Prologue....

And the story continues.....

“Where’s Angeline?” a voice replied in his mind, ignoring his question. “I need to talk to her.”

“What are you doing here?” he asked again, this time a little more forcefully.

“It’s alright Julian,” Angeline said, touching his arm as she stepped outside. She looked at the werewolf. “Come in Athena.”

After a hot shower and steaming cup of tea, Athena looked as fresh as a daisy. No one could have guessed she had just run hundreds of miles to get to where they were. She looked at her audience, wishing she did not have to be the bearer of bad news. “They found you,” she stated simply, not knowing how else to put it.

“What!” Julian and Angeline both cried in unison.

“The council, your clan, they found you.” She repeated.

“But how could they know where we are?” Julian asked getting up and pacing the floor. “We have been so careful since we left, they couldn’t possibly track us down!”

“You forget that Blackstone is not the only town with the species. There many more scattered over the country.”

“Yes but we never exposed ourselves to anybody,” Angeline said. “Like Julian says, we live a very quiet life.”

“There’s no way they could have found us here,” Julian leered up in front of Athena, “unless someone told them.”

“You think I would risk my sister’s life like that!” Athena cried, outraged at the accusation. “Risk her being torn to shreds over some mindless vampire!”

“Enough!” Angeline’s firm voice brought calm to proceedings threatening to get out of hand. “Nobody is accusing you of anything Athena and Julian, Athena would never betray me. They must have found out some other way.”

“Well it doesn’t matter now. You need to get as far away as you possibly can and you need to do it tonight. I reckon they must already be on their way now.”

A grim look appeared on his face as Julian said, “too late, they’re already here.” His revelation was greeted by a series of howls outside.

“We know you’re in there Julian!” a harsh voice called out. “We may not be able to get inside this house but I believe the werewolves can, so come out before things get real ugly around here.”

“Julian…..” Angeline held onto his arm as he made for the door.

“It’s alright,” he said, patting her arm. “I won’t let anything happen to our family. Let me talk to him.” Angeline motioned for Athena to stay hidden as he opened the door. The sight that greeted them filled her with trepidation. There were four massive werewolves standing in the clearing just beyond the porch, snarling and baring their teeth, not at all happy that one of their own had so visibly rejected them. She noticed her father’s werewolf form among them and Frederik’s, the alpha male. To the left stood the vampires, their pallor white skin accentuated under the porch light. Their eyes were blood red, meaning they were very angry or had just been feeding.

“Give it up Julian,” the vampire who had spoken earlier said. It seemed he was the leader or Primogen as they were known; the eldest and most powerful of Julian’s clan. “You have nowhere to run anymore and if you quit now then maybe I can at least try to bargain for your life with the Conclave.”

Julian’s chuckle surprised Angeline. “You really think I’m gonna buy that?” he asked. “If you came to save me, you wouldn’t have come with your little puppets Rayden.”

“Careful boy,” Rayden said, his cold cruel voice sending a shiver up Angeline’s spine. “These are your elders, show a little respect.”

“What does it matter, you’re going to kill me anyway.”

 

 

“Unfortunately you’re correct,” Rayden said taking a step forward. “You have broken the third tradition and must now pay for it with your life. If…….” He stopped in mid-sentence, annoyed at the interruptance by the werewolf’s voice in his mind.

 

“We did not come here for you to start a history lesson!” it said, harshly. “Just give us the girl, kill the little monsters and be done with it!” It snarled, baring its fangs.

 

Rayden held its gaze for a long moment, silently wishing he could rip its heart out. He smiled without mirth and looked back at the couple standing in the doorway. “Well let’s not drag this out longer than necessary shall we. Give us the babies hmmm, give us the cute little things just waiting to grow up and become monsters.”

 

“No.” Angeline’s quiet but firm voice surprised them all. Julian had even forgotten she was standing beside him. “My sons were born with nothing but love and joy into this world and I will not let you take them away from me.”

 

“Angeline!” Her father’s voice exploded in her mind. “Stop this madness now! Save what’s left of your dignity and rid this world of your abominations!”

 

“I will do no such thing!” She shouted back, incensed at her sons being referred to as abominations. “I would rather die than let you kill them.”

 

“Then so be it,” a harsh second voice said and without warning, the huge werewolf attacked. Growling, it rushed the little distance to the porch and leaped at them. Julian just managed to pull Angeline down as its outstretched claws narrowly missed his chest. It bundled across the room, its leap almost propelling it into a bookcase along the other side of the wall.

 

Angeline instinctively shifted when she hit the floor. She heard a growl behind her and quickly turned around as Frederik charged at her again. She met him full on and teeth clashed as the two were wolves fought, biting and scratching as they rolled on the floor, breaking tables and chairs with glass and wood flying everywhere. Angeline’s fighting skills had been honed pretty well by her father but Frederik was more experienced and powerful.

 

He sank his teeth deep into her shoulder. She yelped at the instant pain that soared through her, struggling to break free of his grip. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw a flash then Julian lunged himself at Frederik, crushing the werewolf into a display cabinet filled with ornaments. Glass shattered everywhere. The mess the house was in would have made hurricane Katrina jealous. Frederik looked a little dazed as he got up, pieces of glass stuck in his flesh. He and Julian circled each other warily, Angeline, for the moment, forgotten. Frederik snarled once then charged forward. Julian deftly side stepped to his left and threw the werewolf over his shoulder, its own momentum helping in sending it crashing through the window.

 

When the other wolves saw this, they rushed forward but Frederik growled his displeasure. He would not be seen as needing help to kill some chump vampire although this one had already surprised him twice now. While all this had been going on, Rayden and the other vampires had been watching, frustrated that they could do nothing since they were not able to get inside the house.

 

Back inside, Julian knelt beside an Angeline now back in her human form. She was bleeding profusely from the shoulder where Frederik had bit her but was not worried knowing she would heal soon. He picked her up and whisked her up the stairs at an incredible speed. They burst into a bedroom where the babies had been sleeping, and surprisingly, still were. Athena grabbed Angeline as Julian set her down on the bed.

 

“What happened?” she cried. “I heard fighting down there. I almost came down.”

 

“Frederik almost ripped her apart,” Julian said hastily. “He’s not gonna stop until he kills us all.”

 

“Well let me help you,” Athena said. “You’ve got a better chance with three against four.”