Jaded Hearts
Chapter 105

Matt

I’ve never pushed Logan to run faster in my life. When the tire blew, we were only three miles away, but it might as well have been three thousand. Taylor was out there, and she needed me. I had to get to her. We tore through the hills, and as soon as we smelled her scent, Logan howled with joy and watched the cavalry spill out around us.

We skidded to a stop and watched Aires appear on the roof of the truck, then disappear just as quickly. The cab filled with purple smoke, and the women were gone. They were safe. Now it was time to get to work.

Tyson’s bear barreled past and smoothly ripped off the head of the first vamp he came across. Take their heads off, rip their hearts out, or stake them. That was the only way to kill a pure vamp.

Some of these were hybrids, which would be easier to kill, but we didn’t have time to figure out who was who. They were all losing a head or a heart today; no mistakes would be made.

Logan took a quick survey of the field and locked on to our target. Drew was standing on the opposite side of the truck, trying to hold off three wolves I recognized from our pack. We charged towards him and leapt over the hood, shifting back to human form in midair. I wanted him to see who he was dealing with; he was going to know exactly who killed him.

“Long time no see, Drew. I promised you I’d rip your f*****g heart out. You ready for this?”

“It’s good to see your b***h of a wife let you out to play. Too bad she’ll never see you alive again,” he hissed, then charged at me, slashing at my face.

I easily side-stepped and delivered a firm kick to the side of his leg, dislocating his knee. He crumpled down for the briefest moment but somehow managed to regain his footing.

Good. I didn’t want to take him out so easily.

He attacked again, this time successfully slicing across my exposed chest and drawing b***d. He’d learned to fight pretty well with just one arm, but it wasn’t going to be enough. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Tyson sneaking up towards us. He was the biggest thing on the road, but somehow, he was able to go unnoticed by the i***t vamps scrambling around, trying to survive.

And he was packing a little surprise.

I took a few steps back from the truck, making Drew think he was gaining the upper hand, and like a fool, he followed me, leaving him open and exposed from behind. When he lunged for me, I again hit that same weakened leg, this time snapping it in two.

He fell again, but there was no way he was popping back up. He was going to need a minute.

“Protect our Lieutenant!” someone yelled behind me, and before I could turn to see who it was, Tyson had rushed past and silenced them with a powerful snap of his jaw.

“Damn good timing, man.”

Down at my feet was the care package we’d brought along just for Drew. A huge wooden stake that I couldn’t wait to drive right into his disgusting black heart. I picked up the stake and circled my prey. I was so ready.

“You think this is over? You’re dumber than we thought. I know where you’re hiding her, but you don’t know where we hide. I’ve had enough fun with you for today. It’s time I go collect my prize.”

Drew stood to his feet and shut his eyes, causing a large puff of red smoke to circle his body. I just stood back and watched. When he opened those disgusting bloody pools and saw my face, his shit-eating grin disappeared.

“Performance anxiety? Not happy to see me? That’s too bad.”

Tyson charged and clamped down on his head before Drew even saw him coming. I didn’t waste time; he’d already had an extra year of life that he didn’t deserve. I drove the stake into his chest and pushed until the tip came out the other side.

For good measure, Tyson flicked his massive head, causing Drew’s to snap off and roll a few feet down the road. His body slumped lifeless to the ground, and thick black b***d poured from the wounds.

“Maybe we should set him on fire as well? I can’t have him reappearing in a year or two,” I joked.

There was a loud, ear-piercing screech as the coven realized their lieutenant was dead. It crippled us wolves momentarily, and it was one time when I was not happy about my increased sense of hearing.

Lancaster saw Drew’s body, and it was obvious he wanted our b***d to spill next. He found Xander in the crowd taking on two vamps and rushed over to him.

Watch your six! Lancaster is coming at you, Xan!

I hoped the link would register with him in time—I was too far away to intercept what was about to happen.

But Henry wasn’t.

He took down the vamp in front of him with moves Aires taught him, then stepped in Lancaster’s path. Unfortunately, Lancaster was a vampire master and was much stronger than the rest of his coven. All it took was a s***h to the stomach to have Henry down and out of his way.

He continued towards Xander and leapt in the air, poised to land on his back and dig his elongated nails into Xander’s wolf’s flesh.

Alexi read what was about to take place and launched the bloody stake he was holding in Lancaster’s direction. It easily penetrated his chest, making him crash and roll to the ground upon impact.

Xander’s wolf turned and bit into his neck. At the same time, Kade, who’d also been fighting in human form, stomped on the stake, driving it all the way through and into the dirt beneath him. Again, the area vibrated with that same high-pitched shriek, then all the vampires who were lucky enough to still be standing began to disintegrate into ash. Down at my feet, what remained of Drew became a pile of black dust that washed down the road with the rain.

“I wish we could’ve set that fucker on fire while he was still breathing. Maybe then would his death have been painful enough,” Tyson said after shifting.

“Dead is dead. In his case, I’ll take it however I can get it, as long as it’s permanent,” I replied.

He walked to the back of the truck and snagged a first aid kit and some sweatpants for all of us. We then rushed over to Henry, who was still alive but bleeding out way faster than we could stop it. He looked like he was fading in and out of conciseness, making me even more nervous.

“Come on, Hen. I know this sucks, but stay awake. We’re going to get you home and fixed up,” I told him while I applied pressure to the wound.

“You’re a handsome guy and all, but I’d really prefer if it was Aires’s perfect face I was looking into in my final moments instead of yours. No offense, Gamma.”

“None taken. And these aren’t your final moments, so stop being dramatic.”

Tyson stripped Henry’s bloody shirt off, then tightly wrapped a bandage and gauze over the area, which seemed to slow the bleeding just a bit. Hopefully, long enough to get him help. Then, almost as if she could feel something was wrong, a puff of purple smoke appeared by Henry’s head. Aires knelt down, looking exhausted with heavily red-rimmed and deep, sunken eyes.

“Mi amor!” she shouted.

“Hi, beautiful. You didn’t need to come for me. You should be resting and recovering. And your eyes! You need b***d and sleep, sweetheart,” he weakly said.

“I need to get you home. I’ll be okay once you’re safe.”

She ran her hand over his stomach, then wrapped him in her arms and shimmered away.

“Damn, she didn’t even ask if the rest of us were alright,” Tyson laughed. He laid on the ground and took a deep breath, giving me a clear view of a deep gash in his side.

“We need to get that cleaned up. It looks pretty nasty.”

“It can’t be any worse than the one Drew gave you. Go check everyone else. I’ll survive.”

Looking out over the field, there were a handful casualties; far fewer than we would have had if we’d waited for the vamps to strike first. The ladies had been right all along, and because of them, so many of us were going home tonight.

“We’ve got to get this place cleaned up,” Xander walked over and said. “Humans could drive through at any second.”

We all collected ourselves and headed back to the field, where we began to collect and organize the bodies of our fallen warriors. Between the two packs, there was a total of twenty-seven we’d lost, and close to one hundred or so more who would need a visit to the pack hospitals. Luckily for us, vampires didn’t study up on the best way to kill a wolf. That or they were just poorly trained.

“That was fun. Jordyn will be pissed that she had to sit this one out,” Aaron said as he walked up to Xander.

“There will be plenty of a*s for her to kick once she has the baby, but hell yeah, she’ll be jealous when she hears what went down,” Xander replied. His face fell slightly as he added, “I’m sorry about the loss of your men. It’s never an easy thing to do, leading them to battle and knowing some won’t make it.”

“I agreed to help, and we all knew the risks. But now my little sister is safe, as are the rest of your ladies. Their lives weren’t lost in vain.”

Xander nodded, then stepped towards the warriors. “Your Alpha and I need volunteers to carry our brothers home so we can lay them to rest,” Xander boomed over the crowd. “They fought and died honorably. Let’s send them off the same way.”

* * *

Taylor

We were all nervously waiting for news when Aires, who was fast asleep, suddenly shot up from her chair and shimmered away.

“What the hell was that?” I asked, looking around.

“I don’t know, but I don’t think it’s good. She hasn’t even begun to recover yet and shouldn’t be shimmering anywhere,” Alaia said.

“Wherever she went, it had to be important to her. She missed killing vampires because she was too drained. What’s more important to her than that?” Morgan questioned.

A few moments later, she was back and clutching Henry to her chest.

“Please help him,” she looked to Alaia and cried.

Alaia rushed over and placed her hands on the bandages.

“Don’t worry about me, Luna. I’ll be alright,” he lied.

“Shut it, Henry. Nothing about this is alright,” Alaia replied.

Aires looked like she was about to pass out, and her eyes were almost completely red.

“Aires, babe. Let Alaia take care of him now. You did good getting him here, but you need to feed. We’re getting uncomfortably close to the danger zone here,” I softly said.

She wanted to argue, she wanted to be next to her partner; but she knew she was completely depleted. I wondered if she even had the energy to make it up the single flight of stairs to her room.

She stood on shaky legs and almost collapsed.

“I’ll help her to her room,” Morgan offered. She helped Aires to her feet again and supported her weight while they made their way up the stairs.

“Could a couple of you go with them? I don’t know how bloodlust works, but I’d rather stay on the safe side,” I said to the plethora of guards in the room.

“Yes, Gamma.”

On the floor, Alaia was finishing up and unwrapped the bandages to reveal light pink scars that would heal in no time.

“Will he be alright?” I asked.

“I think so. He should still be checked out by the doctor, but I’m confident that he’ll recover.”

“I think I know what will help. One more request fellas. Please take Henry up to Aires’s room. They’ll recover quicker if they’re together,” I said.

“Yes, Gamma.”

One guy stepped forward and gently lifted a sleeping Henry in his arms and carried him up to the room. When Morgan came back down, she too looked exhausted.

“She’s asleep now. She drained like five bags of b***d when we got to the room, and as soon as they brought Henry up, she curled up next to him and passed out.”

“I’m so happy to hear that. She saved more than a few lives today, and I’m glad Henry’s is one of them,” I said.

“Excuse me, Luna. The men are returning with our fallen soldiers. They’ll be crossing the north border momentarily.”

“Thank you,” she replied, then turned to us. “I hate this part.”

“What do we do?” I asked.

“We take care of them; all three of us. Let’s go.”

We were escorted to the back yard, where eleven wolves kneeled with the bodies of their pack mates strapped securely to their backs. I knew there would be mourning families throughout Blue Moon tonight, and I grieved for them.

And it was terrible to say, but when I saw that none of our men were here, I breathed a sigh of relief. No one deserves to lose a loved one, but we’d lost plenty in our lives. We couldn’t handle anymore. Not right now.

Alaia passed Morgan and me large bundles of sage, and a moment later, a guard came over and lit them for us.

“The Alpha, Beta, and Gamma ensure that their bodies are handled with dignity and respect, and the Luna, Beta Female, and Gamma Female are responsible for their spirits. We believe that right now they are in limbo, floating between this life and the next. We burn the sage and let it cover their bodies, releasing their spirits and giving them peace.”

“It’s so sad,” I whispered.

“It always is. But it’s our duty to this pack to honor them.”

Morgan and I nodded, and the three of us split up and walked over to their bodies and sent them off as best we could. I thanked each one for giving their life for my family and me. I knew that it wasn’t only Drew behind their deaths, but he was a large part of it. And that hurt me. When we were done, we walked back inside while the Transcendence Ceremony began to be set up.

They would each be wrapped in pure white cloth. Then, one by one, their remains would be placed in the fire, sending their bodies to eternity with their already released spirits.

“I hope the guys come back soon. I could really use a hug,” I said as I slumped back on the couch and closed my eyes.

“I think we all could,” Morgan replied.