Page 10 of Wicked Allure
She followed Starla out of the room. They walked down the hallway that Tomesha remembered would lead into the club. The leggy blonde glanced back at her over her shoulder with a smirk on her lips. They arrived at the doorway that opened out to the main area of the establishment. A large vampire guard stood watch to protect the women who stayed in this section.
“It’s time for a quick crash course in serving our clients, and I’m not talking taking them a goblet of blood.” She tossed Tomesha a wink and took her hand.
The guard sensed them behind the door and opened it for them. The sounds of the club filtered through the air.
Tomesha inhaled sharply and nodded.
There was no turning back now.
“Their heat signatures have still spread,” Dru murmured. She stared at the digital map of the North American continent highlighted on the wall of her office. The royal military had top-notch technology that was recently developed to track the lycans. She stepped forward with her hands behind her back. A growl threatened to erupt at the sight of so much of the enemy.
For centuries, they had believed they had hunted the lycans down to abysmal numbers. To see they had been wrong and the mangy animals had not only brought their numbers back but had organized and had an alpha who was set on conquering the world astounded Dru. Never before had the lycans showed such organization. In the past, they had been overcome by their beasts. Even when they were under vampire ruling, they were difficult to control.
Dru had truly believed, as everyone else had, that the lycans were almost extinct. She’d been on many of the missions where they had wiped out entire dens. She scowled at the thought of their current numbers.
Next time, they’d obliterate the lycans. There would be no coming back.
“How are their numbers still increasing?” Ishmael murmured.
Dru had called in her most trusted warriors who fought under her. These vampires had assisted with her mission to hunt down the lycans. Gale and Ciro stood behind her as they, too, took in the highlighted areas on the map.
There was only one answer to the question they all were thinking.
“They have a new alpha,” Dru murmured.
Pure-born lycans’ numbers wouldn’t explode in this way. It would take decades, if not centuries, to increase in the way they had from new births. This was a result of lycans turning humans. Not many humans could survive a lycan bite. There was no telling how many had died in the process.
Dru ran a hand along her face and blew out a deep breath.
“Azura’s sister?” Gale moved closer to the map and studied it.
Dru eyed her and gave a slow nod. It would only make sense that the twin of the alpha who was killed would take over and lead.
“I need proof.” Dru turned to face her warriors.
They all stood to their full height. She’d need to put as many ears to the ground as she possibly could. Azura may have been a powerful alpha who’d led the lycans on their attempt to dominate and overthrow the vampire rule, but little was still known about this twin, Rayna Vaughn. For all they knew, another lycan could have overthrown the prior alpha’s twin.
“We need hard evidence of who’s now in charge.”
Azura had made her intentions known publicly. Not only had she boldly contacted the royal family to threaten them, but the deranged female had boasted on national television what she’d planned to do.
But this new alpha—they were moving in silence.
And that made them all the more dangerous.
“What would you have us do?” Ciro had helped develop the technology in which they were able to track the lycan dens. He was a younger vampire who’d caught Dru’s attention with his intelligence and willingness to enhance technologies to assist vampires in staying ahead of the lycans.
“We’re going to target the larger dens. Recently turned lycans may not be as loyal. We know from experience that any who may have human families may talk,” Dru said.
Gale came back to stand next to her fellow warriors. Lycans had been turning humans against their will. Thousands of humans had gone missing, and most had been blamed on the lycans. Those who may not be lost to the beasts may be willing to rat out the whereabouts of the new alpha for a price.
“I have an algorithm put together to determine the fastest-growing dens,” Ciro announced.
Dru folded her arms. She nodded to have him continue. This just proved her gut feeling about the vampire was going to pay off. She’d mention this to Lethia so they may reward him well for his contributions in the fight against the lycans.
“Many of the newly turned lycans have gone feral and are unable to change back to human forms, but there are those who are not. I already have information that can help us determine which dens to infiltrate first.”
“Well done. I want a few teams to go out and hunt down the most vulnerable targets who may talk. Ciro, I want you on Azura’s sister. Princess Hegna has a computer hacker who would be the perfect person to connect with. Her name is June. Reach out to her,” Dru said.
