“Hmmm. Wish I could say the same,” Ava says in a straight voice.
Raechel laughs, and Liam looks between the two of them. “You two have a strange relationship.”
“It’s a love/hate one,” Ava says, but I can see the corners of her lips twitching, like she’s trying not to smile. When Garrett comes back into the room, everyone’s smiles fade.
“Thanks for coming early this morning.” The front door opens again, and I watch as Kyle and Madison join us. “Thanks for coming,” Garrett says to them, and they nod. “How are vampires getting on pack lands?” He is not happy, and the look he levels at his enforcers shows it.
“The only thing we can figure is that they’re using something to mask their scent,” Kyle speaks up. “There’s no sign of them until they show up.”
Garrett looks to Max, who’s standing behind Raechel with his arms crossed. He nods but doesn’t say anything. Garrett runs a hand through his hair, and I wonder if the alpha slept at all last night. It wouldn’t surprise me if he didn’t. “Last night, when they showed up, we had no warning. They went for Daniel.” His jaw tightens, and I wonder if his teeth are going to crack. “They hurtEmma in the process, sent her into early labor. Paul, Sage, and Ava were able to help stop the labor, but we’re not out of the woods yet. Sherese ran after the vampires and got Daniel back.” His dark eyes meet mine, and I almost react to the intensity there. “Thank you.” I only nod. He faces the group. “There’s no way any of us would have gotten to him in time. I owe Sherese everything. On a side note, she’ll be fighting in Fight Night on Friday as a way of our appreciation.” The room is absolutely silent; I can tell he’s thrown everyone for a loop.
Raechel cocks her head to the side. “Your way of saying thank you is to make her fight?”
“Actually, it was Hunter’s idea,” Garrett says.
“Who’s she going to fight?” Raechel asks.
“She should fight you,” Bryce says, surprising me.
Raechel’s eyes widen in surprise, and she looks over at me again. I can tell she’s mentally categorizing me. “Can you fight?”
“Can you?” I retort without thinking.
A slow grin fills her face, and I make a mental note to ask Bryce what he knows about her fighting skills. “I’ll do it,” she says. Max makes a low sound in his chest, and she pats him. “It will be fine, Big Guy.”
“She’s a vampire, Raechel.” This comes from Madison, whom I don’t know at all. She doesn’t sound malicious, but it still hits hard. I force myself not to react and not to feel anything.
“Who’s sitting right here and can hear you?” Hunter says in a voice that I don’t hear often from him.
Kyle steps forward, but Madison puts a hand on his side. “He’s right. I’m sorry,” she says, meeting my gaze head-on. “I shouldn’t have said it that way, but the truth remains.”
“Have a little faith, Maddie,” Raechel says with a grin. “I can fight a vampire. It will be good. I haven’t had a challenge for a little while. Even if she’s a terrible fighter, she’ll be fast. That will count for some good competition.”
I really need to talk to Bryce about her. Just how good a fighter is this girl?
“Is everybody good with this?” Garrett asks.
Liam looks between Raechel and me. “I don’t think Max or Hunter should be near the ring.”
That earns him a double growl, and I whip my head to look at Hunter. But he’s not looking at me; he’s glaring daggers at Liam. Liam puts his hands up. “I get it; I really do. But I think it will be a mistake to let them near the fight. Just sayin’.”
Garrett watches everything going on and then nods. “Liam and I will officiate this one. That’s the only way this fight takes place,” he says, glancing at Max and Raechel and then me and finally, Hunter. Hunter and Max finally agree, and I wonder why they’re bringing Hunter into it. I don’t know if it’s because he’s responsible for me in some way. But I stay quiet; there’s been enough attention on me during this meeting. “Now, back to last night. The vampires that attacked are all dead. We made sure of it.”
“Ajax is dead?” I can’t help it; it just slips out. Relief flows through me so swiftly; I’ve always hated him. He was always one of the cruelest people there.
Garrett’s gaze pins me in place, and this time I can’t help but react to the intensity there. “Ajax was part of this?”
And just like that, dread crawls up my spine because if he didn’t know, then Ajax is definitely not dead. I don’t look away from the alpha. “Ajax coordinated the attack.”
I hear somebody swear, but I’m not sure who it was. The alpha doesn’t look away, and I can literally feel his power grow. It suddenly feels like I’m suffocating. “Garrett,” Bryce says in a quiet voice. “It’s too much.”
That suffocating feeling is gone, but the look Garrett is giving me is no less intense. “Talk me through exactly what went downlast night. You knew the vampires were coming when we met you in the woods. That’s the reason you ran, right?”
I stand tall and meet his gaze head-on and think back to that moment. The moment when I knew the vampires were upon us, I grabbed Daniel and ran. “Yes.”
“How?”
I debate a moment, wondering if I should tell him the truth. “I can feel vampires.”
