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  “Right.”

  I watched the road ahead of us as Sally drove through the town. It was eerily devoid of signs of life. I don’t know what I should have been expecting, but it most definitely wasn’t a completely empty ghost town. I almost expected tumbleweeds to go rolling across the road.

  But Frederick wasn’t that kind of town. No, Frederick was the kind of town that was populated solely by werewolves, something I wouldn’t have imagined existed only a month ago. Sally was just about ready to turn onto the main road when the Blazer hit a pothole. With dread, I felt a tire blow. Sally struggled with the steering wheel as the truck lurched to the side. She took her foot off the accelerator, letting the truck slow down, and was finally able to maneuver the Blazer over to the side of the road.

  “Crap!” she exclaimed. “Could the timing of a blowout be any more piss poor?” She glanced over at me, and I instantly spotted the trepidation in her eyes. She was more than a little worried.

  I instantly unbuckled my seatbelt. “We’re gonna be fine. Let’s get this tire changed.” I grabbed my phone as Sally and I got out. Almost on instinct, I hit speed dial and was relieved when Vincent picked up on the second ring.

  “Romeo?”

  “Hey, Vincent. I wanted to touch base and let you know I’m gonna be late getting over there.” I wrenched open the back door of the Blazer and lifted the floor panel in the back of the truck as I held the phone between my shoulder and cheek.

  “What’s wrong? I can hear a tone in your voice, Romeo. Where are you?”

  “Sally and I came out to Frederick to pick up Greg and Sam’s things but when we got here, everything was on fire. We’re sure Floyd set the fire. We had to wait for the Prosper Woods Fire Department to put it out but mop up took most of the day. We just had a flat tire. I just wanted you to know why I’m delayed.” I pulled out a jack as Sally detached the spare from the back door of the Blazer.

  “You’re still in Frederick?”

  “Almost made it out of town but we hit something in the road and got a flat. We’re changing it now.”

  “Romeo, it’s a full moon,” Vincent said. I could almost hear the worry coming over the line. “The town is populated by werewolves. You need to get out of there.”

  “We’re aware.” I watched as Sally dropped the spare and grabbed a tire iron from the back before slamming the door. “I gotta go now.”

  “Hurry, love.”

  My heart fluttered when Vincent uttered the endearment. “I will. Love you.”

  “Love you too.” He hung up the phone, and I shoved mine back in my shirt pocket before reaching out for the tire iron. Sally was smirking at me, and I rolled my eyes at her. “You can rib me later. Right now, we need to get the fuck out of here.”

  “Anything you say, Sheriff.”

  Vincent

  As soon as the phone disconnected, I knew I had to do something. Even though Romeo was quite capable of using his powers to get out of any trouble, I couldn’t very well sit by and do nothing. His unicorn powers were new to him and he still wasn’t fully in charge of them. No matter how much practicing we’d done, he’d never had to use them against a town full of werewolves who might be coming after him.

  There certainly wasn’t any love lost between Floyd and Romeo. If I’d guessed correctly, the alpha would take every advantage of Romeo’s current state of affairs. Besides, he had Sally with him, and I had no doubt Romeo would do everything in his power to protect his small hedgehog deputy. Even if it meant laying down his own life to save her from a wild pack of wolves.

  I went to my fireplace and grabbed my broadsword, sliding it into its jeweled scabbard. The massive sword was heavy, but I’d spent a lifetime training and fighting with the forged steel in my hand. As I hefted it, testing the familiar weight, I realized how much it felt like an old friend. My fangs were another weapon that went with me all the time, but there was nothing like the broadsword.

  Going to my gun safe, I grabbed my Desert Eagle. I figured my backup might want to use it if nothing else. On the way out of the house, I picked up the phone and dialed a number I had saved. It rang once and was picked up by the old man.

  “Romeo may be in trouble,” I said, before he could say a word.

  “I’m already on my way to you. Stay where you are, vampire,” Sid replied.

  The power of the witch’s magic always surprised me. I really shouldn’t be so shocked, though. Every time we needed help, he seemed to sense it and show up. Still, it never ceased to amaze me.

  “Hurry.”

  “Hold your horses,” Sid said, snickering.

  “Funny guy.” I disconnected the phone as I heard the distinct sound of an old VW bug coming up the drive. I had to admit, I was impressed. The old man must have jumped into his old rust bucket the moment he sensed Romeo and Sally might be in trouble. I waved at him as he drove up the drive and parked beside my Honda just as I was closing my glovebox with my gun inside. I watched him get out of the bug, leaning heavily on his thick staff.

  “Let’s go,” he said, waving at my car. I threw my sword in the backseat and waited with what felt like an excruciating length of time as Sid folded himself into the passenger seat of my car with his staff joining my sword in the backseat. As soon as his door shut, I backed out of my driveway and turned onto the main road, following Sid’s direction to the small backwoods town of Frederick.

  “My Desert Eagle is in the glovebox. I loaded it with silver bullets. You can use it if you want,” I said.

  “No need. My staff has everything I need,” the old witch replied.

  I sighed. He was confident. I had to hand it to the old man. His confidence acted as a balm to my soul. I couldn’t really explain it, but I was relieved to have him at my side as we drove into unknown territory.

  “You got to my place fast,” I said, glancing over at Sid who seemed relaxed as hell as he sat beside me with his laced fingers resting high on his paunchy belly.

  He smiled at me. “It’s a full moon. I’m always on alert when it happens, especially now that Floyd is alpha. I can never predict what that guy is gonna do on any given day, much less during a full moon.”

  “Who do they hunt? The werewolves, I mean,” I asked, curiously. Romeo certainly wasn’t going to put up with any humans disappearing in Prosper Woods or even Frederick, if there even were any humans in Frederick. I doubted it.

  “They don’t hunt humans. Buck Walters happened to wander into their path the night he was killed. That was purely a territorial killing. I’m sure if the old moonshiner was sober, it never would have happened. So, humans aren’t their normal prey.”

  “What is then?” I asked.

  “Literally everything else. There are a lot of animals in these woods. From racoons, to bears, deer, rabbits, field mice, werewolves will eat anything with a heartbeat on the night of a full moon.”

  “So, Romeo is in real danger?”

  “We both know how strong his powers are, though, faced with a whole pack of changed wolves, it might be a tricky undertaking. That’s why I figured I should pick you up and offer a little backup,” the old witch said.

  “He’s got Sally with him,” I said. “He went out to Frederick to pick up Sam’s car and grab as much stuff as he could from their house.”

  “Did they get everything?”

  “No. Romeo said Floyd and his pack burned the house and the car to the ground. The reason he was so late in leaving Frederick was because he had to wait for the fire department to put everything out.” I glanced over at Sid and noticed his deep frown.

  “Floyd Reardon is a real menace. I do wish another alpha would come along and make mincemeat out of him.”

  “Wolf meat anyway,” I replied.

  Sid chuckled. “Well, having Sally there complicates things. Your unicorn is going to be more focused on keeping her out of harm’s way than looking out for his own safety.”

  “Those were my thoughts as well, damn him.”

  “You can’t change tha
t about the unicorn. He’s a fine man with a history of moral behavior.”

  “I agree with you but how do you know anything about his history?” I asked, slightly surprised.

  Sid turned and stared at me. Our eyes met before I finally tore my gaze away to look back out the windshield.

  “I just know it. I didn’t formally look into him or his family line, but I can sense it in the man. He’s not that hard to read if you haven’t noticed. You and he are much more alike than you even know, vampire.”

  I didn’t know how he knew that, but he was right about my moral compass. I’d hated the things I’d seen “good Christian men” do during the crusades. I’d seen streets running with rivers of the blood of innocents, murdered just because they were born in the wrong place at the wrong time. There were many moments when our crusade had sickened me, many more when the holy church had sickened me.

  “There’s something I’ve been meaning to ask,” I said. “How did Floyd become the alpha of the Frederick pack? I mean, I assume he must have challenged the former alpha.”

  “That’s right. It’s a fight to the death. The former alpha was a man named Darby Johnson. His father was the alpha before him. Darby was very young when he was made alpha after his father died unexpectedly on a hunt,” Sid said.

  “Unexpectedly?”

  “Many years ago, during the full moon on a night just like this one, Darby’s father, Earl, went out on a hunt with Floyd the rest of the pack by his side. The way I heard it was that Earl and Floyd became separated from the rest of the pack at some point. Earl was a strong man and a fair alpha. The only way he could have died the way he did, was if he’d been taken totally by surprise. Alpha werewolves are incredibly huge and strong in their half-shifted form. Well, you saw evidence of it in your front yard the night Romeo transformed into a unicorn for the first time,” Sid said.

  “Yes.” I remembered thinking how huge an alpha werewolf was when fully shifted into that half-man half-beast. It would have scared the crap out of anyone seeing it for the first time. “So, what happened?”

  “The pack found him with his throat ripped out. There are few animals that could get close enough to jump an alpha werewolf during the full moon and none that would be stupid enough to do it. I think the pack suspected that Floyd had earned Earl’s trust and attacked him when they were out alone.”

  “So, he killed Earl like a coward,” I said.

  “Yes, that was the rumor. The only thing capable of ripping an alpha’s throat out like that was another wolf in fully shifted form. It had to have been Floyd. Once the pack put it all together, they elected Darby to take his father’s place. Unfortunately, Darby was just a kid, barely older than eighteen. Before the next hunt, Floyd challenged him, and the rest is history. He killed Darby and slithered into his place as pack alpha. He hasn’t been challenged yet. I’m quite sure the pack wants him well and gone, but there’s not a one of the males who is strong enough to fight Floyd and win.”

  I thought about Romeo and how he’d handled Floyd that night in the clearing. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that if the two of them met head-to-head in a fair fight, my unicorn could and would kill Floyd, making way for a new werewolf to step in as alpha. As my car ate up the miles on the road to Frederick, bringing me ever closer to my mate, I prayed it wouldn’t come to that tonight.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Prosper Woods Chronicle. Letters to the editor:

  “Ma and I were out huntin’ the other night when we stumbled upon a scene of pure carnage. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a blue whale hanging from a sequoia before but what surprised us both was how many eskimos live in Prosper Woods. Those guys sure have nice coats.” Signed, “Blubbered all the way home.”

  Romeo

  As I was loosening the last lug nut, I heard the first howl. Looking up, I was surprised at how dark it had gotten and how fast the moon was rising. The hair on the back of my neck stood up on end like I’d touched an electrical outlet. Sally stood by my side, and I could sense her unease as another howl joined the first. The wolves seemed to be getting closer, and I wondered how and where they’d make themselves known to us. All the protective instincts in me screamed that I needed to move faster and get my deputy out of here and out of danger.

  I pulled off the last lug nut and dropped it in the dirt, then stood, yanking the tire free before dumping it on the ground. A cloud of dust and gravel sprayed up, threatening to choke me. I looked over at Sally and held out my hands. She rolled the spare to me, and I hoisted it onto the Blazer, pushing and tugging it into place. The car creaked on the jack I’d hastily used to lift it off the ground.

  “Hurry, Sheriff. The wolves are comin’,” Sally said nervously.

  I grabbed two lug nuts off the ground and screwed them on using both hands as the howling intensified. A particularly loud howl sounded off in the trees just north of us, and I judged the werewolf was no more than a few hundred yards away. I couldn’t believe they’d be stupid enough to attack us, but then again, the pack would no doubt follow Floyd’s lead. I looked up when Sally suddenly cried out. I immediately stood.

  “What is it?”

  Sally pointed to the trees just across the road. “Wolves.” I narrowed my eyes and spotted two pairs of yellow eyes flashing in the darkness of the tree line. Sally pulled her gun, and I did as well, pointing at the two wolves. When they bounded out of the woods, into the middle of the road, I was almost surprised when they stopped only twenty feet from us. Instantly, they changed form right in front of our eyes. In a heartbeat, Greg and Sam stood before us, naked as the day they were born.

  “We figured you could use some backup,” Greg said. “You need to get out of here. The pack will be here in a minute.”

  I breathed out a sigh of relief as Sally did the same. We both holstered our guns. “We’re going. We had a flat.”

  “Hurry, Sheriff. We’ll stand with you, but Floyd will be out for your blood. We’ll hold them off as long as possible, but we’re outnumbered,” Greg said.

  In only seconds, the two men changed again. I noticed that Greg’s change was rapid. Sam’s transformation was much slower, and I could almost see his muscles stretching and bones breaking before he was finally a wolf again.

  Greg was huge, the biggest wolf I’d ever seen. He was brown with a white muzzle and he was magnificent, standing almost five feet tall at the shoulder. On the other hand, Sam, a gray wolf, was much smaller, much like he was in human form compared to his friend. They were incredible creatures who had glowing yellow eyes as they paced across the road, coming up and standing in front of the Blazer and turning to face the tree line. I was grateful for the silent sentinels who stood with us.

  I squatted and made quick work of the rest of the lug nuts, listening to the howls on either side of the road. The pack was close, and Sally was literally quaking beside me, shivering in her shoes. The sound of a car on gravel hit my ears, and I looked up with the tire iron in my hand.

  Coming down the road was a black Honda Civic, and I felt an instant sense of relief and worry all at the same time. With the unexpected help of Greg and Sam, I’d almost regretted calling Vincent and telling him what was going on. Still, if we were going to face an entire pack of bloodthirsty werewolves, I suppose that having the strength in numbers was a good thing and not a bad one. I certainly knew that my vampire could handle himself in the face of adversity.

  The Civic stopped, and I was almost as surprised to see Sid as I was happy to see Vincent when the pair got out of the car. Before the driver’s door even slammed shut, Vincent was standing in front of me with both hands on my face, looking deeply into my eyes.

  I chuckled. “I’m never gonna get used to that vampire speed of yours.”

  He leaned in and kissed me full on the lips, completely ignoring the others who stood with us. I slid my hands around his waist and pulled him close, hugging him to me for only a few seconds. When he finally broke the kiss and leaned back, he dropped his fangs and hissed
.

  “I’ll kill anyone who gets near you.”

  I reached up and cupped his cheek. “You are so brave.”

  “Ahem.” A throat cleared beside us.

  I looked over and saw Sid standing there, leaning on his staff and holding Vincent’s unsheathed broadsword out to him.

  “Figured you might want this,” Sid said. He glanced over at the two wolves standing at the front of the Blazer, staring at us. “Glad to see you have more backup.” He indicated the two werewolves with a tilt of his head.

  “That’s Greg and Sam,” I said, dropping my hand from Vincent’s cheek as my lover took his massive sword from Sid. I watched him stick the point of the steel into the dirt and was awed by the sight of the warrior in front of me. I pictured him as a crusader, charging through the Holy Land on the back of a horse and meeting the enemy head on. I imagined him swinging the massive broadsword and trimming the stature of his enemies, leaving them with one less head above their shoulders.

  Loud howls from the wolves surrounding us broke my concentration on Vincent, and I looked out into the woods. On both sides of the road, multiple pairs of yellow eyes glared out at us from the tree line. I heard Sam and Greg begin to growl and was almost surprised at how safe it made me feel to know that not only did I have a powerful warrior vampire, and ancient witch by my side, but a pair of werewolf guards as well.

  “We’re leaving town, but we had to stop and change a tire, or we’d already be gone!” I shouted to the werewolves. “Back off and leave us alone, and we’ll be on our way.”

  A massive wolf stepped out onto the road, and I wasn’t surprised to see Floyd in his half-man half-beast form. He was well over seven feet tall with a mouthful of fangs, dripping in saliva. I swallowed, grateful that I had the others with me and yet fascinated by the danger this werewolf posed to all of us. Floyd was flanked by three massive wolves standing almost as tall as Greg. I knew that they could only be his enforcers, with an extra one this time.