Chapter 121

**Eli**

The sounds of screams and growls echo through the trees as I make my way toward the border of our lands. It sounds like everyone is panicking, and that is never good. I know the men I have been training are ready for his fight, but we could only prepare so much for an enemy we know nothing about. There were only a few stories about Blood Demons that anyone spoke about. There is so much about them we don't know, so I tried my best to train our pack with the little I knew. Blood demons are fast and strong. They are also almost impossible to kill, in fact, there was no record on how to actually kill them.

Of course, humans have their own theories on how to kill a Vampire, but there is no record showing that any of those can actually kill one.

As I get closer to the border I hear low growls coming from our men and I pick up my pace to reach them. They cant shift but their wolf abilities are still accessible. Including their strength, speed, and canines.

"Push forward!" I hear some shout just as I reach the last row of trees blocking me from seeing what is going on.

I decide to push through my shift and attack the first Demon I see, but it's been a while since I shifted and I can feel the ache in my body as I try. The sounds of my pack's fear push that last bit of hesitancy I feel before my wolf tears through and I fall to all fours right into the thick of our first line of defense.

My chest heaves as I quickly try to take in everything that is going on. There is a flurry of bodies flashing past me but I see the differences between our pack and them. Their skin is pale white and their hair is dark and shiny. Their eyes shine like flowing blood and their fangs are on full display. One of them throws one of my men directly past me and rushes to attack again but I jump in front and tackle the Blood Demon to the ground.

The man I have pinned is thrashing his fangs at me like he is a rabid animal. His eyes are not only the color of blood but his eyes are sunken in with dark circles shadowing his features. He looks...sick. He doesn't seem to know what he is doing like he is acting on instinct. I grow and snarl back at him trying to get my jaws into him enough to stop him but not kill him.

I feel an intense amount of pain come from my side and I howl for a brief moment before finally being able to sink my theta into his arm. He hisses at me and tries to pull himself free but I tighten my hold on him. His ice-cold blood flows into my mouth and I have to try not to gag at the taste. It tastes wrong somehow. I have never tasted vampire blood before, but this tastes...rotten. This is making me question what's really going on here.

While trying to battle the man I try to focus on his scent. I take in a deep breath and I shake my head trying to get rid of the smell as quickly as possible. This loosens my grip on the Blood Demon and he can throw me. The scent of him is still flooding my system and I keep shaking my head trying to dislodge the smell from my system. It smells like death and fire. It makes no sense.

When I finally clear enough of the smell I try to focus on the man stalking toward me. My wolf senses are coming in and out probably due to not shifting in so long, but I try to pick up on any more information I can. This Blood Demon is sick for sure and doesn't seem to be fully aware of what he's doing.

He lunges for me and I dart off the way making him stumble forward and fall to his knees. Also very strange. I jump on his back and lock my jaws around the back of his neck pinning him to the ground. I grow deep and low in warning. I won't kill him now that I have so many questions but I will if he will not stop attacking me.

I have been so focused on this one Blood Demon that I have not checked in on my men. So I use the strength of my jaw to slam the Blood Demon's head into the ground a couple of times until he stops moving. I don't think he is dead but he is unconscious at least. Once my prisoner is out I step away and glance around the clearing.

My men and hurt and weak but no one looks seriously injured. I am confused to see half a dozen Blood demons lying all around us. Dead.

This attack was small and even though these Blood Demons seemed violent, they were easy to kill. How?

One of my men steps over a headless body and lowers himself to one knee in front of me.

"All dead sir. What should we do with them?" He asks.

I huff and push through my shift as quickly as I can, whining at the pain I feel through my bones this time.

"Bring them to the hospital morgue. I want them to run tests on them, something isn't right. Tie this one up for interrogation." I say pointing to the one I captured.

"Yes, sir." The man says before rising and signaling for the others to get started.

I pull out my phone and dial Noah's number.

"Hey what's happening?" Noah asks as soon as he answers my call.

"The men took them all out, there weren't many but they were violent and put up a good fight," I explain to him while I walk around and glancing at the other Blood Demons who were killed.

They all look as bad as the one I caught.

"What is it? SOmethings wrong I can hear it in your voice." Noah says and I smirk.

We have been friends way too long.

"Something isn't right about them. We don't know much about Blood Demons but these look...sick. They were fast but fairly easy to kill which makes no sense. They are supposed to be a tough kill but we were able to kill these within a matter of minutes." I explain.

"You're right that doesn't make sense. Could this have been a way of them to test our response?" Noah asks.

"That could be it, but it still doesn't explain how an immortal creature could look sick and smell like death. It smelt like they are rotting from the inside, and they look malnourished. They seemed almost feral." I stop by one that is wearing less clothing than the others.

Several veins along his neck are visible under his pale skin and the blood running through them is black.

"Do you pick up any more nearby?" Noah asks pulling me from the flood of thoughts running through my mind trying to explain what this could mean.

"I don't sense any more nearby but it may be a good idea to patrol the area past the border," I suggest.

"I agree. Have you seen Freddie?" I furrow my brow at the question. "He has seen them first hand when they attacked the Fae world, maybe he has some insights into all this."

Now that he has mentioned Maya's brother I realize I haven't seen him. He wasn't around when we rushed Maya to the hospital and I hadn't thought about him being missing since she was admitted. Where was he? Did he even know about his sister? How did he manage to pop in and out of our lives without us giving it one bit of thought or concern?

I hate to suspect my mate's brother could be involved in any of this but his behavior is starting to make me wonder. Their uncle was not a trustworthy man and this kid worked with him for some time. We don't really know much about him other than what he shared and all of that could be a lie.

"No, I haven't seen him," I tell Noah now that my mind has been plagued with the idea that the last of Maya's family may have brought these monsters to our door.

Noah sighs. "I have a bad feeling about this."

You and me both brother.

Too much of this is coincidental and that is never a good thing.

"I'll send some of our guys to search for him," I assure Noah. "I'm headed to the meeting hall to interrogate one of the Blood Demons still alive."

"Okay, keep me updated," Noah replies.

"I will," I say before hanging up and dialing my head of the guards.

"Sir." He says when I answer.

"I need you to send a few guys to look for the Alphas brother Freddie. We have not seen or heard from him and it concerns me." I tell him, not letting known my suspicions just yet.

"Yes, sir I will arrange that now."

"Thank you. Double up on patrols tonight. We need to be ready for another attack if one is headed our way. I'll try to contact some of our allies and rally a few more men." I explain.

"Yes sir, we could use all the help we can get."

"Good," I say hanging up and continuing to head toward the meeting hall that held all the Alphas just a couple of days ago.

It looks like we are going to have to test their willingness to help us sooner than we expected. We are going to need all the help we can find because I know this attack is barely the beginning.