The Unmaking (The Rayne Whitmore Series Book 1) (30 page)

            Sleepily, we lay next to
each other, my head on her chest, enjoying the rhythm of her beating heart. “I
need to call Anubis,” I yawn.

            “Not now. Thirty minute
nap,” Selene mumbles, rubbing my scalp, nearly making me purr.

            “Mm, okay, but just
thirty.”

            “Okay.”

            Three hours later, I
finally reach Anubis.

            “I assumed you would call
me sooner.”

            “I was busy.”

            “Jaxson told me what
happened. I’m not happy about it.”

            “Not my fault Anubis.
Besides, Jaxson said they were being hostile on your territory anyway.”

            “Not that. The fact that
he skirted my orders and met with you. I’m not a child that needs protection,
or my second sneaking behind my back.”

            I laugh. He may pretend
not to like it, but he clearly appreciated the fact that his pack would go out
of their way to try to protect him.

            “What’s so funny?” he
asks.

            “It doesn’t matter. Look,
the reason why I called is because I have some information that might change
your mind about Namen Young. Are you familiar with the name Zara Drake?”

            He’s silent for a second.
“The first name, no, but if you’re talking about the Drake vampire clan, then
yes, I’ve had some dealings with them.”

            “Good or bad?” I ask, not
wanting bad blood between potential allies.

            “They are a vicious bunch,
but only if you cross them. I have no quarrel with them.”

            Good. I proceed to explain
the situation to him.

            “So, he had been trying to
use my father in the same way that he used yours. Now that he knows that I’m
special, he wants to control me so he can control my pack. Rayne, if that
happens…”

            “You don’t even have to
say it. I saw what your pack did to the others, remember.” I shiver thinking
about it.

            He grunts and mumbles
something to someone in the background. Then, he rattles off an address and I
commit it to memory.

            “I think that you should
stay with us until this is all settled. I have a large plot of land since I
bought up most of the neighborhood and tore down the houses so that our pack
could have privacy. I need to speak with the pack’s elders and then, I will
send out my trackers with the information that we have to see if they can spot
the lamia so that we can start to put a dent in his plans. Who knows how many
altered humans he has at his disposal. We can try to make a move by tomorrow.”

            “Okay, I’ll let Selene
know, but I think that we should have Zara hunt with your trackers just in case
something goes down.”

            “My wolves are more than
capable.”

            “Anubis I mean no
disrespect to the skills of your wolves, it’s just that she knows what to look
for.”

            “No. I have a better idea
for Zara,” Selene tells me, forcing me to turn around.

            Anubis gets quiet as he
listens as well. Wolf hearing and all.

            “She’s going to stay and
help both of us train with the rest of the wolves on this full moon.”

            “Sounds interesting. I
think I’ll join you. After all, the moon is calling to me,” Anubis replies.

            “I guess we will see you
soon then,” I respond.

            “I am counting the
minutes,” Anubis replies. I can practically see the smile he’s sure to be
wearing.

Chapter Twenty Six

           
S
oon, I’m alone in the forest behind Anubis’s giant house
with Katsu strapped to my back. Selene, Anubis, Jaxson, Zara, and some other
pack members are out here too. But tonight, it is everyone for themselves, a
test of skills against many types of opponents.

            A human, werewolf,
vampire, and witch walk into a bar. Ha ha.

            Anubis has purchased every
house on this side of the street, combining two homes for his main house and
also creating a compound of sorts. High walls and intelligently placed trees create
a perimeter and a means to keep nosey onlookers from seeing daily activities.
Many of his pack choose to live here, Jaxson not being one of them. The woods
behind the houses create a perfect place to hunt and test skill.

            Someone at the house will
give the signal any minute. Each of us have three black flags tied to our
bodies and we have to attempt not to lose any. If we are knocked down by an
opponent we have to give up a flag. They also can be taken from us by skill.
Once we lose all three, we will be disqualified. The main objective along with
that is to find and retrieve the white flag that has been hidden in the woods.
I just feel as if I’m in the Hunger Games. I’m not going to be counted out
easily though.

            As the cold caress of the
wind reaches through my leather jacket, I hear the signal, a car horn honking
three times. With that, I take off as I fast as I can through the trees,
dodging branches and shrubbery, suddenly feeling as if I am back with the
Immortals, running with Lawrence.

            That thought helps calm my
nerves and makes it easier for me to believe in myself. Yes, they were born
with their gifts and yes, they had been at this longer. Zara had kicked my ass
already, Selene had outsmarted me, but I’m persistent and special. I have to remember
that I have to first believe in myself. I need to keep in mind that I haven’t
come into all my powers yet. I won’t allow a few mishaps to shake my
confidence.

            Suddenly, I stop and
listen. With the breeze comes the taste of excitement. I can feel him,
barreling towards me, the man mountain as I like to call him. Jaxson is in his
true wolf form, hoping to use his speed to ambush me. It isn’t going to work
though; I feel his intent, even from this distance.

            I call for my power to
rise within me, breathing deeply and picturing it building up inside my core
like a slow flame. Then, it explodes, zipping through all of my synapses and I
feel very much alive. I think having Zara’s blood inside me also makes it
easier for me to accomplish this power surge. Jaxson doesn’t feel the change in
me however, because he’s jetting towards me with the same speed.

            I turn just as he’s flying
through the air with jaws open wide, his teeth as sharp and as powerful as any
great white shark. But, I stop him, my head tilting out of the way of his bite
and my hands on both of his shoulders. My feet slide about ten feet from the
force of his attack, but I manage to root myself and push him back. With a
leaping kick, I send him flying through the air.

            As expected, he lands on
his feet with a growl and then does part two of his change.

            It’s intriguing to watch
his body tremble, distort, then grow into another beast. One that’s now
standing on his hind legs, torso all muscle with defined abs like a man,
smaller muzzle, and arms that are shaped like a human. His body is still
covered in his chestnut colored fur. The black streak of fur looks like an
unnatural bolt of lightning down his chest, eyes glowing yellow under the moon.
His moon, full and giving him even more power. On this night, he is truly one
of the luna dasa as he called it, the moon’s servant.

            “C’mon Jaxson, all this
for lil old me?” I joke.

            He laughs, the sound
coming out like a bark. “I want to win.”

            “In that case…” I draw my
katana and grip it firmly in front of me with two hands. I’m not worried about
slicing him up a little because weres tend to heal as quickly as vampires as
long as they’re in their wolf form and the wound’s not too serious.

            He gives me something
that’s probably a smile, before ripping off a huge branch and hurling it at me.
Instead of wasting time dodging it like he expects, I rush to meet the tree
limb, slice through it and slash down on Jaxson’s thigh before landing an elbow
into his chest. Jaxson then manages to knock Katsu from my hand before breaking
through my attempted block and landing a blow to the side of my face.

            I’m surprised that bones
didn’t crunch, but not amazed at the blood coming from me from his razor claws.
He leaps through the air, clinging on to a tree, hopping from one to the other
at blinding speed, before making like a missile targeting me from behind. This
is when my dance background kicks in and I flip out the way, twisting just in
time to dodge another strike before countering with my own takedown. I grab one
of his flags that are tied to his waist in triumph.

             Swiftly, I reach for
Katsu, my sword with the name that means victory, just in time to block a hard
attack from Zara who has now joined the fray with a double bladed staff.

            My body vibrates under the
blow, but I manage to make her unbalanced and land a kick to her inner leg. She
pretends to allow the fall to take her and handsprings backwards out of the way
just in time to miss getting stepped on by Jaxson. Then, it’s all three of us
in a brawl, acting on an opening that the other created, exchanging blows with
one another. I can’t believe that I’m keeping up with them, but I don’t
question it, don’t lose my focus. I allow my clarity that I possess at the
moment to allow me to think two steps ahead. My mind begins to create a counter
for ever counter, and soon, I am the one making Zara lose her weapon.

            She gives me a look of
approval and tosses me one of her flags before taking off into the night. She’s
just enjoying the game, trying to test everyone’s skill level. Maybe I needed
to do the same.

            Once Zara disappears, I
put my hands on top of my head, catching my breath as Jaxson sniffs the air
before taking off at ten o’clock.

            “Shit,” I say to myself as
I see sparks, then a burst of light from the direction that Jaxson just took
off in. I wonder who Selene is going at it with. I run through the trees,
jumping over fallen branches and weaving like a football player, doing my best
to keep up with the wolf in front of me who is using him human-like arms and sharp
claws to jump quickly through the more dense trees in this area. After getting
smacked in the face with a couple branches, I slow my pace down until I reach
the outer area of the battlefield. There, Selene is standing over one of the
other wolves in Anubis’s pack, a white wolf I recognized as the female from the
fight near the club.

            Selene is also looking
very pissed off. Her hair seems to be floating from her use of magic and the
left sleeve of her dark blue shirt is torn. What a waste.

             Before anyone can attack,
she says, “Anubis took the flag from me while I was fighting her. He’s probably
already back now, sneaky bastard.”

            The female gets off the
ground and huffs, shaking her body like a wet dog, before going into the trees
and changing back to human form. We all listen to her painful grunts followed
by heavy breathing as she completes her change and then comes back into the
clearing fully clothed.

            “Um, how come last time
you guys were all naked and now you have clothes on? Because, I’m sure you
didn’t just pull those out of the bushes,” I ask, very interested in her
response.

            “It’s the wolf magic
inside of us. If we are more focused when we change, we can help the magic keep
out clothes intact, but if we shift in a hurry or in a rage, it’s not likely
that we’ll be focused enough to guide the magic into concealing our clothes,
and we destroy them,” she answers, her voice sounding like she just woke up
from a long nap.

            The signal that someone
has brought the flag back to the house goes off. I look at the two flags that I
earned tonight with satisfaction. We all walk back slowly, with Jaxson lagging
behind in order to shift back. Up ahead, Selene and the female wolf are talking
about their fight. There seems to be a mutual respect between them, which is
good. When we reach the light yellow house, Anubis is sitting on top of the
roof, shirt off, legs dangling, waving the flag mockingly at us.

            “Did you even fight?”
Jaxson asks him, clearly irritated.

            Anubis laughs. “Don’t be
such a cry baby. I won and you lost. Deal with it.”

            “Whatever,” Jaxson
mumbles.

            “Hey, where’s that vamp?”
Anubis asks, looking around, making it obvious that he doesn’t want her lurking
around alone.

            “She left the premises,
said that she had to look into something real quick, but she’d be back in about
an hour,” another one of his wolves responds.

            Interesting. An hour is
when Anubis’s tracker wolves are due back. What is she up to?

            “Well, I can’t say that I
like her disappearing like that, but she’s going to be a valuable asset. Let’s
fill our bellies and talk strategy while we wait,” Anubis declares. We all nod
and join him as he jumps from the roof, landing perfectly balanced and silent,
and walks into the house.