The Dragon Mate

Van Helsing Business

Sebastian’s POV

I walk beside Mana as she carefully walked around the market. She was in need of supplies she typically found herself but with being so busy she thought it best to just buy them all in a single location. I was carrying a basket of the supplies she’d purchased so far while she continued to search the stands. We were close to the pack stand when Mana suddenly stopped to look towards it. I turned to listen as well, curious what had her attention. There was a woman at the stand, her body trembling and her body far to pale to be healthy.

“Please, I know the Van Helsing family is werewolves. I need their help; can you get me into contact with them?”

The wolf behind the stand shook her head, not knowing the legendary vampire hunter family. I noticed Mana tensed before she decided to walk over. I follow wondering why this had her interest.

“Hello miss.” Mana addressed the woman while reaching out for her.

The woman startled and jumped away, looking about to pass out as though the action took what little energy she had left.

“Who are you?” She asked panicked.

Mana did a respectful bow.

“I am Mana Frost Van Helsing, I believe you required my family’s assistance.”

My eyes widened; I didn’t know she was a Van Helsing. I had known her all this time but didn’t know her family name? That meant Knight was part of the legendary family’s bloodline. The woman’s eyes widened before she rushed forward gripping Mana’s shoulders.

“Please, you must save me. A vampire hive, they’ve been stalking me. Using my family for food, they already bled the rest of my family dry. I only barely managed to get out, please you have to protect me. They’ll kill me.”

Mana reached out to calm the woman.

“Where is the hive located?”

When the woman answered both of us looked on in shock, there was a vampire hive within Leon’s territory. Him and his pack were either aiding them or had an alliance. Vampires were dangerous creatures, violent and often without morals. Everything else was just a food source. If not for them sticking together in large numbers they’d have been hunted down to extinction. Mana and Knight were strong but there was no way they could wipe out an entire hive that had a pack for allies.

“Come with us, we’ll take you somewhere you’ll be safe and figure out a way to deal with the hive.”

The woman looked relieved before she proceeded to pass out. I pick her up to carry her while Mana took the basket and teleported the three of us to pack territory. We took her with us to go see Levi, the alpha was discussing things with Samantha and several of the strongest members of the pack when we arrived.

“Is that a human?” Samantha asked with a narrowed gaze.

“She was held captive by a hive. She asked for my help and I intend to give it. I ask that she be allowed to stay here until the threat has been dealt with.”

Levi looked confused.

“She sought the pack’s help but approached you?”

Mana shook her head.

“She asked for the Van Helsing’s help.”

Levi looked confused but his eyes widened as I motioned to Mana.

“You’re a Van Helsing?”

She nodded.

“Father gave me the honor of carrying his family’s name.”

The wolves all looked at each other, clearly not having realized they had a living legend among their pack. When Levi’s expression became serious I began to worry.

“I’m sorry Frost, the pack can’t help you with this. We can keep her here until she’s recovered but we can’t fight a hive. It’s not pack business and I cannot as alpha put the pack in danger in a fight we have no business in.”

I step forward ready to protest but Frost gave a firm nod.

“I understand, I would not ask you to. But as a Van Helsing my father is a part of this.”

Levi sighed but agreed.

“He is pack but he was a Van Helsing first. I will not refuse him his birthright.”

“I plan to go with her.” I tell Levi refusing to back down on this.

“You are free to do that…keep her safe.” He sounded like he was pleading with me, it made me uncomfortable because I knew Levi didn’t like showing such weakness.

Samantha took the woman while I followed Mana out. Knight was in the pack territory with his mate so it was an easy walk to get to him. Upon hearing the news he snarled in rage.

“Damn vampires, let’s go.”

“Hold on there love, you aren’t going without me.” Fern told the wolf sternly.

“This is Van Helsing business.” He argued.

“I am your mate, so it is my business.”

Knight argued but Fern wouldn’t give in. Finally we left, the four of us against an entire hive hidden with a rival pack’s territory. Before they got far Sandalphon decided to join us. He said nothing, just joined us and no one questioned it. They approached the pack territory and the wolves on patrol stopped them.

“Your pack hasn’t contacted us to request permission to enter our territory.”

Mana stepped forward and looked the wolf in the eyes as she spoke in a slightly chilly tone, “We aren’t here as pack, we’re here as Van Helsings. Your territory holds a hive, one that has been killing without mercy. If you interfere you will be dealt with. Allies of vampires will not be tolerated.”

The two wolves looked at each other but stood their ground.

“Who remains in our territory is our business, get lost bitch.”

They didn’t even have time to react as Mana’s hand became like the claws of her dragon form and put it through one of the wolf’s chest. The other fell to Sandalphon who moved with incredible speed. They moved on without looking back at the corpses they left in their wake. Knight shifted form and sniffed the air, directing them where the hive was. I had to wonder if it was a specialty of the Van Helsing family that they could find a hive just by scent alone.

The hive as it was, was a two story complex that was alight with activity. Knight snarled before he barged into the building. Mana jumped onto the side of the building, digging her claws in to climb to the second story to enter there. Fern dashed into the building after his mate while I stood there uncertain where my efforts would be best used. A hand on my shoulder had me staying put.

“Vampires are cowards to their core. Once they realize their hive is under attack they will attempt to escape. We will stay here and ensure none escape.”

I drew my blade and waited, soon enough three vampires came out to try and escape. My magic flowed through my legs allowing me to close the distance between us quickly and decapitate one vampire before turning to the next. This one decided to fight, likely thinking I’d be an easy target as I’m human. He rushed forward looking to aim to sink his teeth into my neck before his hand suddenly swept up to knock my blade from my hand. I cursed and before I could even consider letting my magic flow into my arms I grabbed the vampire’s head and slammed it into the ground. My eyes widened as I saw his skull smashed to pieces with his brain and blood splattered across the ground. My hand and arm looked like Mana’s had, claws and scales of a dragon.

“This is the gift that I gave you. Abilities similar to those of my people.”

I look up at him shocked, not understanding.

“What is this?”

“A partial shift, you will never transform into a dragon but you can take on the features for flight or claws. You will also be immune to fire, stronger, and your lifespan will increase considerably.”

I look at my hand watching as the sharpened claws and scales disappeared. It was a shock and I wasn’t entirely sure how I felt about it. For now I decided to focus on the issue at hand. More vampires attempted to run and the building was filled with enough sound to wake the dead. I grabbed my sword intent on using it over my sudden new abilities. I was surprised how well Sandalphon and I worked together. We didn’t get in each other’s way and seemed to naturally select our targets without overlapping with the other.

It seemed like the hive had no end of members as just the two of us had killed at least thirty vampires and that was only what managed to get out of the building. The others were still fighting and it sounded like they had a lot more to deal with. Only a few more managed to escape to fall to us before the others came out. Blood soaked Mana’s clothing and arms, there was blood dripping from Knight’s mouth and claws, while Fern looked the same as he had going in. Likely because he attacked at a distance with his magic.

“Did we get them all?” I ask them.

Mana just nodded; I didn’t know why she was so upset. She hadn’t reacted at all at killing the two wolves that tried to stop us. When headed back to park territory and I noticed that Knight would occasionally reach out to give Mana a side hug. He was comforting her? What had happened there that I missed?

The wolves patrolling our territory looked us over but didn’t stop us from entering. They did move to check if anyone followed us which we would have noticed but it was good to be cautious especially with everything that had been going on. I couldn’t fault them for double checking.

We ended up going to Mana’s house where she sat down and broke down. I was shocked by her tears and stood frozen as Knight and Fern went to comfort her. Sandalphon was quick to pull me out of the building to give the three privacy.

“Do you know what happened?” I ask him.

He gave a short nod as he crossed his arms over his chest.

“There were dead humans in there. The Van Helsings hunt vampires to prevent things like that from happening. I don’t know how many missions my sister has gone on but for someone so kindhearted, knowing people still died must weigh heavily on her. I suspect she blames herself for not getting to them faster.”

I can’t help but close my hands into tight fists, wanting to do something to help but I know I can’t. I never felt any grief or sorrow for protecting my home from threats. I felt obligated to as a royal guard and that was a duty I swore to willingly. But this I suppose had to be different. Mana was adopted into the Van Helsing family and didn’t like to fight. She preferred to help people and today she’d been forced to do what she hated and failed and what she loved. Maybe she felt obligated to do this as Knight’s daughter. To not disappoint him but even that didn’t sound right. Mana was strong and said what she needed to. If she was against living up to the Van Helsing legacy then she’d have said so.

“She will be alright, we need to just give her time. We should inform Levi of what’s happened. While we did not go there acting as part of Levi’s pack it does not change the fact that two members of our group are pack.”

I nod in agreement and head towards the pack house with him. Levi wasn’t at the pack house though and Samantha explained he’d been called away about an hour ago and wasn’t likely to return until the next day.

“You can report what happened to me and I’ll be sure it gets to him.”

Sandalphon was the one to report as he’d clearly noticed more than I had. Samantha clearly wasn’t happy when she heard about the rival pack but listened closely to get every detail she needed. When Sandalphon was done she shook her head with annoyance.

“This will cause problems but they shouldn’t have been housing a hive. Vampires are rarely a good thing. I’ve only met one vampire that doesn’t live to kill.”

I look at her surprised.

“Really?”

“Yeah, a complete gentleman. He’s one of the older vampires and only drinks donated blood. He doesn’t live close by but he does visit from time to time. He likes to keep a good relationship with us because his soulmate is one of the pack.”

“Are they bonded?” I find myself asking.

She shook her head.

“They both agreed that romantically they just don’t work. They have a more platonic love between them. I’ll let you know when he stops by, he’s due for a visit soon actually.”

It would be interesting to meet a vampire that wasn’t a cold-blooded killer. I haven’t actually heard of one like that.

“Who donates blood to him?” I find myself asking before I could step out of the room.

“The pack does and those that are close to him where he lives. He has a mage that helps him preserve the blood so it doesn’t spoil. Our pack is pretty big so he gets a good amount to last him.”

I thank her for the information before leaving. Before I could walk away Sandalphon put his hand on my shoulder.

“Now that you’ve awakened the abilities I’ve granted you, we need to train you. Come, this will not be easy.”

I feel a shiver go down my spine, I doubt he was going to go easy on me.