Unbound: The Call of Power

Chapter 09

The gathering at the Rowans’ packhouse was in full swing. The werewolves needed that one night to let loose. Many of them had shifted into their wolf forms and had taken to exploring the woods behind the house. Sam was settled in the sofa, watching Peaky Blinders with some of the other quieter werewolf teachers from the school.

As much as he loved being free in his wolf form, he wanted to keep himself contactable throughout the night. He was looking out for any texts from Maya and Ellie, just in case they needed him to get them home. He pulled out his phone for the umpteenth time to check for new messages. It was already past 11 pm and they hadn’t texted him yet.

“You seem preoccupied”.

Sam looked up in surprise and tucked his phone back into his jeans. Andrew held out a can of beer as he sat down in an armchair next to him. He looked around the room and took in the energy that was pulsating throughout.

All around them, men were drinking and enjoying their food. There was a hum of chatter and loud laughter with the occasional loud cheers when someone shifted to roam the woods. He needed them to have a safe space where they could be free and relaxed. Werewolves tended to act out if their wolf forms were kept repressed for too long and Andrew needed all of his pack members and staff in control of themselves.

“Yeah, I am just checking if Maya or Ellie texted me. They are having a late night out, and I want to make sure they are okay”. Sam popped open his can and took a swig.

At the mention of Maya’s name, Andrew stiffened. Sam observed him from the corner of his eye as he continued to drink. Andrew looked down at his hands, conflict written all over his face. It was obvious that he wanted to ask him something and Sam gave him a knowing grin.

“How is she?” Andrew asked hesitantly, “Maya”.

Sam grinned wider, taking great pleasure in the fact that he was right. He had hoped the subject would come up with Andrew tonight. He was getting sick of the two of them acting like lovelorn teenagers, avoiding each other at every turn.

“She’s fine man,” Sam shrugged, “just trying to cope with the work and getting used to the school”.

Andrew nodded in agreement, knowing that was how everyone felt when they first started working there.

“Does she say anything? You know, about me? At all?”

Andrew seemed so nervous; he was pretty sure every other werewolf in the vicinity could smell his apprehension.

“In all honesty, she only knew it was you after I told her”.

Andrew’s shoulders drooped ever so slightly, the only indication that the statement had any impact on him. “She couldn’t tell it was me?”

“The last you guys saw each other was more than 10 years ago,” Sam gestured at Andrew’s body, “and you must admit bro, you have definitely changed a lot”.

Andrew took sip of his beer. “Yeah well. She still looks the same though. Beautiful and smart and…”

Sam held his hand up as Andrew trailed off, his eyebrows raised questioningly.

“Keep this up, and I am going to vomit all of my food out”.

Andrew chuckled before turning serious.

“Does she hate me?”

It was a single question, but Sam could sense the amount of emotions loaded in it.

He observed Andrew for a beat. This was a man who single-handedly managed the security affairs of the school as well as the matters of the pack. He was a strong and firm Alpha who had earned his respect at the table, not with brute strength but with strategy and might to match. Sam had seen him take on three wolves in the middle of a fight, while still in human form, to protect the people he cared for. Andrew was known to be a firm, no-nonsense Alpha who could just about put anyone in their place. Yet Sam was a little awed to see this side of him, one that worried about what his first love thought of him.

“She doesn’t hate you,” Sam said cautiously. He knew his friend, and if anything, she was still in love with this man; not that she would ever admit it easily.

“But she is mad at you,” Sam continued, ”for leaving the way you did, and for never contacting her after that in all these years”.

Andrew let out the breath he had been holding. He leaned back in his chair.

“You know why I had to do that. My dad would have gone for her and started a war if I hadn’t”. He clenched his fists tightly around his can as the memory surfaced at the back of his head. No human girl was going to be the Luna of his pack, his father had said.

Sam took the can from Andrew before he completely squashed it and set it down on the coffee table.

 “Look, I know that. Damien knows that. Hell, everyone who knows you knows that. But none of that matters because she doesn’t know that”.

Andrew looked at Sam, his expression unreadable. It was killing him, seeing her every time and not being able to speak to her the way he wanted to. He had left her abruptly and at 20, he protected her the only way he knew how – pretending he didn’t care about her.

The bond between them did nothing to alleviate the feeling, and if anything, it was making it worse. He was drawn to her in every way possible, and he could do nothing about it because a part of him was afraid she would only hate him.

“I should probably tell you this though,”.

Sam looked at Andrew expectantly. He knew what was coming.

“She is my soulmate,” he mind linked Sam, not wanting to say it out loud. If anyone else heard that he had found his soulmate before he had even figured it all out, only mayhem would ensue, and he didn’t want Maya getting caught in the middle of it all. “I felt the bond first, even before I realised it was her”.

He took a moment to let it sink in, only to notice that Sam did not seem to be in the slightest, fazed by what he had just told him.

“You don’t seem surprised”, he said out loud.

“Yeah about that,” Sam wasn’t sure if he should tell Andrew what he knew, but he decided he should anyway, “Maya felt the bond too”.

The shock evident on his face, Andrew opened his mouth to say something when a shrill low frequency alarm pierced throughout the packhouse, startling him momentarily.

It took him a couple of seconds before he realised where it was from, and he took off running to the security office at the back of the house. Sam followed close on his heels and both men barely broke a sweat as they burst into the security room.

There were over 100 monitors on display, each one displaying a different section of the grounds; for both ISAN and the house.

The guard on duty stood up hurriedly, while another was barking orders into his walkie talkie; alerting the current security team on duty at the school.

“Sir, there’s been a breach. Specifically, the alarm at the staff apartments has been set off”.

Andrew drew in sharp breath, as he mind linked his Beta and some of the other off duty members of the security team to suit up and meet him at the front.

“Has anyone been spotted on the cameras?”

The guard shook his head, “It’s negative on the sightings”. A breach rarely happened, and he had a bad feeling about this. There had been a string of robberies around the major schools in the region and some pretty valuable items had been lost. In the most recent of attacks, a vampire teacher had been killed.

He turned to Sam. “You are one of the best fighters I know, and I need you to…”

Sam interrupted him, “Yeah I got it, let’s go”. Just then his phone beeped, and a message notification popped up. He read it, his face contorting in horror.

“Sam, what is it?”

“Maya and Ellie just reached the apartments”. It was only a split second before Andrew and Sam flew out of the room.

Andrew mind – linked the on – duty security team mid – run, “The minute any of you see any staff or students on the school grounds, inform me immediately and escort them back to their apartments. If there is an attack, protect them with your life”.

He then mind linked the rest of his pack, ordering everyone to come back and guard the premises. It could be nothing or it could be dangerous, but as he headed for the school, Andrew could only think of one person.

Maya.

 ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

She shuddered as they walked past the library, towards their apartments. The school was eerily quiet, and a sudden chill passed through her. Maya had a strange feeling that something was wrong. There was something unsettling about the silence, and she couldn’t quite place her finger on it.

Ellie was still talking about the movie they had just watched. The evening had been wonderful with dinner, and then they had gone to the arcade to kill some time before the movie started. But now, she was beginning to think that watching a horror show had been a terrible idea.

She pulled Ellie closer to her as they neared the staff apartments, and Maya felt the strange feeling intensify. Ellie glanced at Maya but made no note of it as she continued with what she thought of the movie.

Maya was sure someone was watching them, and she started a little as the leaves rustled on the trees behind them. She had told Ellie that they should taken the long way around to the staff apartments since the school was already closed but Ellie had insisted that cutting through the school would be faster.

“Oh wait,” Ellie stopped in her tracks and took out her phone, “I nearly forgot to text Sam”.

Maya pulled at her arm to continue walking, “We will text him when we are at the building, okay?”

Just then, it suddenly dawned on Maya why she was so unsettled.

“Ellie, I don’t hear the crickets”, her voice a low whisper.

“What?”

“Crickets! I don’t hear the crickets. That’s why the school is so silent”, she gestured around. Ellie looked around in mild confusion, before realisation dawned on her.

She picked up her pace alongside Maya. It was impossible that there was a breach on school property, and yet; as she focused on the vibes around her, she could sense hostility in the air.

“If it is this silent, it cannot be just one random vampire. There have to be a few of them to warrant such silence”.

Maya gave her a quick glance as they hurried towards their apartment, “I don’t think it’s any of our teachers”.

Ellie nodded, “It’s not”.

They heard the leaves rustling behind them and both of them brisk walked to the main lobby of the apartments. The main lobby was connected to the four blocks by sheltered walkways that were brightly lit. They just needed to get through one walkway, and they would be in safety of their apartments.

“Hey Ellie, think you should text Sam now that we are home,” she said in a normal voice. Panic was slowly creeping up on her, but she pushed it down. If it was indeed an attack by a hostile vampire, panicking was the last thing she should be doing.

As soon as Ellie was done, Maya started moving along the walkway. She slowly walked towards the shadows and Ellie followed suit. As soon as they were out of the light, both of them ducked further into the darkness, amongst the foliage of trees that lined the path.

As they slowly crept along, futile attempts at trying to be as quiet as possible; Maya reached into her bag and pulled out the silver Athame she kept with her for protection. She knew an attack was imminent and her senses were tingling with forewarning. It was one of those times she was grateful the charm didn’t completely block off everything.

Maya and Ellie froze when they heard loud growls from the main lobby. The main security team had arrived and screams suddenly broke out; cutting through the silence. It sounded like a blood bath with growls and gnashing of teeth.

“It sounds like a fight, Maya,” Ellie dug her fingernails into her arm, “There must be at least four”.

Maya gripped the Athame tight in her hand. She felt movement behind them. Ellie sensed him at the same time as she whirled around, taken aback by the sudden attack. “s**t!”

He came at them, fast and gnarling. Ellie had fallen down onto the ground in fear, and Maya used that to swing her body around, still crouched, the Athame slicing through the air in an arc before she drove it up into his throat.

He jerked in shock, as Maya pulled the blade out. Ellie screamed in horror as his blood sprayed everywhere. He grabbed at his throat before dropping to the ground. His body jerked a couple more times, and he continued making gurgling sounds as he choked on his blood before turning limp.

Maya looked at the vampire laying on the ground closely and in the dim light, she could make out that he looked pale and skeletal. His eyes had looked crazed as he came for them, and it could only mean one thing. This was not a fully turned vampire. Before she could register what it meant, Ellie screamed again, and Maya turned around to see another one lunging for her.

She knew she was not going to be able to react in time as she felt his claws graze her neck before she heard a loud growl and something huge whizzed past them. In the dark, she could make out the form of a huge wolf and it was tearing into the vampire. With a final c***k, the wolf snapped his head and the vampire fell dead on the ground.

As the wolf turned to look at her, Maya knew it wasn’t Sam. Yet, there was something oddly familiar about him. She walked over to him slowly, knowing that she had seen this majestic black wolf before. As she got closer, the wolf whimpered, and Maya reached out to stroke his fur; almost as if she were under a spell.

As if he had heard something, his ears pricked up and the wolf turned his head to look out in the direction of the walkway. He nudged her hand gently with his snout before trotting off. She couldn’t stop the small smile that spread on her face as she realised who the wolf was.

Andrew.

“Oh my god! Maya, are you okay?” Ellie grabbed her into a tight hug.

Her smile faded as she saw the body lying there, behind Ellie. She swallowed back the bile that was rising in her throat. She couldn’t believe what she had just done.

“Yeah, I am fine,” she pulled Ellie off and got to her feet. She didn’t want to be there, looking at the vampire she had just killed.

She helped Ellie up. “Are you okay, Ellie? Are you hurt?”

“I am fine. I just…" Ellie shook her head, trying to process everything that happened in the past ten minutes. Her eyes darted to the body lying behind them and her legs gave way again. As she sat down, she focused on something in Maya’s hands.

Maya looked down and realised that she was still holding her Athame. As she dropped it back in to her bag, she noticed Ellie watching her silently. She could see the questions in her eyes.

Maya let out a deep breath, “We will talk about this later, okay?”

Ellie nodded slowly, as she helped her up again.

As they made their way back to the main lobby, Maya saw the scene of what looked to be a bad fight. She could make out at least 5 bodies, all vampires; all not fully turned. The place was swarming with the security team and it seemed that the werewolves had made it out relatively unscathed.

 A slight buzzing started in her ear and it was slowly getting louder. Ignoring it, she supported Ellie towards the large group of men huddled at the front. She wondered where Sam was but before she could dwell on that thought, black spots dotted her vision.

She felt herself losing grip on Ellie’s arm and falling backwards. She heard someone calling out her name.

“Maya”. The voice was soothing and gentle.

The last thing she remembered was looking into brown, beautiful eyes. Maya felt strong arms around her, and she felt safe as the darkness took her.