I Dare You

one

"Okay, it's all going to be okay. I'm going to try and move the door off of you so you can start healing." He nods and I begin to crawl.

As I approach the place where I think his feet would be, I'm closer to Moms door. Her door is still attached to the car and I can see that her seatbelt is still holding her up. She still hasn't moved and I've noticed that the smell of blood has gotten stronger. I sit on my legs and take a deep breath.

"Cleo?"

"Yeah Pete?"

"Do you want me to count to three?" He asks sincerely. Ever since we were very little and we had to do something scary we would hold hands and the other would count to three. Another tear rolls down my cheek, but I quickly wipe it away.

"Yes please." I nod even though he can't see me.

He counts out loud and as he says three I lift the heavy door off of him and push it so that it lays on the other side of him. I carefully roll him over so that he's laying on his back so that his bones will reset in their proper place. As he begins to heal himself, I inch a little closer to the front of the car to get a better look at Mom's injuries so we can help her. By now she would have mind-linked the pack. Someone, or many someone's, should be on their way to help us right now. But as I get closer I have to stop myself from looking. The smell of blood is so strong and her lifeless body in the front seat solidifies my worst fear. I look back to Peter with tears in my eyes and he knows. He must have picked up on my feelings because his eyes are tear-filled too.

"Mom's okay, right Cleo?" He whispers.

"She's okay." I lie.

I don't know how or when, but she had to have gotten through to someone because just as Pete finally sits up, I can hear the pack. A stampede of howling wolves of all colors and sizes comes storming out of the woods, my father in the lead. Some of them shift back and approach the wreck. I can hear some of the women sobbing, some of the wolves that didn't shift back howl, but I can't take my eyes off of my father.

He's shifted back and he just stands in front of our demolished car wearing nothing but the small mark my mother had given him when they were teenagers. But the mark is different now. It's fading right before my eyes. My fathers face is the same. Hard and cold, like it's been my entire life. But there's something else. He looks lost and pained.

He doesn't move.
He doesn't speak.
He doesn't look around for Peter or I.
He just stands there, staring at her.

My Uncle Leo coughed out a sob before spotting Peter and I. Right after he sees us my father's eyes dart over to us and his pained expression is gone and he's back to his normal stoic self. He retreats back into the pack without looking back at mother, without looking back at us.

I see Uncle Leo nod before he starts running towards us, avoiding all of the debris.

"Hey kiddo." He smiles as he ruffles Pete's hair, knocking some of the glass out. "How is everything? Is anything broken?"

"Everything's fine." I blurt out annoyed, before Pete has the chance to answer. My face is stone solid and I can feel Uncle Leo's pity for me shift to concern.

"We're trying to heal." The first of Pete's tears stains his cheek. "But everything's okay. Right Cleo? We're all okay."

Pete tries to smile but I can tell that he's about to lose it any second now. Uncle Leo senses the same thing and nods, patting Pete on the back softly.

"I'm going to have to lift Peter from the position he's in now. Cleo are you able to stand so that I can carry you back too?" Uncle Leo speaks in a soft voice. It reminds me of mothers. The soft blue of his eyes that are gazing at me now are the same soft blue that I would see every morning at breakfast and every night when she tucked me in.

She won't ever tuck me in again. We won't ever be able to dance horribly while making pancakes again. She won't ever brush my hair and hum softly to me again. I will never hear her laugh as she pins Pete to the ground and tickles him again. She won't ever smile at me again. My mother is gone. Gone forever.

"I can walk myself back." I take a page from my fathers handbook and wear a look of nothingness. I force myself to pretend to feel nothing, to feel numb.

"Everything's going to be okay." Uncle Leo tells us as he covers Pete's face so he doesn't see my mother as we pass.

I can't help but stare at her as I walk past. She's so beautiful, even now with cuts and dirt and blood. I see now why my father was staring at her. And it wasn't because she's dead and he was in shock. It's because she's so beautiful you can't not look at her. I feel a tear run down my face but quickly wipe it away before anyone sees. No one can see me cry. No one has ever seen my father cry and he's the strongest, most powerful Alpha I've ever met. I take one last look at my mother before turning around and following Uncle Leo into the woods. "Yeah, all of us are okay."