Page 45 of The Alpha's Baby Girl

“Yes, sir,” the steward replied.

Rowan returned to his study to wait for the agreed upon time. He paced impatiently around the room. There was far too much on his mind for him to sit still.

Now that he remembered about the vampire, he couldn’t stop seeing images of it killing people, going on a rampage through the town. Juniper’s wards seemed to have kept them safe so far, but how much longer could they keep out something so old? So powerful?

He didn’t want to imagine what would happen if it entered the town. It was going to be a bloodbath, and even if they did manage to put down the vampire, he knew that the losses would be catastrophic.

He heard a knock on the door and was about to attack the person who had dared to disturb his thoughts, when Articus poked his head into the room. Rowan bit his lip and swallowed his venom, then gestured his friend in.

They clasped hands firmly together, and Articus slid into the nearest seat. His pack was the closest, and he preferred being filled in by Rowan when there were pressing issues at hand.

He maintained his composure, but Rowan saw through it. He could tell his friend was busting for some answers. They had all been anxious about the attacks, and the lack of news had made them all impatient.

Articus hadn’t even been able to wait for Rowan at their usual spot. He had come to look for Rowan at his house. If it wasn’t such a serious matter, Rowan would have laughed.

“It’s a vampire.”

Articus frowned, as if he had been expecting Rowan to say something else. “What?”

“A freaking vampire.” He told Articus all about how he had tracked the dog to its carcass, and how Juniper had shared her vision with him.

Articus looked at Rowan with wide eyes when he finished speaking. He let out a low whistle and shook his head slowly. “Damn.”

“Yup.” Rowan drummed impatiently on the table and looked out the window. “That’s why I had never seen a hint of it before now. I doubt I would have ever known what I was up against if I hadn’t had Juniper’s help.

Articus nodded in reply, but he still had a distant expression. He had a deep frown on his face as he thought about the implication of what Rowan was saying. “Old vampire?”

“Yes.”

“How old?”

“I’m guessing over a thousand years. Give or take.”

“Really? They haven’t been living that long though.” Articus was pensive. “If anything, the vampire society would handle this situation on their own. Why would there be one terrorizing your woods? It doesn’t make sense.”

“I know,” Rowan admitted, rubbing his eyes tiredly. “I’ve asked myself the same questions you’re asking now. Nothing I come up with seems to make any sense of why this thing is on my lands. Most importantly, I can’t understand why it’s attacking us.”

“Well, at least we know what it is, disturbing as it may be. We’ve been flying blind for too long.” Articus scratched his brow. “I’ll reach out to some vampires I know to let them know what’s going on. That there’s an ancient vampire on the rampage.

“We’re going to get to the root of this, brother. Rest assured. I’ll also need to send a message to my pack for reinforcements. We’ll need the bodies to smoke it out of the woods. I really think we should tell the guys what’s going on. They would have liked to know the moment you found out, but you can still inform them now.”

“Yeah, sure,” Rowan agreed. “I just thought it would be better for us to discuss this in person. I had a lot going on. Send a text to the group chat.”

Articus pulled out his phone and sent a clipped text to the others. He sent them the fine points of his conversation with Rowan, and then asked for pack reinforcements and mobilization.

“Negative,” Asher had responded. “If it’s an old vampire we’re dealing with, then I suggest we handle it ourselves. The seven of us should be more than capable of handling such a threat. No need to risk any extra lives.”

“He has a point there,” Rowan pointed out. “Looks like we’re finally going to war again, brother.”

Articus chuckled. “If I didn’t know better, I’d say you’re actually looking forward to the fight.”

“You know me too well,” Rowan said with a grin.

The other members of the group agreed with Asher, and they agreed to head straight for Rowan’s house to strategize on their vampire hunt.”

Someone knocked on the door and Rowan walked toward it in annoyance. He saw his steward standing behind the door with a deeply worried look on his face. He frowned at him, wondering what the problem was, but maintained his cool.

“Sir, we have a serious problem,” the steward said, clearing his throat elaborately.

---