Newt shook off the sadness and straightened. “Since this is my new home, show me how all those appliances work.”
Vaughn laughed. “Just as long as you don’t destroy them like you did the toaster.”
“Hey, that toaster had it coming. It tried to eat my finger!”
“Because you stuck your finger inside of it while it was on,” Vaughn countered.
Newt led the way down the hallway and stairs, feeling lighter than he had in centuries despite the ache in his chest. His bare feet padded against the hardwood, and he could sense Vaughn close behind him—both the warmth of his presence and the subtle scent of pine and something uniquely him that made Newt’s newly formed bond hum with contentment. For the first time in his life, Newt wasn’t alone. He not only had a pack but a wolf shifter who’d gone through hell and still stood there, strong at Newt’s back with a growl ready for anyone who tried to get between them.
* * * *
Zeppelin gave the hand signals as the pack closed in on the house where the six vampires were hiding out. The sun blazed in the afternoon sky, limiting the vampires’ ability to escape. Chase was anxious to pay back the bloodsucker for that kidney shot in the alley and for threatening his mate. It was Newt who’d given them the location.
Sunlight slanted through the dusty windows, casting long shadows across the vampires’ living room. Through the glass, Chase caught movement, Zeppelin slipping through the back door, silent as smoke. Perfect timing. With the bloodsuckers trapped indoors during daylight hours, they had nowhere to run.
Chase’s pulse quickened as he circled to the side entrance. Three months of tracking these parasites, and it all came down to this. His kidney still twinged whenever he thought of the cheap shot the vampire had delivered in that alley.
But that wasn’t what made his jaw clench. No, what really pissed him off was remembering the vampire breaking into Jalen’s apartment, how terrified his mate had been.
Good thing Chase had followed the bloodsucker that night. Good thing he’d been on patrol that night. Otherwise…
A crash echoed from inside. Zeppelin’s signal. Chase shouldered through the side door, wood splintering under his weight.
His wolf stirred beneath his skin, eager for violence.
In the dim hallway, Bayne had already engaged one of the vampires. The two figures blurred together, a tangle of limbs and snarls. Chase stepped around them. Bayne could handle this one himself. Quinn had gone after one, while Wade had already beheaded a vampire and was going after another one.
Movement at the end of the corridor caught his attention. There. The one from the alley.
“Well, well.” The vampire’s lips curled back, revealing fangs. “The puppy found me.”
Chase didn’t bother with banter. Talking only gave opponents time to think, and thinking was overrated in a fight. He lunged forward, using his momentum to drive the vampire backward into the kitchen.
They crashed into the refrigerator hard enough to dent the metal. The vampire twisted, wrenching free with inhuman strength. His elbow caught Chase in the temple, sending stars across his vision.
“Still protecting that pretty little human?” The vampire circled, keeping the kitchen island between them. “Such devotion. I wonder if he’d taste as sweet as he smells.”
“You’ll never find out.” Red hazed Chase’s vision. He vaulted over the island, catching the vampire mid-dodge. They went down hard, Chase’s weight driving them both into the linoleum. His hands found the vampire’s throat, squeezing until cartilage shifted under his palms.
The vampire bucked, knee driving into Chase’s ribs. Air exploded from Chase’s lungs, but he held on. They rolled across the floor, each fighting for leverage. A chair shattered under their combined weight. Splinters dug into Chase’s back through his shirt.
Claws raked across Chase’s shoulder. The pain was distant, unimportant. What mattered was the way the vampire’s struggles were weakening, the way his eyes were starting to show real fear.
“Should’ve never gone after my mate,” Chase growled, adjusting his grip.
The vampire’s response was lost in a gurgle. With a savage twist, Chase snapped his neck. The crack echoed in the sudden silence. But vampires were tough. A broken neck would only slow them down.
Chase dragged the twitching body upright, one hand fisted in his hair. Through the kitchen window, sunlight streamed in golden and lethal. He hauled the vampire toward it, ignoring the weak struggles.
“Wait—” The vampire’s voice came out strangled, desperate.
Chase shoved him into the light.
The scream cut off almost immediately. Flesh sizzled and blackened, the smell making Chase’s nose wrinkle. Within seconds, nothing remained but ash.
Footsteps behind him made Chase tense, but the scent was familiar—pine and gunpowder. Zeppelin.
“That’s all of them,” his alpha said, brushing dust off his hands. “Found one still sleeping upstairs. Didn’t even get a chance to open his eyes.”
