“Thank you,” I said softly. I didn’t want to show my fear to him, but I couldn’t help it.
He looked at Nick curiously. “So, you’re still her Guardian, are you?”
Nick nodded.
“You plan on continuing that after you finally change? Or has she made a different decision?” Alfred asked.
I moved my right arm forward to touch Nick to comfort him without Alfred seeing. Nick said, “That’s still a year or so off. I haven’t discussed it with her yet.”
Alfred walked around us, circling like the predator he was. “You two would make a beautiful couple though.”
“Sarah,” Gary said softly. “You alright?”
I turned and found the six members of the pack that attended school with us standing in a loose semi-circle near us. Alfred smiled. “Well, it seems your friends don’t like me being near their female.” Alfred took a step and then his hand was inches from my face. Fortunately, Nick had seen his move and slammed his hand around Alfred’s throat and kept him from touching me. Alfred smiled wide at Nick. “You’re fast, boy. Faster than I remember.” He stepped back, and I realized that the rest of the pack had closed in as well.
Gary pulled me backward so that I was behind him and surrounded by the others. Humans were starting to come to see what was going on, and I didn’t know what to do to defuse the situation.
“Alfred,” Thornton said from behind us.
The pack relaxed but held their positions.
“Thornton, I was wondering when you’d arrive,” said Alfred as he moved towards him. He walked closer to me and the pack shifted, keeping me at least two people away from him.
Thornton was furious, but he simply smiled. “I was waiting at the house for you, but when you didn’t arrive and I felt my pack’s fury, I knew you had to be near them.”
Alfred laughed and put his arm around Thornton’s shoulders. “I’ve missed that wit, Brother.” He leaned his head back and smiled at me. “Bye, Sarah. I’ll see you at the game tonight.”
Nick growled and the rest of the pack kept their eyes on Alfred until he left. I hadn’t felt that scared in years. Mason, one of Nick’s best friends in the pack, reached out and laid a hand on my shoulder. I walked into his chest and exhaled. “He scares me,” I whispered.
Mason hugged me. “We won’t let him hurt you.”
Nick pushed his way through the guys to get to me. I let him pull me away from Mason and into his arms. “You okay?”
I nodded and smiled up at him. “That was pretty cool how you caught him by the throat so he couldn’t touch me.”
He smiled. “You’re my girl. I won’t let anyone hurt you.”
I stepped away from him and let the other pack members take turns touching me in one way or another. Some ran their hands down my arms while others hugged me or gripped my shoulder in reassurance. For us, it was nothing unusual, but for the rest of the school population, they watched in shock as seven boys they didn’t know were friends with each other and had no idea how they knew me, walked by me, and had somehow protected me. There were bound to be rumors running through the school for sure today.
Gary and Nick were the last ones left, and Gary looked at Nick over my head. “I don’t doubt your ability to protect her, but if the other six Alphas feel the same as Alfred, then you could use some additional help protecting her.”
Nick clenched his jaw tight and then sighed. “You’re right. I would argue, but I won’t risk putting her in danger just for my own pride.”
Gary smiled. “I always knew you were reasonable. I figure we can set up groups of two to be near her at all times. This way when you’re across campus, another pair will be near her.”
“I can be of assistance as well,” Tom said from behind me.
Gary and Nick frowned at him. “This is pack business,” Nick said.
Tom smiled and walked forward to kiss my cheek. “This is about keeping her safe. A witch can have more than just werewolves as Guardians.”
Standing between the three of them made me realize something I’d never noticed before. They were all the same height, same build (Tom slightly thinner than the other two, and paler) and they all had the same incredibly protective looks on their faces.
“Sarah?” Nick asked in question as I stared blankly at the ground.
I shook my head and dug in my bag for my bottle of Tylenol. “Headache.”
“That’s the other reason I came to see you,” Tom said to Nick and Gary. “She’s not getting random headaches just because of stress from the three of us pursuing her.”
“Two,” I said softly. “Nick just thinks of me as a friend.”
They ignored me. “What is it then?” Gary asked.
“Vampire,” Tom answered. “When I made her answer a question truthfully, I felt a power pressing on her.”
“You did what to her?” Nick stepped forward, hands clenching.
“You’re missing the point. There’s a vampire tracking her.” Tom rolled his eyes.
That chilled my blood. Vampires were the creepiest of all of the supernaturals. They had powers that made the werewolves nervous, but the pack refused to tell me anything about them except to say stay clear and call for help if I was near one. Why would a vampire be tracking me though?
“How sure are you that it’s tracking her?” Gary asked softly.
“He marked her,” Tom said with such venom in his voice that I turned to face him.
“What does that mean?” My stomach twisted at the possibilities.
Nick swallowed nervously. “It means he can track you anywhere you go.”
“Can it be removed?”
The three nodded. Gary pulled out his cell phone and sent a text message. “I advised Thornton.”
My head throbbed again, and I dropped the bottle of pills. Nick caught me before I fell and cradled me in his arms. “Sarah!”
His voice sounded muffled, yet I could see him right in front of me. I felt Nick lift me up and start moving, but I couldn’t hear anything. The pain increased until I had to close my eyes.
That’s when I saw him.
He was sitting in a dark room with burgundy drapes covering the windows. I recognized him from somewhere, but couldn’t remember where. He had a face like so many others that you would forget him in a second and yet think you knew him. “Hello, Sarah,” he said with a smile that revealed his fangs. “I’m sorry to be causing you pain, but I need you to come to me.” He reached his hand out and beckoned me towards him. “Let me release you from the pain.”
“Sarah,” Thornton whispered. “Wake up, sweetheart. Wake up and come back to us.”
“I’ll see you soon, Sarah,” the vampire said before my eyes opened.
Thornton’s face was inches from mine. He smiled. “There’s my girl.”
“Dad,” I whispered just before tears poured out of my eyes. I wrapped my arms around his neck, and he picked me up, holding me against his chest as he stood. One plus to having a werewolf step-dad was that he could cradle you like a child against his chest no matter how big you got or how much you weighed.
“It’s going to be alright, Sarah,” Dad whispered. “The pack is here for you.” He set me down, and I wiped at my tears.