I groaned in pain as I opened my eyes, confusion overwhelming me. I furrowed my brows, clearing my throat as I gazed up at the ceiling above me, attempting to slowly move my limbs; hissing in pain.
"Jared?" I mumbled, crawling across the stone cold floor towards the bars that separated my unconscious brother. "Jared, can you hear me?"
I ran my fingers through my soggy hair, ignoring the searing feeling that danced across my skin, making me extremely aware of how red and burnt it was from the wolfsbane, however, I knew I would heal quickly, unlike my brother.
I pulled myself to my feet, looking around the room, the smell of metal and burning flesh wafting up my nostrils, reminding me of the torture my brother and I had endured.
However, it hurt me more to see Jared in agony, knowing that there was nothing I could do to stop it or take it away.
The way my Mother had acted had angered me, and I knew that she was no longer the kind hearted and loving woman she once was, but instead, was cold and emotionless, acting as if we were strangers.
A part of me had hoped that she was going to be overwhelmed with joy to see Jared and I, and would return to the pack and forget all about Sawyer, but I knew it was too good to be true, and the love for her mate would always win against the love for her children.
It was clear she didn't want us here, not even taking up space in their cells, and was furious that Sawyer had wasted time torturing Jared and I. She wanted to pretend that we never existed, and I wanted to do the same with her.
Dylan racked my mind, and I sighed, not knowing if I was ever going to see him again. Memories from my old pack started to take over, and my eyes welled up with tears as I wished I could see everyone just one last time.
"Jared, please wake up," I cried, wiping at my wet cheeks as tears rolled down them, the fact that I couldn't tell if my brother was alive or not killing me from the inside out.
Suddenly, I gasped as footsteps echoed throughout the room, and my heart started to palpitate at the thought of Sawyer coming back to finish me off, drowning me with yet another bucket of wolfsbane infested water.
I closed my eyes, not wanting to see his smirking face before he ended everything, just hoping it would be as quick and painless as possible.
"Clara?"
My eyes shot open at the voice, and I jumped forwards to the edge of the bars as I looked up at my mate in complete shock. "Dylan!"
"We don't have much time, come on," urged Dylan as he reached through the bars, grabbing onto my handcuffs and yanking them off me, causing me to furrow my brows, gazing down at his slightly reddened hands.
"They have wolfsbane on them, how did they not hurt you?" I mumbled.
"I'm an Alpha, remember?" answered my mate, ushering me away from the door as he kicked it with as much force as he could muster, sending it flying into the wall behind me, crumbling into multiple pieces.
"We need to get Jared some help," I begged as I made my way out of the cell quickly, watching as Dylan kicked at Jared's cell door, causing it to dangle off the hinges, falling to the floor in a heap.
Jumping over the small puddle of wolfsbane infested water, I crouched down next to my brother, sighing in relief once I realised he was still breathing. "He's alive, but his breathing doesn't sound very strong; we need to get him out of here."
Dylan nodded, making his way over to us and carefully hoisting Jared up, throwing him over his shoulder, yanking his handcuffs off and looking me up and down, raising his eyebrows. "Are you okay? How hurt are you? Can you walk? If not I'll come back and get Jared after I've brought you to the car."
I shook my head, making my way out of the cell, my legs shaking underneath me with every step. "I'm fine, I'll heal, but we can't leave Jared alone. He's weaker and we need to get him out of here."
"Okay, Ethan is keeping look out up there, and your Father has the car ready to go," said my mate as he followed me up the stairs, keeping one hand on the small of my back in case I fell.
"My Dad is here?" I questioned, worried that my Father would want to talk to my Mother, and would end up getting himself killed.
"It's fine, we told him to stay in the car," calmed Dylan, giving me one quick nudge up the last step, my eyes attempting to squint through the darkness, the light from the small cottage creating a pathway across the grass.
"Hey Clara, let's get you out of here, quickly," said Ethan, nodding at me, his eyes widening slightly when he saw Dylan appear up the steps with my brother hanging over his shoulder.
"Where do you think you're going?"
We all turned at the sound of the snarly voice, my heart starting to race as a very angry Sawyer stood in front of us, shaking his head.
"Sawyer, don't do this," I whispered, knowing that somebody was going to get hurt, and I didn't want it to be any of us.
"You should be dead!" he yelled, running his hands through his hair, taking a few steps closer, causing Dylan to growl, passing Jared to Ethan.
"You really have the nerve to try and kill my mate?" growled Dylan, stalking even closer to Sawyer, who snarled, baring his teeth.
"Your mate shouldn't even exist, she and her pathetic little brother over there were a mistake," laughed Sawyer, shaking his head at me, causing me to scowl.
"Ethan, take Clara and Jared to the car. I'll be there in a minute," ordered Dylan, causing Ethan to nod, placing his hand of the small of my back, attempting to lead me away from the scene that was about to unfold.
"No, I'm not going anywhere!" I growled, shaking my head furiously, causing Dylan to growl.
"Clara, darling, you aren't going to like what you're going to see, and I don't want you to get hurt, so please go with Ethan," said my mate between gritted teeth, his fists tightly clenched.
"What are you even doing here?" questioned Sawyer, rolling his eyes. "How did you even know where she was?"
Dylan stayed silent, his chest heavily moving up and down as he breathed, glaring at the psychotic man in front of him.
"Fine, you don't want to tell me, no problem," chuckled Sawyer, holding his hands up defensively. "But just so you know, I am going to kill you whilst your little helpless girlfriend over there watches, and then when I'm done, I'm going to rip her heart right out of her chest, along with her crippled brother."
Suddenly, Dylan shifted into his large grey wolf, lunging at Sawyer as he also shifted, his black wolf matching Dylan in size.
Dylan landed on Sawyer with a thud, causing me to gasp, and Ethan to lay Jared down on the grass quickly, also shifting and jumping into the fight.
I watched as Sawyer kicked out, sending Ethan flying backwards, skidding along the grass, causing him to growl menacingly, lunging and lashing out at Sawyer, slashing at his throat.
Blood covered the grass below them as they grappled with one another, Dylan and Ethan easily pinning Sawyer down as he flailed and snarled below them, clawing them across their snouts a few times.
Suddenly, my Mother appeared from the house, a scowl plastered across her face as she approached us, shaking her head, her gaze fixated on her mate.
"Wait, stop!" she yelled, causing Dylan and Ethan to look up, giving Sawyer a chance to scrabble out from underneath them, shoving them backwards harshly and running over to my Mother, holding his head high. "Shift Sawyer, they won't harm you with me in the way."
I scowled at my Mother as her mate agreed, shifting back into his human form as he stood behind his mate, blood trickling down his chest from the large gash in his neck.
"He has to die for what he did to my mate, he is a threat to her and her family," grunted Dylan as he shifted, causing me to blush slightly as I quickly took in his nakedness, forcing myself to avert my eyes, knowing now was definitely not the time.
My Mother gazed at Dylan, licking along her teeth as she thought, nodding slowly, sighing.
"Clara's family is also your family," reminded Dylan, raising his eyebrows, waiting for a reaction from my Mother, and sighing when he didn't get one. "I'm asking you nicely Marie, move out of the way."
"You said he must die?" asked my Mother, causing Dylan to nod his head sharply.
"Yes, there is no other option in my book."
"Then allow me," smiled my Mother, ripping a knife from her pocket, turning around and quickly plunging the knife straight into Sawyer's heart, causing him to inhale deeply, and crumble onto his knees.
His hurt eyes gazed into his mates', his face a mask of disbelief and betrayal.
I gasped as Sawyer gurgled, falling to the floor, his breathing slowing before completely stopping, his wide eyes turning dead.
"Now go," ordered my Mother, watching us all as we stood in front of her with our mouths hanging open. "I said go!"
Dylan turned to me, grabbing my hand as I watched Ethan shift and hoist Jared up onto his shoulders, walking ahead of us, leading us towards the car.
"Dylan, she-she killed him..." I stuttered as he quickly lead me away from the scene, swallowing harshly in response, pointing around the corner, waiting for me to turn down the path.
As we reached the car, I saw my Father's face light up, but quickly turning to despair as he saw Ethan approaching holding Jared, his body completely limp.
"Please tell me he's alive," begged my Father, his eyes welling up with tears as he watched Ethan lay him down across the passenger seats, before quickly pulling on a spare pair of shorts, also throwing Dylan a pair.
"He's alive Dad, but we need to get him some help," I called, my Father swallowing harshly in response.
"Right, start driving and I'll catch you up. I'll be a few minutes," ordered Dylan as he pulled on his shorts, causing me to furrow my brows, shaking my head.
"Where are you going?"
"There's something I need to do," he replied, jogging off towards the house.
Dylan's POV:
I sighed as I approached the house, giving Sawyer's limp corpse one last look, feeling anger bubbling up inside of me.
I knocked on the door, tapping my foot impatiently and pushing the door open after getting no response, walking in to see Marie sitting on the couch, her face completely blank.
"Why are you back here? Didn't I tell you to leave?"
"I wanted to say thank you for telling me the whereabouts of Clara, I wouldn't have got to her in time without your phone call," I said, causing Marie to nod, standing up, making her way over to me.
"I did what I had to do."
"Why did you kill him?" I questioned, causing Marie to huff, shaking her head.
"Like you said, he was a threat to Clara's family."
"Your family," I corrected, which caused Marie to chuckle sadly.
"I'm afraid I lost the privilege of using the term 'my' as soon as I left. Sawyer was controlling, manipulative and erratic, and I'm better off without him, but I should have done what I just did many years ago."
"You could always come back Marie," I suggested, gazing into Marie's sad and empty eyes, knowing that her wolf was now punishing her for what she had done to her mate. "Being alone after something like this happening probably isn't a good idea."
"Too much damage has been done Dylan, I chose my mate over them. I can't walk back into my children's lives after everything I put them through, it wouldn't be fair to them, or Patrick. I'm no longer a Mother to them."
"I understand."
Marie shook her head in annoyance, a sad smile plastered on her face as she looked up at me. "I trust you not to say anything about my call to you, I don't want them hoping for change and coming to find me in the future, it's easier if they hate me. They need to let me go."
"Where will you go?" I asked, causing Marie to shrug.
"Maybe Italy, or France. I've always wanted to live in Europe."
"I don't know how you had the emotional strength to do that, I really don't." I stated, running my hands through my hair.
"Rather him die than my children."
"I wish you all the best, Marie." I stated, making my way out of the house, looking back at her morose looking face.
"Please look after them, Dylan."
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