Page 16 of Those That Are Lost (Hidden Vampires #2)

AURORA

T he note cuts straight through me, sending a chill up my spine.

It’s not like I wasn’t aware of the wolves living here in the Northern Isles but I’d yet to hear one, even though I’d been here for months.

Something about that piercing howl sounds menacing and I’m wishing we don’t run into the beast cutting through the silence.

Before it ends, a second one joins in, then a third. A symphony surrounds us and echoes off the mountains looming above.

From the edge of the trees, Ty walks back into the open, scanning the horizon, trying to identify the location of the wolves. I instinctively move towards him, wanting to provide him with protection should they spot us and come over. Henry joins me, flanking my back as I do Ty’s.

Another chorus of howls fills the silence that had fallen from the first. These ones vary in pitch.

A couple of shorter barks join in too. I mentally try to tally the total number I hear, there are certainly more than five at this point.

The thought of being attacked by these beasts sends adrenaline coursing through my veins and my fangs extend on instinct.

Surely the wolves don’t attack people, right ?

Or vampires. Hopefully.

The shifters would be as unaware as the rest of the world to our continued existence. If they do attack, they’re going to be in for a shock.

I jump out my skin when the next howl sounds far closer. My head snaps to Ty, who's got his hands cupped to his face. To my horror, he’s howling back. What the hell?

Henry catches my eye and looks just as confused as I feel as Ty releases another shorter note.

“Ty, what are you doing?” I bat his arm with my hand as even more wolves join in, more of them sounding closer than before.

“I’m letting them know who we are,” he replies like Henry or I should know what the fuck that means.

“Like telling them exactly where we are so they can attack us?” My voice pitching upwards as I pick up on the sound of footprints bounding on the snow.

“Don’t worry, they won’t attack. At least they won’t if you stick with me,” he responds like it's a damn joke. This is serious, my earlier bravado starts to waiver as my mental tally doubles with the amount of cries I now hear.

“Want to clue us in here, buddy?” Henry sounds as nervous as I do.

“We’re in the Northern Isles, surely one of you has figured it out.” Ty looks between the two of us, eyebrows raised.

“Don’t waste time.” I scan the surroundings. “I know about the shifters but why would you want to gain their attention?” From how close they sound, I’m surprised I can’t see any of them yet.

“Ty, I really don’t fancy running into the shifters right now. They’ll expose us.” It's the first time I’ve heard Henry with any sort of anger.

“Calm down, both of you. I hoped we’d run into them when I planned this route. ”

“You what?” both Henry and I shout, equally shocked.

“I know them.” Ty turns to face us both. “They won’t hurt us, and they know we still exist.”

My eyes widen, then blink rapidly as I process that bit of information.

Before I can ask anymore, we run out of time. Three massive wolves appear from the trees, then two more drop from a side path to join them as they reach us. They lope towards us, barking excitedly.

Their coats vary in colours; three are slight variations on steel grey and white; one is so dark their coat is almost black, stark against the bright white of their underside. The final one, the one in the middle, is almost pure white and is slightly smaller.

All bar the white one close in fast, spraying snow everywhere as they skid to a halt in front of us. The smaller white one is more graceful, having slowed on her approach.

Ty crouches to his haunches as they reach us. The darkest grey one and the black one launch once more, barrelling into Ty, sending him to his ass, yipping and wagging their tails so fast their whole bodies are wiggling. Ty’s laughing as he sits up to pet them and brush the snow off his chest.

Henry and I step back, looking on, completely speechless.

I’ve read about the wolf shifters, seen some of them on social media but never had I expected to be standing five feet from a group of them.

I feel like I’m watching some rare phenomenon, these are the last wolf shifters, the only ones that survived the war.

Words utterly fail me. As for the fact Ty seems to think they know about us, I’m going to need him to start explaining soon.

The greeting goes on for a few more seconds before the white wolf barks loudly. Immediately, the two jumping over Ty stop and take a few steps back, allowing him to stand. They sit, still wagging their tails but obey what was clearly an order.

Ty stands, locking eyes with the white wolf —the one clearly in charge of this gang. He bows his head, surprising me further with the submissive move.

“Theodora, I’m glad to see you well,” he says before gesturing to us in turn as he adds, “This is Henry Knox and this is Aurora Capenor. They’re with me and won’t bring any harm to your pack.”

The surrealism of the last few minutes pales in comparison as the white wolf disappears.

Standing in its place is a beautiful woman with the palest hair I’ve ever seen.

It's not quite white, but it’s so close the tiny tinge of grey makes it almost iridescent in the fading light.

She’s older, maybe middle aged by human standards, probably a few centuries into her two millennia lifespan.

She’s wearing a grey dress shirt and leather trousers. Knee high dark grey boots finish her outfit. She’s not wearing a coat, nor any winter gear, bar the boots. She must be impervious to the freezing temperatures.

“They’re not from your pack in Froan,” Theodora states. It clicks somewhere in my brain that the wolf shifter must have an incredible sense of smell if she can tell that none of us are bonded in any way.

“No, but you can trust them,” Ty reassures her.

“I do. You as well, now that you’re no longer bonded to that cunt.

” She’s as graceful in her human form as her wolf one, so her choice of cuss sounds wrong.

But I’m glad to know where she sides when it comes to Adicious.

Maybe that’s Ty’s plan, to get the wolves to protect us should the Froan pack come looking this far north.

“Oh.” Ty shifts like he’s feeling sheepish, like he’s a kid being caught doing something he knows he shouldn’t. “You know about that? ”

“You didn’t think I wouldn’t keep an eye on my best friend's son after the war was over?”

My eyes dart between the two, how many more surprises can come from this interaction? I move a little to the side, slowly, because I want to see Ty’s face, to see his reactions during this conversation. One of the wolves mirrors my movement but doesn’t get closer.

“I thought you’d been completely cut off up here, wasn’t that part of your treaty?” Ty responds.

“I have my ways.” Theodora gives a rueful smile.

“Sadly, I couldn’t come and drag you away from that tyrant no more than I could rescue you from yourself with the bender you indulged in.

Trust me, I tried.” She purses her lips once more, clasping her hands in front of herself.

Even though she’s shorter than Ty by several inches, she emits such a parental aura that makes her appear taller.

I see the pain that flashes across her face, however, as she admits her limitations.

I see it reflected in Ty’s posture as if he’s remembering why he lost himself for those years, because his parents were killed.

I want to reach out and comfort him but keep myself rooted to the spot.

“I couldn’t…” His voice sounds thick in his throat. “I didn’t want to face anyone that knew them. Anyone that would know how I’d failed.”

“Oh, Ty.” Theodora unclasps her hands, moving forwards to put them on Ty’s shoulders. The wolves surrounding us shuffle closer, ready to protect their pack member in case we attack. I feel myself tense in case any of them try to harm him. “You know none of that was in your control, don’t you?”

Ty doesn’t answer and doesn’t meet her gaze.

“Sweetie, if there was anything you could’ve done, I know you’d have done it.”

“I could’ve found out sooner, put together the information I was being fed sooner,” he rebuffs with the line he told me.

“You think you were the only one gathering intel? They knew the attack was coming. Ty, we mustn’t forget them but they’d not want you eaten by guilt like this.”

One of the grey wolves closest to Ty whines.

“Anyway, we can talk more later. You all look exhausted. Do you want to come back to our village? We can feed you too.”

Did she mean we could feed on them? Or did they live with humans?

“I insist,” Theodora says sternly at Ty’s hesitance. “And, anyway, our village isn’t far, it's within those trees.”

Before Ty can protest any further, the woman shifts back into her wolf form. She shakes out her beautiful coat before jogging round us and into the trees. The others streak off in formation except the black one who yips at us as if telling us to hurry up.

We quickly gather our packs and set off after the wolves. This is not how I envisioned the day ending at all.