Bain
Her chest doesn’t rise again and I can’t stop myself from shifting as my wolf bursts free, howling our sorrow for the world to hear.
My pack shifts, joining me, as our chorus of anguish echoes through our home.
My heart feels like it’s been ripped to shreds, and only the hope of her resurrection is keeping it together. I’m not sure what I’d do if she doesn’t come back this time.
After a few minutes, we grow quiet and the other four shift. But my wolf won’t let me. Instead, he lies along her side, not willing to be apart from her, even in death.
“She saved me,” Hunter says, his voice cracking. Chase yanks him into his arms, hugging him tightly as he tries to reassure him.
“I know how you’re feeling, brother. She did the same for me in the forest, remember?”
I can’t believe we’ve lost her. Again. I was right there with her in the yard, and it still wasn’t enough. I hadn’t been expecting a pack of rogue wolves to attack like that. It doesn’t even make sense. Rogues don’t have packs, that's what makes them rogues, and what turns them feral.
So how are they all working together? And why?
“Maddox? Is everything alright?”
I jump up, standing over Red’s body as I growl at the man who’s just stepped inside our back door, Kane.
Several of his men step inside to flank him.
“Uncle, what are you doing here?” Maddox asks with carefully restrained anger as he gets to his feet and moves to my side.
“I heard the commotion, so we came right away to see if we could help.” He gestures outside as he adds, “I see you have the rogues under control, though. Good job.”
“If you don’t mind, we’re busy at the moment,” Maddox says, clearly not ready for this confrontation on the heels of losing Red.
Kane’s eyes move down to the body I’m protecting, and I let out a warning growl. He doesn’t seem surprised or upset by the sight.
“My condolences, nephew. Why don’t you let me help? I can take care of the funeral and burial, and give your pack time to grieve."
My growl increases in warning.
“Calm down, Bain. I’m not letting him anywhere near her,” Maddox tells me through the bond. I silence my wolf, but keep my teeth bared.
“We will take care of it ourselves.”
Kane’s lips press together in agitation before he tries to mask his expression. “I hate to quote pack policy to you, son, but you know it’s my job as alpha to make sure she is buried properly.”
Maddox steps forward, the anger now rolling off him in waves. The calm, collected Maddox is nowhere in sight. “You are not her alpha, I am,” he seethes. “And nobody will be touching her but us.”
“Come now, Maddox. Don’t let emotion cloud your judgment.”
The tension in the room triples as Maddox steps forward, his alpha energy literally filling the room. My fur practically stands on end as he stares his uncle down.
“Why did you do it?” Maddox asks, holding on to his last sliver of calm to get the question out. When Kane frowns, he pushes, “Why did you try to have her killed?”
“I didn’t—”
“Don’t lie to me, Kane. The human told me you hired him. We confirmed it when we found your number in his phone. And now this,” he says, gesturing to the dead rogue and Red lying on our kitchen floor. “You send rogue wolves into my home to attack my pack?”
I watch Kane's lips twitch, as if he’s considering lying once more, but then, he lifts his chin, and his expression fills with annoyance.
“I don’t want to harm you or the other alphas. I just need the red wolf.”
“Why?” Maddox growls out, his hands fisted so tightly at his sides, I worry he’ll shift and impale his hands on his own claws.
Kane hesitates for a moment before he speaks.
“I guess since she’s dead, there’s no harm in telling you.
She’s a rogue, Maddox. She escaped from a facility that is trying to treat rogues, to fix them and stop them from going feral, but she escaped before they could finish the treatments. They offered a reward for her return.”
I wish Red were awake right now to confirm or deny this. It wouldn’t change that she’s part of our pack, but it would explain where she’s been. Although, I imagine this facility isn’t as righteous as Kane is making it out to be.
“They still want her body, even if she’s dead,” he continues.
“I bet they do,” Gage growls through the bond.
“So let me take her back to them,” Kane says, mistaking Maddox’s quiet for consideration as he takes a step toward him. “She was never going to truly be a part of your pack, Maddox. She’s broken.”
“No.” That one word has Kane frowning in confusion, his guards behind him tensing as if they register the threat.
“No?” Kane asks in confusion.
“No. If what you say is true, you wouldn’t have paid someone to kill her. You wouldn’t have unleashed a dozen other rogues, just to get to her.”
“You don’t—”
“Stop,” Maddox says, cutting him off and stepping closer, the twins flanking him, ready to take on the guards the moment Maddox strikes.
“I’m done with your lies and deceit. You are no longer fit to rule the Westgrove Pack.”
“What are you saying?” Kane asks, his eyes bouncing between the three powerful alphas stepping toward him.
“For your crimes against the Silverstorm Pack, I challenge you to a fight to the death.”
Kane’s eyes widen in fear because he knows he'll never win against Maddox, not even close. He licks his lips, then does the last thing I expect: shoves one of his guards toward Maddox and runs out the back door, shifting as soon as he crosses the threshold, his clothes shredding as he changes form.
Maddox knocks the guard aside, not caring about him or the other one who stares at him in fear. He shifts and runs out after Kane.
I follow quickly, glancing back to see Gage kneeling beside Red.
“I’ve got her, brother.”
I’m only ten feet from the back door when I see Maddox pounce on Kane’s wolf, sending him sprawling. He doesn’t hesitate to sink his teeth into his uncle’s neck and rip his throat out.
I glance around for other threats, but the other dozen wolves out here already resemble Kane—dead.
Nobody goes after our family and lives.
Maddox shakes him a few times, then steps back and shifts. He lifts his head, seeing all the dead bodies, and sighs.
“This is going to be such a mess to clean up.”
“Hurry, it’s happening!” Gage yells, making us sprint back inside.
“Where did his guards go?” Maddox asks as we step into the kitchen.
“We let them go. I don’t think they knew what was happening,” Hunter explains.
“We can just kill them later if need be,” Chase says distractedly as he studies Red’s neck. “I’d prefer they aren’t here for this.”
I shift as I approach where Gage is holding Red’s head in his lap, his fingers holding back the fur at her neck as he glances at us. “Look, it’s healing.”
“Thank the Goddess,” Chase whispers, as we all settle around her.
We watch the wounds slowly close, praying to anyone that will listen that she comes back to us, just like she did last time. When it seems like all the puncture wounds from the rogue's bite have gone, I tell myself not to blink, wanting to see the first sign of her body lighting up.
Minutes tick by as I start to question if it took this long last time.
“Please, please, please,” Hunter whispers as we all stare at her, holding our breath.
“Come on, angel,” I whisper. Then I see it, the soft glow starting to cover her.
“It’s happening!” Chase says in awe as we lean back. The light increases until it gets so bright that we have to shield our eyes, then a burst of light and power shoots through the room.
When the light dies down, we all turn back to her. The blood is gone from her fur, and I stroke my fingers down her neck, feeling her unbroken skin and finding her pulse, solid and strong.
A jagged breath leaves me. “She has a pulse.”
“Her chest is rising again too,” Gage says as he lays his hand on her stomach. Relief fills me at seeing her breathe again, and I know I’m not the only one, as I can hear one of my brothers sniffling.
Suddenly, her eyes shoot open. She turns her head up to the ceiling and releases an almost silent cry, just like last time. I wish I knew why she did that. Is she in pain?
She glances around, and when she sees all five of us, she drops her head back into Gage’s lap. He hugs her head gently, and I see her tongue flick out to lick his wrist once before she starts to pant heavily.
“What do we do now?” Hunter asks after we continue to stare at her silently for ten minutes, as if none of us can take our eyes off her chest rising and falling with each breath she takes.
“We should leave for Starfall asap,” Gage suggests.
“We can’t,” Maddox says with a sigh. “Now that I’ve killed Kane, I need to make sure Westgrove has a good alpha in place before we leave.”
“They’ll expect it to be you,” I tell him, a hint of worry edging my tone. Would he finally take up the mantle the entire pack has expected him to take since he was old enough to show signs of being an alpha?
“I still don’t want it. This isn’t our home.” He lifts his head to make eye contact with each of us as he explains, “This place hasn’t felt like home in a very long time.”
“Then you secure a new alpha,” I tell him.
“Someone who’s not in this room,” Chase adds with a smirk.
“Then we go,” I say with a nod.
“Then we go,” he agrees. “But before all of that, we need the bodies cleaned up, and Red needs to heal.”
“You’re in charge now,” Gage reminds him. “Call in the pack to do it. We should all be with Red.”
Maddox considers it a moment before he nods. “Get her upstairs. I’ve got a few calls to make before I join you.”
Feeling the need to hold her close, I lift her into my arms and head upstairs to my room, my wolf pressing for as much of our scent to be on her as possible.
I sit in the middle of my bed, with her in my lap as the others sit around us.
“She’s asleep,” Hunter says as he gently strokes her head.
“Good, I think she needs it to recover,” Gage says from where he’s lying across the end of my bed, his eyes glued to her.