Chapter 20
~Derek POV~
I sat straight up in my bed, pricking my ears. Something was wrong, or was about to be. Quietly, I shifted, standing silently by my bed and away from the window. I could tell from looking at the frozen, iced over glass that it had to be in the teen temperatures, but thankfully I couldn't feel that minor detail. My first instinct was to go to Aaden, but I kept myself still. I quietened my frantically beating heart and closed my eyes, feeling them grow red under my lids and I listened to every tiny sound. There it was again. Footsteps, a many of them, and more heartbeats than this house held altogether. What the hell? Farren hadn't told me of any company.
I zeroed in on the noise and opened my eyes, sliding against the wall to peek out the window. Nothing was revealed to me, but there was no way I could sleep. I was alert now, and somewhat territorial. I was about to move to head downstairs when a flash of movement caught my eye from outside the window. I whipped my head around, intently searching the balcony. And I saw it. Or should I say them? There, tucked into the corner, close to the wall and not moving even to breathe, was a person. I acted as though I hadn't seen anything, but tested the air to try and catch a scent. No one from this house would be sneaking around, and especially not on the balcony right outside my door. That was a good way to get killed. I was about to try and figure out a way to confront them when a very light scent caught me. Vampire, and not one I knew. No, far from it; this one smelled overly of rust and stagnant wood. I would know that smell anywhere. I wasn't about to let them inside if I could help it.
I turned, acting as if I'd seen nothing interesting and slid quietly against the wall into the shadows. Perhaps if they thought I'd gone back to bed or out of the room, they'd enter and I could take them down.
After five minutes though, that proved to be wrong, and I was just about to go out when the glass of the window shattered. I covered my face, but immediately swung to stagger them. Much to my dismay, I missed and she connected a fist to the left blade of my shoulder, bruising it almost instantly. But I was not to be deterred, everything I believed in was residing in this house, and they weren't going to take that from me.
I felt my eyes shift and the darkness in the room became clear. I could see every detail now and she was not going to have the upper hand here. "Ah, I did locate the correct room, the lonely little Alpha." "I'm not so lonely anymore." "Hmm, you've changed since I last saw you. Natalie's room, right?" Rage pooled into my stomach and spread throughout my limbs, settling in my chest. I felt my fangs and claws extending, sharp and deadly and thirsting for this bitch's throat. "Aw, no time to talk?" I didn't answer, but instead lashed out, and unfortunately, I hadn't caught her off guard. "Who knows," she cooed, "maybe once we get this situation underhand, I'll keep you as a little plaything myself."
That did it.
Without much thought, I swung my elbow backwards, something she hadn't expected, and connected with her jaw. With her stance down, I leapt onto her, ripping and tearing at her chest, throat and face with my claws. Her screams were barely audible, and they stopped almost immediately, but with hers ending, I heard more downstairs. As a final precaution, I ripped her head off and threw it out the broken window. Without putting on a shirt, I raced down the stairs, and found the whole bottom floor invaded.
"Shit!"
Vlad, Ethan and Jared came running from the parlor, and close behind them was about five or six vampires, all looking forward to one thing: killing. Behind me, I heard rushing feet, and turned around to plant a hard kick into the stomach of the approaching intruder. My blow knocked them into another of their group and I didn't take the time to count those behind them. My wolves were in danger. "MOVE!" Behind me came Jessica's strong voice. She ran past me, barreling into a vampire who had a chokehold on Isaac, and a movement to my left showed that someone had released Angelica. Giggling, she leapt onto an attacker coming near her, and bit his throat out without a care in the world, and before even removing herself from his lifeless body, took another large hunk from a passerby. Angelica was one sick bitch, but she fought dirty and we needed that. Instinct took me over and I flew to the side of the room, taking down two vampires in my way to Erica. She was a newer wolf, but I had taught her well with the help of the older wolves, and although she was pinned, she held her own and kicked a second vampire away before using her captor's arm to throw him over her head and into a wall. Her golden eyes met mine for approval, and I nodded quickly before punching a quickly approaching bloodsucker. The blow broke his nose, shoving the bone up into his brain and he dropped to the floor. Kicking him aside, I pivoted and met the next two coming at me.
~Aaden POV~
A crash from downstairs startled me awake. Pushing the covers away, I stood, hopping and pulling on a pair of black sweatpants and a black long sleeved shirt. Upon coming to the door, the noises and more crashes grew louder. I felt Derek's presence below me, and I closed my eyes, trying to feel his emotions. Anger, rage in fact, and determination. What the hell was going on down there? I had covered the doorknob with my hand when the window behind me crashed, spilling fragments of glass all around me. I spun around, and before me stood a hulk of a vampire. I held back a tremor that raced through me, and tried to yank open the door, but to no avail. "Fuck," I said, then met the impostor's eye. His face split into the single most evil grin I'd ever witnessed and he raced forward, knocking into me hard enough to slam my head into the wall. The pain was both blinding and nauseating, and I pressed a hand to the inflicted spot, trying in a meager attempt to placate the throbbing wound. "So, you're the little Luna. Not much to you," he said, throwing my arm down away from my head, and putting his hand around my throat. He pinned me to the wall, but I squirmed in an attempt to get away anyway. "Let go of me, you fucker," I managed to get out through my hazy consciousness. He tsked once and tightened the grip on my throat, causing me to make this awful, choked noise. "Too bad you had to get tangled up in business that wasn't your own. Lorcan Kern will be especially happy to learn of your death."
"Not on my watch, asshole!" Farren swung from around the corner, planting two feet firmly into his back, pinning him to the wall beside me. Once she landed, she impacted two more strong punches to his face and jumped onto him, restraining his arms, and then proceeded to dislodge his head from his body. Normally, I would have probably thrown up, but I was just thankful she was here. I pressed my fingers against my very sore skin. Great, bruising.
"Come on," Farren said, grabbing me by the shirt and pulling me into the side-room, where Spencer groggily stood against the wall, his hair a total mess. "They're still fighting downstairs, I'm going to hide you two in a private little safe room until it's over." I wished that I'd had the willpower and ability to say no, but I couldn't, and I was definitely in no position to argue with her. We quickly made our way down the long, dark hallway and she made a curt turn left and punched a hidden panel in the wall, opening an entrance just big enough to walk through. "Go, quickly. Don't make noise, at all, besides talking and stay put. One of us will come back for you when we're done." Spencer nodded and we rushed down the little narrow way and into a slightly cramped, but more open, space and we heard the wall slide closed again.
"Well," Spencer said, sitting down, "that was a shitty wake up call."