The Outcome

Everything happened very fast after that. The vampire managed to knock Jack down, but he’d only swiped him instead of landing on him fully. It gave Jake enough time to phase and begin an attack of his own. The hair on my right side swished up as if a fan had blown through it, but it was only Leah jumping across the table, landing as her smallish, but still giant, wolf.

More and more of the wolves began to phase at the smell of danger, but more and more vampires flew from the trees to meet them. First three, then five, then ten, then fifteen. These vampires weren't newborns, they had a strategy with this, going after the humans first, the wolves couldn’t go after them the way they wanted, so close that a human would get hurt or killed in the process.

Across the deck, Emily let out a scream, backed into a corner by a vampire. It was her voice that sent me into action, I wasn’t prepared to fight anyone, but I could do what I do best, which is play as bait. First; however, I needed to get Emily out of there. Jumping over the picnic table and cutting across the yard, I looked around underneath the deck to the other side. Using the support beams to climb up, I grabbed at Emily’s leg from under the railing.

“Down here, now!”

As she slipped through the railing, I took her place in front of the vamp, who was surveying the scene with a mild amusement. “How sweet.” His condescending tone an extreme contrast to he beauty of his face.

There were flaming Hawaiian theme torches lining the deck, their flames casting shadows against his bone structure. I wouldn’t be able to outrun him if I didn’t make it a game of cat and mouse first. The other vampires were busy fighting the wolves so; luckily, I only had the attention of this one. Grabbing at one of the torches I flung it towards him, not waiting to see it catch to his clothing as he blocked the stick. I pumped my lags faster and faster, putting as much space between him as I could, listening as he cursed and stamped out his clothes. In the moments as I heard him begin his chase, I’d been transported back to those New York ally ways.

Move. Faster. Faster. Across the table. Around the wolf with a head in his mouth. Avoid broken bottles. A shoulder knocking into a wall, do stop! Change direction. Under a table this time, change direction again. Don’t look over your shoulder. Don’t look! Run. Go. Go. Go!

There was so much going on. Screaming. Laughter. The sound of granite being smashed, the howl of wolves all around me. Paper plates and beer bottles tripping me under my feet. I couldn’t look for Jacob and run at the same time, but I tried. It was stupid and now I found myself doubled back and pinned into a corner, too far away from the edge to dive under and the ceiling too high to climb up in time.

“Bitch, you burned through my fucking jacket.” The vampire didn’t pause in his attach. Slashing me across my back; then grabbing my arm to swing me around taking me off my feet. From this angle, he had me dangling sideways; struggling only sent my free limbs flailing all over the place. “I’m going to enjoy this.” He sneered.

He shook me still and it made my head smack into the wall behind me. A loud ringing filled my ears and my vision went blurry. I could feel the blood loss through my back, soaking through my shirt and jacket. My heart was beating in my chest and I prayed that everyone else was okay. The vampire had drawn in closer, I could smell him under my nose and it made my stomach roll. His lips were at my neck, drawing a line of freezer burn on the skin that grazed. I braced myself for the impact, for the end.

“MACIE!” I heard a voice yell from the distance.

The vampire dropped my out of his grasp and I hit the ground hard. The blow jumbled up my brain, but it brought me back from passing out. “You’re Macie? Oh, you lucky bitch.” He eyed me a bit longer, making no move to hurt me before turning around a second too late. Erick’s wolf descended on him and took off his head in one smooth tug. Then Brayden was there, picking me up running, off the deck and towards where Leah and Seth were defending the group of humans by the trees. The jostling in his arms didn’t do much for my head, and then I was asleep.

~*~

I woke up on my side; the scene in front of me was a huge burning fire. My vision was a bit blurry, but I could make out the dismembered figures of body parts. The vampires. I sprang up from where I lay in the leaves and ignored the slight ringing in my ears on top of the tension in my forehead. Where was Jacob? Emily? Seth? Leah?

“You should lie back down, Mace.” A hand was placed on my shoulder and I turned to find Brayden sitting next to me against a tree. It had felt like so long since I’d seen his face. Ignoring his advice, as usual, I instead flung my arms around him; so happy to see him I could hardly think straight.

“What happened? Are you alright? Is everyone alright? Where did all those vamps come from? Why did they attack a party full of werewolves?” I rambled on.

“I was wondering the same fucking thing, now get up?” Sam interrupted Brayden before he could get a word out. “Get up right now.” His voice was cold and authoritative, a tone he’d only used to address me once before, but never this hard.

“What’s wrong, Sam? Is Emily okay?” I asked confused.

“Don’t you dare talk about her? Who the fuck are you? Get up now!” He yanked me up from Brayden’s arms and held me firm by the shoulders, the throbbing in my head only increased. Bending down to look me straight in the eyes, I saw a level of mistrust I thought was only reserved for rapists and vampires.

“Let her go, man! She can’t heal as fast as the rest of us.” Brayden tried to defend me, but Sam ignored his protest.

“I’m only going to ask you this one time, Macie, and you better tell me the fucking truth. When that vampire was after you, the one who almost killed Emily heard your name and stopped. Why is that?”

“I don’t fucking know, I was only trying to distract it away from her.” I told him, infuriated through me pain that I was being accused of something like this. He apparently didn’t like my answer because he shook me again, so hard I thought I heard my brain sloshing around in my head.

“Don’t touch her like that!” Brayden yelled and finally made a mode to get me away from him, but Erick’s hand shot out of nowhere to stop him. All eyes moved to the other Alpha, mine growing wide as he pulled him away from our defense.

“There’s nothing we can do for her, she’s not ours.” He simply said and my heart plummeted to the soles of my feet. So this is what it must have felt like the night I broke from my pack. Erick wouldn’t look me in the eyes, not the way he used to. All his feelings aside, he looked at me like I was a part of something, like we had history; but who was I to complain and feel hurt? Had I not done the same to him? Brayden’s shoulders slumped in submission and he slowly walked away towards the rest of [i[their pack; not mine anymore. Yet, where one thing fails another will grow stronger. Erick may not have been able to do anything for me, Jacob certainly could.

“Get your hands off her, she didn’t do anything.” Jacob stormed onto the scene with a fury in his eyes I had never experienced before. His words were coupled with a heavy shove to his alpha, which actually knocked back on his feet; while I fell to the leaves below. A hot pain localized in my back then branched itself to every other part of my body.

“Back down Jacob! I don’t trust her and she needs to be questioned!”

“She saved Emily’s life! It’s obvious she’s on our side, don’t be ridiculous.” Jacob shot back, sending the rest of us into silence. I got bold with Erick from time to time, but it wouldn’t be fair of him to phase and attack me, like what could happen between the two of them.

“If she was a part of this do you know how vulnerable that makes this pack? The people we love? If something would have happened to Emily...”

But Jake cut him off. “Thanks to Macie not worse happened to her than what you've already done to her.”

Oh shit.