Curse my entire existence. I was tired of this, of jumping through hoops and running away from monsters.
Alvin looked each of us up and down. He eyed Addie hungrily, like he could tell that she was the most defenseless of us. Maybe he knew that she had a darker arcana and that he would need to dispose of her first. Hell, I couldn’t read his mind. All I knew was that my friend was in danger.
“He reeks of death,” Addie said with a grimace.
I heard what she said but paid little attention to it as I placed myself between her and Alvin. He bared his teeth. Even though he was in his wolf form, the gesture still gave him a vicious grin. Excitement gleamed in his eyes.
“We’re in a public place,” I said, lifting my chin. “You can’t attack us here.”
Alvin would have to face Lakesedge’s governing forces if he stepped out of line here. Though, I feared Beryl would lazily allow the humans to write it off as a wolf attack. Would Beryl use our deaths to her advantage and cast Alvin out? Was that even something that she wanted?
I wished there were other leaders in Lakesedge. Our community needed more balance. Allowing Beryl and Alvin to rule over everything because they were leaders of their own communities was a bad idea.
Things needed to change around here. There was too much power in the hands of two supernaturals.
Alvin took a slow step forward. His attention never left me, though I could see his ears twitch when my friends made a sound. I held my ground so that my friends could run if they needed to. Vi could defend herself for a while, but Alvin was an Alpha shifter who had fought his way to the top of the pack. If I could give her a head start, then I would.
“I’m sorry I dragged you into this,” I said to my friends.
I hadn’t meant to get them involved. Tripping the alarm should have brough Audra out, not my friends.
Vi put a hand on my shoulder. Addie touched the other one. Their solidarity grounded me. I dragged in a deep breath and tried to pull on the arcana resting deep inside me. If I could get it to work, then I could tell Alvin to leave me alone.
Maybe I could keep him from ever laying a hand on me again!
That was a thought. Now, I just needed my arcana to work. Doubt tickled the edge of my mind. This arcana worked much like an Alpha’s command over his pack. What if it didn’t work on an Alpha?
Still, I had to try. I tugged and tugged as the three of us backed away from Alvin. He kept his head low to the ground. An ominous growl rumbled around him. That vicious grin never left his muzzle. The gleam in his eyes told me he was only a mere moment away from spilling blood.
I had to act fast. I grabbed ahold of my arcana and yanked it up to my lips. It fought me, suddenly becoming rigid and immovable. Pain scoured my throat. I cried out and grasped for my neck.
Alvin leapt. I flinched and turned my shoulder towards him, but the blow never landed. Vi yelped. I startled and spun to her, but she was all right. An astonished smile graced her lips. Slowly, I followed her gaze to find Audra holding Alvin by the scruff of his neck.
The tall woman with hooded eyes wore a grimace as she glared at the wolf dangling from her fingertips. He hung there, looking like a scolded puppy. I let out a ragged sigh of relief. The tension in my muscles fled, leaving me limp and tired.
Audra rolled her eyes and tossed Alvin away from us. He hit the road and skidded further away. As Audra turned away from us, I noticed the flicker of another form around her. For a brief instant, I could see nine tails behind her, all snapping with the fury she must have felt.
“Ness, I applaud your quick thinking, but that door is coming out of your paycheck. Please call me next time.”
I nodded, unable to respond. Who was she? Audra Miura was an enigma that no one in the community understood. I was grateful to have her protection. So grateful, in fact, that I nearly fell to my knees right then and there.
However, Alvin wasn’t finished. His snarl broke through the silence. My head snapped up just in time to watch him fly at Audra. I cried out in warning, but Audra was faster. In one fluid motion, she snatched Alvin out of the air and tossed him back again.
“Do not mistake my disinterest in politics as weakness,” Audra said. Her voice remained steady. This display cost her nothing. “I do not have a following of my own because I do not care to play games with folk like yourself. However, if you threaten my employees again, I will remove you from this world.”
Addie and I shared a look. I knew what my friend was thinking. I could use Audra to get rid of Alvin. It would be all too easy to lead him to Audra’s doorstep again and have her deal with him. Then, Lakesedge would be a safer place.
I couldn’t ask that of Audra, though. She said it herself she didn’t want to get involved with supernatural politics. A fight with Alvin would drag her right into the center of it.
Audra turned to me. She fixed her dark eyes upon me. The night wind ruffled her short black hair. Once again, I noted the flicker of another form around her, that of a woman with impossibly long hair and sharp canines. Narrow, slitted pupils flashed with yellow light.
“Go home to your dragon, Vanessa.” She looked to Addie and Vi. “Make sure she arrives safely. You will receive a bonus in your next check.”
Vi grabbed my arm and pulled me along wordlessly. She shoved me toward the passenger side of her Jeep. The last time I’d caught a ride with her, I’d been running from Alvin’s hunt. Weird how that was happening again.
Addie followed in her own car. I wanted to tell her that Alvin knew about the bodies. I tightened my grip on the box in my hand. It held the dead girl’s decayed finger. It was the only piece of evidence that I had. I hoped the pack would believe me now.
In Vi’s passenger seat, exhaustion hit me and dragged me into a choppy sleep. Every so often, I startled awake and caught the passing of another streetlight overhead. My hound whimpered each time. Though the hound wanted out, I didn’t have the energy left to stay awake and slipped back into the darkness.