Page 19 of Blood Pack Beginning

“Is staying even the right choice?” Cyrus mused aloud. “From the sounds of it, the packs are in danger, and for some reason, the Lycan Council, or at least Nathan, isn’t willing to properly warn them. I can understand he doesn’t want to spread panic, but ignorance, in this case, could be more dangerous.”

“No one will believe you.” Omar suddenly interjected, and they rounded on him. The young man kept chewing on the chicken leg he’d found in the fridge.

“We’re not liars,” Amir reminded his brother.

“Obviously, but how would that conversation even go?” Omar explained. “‘Hey, did you know there’s vampires stealing Lycans and turning them into ghouls and mind-controlled killing machines?’ It sounds crazy.”

“All the more reason to get the truth out there to prepare people,” Cyrus argued.

“You can try if you want, but given the choice, I’d stay here. The food is good. The training, while annoying, isn’t terrible. And I, for one, am fine being kept away from ghouls and shit. Not all of us want to fight.”

Disappointment tugged at Amir’s features. The two brothers couldn’t have been more unalike.

“I’m okay with getting my fists dirty,” Diego offered in direct counterpoint. “Think it would impress Sasha if I took out a ghoul on my own?”

“Do all your life decisions have to be based on whether or not it will get you in a woman’s pants?” Amir snapped.

“In this case, yes. There’s something about Sasha that calls to me.” Diego made no bones about his attraction, and for some reason, Cyrus felt a spurt of jealousy.

Insane. He didn’t even like the woman. Tell that to his body that reacted to her presence. His dreams featured her, usually wearing very little clothing. Did he desire her? To his annoyance, yes, but that didn’t mean he’d make stupid decisions simply so he could wet his dick in vampire pussy.

“All of this is moot if she doesn’t return,” Cyrus reminded.

Only, she did come back, mere minutes before dawn, streaked in dirt and blood, her hair and clothing damp with rain.

The shock of seeing her in that state had them silent for a moment.

Amir roared first. “What the fuck?”

“Hello to you too, Puppy Chow. Can you save the tantrum for later? I’m tired.”

“How’d the fight go?” Cyrus asked.

“We won.”

“Does this mean the threat to the Packs is gone?” Cyrus asked.

Her lips flattened. “No. We have no idea who’s controlling the ghouls now that Morpheus is dead.”

“Were the ones you fought today any of the people abducted from Moon Dew?” Amir asked.

“I don’t think so. They would have been still fresh, whereas these creatures weren’t.”

Cyrus cocked his head. “You don’t think we’ll find them.”

“More like I doubt we’ll do so quick enough to save any. Morpheus was using ghouls to perpetuate his evil. And given their hunger…”

She didn’t complete the statement, didn’t have to in order to paint a chilling picture where the ghouls would eat the captives

“We have to find them.”

“We’ve got some people working on it. We stripped the ghouls before disposal tonight. If they had anything to indicate where they were hiding, we’ll find it.”

“Let me guess, when you go off to investigate, we’ll get tranqued again,” a bitter Amir commented.

“Is puppy grumpy I didn’t let him come play?” Sasha taunted.

“Don’t tease him,” Cyrus snapped. “He’s right to be pissed. We all are. Why train us if you’re not going to use us? For that matter, why even bother asking us to be allies if you plan to lock us away each time there’s a problem? Then there’s the fact that if you’d have died, we would have, too, because you know full well this panic room can’t be broken out of. That’s pretty fucked, and if that’s how you’re going to treat us, then I rescind my offer to help.” He didn’t hold back.

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