Thank you to all my readers for your comments. I hope you continue to enjoy the stories as much as I enjoy writing them.
And as always, a huge thank you to Archangel_M for his support and guidance.
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Island of Sardinia - 1052 A.D.
The figure standing on the hillside watched the flames die out. He listened as the shouting and screams quieted while the sun rose. The smell of death surrounded him, and he reveled in it. He heard the movement in the grass behind him and waited patiently for the little blond wolf to sit at his side. He stood looking out over the decimated camp, never glancing at the wolf.
"You did well Zosime. They believed your every word. You have earned your reward." He glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She looked up at him with her sad eyes. "You and your father may live. Go back to my cave and wait for me there." He waited for her to leave before acknowledging the presence of another nearby.
His eyes followed the red panther as she approached, her slow stride unsteady, her side streaked with blood. Her green eyes burned with hatred, and he laughed at her for it. "It's too late, Lysandra. You are the last of your kind. I have won."
The panther shifted into a stunning woman with long red hair that fell down in curls over her shoulders. Her emerald-green eyes seemed to look through Erobos, as if he wasn't worth her sight. She looked beyond him. "You have sealed your fate, Erobos. Your end will come, and it will be horrible to behold. But you will have brought it upon yourself."
"Leona could have saved you all." He wondered if her body was among those on the ground below. He would find it. If any life still flowed, he might be able to do to her what the vampire had done to him. Then she would be his mate for all time.
Lysandra knew his evil thoughts. "Leona is meant for another, not for you. She will have her future. And her future will be your downfall." If she noticed him turn his head to glare at her, she didn't show it.
"You and your visions, Lysandra. Where are your precious sister panthers now? Dead! All of them, dead! Why did you not foresee your own end? You could have escaped. But you did not, and now you will die as well." Erobos licked his lips as the picture came to his mind of the panthers, all dead.
Her voice was dispassionate as she spoke to the thing in front of her. "You have become an abomination, Erobos. You were not meant to be. The Vampire was wrong to have ever made you. Little does he know that he will suffer the consequences as well. You think you will rule over all the weres. But you are wrong; your kind will not prevail. You will think you have power, but in reality, you will have none. And your fall will be deadly..." She paused for a moment. "And painful!"
As much as Erobos attempted to provoke her rage, she maintained her calm demeanor. And if he had heard her premonition, he ignored it.
"I am ready to join my family now." She turned to the figure cloaked in black. His pale face almost glowed in the dark. His hand reached out and grabbed her throat. As he squeezed it tightly, she smiled and looked to the sky. She managed to mouth the words, "I will be with you soon, sisters."
Erobos crushed her throat and watched her lifeless body drop to the ground in a heap. He kicked her to be sure she was dead.
Weak, the panthers were all weak.
He waited for the humans to leave the smoldering remnants of the village. Their work here was done. They had avenged the poor little blond girl who had disappeared as soon as the massacre began. But at least they were safe from the monsters.
Erobos laughed to himself. The panthers hadn't even attempted to save themselves. He wandered among the scattered bodies. Not as many of them as he'd expected. Why did he not find the bodies of the cubs? Where was Leona? He walked through the remains of every dwelling, kicking aside the bodies of the dead. She wasn't here.
Damn you, Leona. Where did you go? You cannot hide from me! I will find you and bring you back to me! You will belong to me, or you will belong to no one!
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Nevada - Present Day
"Hey, Axel. How are things going out there?" Carr had a smile on his face as he spoke with his new friend. It was too bad the Jensen pack was five hundred miles away in Danville, California. If they were closer, he could envision working together on a regular basis. Axel was much easier to work with than say, Torrance or Crane.
"Hi, Carr. Not too bad actually. We're getting a kick out of watching Erobos at the airport. The humans are giving him a wide berth. He doesn't exactly fit in with the normal public, you know. He looks pretty conspicuous in his fancy Italian suit. And he never takes off his sunglasses. Maybe he doesn't want to scare people more than he already is. Airport Police are kind of giving him the eye, if you know what I mean."
Carr could just imagine how the police were looking at him and smirked. "Can you get us some pictures so we know exactly who we're dealing with?"
"Sure, we've got some good photographers in the pack. We have time. His flight doesn't leave for a few hours. He keeps looking at his cell phone and making calls. The phones we confiscated off his Betas are ringing like crazy, all with incoming calls from the same phone number. Took us a while, but we finally found one of the phones that had the voice mail passcode pre-programmed and were able to listen to the messages."
Carr lifted an eyebrow as he listened to Axel's laughter.
"It was funnier than hell, Carr. All we could hear was screaming in Italian, we're guessing. Unfortunately, that is one language that none of us speak. Anyone there than could translate for you?"
"Yeah, I think we can get that handled. Hang on a minute." Carr knew Drago's parents were hardly ever far from his bedside.
Logan, can you send Silvano over to my office to translate a message for me?
Logan maneuvered around Kelly as he checked Drago's vitals. He'd just finished changing his dressings, and he was healing better than Logan could have ever predicted. His head popped up when he felt his Alpha through their bond. He smiled at the three worried faces watching him closely. "Things are looking good here. Silvano, Carr is requesting you come to his office. He needs some translation. After you get back, I'll give you all the updates." Logan grinned ear to ear. He didn't want anyone worrying unnecessarily while they were waiting. "All good news, folks, really!"
Silvano leaned down to kiss his mate on the top of her head and gave Kelly's shoulder a gentle squeeze. He remembered to be careful with his son's human mate. She was good for Drago, and he was sure his healing so well was, in part, attributable to her presence. "I'll be back soon. I want to hear what the Doctor has to say."
Silvano wondered what it was the Alpha had that needed translating. He walked into the office and saw Carr pacing the floor, cell phone in hand, laughing with whomever it was he was speaking to.
"Silvano, great! I need you to listen to a recording and tell me what was said." He thrust the phone into Silvano's hand and sat down in his chair to wait.
Silvano slowly put the phone to his ear. "Hello?"
"Hi, I'm going to play the recording now." Axel held up the confiscated phone and pressed a few buttons.
"Dove cazzo sei? Avrò la testa se non si presenta presto!" Silvano listened with a disgusted look on his face.
Axel came back to the line. "Do you need to hear it again?"
"No, I have it." Silvano handed the phone back to Carr.
"Well?" Carr looked at him expectantly, holding the phone out and on speaker so Axel could hear. "What did he say?"
Silvano cleared his throat. "Where the fuck are you? I'll have your heads if you don't show up soon!" Silvano didn't hide his distaste for the filthy language from his former Alpha. He didn't like listening to it, and worse, having to repeat it.
"Got that, Axel?" Carr listened for a moment and laughed. "Yeah, I think he's gonna get even more pissed soon. I'll keep ya in the loop. Thanks, Axel. Give me a call back when his flight takes off. I really appreciate your help."
"Thank you, Silvano. I hear Drago is doing well. Glad to hear it. You can go back to your son." He clapped the male on the shoulder in a friendly gesture and went back to his phone. Erobos would be leaving San Francisco in about four hours.
Heck, he could have made it here faster by driving instead of waiting for a flight. Maybe that's why he's so upset? His Betas were supposed to chauffeur him to Reno from SF? Hmm, interesting thought. Does Erobos even know how to drive? He'll have another four and a half hour drive from Reno to Elko. His Betas won't be waiting for him there either. Wonder how he'll get here.
Carr's phone began ringing again, and he looked down at the caller ID. Wilson. "Wilson, what ya got for me? Uh huh, yeah, the Alpha isn't too happy. Be sure to cover the car rentals and limo services. I'm not sure this guy drives. Yeah, I'll let you know." Carr chuckled to himself. This was getting good. Erobos was calling all of his pack members. He smiled as he walked out of his office, whistling to himself.
He walked into the room Alistair had finally claimed as office space and sat across from the distinguished white-haired were. "Things are getting interesting."
"I think it's going to be even more interesting soon. Sandalio has received information from Sardinia about more of that pack's members here in the U.S. I have them being rounded up around the country as we speak. And he found out who the spies in Xylon's DNA company are. They are all in custody."
"Wow, that's great! How's Xylon taking it?"
"He's pretty devastated. He considered many of them friends. But he'll get over it. Sandalio is on his way over. He wanted to talk about a few things."
And just at that moment the Spaniard arrived with a flourish, his long hair loose around his shoulders, still wet from a swim in the nearby lake. "I'm sorry to be late. I took the opportunity to take a run through the forest with a lovely Beta who delighted in showing me the plentiful game in the area." He smoothed his hair back into a ponytail and secured it with a leather tie.
Carr and Alistair exchanged amused grins.
"And how is Julia today?" Carr knew she had had her eye on Sandalio since she'd been rebuffed by Guillame at the Wolf Moon. He hoped she found a mate soon. The other single females didn't appreciate having to compete with her. She always seemed to end up the winner. He could just imagine the happy female faces the day her mate found her.
Sandalio laughed and sat on the corner of Alistair's new desk. "She is just fine, and very... flexible."
Carr lost it and almost fell out of his chair.
