Page 34 of Property of Mako (Kings of Anarchy MC: Louisiana #1)

An End for a Beginning

Lyra

“I need to go check on the horses.”

I blurted the words the second I felt the walls of the clubhouse closing in on me. I loved Lily. I loved knowing she was safe in the next room, but I couldn’t breathe in there anymore. Pacing the same four walls, waiting, knowing danger was always pressing in closer—it was driving me insane.

Calix’s jaw ticked, the muscle flexing as he stared down at me from where he leaned against the wall. “Lyra?—”

“I need to,” I cut him off. My voice cracked, but I didn’t back down. “I can’t sit here another minute without seeing them. Please. Just a quick trip.”

His eyes darkened with the war inside him. Finally, with a sharp exhale, he pushed away from the wall. “Fine. But you don’t leave my side. Not for a second.”

The ride to the farm was silent, the hum of his bike a vibration in my bones. The moment the house came into view, something in my chest loosened—until I climbed off the bike and found the front door was locked.

“That’s weird,” I muttered, looking in the window next to the door. “Abby should be here. She’s always here this time of day.”

Calix glanced at the door, then at me. “Don’t you have a key?”

“Stashed in the barn,” I admitted, already turning toward it. “Maybe she’s down at the barn anyway and accidentally locked the door.”

But before we took a step, the door creaked open. Abby stood there.

Relief shot through me—then faltered. She looked… wrong. Her hands gripped the doorframe too tight, her eyes wide and darting. And she didn’t move to let us in.

“Abby?” I frowned. “Are you okay?”

For a heartbeat, she looked terrified. Then her expression smoothed out too quickly. “I’m fine. Of course I am.” Her gaze flicked to me, then to the barn. “Did you already go check on Snowflake?”

I froze. My horses’ names ran through my mind like beads on a rosary. There was no Snowflake. Never had been.

Next to me, I felt Calix go still. I glanced over to see his nostrils flared, shoulders bunching like a predator sensing prey. And then I saw it—thin, crimson, sliding down Abby’s neck.

Blood.

Before I could process, a figure stepped out of the shadows behind her. Tall, lean muscle, sharp cheekbones, and colder eyes than I’d ever seen. He smirked, fangs flashing as he shoved Abby out of the way like she was nothing more than trash.

“Lyra Callahan,” he purred. “What a pleasure. Thane sends his regards.”

Calix stepped in front of me instantly, body vibrating with tension. “Who the fuck are you?”

The vampire tilted his head, amused. “How remiss of me. Aamon. Thane’s right hand. I’ve been waiting for you.”

Calix’s eyes narrowed, scanning the house, the yard, the tree line. But I saw the frustration in his face—he couldn’t sense how many were there. I could only assume his power was being blocked somehow.

“We’re leaving,” he ground out, his hand closing tight around mine.

Aamon chuckled. “You think so?” He shoved Abby aside, and she crumpled to the ground with a cry. Then he lunged—not for Calix, but for me.

The world blurred. Calix moved, a snarl tearing from his chest, meeting Aamon with a bone-shaking crash.

They were a storm of fists and teeth and snarls, moving too fast for my eyes to keep up.

Horses in the barn screamed, hooves pounding against walls.

The ones outside ran in the paddocks with fearful neighs.

Calix slammed Aamon into the porch railing, splintering it into kindling. “You really think you can kill me?” he spat, voice savage.

Aamon’s laugh was low and cruel. “Kill you? No.” His eyes slid to me. “But I’ll drag you and your little plaything to Thane in one piece. That’s the order.”

With a roar, Calix drove his fist into Aamon’s gut, but the vampire recovered too fast. His return punch cracked against Calix’s jaw with such force it sent him flying across the yard, crashing into the dirt and gravel.

I screamed.

Aamon turned toward me, fangs gleaming. With a speed I couldn’t believe, he was in front of me and his hand shot out. Before he could get to me, Abby, trembling and bloody, launched herself at him from behind.

“You leave her alone!” she cried, clawing at his face and beating on his back.

Aamon snarled and backhanded her, sending her sprawling. He loomed over her. “Stupid little human bitch. I’ll kill you for that.”

Something in me snapped. My hand went to the knife I’d slipped from Calix’s stash before we left, the weight of it hot and heavy in my palm. Heart pounding, I lunged.

The blade sank deep into Aamon’s side.

He roared, spinning on me. His hand lashed out, jagged claws raking fire across my chest. Pain exploded through me, hot and wet, and I staggered back. My hands flew helplessly to the gaping wounds. My vision blurred, blood rushing out too fast to stop.

“Lyra!” Calix’s voice was raw, inhuman. He was on Aamon in an instant, no longer a fighter—just pure animalistic rage. He tore into him, shredding flesh, breaking bone, ripping him apart until Aamon was nothing but pieces—a ruined corpse on the ground.

Then he was at my side, gathering me into his arms, his face twisted in anguish. “No. Not again. Stay with me. Don’t you fucking do this. Stay with me, Lyra!”

My fingers trembled against his cut, warm blood slipping through them. My body felt heavy, cold. “Calix…”

A ripple of air shuddered through the yard, shadows twisting into form. Haidyn appeared, stepping out of the darkness like he belonged to it.

Calix’s head snapped up, eyes blazing red. “No! You can’t have her! Get the fuck away?—”

“You only have one choice,” Haidyn said, voice quiet but commanding.

“No,” Calix growled. “Fuck you! I won’t damn her like that.”

For the briefest moment, something flickered in Haidyn’s expression—sorrow. Then it was gone, replaced by his usual cold mask.

“Your debt has come due, Mako. Change her. Or lose her forever.”

His words barely registered with me as I slowly lost consciousness.