Werewolf and Vampire Mate [Book 1 Complete]

chapter twenty-four.

April

The ground shakes beneath our feet and then the roof starts to cave in. Rubble collapses onto the nightcrawlers as chaos breaks out and sunlight streams in.

The vampires screech and sizzle, burning from the sudden exposure to sunlight.

I watch in horror as Wickham's skin starts to blister and he falls to his knees, turning red and then bursting into flames.

The uninjured fighters of our pack shift into wolves and start tearing the remaining vampires—who are older and not so badly burnt by the sun—apart. Nik pulls me out of the way as a wolf and vampire, locked in a vicious brawl, barrel toward us. The grimoire falls from my hands and thuds to the floor.

Even with over half the Nightcrawlers dead from sun exposure, there are still so many of them. Reed starts tearing off heads but he is quickly inundated by them.

"Go and help him!" I urge Nik, leaning back against the cave wall to try and avoid the fights.

"I'm not leaving you," Nik protests.

"I'm fine! Please, Nik," I beg, watching as six vampires jump onto Reed and beat him to the ground.

Nik's mouth twists with displeasure, but he doesn't argue any further. He darts forward, yanking out the heart of a Nightcrawler as he goes. When he reaches Reed, he starts ripping off the heads of the attacking vampires. Reed stumbles to his feet, Nik helping him up, and then they stand back to back. They are forces of nature, unbeatable as they work together to kill the surrounding Nightcrawlers.

Hands grab my arm and yank me to the side and I let out a scream of fright as a Nightcrawler snaps at me, trying to get to my neck.

I struggle against him futilely, but he's far too strong.

The howling of wolves fills the air and then suddenly the cave is flooded with more werewolves.

One bounds toward me and rips the vampire away from me, tearing his head off with a snap of powerful jaws.

It's a large, brown wolf and a familiar one.

"North?" I gasp out. He turns away to join the fighting—and he's brought along with him an army of wolves. The tide quickly turns and the remaining vampires are killed within minutes. The werewolves check on each other, helping up the wounded members of our pack.

Reed rushes over to me, cupping my cheeks and smoothing back my insanely mussed hair.

"Are you hurt? Are you alright?" He is frantic as he checks me over.

"I'm ok," I puff. "Are you?"

There is blood painting his chest and arms but I don't think much of it is his.

"I'm fine." He's already shaking his head, dismissing the thought. The pad of his thumb swipes up along my cheekbone. "It's over, April."

I nod, slumping back against the cave wall, relief and exhaustion soaking into me in equal measure.

Over Reed's shoulder, I see North shift back into human form and snatch up a pair of pants from one of the various trunks of items littered around the cavern.

Then, a blonde bob of hair becomes visible in the crowd.

"Harper?!" I straighten, my eyes wide. "Harper!"

She looks over at me and smiles.

What the hell is she doing here?

I push past Reed, wind around several ash piles from dead vampires and throw myself at her. She hugs me tightly and it feels so comforting. A slice of my human life, here amongst the chaos.