Page 1 of Her Eternal Mate

Chapter 1

Alexis

“This is a nightmare.”

Those words had only just left Will’s mouth when I saw the scene for what it really was—a herald of doom. A crimson moon was suspended low in the sky with many sepulchral clouds enveloping it. Against this red light, the shadows that lay claim to the sky flew from the direction of the cove toward the commune.

I had known that Ralph could fly. But the fact that every vampire possessed the capability to do so was new to me. It was a terrible sight to behold, all of them with their flapping coats looking like giant wingspans of bats descending upon the commune as if they were airborne soldiers coming here to lay siege.

“Brace yourselves!” Will screamed as he headed out the door and into the street. Suddenly, I could see him as the man who had led the charge of his pack during the second world war. He looked so sure, so adamant, unflinching in the face of fear.

Around us, streamers, balloons, flowers, and decorations that Vince had arranged for the party lay in tatters all around as the pack members ran about, trampling them. But when Will came into the fray, the pack members quickly regained their confidence now that their alpha was here. They gathered around him as he stared his enemy down.

At that exact moment, the night boomed with thunder, and lightning shone across the black canvas of the sky, revealing rain clouds across the horizon. The first raindrops fell on my face as the thunder growled loudly overhead. It was a scene to behold, Will and the pack behind him bracing for the fight ahead as the vampires descended into the clearing.

I knew this would happen. I had always understood that the vampires would never accept a defeat so submissively. When Ralph fell, the vampires ran away. Their swiftness had suggested that they had, in fact, retreated instead of running away. Biding their time in the shadows, they sought a new leader who could reassemble them and help them get their vengeance. From the looks of it, they had found their leader. Unlike the clothes the vampires wore back when they were under Ralph’s leadership, they were wearing garbs that resembled bloodthirsty barbarians.

Ralph’s style had been along the lines of Count Dracula meets the modern world, complete with black leather coats and black pants with black shirts. Very suburban gothic. However, now they were wearing wolf furs, and their faces had red handprints on them, signaling their bloodlust.

As someone who had lost a lot to the vampires, I knew them for the terrible ordeal that they were. They had killed my parents. For years after that, they barred the way leading out of the town, preventing me from escaping. Even after the vampires fell for the first time, back when Will killed Ralph, I knew it deep in my heart that sometime later, they would come back. Whether for vengeance or to reclaim their land, they would come back. They were not so easy to get rid of.

And now they had come back.

“Alexis! After me!” Will screamed at me from afar. I could barely make out what he was saying over the sound of the screams of the pack members, the thunder, the rain, and the shouts coming from the vampires as they landed on the field. It was battle-mayhem, all of it.

But the battle had not yet begun. None of the wolves had shifted so far, nor had any of the vampires drawn any blood. They stood on the other end of the field in a line, waiting for an emissary to come forth.

I joined Will along the ranks of the werewolves. We stood on the far end of the field, also in a line, waiting for their emissary. No one had ever written these rules down, but they had been passed down through the ages. Before a battle began, two messengers came bearing conditions from each side and relayed that information to each other.

A muscular, broad, tall, and bulky vampire, easily a foot and a half taller than the tallest of the vampires around him, came forward from the ranks wearing a wolf skull on his head and two gauntlets on these forearms made from bones. Even from afar, I could see his pointed teeth jutting out of his mouth as he sneered. As far as I knew, none of us had ever seen this vampire before. He wasn’t built like a vampire. The more I looked at him, the more he resembled a bloodthirsty giant.

This vampire stomped his feet as he traversed the field and came to a standstill at the center. Will looked at me, then nodded silently as he headed out into the field. For a second, I considered staying behind and watching it all unfold in front of me. But that was not me. Ever since I had come into my own, I had taken charge of things. I had never been behind Will, and he wouldn’t have wanted me to be. He had seen that I was always alongside him, matching his stride.

So I joined him as he walked out into the field.

“What are you doing?” Will whispered.

“Two heads and all that,” I said, squeezing his hand. He gently squeezed it back.

“I’ve never seen this guy before. Do we even know who he is?” Will asked.

“I’ve crossed paths with plenty of vampires in this town. But I’ve never seen him before either. Even for a vampire, he seems unnatural,” I concurred.

“You are right. Vampires, by their nature, are thin, bleak, shadowy creatures, lithe on their feet and nimble in their moves. This agility serves them a singular purpose—to pounce upon their prey and suck them dry of their blood. But this vampire, he’s humongous in size, taller than even I am,” Will said as we approached the goliath vampire standing smugly at the center of the field. This was the same field where all the werewolves trained and ran laps.

“He’s just a big brute,” I said.

“I’m not worried about that at all. In fact, it would be exciting for me to face him in battle. I haven’t had a real challenge in so long,” Will said. There was the Will I knew, the brave Will I loved with all my heart.

“Quite an awful night you picked for an ambush,” Will said. We stood just inches away from the tall vampire.

“This is not an ambush, little wolf,” the vampire said in a deep and growling voice. “We have come for vengeance and to lay claim to this land as ours. For hundreds of years, the vampires have been using these shores for their business and travel. Until the wolves came. And now word has reached me that you have killed Ralph, the vampire assigned to this area. I have only come to make things right. An eye for an eye. You killed their leader. I kill you.”

“And who do you think you are that you can just come and kill Will without facing any resistance whatsoever? Do not take us wolves lightly. We smote down Ralph. You are nothing more than a hindrance,” I said.

“Do you let your woman speak for you?” the vampires spat.

“That is no mere woman. She is my mate and as strong a wolf as any. You should fear her if you know what’s good for you,” Will said.

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