Red
"Oh shit, I think he's waking up."
"Put your gun down, Kyle. He's not going to hurt us."
"What makes you so sure?"
A steady stream of conversation invaded Red's pounding head. His mouth felt dry, his tongue like sandpaper as he swallowed. He could tell that he was lying on the cold hard ground and knew that at some point, he'd Shifted from his wolf skin to his human one.
Nothing else was clear.
Red remembered running and fighting and the thundering bangs of gunfire that accompanied screams and whimpering of dying hunters and werewolves. He had started on the front lines, a few hundred feet away from the wall when the hunters had taken it down. Henry had taken charge of one group of wolves to Red's left and on the other side of Henry was Monroe with her own set to lead into battle.
Scattered throughout the pack, hidden high within the trees, were some of their best marksmen – all trained by Blake and being led today by Phillip and Hope. They would do their best to drive the hunters towards where the wolves waited while picking out those that the pack couldn't take care of. All of it in an attempt to prevent the hunters from making it near the clinic where the Luna, and Red's Mate, waited.
When the wall had fallen, Red had done his best not to think of Blake but that was easier said than done. Especially as he'd seen hunters and wolves falling to the ground around him, blood leaking into the cold hard autumn soil. He'd banished her from thought, if only so he hadn't thought about how breakable her human body was.
And so Red had fought with claw and teeth until his paws and coat and muzzle were coated with red blood. There were so many hunters that they seemed endless. Everywhere he turned, there was one waiting for him and even the ones he couldn't see posed a threat. He was stabbed and sliced and grazed with blades and bullets of silver and still Red had fought.
Until he'd found himself on the edge of the territory and had been updating Henry through the link on the fact that the number of hunters was dwindling when the scream had sounded. Through the trees, just beyond pack territory, Red had seen two faeries being dragged away by a group of hunters.
The faeries, a female and a male, were bound in iron and Red had known instinctively that these were Lavinia and her son, Vulir. With only enough time to tell Henry that he was leaving the territory, Red had launched into a run.
That was where his memory grew fuzzy and dark and unclear. Red remembered lunging towards the hunters, killing the man holding Lavinia's chains and then feeling something bright and burning rake across the side of his neck. After that, it was pain, blinding and fierce, and Red had fallen, vision growing dark as he'd Shifted into his human skin with a bone-deep coldness seeping through him.
And then he remembered something that couldn't be true because what Red thought had happened after that was hunters dashing through the foliage and turning on their own people.
Before he'd blacked out, his last thought had been of Blake. Of her eyes, hard as steel and shining with starlight. He might have even said her name.
But that was all. Red didn't know what had happened after that blinding pain but as his eyes fluttered open, he was sure that it couldn't be good. Not as he looked up and saw three humans leaning over him.
"Hey," one said. He grinned and the expression lit up his brown eyes in a way that seemed trustworthy. A lock of his chestnut hair fell into his eyes. "Take it easy. You went down pretty hard."
The words didn't make sense with what Red was expecting. The tone was light and nonthreatening and since Red had anticipated threats to escape the man's mouth, he was confused. Perhaps he had a concussion.
"You're alright," that same human said. "Sit up nice and slow. Want any water?"
"Who the hell are you?" Red replied. He swallowed thickly, wincing as the echo of pain lanced down his throat. God, his whole body ached. He felt as if he'd been hit by a semi and left to rot. There was an incessant throbbing in his head.
"My name is Maverick Hix but you can just call me Hix. Everyone does. These are Kyle and Siobhan. Before you get all wolf-like on us, you should probably know that I'm a friend of Blake's. Since you muttered her name a few times while you were out, I figure you know her pretty well."
Hix – the name clanged through Red. He'd heard that one before. Not just from Blake but Phillip as well. This was the human that had set them free.
Slowly, Red sat up. Gathered just beyond Hix was a man whose fingers twitched nervously near the handle of the gun holstered at his hip though he didn't pull it out. Next to him was a woman with a mass of red curls. Kyle and Siobhan, presumably.
"You were shot by this jackass named Boyd. Not like that's important. He's dead now." Hix didn't sound particularly bothered by that. "The bullet went through the side of your neck. You were lucky. If your faerie friends here hadn't insisted on using their magic, you'd probably be dead too."
Red lifted his hand to his neck but the skin was smooth and unblemished. Healed by magic and his own accelerated healing capabilities. The lingering pain was just a phantom but it still stung him as he glanced over his shoulder where the two faeries he'd seen being dragged along earlier sat. Lavinia, with hair of silver, and Vulir, whose blue-skinned fingers gripped his mother's hand tightly. Both of them had been completely removed from their iron bindings.
Lavinia smiled tightly at him though there was a hint of fear there too. "They made—"
"I know," he assured her calmly. "We know that they forced you to do it. I'm just glad to know that you're safe now. Your Court will be as well. Lehna Greenvine is a friend of mine. She's been looking for you."
Tears sparked in the faerie's eyes. Relief. "Now that you are awake, we will leave to go home. You helped free us."
"I got shot," Red said flatly. "I really don't think that I did too much. The ones you might want to thank are these humans."
Lavinia turned her eyes on the humans in question. She stared at them with stark deliberation. She didn't thank them as she got to her feet, tugging Vulir along with her, yet she paused before stepping into the dense foliage and gave the hunters a terse nod.
It was as close to a thank you as they were going to get.
Red looked back at Hix. "You helped Blake and Phillip escape from that sadist."
"By sadist, I assume you mean Malachi. If so, yeah that man is fucked up in the head. I hope someone killed him during all this. Normally, I don't wish for people to die but this world would be a hell of a lot better without him in it."
At least we agree on that.
"Well, thank you for helping her. And thank all of you for helping me just now."
"Is your name Red?" Hix asked.
Red nodded hesitantly. "Yes."
Hix's smile warmed, losing its guarded edge. "Thought so. Blake told me about you. Anyway, you've been out of it for about half an hour as Lavinia worked to patch you up."
"Things have calmed down a bit," Siobhan said quietly. She had a very faint Irish accent. "Most of the hunters have fled. They weren't expecting some of us to switch sides and start shooting at our own people so you're welcome for that."
"They're probably still out here, though," Kyle added. He glanced around the forest nervously. "We should move."
Slowly, Red climbed to his feet. At some point, one of them had thrown a jacket over his lower half and he tied it around his waist to keep it in place. "You should come back with me. No one will hurt you if I bring you in. You can connect with Blake and take things from there."
Hix glanced at the other hunters and said, "Lead the way."
"Stay calm, okay? I'm going to Shift into my wolf skin."
The hunters took a step back as Red Shifted. Bones cracking and reshaping, a tail and fluffy ears and long snout forming. The jacket fell away to the forest floor. When the Shift was over, Red looked at the hunters and jerked his muzzle in the direction of pack territory.
Not that it mattered now. With the wall down, anyone could waltz right in. They would need to set up patrols and a perimeter until new wards could be created and who knew how long that could take. It would surely be a headache but for now all Red cared about was getting home and finding his Mate.
He opened his mind to the pack link and asked, Does anyone need assistance?
The hunters have fallen back, Lucas Vega replied. He sounded exhausted. The Alpha ordered that everyone congregate at the packhouse. We're in the process of setting up a perimeter.
I've taken charge of that, Phillip interjected. At some point, he must have Shifted from his human skin. Probably whenever he ran out of bullets. The Beta and Toby are working to triage injuries. Lots of people are in rough shape but we have fewer deaths than we anticipated.
A mercy, though Red could already feel the losses of those people just as he had the day that Chandra had died. They were like small gaping holes in his heart.
Blake? Red asked Phillip and Lucas then. Focusing solely on those two consciousnesses and letting the rest fall away so that their conversation was private.
She and the Alpha just made it back to the house with a few hunters in tow, Phillip replied. Henry went to go check in on Lucy but Blake stayed at the house. She's banged up but seems okay.
Red released a shuddering exhale. Blake was alive which he'd already known. He would have felt it if she was dead. Yet having the confirmation and knowing that someone else had physically seen her with their own two eyes settled the nervousness pulsing through Red's veins.
His Mate was alive. She was okay.
That made it easier for him to breathe as they picked their way through the forest terrain.
I'm about ten minutes from the house. I've got hunters with me as well, Red told them.
You're not the only one to bring home stragglers. I think we have about twenty-five humans here with us right now – and that's excluding your Mate, Lucas told him.
Red absorbed that. Twenty-five at the house and then three with him. If he included Blake, that was twenty-nine humans who had fought with the werewolves against their own people. He wondered if there were any others who had died fighting for his cause and felt overwhelmingly grateful for what these humans had voluntarily done.
"Blake's the reason so many of us fought for you all today," Hix said conversationally as he stepped over a fallen log. There was a spot of blood on it as if someone had jumped over it while injured. "It was the right thing to do but if not for her, it probably wouldn't have happened."
Red glanced at Hix curiously and as he did, he noticed bodies in the distance. A few hundred feet away but bloodied and cold and still. Several were human but two...two were werewolves. One with brown fur and the other black with white markings. Carsen and Olivia.
Grief threatened to overwhelm him and he was grateful for the fact that he was in his wolf skin for the simple fact that these three hunters wouldn't have the opportunity to see that pain and loss on his face.
"Five of us decided that we wanted to try and get those to faeries out of harm's way," Hix continued and Red focused on the conversation as a distraction. Behind them, Kyle and Siobhan walked silently, their footsteps hardly making a sound. "Only three of us survived long enough to do it."
Red made a small sound that he hoped the hunter understood to be a question.
"No, it wasn't your people that killed Alisha and Beatriz," Hix said in response. "In fact, your people seemed to figure it out rather quickly that some of us were working with you. I was relieved for it since none of you tried to eat us. Thanks for that."
If he'd been in his human skin, Red would have laughed. As he was, only a little barking sound escaped his muzzle.
Hix chuckled alongside him. "Anyway, we were trying to be sneaky about it and not go barging into the situation when our former, uh, colleagues began dragging them away. Of course, that's exactly what you did."
"Almost got yourself killed in the process," Siobhan added wryly. "But you did give us the opening we needed. We wanted to stop it before the magic barrier came down but there was no way to get the faeries out without detection and if Malachi had learned what we were planning then he would have killed all of us before coming for you. Since we couldn't do that, we had to get the faeries in the chaos afterwards."
Red stopped walking next to a tree he knew had clothing hidden inside of it. He paused long enough to Shift and pull on the shorts he found inside and then he turned back to the hunters and said, "The fae won't forget the kindness you've shown them in returning their lost kin to them. Of course, I wouldn't expect any favours considering humans stole Lavinia and her children away from the Court to begin with but they'll be appreciative of what you've done."
"We didn't do it for any favours," Kyle said. "It was just the right thing to do."
"I know you said that Blake affected your decision to help us but...why now? You gave us the warning that the attack was coming and then you flipped on your own people. I know that Blake is persuasive but convincing you to fight with a pack of werewolves for no personal gain is significant even for her skills."
"It wasn't just her," Siobhan admitted and her curls bounced as she raised her chin defiantly. "We were there the day Malachi tried to kill that little girl. That shit wasn't right. After that, I knew my days under Malachi's thumb were numbered. I'd been planning on leaving the community entirely when Hix started rounding a bunch of us up. I was glad to do this."
Red absorbed this, his thoughts flitting to his goddaughter. Malachi had called her a monster, had carved it into her arm. And yet there had been a fair number of hunters who hadn't believed him. Who had thought it wrong. None had been willing to step in when Blake had challenged the leader of the hunters on her own but they'd come now.
He turned away from them towards a gap in the trees ahead. Beyond it, he could see the packhouse where his fellow werewolves were milling about. Half in their wolf skins and half in their human ones. Most of them were bloody and bruised and covered in dirt. Henry must have removed the command he'd implemented on the wolves who hadn't been involved in the fight for families and loved ones were beginning to reunite – or beginning to grieve those who would never return.
And there, standing at the front of a group of hunters which were slightly removed from the celebrating werewolves, her eyes intent and nervous upon the forest was Blake. Her warm brown skin was covered in lacerations made from a blade and there was purple bruising on her face. The injuries made his blood boil yet the sight of her released the tension in Red's shoulders. For the first time in hours, he took his first deep breath and knew that everything would be okay.
Hix stepped up to Red's side, following the direction of his gaze. "I know that you're her...soulmate so that probably means you're incapable of hurting her. But if you do..."
"You'll kill me?" Red finished dryly.
"Nah, I'd let her do that. I'd just hold you down."
"You care for her, don't you?"
The hunter nodded. "She's like the little sister I never wanted. Blake has this terrible superpower of growing on people the more you get to know her. Most hunters don't have a lot of family. We get into this business through death so we tend to marry young, have kids young, die young. A lot of the time, the families we end up with are the ones that we make, not the ones we're born into. I like to consider Blake my family."
"After all you've done for her, I'm sure that she considers you the same."
Hix smiled like he already knew that but it was nice to hear.
Red didn't think there was anything else that needed to be said and he was tired of waiting. He wanted to be with his Mate. Without looking to see if the hunters followed, Red took the last few steps towards the treeline and broke it, emerging on the other side.
Immediately, Blake's head snapped towards him. For just a moment, her face crumpled and a slight sob burst from her lips and then she was running. He hardly had the time to open his arms before she was jumping into them. Red held her tightly, burying his face in her shoulder and breathing in deeply. Vanilla and bourbon and spice – her scent mixed in with the blood and sweat.
All at once, his aches and pains vanished. They became distant memories the moment that he felt Blake in his arms. It was so strange to have her like this when the last time the hunters had attacked, it had been with Blake as his enemy. This flat expanse of forest was where he'd realized that she was his Mate.
How much life had changed since then. And though it had been a hard road of pain and grief, Red was grateful for it all since it had brought them together.
Blake pressed her face against his chest and murmured, "You're okay."
"So are you."
And for a long, long moment they simply held each other and didn't let go. There weren't any words to say, no other assurances to be offered. At least, none that would carry any weight right then. All that mattered was that they were together.
"Henry said you left pack territory," Blake murmured against his chest. "Where did you go? I was worried." His Mate leaned back but didn't step out of his hold. Her eyes were lined with silver tears but they were as hard and unyielding as stone.
"They had Lavinia and Vulir. I had to try and save them."
"Are they okay?"
"Yes, and they're already headed back to their Court. I didn't really do too much to help them. That we owe to your friends."
"My friends?" Red gestured over to where Hix, Kyle, and Siobhan had begun to congregate with their comrades and watched as Blake's face lit up. "Oh, my god! Hix!"
The dark-haired hunter grinned at Blake. "Thought I'd be seeing you."
Blake smiled back. "I'm glad you didn't die out there."
"Me too."
Red didn't let go of Blake's hand as she quickly introduced him to a few of the other hunters. Mick – stocky and stubborn-looking but with kind green eyes – and Finn – bronze-haired and handsome. The latter kept glancing over towards the corner of the field to where Phillip had emerged and was currently directing people around for perimeter patrols and security measures. If the hunter was trying to be subtle about his gawking, he was failing miserably.
Just then, a familiar heavy hand landed on Red's shoulder. He turned, already smiling, as Henry appeared beside him. Red released Blake's hand only to embrace Henry in one of those intense back-slapping type of hugs. When they separated, he saw that his brother's hazel eyes were a little misty.
"Lucy?" Red asked. He hadn't let himself think of his friend and Luna in labour during a war. Hadn't wanted to become prone with fear thinking about the type of risk she was in.
Henry beamed and sniffed once with emotion. "She's perfect and I have a son."
That only prompted another round of hugs but this time Blake was drawn into it. In spite of all that had happened, it was a good moment and one that Red would remember forever. It felt like the start of something special.
Yet as Monroe arrived, Toby next to her, some of the good humour vanished. "He's ready for you," she said to Henry. Her tone was bleak. "I've just come from the cells with Li. Lucas and Juliet are still there keeping an eye on him.
Toby frowned. "Who are we talking about? I've only just gotten back from the northern edge of the territory."
"Malachi," Blake told him. "I incapacitated him earlier and left him for Li, Lucas, and Juliet to watch over. Once the fighting was done, we moved him to the cells. Monroe was one of the first back and offered to take Malachi to the prison while I waited for Red."
"You've left my baby brother with the psychopath who was responsible for this whole disaster?" Toby asked flatly. His fingers curled into fists.
"He's chained up and in a cell," Monroe told her Mate. "Lucas is on the other side of a very thick door. Besides, he knows how to handle himself. Your brother is fine."
Toby nodded once, a hard jerk of his head. He still didn't look happy but consented to be led away. Monroe and her Mate went to assist with some of the werewolves who were still requiring additional medical attention from wounds made with silver weaponry.
Red looked down at Blake but saw that she was staring at Henry. "Ready to do this thing?"
The Alpha nodded. "Yes. We should go."
"Go?" Red asked. He held a little tighter to Blake's hand, not wanting to release her quite yet. The echo of gunshots still sounded in his ears and the idea of sending Blake off again out of his sight made his heart race in his chest.
Blake squeezed his hand back as if she too didn't want to go yet but recognized the need to finish this. "We need to interrogate Malachi. As you know, we're aware that he's been working with a werewolf to stage this entire thing and...I think I know who it is but Malachi needs to be the one to confirm the information."
"You know who it is? Why didn't you say anything?" Red stared down at her, his brow furrowing low over his eyes.
"You're a terrible liar, that's why," Blake said but the tone she used was affectionate. "I needed to be sure before we tipped anyone off. If I'm right, we don't want to send them running or taking hostages.
Red recognized that she was right but still didn't want to let her out of his sight. Not yet.
"Lockdown the pack," Henry ordered him quietly. "I've already laid down the command that no one is to exit pack territory because of the wall being gone and the hunters that could still be in the vicinity. But I want you specifically to keep your eyes on Lucy and my kids until I get back. Annalise is with her mom and grandparents at the clinic. Don't leave them alone even for a second."
Red straightened up as he felt the command from his Alpha settle into his bones. It was like a weight on shoulders he couldn't shake. "I swear I'll be with them the entire time."
"Thank you."
"You're okay to be there?" Red turned to Blake and put a hand on his Mate's arm as a flash of fear thundered through his veins. He knew that Blake could handle herself but she'd be going into a vicious interrogation with the man who had betrayed and hurt and manipulated her all these years. Just below Red's fingers, the word 'traitor' stared up at him on her flesh.
"I'll be fine. I know how to trigger Malachi into speaking. This will be a lot faster and smoother with me there." Blake reached up on her toes to kiss his cheek but Red turned his head at the last moment so she caught his lips instead. The kiss was quick, fast and routine and nothing like Red truly wanted in that instant. "We'll be back soon. Stay safe. I love you."
"I love you too." Blake stepped out of Red's arms at last and looked up at the Alpha. "Let's go. It's time for you to meet your daughter's kidnapper in the flesh and time for me to finish my investigation."
*~*
It took them over five hours to break the leader of the hunters. Time during which Red, Monroe, and Toby spent organizing the hunters who remained into rooms in the packhouse, helping with the injured, and making arrangements for a funeral service to be held that night beneath the moon for their fallen packmates.
All of it he managed from the comfort of Lucy's hospital room in the clinic. The Luna was tired but radiant with her son held against her chest. He had a shock of dark hair like both of his parents and had been sleeping soundly for the majority of the time that Red had been in the room.
They kept talk of the fighting to a minimum for Annalise had joined them in that room and though Red knew that his eight-year-old goddaughter had already been exposed to the monsters of the world, he wanted to spare her from what he could. And so Annalise spent that time cooing over her baby brother and devising name options for her parents to pick from.
When the funerals had been planned, Monroe and Toby joined Red, Lucy, and three of the four grandparents in the clinic. Dwayne and Amanda were absent as they continued tending to the wounded but the trickle of injuries had slowed considerably from when Red had first arrived. It was only those who had suffered grave injuries that remained. Most of those who had been shot or sliced with silver bullets and blades had already healed.
Others never had the chance to. Like Victor who had succumbed to the wounds he'd gotten while defending the clinic and the Luna. He'd actually been helping Blake which was a far cry from how their relationship had started and though Red was grieving, he also felt insurmountable gratitude for what Victor had done.
A knock at the door was what alerted Red to the fact that Henry and Blake had finished up interrogating Malachi though it was not the Alpha nor Red's Mate who appeared in the doorway. Instead, it was Li who looked at Red and said, "They want to talk to you. The Alpha would also like his parents to be in attendance as well."
Dread coiled in the depths of Red's stomach as he stood. "Where are they?"
"Out front."
"Is everything okay?" Lucy asked. She sat up slightly, worry lining her face. Next to her, Adrian and Elizabeth sat with Annalise but they stood as Red rose from his chair. Lucy's mother, Beth, walked around the bed to sit next to her granddaughter in the former Luna's vacated chair.
"The Alpha and Blake just returned from the prison, Luna," Li replied calmly. "All I know is that there are some...sensitive things they need to discuss with Red."
"Keep an eye on the Luna while I'm gone," Red instructed and Li nodded as he took up a seat just outside the door. To Lucy, Red added, "I'll try to get you an update as soon as I can."
With that, he headed for the front doors. As he exited the building, Adrian and Elizabeth a few steps behind him, it was to see Blake and Henry waiting out front. The sight of them nearly stopped Red in his tracks.
They were each covered in blood – more so than either of them had been wearing prior to their interrogation of the leader of the hunters. It had splattered across Blake's neck and soaked into her hair and clothing. On Henry, it coated his hands like a layer of red paint. As if he'd personally wanted to feel the life drain from Malachi as he killed him.
More telling of what they'd endured though were their eyes. Henry's hazel irises were dulled with rage and grief but Blake looked worse than that. Half-dead and grim, as if a piece of her had been ripped out and shredded during these long hours in the prison.
A bit of life sparked when she saw him. Red opened his arms to her and she walked directly into them with a shuddering exhale. "He's dead," she murmured. "Malachi is dead."
Red stroked her hair gently, running his fingers through her dark locks. He didn't bother asking if she was okay. It was clear that she wasn't. She would be though, in time. If there was one thing his Mate knew how to do, it was survive and endure.
Over the top of her head, Red's gaze met Henry's. "Did you learn what you needed to?"
Henry nodded and that rage turned to fire. "Yes."
"What are we discussing?" Adrian asked, stepping forward.
"Someone in Sanguis Ridge conspired with Malachi to launch a war," Blake said as turned around in Red's embrace so that her back was pressed against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her shoulders instead. "Red and I theorized about it while we were investigating the murder of humans in Denver. We got proof of it on a surveillance video from the scene of one murder and Malachi as good as confessed it to me when he had me locked up in Beare Lake."
"Blake had a hunch about who it was," Henry added darkly. "But we needed Malachi to confirm it, which he did about ten minutes before I killed him."
"Who?" Elizabeth asked quietly as if she didn't truly want to know the answer.
Henry simply raised his chin and swallowed before he asked, "Has anyone seen Toby?"
Toby. Toby.
Red nearly stumbled back but Blake's nails dug into his forearm, anchoring both his body and mind. Impossible. Not Toby. Toby who was his friend, who Red had known for over a decade. Toby who hated humans but...It couldn't be true.
Yet from the forlorn look on Henry's face, Red knew that it was.
Red simply took a breath and said, "He was here but he went with Monroe to the house about fifteen minutes ago."
"I'll head there now." Henry stared at Red and from his silence, Red knew that he was being given the option of whether or not he wanted to attend this confrontation.
"I'll come with you." Red glanced down at Blake but she simply reached to entwine her fingers with his. Dried flecks of blood lingered on her hands but her actions were clear. She was coming.
"You go ahead," Elizabeth said, nodding at her sons and Mate in turn. "I'll stay here with Lucy, Beth, and the kids just in case."
Henry glanced towards the clinic longingly as if all he wanted to do was run inside and be with his family. Instead, he spun on his heel and led the procession all the way to the packhouse. It was a quiet affair, grim, and none of them so much as said a word.
Monroe was sitting next to her Mate on the steps of the house as they walked up. She had cleaned herself up in the hours since the fighting had concluded and all traces of blood and dirt were now gone.
She was smiling as they arrived but the expression vanished the moment that she saw the looks on their faces. "What's going on?
"Toby?" Henry said, ignoring her. "Is there anything you want to say?"
The Beta's Mate paled, the tan leaching from his skin as he looked from face-to-face. His mouth settled into a firm line as his brows drew low over his dark eyes.
Monroe started and whipped her head towards Toby, blonde hair swinging. "Toby?"
"It's nothing," he murmured to her. "Everything is okay."
"Okay?" Henry snarled. "That's what you have to say?"
"I'm not sure what you want to hear, Alpha."
Red stepped forward. "The truth, Toby. That's all we want."
Toby squared his shoulders and glanced at Monroe. He said nothing.
There was a look on Henry's face that made Red think the Alpha was seconds away from doing something regrettable. Fortunately, Monroe caught it as well and placed a hand on her Mate's arm. "What's going on, Toby?" she asked. Her voice trembled a little.
"It's nothing," he murmured. "You should go inside while we talk."
"I'm not going anywhere until someone tells me what the hell is going on here." Monroe looked imploringly at them all. Her fingers squeezed Toby's hand but he was too busy staring at Henry to notice.
The Alpha narrowed his eyes. "I know, Toby. Malachi Pierce confessed everything. Your partnership, the murders of all of those humans – including the man we hosted in our prison when Blake was brought in. He told us about how he kidnapped humans for the two of you to hunt down in the forest near the pack to try and scare Blake into submission. And he told us how you injected my daughter with wolfsbane, pulled her out of her bedroom window, and willingly handed her and Juliet over to him before framing Blake."
Monroe took her hand off of Toby's and stared at him with horror. He simply glared up at the Alpha and said didn't respond.
"We know it was because of what happened to Katie," Blake murmured and Toby turned his baleful eyes on her. Blake didn't balk from his stare though. She only continued, "You wanted revenge for what happened to her and for what your parents did so you started murdering humans. Malachi found you and was going to kill you but instead, you struck a deal to work together and create a war between humans and the Shadow World. That was when you started murdering the humans together to make them gruesome enough to catch the attention of other hunters which would lay the groundwork for the war to start."
"Shut up," Toby hissed.
Blake did no such thing. Red placed a hand on the small of her back in solidarity, offering her his strength if she needed it. "Malachi didn't want to lead a war yet and neither did you. You both wanted someone else to take the first hit so that when the leadership fell, you could swoop in and take command. But you also wanted to keep Monroe safe so you made sure that Malachi thought Red was the Beta so that he would be targeted over her and then for added measure, you made sure that both you and Monroe were away from the pack on the day that Malachi arrived with his host of hunters."
"You wanted Red and I dead so that you could take over uncontested after that initial attack," Henry interjected, his voice filled with lethal calm. "If Red, Lucy, and I had died then the pack would be yours to take to war. You would likely still need to go to the Wolfswächter but with my parents on the council, it was likely that they would push for retribution if their sons, daughter-in-law, and granddaughter had all been butchered by hunters."
Monroe seemed to be in a state of shock. "This can't be happening."
"It is," Blake said, not unkindly. "Toby did this."
"Shut up you piece of human filth," Toby hissed at Blake. "I can't believe that all of you are believing what she and that bastard hunter are saying over me. You've all known me your entire lives. Blake's only been around a few months and she's as untrustworthy as they come. In my opinion, Red should have killed that bitch of his the moment that he first saw her. That's what I would have done. If you were smart, you'd kill her and her human friends instead of giving the rooms in our goddamn packhouse."
"Blake's trustworthiness isn't up for debate here," Henry snarled. "Neither are the hunters who changed allegiances to help us."
Red was relieved that he didn't need to intervene. To her credit, Blake didn't seem bothered by Toby's accusations. She just stared at Toby unflinchingly with her arms folded across her chest. Very deliberately, Red reached out and took her hand.
Maybe once she would have been out of place in this circle but here and now, after everything she'd done and everything she'd sacrificed, she belonged. This was her pack too, whether she realized it or even wanted it. Wolves were loyal to their own and from the moment Blake had returned with Phillip and Chandra's body after releasing Annalise and Juliet she had belonged entirely to Sanguis Ridge.
Slowly, Monroe got to her feet, quivering slightly, and put a few feet of distance between herself and her Mate. She stood next to Henry, her face a mask of horror. If Red had doubted even for a second that Monroe knew of what her Mate had been doing, it dissipated with the expression she wore. Pure shock and despair as she stared at the male she loved and begged, "Tell me this isn't true, Toby."
Toby only stared at his Mate.
"Tell me. Please say you didn't do this. I'm your Mate so don't you dare lie to me. You owe me more than that. Tell me you had no hand in this."
And perhaps it was the pull of the Mate bond or maybe he had just realized that there were no lies that he could hide behind for Toby simply said, "I can't."
The two words broke something in Monroe who released a choked little sound as realization sharpened her expression. "You were responsible for all of this? You intentionally put Annalise in danger?"
Henry growled low in his throat and the sound was echoed by Red and Adrian. For the first time, a hint of fear shone in Toby's eyes but he wasn't the type of male who would beg for forgiveness or mercy.
"I did what I had to do," Toby murmured. "It was the only way to make this all worth it. I owed it to Katie and all of the innocent wolves like her that have been slayed by hunters and then forgotten by their packs. My sister died and nothing happened to keep another murder like that from happening again. So I decided that I had to do something about it."
"You allowed a psychopath to take my daughter," Henry snarled. Bones and tendons began to crack and pop and reshape but he didn't Shift. Not fully anyway. "He almost killed her."
"Chandra's blood is on your hands," Adrian said darkly. "She didn't need to die but she did because of you. Everyone who has died in this whole ordeal is because of you."
Toby's face contorted darkly. "And their deaths will mean nothing if you don't continue to press the advantage we have. We just beat them – the hunters. It's time to remove our oppressors from power. We've been in hiding and scared about what they can do to us for far too long. Now is the time to act."
"No," Monroe said and Toby looked to his Mate. "Because your whole argument hinges on the fact that humans are cruel monsters that can't change. But Blake and all of the other hunters inside of the house behind you are proof that they can. We can coexist, Toby. It doesn't have to be one or the other."
"Yes it does," he replied firmly, eyes wild and feverish now. "You're daft if you don't realize that."
"And you're just as crazy as Malachi," she replied. "You'll never let go of this, will you?"
"Not until the humans are dead," Toby vowed.
Tears began to leak out the sides of Monroe's eyes and she began to tremble viciously. "I'm sorry."
Toby paled. "Mo, just listen to me—"
"I'm done listening."
In a movement faster than Red expected, Monroe lashed out. She had partially shifted, fingers lengthening into claws. Blood poured from the deep gash she made at Toby's jugular. His eyes widened in shock, as if he had not actually expected that his Mate would have been able to do it. Most lesser wolves wouldn't have been able to. Hell, Red hadn't even been able to when the time had come all those months ago. Monroe had a strength to her that others could only marvel at.
Toby collapsed, falling to the ground and staring without seeing the world beyond and Monroe fell to her knees as great wracking sobs ripped their way from her chest. The claws disappeared from her hands but her fingers were coated in blood and tears streaked down her face. Red could all-but feel her pain and he knew that it went deep, right down to her very soul which had been cleaved irrevocably in two.
Red stepped forward but was halted by Blake who placed her hand on his shoulder and shook her head. He released her hand and stayed where he was next to Henry and Adrian. They all watched as Blake took a few steps forward and knelt beside Monroe.
Blake didn't speak but placed her arms around the other woman. After a very short moment, the werewolf leaned against the human and allowed herself to be comforted.