Page 26 of Alpha Exile

Then they're coming near me, close enough to touch—

The light shines through them, and a chill passes across my skin as they walk through me and keep going.

I shudder. If my feet weren't being controlled by the spell, I think I'd fall down to my knees or stumble back. But the feral has broken away from Delphine and bows to her grudgingly before running ahead of us in the tunnel. The hybrid's eyes are on me and Roarke, narrowed in suspicious slits.

I ruined everything. I missed the moment.

So I have to know why I did. Glancing behind me, I spot the two ghostly figures walk to the end of the line. Neither Finn nor Lance looks like they've seen anything.

But Bastian does. His face pales as they come near him, then move through him and beyond. They pass through the vampires without concern and keep going until I can't see them anymore.

Disturbed, I turn to face the front again. Several long minutes stretch as I try to figure out what I just saw. A mirage? Ghosts?

Some kind of image Delphine put in my head to fuck with me?

But if she did something like that, she gave no indication. Besides, she has no reason to make me hallucinate. She has an ancient spirit she's going to use to take over my body, all so that she can have ritualistic sex with me in order to form a magical bond with the ghost.

When you put it like that, the two figures I just saw walking through the tunnels are nothing in comparison.

Since I was distracted during that prime opportunity to go at Delphine, I redoubled my efforts to observe her going forward. Soon enough I've forgotten the ghostly figures I saw. Ahead of us, the feral vampire Delphine sent out on some kind of mission is returning, and he's sure to distract her.

Roarke exchanges a glance with me, and I give him a nod. I'm ready this time. I won't let it slip out of my fingers.

The vampire hisses something at Delphine, then hands her another object, one that I can't quite see. Her fingers slide off the vials of blood around her waist. Chin dipping, she looks down into her hands, murmuring something.

I press against the spell around my body, and find cracks in it.

In front of me, Roarke tenses. His right foot slides back as he shifts his weight. I shift mine forward, prepared to sprint.

The moment hangs in the air.

Roarke moves, and I sprint forward, taking three desperate steps, nearly getting close enough—

When suddenly the wind shifts, and there's a howl behind us.

The vampire next to Delphine snarls and pushes her aside like she's nothing. Scenting the air, he hisses out, "Pack!"

Then he pushes past me, claws ripping at my clothes and tearing my skin. I ignore the pain, focusing on Delphine. Leaping towards her, I try to get her waist like we'd agreed, expecting Roarke to go for her shoulders—

But he's frozen in one spot, and a moment later, so am I.

Delphine neutralized the threat before we were even able to grab her.

Her attention isn't on us, though. It's on her vampire cadre, who are howling in hunger and thirst. I manage to look over my shoulder, terrified that Bastian and Lance are being torn apart.

They're fine. It's the vampires who are nowhere to be seen. They wentbackthrough the tunnels.

As my pulse slows and I regain my wits, I inhale, and the answer to the vampires' disappearance comes to me all at once.

The pack.

Their scent is carried towards me by the barest of wind.

They've come for us. To free us. To fight for us.

I can't even enjoy it, though.

Because dozens of feral vampires are hurtling right towards them, howling at the chance to feast on werewolf blood again.

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