Her Brother, Her Mate

“f**k,” I sneered, not wanting to deal with these 2 fuckheads right now. My mom looks pissed, and I can almost see her palm twitching as she takes in my appearance. Parker moves to my side and pulls me against him. I know he is trying to offer me support, but it makes me feel weak sheltering in his arms, so I push him off. He huffs in frustration, but doesn’t try to do it again.

“I don’t want to look weak in front of them,” I whispered to him.

“I don’t think anyone would dare accuse you of being weak,” he tells me, offering a small smile.

I glare at my mom as she glares at me, tucked under Alpha Jared’s arm like the parasite she is. Alpha Jared opens his mouth to say something, but is cut off when my dad and Elena come barreling at me from the first SUV in the line-up.

They both pull me in their arms, inspecting me for injuries, then hugging me tightly between them.

“We were so worried!” Elena grabs my face, tilting it every way to check for damage. “What happened?”

“Did it get you? Its teeth didn’t pierce your skin, did they? We brought antivenom just in case. Did you check everywhere? Do you feel okay?” my dad asked, frantically looking me up and down.

“I’m completely fine. Parker had scratches, but they healed already. The only injury was the fatal one Emily sustained to her neck. She’s fae. Her queen is sending her soldiers to retrieve her body and help with the investigation,” I told them.

“Courtney?” Uncle Nathan went around the parking lot, looking at me expectantly.

“Over here dad!” She came out from the other side of the SUVs with Simone. Uncle Nathan’s eyes tighten when Courtney runs to Casey and not him. She is turning him around, checking his body for bites until he stops her, cupping her face, and tells her he’s alright.

“Looks like you got your gamma, Uncle Nathan,” I smirked at his sour face.

“If you guys are done, can someone tell me what exactly happened here?” Alpha Jared scowls at us.

I huffed in annoyance. “Where is Beta Anthony? Shouldn’t he be here first before-”

“Over here,” Beta Anthony runs over to us from the bridge connecting the island to the mainland. “Sorry, the fairy soldiers are here and they let me know they found the car the vampires must have come here in. They said they could smell 3 different scents in the car, and one of them wasn’t rotten. It was a normal vampire scent. There was a 3rd vampire that wasn’t rogue with them.”

“Did they say if they caught them?” I asked.

“No, whoever it was got away. Do you have vampires here at the party?” he asks. I turned to Casey and Simone.

“No, not yet. I think a couple were set to come later, but the Miami Coven is having a party to honor the graduating seniors, so they were going to come much later,” Simone tells us.

“Will someone please, for the love of the goddess, tell me what happened?” Alpha Jared yells above us, making all of us, even Beta Anthony, send him dirty looks.

“A group of fairy girls were going through the forest, enchanting the trees to glow. A rogue vamp came out of nowhere and-”

Alpha Jared cuts me off, “Parker. I would like you to tell me what happened. The one in charge should do the explaining.”

My dad growls softly, and so does Parker, “That would be Carli then. She took control of the whole situation, gave all the orders, subdued the vampires and took care of the fairy girl that lost her life. All I did was follow her command and run around the island a few times.”

Alpha Jared’s nose flares, but he says nothing else, just looks at me to continue.

“Like I was saying, a vampire started chasing them so they ran back towards the party. The male rogue attacked Emily just as she was coming out of the trees. He ripped her throat out and it looked like she died instantly. I shifted and pushed him to the ground and held him there while Parker dismembered him.

“Before we could kill the first one, this woman rogue came out of the trees and tackled Parker to the ground. He would have been killed if not for Casey and Daryl. They attacked from the sides and restrained her while I tore off the male’s head. Parker staked the male in the heart to be sure he was dead and I staked her to subdue, but not kill. We need her to find their coven so she’s staying alive,” I told him firmly, feeling his need to get rid of her, even though that wouldn’t be the best decision for solving our crisis.

“Carli organized medical attention for those who might need it, made teams to sweep the island and took command of everything. She was amazing,” Parker boasts proudly, rubbing my back in support.

“Hmph,” my mom huffs, looking anything but proud. Elena, on the other hand, is glowing as she stares at me. The pride in her eyes is stifling, but I love it.

“Who did this little number to our friend over here?” Uncle Nathan asked, looking up at Casey suspiciously. Casey looks back at him nervously, making Courtney giggle.

“That would be me,” I smiled at him, “She pissed me off.”

“Remind me to never piss you off. Is that going through her head? Is she still alive?” he asks, looking around her to the back of her hairless head to see the other end of the branch protruding from the other side. He whistles at the sight, like he’s amazed by my work.

“She’s alive. Just weak. I got her arteries and the branches were still living, so living wood is flowing through her veins, making her super weak,” I told him.

“Nice job. I can see this pack might actually have a luna who’s worth something some time soon,” he looks smugly over to me.

Alpha Jared growls at his insult and hurt flashes on my mom’s face, but the rest of us, even Beta Anthony, smiled slightly, trying to hold back our laughter.Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

My dad, Beta Anthony, Parker and I ran across the bridge to talk with the fae soldiers. Elena stayed with Casey and Simone to get a list of the party guests, focusing mainly on the vampires who might have come. Alpha Jared and my mom started walking around and asking if everyone was alright. Of course, they took the easiest job. My mom seems to sincerely be comforting Melody and her friends though, so there’s that. She’s not completely useless.

Parker and I stripped and escorted my dad and the Beta in wolf form, just in case the 3rd vampire showed up. I wonder who it could be and why they were here in the first place. Rogue vampires don’t usually attack in populated areas like that. Melody and her friends were in the woods, but the party was still only about 50 yards away. It doesn’t really make sense to me.

“What are you thinking about?” Parker mind linked to me, rubbing up against me.

“That 3rd vampire they were talking about. If they weren’t rogue, what were they doing with 2 rogues? And what were they doing here? It doesn’t make sense.”

“It doesn’t. Rogue vampires feed on other vampires. Maybe the 3rd one escaped from them? Maybe they were using the normal one for food.”

“Then why come out here and attack where there are lots of werewolf warriors and other supernaturals?” I asked.

“I don’t know. We need to find that 3rd vampire and find out. We have the woman. We can integrate her back at the guard center and figure it out there,” Parker tells me, brushing his tail against me and nudging me playfully. Big puppy indeed.