kai suddenly stood. “You get some rest. I have to make a few phone calls.”

                ‘Kai,’
I started but he cut me off.

                ‘I
held my dying, bleeding wife and thought all hope for my future happiness was
over. Now you want to run back into danger the first chance you get! I get to
be pissed!’
he roared.

                I
flinched. Shit. He was right. That must have been awful for him. I remembered
how awful it was for me when RAIDOS had captured him and I had gone in to get
him back. They had him naked and strapped to a gurney, a few of his fingers cut
off. He had been in rough shape and it had terrified me.

               
‘You’re
right. I’m sorry.’

                Kai
nodded, Max stood and they both left the room. Well, that didn’t go as planned.
I sighed and decided to take a shower to get the crusty blood out of my long
hair.

                When
I went out to get breakfast, I saw that Kai had made me a veggie omelet and was
cleaning the dishes. All was forgiven, that was my Kai. He couldn’t stay mad at
me for too long and he always worried if I had eaten enough. I wrapped my arms
around him and leaned in to cradle my nose against his neck. He took a deep
breath and I felt his possessive love settle into the mate bond. He didn’t want
me to ever leave this house again.

                “You
want to lock me in the basement with Jeremy, don’t you?” I joked.

                He
gave a short bark of laughter. “Yes, I do.”

                I
chuckled and pulled away from him, smiling.

                He
pushed the omelet in front of me. “Eat,” was all he said, kissing my forehead before
walking back into his office.

                I
did and it was amazing. Kai made omelets with a touch of Indian spices in them;
they were beyond delish. I chugged some orange juice and realized my headache
had eased. Feeling better, I went to find Kai and heard him yelling loudly on
the phone in his office.

                 Opening
the office door, I met his yellow gaze.

                “I
warned you!” he screamed into the phone and slammed it down as I walked in.

                “What’s
wrong?” I stood there, panicked. His emotions were all over the place. Fear,
sadness, and rage burned through the mate bond.

                “Kai?”

                He
looked up at me, eyes burning yellow, his voice gruff. “I warned the council about
what Jeremy told us. I told them to tell all of the packs that vampires might
attempt to abduct our females. To use them as breeders for Layla’s sick plan.”

                No!
Then I knew. I felt it through the mate bond. Sadie. His ex-girlfriend of five
years. She’d been taken. So had others from other packs. I quickly sifted
through our pack bonds. All of our females were accounted for. I sighed in
relief.

                Reaching
out, I touched his hand. “Kai, I’m so–”

                He
stood quickly. “I’m going to go tell Earl to be extra vigilant when guarding
the perimeter. Grab Max and meet me in the barn.”

                I
nodded. This bitch has gone too far! Stealing female werewolves to use as
incubators. It made my omelet threaten to come back up. Layla needed to be
taken out
now
! I stormed out of the house and rounded up Max and we made
our way to the barn.

                Max
paced the barn in anger as we waited for Kai to show up. “Sadie is like one of
our own,” he stated.

                I
tried not to let it hurt my feelings. She was in this pack for a long time
before me. I nodded and sat down cross-legged on the floor.

                “I
feel like it’s all my fault. This all started when I survived the change,” I
confessed.

                Max
sat next to me and put an arm around me. “Hey, you are the best thing that ever
happened to Kai and our pack.”

                I
smiled and when Max went to pull his arm off of me, his skin touched my
shoulder and I was pulled into a vision.

                Tara,
Max’s mate, was roaming a wooded area. She was a changed wolf and like all
changed wolves, her human DNA, when mutated into the werewolf, left her with a
gift. Tara’s gift was similar to that of a chameleon.

                In
my vision, every time she passed a tree, her fur would change to match. She
looked frightened and she had the feeling she was being stalked. I could feel
her fear, her thoughts. Then, I heard footsteps behind her and she froze,
crouching down. Suddenly, a dark-haired vampire came out of nowhere and pounced
on her. She tried to howl but the vampire knocked her out quickly. Then a
silver net was cast around her.

                I
came back to myself lying on the floor of the barn. Max was used to this by now
and he sat patiently with my head in his hands.

                “You
back? What happened? New mate couple?” He didn’t seem too alarmed because
usually my visions were about mates and they were happy visions. I had already
told him Tara was his mate and they were dating and taking it slow. He still
had a lot of healing to do from losing his mate and child during labor years
ago. The thought of having two mates in a lifetime was not easily accepted in
werewolf culture. Technically, Tara was still his first mate, only reincarnated.

                I
didn’t know what to say. “Max, it’s Tara. I need to call Kai.”

                He
pulled me up into a standing position quickly. His face looked serious. “What
do you mean?”

                I
didn’t know when the reality of the vision would happen or if it already had.
My hands trembled slightly as I pulled out my phone and dialed Kai. I didn’t
know how far away he was and calling him on the phone was 100% foolproof, where
our mate bond had potential issues. This was time sensitive. How long ago had
he left to talk with Earl? Ten minutes?

                “Aurora?”
he answered.

                “Quick,
search the pack bonds. Is Tara okay? I had a vision. She’s in trouble. I can’t
tell if it’s happened yet.” Timing in my visions was weird and sometimes the
future could be changed. My birth mother had a vision I was going to die at five
years old if she didn’t do something drastic, but luckily that vision never
came to pass. I could feel Tara through the bond but not like Kai could. Kai
would be able to tell if she was in danger and what exactly was going on with
her.

                “She’s
fine. She’s been a bit depressed lately with how slow things are progressing
with Max. She went for a run. I just checked in on her,” Kai said.

                Max
was close enough to hear that. He winced.

                “Check
again, Kai. She’s in danger!” I told him.

                Then
I felt Kai’s fear through our mate bond. “Oh, shit. Something’s wrong,” he said
then hung up.

                “No!”
I cried out in frustration. It happened. I knew it. She was taken. I could feel
her panic now. Dammit!

                I
tore out of the barn, blindly running through our property with no idea where I
was going. Max was right beside me, panting frantically.

                “Tara!”
He tore off his shirt, shifting into his wolf form.

                Max
ran off into the forest and I stood there frozen, sniffing the woods trying to
catch her scent, any scent.

                Just
as Max’s wolf retreated into the thick trees off to the left of the barn, Earl
came running from another part of the woods. His arm was bleeding, his chest
covered in vampire dust.

                “I
was deep in the woods with a few of my guys when Todd came over the walkie
talkie saying that Kai was looking for me. I was hiking back towards your
property when I heard a howl. The bloodsuckers got one of your girls. I’m so sorry.”

                 I
fell to my knees. “Which way did they go?” My voice sounded hollow. This was
awful. This wasn’t happening. If Jeremy was right, Tara was going to be used as
an incubator for vampire spawn. No, no. Don’t think about it. Oh God.

                He
shrugged. “They were in an all-terrain vehicle. We got a few of them, but she
was taken, back behind Red Creek walking trail.”

                I
pounded my fists into the cold, hard ground. No! Tara. I had to control my
breathing to keep from shifting. My wolf wanted free but looking at Earl, I saw
that he was hurt.

                “Let
me look at your arm.” I stood. It was bleeding pretty bad. I wasn’t sure how he
would feel about me healing it with witch magic he didn’t know about. “I can
call our pack doctor.”

                He
shooed me away. “Nah, we have our own medics. I ripped my stitches from the
bullet wound. I’ll be fine, just wanted to tell you about your friend.”

                Sweet
Tara. I sighed. “Thank you.”

                He
nodded and turned to walk away, but I grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently.
“For everything. I would be dead if you hadn’t pushed me out of the way the
other night.”