Fire and Flames

Chapter 37

"What are we going to do about Shiloh and Kalen? They are both Alphas. Are we going to have the most capable pup become Alpha, or have them both rule over the pack," Rayne asks a little way into our drive.

"I think that both pups should become Alpha. If they can prove that they can get along enough to run the pack. We will be stronger with two Alphas and two Lunas."

I hear movement from the back seat and glance into the rearview mirror. Shiloh's eyes meet mine and he giggles, clutching his wolf stuffed animal closer to his body.

"Hello, sleepy boy," I say, reaching my hand back to touch his little leg.

"Hi, Fafa," Shiloh replies sweetly.

Rayne and I had tried to get our pups to call him 'mama' and call me 'dada'. The boys refused to call Rayne 'mama', settling for 'dada'. They started to call me 'Fafa' when they heard people calling me the word 'father' when they commented on how good of a father I was to my pups.

"We are almost to the cabins," Rayne says as he checks the GPS. "Are you excited, Shiloh?"

"Yes!"

Rayne laughs as Shiloh bounces in his seat. Hunter and Kalen wake up from all the commotion. Hunter yawns and stretches out as far as he can in his seat. Rayne pulls out three little cups filled with juice and handed them back to the pups.

I focus on the road, trees thickening as we continued to drive deeper into the woods. The pups had gone back to sleep and Rayne had dozed off. The sun began to set in the sky, making the sky golden. My wolf began to get restless, pacing around in my head.

'Pups...', my wolf murmured over and over again. 'Have to protect our pups...'

The car suddenly jerks upwards, a loud bang resounds through the small space. Rayne jolts awake, quickly unbuckling his seatbelt and lurching into the back seat. He unclasped the buckles from each car seat and pulled the pups out. I got out of the car as soon as I smelt the smoke.

I scramble out of the car and help Rayne pull the now crying pups out of the car. Rayne and I run away from the car as the smoke billows from the engine. The car erupts in flames, the bright orange glow of the fire lighting up the area.

"Oh my Goddess," Rayne rasps as he clutches Kalen closer to his chest. Shiloh and Hunter whimper and cuddle closer to me as they watch the car burn...

A planted bomb... Zaryn said that a small pipe bomb was lodged in the engine...

Someone tried to kill me and my pups. If Rayne hadn't acted when he did, our pups wouldn't have made it out alive. I clutch Hunter and Shiloh tightly as Sage investigates wreckage.

"Whoever did this was careless," Sage says, lifting a small bracelet that was lodged under a piece of the engine. I recognized it immediately. The charred silver bracelet had a little heart charm dangling from it.

Head Warrior Wade takes a tentative step towards Sage. He hesitantly takes the bracelet from Sage.

"It's Erin's bracelet," Wade says shakily. Erin was Wade's little sister. Erin was mute and from what I heard, she hadn't spoken since she was a baby. She had moved into the pack when she found her mate. Erin was quiet and seemingly unnoticeable. Erin was heavily pregnant at this point so why would she commit a crime that would have her put away for good? Why would she want to hurt us?

It was a tradition for the Alpha and his family to arrive last to the cabins so the roads were clear. The only other cars were those of Rayne's parents, brother, and uncles. Zaryn gave orders to his warriors through the mind link to find Erin and guard her for the time being until we arrived.

We made sure that no other car was rigged with explosives before we left. We had to split up and take separate cars. I hated to be separated from my family but it was our only option. Rayne, Shiloh, and Kalen rode in the car with Wade and Church. So I sat in Zaryn's car in the backseat with Hunter in my lap. Beta Cole and Noah sat beside me in the other two seats. They took Zaryn's car because their daughter Meadow wanted to drive on her own so she could listen to music as loud as she wanted to with her friends.

As I held Hunter's sleeping form, I shudder at the thought of my pups not making it out alive.

Why would Erin do this?