After everyone was finished eating, they moved all the tables and chairs back so the wait staff would not have to. They left and the place emptied out. All of the men piled back into the trucks. Lyle lead Amaris back to the same truck that he had been in before they arived. They had first gone to the truck and gotten her pack from Anna and Taji. Lyle threw her backpack in, and then helped her into the back of the truck. She sat down on the bench seat, which was much less comfortable than the truck seat, and waited for the convoy to start up again. Lyle came and sat down next to her. He faced her and began to speak. "I'm sorry." Amaris was about to tell him not to appologize anymore when he held up his hands. "No. No. Wait. I have a lot to appologize for and I don't want you to speak for now, just listen." He looked at Amaris as he set his ground rules, unsure if she would give him the opportunity to finish, he took the lead. Amaris nodded once for him to continue. "No e
They sat back in the truck leaning on the side, with Amaris snuggled into Lyle's shoulder. They dozed for the next couple hours and both got some much needed sleep. They both woke with a start when the truck hit a particularly hard bump. Amaris landed in a heap on the floor and Lyle grabbed at the seat and the canvas side of the truck. After he righted himself, he reached down and helped Amaris up. "We must be close. We moved off the main roads and are on the dirt road." Lyle said wrapping an arm around her and a hand around the metal frame of the top. They hit a few more ruts in the road before they came to a stop. They could hear voices, as men got out of the trucks. Lyle got up and poked his head out of the back of the truck. "We are here. Come on." Lyle climbed out and then reached back and offered Amaris his hand to help her down. They started to move toward the front trucks to find Anna and Taji and also to find Alexis and Andreas. Many of the men had gotten righ
Amaris was watching where the hawk was flying. It seemed to know exactly where she wanted it to go before she said anything. So did the fox. The fox ran to the edge of the woods where the fencing started. "Good hold there fox. Hawk lets see what we can find from above. Good. Start with the palace. Circle around carefully. If you see any archers go higher and away." Amaris warned the hawk. "Wait. There are archers! They better not shoot our hawk!" Anna said with indignation. Amaris scowled but said nothing. Taji seemed to understand that Amaris needed no distractions while she was trying to track and direct two animals. He went over and put his arms around Anna and kissed her neck and then whispered to her. "They will be fine. Give Amaris the quiet she needs to concentrate and she will be able to protect them." He kissed her again and then leaned his chin on the top of her head. Anna seemed to relax with Taji holding her. Amaris continued trying not to pay attention to anyone around her
Alexis' mouth hung open in shock. Anna turned and burried her head in Taji's chest as he held her tight. Lyle looked disgusted. Andreas looked like he did not get it. "Food for what? Do they have lions and tigers there, or have they just become cannibals?" As soon as the words were out of his mouth it clicked. "Oh no way! Oh Damn! They are feeding the humans to the vampires?!" Andreas said this last so loud that all the men nearby that were working stopped and looked at them. Andreas paid no attention and neither did anyone else. "We are going to need to go in there and get them all out and then protect them until we can find a way to get them home. That is going to be a tall order since there are around eight thousand vampires there who are going to want to protect their dinner." Andreas said looking slightly nauseated. Alexis stepped forward to lean on the tail gate. "Amaris, we need to see inside the fenced area, and also inside the palace. We need to know who is i
"What do you mean we can't? Of course we can and we must. They will all die if we don't help them!" Amaris was outraged. How could this man call himself a soldier and a protector if he will not even try to save these people. Some of them ones that he knows. "Amaris calm down and let me explain." Amaris narrowed her eyes and was ready to do worse than mice to him this time. "We are only two hundred werewolves. They are eight thousand vampires and we are not sure how many werewolves that just joined them. Even if we free the prisoners, they are humans, and I would bet most of them would not be able to fight. We are beyond out numbered. It would be suicide for us, and the prisoners would still all die. We need to have some sort of plan. I know you can do all sorts of remarkable things, but we need to make sure that we have a chance of bringing them out alive, as well as a good chance of surviving all this." Amaris still looked ready to go, but she was somewhat more deflated and brought ba
Lyle led Amaris back to the area where there were already set up tents for the men. He took her into one of the ones that you could stand up in. He held the flap open and she walked inside. He followed and closed the flap. With the flap closed it was so dark the they could not see except for a few cracks of light around the edge of the flaps. Lyle took out his phone and turned on the flashlight. "Sit for a minute. I need to ask you something." Amaris looked at the cot set up behind her and did as she was asked. Lyle looked like he was going to sit and then changed his mind and started pacing the small space. It looked funny since he was ducking to be able to stand up in this tent. It was designed more for sleeping than for living inside of. Lyle stopped and looked at her. "How are you feeling after all that? I know before it seemed that using your powers would tire you out, but now you can do more and you don't seem tired at all." He stood there looking at her like a
Lyle and Amaris opened the flaps and walked into the tent. Everyone that had been with Amaris at the truck was there. They were already standing around a map table. Alexis seemed to be pointing to a large map with drawing on it. Coming closer, Amaris saw that they had drawn the different things that she had described on the map. Alexis turned and aknowledged them and then went back to what he was saying. "Amaris can you confirm from what you saw that these are the main places on the grounds." He pointed to a large section of the back area of the palace grounds. "This is where the vampire troops are stationed?" Amaris nodded "This is where the munitions are located." Again Alexis looked to her for confirmation. "This is where the holding area is for the prisoners." Alexis pointed to a spot down the side of the wall. Amaris said "Yes. They are in a fenced in area contained within the wall. There is enough room between the wall and the fence for a man to walk and that is ab
Alexis moved on. "While they are doing what they need to do, we need to create a plan of attack to back the two of them and be ready to get the prisoners out of here." He walked to the map and started waving over the other soldiers in the tent to follow along on the map. Anna broke free from Taji's embrace, and stormed out of the tent. Alexis paid no attention, almost as if he expected it. Taji went to follow her. Alexis reached out. "Go get Michalis, Nicholas, and Giorgos. Bring them back here." Alexis turned back to the map and continued giving orders. Taji walked out of the tent knowing that Alexis had gone into soldier mode and that no one and no emption would get to him now. He shook his head. Looking around for Anna, he caught snippets of a conversation coming from a nearby tent. It was Amaris and Lyle. "I am sorry. It was not my intention for you to end up backed into a corner over this." Taji knew that he shouldn't but he stopped and listened anyway. "No Ly
Amaris and Lyle sat at the table in the RV which had now become their home. They had settled into their life together on the run. They drove through the European countryside acting like all the rest of the tourists. They stayed away from areas that were known concentrated werewolf areas. They fell into their day-to-day routine, and Lyle had even taught Amaris how to drive the RV. Amaris was starting to show now, and Lyle was concerned that she did not have the proper doctor's care for her pregnancy. More than once he had tried to see if he could find a pack doctor that was willing to see her that was not loyal to the crown. However, they were in Europe, where the werewolves were most loyal to the King or Queen, since they were so close to them. He had not had any luck. They had not had any contact with anyone that they knew, as they had planned. Lyle had bought a burner phone in case of an emergency, but had not even turned it on yet so that there was no way to trace them. To further
Amaris bent down to see Anna at her feet holding her bleeding leg. She had changed back and was now naked. Amaris stripped off her hoodie and gave it to her grateful best friend. "Are you okay?" Amaris asked Anna while looking over to see if Lyle had moved. "I'll be fine. It's nothing Taji can't take care of when he gets back. Go check on your mate." Anna said watching the torn look on Amaris' face. Amaris looked back and gave Anna's shoulder a squeeze, and then hurried to Lyle. Amaris dropped to her knees between Lyle and The King's corpse. Lyle was breathing. It was as if he was asleep. Amaris knew that he must be like the others that she had brought back. It would drain her of her energy to do it. Then she took a look at the area around her. There were so many men and women that were injured and needed help. She knew that Taji could not do it all on his own. Amaris thought about how to heal them all for a moment, and then came up with an idea. She took a deep breath and closed her
Alexis and Andreas' men were attacking in their wolf form. They were coming in from every side, and from the look of it they had The King's men out numbered. The clearing was in an uproar with men and wolves everywhere. Before Amaris knew what was happening, Lyle had transformed into his wolf and leaped between her and The King. His muzzle wrinkled as he bared his teeth and growled in warning. The King looked at him and merely laughed. He reached behind him and grabbed the staff that he had back at the palace. Lyle seemed to recognize it and backed up a few steps. The King laughed at his retreat. "Smart lad. Hand her over and I will not have to use it." Lyle backed up a few more steps and this time he leaned into Amaris pushing her back too. The fighting was still going on around them. Many of The King's men lay upon the ground, and most of the rest were fighting two or three wolves now, since they were severely out numbered. Amaris saw that many of the wolves were making their way cl
Lyle walked around the back of the house to the UTV as the truck drove away. He climbed in and looked at Amaris. "Decoy." He said with a thumb over his shoulder. "Where did you find him? He looks like your doppleganger." Amaris asked amazed. "Funny thing. When I went to get some of those items that we needed earlier, he was the supply clerk that helped me. I asked him to help me out this evening by taking the truck out for a test drive to see if the repairs I made earlier are going to hold. I told him I needed to drive a short way behind to see if it was okay." Lyle laughed again. "So that poor guy has no idea that he is bait?" Amaris was getting ready to get out of the UTV. "I did tell him that since we were hiding out that we need to be extra vigilent for the possibility of attack, which is more likely since we have been here for a while." Amaris got angry. "Lyle, that poor man could get killed because they think that he is you!" She turned and yelled at him. "We
Amaris' mouth hung open for a moment, and then anger grew. "Who? Who whipped you?" Lyle turned to look at her, then down to the floor. "Adam and Sveta. They were made for each other. They are equally twisted and driven by their need for power." Lyle said with a dismissive tone and then almost mechanically started taking the rest of his clothes off. It was clear that he did not want to continue this conversation any further. Amaris walked over and lifted his face to hers from his bent over position. "I'm sorry." She said in a whisper that cracked from the emotion behind it. "I did not want any of this, least of all for you to be hurt." she kissed his cheek tenderly. Lyle dropped the clothes that he was holding and put his arms around her. "This is not your fault. Don't ever think that. This is not something that you chose. You were as much thrown into this as the rest of us. This is all the fault of the ones who have greed and lust in their heart. The ones who have
Lyle dropped it back into the pack and put a few things in from the pile that he had set aside to go into the truck. Then he grabbed the pack that Amaris was filling and sorted through her things. He found a tracker there too. "Well, at least we know it wasn't Kliman. He never touched your pack." Lyle said as he moved over to the doorway of the barn. Sitting against the wall of the barn were a few dozen hiking packs waiting to be filled. Lyle grabbed two from the end and handed one to Amaris. "Fill them with everything that you will need. Only one extra set of clothes, and a couple extra pairs of socks and underware. Food, and matches, and so on." Lyle was moving so quickly that Amaris was not sure what to grab first to stay out of his way. "Quickly! We need to do this before he gets back, or anyone else comes along and sees us." They both hurried and filled their packs and then Lyle took them both and told Amaris to stay there and he would be right back. While Lyle wa
When Amaris' hand touched the young man's arm she suddenly was transported to another time. It was night here. There was the unmistakable sounds of fighting. Growls, and yelling all around her. The young man that Amaris had just been talking to was in front of her hiding behind a tree. He held some sort of black box in his hand and loooked to be waiting for something. "Where are we?" She asked the young man in a whisper as she stepped closer to him. The man did not respond. He did not even look at her. She reached up to tap him on his shoulder. Her hand went right through him. Amaris jumped back startled. She stared at her own hand, and then tried to touch the tree next to her. Her hand passed through that too. She took another look around her. She realized that the man standing next to her was speaking. "They are leaving now. Green transport truck. She is hidden in the back under the tarp. Out" The man said. He was putting the box away and turned to leave in th
Amaris stood there frozen and watched the back of Gran as she walked out of the room. She slowly sank back down on the couch next to Lyle again. He still had not moved from his spot, but seemed to be in deep thought. Amaris brought Lyle out of his stupor by grabbing his hand. "Did she just say what I think that she said? Are we going to have a baby?" Amaris thought about what Gran had said 'Little ones'. What did she mean? Was she talking about our children in the future? Amaris felt just like she often had lately after talking to Gran, more confused. Lyle took a deep breath and turned to Amaris. "According to the tapestries that we saw earlier, you and I will have one set of twins. A boy and a girl. Like you they will also have powers. Which means that like you they will also be hunted by others for what they can do." Lyle hung his head. He did not want to think about his children being hunted anymore than he wanted to think about Amaris being hunted. Now it was Ama
Amaris sat back and looked at Gran who had a big grin on her face. Anna walked over and squeezed in between Lyle and Amaris. "Sorry Romeo, but we need to get this meeting moving, and you just can't help yourself." She said patting Lyle on the shoulder at his disappointed look. Lyle rubbed the back of his neck again and smiled raising his hands in the air. "Got me." There were a few laughs and then everyone turned back to Gran. "Well, as I was saying. We will be splitting up." Everyone gathered around her nodded. Gran had presented this idea already, and no one seemed to disagree with her. "Lyle you will be taking Amaris and hiding. NONE of us is to know where you are." Amaris' eyes grew wide and worry now crept in. Up to this point she had been able to stay safe because she had the help of a lot of people. She did not want anyone else to die, and she was afraid that she would get Lyle killed if he felt that he was her only line of defense. Gran pointed a finger at Amari