The Mating Rules

Hadley’s POV

One minute Hunter is defending Jamie-Lee as she stumbles to her feet, her fingers running through his fur, calming us both, the next, she’s pushed me out of her path as though I’m a small pup.

‘Finally!’ I hear the Warlock call out with excitement, ‘Spirit Wolf, you have arisen!’

Hunter whips his head around and I can see Jamie-Lee’s eyes glowing a brilliant silver, her gaze fixated on Avrilak as she growls at him, her words laced with venom. I need to calm her down, get her away from the Warlock, with Caden unresponsive by the looks of it, our Mate is in danger. This is what the Goddess warned me about, how he was trying to weaken her by taking us out, I need to get her somewhere safe.

Before I have a chance to make a move, the room fills with white smoke that blinds me. I hear the snarls and hisses before I feel the wolves and vampires that launch an attack on me. I shoved into the wall claws ripping at my fur as I kick out blindly, trying to make contact with the cloaked enemy.

As my vision returns, I immediately realise that Jamie-Lee and Avrilak are no longer with us, the bastard got to her. I don’t have time to think about what to do, instead my focus is snapped to the supernatural creatures that surround me on all sides. A quick head count tells me that I’m facing seven creatures who all look like they want to kill me.

In my mind, Hunter huffs, ‘they are going to have a job to bring us down’ he mutters, ‘and if we are headed back to the Goddess, I’m taking as many of them as I can with me.’

I nod curtly to my wolf, the two of us in agreement. I’m not leaving Jamie-Lee easily, they’ll have one hell of a fight on their hands so I hope they are prepared.

One wolf snarls, leaping toward us as my wolf dodges quickly, darting forward and around the table that still holds Caden’s lifeless body. With so many of us in the room, we can barely move and I know we need to get them out of here if Hunter has any chance of defending himself.

‘We need to take this out of the room, give you more room and keep them from hurting Caden any more than he already is’ I order. My wolf growls his agreement as he stalks back and forth behind the table, looking for a way through.

Hunter feigns left, watching his opponents follow him on the other side of the table before turning back to the right and running around the table, bouncing off the wall before crashing through the doorway. I’m silently thankful for all the extra wolf tactical training I did after everyone else left each day over the years.

I can hear the scraping of claws and the hisses of anger as my adversaries push out of the small room behind my wolf.

The corridor is long and though narrow, has ample room for Hunter to maneuver himself and try to stay out of the way of any claws or teeth. I’m almost positive Hunter can turn quicker than the wolves, it’s the Vamps he’ll have issue with, they are more likely to be able to catch us on a sharp direction change.

Hunter runs down the hallway, pulling them all away from Caden before abruptly rolling forward and twisting so he can lift himself back onto his paws, facing toward them all.

The whole group skids to a stop, and as I expected, the wolves are not as agile, sliding toward us as Hunter claws at one of them, slicing open the wolf’s side whilst jumping over the other two, kicking out a back leg and crushing a second wolf’s head against the stone wall to our right. The third wolf’s claws scrape along the floor as he tries to stop and return to the fight.

The four Vampires stop in front of us easily, and I swallow thickly at the back of Hunter’s mind as Zenith’s gaze studies my wolf.

He nods his head, ‘impressive my friend’ he murmurs, ‘I had a feeling that your wolf would be huge.’

Hunter snarls in reply, this guy betrayed us, and my wolf wants a piece of him. He’s not only protective of Jamie-Lee and Skarla, he’s fiercely protective of me, and he can feel my pain at being duped by the man.

I quickly study the other three, realising one of them is the vampire from my trial, Hendrix. I barrel toward them, knocking them flying like bowling pins. I’m pretty sure one is a Vampire/Human hybrid, he seems reluctant to engage first, preferring to stay back and follow.

I whisper to my wolf my thoughts and he flicks his ear in acknowledgment, turning quickly and slashing at the four Vampires who are hot on his heels, aiming for the weakest one whose eyes widen seconds before Hunter’s teeth sink into his throat and rip it out, dropping him to the floor.

Behind the three remaining Vampires, the werewolf we dodged and the one that Hunter injured with his claws, are heading toward us, it looks like we took out one of the wolves, only five more adversaries to go.

‘What are you thinking?’ I ask my wolf as he backs up slowly, allowing our enemies to come to him, giving him more room behind them.

‘Take out wolves’ he replies, ‘they can do more damage even though they are slower. Don’t want one getting hold of my neck whilst I’m trying to shake off a b***d sucker.’

I nod in agreement, ‘you better be quick in your movements’ I reply warningly, ‘those Vamps are fast.’

My wolf snorts, ‘I got it’ he replies leaping forward and landing on one of the Vampires as the other two scatter, using his body as a spring board into the two wolves that are behind them. Hunter aims for the red furred injured wolf, sinking his claws into the other wolfs back, digging deep as his weight forces the mutt to the floor. He tears through the thick layer of skin, making his opponent howl in pain as a growl leaves his own lips. The other wolf, a thin, patchy brown wolf that has one blue and one red eye, had taken his distraction and used it as a way to get close to him, slicing through Hunter’s side leaving a deep trail of cuts in his skin.

Turning toward his second opponent, Hunter swipes at his face, still holding down the first with his body weight. The brown wolf easily evades Hunter’s paws, aware that my wolf isn’t going to want to let his comrade up, which limits his reach.

‘Red eye’ I mutter in my wolf’s mind.

Hunter nods, ‘Vamp/wolf mix’ he replies.

It looks like this hybrid can only shift one way or he would be changing to a human form with our lack of room. I rack my brain trying to think of what would weaken something with Vampire and wolf DNA.

‘His heart’ I growl, ‘aim for his heart and rip it out, both breeds need it to live.’

Snarling, Hunter leaps for the other werewolf, abandoning the first, knocking into the hybrid and slamming him into a wall. The Vampires are already behind us again and I know my wolf is running out of time before he’s overwhelmed.

Hunter swipes at the brown wolf, waiting for him to jerk back his head out of the way of the swipe and alters the direction of his paw, instead taking out the other wolf’s front paw, unbalancing him. Shouldering the unstable enemy, he forces him into his side, clawing at his half exposed underbelly until he gets him over completely and sinks his teeth into the wolf’s chest, biting deeply and puncturing his heart with his canines. Snapping his jaw together, Hunter tugs upward, pulling the organ with him and spitting it out on the floor.

A howl leaves his lips as pain radiated through our neck, my wolf spinning around and sending Hendrix flying who has managed to reach us and sink his own teeth into the fur protecting Hunter’s neck.

Zenith and his friend both crowd us, their nails sharp as they hiss dangerously.

My fake friend scratches at my face as his accomplice stabs his nails straight into the thick muscle of my left thigh. Hunter snarls, kicking out at the second Vampire and from the c***k of bone, it sounds like he made contact.

As Zenith’s comrade staggers away from my wolf, b***d dripping from his nose, the third werewolf rejoins the fray. He’s unsteady on his feet but his jaws snap at my leg, capturing it between his teeth and bites down.

Hunter headbutts Zenith hard, his skull like a boulder I’m sure. Turning away from the howling Vampire, Hunter snarls at the injured wolf who looks at him, fear creeping into his gaze.

Yanking his leg out of the blonde wolf’s mouth, he throws himself forward, knocking his opponent to the ground. His momentum is too much though and he rolls right over the other wolf before scrambling up to his feet. The blonde wolf scratches his claws down my wolf’s flank deepening the wound that was already opened by his friend.

The two wolves face off, snarling furiously at each other before both rearing up on their back legs and crashing together in a whirl of teeth and claws as they fight for dominance.

The blonde wolf manages to catch Hunter across the snout, splitting open his muzzle. Hunter retaliates with a swipe to his exposed underbelly, leaving deep red lines soaking the light coloured fur, turning it crimson.

The attacking wolf, lifts his head instinctively to howl out in pain and Hunter uses the move to grab him by the throat, sinking his teeth deep into the other wolf’s neck, crushing his windpipe.

As he drops the last of the wolves, Hunter turns on the only two enemies left, Zenith who is shaking his head, slightly dazed and the other Vampire who is still holding his hand over his nose as b***d dribbles own his chin and onto his shirt.

Aiming for the bleeding wolf first, Hunter rears up and slams his paws into the man’s chest, shoving him to the ground and sinking his claws deep into his sallow coloured skin.

As the man screams, my wolf curls his claws around, digging through the Vampire’s chest, dragging out flesh and bones until he reaches what he wants, the night crawler’s heart. Bending down, he sinks his teeth into the sides and tears it out with one vicious tug. The light leaves the vampire’s eyes beneath us and I nod whilst Hunter spits out the heart turning back to our final challenge, Zenith.

‘Let’s finish this’ I mutter angrily, ready to end this guy, turning around we are no longer faced with the tall, thin Vampire from the cells, instead our way is barred by a twelve hundred pound black bear.

‘Sh*t’ I huff, rolling my eyes, ‘well this is different, let’s get it over with.’

Hunter lunges at the bear who swipes an arm out and slams us straight into the wall beside him, knocking the air out of us.

Before we can even reorientate, we are lifted by the scruff of our neck so we hang from Zenith’s bear form’s mouth like a small pup as he shakes his head vehemently and then throws us again.

Hunter lands against the far wall, and the harsh snapping sound tells me that something just broke.

‘You OK?’ I ask quickly as Hunter drags himself to his feet and shakes his head.

‘Yeah, cracked rib’ my wolf replies, ‘it will heal.’

I study the bear in front of us who isn’t bothering to try and reach us, merely stays in place between us and the room with Caden, waiting for us to attack.

‘We need a plan’ I growl, ‘he’s too strong for straight combat, his bigger build and longer reach means he can hit you before you even get close.’

Hunter snorts but doesn’t dispute what I’m saying, instead waits for me to direct him.

I look at the gap between the bear and the sides of the corridor, there is barely a foot of space on each side, and I quickly realise the reason that Zenith isn’t moving is because he cannot turn around. If we get behind him, he’ll be vulnerable and will have to shift back to his other form to fight.

‘We need to get over the top of him’ I mutter reluctantly.

Hunter laughs dryly, ‘OK, splice me in some DNA from something that can fly and I’ll get right on that.’

‘I’m serious’ I snap back, ‘we can’t go under him or he’ll crush us, same problem with trying to slide down either side of him but he can’t stretch up high enough to crush us to into the ceiling without trying to rise onto his hind legs and that would just slide you right down his back.’

Hunter studies the bear closely, weighing up his options, ‘you know this is suicide right? We’re about to become a werewolf patty?’

I nod grimly, ‘if you have a better plan then I’d love to hear it’ I reply, ‘but we need to get back to Caden and Jamie-Lee.’

My wolf sighs loudly but nods, digging his claws into the stone underneath us as he prepares to strike.

‘Well it’s certainly not going to be a boring death’ Hunter muses as he pushes off from the ground, running straight at the bear with his eyes trained on Zenith’s paws that lift up to strike at him. At the last moment, he feigns to the left as if he’s going to try and slide down the side of the bear’s massive body, waiting till the last minute as Zenith shifts to block him off and jumps up, using his arm as leverage to catapult him over the bear’s head and slide down his back to the floor.

‘Holy Sh*t! I didn’t think that would work’ Hunter gasps, turning quickly and starting to swipe at the bear’s haunches as he roars.

Having no choice, Zenith shifts, the hair on his body retracting as he shrinks back down into the Vampire I know. Hunter is ready though, as soon as Zenith turns toward us, my wolf’s claws are in his chest, ripping open his flesh to reveal his ribcage that he crushes with his teeth. Reaching his heart, Hunter claws it out aggressively as the Vampire splutters, b***d dribbling from his mouth.

Pulling at the organ, Hunter’s eyes meet Zenith’s the Vampire searching desperately in my wolf’s gaze until he finds what he was looking for. ‘I’m sorry . . my friend . . ‘ he gurgles, ‘I had . . . no choice.’

Finally, Hunter gets Zenith’s heart free and the man slumps to the ground as his eyes glaze.

Without a backward glance, my wolf drops the heart and turns back to the room, rushing through the door where I take control and shift back, my body covered in deep gashes, bruises and b***d.

I reach Caden’s side, pressing my fingers to his neck as my eyes widen, ‘no no no!’ I whisper, ‘you can’t be dead!’ I reach out and shake the Alpha roughly, my voice raising as panic licks me. ‘Wake up Star!’ I order as I shake his body violently, ‘Cobalt, get your a*s back here!’

The Alpha doesn’t respond, his head falling backward, his eyes closed against his grey skin.

As I shout at him fruitlessly, tears cascade down my cheeks, dripping onto his face before I bundle the man up into my arms and clutch him to me howling as loudly as I can.

Whilst I stand there, holding the man who has become my family, a voice echoes in my mind, ‘Remember Hadley, you and Caden are connected now, on a deeper level than just your pack bond. Your bond will be vital, don’t shy away from it, do not be scared my child, it is how it’s meant to be.’

Pulling back, I stare down at the unmoving Alpha uncertainly, our bond, that will defeat the Warlock. Before I can second guess myself, I tilt Caden’s head to the side and sink my canines into the unmarked side of his neck. As his b***d fills my mouth, I feel a power surge through me, an all consuming fire that flows throughout my body.

Shifting the Alpha in my arms, I lean over him as far as I can, pressing my neck to his lips.

‘Come on you stubborn bastard’ I growl, ‘bite me!’

Nothing happens for what feels like an eternity before I feel the unmistakable sensation of canines grazing down my skin.

I press Caden’s mouth harder to my neck, pushing a finger under his chin to force his mouth closed, trapping my skin between his teeth. A gasp of shock leaves my lips unconsciously as my neck is grazed lovingly before two teeth pierce my skin, my b***d flowing into the Alpha’s mouth.

Forcing his teeth apart, I place him carefully back on the slab before staggering back a pace. I stare down at the man who has my b***d smeared on his lips.

‘Come on Caden’ I plead desperately, ‘come back.’

Still nothing, I snarl in frustration before I lean over him and press my lips to his, kissing him harshly, my warm lips moving against his ice cold ones.

Slowly, the lips below mine start to move tentatively, going from a weak, barely there to a more dominant one as the Alpha’s instincts take over. Pulling back, I open my eyes to find Caden staring up at me, his gaze wide as he studies me for a moment.

Sitting up, he grabs my neck, hauling me to him and crashing our lips together, devouring me. Pulling back, he growls possessively, ‘MINE!’ he snarls determinedly.

My knees buckle under me with relief, ‘Caden’ I whimper, glad he has hold of me or I think I’d have collapsed.

The Alpha nods, smirking, ‘hello Mate’ he purrs making me roll my eyes.

‘We have to go!’ I huff, forcing my legs to take my weight and straightening up, ‘Jamie-Lee needs us!’