I watched with wide eyes as Matthias effortlessly lifted her into his arms and rushed out. What did Marti say?

“Rory?” Alex asked, laying a hand on the small of my back. “Are you alright?”

A feral grin spread over my face. “Fucking amazing.” It was a bitter sweet moment; Rieker would die, of that I was sure, but whether I lived or not, I knew not. “Assemble the men, roster the nurses, and secure a path from the vault to the infirmary, lock down every single every other room and assign guards to make sure that not one hunter gets underground.”

Alex nodded and stalked away. My mind wandered to Marti. She was going to be going through hell for the next day, maybe even two. I knew that Marti would be in a lot of pain and I wished I could take it away but it’s not like taking a bullet; I couldn’t pop her baby out of my vagina for her. There’s nothing I can do for her but make the world a safer place by killing the hunters before they killed us.

-

Pushing open the huge wooden doors leading to the council chambers I was pleased to see Alex had done exactly what I’d ordered. Striding into the chambers I looked around at the men all staring at me. I felt comfortable wearing my standard black pants, black combat boots and a thin black shirt. The familiar weight of the weapons I carried on my body was comforting in a twisted way. I was armed to the teeth and ready for anything.

I strode up the stone steps and stood in front of the men smiling ferociously. “The hunters are coming.” The room went from dead silent to outraged within seconds; they were growling, snarling, swearing and a few looked like they were about to shift. Pulling out my gun, something that seemed to be a regular occurrence in this room I fired three shots into the ceiling.  “Silence!”

“How do you know they are coming? What do we do?”

“We will box them in, while half of our attacking force faces them front on, three hundred other men will sneak past them and attack from behind. They’ll panic, break ranks and make it easier for us to kill them. We will be assigning shifts to guard the infirmary and females in the vault.”

“But we don’t have that man men, the humans will surely outnumber us.”

I smirked, crossing my arms, still holding my gun and smirked. “There are reinforcements coming that the hunters won’t expect. Reinforcements they won’t be able to kill.”

“Who?” Alex asked with curiosity.

I debated whether or not to tell them but I knew that if I didn’t and the battle started when the reinforcements came they would be angry, surprised and confused. “The Drăculești Coven.” I knew that everyone knew that name; they were the worst of the worst. The Drăculești were led by an old friend who I had tipped off about an impending hunter attack, leading to hundreds, probably thousands of human deaths. Rieker was furious and punished me severely, but it was worth the pain. Vlad III, Prince of Wallachia or commonly known as Vlad the Impaler or Dracula is the head of the Drăculești clan and one of the single most terrifying vampires to ever walk the Earth. He was a true monster, but he was a good friend and in times of need I could count on him.  

The hall was filed with cries of outrage and fear. “You cannot be serious Rory!”

“Oh I’m dead serious.” I said looking over the hoard of angry men. “I honestly don’t care what any of you think but if it helps us beat the hunters with minimal casualties I’ll do it. It’s my job to keep you all safe and I intend to do just that.”

“How do you know he and his coven won’t take the chance to wipe us all out while we’re preoccupied?”

I crossed my arms, dangling the gun and shot a look over to Alex. “I was the general of his army in the campaign against the Ottoman Empire or modern day Turkey and his closest friend. I was one of his many executioners, tortured his enemies and saved him and his clan more than once.” I growled. I didn’t like nor appreciate the way they questioned my decisions and leadership. “He will be the deciding factor as to whether you live or die, don’t reject his help hastily. If you treat him and his clan with respect they will do that same.”

-

“How far away are the hunters?” I asked the man sitting in front of Marti’s computers. I knew that she’d be very, very pissed once she found out someone had touched her equipment but I really didn’t care now.

I saw his Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed and shifted away from me uncomfortably. I knew that it was my proximity and reputation along with the fact that Alex was glaring down at the boy for being so close. I growled at Alex and gave the boy an expectant look.

“A-at the borders.” They weren’t too far off then. They’d be here in a few hours.

“How many?” I hissed, knowing that he could give me a rough estimate using Marti’s satellites.

Sweat began dripping down his face as he looked at the monitor. “Around two thousand.” I cursed. That’s two hunters against each wolf. Each hunter would be armed to the teeth and they’d have snipers to take down the first wave of wolves. So many would die. I already knew that there would be many causalities. It wasn’t that I didn’t have any faith in the men, it’s just that hunters are cunning and dirty. They would try to take out half our forces with poisons and bullets before we even reached them.

“Keep your eyes on them and tell me immediately if more come or if they get too close.” I ordered, grabbing Alex’s hand and dragging him out. “Do you see why we need to call in Vlad?” I asked, pinning him to the wall. “The hunters fight dirty, they will have poison, guns, biological weapons.” I looked into his eyes hoping that he would see how serious I was.

Alex sighed and ran a hand through his hair. Everything that was happening and would happen was taking a heavy toll on him and for the first time in a long time I felt guilt. If I hadn’t intruded upon their lives and just done what I was meant to do all those months ago, everything would be alright.

But it wouldn’t have.

Rieker would have gotten the files and set me to kill Rosie and her mate. I never would have met Nick or Alex. I never would have had Jenna. Never would have known that Dan was alive. Marti wouldn’t have met Mathias and I would be one of the many hunters coming to kill the wolves I’d come to know.

I would have met Alex or Nick in the heat of battle and they would have been forced to kill me before I did them. I never would have experienced love. Looking into Alex’s eyes I could tell that he loved me, as did Nick.

“Fine,” He sighed looking defeated. “But you had better keep him and his coven in line and away from the women. We don’t need more deaths.” He warned.

I nodded and stood back. For a moment I nearly forgot everything, it was just Alex and I; no Rieker, no hunters, no war. I could be with them, let them heal me, be happy with my mates and daughter. “I’ll call Vlad.”

-

“Rory how are you?” Vlad asked enthusiastically in a deep Swedish accent.

I chuckled deeply and leant back in Nightingale’s leather chair. “I’m trapped underground with a hoard of a few thousand hunters coming to kill me and everyone here, you?”

I heard him sigh on the other end of the line. “Terrible, we have witches up here trying to push us out of our territory and have already killed three coven members.”

A smile crept its way onto my face. “Help us and I’ll make sure that the witches never bother you all again.” I have connections, powerful connections, people who owe me favours. The Drăculești Coven are strong and no one would dare mess with them. Their reputation was legendary but obviously these witches were stupid and filled with false courage.

“Deal!” He said. “We’ll be there in 24 hours. Try to stay alive until then.” The dial tone sounded and I hung up the phone. Soon the vengeance I seeked would be mine.

-

 “Cut the phone lines, keep only the phone in Nightingale’s office open and make sure that the channel is secured.” I ordered an hour later, walking away.

The hunters were so close now; I could almost taste their blood, smell their fear, feel their flesh. The men all stood in rows in the loading bay, separated into three groups and sub- divided into troupes of twenty men. I had told them to say their final goodbyes to their families and settled their debts. Many would not be coming back.

I stood on the podium, hands folded behind my back, shoulders relaxed as I surveyed the men. I was armed to the teeth, not that I’d really need it once the battle started. All hell would break loose and it would be safer to go wolf, less confusing for the men. No doubt all the hunters would know my face but they wouldn’t know my wolf. Not even Rieker knew what my wolf looked like.

“Hunters believe that the extermination of all supernatural species will free the Earth from our darkness.” I began, my voice the only sound in the room save for the beating of their hearts and their breaths. “They believe that we are animals, rabid killers; they are not limited by morality or law, they will fight dirty and take any opportunity to kill you using any means.

They will take everything you have ever loved and treasured and use it against you; they will rape your women, kill your children, burn your possessions and rip apart your world before they kill you. To prevent this, we will strike first; fast and hard. We will kill them before they can hurt us. Death is coming for them, show them how it feels to lose what they love, show them how it feels to die.”

I could see the fear in many men’s eyes, but they were right to be scared. I knew that many would not survive, many more would be injured. I saw the fear for their families and the love they held for them.

I pointed to the door as the footsteps of thousands of hunters could be heard marching towards the compound. “Those are brave men knocking on our door, filled with false courage and arrogance.  But their blood will run thick tonight, their bodies broken, army vanquished. Tonight we will become the rabid animals they accuse us of being. From this day forth, they will remember that we are not to be meddled with, we will burn them all. Let them come!”