Saving Haley Grace | Book 2

•forty five•

Waging war

The loss of Allison Argent had collided with the pack like a harsh snap back to reality. And yet they had no time to mourn, not for the loss they had received and for the loss they were hours away from watching.

Haley had found herself in a lift, unaware of how she got there and unaware of really what happened that previous night. All she knew, as the doors opened to the loft, was the soft rays of sun flitting through the windows and that somehow the fight was still not won.

"Haley?" Aiden was shocked as she stumbled out, her body still weakening. He was immediately at her side, trying to help her stand without any muscles in her legs.

"I don't know how I got here." She whispered through strangled breaths, her eyes sunken and dark as she fought to keep them open. Aidens warm hands found her cold cheeks as the words fell into the air. He was scared she was falling into the spirits trap yet again, and even more so the fact she probably had no clue who had died.

Derek watched cautiously as the withered girls body heaved with each breath. She was a walking corpse, and each second she stayed alive was a second her strength was given to her dopple ganger.

"We have to go. We have to run away from this thing before it drains you entirely, Haley." Aiden pleaded, shaking his head slightly to drag the small girls eyes upwards. She furrowed her eyebrows as she began to take in his appearance.

Blood was splattered on his skin, and his clothes were torn. People were suffering and she could only assume it was because of her. So how could she run and let everyone else fall?

"You want me to run away with you? To leave my best friends. To leave my brother. No." She spluttered out with as sharp as a tone as she could. Derek scoffed behind her, eyeing Ethan with a smug 'told you so' look.

"Haley you're dying." Aiden retorted, his finite use of language striking the girl hard.

"I'm not an idiot Aiden." She quipped back, yet still melted into his warm touch as if it would fix all of her problems.

"But my answer is still no." Both alpha twins grunted, yet knew where she was coming from. Derek had given them a lecture of trust and the morals of the McCall pack, and seemingly Haley shared the same thoughts.

"Something else happened." Aiden mumbled, his voice suddenly going gentler as his mind whirred with how to tell a girl he loved her close friend was dead.

"What?" Haley furrowed her eyebrows, her boney hand encasing his as he rubbed soft circles into her cheeks.

"Alisons dead."

Those two words, sent Haleys gut plummeting to the floor. How was a girl she had took a liking to a few years back suddenly been taken from her, how could she handle such a close lose, when in reality she was the reason her friend was dead.

******

The sky was already dimming as it sunk toward the ground, signalling time really was running out. Haley eyes were raw with tears as she stood outside the school entrance, her skin growing paler by the second. Aiden cupped her cheeks, wiping away the stale tears that were dripping down her chin, and he almost began to cry too.

"I don't need you to worry about me, okay?" He whispered with a sad smile resting so delicately on his lips it was as if it would shatter at any given moment.

"Everything going to be okay." He soothed, knowing how little those words meant when facing such darkness.

"You don't know that Aiden." Haley whimpered back, her brown eyes glassed with pain. Her body was giving out, and soon even if they won the fight she was certain she would fall.
Or worse.
Someone she loved would fall, and it would be her fault.

"Yes I do." He shot back with such determinism Haley wanted to believe him, it was a false sense of security that could give her the strength to stand. The cold wind licked at her bare arms as she looked toward her boyfriend one last time, afraid to let go of something she may not have again.

But she had to stick to the plan, or the war would be lost. Aiden had to protect Derek, and Haley had to stop the destruction. Before the time ran out.

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