When I reached the clearing, I found Nicolai circling a hunter who was seated on the ground clutching his bleeding arm to his chest. The other wolves were hovering close on the fringe, snapping and growling as well. I dropped the unconscious man next to the other man. The wolves’ anger and sense of betrayal was thick in the air.
“Danaus is bringing two more,” I told Nicolai. “Keep an eye on them. Keep them alive. We need information.”
Nicolai answered with a disgruntled snort, but I knew he would follow the orders—he was a good soldier and loyal to his pack, even if he was planning to leave it.
“I’ll be back with more,” I said, and then smiled as another human cry of pain and horror echoed through the woods. The wolves had struck another blow. Entering the woods, I scanned the area, discovering there were only a handful of scattered humans left. They had disbanded in terror and were now trying to run for safety. Launching myself forward, I flowed through the woods like water through a well-worn riverbed. With a few well-placed hits to the back of the head, I knocked out three more before they could reach their vehicles at the edge of the forest.
I sighed as I tossed the smallest of the three men over my shoulder and dragged the other two back toward the clearing. The wolves would take care of the remaining two. There was no use trying to save them. Barrett’s pack never hunted humans. In fact, they were careful to steer well clear of any human territory. The worst that ever happened on a full moon hunt was that they might bring down a buck or flush out a few hares. They ran together as a pack, enjoying the stretch of muscles and the feel of the wind through their fur. They reveled in their connection to the animal that existed within them. The humans had tried to destroy that, and there would be no quarter.
Upon reaching the clearing, I dropped the ones I was carrying with the other survivors, bringing our grand total up to seven of the more than twenty who had gone out into the woods to hunt the shifters that night.
After a few more minutes of waiting, Barrett and the remaining members of his pack trotted out of the woods. A couple of the wolves were moving slowly, limping as they favored wounds. The man who had been shot in his wolf form managed to heal enough to change back into a wolf, though one side of him was covered in blood. His connection to the earth was stronger while in wolf form, and the earth magic had sped the healing process.
Turning slowly around the circle, I did a quick count and then sent my powers out into the surrounding woods. Everyone was alive and accounted for, to my relief. Barrett had lost enough already.
“You’re not one of them,” one of the captive men bravely said, breaking the silence of the group for the first time. “You’re one of them bloodsucking vampires.”
“That’s surprisingly astute.” I smiled wide enough to expose my fangs.
Reaching inside his shirt, he pulled out a large gold cross on a gold chain, dangling it in front of my face. “You’re not going to lay a hand on me!”
To my extreme surprise, Danaus stepped forward and wrapped his fist around the chain before jerking it from the man’s neck. He tossed it into the woods, putting it a good distance from the man.
“Traitor!” the man snarled, rubbing the back of his neck where the chain had temporarily bit into his flesh. “You’ve turned your back on the human race. Betrayed us! You’re worse than those monsters.”
Without a thought, I lunged toward the man who had insulted Danaus, aiming to bury my fangs deep into his throat and rip him apart, when Danaus stopped me. I growled at him as I tried to jerk free. He shook his head.
“I am one of you,” Danaus said gently, dousing my anger in an instant. “I want no claim to the human race if this is what they are to become.”
A surprised smile tweaked the corners of my mouth as I wrapped my arms around his waist, pulling him close. The time when mankind discovered the existence of nightwalkers and lycanthropes was growing uncomfortably close, and deep down I had always wondered which side Danaus would fall on when the time came. Now I knew—he would remain at my side—and the knowledge was as sweet as the hunt.
“How did they know?” Barrett demanded from beside me, once again in human form.
I released Danaus and looked around to find that most of the wolves had returned to human form. Some of them had pulled on clothes, while others remained boldly naked, staring down the seven men who had hunted them.
There was only silence from the captives who sat at our feet, not that I actually expected any of them to speak up. Narrowing my eyes on them, I reached out with my powers and rifled through their minds, confirming my fear and guess. My stomach twisted and knotted.
“They’re all members of the Daylight Coalition,” I said after a couple of minutes. “They were sent out of the Atlanta branch to hunt your pack down. I can see an image of the man who planned the attack, but there’s no guarantee that he is the original source.”
“Fucking bitch!” snarled one of the men. He pushed up on his knees, and both Barrett and Danaus were there almost simultaneously. The man was dead before he hit the ground again.
I frowned. While I appreciated their overprotectiveness, we did need more information and thus had to keep some of the men alive.
Reaching out with my powers again, I plunged into the minds of the remaining six men who sat before us. With a less-than-gentle push, they all collapsed unconscious, so they could no longer hear our plans. I had a hard enough task ahead of me by convincing Barrett that we needed to release these remaining men alive.
“What are we going to do with them?” I demanded, propping my fists up on my hips as I stared down at the gathering of men on the ground.
“You mean besides kill them?” Barrett said in a low rumbling voice.
“We can’t kill any more of them. It’s going to attract more attention.”
“They attacked us!” shouted one of the werewolves, who stood on the periphery of the clearing. The entire pack agreed that none of these men be left alive.
“Mira is right,” Danaus said. “If twenty members of the Daylight Coalition go into the woods, armed to go hunting werewolves, and none of them come back, then it’s going to raise more questions. More members of the coalition are going to come looking for you here. Each full moon will grow more dangerous to your kind. They’ll start setting traps. They’ll send more hunters.”
“Then what’s your solution?” Barrett inquired, starting to sound calmer. Danaus had brought up a point that could not be easily argued away. While the alpha and the rest of his pack might want vengeance, it was also his responsibility to keep them safe.
“We alter their memories,” I offered. “We make them forget about going into the woods or ever hunting shifters.”
“And replace it with what other memory?” Nicolai asked as he approached our small gathering around the lump of unconscious men. “And what about the other men who have suddenly gone missing?”
I shoved one hand through my hair and stared down at the men, trying to imagine their evening as they prepared to take on a group of supposedly mythical creatures. They had to have been terrified in the event that they might be right. At the same time, I searched through their minds, sifting for any shred of information I might be able to use to my advantage.
“They stopped at a biker bar,” I said slowly as the idea started to form. “Before coming into the area, they all stopped at a biker bar for a drink. The idea was to finalize their plan of attack and get a drink for courage. The only problem was that they got into an argument. Most of them drove off, swearing it was all nonsense and that they were going to leave the Daylight Coalition. The others continued to drink and then left the bar, where the two cars later crashed, which will explain their wounds.”
Nicolai shook his head. “It all sounds a little thin, Mira.”
“It works off a partial truth. They did stop in a bar before coming to Savannah and they did have a drink to work up their courage. I will just create the image of the fight, and those who died will be remembered as leaving the bar belligerent and determined to leave. It’s the best we have to work with at the moment.”
“Yes, but who is to say that these six won’t return on another full moon with the intent of killing my people?” Barrett interjected. “I still do not support leaving them alive only to fight them again at a later date.”
“I understand. I will insert a command deep in their subconscious. At different times during the next month, each one of them will become disillusioned with the coalition and leave it, claiming that it’s all nonsense. You will
