Life Sucks but Love Bites

After going over the strategy numerous times everyone was silent. It was almost as if we were replaying our roles in this crazy plan over and over again. What would the outcome be in this fight? Would we live through it or would we die? Can I save her?

My clenched fists shook by my side. I couldn’t afford to have any doubts about it at this point. It wasn’t a matter of ‘can’ anymore, because I will save her. I looked up at the pack of wolves that had joyed in this battle. Truthfully I had envisioned going into this solo, but seeing as how the prince wasn’t going to be fighting alone then I might as well follow suit. The pack dispersed and went off to get into position. The one named Leroy who had stayed as a wolf brushed lightly against my leg. I glared down at the light colored fur ball and as if sensing my anger he lowered his ears in an innocent way then lightly touched his nose to my hand.

“Hurry it up pup.” Roger called in the distance. Leroy automatically perked up at the call and went running.

Reece bent down and started to roll up the map she had laid out on the grass. Her long blonde hair was tied into a high pony tail and she had even ditched her pervious outfit for cargo pants and a black tank top. Vanessa had been right about her. She really was a dependable person when pushed came to shove. The woman had used a GPS to track down Vanessa’s cell phone and pinpoint her exact location. After that she had hacked into some government site and found all of the property that Winden owned then narrowed down the places he would take her.

I looked around at the area that would soon become a battlefield. It was an open plain with a lot tall grasses, located in the middle of a forest. The field was big enough to lure Winden and his goons out of the protection of the forest. My nails dug into the palm of my hands. Just thinking about this man was getting me worked up. He was going to pay for putting Vanessa through this hell, for touching her, and for hurting her. I could feel a growl work its way up from deep within my throat. That prince was going to pay in blood.

Vanessa's POV

I screamed out in agony before I was even completely conscious of what was going on. Every part of my body was throbbing in pain. My arm, my neck, everything from head to toe was cursing the very meaning of pain. It felt as if someone had just taken a sludge hammer to them and went crazy.

“You finally decided to grace us with your presence, my little slut.” My eyes shot open with a wince.

His hard shoulder rammed right in between my breasts as he leapt to another tree branch. Seeing as my body was already riddled with soreness I was not able to completely suppress my cry. I moaned loudly against him and sensed his smile broadening.

It wasn’t until the burning pain began to dissipate that I grasped the fact that I was being carried over his shoulder. The scenery around me was moving too fast for my muffled brain to understand so I closed my eyes to save the headache to come. My arm dangled around the prince as if they were lame or dead. On them I could feel the deep blistering cuts pulsing from being beaten against the tree bark.

Winden’s swatted my butt with the palm of his hand. I bit my lower lip to keep from screaming, I wouldn’t give him the satisfaction of causing me pain.

“Now, listen here harlot.” He bounced me up a little bit higher on his shoulder. “Your damn rouge is dead. Sadly you won’t be sharing the same fate or be crowned as my queen, for that matter. So the question stands as too what I am too do with you?”

The beast of a man carried on hopping from tree branch to tree branch as he thought my ‘fate’ over. As all of this hopping and thinking was going on, I was sadly becoming more aware of just how much pain I was truly in. Slowly my moans and whimpers were escaping from my lips. I hated the fact that I was so weak and useless at a time like this especially when Victor needed me the most. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that Victor was still alive after fight those two vampires.

I opened my eyes and took on the raging headache. Painfully I rotated my head from side to side, counting how many vampires Winden had with him. There were at least ten other vampires following besides us. I groaned at the unexpected amount. There was no way in hell Victor would be able to take on this many vampires at once. I admitted that he was strong but I wasn’t sure if he was this strong.

“I’ve got it! I’ll just torture and kill your clan in front of your very eyes. You’ll be so weak and beaten that all you’ll be able to do is watch helplessly as they fall in front of you. After they are all done I’ll be able to move onto to you my dear. Don’t fret though I won’t kill you. Oh no my sweet I’ll let you live until the very end of my rule.”

Anger boiled in my stomach. “Don’t you dare touch my family.”

His laughter rang through the forest. “I’m sorry dearie but there is nothing you can do to stop me.”

I growled over at him. “Maybe so but you neglect the fact that I trained a rouge vampire.”

His laughter stopped and his grip on me tightened. “Your little playmate is already dead.”

“If you honestly believed that he was dead then why are you running?”

Suddenly I was thrown off his shoulder and against the trunk of a tree. Before I could even moan out Winden grabbed onto the front of my tattered dress and lifted me up higher on the tree. He glared up at me with a growl.

“You think a little rouge vampire scares me? Sorry to disappoint but nothing scares me.” He lowered me down slowly and brought his lips to my ear. “If that sweetheart of yours is still alive and just so happens to stumble upon us it will be my pleasure to murder the bastard in front of your innocent eyes.”

I hissed over at him and tried to bit his throat out but he pulled away too quickly. He grabbed my chin and forced it up. “Ahh so you do still have a little more fight left in you.” Without hesitating he pressed his fangs against my lower lip and bit down. Blood gushed out of the new wound and I struggled to not make a sound. His disgusting tongue licked the dripping blood off of my chin. “Well that fight won’t be there for much longer.”

“My lord,” One of his vampire guards interrupted jumping on the same branch as us.

Winden snarled over at the disturbance. “What?”

The vampire pointed forward. “Look.”

Winden looked over in the general direction and sneered. He looked back at me, pulled my cheek to his, and angled my head to see what the fuss was all about. In the distance was a large open field with a single black figure standing in the middle of it all. I squinted my eyes to get a better look at the figure. My heart was racing in my chest when I discovered who it was.

“Victor.” The joy of seeing him was short lived as Winden’s grip brought me back. Too many, my head was swimming with the phrase. There were too many vampires here for Victor to take on by himself. If I could just warn him-

Winden jerked my head over to him then smirked down at me, “Look at that he found us. It’s a shame that he came all this way to save you. Poor bastard’s efforts were in vain.” He jerked his head over to the vampires. “Kill him.”

Before they could react to the command I head butted the side of Winden’s head and jumped off the tree branch. The sudden attack and movement left me slightly dazed but I had to ignore it. I had only seconds of a head start and I couldn’t waste them here. I sprang to my feet and started to run. The drumming footsteps and cracking twigs warned me of my close pursuers. If I wasn’t beaten up so badly I would have out run them but because of my wounds I was seriously at a disadvantage. My legs and torso burned with each movement I made but again I had to ignore it.

The thickness of the forest was beginning to thin out meaning that I was getting closer to the open plain. If I could just get close enough to warn him then he would be able to get away. That was all that mattered to me at this point was making sure that he was safe. If he escaped this horrible death that Winden had planned for him then I would be content dealing with the consequences. My clan and I were prepared for this kind of ending but Victor… he wasn’t.

I felt a ghost like touch on my back. I used the fear it brought in me and used up the last of my energy to sprint forward. The forest disappeared behind me as the tall grass thickened the ground. I could see every detail of Victor perfectly clear as I ran for him. The worry and shock of seeing me played in his cold blue eyes. He started to run for me but something stopped him.

“Too many-

A set of hands wrapped around my waist and neck, cutting off my warning and pinning my back against a hard chest. I squirmed in the tight embrace but already I knew I was too weak to get out of it.

“You pull something like that again and I’ll make sure to kill your family slowly.” Winden whispered coldly in my ear. With that being said he looked back at Vic who was still a distance away. The growl he made vibrated against my back. “So you killed the other two did you?”

Victor stood his ground firmly without giving any sign that he had even acknowledged Winden’s question. Winden realized this as well and didn’t appreciate being ignored, especially by something that he thought was beneath him. “What brainless brut you are too risk your life for something as meager as this.” The hand that was wrapped on my neck tightened until I was gasping for air.

Victor growled instantly at Winden but still refused to move a step closer. Winden loosened his grip on my neck as he laughed at Victor’s reaction. “Really it’s hilarious how riled up you are about her. Was she really that good in bed?”

Victor crouched down and hissed. Winden took that as his reply. “Well then I’ll have to keep that in mind after all this is done. Kill him.”

Winden’s small army advanced all together on Victor without any hesitation. My eyes grew wide eyed at the dooming battle. He could take on three maybe four tops but all of them at once? I felt my body trembled as the vampires got closer to him. Victor,

A large toothy smile appeared on his face when the vampires were just inches away from him. He let out a growl loud before he ran at the vamps. Victor jumped up in the air and landed on one’s shoulder then twisted off its head in a matter of seconds. The blood sprayed out of the decapitated vampire and onto Vic’s arms coating them in a layer of red. Before the dead body could even fall to the ground Vic had wrestled down another. More blood sprayed onto his face as he claimed another life.

Suddenly the other vampires started to fall to the ground. I peered into the distance and noticed a giant furry animal shredding a vampire to pieces in the grass. A vampire turned to attack the creature when another one crawled out from under the ground and took him down.

More of these creatures started jumping up out of the ground. Four. Five. Eight! It was an army of animals popping out of the ground and attacking Winden’s fleet of vampires. The number of vampires quickly declined as the animals took control. At one point a bunch of them started rounding the vampires up like cattle forming a large impenetrable circle around them. It wasn’t until a haunting howl filled the night air that I understood what was going on. Those giant fur balls were wolves.

A completely red furred wolf stopped into the circle. I watched in anticipation. What was he doing? The wolf suddenly went crazy! He leapt onto one vampire ripping out its neck in a matter of seconds. Then turning onto another he ripped its feet out from under him and started tarring through its chest. Going for the heart. Another vampire went to jump on the wolf but it turned in the nick of time and caught its neck in his mouth. A loud snap echoed through the plain and I knew that that vampire was dead.

Holy shit this red wolf was crazy!

Blood painted the tall grasses and screams filled the air. My skull was suddenly ringing with questions- Why were they attacking? Why were more of them popping out of the ground? How could they be so uniformed? Were they werewolves?

I shook my head at the last one. No, werewolves weren’t real.

Reece was suddenly in the mix of the battle with a shotgun in her hand. She cocked the thing back and aimed with deadly precision at a vampires head. The head splattered to pieces at soon as the shot was fired. “Danyelle I told you to stay behind me.”

She looked over at Danyelle or at least what I could make out of her. The girl was so loaded with guns and other weapons that she had to waddle to get around. “But I can’t put my arms down!”

A vampire hissed behind Danyelle. Without a moment’s hesitation Reece back rolled over to her and grabbed a still attached gun. She fired repeatedly into its chest until it was down then walked over to finish him off with her shotgun.

Winden’s fingers bit into my skin making me wince. “Damn that bastard,”

Victor tossed another decapitated vampire out of his way then slowly started walking over to me and Winden. His cold blue eyes stood out from his blood covered body. The air around him reeked of hatred and death. Winden immediately started to back away from him, dragging me along with him.

The heels that I had worn on the date were long gone so I had to dig the heel of my feet into the ground, which didn’t really slow us down much. I struggled in his tight embrace but he just tightened his grip on me.

“You can’t win this.” Winden’s gaze was locked on Victor. “I won’t lose to the likes of you.” I felt long nails pierce my neck and before I could so much as scream he slit my throat.

Victor’s cold stare turned into a look of pure terror as he started running for us. Winden’s arms vanished from around me and I fell to the ground choking on my own blood. In a matter of seconds the ground was painted in red. Slowly I dragged my hand up to my throat; it was slick with blood and under that I could feel the deep tare in my skin. My body started to shake as if it was already becoming cold with death. I wasn’t sure if I could heal this deep of a wound given my already beaten condition. Was I going to die here?

“Vanessa!” His voice sounded like a dream and it brought tears to my eyes. His warm hand wrapped around the back of my neck lifting it up casually as the other tried to stop my bleeding neck.

Even though he was covered in blood and horribly terrified I was happy to see him. I went to speak but ended up coughing out more blood instead.

“Vanessa, please try not to move you’ll only make it worse.” His gorgeous blue eyes were wild with fear as he looked at my damaged body. I wished there was something I could do to help calm him down but I couldn’t even say anything. Blood filled my throat and suddenly I couldn’t breathe. Instinctively my hands grabbed his that was on my throat and added pressure.

“Why aren’t you healing?” His eyes focused in on steady flow of blood. “Vanessa you said that vampires can’t die this way. You can’t die this way. You told me you couldn’t!”

Tears gathered in my eyes and started to run down my dirty cheek. The sound of panic was strong in his voice almost to the point of hysteria. I wanted to tell him that everything was going to be fine and that he shouldn’t worry about me but all I could do was cough up blood.

I could feel something inside of me slipping away and knew that I didn’t have much longer. Somehow I would have to convince Victor to leave me and go after Winden. I hated to admit it but Winden was getting further and further away from us because of me. I didn’t enjoy the thought of dying but damn it if I had to go so did he.

Slowly I let my hands slip away from my neck. Victor started shaking his head back and forth. “No, no Vanessa you can’t give up on me.”

I reached up then and settled my bloody hand against his cheek. It was covered with blood and dirt but underneath that it felt like a ferniest. My hand must feel like ice to him. I rubbed my thumb against his cheek and looked into those beautiful blue eyes. This was going to be my last time looking into those icy eyes so I had to remember every single detail as best I could. The way they could fill me up with love or anger in a matter of seconds, how they had made my heart race, or how whenever I looked into them I felt as if I was truly looking into Victor’s being.

I felt more tears fall down my cheeks as I looked towards the forest where Winden had gone. I stared in that direction just long enough to make him think and then looked back into his eyes. He glanced over in the same direction for a moment then looked back at me. Confused at first he stared down at me and shook his head. I patted his cheek and looked back over to the forest then back. Go,

“You want me to go after him? Is that it?” He asked.

I rubbed his cheek. Yes,

“Forget about that bastard I’m not leaving you.” He yelled back at me then touched his forehead to mine.

I pushed his face away and turned it to the forest. Please go.

Suddenly I started to gurgle the blood in my throat. I was out of time.

“Vanessa…Vanessa!” He started screaming as he ran his hand over the side of my face. “Vanessa you can’t die! Damn it Vanessa I love you, I love you. Please don’t leave!”

Blood dripped out of my gapping mouth as my lungs screamed for air. My vision started being consumed by a black fog and soon I would see nothing.

Victor,

Vic's POV

She was dying. She was dying in my arms and there was nothing I could do to save her. It was like I was reliving my parents’ death all over again and just like then I was completely useless. All I could do was hold her and scream for her not to give up. Her body was already cold and her visible skin was colorless. Her hand dropped from my face and landed carelessly onto the red grass. Her vibrant green eyes that had been staring into mine suddenly changed. An imagine of my mother’s dead eyes flashed in my mind. Vanessa’s were the same, dead.

“Vanessa.” My voice cracked. Her gaze didn’t move as she stared blanking up. “Vanessa.” My hand tightened against her cheek as I shook her slightly. She didn’t respond back. I started screaming her name praying that she would suddenly respond. She couldn’t die. She couldn’t be dead because I was supposed to protect her. I promised that I would protect her. So she had to live.

I felt a hand on my shoulder but I didn’t so much as glance over to see who it was. I just kept shaking Vanessa’s body hoping that she would say something. Someone knelt down beside her head and placed a hand over her eyes to close them. I sliced my hand at them and growled out,

“Don’t touch her,” I looked up to see Danyelle’s tearful expression. “She’s not dead. She told me vampires couldn’t die like this. She told me.”

Reece tapped my shoulder gently. “Victor,”

“She not dead!” I spat at the two of them. The both jumped slightly at my outburst. Neither of them understood. Vanessa wasn’t dead. I had promised her. I had promised her that I would protect her. “I promised…her.”

Reece back handed my ear. I went to growl at her but she interrupted me, “Then protect her!” she yelled. I stared up into her eyes and realized that something in them had changed.

“Wh-

She shoved my shoulder. “Leave her here with me.” I was too shock to even move until she shoved me again. “Danyelle and I won’t let her stay dead for long so get a move on.”

Before I could even move out of their way Danyelle was already transferring Vanessa over to her lap. Reece bent over Vanessa’s body and examined the jagged cut on her neck. I watched them for a moment as they tried to bring her back. Reece looked over at me with a glare. It was then that I finally realized what I had seen in Reece’s eyes. It was determination. “Make that bastard pay.”

I nodded my head as I stood up. I took one last look at Vanessa before I turned to leave. Just seeing her covered in blood and lifeless made me want to fall to my knees and cry until my body was throbbing in pain. Even though I had denied it earlier I knew in my heart that no matter what those two did, she wasn’t coming back. My heart was breaking at the loss of the woman I loved but I had no time to mourn for her, not yet anyway. First thing was first I had to kill that damn Prince.

It wasn’t easy but slowly I turned away from Vanessa and ran. I ran in the direction that she had been pointing out to me. It had been her last request and I’d be damned if I didn’t fulfill her final wish. I flew past the trees in a matter of seconds catching only a few blurry colors out of the corner of my eye. With each step I took the more wrathful I became. That monster had taken away the woman I loved and even slit her throat in front of my eyes. My fangs grew out onto my bottom lip as I thought about him. He had dug his own grave when he touched her but now that he had killed her he was going to pay in much more then blood.

I wasn’t much of a bloodhound or a wolf for that matter but I was able to catch the scent of Vanessa’s blood in the air. My head ached for her, even bow she was helping me. I shook my head at the thought of her. If I wanted to bring her justices I had to stay focused. I followed the blood until it became stronger and it was then that I knew that he wasn’t that much farther ahead.

A growl vibrated low in my throat as I caught sight of him off in the distance. Not much farther. All of my senses intensified as I closed in on him; my blood pulsing through my veins, my feet barely were touching the ground as I ran, my breathing staying as quiet as a whisper. Predatorily instincts, I thought as his back became close enough to touch.

I reached out a long bloodied arm and hooked my fingers on the back of his suit. I was caught off balance by my own tug and we both went tumbling to the ground. Fallen leaves and dirt buried themselves into my hair and onto my shirt but I didn’t care. I sneered over at Winden as he picked himself off the ground.

“Guess that bitch wasn’t as strong as I thought she was. The woman couldn’t even stay alive long enough for me to get away.” He turned to me with a smile as he dusted off his white dress pants. “It’s pathetic how useless she was.”

A growl erupted from deep inside of me as I flung myself in his direction. He dodged my attack with ease and I ended up skidding face first into the ground. His laughter rang out from behind as I spat a few chunks of dirt.

“She risked her life for a mutt like you, absolutely ludicrous.” His menacing laugh put me even more on edge.

I was quick to spring on him but again he side stepped me with ease. My teeth were clenched together tightly as I held back another growl. It was infuriating how I couldn’t lay so much as a finger on the beast a hand and even more so that he was just playing with me. The bastard.

I was about to throw myself at him again when Vanessa’s voice popped into my head.

“Victor, you have to control your anger. You’re playing right into your opponent’s hands if you can’t think straight.”

Almost instantly I calmed down at the thought of her voice. It was almost soothing hearing it, almost as if a part of her was still alive. Winden realized the sudden change in my mood and tried to taunt me with describing how it had felt to kill Vanessa. I took a deep breath to try and block out the bastards voice as best I could. All I had to do was remember what Vanessa had taught me.

“It takes more energy to hit and miss then to hit actually hit the person.”

I got into a running position and ran for him. Winden was so surprised by my sudden change that he hesitating in moving. I had been aiming for his stomach but he moved at the last second leaving my fist to connect with the side of his ribs. I was so focused on his torso that I didn’t even see his sharp nails coming for my face. They felt like knives digging into the cold flesh of my cheek. I growled back in pain and jumped back. Automatically I dabbed the back of my hand against it. It was a pretty deep wound and if I was still human I would definitely need stiches.

I glared up the Prince to see him smiling. He brought his bloodied hand up to his mouth and licked off a few drops. “Mmmm not as bad as I thought it would be.” He laughed slightly and then suddenly materialized in front of me.

“When you are fighting a vampire it is to the death.”

He swung his sharpened nails for my stomach but I did a duck and roll before his touched flesh. I leapt for him once I was off to the side and we went down to the ground in a fit of roars. I had more body muscle then him so it didn’t take long to pin the bastard. Once I was on top I head butted him hard enough to get him dazed and bared my fangs on his neck. His blood squirted into my mouth much like a ripened fruit only minus the sweet flavor. He wiggled his arms free as my fangs sank in deeper and slammed his fist into my temple. I knew better then to let go of the skin so I tore if off. He rolled out from under me choking on his own blood. I spat out the chunk of bloody flesh that I had torn out and stood over him.

“If you have an opportunity to kill them, take it.”

I knelt down onto his whizzing chest and dug my fingers into his gapping throat. His eyes were wild as he stared up at me.

“Wait! Don’t do it.” His hands wrapped around mine trying to push them away. Obviously I hadn’t torn his jugular or his windpipe. His eyes were pleading as they looked into mine. “Don’t kill me. I can’t get you anything you want. Anything at all.”

I could feel the muscles in my face crunch together forming into something menacing. I tightened my hand around his throat. “Anything?”

He started cough and gasping for air but he managed to wheeze out a ‘yes’.

I lowered my face down to his and growled. “I want Vanessa back you son of a bitch.”

I bared my fangs down on his neck and tore it apart. His screams turned into gurgles and slowly become silent. I let out a loud scream then and smashed my hand down on his face until it caved in. After a few moments I stopped attacking his dead corpse and turned to the night sky. I stood up then and screamed at the stars. I screamed until my voice became ragged and raw then I let my tears fall. I cried over the loss of the woman I loved. Her beautiful voice and breathtaking face were now just a memory… a dream. There was nothing I could do to bring her back. Nothing.

I looked down at the mutated corpse. His death had brought me no satisfaction. In fact killing him had turned me into the exact thing I had been avoiding; a monster. The proof of it was branded on my skin and clothes. The dirty coppery smell was so strong that it made me sick. Originally I had thought that if he was out of the picture then me and Vanessa would be able to live out the rest of our lives together but now I knew how much of a dream that really was. I turned around and started to head back the way I had come.

I walked those woods for a long time and with each step I became more and more depressed. It wasn’t until I reached the edge of the forest that I finally decided that I was going to end my life. I glanced up to see everyone surrounding the place where I had left Vanessa’s body. Just thinking about Vanessa made my chest ache. If I could just look at her face one last time I would leave this place with a smile.

I crossed into the open plain and made my way over to everyone. I was about halfway there when one of the wolves brought it nose up to the air and sniffed. Immediately his tail wagged as turned his head to look at me. I knew instantly that it was Leroy because he was the only on still in wolf form. He dashed over to my side and licked the tips of my fingers excitedly. The comforting gesture wasn’t something I had been expecting. Despite that, I found myself smiling down at the pup and even patted him on the head. His tail wagged viciously behind him and he was suddenly pushing me over to the group of people.

It wasn’t until then that I heard everyone over there laughing and giggling. Their smiles were brilliant as they joked and shoved one another. My hands clenched together and shook by my side. How could they all be standing there having a good time when Vanessa’s body was literally at their feet? I growled low in the back of my throat and stomped over to the group. I shoved my way through Jason and Roger only to freeze at the sight before me.

“Victor…”

My heart was pounding so fast against my chest that I was convinced that I was having a heart attack. My entire body became too heavy to hold up right and I crashed down to my knees. Vanessa scooted over to me and lightly touched her hand to mine.

“Victor,”

I could feel my tears gather in my eyes at the sight of her. She was kneeling right beside me and she was gorgeous. Every part of her brilliant body was glowing with warmth and health even her jagged scar on her neck. Her eyes reflected her joy and sparkling life.

I reached up a trembling hand and hesitantly touched it to her cheek. At first I was afraid that she might disappear and that this would all turn out to be a horrible nightmare but when I felt her warm flesh against mine I knew that wasn’t the case.

“You’re alive.” My voice broke slightly.

A tear slid down her cheek and smeared against my hand. She nodded her head into my palm and smiled. “Yes I’m alive.”

My lungs filled with air as I pulled her to me. I rested my chin on the top of her head and rocked her gently in my arms. Her name became a chant in my mind as I rocked her back and forth. She was alive! My God she was Alive. My fingers intertwined themselves into her long dark brown and held on tightly. We both became so engrossed with each other that we had forgotten that our friends were still there.

Reece coughed loudly to bring us back.

Neither of us pulled away from each other though. I looked over to her however and smiled. “How did you-

She shook her head from side to side. “I didn’t save her.” I frowned at her until she pointed over to Danyelle who was leaning against Aiden for support.

Danyelle’s complexion was paler then usual but still she smiled. She lifted up her bandaged arm, “I remembered how important blood was to vampires so I gave her some of mine.”

Vanessa and I picked each other up off the ground and walked over to Danyelle. Slowly I wrapped my arms around my sister and hugged her. “Thank you.” I whispered into her hair.

She hiccupped slightly as she nodded into my shoulder. “Anything for you big brother.”

I nodded over to Aiden. Throughout all of the fighting and bloodshed he had protected my sister and for that I would be forever grateful. I stared over my sister’s shoulder at him silently giving him my consent. He smiled back over to me and bowed his head respectfully before taking Danyelle back into his arms.

I reached over for Vanessa’s hand and pulled her up against my chest. She looked up at me and smiled. “You never did tell me what that red tulip meant.”

My smile grew as I placed her hand over my heart. “It means perfect love. I love you Vanessa,” I bent down to give her a kiss but was interrupted by Reece.

“Jason I love you.” She walked over to Aiden’s right hand man, stood up on her tip toes and planted a long kiss on him.

He smiled down at Reece then picked her up and twirled her around. Her laughter filled the silent air. When Jason was done spinning her he set lightly and pecked his lips to her forehead. “I love you too babe.”

Everyone was shocked by the sudden turn of events, so shocked that no one even bothered to move. They loved each other?? Had anybody seen that coming?

“What the hell!” Aiden was the first to question this crazy reality.

Reece and Jason looked over at Aiden completely confused by his sudden outburst.

“What’s up with him?” Reece questioned.

Jason shrugged his shoulders. “No clue.”

Tyler walked over to Danyelle and tried to grab her away from Aiden. He growled over at Tyler and walked Danyelle over to Roger instead. Tyler glared at Aiden as he walked towards Reece and Jason.

“What the hell just happened there?” He yelled.

Reece rolled her eyes. “We kissed dumbass, what did it look like we were doing?”

Aiden ran his hands into his hair. “Yeah I saw that Reece but you also said that you loved him! Where did that come from huh?”

“Maybe because we’re dating.” She put her hands on her hips matter-of-factly.

Everyone took a deep breath in. What?

Aiden shook his head in denial. “No you’re not, you’re lying.”

As if to prove it Jason put his arm around Reece’s waist and pulled her up against him. “No man, we are really dating.”

Aiden made a putting face. “For how long.”

Reece shrugged her shoulders and looked up to Jason. “About a year.” They both said in unison.

“You’re kidding me.”

They both shook their head. “I don’t know how you couldn’t have noticed Aiden.” Reece said.

“Yeah I come over practically every day to hang out. We even went on a date the other night.” Jason added.

“B-But I thought you were coming over to hang out with me!” Aiden whined.

“Yeah and then magically disappear ten minutes later. Sorry Alpha I thought you knew.”

Aiden fell down to his knees as he slowly took everything in. “My beta and step-sister are dating. Ahhhh! The world has to be coming to an end. How can you even put up with her Jason?”

“What are you talking about? She a great girlfriend she even made me breakfast this morning.”

Aiden was suddenly on his feet and yanking Jason away from Reece. “You ate her cooking! You crazy? She probably put some kind of tracking device in it and now you will never be able to get away.” He turned suddenly and looked over to Roger. “Roger my delta and old childhood friend, we may have to move you up to beta soon I don’t think Jason is going to make it.”

“Oh shut up Aiden you are over-exaggerating.” Reece proclaimed.

“Silence,” Aiden yelled dramatically then pointed a finger over at Reece. “You shall harass my wolf pack no longer devil child.”

Reece rolled her eyes at her brother. “I don’t understand why the stupidest werewolf is the alpha. How you all survived this long is a miracle on its own.”

Tyler jumped up in the air raising his hand. “I hear that.” Roger used his free arm to shove Tyler down onto the ground.

Aiden smirked over at Reece. “We survived because of a mere human. Without you Reece we would have never had grown into the pack we are today.”

Reece was surprised at first by the sudden heartwarming compliment but then slowly she started to smile. “You really mean that Aiden?”

He shrugged his shoulder nonchalantly. “Well I can’t have my beta dating any kind of girl now can I?” Aiden walked over to his friend and patted him on the shoulder. “Same goes for you buddy.”

Jason bowed his head respectfully.

Vanessa tugged my hand so that she could pull me down to whisper something in my ear. Of course I complied.

“I have no clue what is going on.” She admitted.

I smiled down at the woman that had single handedly turned my life upside down in a matter of months. Her glass green eyes were as vibrate as ever even though they were filled with confusion. I ran my hand over her smooth chin and lifted up a little higher. On her neck laid a jagged scar. It would serve as a constant reminder of this day. The day that she had lost and regained her life. It would remind me of how much pain I had felt at losing her and also the joy of having her back.

I pressed my mouth down against her gorgeous lips and basked in the feeling of her touch. When I pulled away her eyes were misty.

“I’ll fill you in on them later but right now,” I placed my forehead against hers. “Right now I’m with you and I’ll never let anyone touch you again.”

She touched her hand lightly to my cheek. “I love you Victor.”

“Vanessa, I love you too.”