Chapter 5 Nowhere left to run
His posture stiffened, and the atmosphere in the room grew heavy.
"You treated a vampire?"
The doctor hesitated again, but eventually answered.
"Yes, Alpha. He was dying. I couldn't leave him on the road."
Vane crossed the room in two strides.
Before the doctor could react, his hand closed around the man's throat. He slammed him against the wall and lifted him completely off the floor.
His claws extended, digging into the doctor's skin.
"You saved a vampire that nearly killed my heir?"
"Vane!"
Elena rushed forward.
"You will kill him!"
The doctor clawed frantically at Vane's iron grip, his face turning red as he struggled for air.
"Alpha, please!" he choked out. "I treated him and locked him in the secure ward! I saved him so you could execute him yourself!"
Vane stared at him.
For several seconds, he watched the doctor's eyes dart desperately around the room.
Then, slowly, he released his grip.
The doctor dropped to the floor, coughing and gasping for air.
"Where is he now?" Vane demanded.
"The secure ward. Third door on the left."
"Lead the way."
The doctor scrambled to his feet and hurried towards the door.
Ignoring the agonising pain in her ribs, Lyra pushed the sheets aside and climbed out of bed. She needed to see the person who had survived that horrific impact.
She needed to know if he was alive.
"Lyra, get back in bed!" her mother called after her.
"I'm coming too."
Elena looked at her for a moment but made no further attempt to stop her. Knowing already that her daughter wouldn't listen.
The doctor led them down the corridor before stopping in front of the ward.
He pushed the door open.
The room was cold.
The large glass window had been smashed off its hinges, allowing rain to pour inside. The hospital bed was empty, its pristine white sheets soaked with fresh blood.
The vampire was gone.
"I locked him in here!" the doctor exclaimed, backing away in panic. "I swear it, Alpha. He was unconscious when I left him!"
Vane surveyed the room.
"Clearly, he wasn't unconscious enough." He said without looking at the doctor.
Something in his expression changed. The anger that had been simmering beneath his composure erupted into something far more dangerous.
His eyes burned with a terrifying amber light.
The force of his Alpha aura exploded outward, cracking the linoleum beneath his boots.
Lyra felt the pressure immediately. It pressed against her chest, demanding submission.
But her father wasn't simply expressing his anger to those standing in the corridor.
He was opening the Grand Alpha Link, broadcasting his command directly into the minds of every werewolf in Oslo.
His voice thundered through her head, carrying an authority that allowed no room for disobedience.
"A vampire has threatened my bloodline. He is injured and bleeding. Lock down the perimeter and hunt him down. I want his head!" He declared.
The hospital seemed to shake as wolves answered Vane’s call. Howls of submission and rage echoed through the streets.
“Vane, wait,” Elena said. “You do not even know what happened out there.”
“Do I need a reason to kill a vampire who came within an inch of my bloodline?” Vane replied. “He almost killed my daughter. That is all I need to know.”
He turned on his heel, his claws still fully extended, and marched out to lead the hunt himself.
Elena caught Lyra’s hand, her grip tight and desperate. “Come on. You are not strong enough. Back to bed.”
Lyra stood frozen in the doorway, staring at the bloody sheets and the smashed window.
She did not know who that boy was. She did not know why he had looked at her that way on the road, or why her own heart had ached in response.
But as the city erupted into a hunt, she found herself hoping they would not find him.
---
MALAKAI
The rain battered Malakai’s face, washing away blood that refused to clot.
He dragged himself through the streets, clinging to the walls of houses for cover. The medical bandages wrapped tightly around his ribs were already soaked through. He had lost far too much blood in the crash, and his vampire speed was severely depleted.
Deep in his chest, the Vorago clawed at him. Its agonising heartbeat demanded that he turn around. It wanted him to return to the hospital. Back to the werewolf whose eyes he had met through the shattered windscreen.
Waking up in that hospital had been a nightmare. He had regained consciousness just in time to hear the wolf father roaring on the other side of the wall. From the conversations , Malakai realised her father is an Alpha. The man wanted him dead simply because he had survived a collision with his daughter.
Malakai had not waited for him to open the door. He gathered every ounce of strength left in his broken body, smashed the glass window and dropped two storeys into the downpour.
A chilling howl ripped through the fog. Then another answered from the south. A third followed from the east.
They were organising.
And Malakai knew it was because of him.
He needed sanctuary. Henrik Dahl’s house was three blocks away. They used to race cars together on weekends, before Dmitri Volkov had turned Ravnehall into a living hell.
Malakai reached Henrik’s door and slammed his fist against the wood.
The bolt clicked. Henrik appeared in the doorway, dressed in a loose sweater. He took one look at Malakai’s pale, blood-soaked face, grabbed his shirt and hauled him inside without a word.
“What the hell happened to you?” Henrik demanded, tossing him a towel.
Malakai caught it with a bloodied hand. “Dmitri happened. He killed Sienna”
Henrik’s eyes narrowed. “Is he dead?”
“I made sure of it.” Malakai replied.
“Malakai.” Henrik said his name like a warning. “Do you understand what you have done?”
“I understand exactly what I have done.” His voice came out flatter than he intended.
“Then why do you look like you got hit by a truck instead of a man who just won a fight?”
“Because I also crashed a car into a werewolf.”
“All this in one night?” Henrik asked, his expression shifting to shock.
Malakai pressed the towel harder against his ribs. “It is a long story. One I do not have the leisure of breaking down right now. I need your phone.”
Hesitation flickered in Henrik’s eyes. His gaze dropped to the blood spreading across Malakai’s shirt. Without pressing further, he pulled his mobile from his pocket and tossed it to him.
Malakai caught it and dialled Halloway.
---
HALLOWAY
The thud of dirt hitting flesh echoed through the Norwegian pine forest.
Dmitri Volkov lay at the bottom of a freshly dug grave, flanked by his two dead guards.
“Hey,” Halloway called.
Silas looked up from his shovel.
Halloway pointed towards the tree line. “A car is coming.”
Silas dropped his shovel and turned frantically towards the road. “Where? I do not see anything.”
“Yeah. Me neither,” Halloway said quietly.
Silas turned back towards him.
“What do you—”
Before he could finish, Halloway’s hand closed around his throat.
Silas’s eyes widened.
“Chief?”
He never got the chance to finish.
Halloway twisted his head with all the strength he could muster. A brutal snap echoed through the pines. Before the driver could even hit the ground, Halloway drew a hunting knife and slice through his throat.
