Howling Fury (Book 1) (Being Edited)

Chapter 17

"Ester. You already know Demetri," Mark says, pointing at a young looking vampire. I nod my head stiffly in his direction and he nods back. It's not that I'm being rude. It's just that most of my concentration is focused on not shifting and ripping their heads off. Don't get me wrong, I am used to Demetri and am able to control myself around him. But this other vampire, not so much.

Demetri and Mark both watch me in case my concentration slips, but I keep my eyes firmly focused on the table on the middle of the room. Demetri and Mark have been friends for many years, though Demetri is much older than Mark. Four hundred and fifty years older to be exact.

"And this is Marius. He has been newly turned and is here as a friend. So behave." I could hear the smile in his voice and I allow a small smile of my own to form on my face. "Now. Why don't you tell them about the ghouls?" I roll my eyes at him. It's like a kind of council set up, with the vampires in charge. They have to know everything that goes on with the supernatural community. Something about monitoring the population and protecting their humans. Don't ask me why, because I don't know.

"Well. I heard there was a nest from reliable sources, so I went to check it out. When I got there, we were attacked by a queen, we fought and I won. Story told." My fuse was beginning to shorten. They probably already know everything. They have spies everywhere so be careful what you say or do. You never know who could be watching.

"There was more, was there not. For instance, by your reference to "we", I can only assume that there was another person there. And the fact that only you fought leads me to conclude it was a human." He pauses. "And that he witnessed everything. A little birdie told me he even took pictures." Demetri pauses again, his eyebrow creeping up his head. I look at him and allow my face to contort into a glare. He is asking if I "took care of him".

"I am aware of this," I growl between my clenched teeth. "I destroyed the pictures so he would have no proof and he poses no threat to anyone." I feel Lucas listening in on our conversation. Wow. I can feel his love for Yale and they have only known each other for a day. Less than that actually. Even though they have just met, I know Lucas will do anything for Yale. I know they are slowly falling in love.

"That's not good enough!" the other vampire, Marius roars. "We must kill this human in order to protect ourselves and to stop him from telling the world about the rest of the supernatural." I hear a growl coming across the link from Lucas, and I can't help but growl myself. Mark and Demetri both freeze as I slowly take a step forward.

I take another step, but Mark's arm suddenly materialises in front of me and I can't move any further. Well I could, but I don't out of courtesy. Marius hisses at me but I just glare at him. "Yale will not tell anyone, snake boy. He may soon be mated to a member of our pack, making him a member. And in case you didn't realise, we protect our own." I wasn't sure, but I trust Lucas. If Lucas truly believes that he and Yale can be mates, then I trust in his judgement.

Marius hisses again, and I growl. "Enough Marius. Outside," Demetri commands. Marius glares at me, before he bows stiffly and leaves the room, slamming the office door closed behind him. Mark softly rubs my arm. "Ester, Relax." I hadn't realised I was shaking until Mark drew my attention to it. I realise that it was only Marks arm that stopped me from shifting and tearing out his damn throat.

After a moment, my body relaxes. I nod at Mark and he removes his arm from in front of me and Demetri begins talking again. "So, what about the rogues who showed up? I heard it was not a normal confrontation." My body stiffens as I remember who it was in the clearing. "Yes Demetri," Mark grunts. "We, or should I say Ester, recognised one of their scents. It was the one who killed her parents. Valentine."

Demetri seems to be disturbed by this. His face creases into a frown and a worried look passes over his features. "Was there anything else...unexpected?" he asks in a quiet voice, as if fearing the answer. Mark and I nod at the same time. Both of us remember the fire, though Mark never saw the giant thing in the sky.

I nod slowly. "Fire separated me and Ester from the rest of the pack. I have never seen anything like that before." Mark goes silent as if deep in thought. Demetri just looks at me, a knowing look on his face. I put my hands up in defence. "I didn't see it clearly. All I saw was a giant shadow in the sky, which disappeared." I pause for a moment. "Well, in my dream it came back."

Demetri and Mark look at each other. "What happened in your dream?" Mark asks me, looking worried as if the dream could still hurt me. "Well. It said something about me joining it so I could be used as some kind of weapon. But it was only a dream, right?"

Mark and Demetri give each other another worried look. "What aren't you telling me?" It is obvious that they are withholding information from me. Demetri clears his throat after a moment. "We have notice an increase in activity within the supernatural community. More troll attacks, goblin sightings and even some of the farie folk have come out of the woodwork. Something big is happening, and we believe that it has something to do with the dragons."

Uh oh. Anything to do with the dragons is bad news. Of course, that would explain the thing in the clearing. "The lycan you know as Valentine works under the command of none other than the dragon king himself, Garbaroth. He has immense magical abilities, which is why we are so worried about this dream you had. His magic could be strong enough for him to reach you in your dreams." He stops talking for a moment, allowing this to sink in before he continues. "If he referred to you as some kind of weapon and Valentine was the one to kill your parents, then perhaps their death was not random. I believe if Garbaroth is after you, then your powers may extend further than just the ability of shifting into both lycan and werewolf."

I only stare at him. What? My parent's death was all my fault. Pain and sadness overcome me, but I force it back down. If Demetri is correct, it means that Garbaroth is hear ad my pack is in danger. I can't afford any distraction if I have to protect the pack.

Of course, my body doesn't want to co-operate. A strange feeling settles in the pit of my stomach. The same feeling I had when the rouges attacked. "Ester? Are you ok?" Mark asks, concern filling his voice. I don't answer him. The feeling intensifies to a point where I feel like throwing up. Something is very wrong. My body begins to change on instinct. "Mark, something is wrong." He instantly stiffens, knowing he can trust my instincts.

A split second later, Lucas's voice screams in our heads. "Ester! Help us. He came from nowhere. I'm hurt. I can't protect him. I tried. Yale." His pain and fear is enough to send me over the edge. Leaping from the chair, I quickly change into my werewolf and tear from the room to protect my friends. "I'm coming."

Hey so I was going to put the fight scene in here but I didn't so it'll be in the next chapter. Sorry Becca :) I will upload again soon :D

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