The Secrets of the Panther

IZZY

Blake’s scent wafts over me and makes me feel at ease, but the vampire and rogue in front of me stare.

“You are one mighty panther,” says the vampire.

Blake stands close to me, and his arm brushes against mine, which sends tingles throughout my body.

The rogue stares behind, not looking at us. I glanced over and noticed who he was staring at. A man behind us was a mirror image of him but in a younger form.

“That’s your son,” I say as I face him. His eye never leaves the man, but he nods. “He is,” he says quietly.

“What happened?” asks Blake.

The rogue looks at him and sighs. “Elder Johnson was a fair man at the start, but he soon changed after a few months passed. He brought in vampires and rogues; he forced many of us to join the rogues in the fight against you and your panther,” he says. He looks at me. “He wanted my son to join, but I would never allow him to. He has a young son, and he lost his mate due to one rogue as she was trying to flee the pack. My son needed to be a father; I took his place instead of him.”

I stared at the man. The thought of choosing to go had me admiring him. He put his family first before himself. “I have to say, the vampire is right. You are one powerful panther,” he says. “So is your daughter, too.”

A growl escapes Blake’s mouth at the mention of Allie, but I place my hand on his arm to calm him. If Blake and Axel let rip, I would defend them. But the man before me was no freight to us, unlike before.

The man looks at Blake but looks back at me. “I’m sorry. I meant nothing by it to sound like that,” he says.

I nod.

His eyes roam but land on someone close to us, “and you,” he says with a snarl, “call yourself an alpha. You were useless and hellbent on helping that lunatic Elder in his beliefs. You forgot about your pack members.”

I glanced to the side and saw Drake stare at him, but he said nothing. His face was blank. “What, your wolf got your tongue?” the man says through gritted teeth.

My eyes are glued to Drake, but he looks at me. The scar on his face, the scar I gave him more prominent, stands out. He turns to the man and opens his mouth. “I can’t apologize enough for my actions; I will carry all of my mistakes with me for as long as I live,” he says.

“You should never be alpha…” the man says, but Drake cuts him off. “I’m not the alpha; I demoted myself. My uncle, Alpha Dawson, here, is taking over the pack. I want to earn back the trust of my pack, and I never wanted to be that monster. I had no choice; They spelled me.”

The man says nothing, but Drake carries on. “They made me believe that my mate was dead. I felt the pain of heartache. I was completely lost, and Elder Johnson used my pretend grief to his advantage. I would never have hurt my pack, and they sent me to get more followers and to capture Izzy,” he says.

The man looks at me, “you stand with him after everything he has done to you,” he asks me.

I look at the man and sigh. “Drake and I were once friends before all this. Well, I thought we were. He used me and gained my trust. He didn’t know it was me that the Elder or his brother wanted until it was too late,” I say. “But Drake has a permanent reminder of what I can do.”

The man looks at Drake but back at me with wide eyes. “You gave him that scar,” he says.

I nodded. “I don’t take kindly to being followed or even captured by friends or people who pretend to be one,” I say to him.

The man nods.

The vampire stares at me. “Amir never told us about his plan, but we had some idea that it was to gain control of the supernatural world,” he says. “I believed he tried it once before. He mentioned nothing, but I remember him saying you were the spitting image of the one he killed.”

“That was my ancestor, Clara,” I say to him. The vampire nods.

We stand there in awkward silence, but Blake speaks up. “What do you want?” he asks.

The man looks behind him, back to his son. “I want to be with my family; most of the rogues that we brought with us are the ones that were in packs. They don’t want to be rogues, but they want to be part of a pack again.”

“What about the rogues that infiltrated the pack before?” he asks. I looked up at him, but his eyes were glued to the men.

“Rogues were attacking here,” says Puna. “That’s why he hasn’t been answering your calls.”

Everything was making perfect sense now.

The man stares at Blake but sighs. “The rogues that came here are the ones that left with us, but they were true believers of what Elder Johnson was promoting,” he says. The man looks at the vampire, “we believe the ones that came here before us are all gone now. There was only a handful left,” he says.

I looked at the vampire. “What about the vampires?” I asked. “Would they accept living with a pack of werewolves or move on?”

The vampire stares at me for a moment but sighs. “We would like to try; many have no families left. Many lost their mates as they were mated to other supernatural beings. That evil man and witch tossed them aside and killed them,” he says. “We want to live with you and a chance to prove that vampires can work alongside werewolves, not just for the bad but also for good. We want to have a life in peace.”

I stare at him, but an image of Archer floods my brain. I know I couldn’t turn the vampires away; Archer is like them. Well, half-vampire. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the (F)indNƟvᴇl.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

I turned to Alpha Dawson, who hadn’t said a word. “Alpha Dawson, would you accept the rogues in your pack?” I asked him. Alpha Dawson looks at me, and he nods. “I will gladly take them in.” He looks at me but seems confused. “What about the vampires?” he asks.

I looked up to Blake, who was now staring at me, “how about we take the vampires in?” I say to him. “We were about to open the pack to other supernaturals, and the vampires would be the first.”

Blake stares at me for a moment but glances back at the vampire. “What do you say to that?” he asks. “This pack has had too many dealings with the vampires. But as soon as we can open the pack up to others, they settle back into pack life and trust others more. Maybe others can join here, but that will be up to the alpha in charge.”

The vampire stared at Blake but nodded a few seconds later and bowed to us. “We would be honored to be part of your pack,” he says.

“Do you think that is fair?” I asked him. But the man smiles. “I don’t mind, but I have to say I’m happy that I can be back with my family and pack.”

I smiled at him.

“Well, notify the rogues that they can come here to live,” I say. “Tell them to bring all their belongings with them, and we can set them all up.”

The man nods.

“I will tell the vampires,” says the vampire. But Blake stops him. “You can, but can you come to the pack in two days? I have to announce my pack before you arrive, or we will have another war on our hands.”

The vampire nods, “that’s only fair,” he says. “Please send word when you are ready. We will stay close to the border.”

I nodded to him.

Both men turn, but the rogue looks back toward his son. I couldn’t help but look toward his son, who was smiling back at him.

Everyone moved from the field, but I was rooted to the spot as everyone left.

But one, Blake.

I looked up at him, and he was staring at me.

“I think we should talk,” he says. “Let’s go to the office.”

I nodded.

We both walk in silence back to the pack. But we walk side by side with each other.

The pack house wasn’t far from where we were. We headed inside, passing Dale, Anita, Drake, Alpha Dawson, and Anya. I looked to the floor as we walked into the office, knowing they were all staring at us. I follow right behind Blake.

Blake walks in first, and I walk in behind him, closing the door behind me. I was about to open my mouth to say something, but I was pushed against the door, and Blake’s mouth slammed down on mine.

It took me a few seconds to realize what was happening, but I couldn’t help but close my eyes and kiss him back.