Chapter 103
BELLA.
“Shift now and run! Go north! Riley’s border is there soon!” Mom instructed us before we all jumped out of the car. There were only two rogue wolves in front of us, but the moment the door of the car opened, I caught the smell of more rogue wolves approaching.
I scrambled out of the car and saw Ellie shifting right away, her wolf running towards the direction Mommy told us, but I got stuck in my spot.
A big rogue wolf was eyeing me, and if I shifted, I was scared he would jump at me.
I inched backward and saw my parents’ wolves running away. I am alone now.
“Dad…” I tried to speak calmly, but I had no idea if this was any help. “Mom...”
In an instant, two wolves in front of me shifted into their human forms.
“The other one got away! Should I run after her, Alpha…” More wolves were approaching, and I knew this would be the end of me.
“No…” His voice was almost growling and the scar on his face terrified me. “The other one is marked. She has no use.”
My hands flew to my neck as I inched backward. I had no idea what was going on, but it had something to do with me being unmarked. I was trying to stop my tears from falling. I couldn’t be weak. If I want to make it out alive, I have to play my part.
“What do you want from me?” I was trying to make my voice louder.
“Come here, Alexa.” He motioned with his hand, his eyes not leaving mine.
“I’m not Alexa.”
“You will be, from now on.”
My eyes narrowed at him. Is this man mad?
But before I could find an answer, Dad’s wolf, Oden, came and jumped at the man with a scar on his face.
I didn’t waste any time and shifted into my wolf, before I saw Mom’s wolf, Freya, shielding me. I nodded at her before I ran in the direction I saw Ellie go.
I could hear paws thudding behind me, and I knew those rogues were running after me. And as much as I didn’t want to leave Mom and Dad alone, these wolves were after me. The faster I could get to the border, the faster Riley’s men would be able to catch them.
Now, if only I can run faster!
ELLIE.
“Shift now and run! Go north! Riley’s border is there soon!”
I shifted to my wolf as soon as I jumped out of the car and sprang forward, not looking back at all, as that was what Mom instructed me to do.
I kept running, and I could hear paws thudding the earth behind me, and I knew my family was with me until I could no longer hear anything, but I didn’t look back.
My heart was thudding loudly. Focus! I must call for help.
I smelled wolves approaching, but they smelled nothing like the rogues who attacked us. They must be from Riley’s pack.
It wasn’t long before a pack of wolves met me midway.
They must have sensed movement and smelled the threat.
One of them shifted into his human form, and I did too, not minding my nakedness as I told him where the attack happened, and before I could say more, Bella’s wolf came, and behind her were more rogue wolves.
Bella’s wolf jumped on me and we rolled over to the other side of the ground as everyone sprang into action.
I felt useless. I knew nothing about defense.
The best thing to do right now was to make sure Bella and I were safe so they wouldn’t need to worry about us.
I told Bella we needed to run to the border.
Her wolf nodded in agreement, and we were about to go for a run when a screeching howl of agony erupted in the air.
The hairs on my body raised as I realized it was Mom’s howl. She was in anguish.
Dad! Please don’t let anything happen to Dad!
Bella and I were still frozen in our spot when a big black wolf passed by us in the direction of the howl. I knew it was my brother. He was emitting a powerful aura, and I couldn’t stop myself from shifting again into my wolf and running after him.
I wanted to make sure my parents were alright. In seconds, Bella was running beside me. All the rogues that followed Bella were dead, and my brother’s warriors ran in the same direction as we were running.
Riley was already in human form when we reached the area. He was in an arm-and-arm battle with a man almost his size.
My mind was going into a haze and my wolf wanted to help, but my eyes were searching for someone. And then I saw Dad’s limp body on the ground.
My body voluntarily shifted into my human form as a loud scream escaped my throat until the air was filled with my and Bella’s screams. We ran to where Dad’s body was, and I kept shaking him, forcing him to wake up, but his eyes were already lifeless, and I knew we had lost him.
“Bella, we need to find Mom!” I closed Daddy’s eyes and wiped my tears.
Bella was in shock. I shook her until her eyes dilated into black.
“We need to find Mom!” I repeated it, and she nodded her head.
We crouched and tried to crawl away. Some rogue wolves tried to approach us, but Gamma Sebastian’s wolf and their men were fast enough to protect us.
My eyes found Riley, and I saw his hand around the man’s throat. The man was struggling with his grip, but I saw his eyes darting in another direction before he nodded. My gaze followed his line of sight just in time to see a wolf sink its fangs into Freya’s neck.
“Mom!” I screamed and was about to launch forward when I felt Bella’s arms around me as she pulled me to the ground. I saw the rogue that was about to grab me spring away before two more rogue wolves ran away with him.
And just like that. All the rogue wolves were gone.
I didn’t know how I was able to rise from the ground, but somehow I did and found myself kneeling in front of Mommy’s body. She shifted back into her human form and was bleeding profusely from her neck.
Bella was shaking beside me as she placed her hands on Mommy’s throat before she asked for my help. “Help me, Ellie. We need to stop the blood.”
GAMMA SEBASTIAN.
The fight was already halfway when Alpha Riley and I arrived. Most of the rogues were dead. And then we saw him, Achilles, the Rogue Alpha, in his human form.
Riley didn’t waste time and shifted, jumping on him while I tried my best to fight off anyone who wanted to attack my Alpha while he was fighting with Achilles.
He had the upper hand—he was holding Achilles by the neck when a screeching scream broke the air and then vanished.
Zahra.
The Alpha froze in his spot, giving Achilles time to move away from his grip. And the fucker cowered and fucked off, taking his surviving men with him.
“Mommy!” The twins were rushing to where Zahra was lying down, bleeding in the pool of her own blood. Her neck was ripped and no matter how much the twins were pushing her skin together, the bleeding wouldn’t stop.
Riley was still frozen in his spot as I assisted the twins when Zahra tried to speak. “Riley...”
It was only then that Riley woke up from his trance as he kneeled beside his mother, gripping her body tightly. “I will heal you… I can heal you. I can heal you!” He was mumbling more to himself, and for the first time, I saw Riley in total distress.
I knew what he wanted to do, but it was impossible at this point. Her skin was ripped open and it was only a matter of time before she ran out of blood.
“I love you, Riley. Your sisters—look after them.”
“No! No! Don’t fucking say that!” Riley was yelling while ordering the wolves around him to call for medics, which I already had. “Don’t die on me, Mama! Please!”
“Your sisters, they have no...”
“They have you and me! You’ll be okay!” He snapped at her, cutting her words.
“No, Riley, I felt... the bond break. Leandro is dead. I can’t… without him.” Zahra was crying, but she tried to smile.
“No! Mama! No! Please! I love you, Mommy! I never stopped loving you. Did you hear that? Now, please give me a chance.”
“I’m okay now…” She smiled before she coughed. Blood was oozing out of her mouth.
The twins were a crying mess, but they were not letting go of Zahra’s throat. They were trying to stop the bleeding, but it just kept coming out.
“Mommy, I’m sorry…” Bella kept murmuring in her tears. “I’m sorry.”
“Shhhh, baby, no. Mommy... will always save you... all of you. Let Mommy... go, Dad is waiting. Leandro... please...” She was trying her hardest to speak.
I took Leandro’s lifeless body and gently laid it beside her as Ellie took her mother’s hand and entwined it with her father’s. Bella was still holding her mother’s throat. “Mom, Dad… Please wake up.”
Zahra’s face was smeared with tears and blood, but she still managed to give her children such a warm, loving smile that I couldn’t stop my own tears.
I wished we had gotten the signal earlier. I wished we were nearby.
“Riley… Thank you.” She said those words lovingly to the Alpha before she looked at all her children. “Take care of each other. Mommy loves all of you…”
Those were her last words before her eyes closed.
Riley let out an agonizing howl before clutching his mother’s limp body against his chest. He was rocking her back and forth in his arms.
“Mama, come back, please. I’m sorry! I’m sorry! I’ll be better! I won’t disappoint you again. Just come back! Please! Mom! No! No! No! Not yet!”
The man in front of me, crying in pain, was not the Alpha I knew. It was the same boy I saw years ago, on the terrace of his room, crying to the moon, pleading to the Goddess to bring his mother back.