His Little Mate

Chapter 43

Nicholas

A short time before...

The moment we reached the dilapidated house, my control fractured, and Aztec took over completely. A primal wave of possessiveness and terror washed over me. We could smell him, Sam, his scent a beacon in the darkness, but we also detected the lingering traces of others, the tang of fear and malice fueling my already white-hot rage. I had been submerged in a pool of blackness, a single-minded desire to obliterate anyone who had dared to take him from me, their motives irrelevant. Leading the search party – Raiden, Eddie, and Charlie flanking me – I felt a savage anticipation building. We arrived just as Samuel appeared to be falling from a second-story window. Without conscious thought, I shifted, claws extending, and scaled the wall with terrifying speed. The aged wood splintered beneath my grip as I reached out and yanked him into my arms. The near-fatal fall ignited a fresh wave of fury within me. His eyes, squeezed shut in anticipation of death, fluttered open, and in their depths, I saw a flicker of hope, a radiant happiness that pierced through my rage, a fragile light in the overwhelming darkness.

"N-Nick?" He whimpered, my heart soaring that he used my nickname for the first time.

"Sam," I responded. "I'm glad you're safe,"

"Safe?" He chuckled a bit, finally latching onto me.

"I know, I got here just in time." I smiled, trying to lighten the dismal situation we found ourselves in.

He just clung to me and smiled back.

I used my eyes and looked at Charlie. Come, get him! I commanded.

"If you'll excuse me, I have to take care of business." I nuzzled him as Charlie climbed up the house a bit. "Take him!" I shouted, passing him to Charlie.

He seemed a bit dazed as Charlie took him and put him on his back...but I would have been pretty out of it too if I almost fell to death from a window so high up.

"...Neil!" I heard the tail end of his words as they came out in a shout. Sam was pointing in the window he just fell from.

His word was like a catalyst and Raiden who had appeared beside me like a ghost was gnashing at the bit.

Damnit! Aztec cursed and took control.

Everything was like a blur...he smashed in the window, Sam's sister screamed, and they went running. Neil also went running, but I assume that was more because of Raiden.

"Go in!" Aztec snarled at the men below. They burst into the old house in seconds and Raiden threw himself into the window feet first.

Aztec followed him in, and as we landed with a soft thud on the decaying floorboards, the scene within the house sent a shiver of unease down my spine. It wasn't just disarray; it was a silent testament to something deeply wrong. The air hung heavy with the scent of dust and something else... something faintly metallic and unsettling. The floorboards groaned under our weight, and in places, entire sections had rotted away, leaving gaping, black holes that seemed to breathe a cold, damp air from the unseen depths below. The meager furniture, draped in cobwebs thick as shrouds, lay broken and contorted, like discarded limbs in a forgotten tragedy. The wallpaper, once perhaps vibrant, now peeled away in long, skeletal strips, revealing patches of dark, stained plaster that hinted at unseen horrors within the walls. It felt less like a neglected house and more like the husk of something that had died violently, its secrets clinging to the decaying fabric of the building. Screams and shouts filled the house.

"No!"

"Jenny!"

The sound of glass breaking and shattering wood filled my ears. A sound I detested filled my ears as well. The all too well known hissing sound from the lips of a vampire. Albeit, one who wasn't a full vampire. Probably a half breed. That man who was with Sam's sister...I knew he smelt weird.