Page 34 of Rogue Wolf

Fern shot him a dark glare.

“Watch it,” warned Kodiak.

Anger burned in her eyes, and he sensed her wolf form pushing to get out. But, to her credit, Fern remained in control. She was still loyal to him. Just barely.

“Where were you attacked?” asked Kodiak.

“There were two,” said Fern. “At the car. They were lying in wait from the looks of it. Because they attacked—on the street—the moment I unlocked the car.”

“Fuck,” responded Kodiak. Fern had been lucky to get away alive.

“The thing is, while there was barely any sunlight, it should have been enough to stop them. Vampires don’t like even a touch of sun.” Fear flashed in Fern's eyes. “Kodiak, they shouldn’t have been able to walk around, like the sun didn’t bother them.

Kodiak put his hands on his hips and kicked at the stones on the ground. Fern was right, and he had no answers as to why they could endure sunlight like never before.

Even Amdis, while he’s sizzled seemed to grow used to the brighter sun at the window. But, Tamaska had told him when it was much stronger, he couldn’t cross it.

Could it have something to do with the Blood Opal? Or could it be a natural evolution of their species?

It all seemed impossible—yet it was happening.

Whatever it was, it was fucking bad.

Even if they could only now stand weak sunlight, Amdis still couldn’t tolerate stronger levels, which gave Kodiak hope that the anomaly wasn’t a species-wide change. He could still smell the leader's burning skin, a stench that turned Kodiak's stomach.

“Were they in pain?” asked Kodiak.

“Too busy defending myself to find out.”

“Do you think they were new vampires?” Maybe Amdis had turned some humans and made them fight in the fading sunlight, apathetic about whether they died.

But it didn’t explain how Amdis seemed to tolerate the weak sunlight without worse damage.

“Possibly. Again, busy fighting for my life.”

“What happened to them?” It was arrogant for them to attack like that, in a busy city with humans watching. Maybe the vampires were moving toward total domination.

Fern shrugged. “I managed to get in the car and take off. I hit one, and the other ran away, I suppose.”

“Change the license plate before you go,” Kodiak said.

“I will. But is that enough?”

“Tomorrow, sell the vehicle—cash only—and then see what you can pick up for a replacement.” Kodiak didn’t need the police turning up at the clubhouse, asking questions about a vehicle involved in a hit-and-run.

“Sure thing,” answered Fern. “Onai will be furious.”

Kodiak put a hand on Fern’s shoulder. “I’ll get to the bottom of this. The vampires won't get away with the things they’ve done. And don't worry about Onai.”

Fern nodded with a sigh as tension and aching left over from the fight leaked out of her.

“Go to my room. Roan is there, he’ll attend to your wound. Then we'll get going to the hut.” Kodiak stopped short of announcing Tamaska's presence in his room, in case that prevented Fern from getting medical help.

“I’ll help you get the carpet cleaners out first,” said Fern.

“Like hell. you will. Go, I’ve got this. We need to get moving.” Best they got out of there and over to the hut. They needed to give themselves space to properly rally the troops before another encounter.

Kodiak pushed Fern towards the dormitories on the left side of the clubhouse.

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