97

“So, not all vampires are like this… some are like that Darrius? More human like… less. Ughh.” Carmen didn’t get a good look at Darrius that day on the road, but I guess she saw enough to see he was more like a strong human with toned skin and normal lines of a muscular body. She didn’t see his red eyes, and I doubt she saw that his fangs were more in keeping with a Hollywood heartthrob vampire than these grotesque ‘Hills have eyes’ freaks. These have fangs which far extend their mouths, much like the ones in the orphanage that day. While Darrius had tiny pointers that slightly showed between his lips. I wonder if his can extend then shake it out of my head.

“These are not vampires… they’re halflings. Don’t confuse the two, especially not within hearing of an actual Vampire. It’s the worst of insults. I doubt you have battled a real one in your entire existence.” Leyanne wanders around, stepping over them and surveys the damage around her with literally no expression or care in the world. She’s definitely not squeamish and the smell seems to have no effect on her, given I guess our sense of smell is way more fine tuned than hers. “The pure bloods haven’t lifted a finger to aid these wars in over five thousand years. Lord Varro has only ever used these rejects… that were once human. As diluted and flawed as you can get and nothing at all like what I know the vampires to be.” Leyanne leans down and touches the naked foot of the dead master near her and then rubs her fingers together like she’s testing something. I grimace at the fact she touched it and has no way of washing her hands. “He’s damp and cold and feels like pig skin. I’m guessing it’s a sixth or seventh dilution of genuine vampire DNA. They get worse the more they create from one another. It’s no wonder they are no match for wolves. They’re probably closer to human in terms of abilities, besides wings.” She sighs, seemingly irritated by this fact.

“You’re saying true bloods are….? Stronger? Faster?” Sierra asks but doesn’t finish as her words tail off. I frown, looking from her, to it, and back again. No longer doubting what Darrius said in the car and trying to remember what he told me.

“Put it this way. If the true bloods were the ones to stand up and take on the war… your species for the second time in history would almost be extinct. These don’t have their gifts… where do you think yours comes from, Luna. Your strength, your power…. Did you never wonder why it in itself was stronger than these creatures you fought for months.” Leyanne walks over the mess and comes back to my side, making me aware of the complete lack of wolves in this space as we hear the faint noises moving away. They are spreading out around the tunnels to catch the last of them and I can still sense my mate within these rocks. Somewhere fighting to end this battle. Being his capable self, while I stand here suddenly secure and no longer worried at all about our victory. Colton has always been invincible.

“I just thought my wolf DNA made it so.” I shrug, only half invested while I link him to feel his presence, but then leave him be in case he’s busy. Just feeling him is enough and his return second of connection tells me he felt me too. We do this sometimes, connect but don’t talk, just to touch base and say ‘I’m okay’ and ‘I feel you’. I smile, instantly warmed by the knowledge he’s really truly with me again. One word and he would appear, like he always does. I leave him alone, my silence telling him to do what he’s doing, and I’ll be fine wherever I am. No doubt his senses tell him exactly where I am, and he will have had someone link him my whereabouts. I know Meadow and the sub pack are with him, they won’t be far from his side. He’s with the most competent and is as safe as I am.

Leyanne laughs, breaking into my thoughts as though I’m the most amusing thing she has never known. Pulling my brain back into our conversation and I sense Carmen bristle with hostility that this bitch dared to mock her Luna. I pat Carmen’s hand and pull her arm into mine to make her calm down. Sensing her softening but she stays put, and her glare stays stuck on Leyanne’s face.

“No. Your gifts come from the source and trust me, as strong as you seem, you are way down the ranks of what a true blood can do. Darrius for example… he’s a Shadow Knight, actually the high commander of the Shadow Knights. One of the most ruthless hunting machines in existence by any species standards. Him alone, could take down maybe twenty of yours by himself, without breaking a sweat or wrinkling his impressively tailored wardrobe. Even if your alpha was one of them. So, it’s a good thing, he doesn’t waste his time chasing wolves.” Leyanne chuckles, a slight sense of admiration for that creature. “Probably also one of the most indifferent and cold bastards you will ever meet, who has no time for other people’s drama. I sort of admire him.”

The silence from the three of us as this sinks in makes it clear she has shocked us, and she pats me on the shoulder with a reassuring smile. I swallow with a loud gulp, a little torn with this insight into what half my bloodline is. Or why she even likes him.

I knew Darrius gave off weird vibes, but I didn’t think he was this impressive. We have little suggestions of Shadow Knights in the grimoire library, but the facts are so few and far between. Hard to really say if they were myth or real, or just scaremongering from witches who wanted us to avoid all vampires. What we did read had made them seem like Devils on earth and untouchable by any species. If this is true, and they do in fact exist, that means Vampires still sit on top of the food chain among all of us. Wolves always thought themselves to hold that title, but then our history books aren’t really honest.

“The lords and the coven dwellers with pure blood…. they stay away from any kind of people. They like their existence quiet, and calm, and as long as their needs are met, they don’t care what goes on in the outside world. Their a species who have been around since time began. There’s a reason wolves’ dwell in the human world, never far from them, even if you try to avoid them in life. It’s the only way your kind felt safe to repopulate after the pure bloods left only a handful of you alive. That long lost hatred of the species, they avenged what they wanted to avenge. Everything since has been halflings created for personal vendettas by rogue lords like Varro.”

We all stare at her for a long moment in silence as it sinks in, what she said, and it makes sense. All our lives, despite avoidance with humans, wolves populate near them, and interact when we have to. We always find packs not far from human civilizations, yet no one has ever questioned it or looked into the past to find out why. There are plenty places in the world where we could live away from them, yet we choose not to. It gives truth to what she says.

“That’s why you said I can end it. Because the high lord, he can recall Varro and pull him to heel. Finally put this to bed.” I add in, pulling the conversation to something more productive as we stand in this echoey place. It sends shivers down my spine being here, but I feel for now, it’s the safest place. While our pack scourge the rest of the mountain and catch their last drops of these mongrel’s blood. They can’t go out, so they’re cornered and being wiped out.

“Yes. Of course, until the next lord finds reason to hate you. I’m sure with your species popularity skills, it’ll happen eventually. But Varro is next in line to rule, so maybe you might have peace for a couple of thousands of years once he puts his own vendetta to bed.” Leyanne shrugs and dusts off her dress, fixing her long black cloak and seems unfazed about any of this. I guess living for three thousand years means, there’s nothing she hasn’t seen before.

“That would be nice. Maybe we might have a chance at something normal for a while.” Carmen chips in and nudges me when returning figures draw our attention. We sense them, tingle with their presence and a wide smile moves across my face as my mate’s aura looms back in on me.

Wolves are pacing back in, smeared in blood and remains and I know without asking, because I can feel it, that all the vampires are dead. All my senses, my connections to these creatures, they can already tell me not one single heartbeat remains.

It’s over…. Really over, for us, here right now.

We won and our mountain is now clear of the enemy at last.