Bloodfire (Blood Destiny 1) - Helen Harper Page 0,23
have gone better. I probably shouldn’t have tried to guilt him with the whole ‘I’m your friend, don’t leave me’ part - that wasn’t fair. I just didn’t want to lose him to the big bad because I wasn’t sure that he’d be able to hold his own. Perhaps I was just being patronising and over-protective, but he probably was my closest friend. If I wasn’t going to look after his best interests, then who would?
I sighed and picked up the other discarded staff. As I stood back up I felt a prickle on the back of my neck, as if someone was watching. Tensing, I searched the line of trees. Way Directive 3: All shifter activity must be kept hidden. The locals never bothered coming out this far, especially at this time of night, but it would be just my luck that a stray tourist out for a midnight stroll would decide to head my way. I tried to pierce the night gloom, searching for a hint of anything sentient, but came up with nothing out of the ordinary and eventually shrugged at my own paranoia. The tension of having the Brethren here was clearly playing tricks with my mind.
I turned to face the sea and gazed out at its expanse, emptying my mind for a brief moment. The gentle swish of the waves rhythmically beat against the beach and I closed my eyes for a second, breathing deeply. Then I turned back towards the heavy dunes and headed for home.
Chapter Six
It was late by the time I got back and the keep was quiet. Some floorboards on the third floor where the Brethren were housed creaked, but everyone else seemed to be asleep. I slipped into the dorm and lay down on my bed. I figured I’d go for a shower in a minute before I remembered that I wasn’t allowed to. Ick. Soft snores came from several of the other pack girls - I was pretty certain that with all of the heartache and worry of the last few days I personally wasn’t going to get any sleep any time soon. Although shifters would stay awake for the entire full moon period, reveling in the extra power it gave them, they tended to keep a fairly normal sleep pattern the rest of the time. Usually it suited me perfectly because I truly loved my narrow bed, unfortunately right now it was just irritating that everyone else was in dreamland. Yup, tossing and turning would be the best I could hope for.
I closed my eyes and almost immediately slept a dreamless sleep.
Seven hours later the sun was streaming into the dorm room and hitting my face. I moaned and turned over, sticking the pillow over my head. I could hear the voices of the other girls chattering. It was a blessed relief to hear some normality after the hushed tones of the last twenty-four hours.
“Is he single?” Lynda wanted to know.
Ally giggled. “He’d better be! Oooh, that body, wouldn’t you just love to feel it wrapped around you.”
One of them threw a stuffed cow at me. Shifter girls might be tougher than most human ones but they definitely loved their cuddly toys. “Mack, what do you think of the alpha?” It was Betsy. Whatever I said to her would be round the pack before I’d brushed my teeth. I didn’t answer and kept the pillow firmly closed over my head.
“Mack, apparently he’s not the one who was talking last night – that was Staines, the Brethren’s Head of Strategic Deployment or something. The Lord Alpha is the gorgeous one with the black hair.” Ally laughed again.
“Did you clock those muscles?” One of the others loudly shrieked. I winced at the noise.
“I heard that when he took over as Lord Alpha, he had sixteen challenges to the leadership, and that he beat each one without even breaking a sweat. And that he’s really shaking things up in London – wants to stop a lot of the old traditional ways and bring the Brethren into the twenty-first century.”
I may not have known a lot about our de facto leaders but I was pretty sure that the old guard wouldn’t be too keen on that.
“Well, Alexander said that apparently even the vamps are afraid of what he’s going to do next. That when one of their Masters went round to welcome him as the new Lord Alpha, he didn’t even bother to answer the door.”