Page 26 of Vampire Bite

Annika

We barged breathlessly into the headquarters, which were silent. It seemed that everyone but Callum, Lena and a few others had fallen asleep. I mean, what else would they be doing in this godforsaken time of the night?

“What happened to you?” Callum asked, lifting an inquisitive eyebrow.

We probably looked like a shitshow. I turned to Lucas. He was bloody and bruised, and if I had a mirror, I would probably realize that I looked equally bad.

“Don’t ask,” Lucas grunted, passing him by.

“I wasn’t gonna,” Callum replied immediately. “I was actually gonna tell you something.”

Lucas looked up at him. “What is it?” He was already on his guard, but now it was even more noticeable, almost as if he sensed that whatever Callum had to say couldn’t be good. As it turned out, he was right.

Callum looked between the two of us, and his gaze settled on me, an apology in his eyes. “The shifters… they’re after a human. One they want to breed with.”

My pulse thudded in my ears as I forced out the words. “Which human?”

Callum swallowed. “It’s you, Annika.”

I stared at him, my mind refusing to process the words. Breed with? They wanted me… for that?

Lucas gripped my arm, protectively, possessively.

“How do you know this?” he demanded, his voice low, dangerously calm.

“We intercepted some of their communications,” Callum explained, his voice almost a whisper. “It’s twisted. They’re looking for someone who can withstand… alterations. They believe your bloodline could hold the key to creating hybrids—beings who can walk in both worlds.” He looked at me, his expression serious. “They think it’s you, Annika… the one who will give birth to their new leader.”

It was all adding up. “This tonight,” I started with a shaky tone of voice. “The shifters coming after us…”

“They attacked you?” Callum asked cautiously, glancing over at Lucas who just nodded silently. He was in no mood for detailing what had happened, and in all honesty, neither was I.

“Then, they are desperate to take you,” Callum pointed out.

My knees went weak. I felt Lucas’ arm come around me, his body shielding me as if he could somehow protect me from the horrors outside.

“They were planning to take me,” I whispered, barely able to find my voice. “I’m just… just some experiment to them?”

Lucas’ grip on me tightened, his hand warm and reassuring against my shoulder. “Not to us. You’re not.”

Callum nodded, regret darkening his gaze. “I’m sorry, Annika. You got dragged into this through no fault of your own.”

My mind spun, flashes of every eerie encounter since I arrived playing back in rapid succession. The shadows that seemed to move closer, the wolves stalking us in the night—all of it was leading up to this? A sickening, twisted plan to use me, to change me into… I couldn’t even bring myself to finish the thought.

I turned to Lucas, a question I couldn’t even fully grasp forming on my lips. “So what now? What do we do?”

He looked down at me, his face fierce with determination. “Now, we fight. We protect you. And we make them regretcoming after you.” His voice was steady, and his words held a promise, one that felt like an anchor in the middle of this nightmare.

I was still at a loss, trying to wrap my mind around what Callum had said. Me? Of all the humans out there, the shifters wanted me. It sounded ridiculous, almost surreal, like I’d woken up in someone else’s nightmare. And yet, here I was, facing the reality of it.

I looked around at their faces, hardened by battles and loss, and the last thing I wanted was to be the cause of any more. “Maybe...” I began slowly, my voice wavering, “Maybe you’d all be safer if I wasn’t here. If I left, took the threat with me...”

Lucas was shaking his head, his expression darkening with frustration. “Don’t be ridiculous, Annika. We’re already in danger, all of us. Your being here doesn’t change that one bit. In fact, it might be the best thing for us.”

His voice was steady, resolute, like he was trying to ground me, bring me back from the edge of my spiraling thoughts. But all I could think about was the weight of what I’d brought upon them—the very people who had saved me, the people who had risked everything to help me.

“But Lucas,” I said, my voice barely above a whisper. “I don’t want anyone getting hurt because of me.”

He sighed, his shoulders relaxing, a softer look crossing his face. “Annika, we’ve been fighting this fight long before you got here. Nothing’s changed. If anything, you’ve given us something to fight for.”

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