Chapter 2
Cal heard screaming all around him. The club was plummeted into chaos and adding a few shifters into the mix didn’t seem to excite people anymore. They didn’t even notice because everyone was freaking out, especially the ones that couldn’t get out the entrance fast enough.
He looked behind him and heard his brother Abott ending the life of one of the many humans that were bit. They all knew what would happen if they were left to turn. The vampires would have more in their coven, and the fight would go on longer. It was never-ending because of episodes like the current one being unchecked.
There was a piercing yell that Cal heard over all the rest of the noise. Something in him told him that he must go find out whoever it was that made that sound. It made him cringe inside for some reason. He made his way to the back of the club, away from the immediate bedlam, and went to investigate further what pulled him back there.
The door to the ladies’ room was closed, and Cal pushed it open in time to see one of the nightwalkers pulling a woman back through the small window that led out into the street. The woman was furiously kicking behind her, trying to get free of his grip, but ultimately failing. Humans were no match for the vampires. They never had been.
“Stop!”
The two people in front of him both stopped and looked back shocked. The vampire was one that he’d been trying to catch for some time, and the shifted man grinned in a way that only his true form could manage. The creature’s sharp teeth were bared, and it looked like he was about to rip Trenton’s head off. The girl now cowering in the corner of the bathroom was far more scared of Cal than Trenton was.
“I see you mutts found us.”
“And your friends are out there dying, Trenton. You can’t save your coven now.”
The girl in the corner was starting to get up on swaying feet, and her wide blue eyes took in the scene in front of her. There was nothing to it that made sense by her expression, and she looked to be taking the opening that was given with the large, furry creature’s arrival. All that could be heard was growling and hissing as she inched her way to the door.
Cal watched her in his peripheral, his focus on the nightwalker in front of him. The coven was old and had been troublesome for years. Tonight, he could finally end the centuries-old war between his clan and the coven.
Trenton’s attention was lost for a moment with the girl, and that distraction left Cal open to make his move.
Cal lunged towards the nightwalker and had him in his grips when the small woman made a run for the door. He was there because of her, and his attention was pulled away for a moment because he wasn’t sure which way to go. He wanted to catch up with her to see why he was drawn to her in the first place, but Trenton was a nightwalker that he’d been aiming to get for a long time. Could he just push all of that out of his mind for this human girl?
“She’s interesting, isn’t she?”
Cal growled at the pale man as he smiled and tried to make himself disappear as well. Cal knew what the man was doing, but he looked back towards where the girl had left, again unable to understand what his draw to her was. There was something about her and Cal knew that he was going to have to find her.
“Are you really going to let her go out there alone? I came with many from my coven. She will most likely get caught in the crossfire. You know that it only takes one little nick, which I think she already has. She tasted so good.”
Cal didn’t want to believe the man, but now he knew he had to go after her. If one of his family suspected that she was bitten, they would kill her outright. It was the way of things when the battle was hard to win. They couldn’t let more vampires come into the world, whether it was their choice or not. Or, Cal knew that Trenton was just messing with him and lying about it all. He would do anything to save his own neck.
While the nightwalker inched towards the window the girl had been trying to escape out of, Cal knew that he had to go after her. He didn’t know why, but there was something about her. How did the nightwalker know it as well? It had been quite clear to Cal, so he had to make sure nothing happened to the human.
Trenton was gone seconds after he turned his back. He was already furious at himself for letting him go, but he had to. There was nothing else that he could do but find her. How was he going to explain it to his clan later? That was the real question, but for now had to find the girl.
When Cal got back into the main area of the club, the place had calmed down, but there were bodies all over the floor. The police would be there soon, and he knew that it was time to go. They’d done what they had come there to do, well, everyone had but Cal. He had come for their leader and once again, the leader of the oldest coven in the city had slipped through his fingers.
He scanned the room with his sharp eyes and didn’t see her anywhere. She was no longer there, and Cal was raging inside that he had let not one, but both of his marks get away. If what Trenton said was true, she could be infected and may or may not have been detected as such. Cal was worried and not sure what he was going to do about it all.
Going outside, there was still panic and people in the streets. He had to get out of there, the rest of the pack was already retreating or gone completely. He was left, and he could feel eyes on him. No one had ever seen a bear quite like him before. Cal growled to make people keep their distance as he looked for the blonde-haired woman that he’d seen moments before. She was wispy and had gotten away from him, flitting off like a fairy.
About to give up, Calum saw Abott going after something in the woods. His heart was pounding in his chest as he took off in that direction to the stand of trees ahead. Cal didn’t know why, but he knew that his older brother was going after the girl.
“Stop, Abott.”
The other one ahead of him slowed down, looking back to ask why. Cal didn’t answer but used his position to make it so that he did what he wanted. “She’s mine. I want that human.”
Abott didn’t understand, but Cal didn’t need him to understand. He was the Alpha in charge, and that was all that mattered. It wasn’t for him or anyone else to question his decisions. All Calum could hope for was the fact that Trenton had been lying and he wasn’t doing all of this for a dead woman walking.
The smaller bear went off towards the rest of the clan back home in the forest, leaving Cal to his own devices. Cal could smell fear and knew that it was coming out of the one he sought. He could follow it right to her and knew that she was hiding behind a fallen log. He could see her as if it were light out as if she wasn’t behind anything at all.
“Come out, woman.”
The words didn’t come out of his mouth, but Cal knew that she would hear him just the same.
