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Chapter 2
(Lauren's POV)
"Lauren are you up?"
I heard Lily just as she stepped into the tent with me. I would have known it was her even if she didn't say a word. I recognized her step, her scent and even her breathing. I pushed myself up on my elbow and said
"Yeah, what's up? I figure since you and my brother just mated I wouldn't see either of you for a few days? Is everything okay?"
Lily laughed softly and I could tell from the sound of her laughter that it was pure. Lily was in love and was happier than a pig in crap. That made me wonder even more why she would have pulled herself away from her newly bonded mate to come and see me. Then again, Lily had the tenderest heart of anyone I knew. Perhaps she just wanted to make sure that I had everything I needed and that the pack was treating me decently.
"Well, I need a favor. Ryan's half brother. Hmm, I mean... Yours and Ryan's half-brother was injured earlier tonight. Hmm.. Yeah he was attacked by a vampire before or something before we even came here tonight. Ryan said the vampire took off with him through the woods. Uh... Anyhow Um... I was thinking. You are the best tracker and um... well, I was hoping that maybe you could help Ryan find him."
I could tell Lily wasn't finished talking, and it wasn't in my nature to interrupt but just this once I couldn't stop myself. I blurted out my thoughts
"Oh Lily, I would love to help find my other brother. Please tell Ryan that I will be ready and waiting outside in five minutes. No make that two minutes. Oh heck, who I am fooling. I don't need any time. I can shift and be ready right now. "
Then without even letting Lily say another word the air around me crackled and I shifted into my soft brown wolf. Then I nudged Lily with my snout so she would get Ryan and we could head out.
I picked up Lucas's scent from the T-shirt Ryan let me smell and immediately was able to find his scent in the air. I took off at my top speed and yipped loudly for Ryan and Lily to catch back up with me. We traveled for a few miles and I started to get a hunch on exactly where the vampire took my brother Lucas. Based on the direction and the strength of Lucas's and the vampires scent in the air I even knew it was only a few hours ago that they passed right by this very tree. My nose was better than the average wolf, and I knew every single inch of the woods. It was clear to me that the vampire was taking Lucas to an old mansion that sat just outside of the Coleridge pack territory.
I watched Ryan and Lily bound over a downed tree and come to a dead stop. Their ears both dropped back and both of them bared their teeth at the same time and started to growl. I slowly turned my head and caught the scent of another wolf moving in our direction. I cautiously moved back towards my alpha and his mate. My body hovered low to the ground. The closer the unknown wolf got the more my fear and trepidation kicked in, and I couldn't help but whimper.
I watched as huge wolf broke through the foliage and stopped right in front of my alpha pair. It was clear from his size and demeanor he was also an alpha wolf. I almost wet myself with fear of what was going to happen next. What if he killed my brother and Lily? Then I realized it must be my other brother Rob, Ryan's twin brother. Their scents were so similar and aside from the patches of black on their ears being the exact opposites they were identical in size, shape and coloring.
Then, to my surprise the air around both Ryan and the unknown alpha shimmered as they both shifted back into their human forms. Now, I knew beyond a doubt that the new wolf was in fact my other brother Rob. I watched them as they started talking. I thought of meeting yet another brother filled me with joy. I was so filled with I started to get the jitters.
Since Rob was an alpha from a different pack he couldn't mind speak with Lily and I. I popped into Ryan's head and asked if I could shift and say hello to Rob too. I was a more than a little disappointed when Ryan growled at Lily and I to stay in our wolf forms. Seems Ryan wasn't comfortable with Rob seeing Lily naked. I guess he didn't realize that when he pushed the order it was aimed at me too. So I was forced to stay in my wolf form unable to do anything against Ryan's alpha order. I did my best to wait patiently for Ryan to introduce me to my brother.
I sat with my tail wagging and my tongue hanging stupidly from my mouth. I yipped excitedly to draw attention towards me. Finally Ryan caught on and told Rob that I was Lauren and that I was his half-sister too. I thought that he might have allowed me to shift but instead he said we can hold the family reunion until we find our older brother Lucas. Thinking about a family reunion that also included Lucas made me happy all over again. I was so please in fact, that the second both Rob and Ryan shifted back to their wolf forms, I yipped loudly again and picked up the trail.
It took seconds and I was back on track. I mind spoke with Ryan to let him know I had the trail. If I was right about where the vampire was headed we would find my older brother dead or alive within the next hour. As we closed in on the house we watched a she-wolf barrel her way through the front door. My brother Ryan shouted in our heads that the wolf was the mom of Lucas's mate. We figured she too must have tracked the vampire and Lucas to the farmhouse.
We watched the vampire put the front door back in place as we descended on the farm. The four of us never even slowed down as we plowed through the front door in unison. The door flew out of the frame and slammed the vampire knocking him off his feet. He stood quickly and pushed the door off and glared menacingly at us. We were less than six feet away from him. He was trying to make sure we knew the kind of threat he represented. We took our fighting stance all of our lips were pealed back showing our long canine teeth, the hair on the backs of our necks standing up on end while our ears were tucked flat back against our heads. We wanted to make sure the vampire understood we meant business.
The vampire to my surprise put his hands up in front of himself in an attempt to look like he didn't want to fight us. Then he glanced over to the other side of the room. That's when I realized there was not one but two vampires in the room with us. Four wolves against two vampires was suicide. We wouldn't even have a fighting chance. I felt bile in the back of my throat as I thought of dying without ever really even living. I was too young to die. I wanted a chance to have friends and maybe even a lover. I wanted to have a child of my own and a real house made of wood with floors not dirt. Then the vampire on the far side of the room with the placid white hair pointed towards us and said
"Sit" his voice was so forceful and full of an alpha command. I didn't want to but I had no choice but to drop into a sitting position. I looked to my left and realized that all four of us obeyed his command. Then the white vampire said
"Roll over" and turned his hand in the air, and again all of us were forced to obey his command. One by one we all rolled over.
I think he was just about to give us another command when more than a hundred wolves poured past us and into the house dozens at a time. They came through the windows and doorways. The wolves flooded the house and immediately attacked. I tried to move but found my body was stuck. I looked and could see Lily, Rob and Ryan were also frozen in place. The other wolves however were doing very well even without our help. The vampires fought hard, but the wolves kept charging at them in waves. Each new wolf getting closer to a killing blow, it was just a matter of time before we wolves could claim victory.
Then I heard the dark vampire shout to the white vampire that he was done playing around and that they needed to stop the wolves. Then in one fluid movement the dark vampire grabbed my brother Rob off the ground. Then the white wolf reached out and snatched Lily into his hands. I was positive they were both ready to snap Lily and Bobs neck. I closed my eyes tight not wanting to see my brother and my best friend die. But instead of hearing their necks snap the house went momentarily silent.
When I opened my eyes there were two new she-wolves in the room. Ryan was quick to say in both mine and Lily's mind.
'That's Kalli, Lucas' mate and her mom. Kalli is a hybrid vampire-wolf. It's a long story I'll be happy to tell both of you about if we manage to survive the night.'
Kalli and her mom were both shouting and screaming for everyone to stop fighting. I looked around and realized the wolves that were attacking must belong to Rob's pack. It wasn't the she-wolves that stopped the fighting, it was the fact that the dark vampire was holding Rob their alphas neck.
The next several hours had been tenuous but we eventually came to truce of sorts. In exchange for Rob and Lily's lives we wolves agreed to wait outside until it was determined if Lucas would survive or not. On an odd side note, the white vampire they called Kenyan offered all injured wolves some of his blood. Supposedly a vampire's blood could help us heal better. I wasn't so sure about that. But since I didn't have any real injuries it didn't matter to me one way or the other.
I was about to leave the house when I swore I smelled something that begged me to investigate it. Then I looked around and realized that I must have been mistaken. I followed Lily and Ryan out of the house and to the place they decided to make camp. Since we had no blankets or tents with us we would all remain in our wolf forms for the night. That meant it would be at least another day before I got to officially meet my brother Rob or Lucas. Ryan ordered me to stick close to him and Lily's since he wasn't sure how well Rob's pack would treat an omega. I was a little disappointed but smiled and curled up in a ball next to him and Lily.