Feral Bonds

Chapter 15

"Well, well, well, and here I was, expecting to find the Nerezza empire up in flames," Dario crooned as he approached, walking calmly over the wreckage that the flying gate had left in its wake.

Vincent and his crew jumped down from the roof as one, the rest of his children that had survived the attack crept forward until they formed an uneven semi-circle between Dario and the house. Maybe fifteen in total. "You'll need more than cheap tricks to kill me, Dario."

"Is that all you have?" Dario frowned at the small group of vampires. Dozens of his own spawn appeared in the courtyard, flaring out behind him.

Vincent flashed his fangs. "I don't need my children to kill you." Vincent had his hand around Dario's throat a moment later, then suddenly shot backwards like he had been repelled. Vincent landed in a crouch, sliding backwards several feet and narrowed his eyes.

Dario examined his fingers. "Good luck with that."

"That won't save you," Vincent said coolly. "Look for the witch."

Natania shot her head up at Vincent's voice in her mind. "We've exchanged more than enough blood," he growled the explanation. "Focus."

Dario had some kind of barrier. Pushing away her discomfort, only pack mates should have been in her head, Natania scoured the group, looking for the witch. No one in the courtyard looked human. Natania turned her attention to the outskirts of the property while the two master vampires shot insults at each other.

Movement in one of the trees caught her eye and Natania flickered Lily with her tail, using her nose to tell her where to look. Lily scoffed and disappeared as the intruding vampires suddenly surged forward in a coordinated attack.

Natania leaped backwards, narrowly avoiding an attack from above. The vampire's fists slammed into the ground in front of her, leaving cracks in the cement. She growled, and braced to attack, but Ray was there first. He twisted their head all the way around, then chucked the severed head across the courtyard.

"You kill a vampire by burning, staking, crushing their heart, or ripping off their head, wolf," Ray snapped. Another vampire landed on his back while he spoke and Natania pounced, bowling them over and snapping her teeth into their shoulder.

The vampire roared, reaching over and trying to pry her from their back, Natania dug her front claws in and raked the back across their spine. They buckled under the pain, giving her a chance to move her teeth to their neck. Ice cold blood filled her mouth and she tried not to gag as she crushed bone.

The two sets of vampires were evenly matched, even if Vincent's group was outnumbered. Dario was untouchable as long as the witch was alive, so Vincent was focused on picking off the spawn, one by one. Dario chased after him, but Vincent was much faster. The two of them moved like blurs around the courtyard, bodies dropping in their wake.

Natania glanced back at the tree, there was a dead coyote on the ground that hadn't been there before, but she couldn't make out Lily or the witch.

A foot slammed into her side while she was distracted and Natania yelped with pain, then whirled on her attacker with a snarl. An unusually short, female vampire glared up at her and Natania bared her fangs, trying not to favour her uninjured side. She lunged, but the vampire dodged, then climbed up her flank, tugging on Natania's fur like she was a pony.

Natania snapped her teeth and the woman punched her in the nose. A whine escaped her and she pawed at her muzzle while the woman straddled her like she was wearing a saddle. The vampire tried to part her fur, like she was looking for a place to sink her teeth into.

Natania bucked hard, feeling fur rip out of her shoulders where the vampire held on, then rolled. The vampire scrambled off her back before she could be crushed and Natania managed to snatch her out of the air, but she had her by the arm, which wasn't a useful grip. Natania shook her like a piece of prey, hearing a loud pop as her arm dislocated.