Memories

Chapter 14

"I-I was trying to save her." I spoke after a few minutes of silence when I explained why Sammy was laying as she was with blood on the ground with me sitting there with her blood on my clothes.

"They have Robert? They have my nephew?" Austin asked me with a hint of disbelief.

"I-I tried to save him...I-I can't save anyone..." I mumbled as tears found their way onto my cheeks.

"April, didn't you save Jason from Rick?" Austin asked.

"Yes, but-" I attempted to say.

"And didn't you save Kayla from the vampire liar?" Austin asked.

"Yes, but-" I attempt to say once again.

"And didn't you sacrifice yourself for my pack and your group from the vampires about four years ago?" Austin asked.

"Yes, but-" I tried to say once again.

"No buts, April. You tried everything possible to save everyone. You're a leader of your people, but every leader will watch their people fall. My pack even considers you the Great Alpha of the Tigers. The Tigers being your species and the Great Alpha being you." Austin said as he placed a hand on my shoulder.

I sat there as I thought about what he said. It was true. I did save a lot of my people, but I lost almost everyone I saved. I may have lost almost everyone, but I saved them before I lost them. I did lead my group before, but leading my people? That's a whole different story. How would I know everyone's name and get to know them like I learned my group's names? That would be ultimately impossible! I couldn't lead my people even if I tried.

"We have to go to The Secluded Forest University. It's where Zila is going to save Robert. I have to go there and make sure her pack doesn't kill any humans and that my people get out." I mumbled as Austin nodded.

"Alright, but we have to stay here and wait for the storm to subside, or we'll never get out of the forest." Austin said.

"I'll start cleaning up the blood." Sam spoke as he moved towards the kitchen.

"I'll go find a set of Emily's clothes to give to April." Joshua spoke.

"N-No... I-I'll do that. It's been too long since I was in my sister's room." Austin spoke up.

I stared at him in shock. I had never once heard his voice filled with sorrow or regret. The way he spoke just seemed to reflect grief as if he still had stuff left to say to his twin sister. Joshua looked at him and nodded as if understanding that he needed to do this. Austin stood and walked off down the hall while Joshua sat down in front of me with a sigh.

"He misses Emily." Joshua mumbled.

"It's my fault she's gone. If I didn't bring the other Tiger-humans to your pack's land, then maybe she'd still be alive along with his mother, father, and Zack." I mumbled.

"April, you don't understand. Even if you didn't bring them into the old pack's land, they still would have died, and the pack would have still split up into four separate packs. There was talk of a bunch of werewolves already trying to split from the pack and form their own packs along with werewolves who had talked about killing Zack, Henry, Emily, Austin, and their mother. Even if we rooted out the troublesome werewolves, the pack would already have split into two. Who knows what Zila's pack had done to the troublesome werewolves who talked about forming their own pack." Joshua explained.

"S-So, me bring the Tiger-humans there stopped them from killing Austin and his family, but split it in half anyways? Is that why I only ever saw Austin, his family, Sam, Joshua, Maria, and Levy around Austin's house?" I asked.