Page 63 of Beta Hybrid

He shifts and howls into the night.

Every shifter in the area howls back.

Cai returns to human form, naked before me. ‘Now, they know.’ He picks me up, spinning me gleefully. ‘You’re mine.’ He stills, looking up into my eyes as my silver hair spills between us. ‘We will live happily ever after, Zen. I promise.’

I smile as I lean down and kiss him before we leave.

One last time.

Chapter Twenty-Seven

Zenna

I’ve never walked into battle before, so I don’t know what to expect.

‘Expect there to be blood,’ Callen says from a few feet away. ‘A lot of blood.’

Apparently, I’d spoken aloud without realising. I watch him and Evelyn, on opposite sides of me, trailing the first truck. Cai’s truck.

The Triple Moon alpha and Second ride in the first vehicle, just ahead of me, the bright blue doing little to disguise the vehicle. The enemy will smell us long before they see us.

I am on foot with the two vampires—guard dogs, Vale had called them—to keep an eye out.

Behind me is everyone else.

Sarah leads the rest of the pack, both on foot and in cars, driving slowly so we don’t fall into any traps.

About a mile behind us, Alaric slowly follows. I wasn’t brave enough to ask if he has another, human, form to shift into. I can’t imagine a fifteen-foot man following would be any subtler than his giant wolf. Besides, he would be a better weapon in wolf form. Evelyn said if she strains her ears, she can almost feel the ground shudder slightly under his footfalls.

Almost.

There are maybe thirty of us. And Alaric.

Going up against Drusilla and whomever else is prepared to fight at her side.

Aiden and Will, with Siobhan, trail alongside the wolves.

I can’t afford to be distracted. Drusilla could already be headed in our direction with a bunch of her vampires. I can see her in my mind, mouth twisted in a sick smirk, blood coating her lips.

But I keep looking down at the ring.

My engagement ring. Even in the gloom of night, the moonstone sparkles.

Evelyn smiles over at me. ‘I’m glad,’ she says, keeping her voice low, ‘that you’re going to get your happy ending.’

Before I can muster up a thank you, Callen says over his shoulder, ‘I wouldn’t bet on it.’

I shoot him a glare. But he’s not wrong.

The two bangles on my wrist gleam, too. One from each of my Origins. For protection. Two slips of earth-turned metal that will be my Hail Mary if everything goes sideways. Which it probably will.

The convoy is near-silent. The sniffing of wolves, the rustle of leaves under paws and the occasional drinking from water bottles are the only sounds.

I edge closer to Evelyn. ‘Are you really going to kill other vampires? For us?’

The first time I saw her, I thought she was the most ordinary, down to earth vampire I had ever seen. I wouldn’t have even pegged her as a vampire if I’d glanced at her at Bonne Nuit. There’s something so calm about her. Not… bloodthirsty.

‘I have lived a long time,’ Evelyn says, her voice barely a whisper. ‘I know how to pick my battles. Besides, Drusilla tortured us, my Aiden. She will pay for that.’ Anger flares in her eyes, and I take a step back, though I know it’s not directed at me. ‘Thank you, by the way. For sending Callen back to free us.’

---