Forbidden Alliance: A Werewolf's Tale (Forbidden Alliance Trilogy) (70 page)

“Just a little further,” she whispered
then
something substantial g
rabbed her leg and she screamed before being pulled under the water.

It suddenly went from
icy
water rushing down her throat
with a clawed hand around her
leg
to hard,
painfully rocky
ground. Kaia choked and coughed, struggling to expel the salty liquid from her lungs, but growling pulled her attention to the man circling her on the shore, movi
ng like a long legged predator as he went.

Kaia’s eyes narrowed and she crouched down, mimicking his movements, refusing
to show fear and to go down without a f
ight. “Killing me will not stop what has been written,” she snarled.

“Yes, it will,” he countered and sprang.

The man soared through the air, his body phasing into a lean, black wolf as he went, and Kaia prepared herself fo
r the most likely painful death. However,
the
dark
ness was suddenly eclipsed by a gray Celtic cross tattooed back
that pushed her
away from the wolf
; her tiny body flew through the air the opposite direction
before
slamming into the base of
the
cliff she had
inadvertently
shadow walked them to.

“Aye,
I always knew
you
was a cute hoor
,” the interloped snarled, effortlessly slamming the wolf to his back. “
Pretending to be on protection detail. But ya’ didn’t quite sit right with me,
ya’ see
? Slithering in under the darkness of night, givin’ away our position
like that, aye
. Ya
made a terrible hames of
that.
Betty is alive and well,” he taunted, his thick Irish accent wrapping around each word so heavily that Ka
ia could barely understand
them
as the darkness of unconsciousness started to clou
d her senses. “She will fulfill her destiny.”

The werewolf snarled and snapped at
the
taunting vampire,
but it was answered with a dozen lighting f
ast punches which broke through the wolf’s ribcage.

“On top of that,
ya
destroyed me
favorite
boat,”
he
growled, snapping the wolf’s head to the side with so much force that he ripped it from
its
body, painting him and t
he area in blood. “Fuckin’ Feb,” he snarled. “Betty, h
awareya
?” he called out, getting to his feet.

When there was no answer, he spun around and saw that
the young girl was bleeding profusely from the gash in her head thanks to him, and her leg from the razor sharp claws of the wolf at sea
.

“Shite,” he hissed and hurried over to her. “Betty, can ya’ hear me?” he asked, tenderly brushing her hair away from the wound. “
Aye, Toran is gonna kick me arse for this,” he complained, running his hand through
his
wet,
shaggy black hair. “Can ya’ hear me, Betty?”
he asked again.

Kaia’s eyes rolled around in her head.

Softly he patted her cheek. “Stay with me, Betty.”

She struggled to focus on his intense green eyes but they quickly started to bl
ur as did the rest of his face. “It’s too late, Declan,” she murmured and her head
lolled
to the side.

“No,”
Declan
said and shook her. “Not like this…ya promised,” he hissed
, then
his head snapped down shore and he softly
snarled
.

“Don’t you smell that,
Yahto
?”
Chayton
asked from the distance.

“No, and I’m cold,” he whined.

“I think…maybe it’s a vampire!” Chayton teased, helping his brother over a large boulder.

“
Jaysus
,”
Declan
grumbled under his breath, eying the two young bronze skinned boys heading towards them.
“I’ll be back, Betty,” he whispered and tenderly laid her down
behind a small bolder,
then
grabbed the headless body and disappeared in a blur
of movement
.

Chayton and Yahto wandered around area looking for the source of the unusual smell.

“Damn, that sucks,” Chayton complained
after fifteen minutes
. “I thought for sure we’d see our first suckhead.”

Yahto rolled his eyes. “The elders would kick our asses if they knew we were out here.
This area
is forbidden
this time of year
, come on,” he pleaded.

“You are such a girl,” Chayton complained. “I should have hunted with Cain, at least she has a sense of adventure.”

Yahto pouted. “Shut up, I’m adventurous. Just because I can’t phase yet doesn’t mean that I’m not as much of a werewolf as you are.”

The amused thirteen year old chuckled at his little brother. “Really? Prove it.”

Yahto’s eyes widened. “Um...” he stammered.

“Just as I thought. Come on, let’s get back before the pack starts looking for us. They’re already on edge for some reason.”

Longing for his brother’s approval, Yahto shook his head and continued across the alcove. “I’m not scared,” he informed his brother, unaware that above him, scaling the side of the cliff, was a vampire that was preparing to snap his neck. “See!” he called out. “I’m not scared of any…” he stopped and his eyes widened.

“What’d yo
u find? A washed up baby whale?” Chayton teased. “We aren’t
Quileute
, we are
the Lhaq'temish
.”

Yahto shook his head. “I…I think it’s a white person.”

“Huh?” Chayton hurried over to his brother and his mouth fell open with a popping sound. “Is it dead?” he whispered, and Declan crept
closer to them.

Kaia coughed, startling the yo
ung werewolves, and they jumped back
, and Declan readied to attack.

“We need to get the Lightfoots right away,” Yahto stammer
ed, stopping the vampire
in mid-crawl
.

The Lightfoots were who Kaia was to be delivered to, so obviously they washed up in Washington and not Oregon or Canada.
The Gods, once again, were watching out for the crown.

“You stay with her and I’ll get the others,” Chayton said. “I’m a faster runner,” he reminded his brother.

Yahto nodded and sat next to the bloody girl and pulled her into his arms. “Run,” he pleaded and tried to warm
Kaia
up with his body
heat
.

Chayton nodded and ran back the way they had come, phasing as he went and hurried to find help.

Declan
stayed hidden in the shadows as the sun rose
and kept an eye out for danger, his attention always returning to the bloody girl who would be his only hope….

…“Duckie, snap out of it,” Tanis said, softly shaking me.

“Oh god,” I choked, covering my mouth with my hands.

“What is it, what did you see?” he asked.

I shook my head. “Being attacked…washing
up on shore. I remember that we were attacked at sea. I…the Emerald of the Sea-
”

“What did you just say?” he demanded
, interrupting me
.

I looked at him. “The piece of the hull I was using to keep my head above water…I could barely see anything but the moon seemingly reflected off of the silver and metallic green paint
used to mark her name
. The ship
was called the Emerald of the Sea.”

Tanis nodded once and looked away from me. “Bloody Pikey,” he snarled.
“I knew it.”

“Why are my parents here,” I
mumbled, noticing Dad’s truck parked under a tree.

Tanis
shook his head. “War I am guessing,” he said in a clipped tone so I punched him in the arm. “Ow,” he complained.
“I
do not
know
,” he
admitted
and got out of the SUV and got
the
door for me.
“
However,
I have a feeling that neither of us are going to be thrilled with whatever they have to announce.”

“Mum, we have returne
d,” I called out from the foyer, desperately trying to sound composed and nonchalant, but I was anything but.

Jay Dee let go of my hand and sniffed wildly, then followed a
n unfamiliar scent into the den, protectively walking in front of me.

That was never a good sign.

On one side of the room were her parents and on the other were Mum and Toran
, and sitting on the love seat were a couple who I was positive I had never seen before but knew without a doubt that they were werewolves.

“He
y
Mom
,
D
ad, what’s up
?” Jay Dee asked
, her tone level and slightly cold,
and headed towards them but kept her eyes on the smug looking man and the irritable woman next to him, neither of which would look her in the eye.

Sky forced a smile
, her eyes sparkling like diamonds from the tears flooding them
.
“You look lovely,
D
ear.
”

“What’s wrong
…are we going to war?” Jay Dee demanded before gasping. “Oh my God, is it Jarvis?” she stammered.

“Jarvis is fine,”
Reign assured her
.
“Sit,”
he said, motioning towards one of the chairs but I pulled Jay Dee back and escorted her to the chaise farthest away from the unfamiliar werewolves.

Everyone was looking at Jay Dee; Mum looked exhausted, her parents saddened, Toran guilty, the unfamiliar man was eying her legs and chest, and the woman next to him was glaring at her with hatred in her eyes.

“Ca
n I have your jacket please
?
”
Jay Dee whispered but I had it over her shoulders before she’d finished asking.

If you do not
turn your gaze from me Duckie, I will ki
ll you.
Friend of Toran’s or not, I will disembowel you and strangle that hateful gazed bitch next to you with your entrails.

Jay Dee glared. “If you don’t stop trying to look at my tits, I’m
going to sic my vampire on you.”

I smirked; I loved that we were seemingly on the same page.

“Your vampire?” he man asked, slightly amuse, looking from Jay Dee’s legs to Toran. “You allowed our Queen’
s wishes to be ignored, and let her daughter defile her body with a vampire?
”