DPOV

I felt the panic rise up in me as Rose jumped forward, her fast movement catching the ancients slightly off guard. I'd yet to see Rose actually fight. I knew that she was more than capable of handling herself, but against a dozen Strigoi and a couple Pricolici, I wasn't so sure.

I felt the fear turn into a sheer rage as the words of the ancient came back to me.

"…you'll taste even better."

He wasn't going to lay a finger on my Roza.

Since my duster was already off, I didn't care about the rest of my clothes ripping to shreds as I Changed. I barely registered my Transformation. I was so focused on the ancient that was now moving toward Rose, that as soon as my paws hit the earth, I was charging toward the fight. In my peripherals, I saw the other Strigoi racing toward us.

In wolf form, I towered over every Strigoi here by at least four feet, and Roza by three. I lunged forward at the female ancient that was trying to attack Rose from the side. My teeth sank into her neck, cutting through the bone, muscle, and tissue that held it in place.

Surprisingly, her blood, which would usually taste bitter and acidic, tasted sweet and refreshing. I felt my body grow stronger as my tongue cleaned the blood off my teeth. Perhaps the ancient was right, I was gaining some of Rose's strength now that I was her Beta.

I turned back around to see where Rose would need my help. Five headless bodies littered the ground around her. The remaining Strigoi were looking at each other with fear evident in their eyes. Rose had ended their leader rather quickly, and now they didn't know how to proceed.

"What are you?" One of the Strigoi asked, backing away as Rose stalked toward him.

"I'm your worst nightmare." She growled and pounced on the Strigoi in question. My snout curled into a smirk, and I simply watched Rose dispatch another three Strigoi. The remaining two Strigoi began to run, but Rose quickly herded them toward me. I planted my hind legs and tensed my muscles. I lunged at them. My paws hit their chests, and they fell backward.

My paws, still on their chests, pushed them back into the ground with loud cracks as their ribcages shattered. I held them down as Rose made her way over to us. She didn't seem too concerned about them escaping or about the two Pricolici still in the woods somewhere. Thinking about it, however, I wasn't sure why I even pinned these two down instead of just killing them.

"Thank you, Dimitri," Rose said. I suppose I just automatically know what Rose wants. Mmm, I know what I want.

"Anything for you, Roza," I said looking at her before growling at the wriggling Strigoi beneath me. "What did you want these two for anyway?"

"I need to know what they are doing here." Despite them being Strigoi, devoid of almost all emotions, their eyes held terror as Rose stood above them waiting for an answer.

"We were just following Isaiah's orders. He said that there was a wolf that we needed to get rid of. I'm assuming it was you. He said that the wolf was causing too much trouble in the Strigoi world, and she needed to be dealt with."

"Why was he worried about me? How did he know where I was?" Rose asked, sifting through the relevant information and discarding anything she didn't find useful. She might have been worried about the information about herself, and as her Beta, I was, too, but as an individual and a Guardian, I was more worried about the cooperation of a large number of Strigoi.

"We've been fed information through a contact within St. Vlad's." The other Strigoi answered. My eyes widened and met Rose's as her widened eyes snapped up to mine. "But I don't know who." He added quickly.

"Are there more of you? More that are coming after me?" Rose asked quickly and harshly.

"I would probably count on it." The first one answered while the second one nodded vigorously in agreement.

"Thank you," Rose said before biting the head off of the first one. She licked her lips and smiled down at the second who had released a girlish scream upon seeing his partner beheaded. She motioned for me to do the honor.

It was strange this time around, I didn't feel like I was taking a life. I was seeing it as an absorption of power. I'm not sure if it made it any better, but it made me feel less guilty about killing a Strigoi.

"Do we need to take care of the Pricolici?" I asked looking toward the woods a little hesitantly. It hadn't been that long since I'd faced a Pricolici, but I wasn't looking forward to it. I had a few Grom marks, but most of those were gained through the help of other Guardians. The last one was gained as a solo kill.

"Yes, but do you think that you could escort Guardian Pavlov back to the rest of the group. You need to make sure they're alright and get them somewhere safe. We're probably going to need to cut this trip short." She said. "Strigoi know where we are, so, we can't stay here. I'll take care of these two and meet you back at the car. I'll need some clothes, so just get Lissa to pick out an outfit from what I've bought today."

"Are you sure?" I asked hesitantly. I knew I wasn't ready to face another Pricolici, but I didn't want to just abandon my Alpha and my girlfriend.

"I'm sure, Comrade." She said nuzzling the side of my face. I nudged her neck, nipping the fur there. "I'll meet you back at the car in a bit."

I watched her trot off into the woods, surprised when she didn't tell me to stop staring at her ass. I turned around to see Pavlov staring at the bodies scattered around me. His jaw was slack, and his eyes were wide.

"You okay there, Ivan?" I asked with amusement. His eyes met mine and he just nodded slowly. "We're going back to the others. We're going to head back to St. Vlad's tonight."

I started walking in the direction of the store. I walked slower than normal simply because Pavlov was still processing what had occurred in the clearing. I'd stopped, first, to grab my duster in my jaws before moving out of the clearing, scanning the area for any more danger. I didn't smell any more decaying flesh so I didn't think there were any more Strigoi around, and Roza was taking care of the Pricolici.

Since I was still in wolf form, I had to let Ivan navigate his way back to the shop to meet up with the others and get them back to the car. He'd said he'd bring me back a change of clothes. I sat in the shadows, my eyes trained in the direction Rose would be coming from. I didn't feel anything coming from her, so I assumed she was fine in dealing with the Pricolici.

I heard a howl that was swiftly cut off and I knew that Rose was accomplishing her task.

I heard the footfalls of an approaching Guardian and turned to see Guardian Bandura. He seemed impressed as he took in my wolf form and held out a pile of clothes to me. I gently took them from him using my teeth and went around a corner to Change and put the clothes on.

Just as I finished pulling my duster back on, my body lurched to the right. I saw Rose trotting towards us, her lilac eyes darting around the area and scanning for danger. There was blood soaking the fur around her mouth, speckles of blood covered her whole body, and her paws were also stained red.

I felt Guardian Bandura grow fearful as she continued to approach us, but I knew Rose would have no reason to harm us, though I had to admit she would look terrifying to anyone who didn't know her well. Thankfully, I knew her well, and she was beautiful, even when she was covered in blood.

"Hey, Comrade. I see that you got yourself some new clothes. Any chance I could get some?" She said, lowering her head to my hand as I reached out to touch her snout.

"I'll get the Princess to pick out something for you and bring it back." Guardian Bandura said, not waiting for a response before leaving.

"Are you okay?" I asked quietly after he'd left.

"I'm fine. I've just got a few more marks to be added." She said glancing back toward the clearing. "We should probably call the Alchemists."

"Probably. I'll get one of the other Guardians to do it."

"We need to head back to St. Vlad's tonight, but should we really be driving at night with Royal Moroi in the car with us?" I sensed her hesitation, but I knew we couldn't stay here tonight, not outside the wards.

"We've got to get back inside wards. I know there is a leak inside St. Vlad's, but we can deal with that easier than we can Strigoi coming at odd times." She nodded and her head turned in the direction of the car. When I turned to look I saw Guardian Bandura approaching us with a pile of clothes. I didn't hear him approaching for another few seconds, though.

"I think your power will grow as mine does. The longer you possess the power, the stronger it will become." I nodded before moving down her side.

"Did you get hurt at all while fighting?" I asked, looking closely at the patches of blood, making sure none of it was hers.

"I don't think so, but I'll know more when I Change." Guardian Bandura had reached us and was holding out the clothes for Rose to take, but she hesitated. "Do you mind, Comrade? I don't want to risk the blood from my mouth getting on my clothes."

I didn't even think twice before reaching out and taking the clothes out of Guardian Bandura's hands. I moved around the corner where I'd Changed and waited for Rose to do the same. It wasn't until she was done Changing that I realized that by her Changing she'd be naked in front of me.

My eyes widened as I took in her form. Even though her human form was five times smaller than her wolf form, she still packed as much strength and beauty into her petite body. I felt myself reacting to her body as she stretched her smaller muscles, trying to readjust to her human form. I gulped as she stood before me in all her glory. She placed her hands on her hips.

"See something you like?" She asked saucily. I growled as my cock twitched when her hips swung with her jutting hip. My body reacted before my mind caught up to what was going on. I grabbed her by the waist and hoisted her between me and the wall of the building. She gasped and braced her hands on my shoulders.

It seems like I finally caught her off guard because she wrapped her legs around me to keep herself balanced, but that only caused her to bring me closer. While I was more than happy to get closer to her, she was naked, and I was trying to keep a promise to Alberta that our relationship wasn't going to get physical.

"You're really testing my self-control, Roza." I ground out, trying to gain control of my body.

"That's what I'm here for." She purred, pulling me closer and placing her lips on my neck. "I want you to know that you did this to yourself. I was going to just grab my clothes and put them on, but you had to go all Alpha on me by pushing me into a wall."

I tried to pull myself away from her and place her back down on the ground, but she pulled me closer.

"Roza," I growled.

"No. I'm quite comfortable with where I am. If you didn't want me here, you should have thought about that before you picked me up." Her nose tickled the side of my neck leaving me panting. I had to lean into her to keep myself upright. "I'll let you leave now, though. Mostly because I need to get dressed and check on Lissa."

She pushed me back gently, and I placed her naked body back on the ground and tried to calm myself as she dressed in the clothes Lissa provided. When she was completely dressed, I finally looked at her. Her clothed state didn't calm me as much as I thought it would. Lissa had picked out an outfit that hugged every curve of her body and a bra that pushed her breasts together, giving them an even fuller look.

"I suppose Lissa didn't take into account your mental state when she picked out my outfit," Rose said looking down at herself before shrugging. "Or she did, and she just wants you to squirm."

"I'm thinking it's the second option," I grumbled. I tried unsuccessfully to calm my body. I needed to focus on getting Rose to safety. I've also got Moroi to care for, but my Alpha was my number one priority.

Strigoi were coming after her, and I was going to do everything in my power to keep her safe.