Total pages in book: 101
Estimated words: 94234 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 94234 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 471(@200wpm)___ 377(@250wpm)___ 314(@300wpm)
Bell closed his eyes. Wick would not negotiate. Not at the expense of their entire species. He was sure of it, and besides he wouldn’t want him to do that, anyway. All he wanted Wick to do was make these assholes pay with their own lives. No mercy. He wanted him to bring his tiger forth and shred each one of those rebels who’d landed a blow to his battered body. Bell felt himself dying. He could feel his energy fading. He needed blood to heal—Alek’s blood. He’d come close to death before but not this close. Just when the edges of his vision was blurring and his consciousness started to drift in and out, the ground trembled and the walls of the hill shook hard enough to crack the foundation.
Bell’s breathing quickened. Was Wick here? He felt an enormous shift in the atmosphere, and from the confused expressions on the other vampire’s faces, they’d felt it too. Bell flexed the best he could and tried to lift his head when he was struck brutally across his temple by someone, causing a blinding pain to ricochet through his face as lights danced behind his eyelids.
The ground shook again, this time it almost took Alessandro off his feet. “It must be the army reserves. Get ready!” he yelled as vampires started to flash out of the room towards the top of the hill to double-guard their entrance. “Kill them all. Feed and get back in here.”
One of the important members of Alessandro’s squad raced towards him. “Sir. Since when has the reserve’s numbers been large enough to shake the foundation?”
Alessandro snarled at his comrade. “I don’t know. Since now, I guess. Just get everyone in formation.”
“They’re not ready. The new ones are okay, but the ones recently pulled from the tombs are still awakening. It could be several more hours before they’re one hundred percent.”
Bell bet that Alessandro wasn’t feeling like such a great conqueror at the moment.
“Sir, we need to be prepared to evacuate.”
“Our men are strong enough to hold back the second wave of reserves. We knew they were coming. Ninety percent of the army is in the states. The king probably sent more when he lost Belleron’s communication. The reserves in the UK total two hundred and fifty soldiers, max. So, like I said. No worri—”
The ear-piercing, soul-attacking howl of a great wolf broke through the chaos of Alessandro’s team.
“Sir…” The vampire who’d taken the photos, watched the entrance as if he was petrified of what might lie beyond it. He ran his slim fingers through his sandy brown hair, retreating behind the hub’s center.
“Hold your positions!” Alessandro bellowed.
“It’s a wolf! What if it’s his mate, or the Alpha Zenith? You said that the Volkov wolves couldn’t get over here,” another foot soldier stressed.
Alessandro backhanded his own man. “Anyone else want to show me how afraid they are? This is what a revolt is about. Stand your ground! If you are afraid of that howl because you fear it may be Belleron’s so-called mate, well then there’s only one way to take it down and eliminate that fear.” Alessandro spun around, his face a twisted mask of hate, and held Bell’s sword high above his prone body. And before Bell could even answer what he knew was Alek’s call, Alessandro plunged the poisoned tip of the blade into his stomach. He did it with such rage and force that the sword pierced his body and came out the other side of the table. Impaling him.
Bell screamed to the top of his lungs, before he fell limp.
THEY’RE KILLING HIM! Wrath roared, bursting out of the aircraft in an explosion of white and black fur… and fire. He landed on the ground, shaking it hard enough to tip the Richter scale. He reared up and let Wolf call out to their mate that they were coming. The flames receded into Wrath’s jet-black chest, creating a massive force field of heatwaves around them.
“Stay back!” Mac warned the others. He and Farica hurriedly disrobed and shifted to their animals. They turned their long muzzles to the darkening sky and howled their allegiance to Wrath.
The vampires looked nervous, uncomfortable, but Alek didn’t have time to reassure them that they were in no danger. He could feel that Wrath had a tight control on his powers, remembering Alek’s deal to not attack or threaten anyone. Wrath stood taller than his brother and sister. Significantly taller.
“Holy shit!” Mac exclaimed, standing off a little way from Wrath’s heatwaves. “Alek, are you still there?”
“Yes. I’m right here. Come on, let’s go. Something’s very wrong.” Alek was glad he was able to still use his link to his siblings. He immediately picked up on Wrath’s urgency. Time was critical. He would probably be handicapped if he could feel Bell’s pain right then, sense what they were doing to him. It was a good thing that Wrath was holding that part back from him and Wolf, protecting their sanity. Wolf worked alongside Wrath, but he linked close to Alek, trying to comfort him as Wrath sniffed the air a couple of times, then darted across the small airstrip and straight upwards into the hills, with Mac and Farica trailing not far behind.