Won By the Sword : a tale of the Thirty Years' War by G. A. Henty (latest novels to read .txt) 📕

Damien knelt before her. “You’re beautiful, Jill. In any form. Rob would probably freak if he saw what I just did. Does it hurt?”

Jill shook her head. She stepped forward to lick Damien’s face.

“I will admit, this is weird. Almost terrifying but almost getting killed by vampires does tend to numb a guy. You do realize, you are going to have to meet my dad and friends, eventually.”

Jill let out a low groan that made Damien laugh. She pushed him over playfully. Her heart and mind filled with overwhelming relief he wasn’t scared of her. No longer did she have to hide from Damien. He knew all of her and the best part was, he loved it.

****

The morning following her revealing her true nature to Damien, Jill was kick-boxing one of the bags in the boxing room.

Damien had gone to college, leaving Jill to spend her day off working out and chatting with Clint all day.

She paused when she saw Holt walk in with his beta, Cade.

“This can’t be good.” Clint said as if he were able to read Jill’s mind.

“What’s Holt doing here?”

“I don’t know but from the look on his face, I’d say it isn’t good.” Clint replied just as his father came in.

“Jillian, Gabriel has requested your presence. It is very important.” Kain’s authoritative tone held no room for argument.

He rarely used it but when he did, it was something very urgent.

Jill followed Kain into the meeting room Gabriel usually only opened to alphas and betas.

She was neither.

The meeting room as it was called had a large ovular table where Gabriel held elder meets which usually consisted only of Kain, his beta, Chase, Gabriel and his beta, Dolph. Now it housed all three packs' leaders and their betas.

“Holt, my old friend.” Kain hugged the alpha, shaking Cade's hand. The tension between the two apparent in the strength in which they grasped their hands. “What is it that drives you from your clan? You remember Jillian Styles?”

Holt was much like his other brethren. Slightly shorter than Kain, Holt sported a head of pitch black hair with ashen highlights and eyes as dark as the night sky. He was built stockier, his muscles and stomach a bit wider than Kain's because of his size.

Nonetheless, to many of the females of his pack, Holt was a true desire and very easy on the eyes.

His beta, Cade was a hard-bodied soldier. He was a few inches taller than Kain, built like a bodyguard with longer red hair so dark it was almost black with a red overlay. His body was covered in scars from his years of war. Both human and lycan. His light eyes almost shined out from the darker shadows under his eyes.

If it weren't for the fact that his skin was a more copper tone, he could have been mistaken for a vampire.

“Of course, who could forget the legend herself? It is good to see you again, Jillian.”

Jill lowered her eyes out of respect. “It is an honor to see you again as well, my alpha.”

Holt let out his signature, boisterous laugh. “Now, now, there’s no need for such formality. You are welcome here,” He turned his attention back to Kain. “The news I bring isn't good, old friend. I wish I had better. Thanks to Cade, I've been kept up to speed with most of the news of what's been going on but I'm still missing a few pieces,”

Holt's accent was heavy as he spoke. A mix of Germanic and polish since his ancestors moved to the States, Holt often had to focus to make sure he was understood when he spoke. “Let me start this gathering by saying how elated I am to see all of you again. It has been too many moons since we've seen each other. I just wish my tidings were more of the glad sort,

“We have news of one of the rogue packs, led by Lune's brother, Nathaniel has gotten into an encounter with Rayes. The exchange didn't end well and Nathaniel is demanding we help him in getting payback. Lune doesn't desire to get involved but unfortunately it’s not going over well,

“Gabriel, we know you have had dealings with Nathaniel. We came to ask you to talk to him on our behalf. The boy has a hot head and is already challenging me for my position as alpha. He's gaining support from my own pack. All of us here know what will happen if he takes over. He'll get them all killed with his recklessness.”

“That kid never could keep it in his pants as far as fighting went. I'm surprised he's even allowed to run a pack at all.” Dolph's disdain was thick. He'd once encountered Nathaniel and gotten a scar across his face for it from the alpha’s beta, Vincent.

Gabriel silenced Dolph with a glare. “I'll talk to him, Holt, but I'm not sure it would do any good. As much as I hate to admit, Dolph is right. He didn't listen then, why would he listen now?”

“Because if he has all three alphas represented here standing against him, it would bring the supporters who are drawn to him back. They're doing it out of fear. There are more of us dying or forgetting every day. I guess they'd rather go down fighting than just waiting to die by the vampires’ hands or traps.”

Jill was well aware the lycans numbers were dropping. They all knew it. With the growing number of vampires it wasn't making it easy for the lycans who were just trying to survive.

“Holt, we can't live in fear. That's what the vampires want. If we get scared, we become easy to target. So far none of the lycans here in