“What’s wrong?”
Brayden told him and Vane’s face pulled into a lethal mask.
Before another word could be spoken, an explosion boomed from behind them like a violent thunderclap.
Vane’s cabin exploded apart at the seams, wood flying everywhere like shrapnel. The smell of burning wood and the stench of smoke bloomed around them in heavy black clouds.
Terrified screams, shouts, and chaos rained down upon them.
“Get the women into the field!” Vane roared.
Dmetri, Brayden, and the men took off on a sprint. He only gave a passing glance to what had been Vane’s home that now burned and smoked with an acrid stench. As they reached the front of the cabin, another explosion sounded.
Dmetri’s eyes widened—it was the house next to Christine. He sprinted after her before he finished the thought. People were already coming out of their houses, screaming at the violence. Dmetri spotted a man and recognized him—one of Claude’s clan members. He stood in the backyard of the house he just bombed and held a grenade in his hand.
Dmetri’s heart had never pounded so hard in his life. Fear drove him. He leapt over the six-foot tall fence and tackled the man to the ground. The squeak of the pin being pulled sounded too loud and he knew it was his adrenaline. Dmetri acted out of instinct and grabbed the grenade from his hand, throwing it into the street behind the fence. He could only hope no one was there.
As the boom shook the decrepit house, flattening it into a pile of fiery rubble, he grabbed the vampires head and twisted. It snapped with a sick cracking sound. He needed a silver blade, needed to slam it into the vamp’s heart to really kill it, but for now it’d stay the fuck down.
Dmetri was on his feet in the next second and bounded over the fence into Christine’s yard. He slammed open her sliding glass door, eyes wide and frantic.
“Christine!”
No answer. He ran through each of the rooms, throwing open doors and closets, searching everywhere. He felt like he was losing his mind. He threw open the front door and saw her. His relief was so profound his heart slammed against his chest.
She turned and saw him, eyes wide and scared. He ran to her and she met him halfway, jumping into his arms. He caught her, squeezing her tight. Quickly he released her. More vampires were around, he could smell them.
“Stay here and stay safe,” he ordered and took off down the street.
He caught sight of a man darting behind another house and was just about to slam him into the ground, when someone beat him to it. Quick and efficient, Brayden snapped the vampire’s head so hard he was surprised it didn’t come off. He tore the grenade from his loose fingers a moment later.
“How many?” said Dmetri.
Brayden nodded at the dead vampire at his feet. “That was the last one. They killed four sentries before breaking into the compound.” He stared down at the lykaen with burning hate, violence barely contained in his too-still body. Then he pulled out a wicked curved blade and buried it in vamp’s chest. “I’ll take care of the others.” Brayden had always been honorable and with that came the protecting of innocent lives.
Losing them, putting them in danger set the vampire off like nothing he’d ever seen.
“Come on, drook. We need to go back and make sure everyone’s safe.” He spoke slowly carefully.
Brayden only stared at the dead vampire, his fists clenched so hard they trembled.
Screams tore through the air; they both whipped their heads at the sound and raced together—one blur of movement. They arrived back at the Vane’s cabin and the place looked like a disaster zone.
Smoke blackened the sky, raging fires burned, and people from the pack milled about in the streets like lost orphans. Dmetri’s gut tightened.
It was Sarina who screamed. Vane ran to her, his eyes wide with fear and panic. Dmetri could practically hear the man’s thoughts: is the baby okay?
He grabbed Sarina by the shoulders. “Where’s Vince? What’s wrong?” She was crying, babbling but finally the words became clear. “Vanessa’s gone. Someone took Vanessa. Oh, God, Vane she was holding the baby!” Vane stood so still he might have been dead. His mate pushed herself into his arms, burying her face in his chest and cried. That seemed to snap him out of his shock. Slowly he wrapped his arms around her. He pulled away and spoke something into her ear and she nodded quickly then ran back to the field where the other women waited.
Vane never moved. He was rooted in place. Dmetri and Brayden came up to him just as the other Kategan males did.
“What’s wrong?” asked Darien.
“They took two of ours.”
“Who was it?” asked Rome, cracking his neck like he was ready for a fight.
Vane swallowed but when he tried to speak nothing came out.
“Vanessa and Vince. We need runners out now. They’ll be taken as hostages,” Dmetri said.
Vane nodded slowly but he looked shell-shocked. Rome and Darien stepped forward to embrace their brother.
“We’ll get them back,” Rome said.
Darien hugged Vane hard enough to crack ribs, then all of them, including Jacks, took off into the woods. Shouts sounded, giving orders to search for the missing.
Vane still hadn’t moved. His eyes were glued to the grass.
Brayden stepped forward. “Your mate was almost killed!” Dmetri almost jumped at the sound of Brayden’s shout. The man never shouted. Vane met Brayden’s gaze.
“Your child has been taken. They will kill them. Do you hear me? They will die if you don’t move.”
Vane started trembling, first at his shoulders then down to his hands.
“Do you want them to die, Vane? Go! Go and get them back. Now! ” Vane stumbled back a step as if he’d been pushed. Then he nodded slowly, then faster.
His eyes darted off in the direction his brothers had gone. He took off at an impressive sprint a moment later.
“You yelled,” Dmetri said.
Brayden looked at him with hard eyes. “I know how to treat soldiers in shock.” His words rang true but there was something else to them, something in his eyes that said there was more to the story.
The next several hours were a mess. Fire trucks were called in, and Dmetri watched as Christine rushed person-to-person until it was too much. She called an ambulance and sent some of the worst to the hospital. She couldn’t treat them all. He’d never felt prouder of anyone.
The pack came together quietly and started gathering wood from the exploded cabins into big piles.
Two were dead. A mother and daughter who were outside of the second house when it exploded. Mourners already surrounded the house with flowers, their heads bowed low. He wanted to kill that bastard again for murdering two innocents, but the dead could only die once.
Thunder boomed overhead and when the rain started pouring no one was bothered by it.
Chapter 13
As though everyone needed to stay together, the pack fortified themselves in the field in the center of town. The rain had stopped but the ground was soft with mud making each step a slippery challenge. Dmetri stood at the edge of the crowd watching Christine work on the injured. Some of it was bad. Most of it not too terrible. Many had cuts from flying glass and debris, some had been knocked back by the blast and suffered severe burns and broken limbs.
Luckily the lykaen healed faster than humans so with a little treatment they’d be better in a few days.
A sudden hush fell over the crowd.
Dozens of faces turned at once to the edge of the field. Dmetri’s gaze followed as well.