Petals on The Moon: A Without Thorns Continuation

Chapter Two

The forest thinned out to reveal the clearing just at the outskirts of what used to be a town. Dane felt his eyes widen at the sight of bloodied bodies scattered all over the place. Those who survived were running around in their panic.

A flash of movement caught his eye and he turned in time to see a vampire sink his teeth into the neck of a little girl. His vision was outlined in red and he'd shifted into wolf form in the blink of an eye. Only the howl of the Alpha as he jumped over Dane's head stopped him from tearing the bastard apart.

Later, the Alpha's voice whispered in his mind. Dane chafed under the authority in his voice. The coppery scent of blood filled the night air as the pack faced the coven. Pale-skinned almost to the point of translucency, the vampires bared their fangs to the wolves. The one who bit the girl let go of the child's limp form. Dane flinched as her head hit the ground.

They're so...aggressive, Dane thought, eyeing the largest one. The hulking brute clenched and unclenched his massive fists, barely containing the bloodlust and fury that made his body shake uncontrollably. Dane itched to launch himself headfirst into the fray, but the Alpha was still marking the slim, dark-haired one. The pack waited for the vampires to make the first move.

Something's not right, Klein's voice observed. Everybody could sense it too. It thrummed in the tense atmosphere that surrounded them.

"Do you think you can stop us?" the vamp sneered, tossing a lock of dirty blonde hair that fell over his forehead. They were all covered in blood, making Dane's nose twitch. Messy sons of bitches.

All eight wolves snarled in answer. To Dane's surprise, the bloodsucker didn't even seem the least bit intimidated or scared or whatever it was that made them the pack's natural enemy. Usually, the Alpha or the Beta's presence should've been enough to make them think twice if not cower in fear. Are they really that drunk?

He shifted to one side, ready to tear apart any bloodsucking cretin that comes within ten feet of him. The other wolves also moved slightly, fanning out from Alpha's point. Dane took his place at the Alpha's right, being the Beta.

There were survivors and every wolf in the pack knew that there'll be massive collateral damage. As if they didn't have enough dead already. Then there's the possibility of newborns--

Think about that later! Brad snarled.

The bloodsucker who spoke bared his fangs and leaped towards the right, going for the smallest wolf in the pack and starting the mayhem. Blood and fur flew all over the place as vampires and wolves clawed and snapped at each other. Humans added to the confusion, the survivors darting in and between the fighting. Dane nearly bit the head off of one man when he suddenly appeared out of nowhere and jumped in front of him, knocking himself unconscious when his head met the vampire's arm. He's bound to get a really good sizeed bump when--if--he wakes up.

"Come and get me, dog," the vampire in front of him hissed, crouching low with his arms spread out by his sides. Dane watched through the wolf's eyes as it tracked the bastard's movements. A sickly, sweet scent filled his nostrils. They stood staring at each other for a long moment, letting the fight continue around them.

"Pathetic," the vampire spat. He kicked at the unconscious form of the man lying near his feet. "Is this the best of your so called 'protection'?"

Dane growled. He couldn't speak in his wolf form. He'd like to introduce some new words in his vocabulary. They circled each other before lunging forward, fangs and claws out, ready to kill.

The vampire latched on Dane's back, trying to snap his neck. A massive shrug of the wolf's shoulders sent the clinging bastard crashing into a pile of wooden stakes somebody had left in their haste to escape. Disappoinment coursed through Dane when one of the stakes went through the vampire's leg. Why couldn't it have been the heart?