Sara Humphreys - Vampire Trouble

Two wolves slammed into him, knocking him to the ground before he could react. Amid the struggle, he caught a glimpse of Maya. In a battle-ready stance and with her fangs bared, he watched her shoot into the air. She was safe. Maya was safe. That was all that mattered.

Jaws snapping and claws tearing, the two beasts forced him to his knees while their razor-sharp teeth tore into the flesh of his shoulder. Shane’s fangs unsheathed and he hissed with rage while they continued their assault. Barely registering the pain, he ripped one wolf off his back before tossing it aside. It yelped and struck a tree, but Shane watched it scramble to its feet before stalking back toward him. The other tackled him to the ground before he could get to his feet, and an unfamiliar weakness plagued him. A burning sensation fired through his body, and though he’d never felt it before, Shane knew what it was the effects of the werewolf’s saliva.

He was going to die.

Weakened by a substantial loss of blood and the poisonous bite, Shane held the snapping, drooling muzzle of the wolf just inches from his own face. His body burned, and he could feel the potent, poisonous werewolf saliva searing through his blood. With what little strength Shane had left, his other hand reached for the gun in his ankle holster. His fingertips grazed the butt of the gun right before the other wounded wolf came back from the treeline and latched its powerful jaws around his leg.

The beast’s teeth scraped against bone, and Shane screamed with rage. A split second later, the wolf whined in pain when a sterling silver dagger whizzed through the air and lodged deeply in its neck. You didn’t really think I’d leave you here alone, did you? Maya’s teasing voice touched his mind as the wolf released Shane and stumbled away before crumpling in a heap.

He set eyes on his mate, her blond hair wild and flowing, and the deadly gleam of a warrior in her eyes. Shane held the wolf’s muzzle with both hands with his waning strength and moved it away from him. A high-pitched sound pierced the air, and Maya’s second sterling dagger hit the wolf with streamlined precision.

Weak and shaking from the significant loss of blood and the poisonous effects of the wolf’s saliva, Shane fell back onto the grass as Maya ran toward him. She slipped her arm beneath his head and moved his bloody shirt to inspect his wounds. He didn’t need to look at the injuries to know how grave they were because the horrified look on Maya’s face said it all.

His body felt heavy and cumbersome, much like the feeling all vampires had when drifting into their deep sleep during the daylight hours. Maya wept and held his head in her lap. She pierced her wrist with the sharp points of her fangs and offered him her blood.

“Drink, Shane.” Her voice was shaking. Still weeping, she held her wrist against his lips. “Please. You have to drink so you can heal.”

He took what she offered, knowing it would not be enough. His hand clasped loosely over her wrist and pulled it away gently while staring into her frightened eyes. “There are some things, youngling,” he bit out between clenched teeth, “that even our bodies cannot heal from.”

“ No! ” Maya screamed. She glanced frantically at the dead werewolves who had shifted back to their human form. “What about their blood? That will help, won’t it?”

“They must be alive for their blood to help neutralize the effects of the saliva,” Shane said haltingly.

“Drink my blood, Shane. Right now,” Maya yelled. She pushed his hand away and pressed her wrist to his mouth once again. “You will not leave me here alone, Shane. Do you—”

Maya’s eyes widened briefly and her body tensed before pure, unadulterated rage etched into her features. In a blur she released Shane, rose to her feet, and spun around just as a third wolf leaped from the treeline. Weak and barely able to keep his eyes open, Shane turned his head and watched Maya deliver a roundhouse kick to the wolf’s face. She reached back for her daggers, but remembered they were no longer there and flew toward the bodies of the fallen werewolves. The other wolf leaped onto her back, knocking her to the ground before she could reach the dead wolves.

Shane watched in helpless horror while the snarling beast loomed over her. Maya’s gaze locked with Shane’s. The beast reared its head back to deliver what was sure to be a fatal blow, and her face twisted into a mask of fury.

“ No! ” Maya screamed and placed both hands on the chest of the wolf.

Blinding light surged from the necklace, flickered up Maya’s arms, and slammed into the wolf with a blast of power. The beast was tossed through the air and shifted back into its human form before landing in a heap by the base of a tree.

As the darkness threatened to swallow him, one thought ran through Shane’s mind. His feelings for Maya had blinded him to the arrival of the wolves, and due to his carelessness, he almost got her killed. Maya sat up, shaking and stunned, and Shane watched her cautiously approached her attacker. Shane realized Maya survived only because her instincts had alerted them to the presence of the wolves. Before he passed out, Shane realized that if he survived, there was only one choice he could make.

His feelings were irrelevant. Shane knew he would have to let Maya go.

“He’s still alive,” Maya whispered. “But his scent is different. He doesn’t smell like a werewolf…he smells human.”

Scrambling to her feet, Maya moved toward the naked man with caution. Her body hummed from the bizarre surge of power that shot through her arms and made her toss the wolf away like he weighed nothing. Her skin tingled like she’d suffered some kind of electric shock, and when she got closer to the naked man, it became glaringly clear that two things were true.

The man was still alive, and he was no longer a werewolf. Maya looked from the man to her shaking hands before grasping the stone of her necklace.

“What in the devil is going on out here? Y’all are gonna wake the dead, but you woke me up first and that’s bad enough.” As Lottie emerged through the kitchen door, her voice cut through the night. Her hair was braided, and clad in her plain, white cotton robe, she padded barefoot across the lawn toward Maya. She lifted her lantern and surveyed the three naked men strewn on her back lawn. “Holy shit. You sure do live up to your reputation. They all dead?” Lottie leaned over Shane with the lantern. “Well, looks like Shane got his ass kicked sideways.”

“The two that I got with the silver daggers are dead. That one,” Maya said, pointing to the man by the tree, “is alive but he’s…changed.” Maya glanced at Lottie who knelt beside Shane and began to inspect the wound on his neck. “We need to try and use his blood to help heal Shane. Werewolf saliva is poisonous to vampires, and the only thing that might counteract it is blood from a living werewolf.”

“Bring him over here.” Lottie placed the lantern next to her and pulled Shane into her lap. She waved toward the other man but didn’t take her eyes off Shane. “Go on. What are ya waitin’ for?”

Maya tried not to think about how bad Shane looked while she ran over and grabbed the unconscious man by the arm. She dragged him across the grass and placed him next to Shane, but seconds later, the man’s eyes fluttered open and he woke up. He let out a yelp when he saw Maya and tried to scramble away from her, but she was too quick for him. In a blink, Maya was kneeling on the ground in front of him, holding him in a sitting position by both of his arms.

“If you want to survive this,” Maya seethed, “then you will do exactly what I tell you. Do you understand? I have plenty more silver weapons, and given your unwarranted attack, I’d be more than happy to decorate your pathetic carcass with them. Got me?”