Grayson
I stood stoically at the edge of the training grounds as I watched my pack members continue to train. After my conversation with Kyle, I had decided I needed time to process things and he had left me to go continue training with the others. I had to keep reminding myself that Kyle was right. I shouldn't take my anger out on my pack members. Sure, they had treated Belle horribly while she was here, making her feel unwanted and unworthy, but they had no control over their actions during that time in the same way that I did. But still, I couldn't stop the fury that formed in my chest as I watched them. I wanted nothing more than to act on that fury and take down each and every one of them.
After a while longer, I felt something small wrap itself around my leg. My first instinct was to growl and kick the thing off of me, but then I looked down. It was Zoe.
Zoe was only five years old and one of our more rambunctious young werewolves in my pack. I wasn't surprised to see that she had somehow managed to sneak away from the packhouse where all of the younger pups were supposed to be. Zoe was always finding ways to get into trouble.
She didn't say anything as she hugged herself onto my leg like some sort of monkey. She simply watched the werewolves in front of us with wide eyes, filled with interest and wonder. I had always liked Zoe. And she had always seemed to like me. She was the reason that I wanted to have kids. We formed a bond a while back, as soon as she could talk, and ended up spending a lot of time together. She would always sneak into my office and ask me what I was doing, constantly interested in pack affairs. I had a sneaking suspicion that she would become a higher-ranking member of a pack someday, maybe even an alpha. She showed all the signs of being a great leader—except for her disobedience and inability to follow orders.
I sighed. "Zoe, what are you doing here? You're supposed to be at the packhouse," I said, bending down to pick her up.
Zoe pried her gaze away from the warriors. Her eyes widened when she saw me. "Your eyes are red," she told me matter of factually. Her voice dropped into a whisper. "You look like a demon."
I couldn't help but crack a smile. I didn't even realize that my vampire was the surface of my consciousness, making my eyes red. It was probably due to all of the anger that I was feeling. I was surprised that, rather than being frightened, Zoe seemed interested in my red eyes. "That's because I have a vampire inside of me now, just like how you have a wolf. I have both species."
Zoe nodded. "Yeah, I know," she said, shrugging nonchalantly as if it were the most normal thing in the world. "My mom told me. She says you are really strong because you have a vampire and that it's good to have you as an alpha. That's also why you turned into a giant!" She spread her arms out wide, trying to express how large I'd gotten.
I chuckled. "Yeah, I have gotten pretty big, huh?"
Zoe gripped my shoulders, inspecting them. "Yeah, you're basically the biggest person I know."
I laughed, but before I had a chance to respond to her statement, Zoe placed her palms on either side of my face. "Your beard is scratchy," she said. "Like my dad's."
I nodded, amused by how quickly her thoughts jumped around. "Yes, well—"
"Hey, your mate is pretty. I saw her," she interrupted.
I immediately tensed at the mention of Belle. Zoe must have seen her sometime before she left. My wolf whimpered in my chest. "Thank you," I replied. "I think so too."
Zoe frowned, wiping her messy brown hair out of her eyes. "She was sad. That's why your wolf is sad and why you look so angry."
It was hard to believe but this five-year-old was calling me out on my shit right now. "I guess you're right," I said.
"I know," Zoe stated. "But it'll be okay because we don't have to be mean to her anymore!" she said excitedly, smiling at me widely. "So now you can be happy, right?"
I nodded. "Right." Once I had Belle back in my arms and explained everything to her, I would be very, very happy again.
Content with my answer, Zoe looked back out at the people training. "What are they doing?"
I followed her gaze, watching the several groups of wolves fighting each other. "They're training. There's a war coming," I told her.
"Yeah, my mom told me," she said once again. "But you're gonna tell them to go away though, right? You can do that, right? Because your eyes turn red and stuff?"
I paused, thinking about it. Was she right? Could I use my new powers to stop the war and defeat Azazel?
"If only it were that simple," a voice behind us said. I turned to face Zagan. "There's a special kind of stone that someone can put into their ear that blocks out any kind of command that comes from a Mortar. It works like an earplug. I have no doubt that Azazel has made sure that all of his warriors have them."
Zoe gasped. She cupped her hands around her mouth and then put them to my ear. "Did you know that's a real-life vampire, Alpha Grayson? You can tell from his teeth."
"I think it's time you go back to the packhouse, Zoe. Where you're supposed to be," I told her with admonishment in my tone. Even though I knew that Zagan wouldn't do anything to hurt Zoe, I still didn't want her around him. I set her down on the ground. "Brent!" I called out to one of the pack members nearby. He was in front of me in an instant. "Will you take Zoe back to the packhouse? And make sure that there is someone looking after her so that she doesn't sneak away again."
Zoe complained and fought with me for a while but eventually went with Brent in defeat.
Zagan looked amused when I turned back to him. "I would have never expected the great Alpha Grayson to have a soft spot for kids."
"Is there a reason you came over here, King Zagan?" I asked, changing the subject. "Is there something you wanted to tell me?"
Zagan nodded. "I thought I should warn you before I brought an army of vampires onto your territory."
I immediately tensed, my wolf and vampire coming to the surface. "What?" I snapped.
Zagan jerked his chin towards the horizon. "See for yourself."
I snapped my gaze to where he was looking, sucking in a sharp breath as I saw thousands of vampires, all dressed in battle attire, approaching us.
I felt a burst of wind next to me. Kyle. "Uh... Say, Alpha, are you seeing the scary group of vampires approaching us? Or is that just me?" he asked. "They're definitely not the army of newborns we were preparing for."
Kyle was right. They were far too put together to be newborn vampires. They had to be the royal army. I crossed my arms over my chest and raised my brows in question. "Care to explain?" I asked Zagan.
Zagan smiled. "You didn't think I was going to leave you and your pack on your own, did you? It's my brother we're about to fight and therefore it is my battle just as much as it is yours. And I have a perfectly good army just waiting to be used." In a flash, Zagan was on the other side of the field, meeting the leader of the army and who I could only assume to be his firstborn son.
Kyle laughed. "Well, shit. This is gonna be interesting," he said, before following after Zagan.
"That's one way of putting it," I said, sighing.
———
Another hour of training passed in a blur. Casimir continued to lead my pack members, running them through different drills and scenarios to ensure that they would be prepared for any sort of trick that a newborn vampire could pull on them. Only now, we had real vampires fighting with us. Zagan's army was well-trained and lethal. After my initial shock from seeing thousands of vampires just waltzing onto my territory as if it were no big deal, I'll admit I eventually realized just how useful these vampires would be during the battle. I was grateful to have them here.
I watched from afar for most of the training, assessing the different skills of all my warriors and the problems they needed to work on. Under normal circumstances, my pack army consisted of the largest, strongest pack members, both male and female. However, everyone in my pack seemed to understand just how serious this war was. Almost every single able-bodied wolf over the age of thirteen was on the training grounds, working their asses off for the sake of the pack. People came and went for breaks or to get food, but for the most part, we had spent the entire day training. I had never been more proud of my pack in my entire life.
I eventually joined them in training, wanting to test out my own fighting skills, especially now that I had a new vampire species inside me aiding me in all that I did. I was surprised by how easily the movements came back to me. Especially since I hadn't exactly had a lot of time to train over the last few months. Even though I had already been an exceptional fighter before, I found myself moving faster than ever. It felt as though I was moving in slow motion although I knew I was really moving so quickly that I was basically a blur in the wind. Each one of my actions was graceful and well thought out.
I had always enjoyed training and testing my skills. Even now, I put all of the anger and aggression that I had been feeling over the last few months into the training exercises. It helped that, although I tried to stop it, my mind was filled with thoughts of Belle. I expected the constant images of her that were running through my head to be distracting but they weren't; they did the opposite. They helped me. Seeing her beautiful face in my mind fueled my anger towards Azazel and made me fight harder. None of my pack members stood a chance against me, even when I was fighting over ten of them at a time. Neither did the vampires. The new strength that I held thanks to the vampire within me was unbelievable. I was basically unstoppable.
"Alright, Alpha," Kyle said to me right after I had simultaneously taken down three of the best warriors in our army. He approached me with a look of determination in his eyes. "Let's do this."
I raised a brow, feeling an amused smile take over my face. "You want to fight me?"
Kyle shrugged and then turned his head to crack his neck, getting into a proper fighting stance. "Yeah. I can see how big your head is getting. I think you need to be taken down a few notches."
I laughed. "And you think you'll be the person to do that?"
"I am the only other hybrid here, aren't I?" Kyle replied.
I nodded. "Fair enough." I got into my own fighting stance. "Let me know if you need to tap out, Beta."
Kyle laughed, rolling his shoulders back. "Fat chance."
"Alpha!" someone's frantic voice called out from behind us, interrupting Kyle's and my battle right before we started. One of my pack members was sprinting towards us, eyes wide in panic. I was off in a second, meeting him halfway across the field.
"The Clan of Azazel," he panted. "I saw them. Just over the horizon. They'll be here soon."
The group around us turned silent, all of them looking at me to see what to do next.
I nodded once. "Then it's time. You all know what to do."
Everyone around us fled in a nervous flutter, all preparing for battle.
"You ready?" I addressed Kyle.
He wasn't looking at me. His gaze was glued to something in the distance, his eyes narrowed in confusion. "Elijah?" he asked.
I followed his gaze. Sure enough, Elijah was walking towards us. My heart immediately dropped. No, no, no, no. He was supposed to with Belle! What the hell was he doing here?
Both Kyle and I took off running. Kyle got to Elijah first, hugging him to his body and inspecting him to see if he was hurt.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Kyle yelled as his mate. "The battle is about to start!" He looked over his shoulder to see all of our pack members and Zagan's army lining up in preparation. We couldn't see the Clan of Azazel yet but I had no doubt that would change very soon.
Elijah glanced at me nervously. "Um..." he started.
"Where's Belle?" I demanded. "Why the fuck aren't you with her?"
Kyle growled at my harsh tone, tugging Elijah closer to him.
"I-I looked everywhere, Alpha. I promise," Elijah stuttered out. "I couldn't find her."
I stepped forward threateningly, about ready to murder everyone in sight. "What do you mean?" I growled out.
"She's not in Minneapolis," Elijah continued. "Her scent told me that she left hours ago."
I could hear the sound of pounding footsteps in the distance and knew it was the Clan of Azazel approaching us. "Then where the hell is my mate?"