Chapter 12

Izzy trembled beneath his hand and somehow he knew that they’d finally gotten through to her. Whatever bullshit she’d convinced herself was going on was now safely out of her mind and the new understanding that she needed to have in order to move forward and do her job was firmly in place.

He knew it would take time before she fully accepted her new understanding of the world and that was fine with him as long as she did her job while she figured things out. There wasn’t any time for sugar coated bullshit or hand holding. Madison had two babies on the way that they needed to protect and thanks to whatever she’d done to catch the attention of every f**king Master on earth they had a war to stop.

“Let me go!” she cried, struggling against his hold, momentarily making him feel like the heartless bastard so many accused him of being, but he pushed it aside.

She had a job to and she’d been slacking for way too long.

“We need to stop them from reaching the bonfire,” he bit out harshly as he yanked her forward once again.

“Please just let me go!” she begged, struggling uselessly against his hold. She was still weak, he noted with distaste.

He started to yank her forward again when movement out of the corner of his eye caught his attention. Barely giving the werewolf a glance, he backhanded the bastard across the muzzle, sending him flying through the air.

“Oh my god, you’re not human,” Izzy gasped.

“No, I’m not,” he said, dragging her closer. When she squeezed her eyes shut he gripped her chin. “Look at me, Munchkin,” he ordered. When she reluctantly opened her eyes he continued, “No one in this field is human,” he said, watching as his words hit home.

“But, I’m-” she started to protest, but he didn’t have time for this bullshit.

“You’re a f**king Sentinel. Now get your ass in there and do your job before one of these ass**les gets loose and gets their hands on one of those kids,” he said, giving her a shake.

“What kids?” she asked in a daze as she frantically looked around.

“The f**king kids at the bonfire. They’re here to snag a few little girls,” he said, feeling the same disgust well up in him as it did when he’d first heard what these sick f**ks were up to.

They were all a bunch of pussies too f**king afraid to deal with a real woman so they were going around trying to snag themselves little girls. Since no female shifter in her right mind would join a pack without the protection of an Alpha they were forced to create their own females, females too weak even when changed to pose any real threat to the men.

Of course the moment the little girls came into their adult powers, became too much trouble or turned out to be a female Alpha this pack would kill them without a second’s hesitation and start looking for the next group of young girls to serve them. That’s exactly what happened two weeks ago according to his sources. These ass**les killed every female in their pack when they started to come into their adult powers and was now on the lookout for little girls to take their place from his territory.

Not f**king happening.

The pack, now completely shifted, backed away from him and his father on two hind legs as they watched them warily. They all knew that there was no way the three of them were going to be able to take down all of them, but none of the shifters were willing to volunteer for the job of being destroyed first and that’s exactly what they would have to do if they attacked or tried to leave. Spending the night babysitting a bunch of ass**les around a campfire wasn’t exactly the way he wanted to spend the night, but he’d do it if he had to and the second they shifted back to human he’d drag their asses to the nearest pack and let an Alpha deal with them.

He watched as they tilted their massive heads back and scented the air, probably hoping to see if Chris had back up. When their heads dropped and their eyes shot from him and Izzy, the two they knew were Sentinels, to his father who was slowly pacing along the far edge of the woods like a caged animal as he glared at the pack through glowing red eyes.

They shifted on their hind legs as they tried to scent out his father. Even in human form they were able to tell that he wasn’t human, but unless they’d come across a Pyte before they would have no idea what the hell his father was capable of, giving his father the upper hand. Like the other shifters they’d been forced to take down over the years they’d probably assume he was some unknown type of demon and underestimate him, making it easier for his father to take advantage.

Demons were naturally stronger than vampires. They usually only had two abilities and as long as you figured them out quickly you could take advantage and use their abilities against them whereas vampires were stronger than a human, had speed, and agility that could help them keep up with a shifted werewolf and overtake the werewolf unless he knew how to fight a vampire in both forms. Vampires were tricky sons of a bitches and he had no doubt this pack was hoping that Ephraim was a demon.

Even though every pair of large dark brown eyes was locked firmly on the two of them he knew they were all keeping tabs on his father, watching and waiting to see what he could do. As soon as they decided what his abilities were they’d try to use them to take down his father, not knowing that the man had a full bag of tricks up his sleeve.

“Stay here,” he ordered Izzy as he released her and moved to his left. “Remember, don’t run.”

“W-why?’ she stammered.

“Because they’ll chase you,” he said, not bothering to inform her that the pack already knew she was the weakest link and his mate by the scents she was giving off. They’d go after her and rip her to shreds just for f**king with their plans. As long as she stayed in the clearing near him and Ephraim they’d hesitate to kill her, too afraid to bring the wrath of her mate.

They weren’t f**king stupid after all. He would tear them apart as he beat the shit out of them and he’d enjoy every minute of it. She was his mate, his partner and most importantly his. Hollywood truly f**ked up when they portrayed shifters as mindless animals when that was far from the truth.

When shifted into their animal form they might be more obsessed with food, fighting and f**king, but they were still very much in control of their actions. They had to be. If they f**ked up in any way that brought the attention of the humans they were swiftly dealt with by their own pack, other shifters, vampires, demons or Sentinels. No one wanted the humans aware of the real world since they’d just f**k up everything and start witch hunts. When someone truly f**ked up and endangered their world everyone stepped in to help clean up the mess and for good reason.

If humans knew there really were vampires out there their blood supply would be in danger. They’d be hunted down, their blood stolen and they’d be experimented on. The same could be said for demons, shifters and even Sentinels. Humans were not known for tolerance. History had proven that time and time again.

The leader crouched down ten feet from Chris and let out a menacing growl that would no doubt scare the shit out of a human and apparently his little mate if her cry of alarm was any indication, but Chris didn’t back down. He wouldn’t, especially with a truly leaderless pack. While the large beast was preparing to take a shot at him the rest of his pack was slowing backing up, reminding Chris of the only good thing about dealing with a leaderless pack.