The Darkest Star

Ch. 42 The Stolen Key

It happened so fast, the Council member yelling before Azrael shoved him behind him. Salem landed on his ass just as his Mate went slamming into the stone wall of the house.

Rock crumbled around him and it was deathly silent in those seconds before chaos descended.

Howls went up and echoed throughout the forest and the Council guards had their guns pointed at each of them. Salem knew how fatal one silver bullet could be for a shifter, but his mind seemed blank as he stared at his Mate who still hadn't moved and the Council member standing over him. Azrael had called it a vampire seconds before it had attacked.

"Vi! Dammit, put the guns down!"

Salem's chest grew hot, pressure building up within him as that vampire grabbed the front of his unconscious Mate's shirt and lifted him off of he ground.

The shouting escalated as darkness descended and Salem's glowing eyes narrowed in on that vampire. Blackness enveloped Azrael and the large male disappeared, leaving the vampire standing there confused.

Someone's powers were trying to get rid of Salem's darkness, wind blowing strongly around them. When glowing red eye met his, Salem let light seep in so the others could see. So they could witness what would happen if they ever so much as thought of harming his Mate.

The vampire was frozen as Salem moved in front of him, a slender finger dragging down his porcelain cheek.

"You've made a grave mistake." He scolded the Vampire as if he were a child. His voice was silky smooth and musical, more so than it had ever been.

"I apologize for Council member Vi, we wish to only speak!" Silas spoke from where he was signaling the guards to put down their guns.

Salem tsked, thinking the Council member pathetic in his futile pleading.

Gripping the vampires chin, Salem didn't care to look back at the others. His mind clear of any thought but one.

He was going to make him pay. For hurting his Mate, for so carelessly risking the lives of his closest friends and family.

"Your intentions were to harm me, instead you harmed my Mate. Your fate was decided in that moment." Slowly, he inched closer until his lips were pressed firmly against cold ones.

It wasn't memories he was after.

The male was frozen in place, unable to flinch or released the smallest sound. His eyes were wide as the swirling red faded to a dark blue, the black veins a stark contrast against his pale skin.

Salem felt his darkness caress the vampires very essence, his own kind of darkness that brushed against Salem's. It seemed almost eager to return to him.

When the last of the vampires life was about to be ripped from him, a scream reached Salem and made him pause.

"Let him go. We are not here to fight but to talk, if you kill a member of the Grand Council we will have no other choice but to wipe this pack from existence." The male was breathing heavily, his teeth clenched tightly.

Salem's eyes moved from the plain looking male who had removed his hood, to the young human who had a clawed hand wrapped around his throat.

Liam shifted into a large gray wolf, his sharp canines exposed in a viscous snarl. The Councils guards pointed their guns at him and he growled but didn't move.

"Enough of this! Salem release Council member Vi. There is no need for any of this."

Salem ignored his Mate's father. He may be the Alpha, but Salem was no wolf, was no true member of this pack. His orders effected him none.