Tessa, Vampire/Werewolf Romance, (Standalone) (Shadow Creek Shifters Book 3) (18 page)

“Sounding like a full-blood all the time, Doctor.”

“No, I’m not trying to do that. I just don’t want to start a panic. What you need is an alliance of shifters who will protect the town while you find the children and save them before they are killed. By now, they’ve most likely been taken or will be. You won’t be able to stop it now.”

“Like hell I won’t.”

Tessa raced outside and hopped into the truck, but not before the good doctor was sitting in the passenger’s seat. “Get out of this Jeep.”

“No, I can be of some help. I could be a mediator at the very least.”

“I’ll let Paige sort it out.”

“Fine, but we need to get back to Silver Creek to see if Mira is really dead.”

Tessa nodded as she headed back to Silver Creek. Once there, they sprinted into her cabin where Mira was on the floor, unmoving and still quite dead.

“See, I told you.”

Dr. Evans inspected the body and said, “Did you bite her neck?”

“I had to; she was trying to kill me. I didn’t have many options left.”

“Two solid bites. How long did it take after the first one before she became weak?”

“I don’t know. I suppose five minutes, although I didn’t consider her weak at all. On the second bite, she went down fast. I waited until the light in her eyes went out before I left the cabin.”

“Why was she here?” Jerome asked.

“She told us about the children leaving.”

“She had planned to get rid of you most likely, especially if she sensed that you were a vampire.”

“I don’t think it was that at all. I think she meant to start taking out shifters when they’d least suspect it. It wouldn’t surprise me if Palina was next.”

“Let’s check with her. She needs to know what’s about to happen.”

They walked back to the Jeep and changed directions toward the main house. The door was wide open and something furry was sprawled on the ground. It was missing its head.

Tessa walked through the door and two wolves bared their teeth at her and Jerome. It took a little bit to think of him by his first name. “What happened, Palina?”

“One of those full-blood bastards came after me is what. I love it when I get the drop on them. I don’t think he expected an old werewolf like me to take his head clean off. I don’t shift often, but when I do I’m quite strong. It’s the recovering period that is hazy.”

Tessa sighed. “I’m glad you’re okay. We can’t lose a werewolf of your stature.”

“What do you mean
we
? You’re not a werewolf, you’re a vampire.”

“Yes,” Jerome said. “Apparently, one that can kill a full-blood just by biting it. Now
that’s
a real weapon.”

Palina whipped back a stand of her gray hair. “That’s good to hear. What do you want us to do, Tessa?”

Tessa didn’t know why Palina said that. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“You have a good grasp of the situation. What’s going to happen?”

“Well, they’ll take Maxwell to try to use him against the shifters. I’m sure Raphael and Seth are searching for the children now, and I’ll join them after I speak with Paige. We’ll need a band of shifters who will protect Creeksboro when they go there to kill the humans, but you’ll need to keep some of your werewolves here to fend off any full-bloods that show up. I’m sure Paige will get the ball rolling with the other shifters in the area to mobilize. This needs to be a team effort. We’ll all have to be fighting for our livelihoods.”

“Not all of the full-bloods are bad. If we’re able to knock out their leadership, the others will fold,” Jerome said.

“So where will you be, Doctor?” Palina asked. “Hopefully you’ll also be there to help Raphael and Seth. We can’t afford to lose Maxwell or our alpha. The last time was far too painful for all of us.”

“I’ll go with Tessa, but remember these full-bloods are able to shift at will and are twice the size and strength of your werewolves.”

“What we lack in size we gain with agility. A pack works together,” Palina explained.

Tessa nodded and they headed out the door, climbing into the Jeep. Tessa then slammed her foot on the gas pedal. She wasn’t about to allow the full-bloods to alter the lives of everyone she knew and loved. Yes, she loved Raphael and if she lost him in the fight, she wasn’t sure what would become of Silver Creek. Maxwell was too young to take on the role of alpha, and he would be devastated if he lost another member of his family.

Maxwell whispered, “Melody, where are you?”

He walked down a pathway, which was covered with matted-down grass and plants, that Maxwell didn’t recognize.
Where is Melody anyway?
When he came up to where the cabin should have been, Melody was sitting on a log, looking dejected.

“Why didn’t you wait for me?” Maxwell said.

“I couldn’t wait. I wanted to take care of Jason for good, but now, I don’t know where he’ll be.”

“It’s strange the cabin is burned to the ground, don’t you think?”

Melody shrugged. “I guess, but I’m not sure that means anything.”

“That means to me that somebody got here before we did.”

“Do you think he’s already dead?”

“Yes. Can’t you smell it, the blood? You’re a raptor bird; you should be able to smell it even more than me.”

Melody stood up. “Let’s follow the smell then.”

“Are you sure you want to?”

“I want to know for sure that he’s dead. Only then will I be satisfied.”

“Will you, or would you feel cheated? I have the feeling that you wanted to be the one to end his life, but if he’s already dead, I’m glad. I wasn’t so sure we’d be able to overpower him anyway.”

Melody frowned. “Thanks a lot! I thought you were my friend.”

“I am, but that doesn’t mean I have to die for you. I’ve lost enough people I loved already.”

“I suppose you’re right, but you need to have more confidence in your abilities as a shifter. What will happen if we really face danger? We can’t expect the grown-ups to take care of us all the time. We’re not like human children. We’re quite capable of handling ourselves.”

Maxwell walked beyond where the remains of the cabin were, following the fragrance of blood in the air. Only a shifter could smell it, or possibly find it. Beyond the trees, he clearly saw fresh dirt, which had been dug and he dropped to his knees, working his fingers into the soil. Melody joined him and after ten minutes of digging, they both jumped up as Melody shouted, “Eww!”

“What did you think we’d find down there?”

“I didn’t expect to find a headless corpse.” She panted hard for a minute and then added. “Okay, so Jason really is dead.”

“That would be corpses,” Maxwell said with a smile. “Help me cover it back up.”

“I will not. It’s gross.”

“Not as gross as someone finding the bodies this way. Whoever did this had to be really strong, stronger than a regular shifter.” Maxwell shoveled the dirt back over the remains they found. He was relieved actually; they could just go home and forget about the whole thing. He had been so nervous when they had set out. He even felt that something really wrong was about to happen, but they were home free and completely safe.

When the sound of a branch snapped beneath someone’s foot, both Maxwell and Melody were on high alert. Maxwell pointed into the woods and they slowly disappeared among the trees and wildflowers. They flattened their bodies behind a fallen log momentarily as branches continued to snap but Melody grabbed Maxwell’s arm, yanking him back up and they ran into the woods, not looking back.

* * *

Raphael and Seth arrived to the area of Jason’s cabin, but no Maxwell and Melody. It was like they disappeared from the face of the Earth. Their ATV had been parked nearby, too. He was sure they were there when they rolled up.

“Melody!” Seth yelled. “Maxwell!”

Raphael listened, but only silence greeted him. Where could the children be? When he walked into a grove of trees, he spotted the fresh dirt and his heart skipped a beat. It couldn’t be. He raced over, dropping to his knees.

“What are you doing?”

“Something or someone was buried here.”

Seth helped Raphael move the soil until they both made a shocking discovery.

“This is Jason and Earl,” Seth claimed. “Somebody killed them.”

“Seems that way. I’ve never seen anything like this before. Who has that much strength to rip someone limb from limb?”

“It certainly wasn’t the children. From the smell of it, they’ve been buried longer than just today.”

“Whoever did this had to have been the same one who also killed those sheep. The bodies look very similar to the pictures Brendan showed me. In both cases they were mutilated, not fed on at all.” Raphael spotted something strange. Reaching into the hole, he came back with a long piece of broken wood. “This looks interesting. This could have been used to stab someone in the heart, like to prevent them from coming back as a vampire.”

* * *

Seth sat there in a stupor almost. He tried to think about the night of the full moon. What really happened that night? Had a full-blood come across Jason and Earl, or had another shifter killed them? The list of suspects could get pretty big since many people might’ve thought Jason was responsible for Carrie’s condition. Since Raphael found that piece of wood, it took another turn. “I hope you don’t think Tessa was responsible here.”

“What else can I think now? And to think I trusted her.”

Seth massaged his head, a memory trying to force its way from the back of his mind. Why was it so hard for him to remember what had happened that night? The sound of breaking glass came to mind, but that was where the partial memory ended.

“Are you okay, Seth?”

“Y-Yes, I just can’t believe Tessa was the one responsible here.”

“I don’t want to believe it either, but what other choice do I have?”

“I’m not sure, but it’s not bringing us any closer to finding the children, now is it?”

“You’re right, Seth. It’s obvious the children aren’t here,” Raphael agreed.

“We better cover up the remains. We don’t want the sheriff to find out about Jason and Earl buried out here. They might start to ask questions we don’t need to try and answer. One of the shifters might be responsible, and we don’t need them going down for this. Jason was the suspect, after all.”

“Yes, but if the sheriff comes out here, he might find the remains just like we have.”

“So you don’t plan to report what we found?”

“No, I protect my own even if she’s done the unthinkable,” Raphael said.

“Let’s not jump to conclusions here. Perhaps that stick fell in the hole when they were buried.”

“It was quite blood-stained.”

“Okay, but we can already see what happens when someone acts before finding out the facts. You shouldn’t do it, either.”

“That’s something I’ll deal with another day. We need to find the children. It’s going to get cold tonight.”

“They might have packed provisions,” Seth said.

“Let’s go back to the ATV and check. If there are any, I think they left them back there.”

Seth made it back to the ATV and only a small bag with one change of clothing was in there, along with two sodas, which had been opened, and probably only missing a sip. Not only were the children missing, but they were out there somewhere without food or water.

“What now, Raphael?”

“I don’t have a clue. Where could they have gone?”

“Let’s search the woods. They have to be here somewhere.”

Seth led the way and they moved over fallen logs and leaves, searching for the elusive shifter children.

* * *

When Tessa drove into Shadow Creek there were cars parked everywhere. Two huge grizzly bears were guarding a Hummer and lifted their heads when they climbed out of the vehicle. That took her aback until Jerome said, “Werebears.”

Tessa went to the main door and walked in since it was open. Inside, there were maps splayed out with several men discussing plans of action.

“Where is Paige?” Tessa asked.

Heads turned in their direction as one man asked, “And who are you?”

“Tessa, and who are you?”

“This is Ewan. He’s new to the area.”

“Hello, Tessa. I hope you’re here to help and not distract us. We’re trying to decide a plan of action to find the children.”

Tessa’s locked eyes with Ewan. “It’s much more complicated than that, now.”

“How so?” Brendan asked.

Paige and Chase drew near as Tessa explained, “As Raphael might have said, a woman named Mira came to warn us that the children left, but it would seem it was all a rouse.”

“What?” Brendan said.

“She’s a full-blood. It’s all been a set-up, even Carrie being attacked by a full-blood. If the children hadn’t decided to leave she would have most certainly taken Maxwell, or lured him off Silver Creek.”

“Then why tell you that the children had left?” Paige asked.

“To scatter us so the full-bloods can pick us off one by one. When I left Silver Creek, full-bloods attacked the ranch. Well, four of them anyway.”

“What happened?” Chase asked with widened eyes.

“The werewolves fought them off. The only way to kill them is if their heads are removed from their bodies.”

“That works for just about any shifter,” Ewan commented. “But when we fight, we go in shifted form. We’re not strong enough to do that.”

“Except for us wearbears,” came a booming voice from the door.

“But apparently that’s not the only way,” Jerome said.

“When Mira shifted and attacked me, I bit her in the throat. The second time I did I took in some of her blood. She died after that,” Tessa said.

Paige’s face was ashen. “Tessa, that can kill you.”

“Who told you that? I have never felt better or stronger. Why didn’t you ask me why I’m able to go outside during the day without dying?”

“Because of those clothes.”

“I didn’t get these until I went into town. I wore my regular clothing there with only a baseball cap.”

“If a vampire bites a shifter it will most certainly lead to their death. Shifter blood is poisonous to us.”

“This was a full-blood, and the leaders of this group are also part half-bloods. They’ve been bred that way. I don’t believe all of them have the same agenda, but the leadership plans to oust all of the shifters using Maxwell as the pawn. No matter what they promise, he’ll die. They believe he’ll destroy their kind in the future if he ever grows up and becomes alpha,” Jerome said.

“They can shift at will, same as all of you,” Tessa added.

“If we can knock out their leadership, you might stand a chance to convince the others how foolhardy their plans are,” Jerome said.

“They also plan to kill the humans in Creeksboro. We must protect our humans. If they do that, the government might just rethink the rights of shifters,” Tessa insisted.

“This certainly is a game changer,” Brendan replied. “We need to appoint who will protect Creeksboro and who will go to find the children, rescuing them if need be. I hope it hasn’t gotten to that yet, though. Angus, you’re responsible for keeping Shadow Creek safe. The lives of Katlyn and my children are the most important thing to me.”

“Perhaps you should send them to Creeksboro,” Paige suggested. “If you leave shifters behind in each shifter ranch, you might not have enough to protect the ranches and the town like Tessa said.”

“I should go back and speak to the humans,” Jerome said. “They need to understand that we need to band together for all of our sakes.”

The phone rang and Paige picked it up. “Thanks, I’ll let Brendan know. We’ll send help.” When she hung up, she said, “Raphael and Seth found the ATV the children took. Jason’s cabin was burned to the ground, but they couldn’t find the children.”

Ewan nodded. “We better get moving then. I’ll have my family protect the town.”

“What kind of shifter are you?” Tessa asked.

“Lion. I’m from Africa. I have four sons who are good at what they do, protecting the pride, but not to worry. That can work for your town and shifters, too.”

The shifters filed outside, handing maps to Brendan and Chase on their way out. Katlyn pushed a baby buggy forward and gave Tessa a quick hug. “I’m so scared. Please be careful, Tessa.”

“Don’t worry about me; just take care of your babies.”

“I won’t leave the ranch,” Katlyn said stubbornly.

Brendan lifted her chin. “You have to, because you won’t be protected here. It will be safer for you in town.”

“He’s right, Katlyn,” Tessa urged.

“I hate this. Why does there have to be a war with those shifters? They seem so powerful; what if they kill you? What will happen to us then?”

“Please, Katlyn,” Chase said. “Don’t even think that way. We’re your mates and we make the decisions that will be best for all of us. We’ll be back just as soon as we can.”

Katlyn wiped back her tears. “Okay, we’ll go, but please be careful, my loves.” She kissed each of her mates and walked outside with Ewan.