A Howling Heart
Chapter sixty-eight

I score glimpses of claws, teeth, and eyes that have no whites, only red, as I'm attacked by the creature hiding in the shadows down here. By the sound of the clinking and rattling, it may be hooked to chains, but those chains are not long enough to keep it from lacerating me. I shift quickly, but not quick enough to avoid the vicious bite to the arm I throw up to hit the creature. I grit my teeth, thankful when my bones shift and the wolf form's protection offers me solace.

The creature wails and licks its teeth, savoring my blood on its tongue before swatting at me. Its neck and limbs twitch as if possessed. The pure blood-lust has poisoned its mind to a beastly state.

It lunges for me again and unexpectedly kicks its legs to knock mine out from under me. It's smart, with fighting skills built for survival.

I stumble but correct my stance, snapping my teeth at it and grabbing its leg.

It's like rotting flesh in my mouth. Utterly disgusting. By the scent, I'd almost believe this to be a vampire, but it's like none I've ever encountered before.

Not many break our territory. Only about a handful do throughout a couple of years. They are arrogant bastards who believe they are superior to us, but none have ever lacked their humanity altogether. They've always held themselves as if they were royalty. This thing before me acts as an attack dog. One without a drive other than satisfying its thirst. If Evil had a picture beside its dictionary definition, these things' selfies would be plastered next to it.

The guttural shriek that tears from the hole that should be a mouth is like nails dragging down a chalkboard. He's got liquid in his mouth, and the red tint that is illuminated when he kicks and frees his leg from my mouth, rolling away for a moment, is my blood.

Before he manages to complete his next attack, he is ripped back by his chains and then held against the wall by Austin. With one hand around the creature's throat, pressing and slowly breaking the bones in its neck, Austin addresses me. "Imagine hundreds of these, Matias. Thousands even. We are nearing the thousand mark of these abominations, and it needs to stop. What you are looking at is the vampiric curse after years and years of sloppy reproduction. With every new infection, they become more animal-like, with no sentience, no humanity, just pure animal instinct."

Austin slams the creature against the wall, and I suppress a whimper while still in my wolf form as the left eyeball of the creature bursts from the force. Still, he chokes the thing hard enough to suffocate any sound that might be created in the throat. It is a deserving action. This is a rabid animal that should be put down, but the fact that this is happening in the same room as my daughter turns my stomach completely.

"They are decimating the structure of our world. Killing in alarming numbers, humans, Lycan, and more. Eliminating food sources, cattle, and animals. These sick things don't have a shred of moral code, feeding even off of us, which has been unheard of. Only in rare cases fueled by war has the Lycan been disrespected that way."

So, what is this? War? Possession? Are they trying to create a hybrid or just being plain careless?

"I know what you're thinking. Are we actively at war with the vampires? Not yet. There are too many of them. Some of the first created have incredibly powerful abilities. They will just keep allowing this creation until what's left is barbaric, and the fate of Lycans and all who aren't vampires is doomed. Our packs, our children, our bloodlines will be wiped out because of this!"

I shift back, hating that the lacerations from those nails haven't healed as fast as I'd like in my human form. I don't know what the Hell is going on. My Lycan blood grants me incredible healing powers, especially as an Alpha, yet these wounds heal fifty percent slower than usual.

I look at them incredulously, and Austin growls. "See? These things house supernatural abilities we are just skating the surface of. I've been dreaming of this--this nightmare of a race for months to come, Matias!"

"Why would you house this sick thing around my daughter?" I huff angrily and step toward him angrily. "She's an innocent baby!" My voice makes the room shake. I'm irate, and it shows. It'll kill us all right now if it means making Austin pay for allowing this disgusting creation, this dangerous weaponry of the vampiric race, to even breathe in the same room as my daughter.

"Relax," Austin says. He takes out a coin and tosses it at Mariah and my daughter.

The nerve!

The coin bounces off a translucent barrier. Glass. They are behind in class.

"I need you to understand that I would never, for my own pleasure, kidnap nor house an infant around these monstrosities. But I need you to understand what is at stake." "Okay! I get it. We have a problem on our hands with these things, but what the Hell does my daughter have to do with it?"

Austin doesn't answer because the thing begins squirming in his hold. "You've served your purpose." He pulls out a vial and injects the thing with something that makes it go limp. "Did you drug it?"

"Holy water. It gets in the veins and creates a comatose state." Austin tosses the thing to the floor and turns around to face me. "Matias, our Lycan blood, this power and form we are all able to have is a gift from God. We have had an honor bestowed upon us. Humanity may not like us, but we spend more time making sure the humans are comfortable and protected from the true monsters." He nods to the vampire on the ground. "Those things. They have a curse. One that is poisonous and straight from the depths of Hell."

"You still haven't answered my question, Austin. Why are my daughter and my mother-in-law here?" I demand answers through clenched teeth.

"Your daughter is the key, Matias. She is a prophesied savior for the Lycan people from this diseased race. I've dreamt of her and the first of our kind confirming your daughter has a special gift. She is the only way to destroy the vampiric curse once and for all."

I look at Mariah, who is cooing to my baby in her arms.

This isn't good...

Austin is not going to let me leave with her.

And I'm not leaving without her.