Page 12 of Her Eternal Mate

“A pack can only remain strong if it's together. That’s why I took the entire pack with me and didn’t just escape all by myself. And that’s why we still live in Fiddler’s Green with the rest of the wolves,” Will said.

“Is that it?” I asked.

“No.” Will smiled. “I was just beginning to feel that you and me, we’re like a pack of our own. When we get married, we’ll have kids. And then they will be a part of our special pack. We can leave Fiddler’s Green and go somewhere safer, where there aren’t such things as vampires and werewolves. Live normal lives. Be normal people. Isn’t that what you want?”

“Are you serious?” I couldn’t believe he was saying that.

“I promise. I’ve been thinking about this for a long time, and I want to leave this place with you. I hope this brings you some semblance of comfort,” Will said.

“Leaving this place and going somewhere else to live with you would be so amazing,” I said, letting my emotions show. “Imagine us raising our kids in San Francisco. They can grow up with the rest of the kids in Silicon Valley. They’ll already know all they need to know about computers and grow up to become successful engineers!”

“Exactly!” Will laughed and clapped his hands. “So…my love and soon-to-be wife, I just want you to be a little patient, please.”

“And I’ll be as patient as you’ll want me to be,” I said, kissing him. “Say, you wanna go back to the inn?”

“Wanna race me back to it?” Will grinned.

“Oh, you’re so on!” I said, my spirits considerably lifted upon hilling Will’s proposition.

We shifted together and raced through the forest, heading back to Frampton. It’d take us a long time to go back there, but at least we’d make the journey together. I was feeling a bit embarrassed about coming here, but given how Will had so thoroughly consoled me, part of me felt glad that I came here.

We had only just reached the brink of the forest when Will stopped in his tracks, his ears perked up, his eyes staring into the distance.

What is it?I asked.

We’re not alone,Will said.

There it was, that sinking feeling in my stomach that had prompted me to come here. Something had not been right all along. There was someone lurking around, quite possibly a vampire. I looked in the direction where Will was staring, all the while realizing that my intuition had been right in telling me that there was danger yet.

What on earth is that thing?Will asked.

I had to strain my eyes to be able to see what he was seeing. It was a long shadow of a man, but it was not moving like a man. It moved almost mechanically as if it was a robot. This shadow was taller than both of us and had a whole militia’s worth of weapons attached to its thick, shiny armor.

It’s a soldier,I said when I could see clearly.

It’s not just a soldier. It’s something else,Will added.

We barely had a second to dodge the soldier’s first attack. He hadn’t even come close to us before he attacked us with a rocket launcher. The explosion boomed behind us as we jumped in opposite directions.

I could see the soldier making a run toward Will. From here, I spotted the strange armor he was wearing. His face was entirely covered by a chrome helmet. The rest of his armor managed to cover all of his body, even the joints. There were wires at the seams of his armor. He had two rifles slung over his shoulder, a machete on his thigh, pistols, and grenades in his belt. In short, he was armed to the teeth.

Will pounced on him with his entire force, but to my surprise, the soldier grabbed Will by the throat and threw him back hard against a tree. Will collapsed on the ground.

I couldn’t let this bizarre soldier beat my mate like that. I jumped on him from behind, biting down on his neck with all my strength. I could feel my teeth straining under the duress of the armor. I had to let go because the armor was impermeable. But before I could let go, the soldier reached around the back and grabbed me by the neck, throwing me against the same tree where Will had struck.

He threw me with such brute force that I could feel my joints aching when I fell. Any harder, and he’d have broken my bones.

How is he so strong and fast?I asked Will.

Will had gotten up and was rearing himself to go back into the fight. He raced circles around the soldier, clawing at him as he ran, but to no avail. Will’s claws didn’t even put a scratch on the soldier’s armor.

While they were locked in battle, I circled them so that I’d be able to help Will if he needed it. The soldier moved with such speed that it was getting hard for me to track his individual moves. I could just see a blur moving around and Will trying to keep up with it. But as the fight progressed, Will got in a few claws and strikes that slowed down the soldier. The thing that rattled me the most was that Will’s strikes were extremely powerful. He had killed so many vampires and soldiers before with these strikes. He was in his feral form, the most powerful form known to werewolves the world over. And despite all of this, he had not been able to take down this impossibly strong soldier.

Even though the soldier was a little slowed down, he was not fazed. He didn’t speak or struggle as Will unleashed a flurry of attacks on him. He just stood there, taking the brunt of the attacks without it affecting him. And when Will was done, the soldier didn’t fall down or surrender.

Instead, the soldier took out a baton from his belt and pushed down a button on it. High-voltage electric current zapped from the end of the baton. Just as Will jumped to attack the soldier again, the soldier zapped Will in the torso with his Taser, knocking him out.

Will!I called out as I gnawed at the soldier’s Taser and yanked it free from his grip. Before I could go back to Will, the soldier’s backhand met with my jaw with such sheer strength that I lost consciousness.

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