Page 80 of X-Clan The Origin

I’d never seen a vampire fight a wolf. It sometimes happened, but usually only V-Clan Alphas fought Alpha vampires. And typically when protecting an Omega mate.

Another ferocious sound came from the brawl, this one unidentifiable.

I jumped backward again as they continued to move, the two Alphas evenly matched.

Or maybe unevenly,I worried.

Jonas was a badass and had been raised by V-Clan wolves. But he didn’t harbor their magic. He wasn’t vampire-like either. He didn’t drink blood. He didn’t hibernate. He was all X-Clan shifter.

My shifter.

My mate.

I had to do something to help him.

I just… I didn’t know what to do. I wasn’t magical either.

But I know how to cut open a body,I thought, looking at the blade again.I know how to be deadly with a scalpel. Why not a dagger?

I crept forward, only for the spinning Alphas to cut me off and send me several feet backward.

A crunching sound thundered through the air, followed by Jonas howling in pain as the blur slowed.

“You were an admirable opponent,” the vampire said as he dropped Jonas on the ground, his muscles bulging from beneath his T-shirt, his jeans straining over his legs. “But not admirable enough.”

He lifted his boot, the angle of it heading toward Jonas’s neck.

My wolf reacted without thought, lunging forward, my jaws aiming at the vampire’s throat. He caught me and spun me until he had me on the ground, his stronger body on top of mine and growling with pure menace.

But my animal didn’t bow. She snapped at him, wanting to rip his face off.

Which made himchuckle.

Fuckingchuckle.

“My, but you are one feisty little Omega,” he mused. “I’m going to enjoy breaking you.”

“That would be most unfortunate,” another voice said, the Irish lilt refreshingly familiar.Kieran.“I rather need her whole.”

I tried to look at him, but the vampire phased above me, distorting my vision.

“Oh, come now,” Kieran drawled as he sent the vampire into a nearby tree with a wave of his palm. “Surely you’re not already leaving? I was hoping to have a chat.”

He forced the male to the ground with another flick of his wrist, his presence demanding that the other malekneel.

Vampires were exceptionally powerful.

However, Kieran was V-Clan royalty—a futureking.

He possessed ancient magic. Magic I could feel now lashing out across the field andstranglingthe vampire. There would be no fight between them.

Kieran had already won.

And the vampire knew it, too.

“See, I put up the bounty knowing that all you hunters would eagerly jump to the cause and find Dr. Campbell. All I had to do was track your movements and allow you all to lead me to her.”

Well, that explains the bounty, I thought, shivering beneath the wave of Kieran’s dominance. He wasn’t holding back his energy signature, ensuring everyone around him—alive or dead—felt his authority.