Rose

Chapter 13: Rose's Battle

Rose’s POV

Rebekka and I had been fighting another vampire, a rouge aligned one who had somehow found the safe house door and had begun to tear it down. Rebekka was furious with him, she had known him before and it was through his message that Tol and Rebekka had originally agreed to help with the attack in exchange for the wolf blood. Once they had found out about the pups Rebekka had wanted to kill him for agreeing to it. She had been incensed over his acceptance – even enthusiasm - for the offer of the boy pups to feed on. When she had rounded the corner and seen him, weakened in anticipation of the victory feast, she had attacked with her full force. And being as old as she was and with the wolf blood already in her system, she was needing little effort to hold him up by the throat and slowly choke him into unconsciousness. It had been my job to guard the door, the other vampires had gone to help with the fight after Tol had joined Daryn at shouting at them from the table.

The pain during the battle had been sudden and immense. I felt I had been stabbed through the bite mark on my chest. The mate mark that Daryn had given me was burning up. I had clutched at it, screaming with the sudden and intense pain. My legs could no longer hold me and I collapsed to the ground, pressing my hands to the bite mark. Something was wrong with Daryn I know that he said it would transfer pain to the mate and to me I knew this meant he was in deep pain, his life had been taken. He was dying. The pain of the injury was moving through me as well. I could do nothing in that instant except scream, fearing that this was his passing. I had lost him just hours really after finding him.

The sight of him and Edward, racing around the side of the building, just moments later made me want to cry. My mate was up and alive!! I don’t know when he became my mate in my head. I guess after he bit me but the name fitted inside my brain and seeing him filled me with joy. His side was deeply gashed but healing as I watched. Thank goodness but if this is the pain I will experience every time he gets a cut, I will not be happy – how do the female wolves do this? And then I heard one inside the building start to scream, and I realised they don’t. Someone’s mate wasn’t as strong as mine. He was dying and she was locked inside a room unable to do anything. I heard her start to throw herself at the door. Edward raced over and started to brace his body against it. Watching the door start to shudder under the weight of the attack from the female inside was almost as scary and being outside with the rogues. Rebekka dropped the now unconscious vampire and Edward jumped forward with a splinter from the door frame and staked him though the heart before he had the chance to recover. Daryn staggered over to my and collapsed, his huge wolf had in my lap, and all I could do was hunch over his still body sobbing with pain and the fear I was losing him.

It felt like forever but was only a few minutes before Daryn’s wolf opened his eyes. Those deep amber colours shone with love as he looked up at me. The pain in my bite was gone, as was the deep gash to his side. He got slowly to his feet and staggered over to the vampire pinned to the ground where Edward and Rebekka had left him, his body wasn’t turning to dust so I assume Edward had missed the heart and failed to fully kill him. Eventually, and with the stake removed the vampire would have recovered. Daryn closed his huge wolf jaws around the exposed throat of the vampire and with a quick turn of his head, ripped his throat out.  Once the vampire had started to flake into dust Daryn had turned away and headed off to join the last of the battle, now moving aback away from the buildings and back down to the woods surrounding the training grounds. Edward following in his wake. I too trailed along behind him. I couldn’t stand to hear the screams of the she wolves locked in the building as the pain of their mate’s deaths and injuries were passed on through the marks.

After the battle Letty helped James with the wounded, her years of experience nursing meant that she was quick to understand what he needed and her strength meant that she could pick up even the biggest wolves and rush them straight to the hospital for care. She even helped him in theatre where the operations were complex and risky. I suspect that she was secretly giving them a drip or two of her blood to help them heal as they all made a record recovery and were released from the wards within days of the battle. The captured injured rogues were kept alive but chained to the hospital beds with silver chains.

The rogues were offed to the vampires as per the original agreement and whilst everyone was happy to have their fill, I wanted mine to be another transfusion. The thought of biting anyone still revulsed me but I was eager to share in the feast as, after all, I had taken part in the fight. But I didn’t want Daryn to think less of me for it. I only had a bit, enough that should Daryn need it I was strong enough to help him get even stronger.