The Secrets of the Panther
Chapter 87

IZZY

I watched as our mates walked away; they were silent, but I could tell by Blake that he was not happy with any of this even if he was happy to see Anya.

“I hope Blake will watch out for her,” says Drake; as he moves closer to my side.

I growl and look over my shoulder to see him standing a few inches away from me.

“Blake will,” I say and turn to face Drake. “I want the real reason you dropped her here, and I know when you are lying to me, I need you to tell me what you know.”

Drake looks down at me but sighs. He turns and sits on the wall, which is the barrier to being on the territory.

“I brought her here because I only knew one person who has been messed about the Elder more than anyone,” he says and stares at me. “You, Izzy, we were once friends before...” he says, but I cut him off with a loud growl.

“We were never friends, Drake,” I said. “You pretended to be my friend and then turned on me once the hunters caught me.”

Drake sighs. “I know I did you wrong, but Anya,” he says as he looks to where our mates once left. “Anya has done nothing to hurt anyone. She is my mate, and I want to protect her from the evil that wants to harm everything that it touches.”

I say nothing. Puna is close by, as she needs to be just in case he attacks. We can never trust him after all the times over the years he used us.

I stare back at him. “Izzy, I know you won’t believe me. I never knew what Michael did to you. I never thought it was you who he talked about,” he says. “He told me it was some human girl, nothing about a shifter, but Michael wanted to be a shifter when he found out about our kind.”

I can feel the anger towards Michael swoop over him, but he looks at me. “I would have never thought he would have tortured you and rap...” he says, but I growl at him and turn my back on him.

“What he did to me, it’s in the past, and after I killed him, I am now free of him,” I say to him. “You don’t need to apologize, but I need to ask you some questions.”

Drake sighs, “Okay, what do you want to know about?” He asks.

I can feel his eyes on the back of me. I turn around and stare at him. “I want to know what the vampire, the witch, and the elder’s plan are,” I say to him. “I can give you any information you want as a trade.”

Drake stares at me; I can tell he is confused by what I just asked of him. I move closer to him and lean on the wall a foot away from him. I stare out at the openness of not being in the parklands.

I miss being out there on my own, but I also miss the freedom.

“I never told you about my power because I knew I couldn’t trust you, and I still don’t,” I said to him. I could feel his eyes on me as I talked.

“I want to know what their plan is so that I can kill all three of them, and I need your help to do it,” I say as I look over at him. Our eyes meet. “You once promised me you would help me if I ever needed it, and I am asking for it now. We won’t owe each other anything. But I am asking you, well begging, more like, for the sake of Anya, please help me,” I say to him.

Drake stares at me but opens his mouth. “I want something from you too, then. If I help you, I need reassurance too,” he says.

“What is it?” I ask without thinking.

Drake looks at me and jumps down from the wall. He turns and leans to look out, “I don’t care if I get killed in the crosshairs of this, but I need your word that Anya will be protected and safe at this pack, under your protection,” he says, “I only agree to that.”

“I will protect her; the pack will,” I say without a thought about it. I know Blake will agree with this term, well, about Anya, at least.

“Will you help me kill them all?” I ask as we both stare out into the open.

“I will,” he says and sighs. “I am on my way back from collecting more rogues. I told Amir that I wanted to spend the night with my mate before we attack, and he agreed.”

“Izzy, they are coming in...” he says, but I cut him off, “In six days, I know,” I say without looking at him, “How many are we talking about?”

Drake sighs, not questioning what I just told him. “There are nine hundred rogues, and Amir has more vampire followers, but they are mainly in it for the safety of their kind. Amir and Michael have threatened some. I never met the other witch, but I overheard the Elder tell Amir’s number two that she is more powerful when she is near him.”

I look at him and smirk. “What do they know about me?” I asked.

Drake looks at me and then backs out. “They know you are decent of Clara and will plan to take you. They want you on their side so you can make all the other shifters submit because of your power. If you don’t, they will take your...” he says, but stops. He looks at me, “They will take your daughter instead and have her by their side instead; they will train her to become a weapon and use her for their gain.”

I growl loud. “They won’t get anywhere near her. I will make sure of it,” I say, but Drake shakes his head. “You don’t understand Izzy; there were a few council members that were in with Elder Johnson. He told them everything that you can do. They know about you and your daughter, as I showed them a photo.” I turn to face him, anger sweeping in harshly. My power is igniting inside me. I glare at him, and Puna comes closer, pushing herself forward to become one with me. “YOU STUPID WOLF,” we say with a loud growl.

Drake looks at us stunned but quickly recovers, “I never knew what you are capable of, Izzy and your panther is...” but we cut him off with a growl. He closes his mouth.

Puna, inches closer, grabs his hand that he had rested on the wall.

Drake looks at us, stunned but motionless. “We are telling you this because we think you need to know. Helga made a potion for the Elder; he poured it in your father’s drink that night that you fought with him. He never thought you would kill him, so he made a second plan, but if you didn’t succeed with the fight, he was going to blame you for it. Have you jailed on killing him, but you were angry? Also, he made you forget about your mate, a potion every time you were near each other, making sure you never knew about your mate,” we said.

Drake stares back at us, anger written all over his face.

Puna takes a few steps away but is close by, listening in. I know my eyes are back to normal, but Drake looks at me. “That explains why I always wanted to be with you. I never thought about Anya. I thought she didn’t exist, or she was dead. He must have made me into a killer,” he says and looks at me. “Why did you and your panther tell me that?”

I look at him and sigh, “Your Moon Goddess seems to think you can redeem yourself; she never told me about your mate. But she thinks you will be redeemed by others too, and I have to admit, Drake,” I say, watching him, “I think you can. Anya needs you, especially in her condition, and she needs to be with her mate. She suffered long enough.”

Drake scrunches his eyebrows together. “What do you mean, her condition?” He asks.

I give him a small smile. “I mean, she is very pale and weak. They must have held her captive for years to make her look that bad,” I said.

He nods.

“Drake, all I need for you is...” I say and stop. I looked around to make sure no one was around. I listen to everything around me, but all I hear are two heartbeats, both mine and Drakes, but something tells me we are not alone out here.

Someone or something is here with us.

I can sense it.

I look at Drake. “You weren’t followed, were you?” I asked him.

Drake shakes his head. “All the rogues went to the camp with Amir’s second in command; no other vampires or wolves were with him,” he says.

I look at him, and Puna stares, too. “He is telling the truth, but I think whoever is watching us has something else in mind,” she says.

I look at Drake. “All I need is an opening. When they come, I can take them both out. I need a clear battlefield, and I will send them both back where they came from, but I need you to be close to them. I need you to be my eyes and ears around them.”

Drake nods. “I will do that, and you will protect Anya for me,” he says.

I nod in agreement. “I will.”

He moves his hand to his pocket and pulls out two mobiles.

He hands one to me. “I was going to give this to Anya, but I think we can communicate with this. It is not connected to anything. I will only text you, so if someone rings you, you know someone has found out about this, or I am dead.”

I take the phone off him and nod. “Okay, I need a clear opening to take them out and make sure their true followers are there with them. I don’t want to kill any innocent bystanders; whether they are rogue or vampire, I won’t kill them all.”

Drake nods and turns to leave.

As he gets to the entrance of the territory, he looks over his shoulder and smiles, “Be careful, Izzy,” he says. He shifts into his black wolf and moves against the trees on the side; he moves fast and is out of sight within seconds.

I looked down at the phone, but I could feel something was behind me. I turn around only to come face to face with an ashen man and woman with a child.

They were not human, no heartbeat.

One word came to mind—vampires.