Chapter 19
My eyes widened in shock as I took a step forward. Shoving Logan away from me, I shifted just in time to jump away from her. She landed in front of Logan in the exact spot I had occupied not even two seconds before. Corie, Victor, and Jacob all gasped as I shook out my pure white coat. After not seeing me for so long, I guess the sight of me was still a shock.
Camilla rounded on me. "You're a pathetic excuse for a wolf," she said, her voice echoing in my head before she lunged again.
Growling, I lunged for her as well and met her in the air. We tumbled to the ground with her massive form on top. "If I'm so pathetic how can I hold my own against you?" I asked before kicking her off me.
She slammed into a tree, letting out a loud yelp. "Why you little –"
She was cut off as I tackled her to the ground. All I could see was red, my anger and hatred boiling to the surface. Suddenly everything was coming back to me clear as day. Whenever Victor had punished me or yelled at me, he had always turned to her first. The reluctance in his eyes that I had never noticed before seemed blaringly apparent all of a sudden.
Camilla had been the reason behind it all.
There was a collective gasp in both packs as I sank my teeth into her shoulder. My rage was fueling me, giving me strength I didn't even know I was capable of. She whimpered as I moved around her and bit into her leg.
"You're a poor excuse for a mother," I though acidly. "You were the one that turned Corie, Jake, and even Victor against me, weren't you?"
Growling, she finally managed to shove me off of her. "You were too different. A mother can sense these things and I could sense it from the moment you were born. You never belonged in this family." She whipped around me fast enough to bite down onto my shoulder and I howled in pain.
"You were a mistake."
That was the final straw for me. With a dangerous and menacing snarl, I ripped my shoulder away from her, feeling it tear wide open. Wincing, I ignored the throbbing pain and leapt at her again. A growl rumbled deep in my chest as I pinned her to the ground. "Leave. You're not welcome here anymore." She tried to struggle out from beneath me, but I just pushed down harder. "If Victor wants to take the pack with you, so be it. I don't need your help if this is what I'm going to have to put up with in the meantime. We'll fight this war on our own. It'll be hard, but I'd rather go down fighting than have your greedy hands claiming all the praise."
Mustering up all my hatred, all the betrayal I had felt from them, recalling all the memories of everything they'd done, I used those to fuel my anger and strengthen the Alpha command I gave. "Get. Out." I spat, stepping away from her. "I won't have your blood on my hands. You're not worth it."
Slowly, she dragged herself to her feet and shifted to human form. She quickly turned to my father. "We're leaving, Victor," she called, turning and walking towards the trees despite the fact that she was nude.
My father pinched the bridge of his nose. "No," he said.
Camilla bristled. "What was that?" she asked, slowly turning to face him.
"I said no," he told her. "You've kept Torian away from me for far too long and I'm not going to let you continue to do it. As soon as this whole thing blows over and I come home, I'm filing for divorce. So, go. Any of the pack that wish to go with you may. I won't hold it against them," he said, eyes blazing.
She stared open mouthed at him for a whole minute before rounding on me. "You stupid, pathetic little ingrate!" she screeched, marching over to me and getting right in my face, again. "You'll pay for this."
Rolling my eyes, I snapped my jaws at her. She immediately jumped away from me and I followed her, herding her into the woods. Her back collided with a tree trunk and she sent me one final glare before shifting. Then she ran off into the night. When I turned, the awestruck faces of the packs caused the reality of the situation to finally sink in. The anger ebbed away and I realized that I had done it. I had faced Camilla and she was gone. The reason for all the animosity in my family had run away.
I had won.
Suppressing the urge to let out a victory howl, I walked back to Logan. He smiled. When we were in wolf form, we were the same size as the animals we looked like, so I had to jump in order to nudge his shoulder. He quirked an eyebrow at me before realization dawned on his face.
"You need clothes, don't you?" he asked. Whining, I nodded. He pulled his shirt over his head and swung it around my neck so I would have it when I shifted. "There you go, ma vie," he said.
As I passed by the large bay window that gave view of Logan's living room, I caught sight of my reflection. Unable to help myself, I winced. My snow-white coat was dotted with mud splotches as well as deep crimson stains. I didn't even want to look at my shoulder, so I forced myself to take the final step into the trees.
Once I was sure I was out of sight, I shifted. The changing of bones caused me to grit my teeth as my shoulder changed form, reopening the already semi-closed wound. Deciding I would deal with it later – seeing as how it may take a day and a half to fully heal – I pulled Logan's oversized t-shirt over my head. When I glanced down at my hands, I found that they were covered in mud. Sighing, I raised the hem of the shirt to wipe as much of the mud off of my hands and face as possible before walking back out to where the packs were assembled.The minute Logan saw me he was sprinting in my direction. Within seconds he had me in his arms, pulling me tight against his chest.
"You did amazing, Torian," he murmured in my ear. Grinning at him, I took a deep breath before turning to face the Pierce pack.
"Any of you that wish to return to Tennessee with Camilla are more than welcome too. None of you know me, and none of you have any obligation here. We are fighting an immensely powerful vampire and he isn't looking forward to losing. The battle may be long and drawn out, and though I hate to say it, deaths are certain." I allowed my eyes to sweep over the crowd. "There's no need to risk your lives here if you are not willing."
"We're here to protect the original Pierce bloodline. You're a part of that," a man somewhere on my left called.
"Yeah!" a female voice broke in. "We're here until the end!"
"Alright then. Let's all get some sleep. We'll start going over plans tomorrow,' I announced. Murmurs of agreement rippled through the crowd and Logan wasted little time in pulling me towards the house with him. Suddenly, a wave of exhaustion crashed over me.
"Tired?" Logan asked as Kenna and Nicholas moved in to divide the Pierce pack amongst the town.
Yawning, I nodded. "Answer your question?" I muttered as my family and our packs entered the house behind us.
"C'mon then," he said as he began to tow me down the hall to 'our' room.
"Rin!" Jacob called, stopping us in our tracks. "Where are you going?"
"To bed," I told him.
He jogged down the hall until he was right in front of me. "With him?" he asked incredulously, his eyes flicking to Logan.
"Jake, I may be your little sister but I'm not a kid anymore," I said, rolling my eyes at him.
"Don't try anything or I'll rip your throat out," Jacob threatened Logan. His voice was light and playful, but his eyes said he meant every word.
Logan obviously could sense it too, but he smiled all the same. "I won't," he promised, pulling me into the bedroom with him before shutting the door in my brother's face. "Protective," he observed, watching the door as if it would burst open at any second.
I lightly shoved him as a laugh bubbled out of my mouth. "He's my brother who hasn't seen me since I was fourteen. Suddenly I'm back in his life with you. It's a lot to take in."
He raised a hand and cupped my cheek. "I understand. He loves you," he said before leaning down and softly kissing me.
When he pulled away, I smiled and laid my hand over his. "I know," I whispered. With that I turned and walked into the closet, intent on getting my own clothes to put on. Once I had an underwear set, a pair of shorts, and another of Logan's shirts I walked back out and made a beeline for the bathroom. Closing myself in, I went to strip Logan's t-shirt off and a pained cry escaped my lips before I could stop it.
"Son of a . . ." I spat, letting out a string of curses under my breath.
"Torian?" Logan called, knocking lightly on the door. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," I told him, grinding my teeth together as I jerked the shirt off. "Hold on a second," I said. Wincing, I reached down and pulled on my underwear and shorts before slipping on my bra. Turning to the mirror, I examined the vicious bite mark that took up practically my entire right shoulder. The blood had dried onto the shirt of Logan's I had taken off, so removing it had ripped the wound open.
Again.
I could see that the wound was trying to stitch itself back together, but it was so wide it wouldn't be able to if just left alone. Biting my lip, I turned to the door. If I wanted the injury to heal in the near future, I was going to need Logan's help.
"Come in," I called softly, crossing my arms over my chest. He peaked his head in and his eyes widened when he saw me.
"Why aren't you dressed?" he asked before his eyes zeroed in on the bite mark. "Oh," he breathed, coming in and shutting the door behind him.
"It happened during the fight," I mumbled as he came closer. Being this close to him in a half-naked state was causing a blush to creep up my neck to settle on my cheeks.
'I figured," he said, his voice low. Sensing my discomfort at his proximity, the smallest of smiles tilted his lips. "I've seen you in less, Ma Vie," he murmured, moving my arms so that he could get a better look at my shoulder.
"What? When?" I exclaimed before I remembered. The day before, when I had shifted during my flashback. The realization only served to make my entire face flame scarlet.
"Let's just focus on this right now," he said, trying and failing to keep the laughter out of his voice.
"Fine," I snapped. The blood from the wound was starting to drip onto the floor and I cringed. "Logan . . ." I started.
"I'll get it after I take care of you," he told me, reaching past me and opening the medicine cabinet. He pulled out a wrap and a bottle of aspirin and set them on the counter before turning and snatching a towel off the rack. He turned the warm water on and held the towel under it before pressing it to my shoulder. I hissed in pain and tried to jerk away from him, but he placed a gentle hand on my waist. "Sorry," he apologized.
"You're fine," I said between gritted teeth. After he had wiped away most of the dried blood, he quickly started wrapping it before it could bleed anymore. Before long, he had it completely bandaged and was securing the wrap.
"You're not going to be able to take a shower until probably tomorrow," he muttered, tossing everything that had blood on it in the trash. "For now, go lay down."
"But –" I started.
"Don't argue with me right now," he said, picking up the clean shirt and holding it out to me. Carefully, I pulled the shirt over my head before stepping up to him and wrapping my arms around his waist.
"I'll be fine, Logan," I murmured. "It'll heal by tomorrow and I've been through way worse."
He sighed and returned my hug. "I know, but it's still hard to see you in pain. Especially when it's something that bad."
Nodding, I kissed his collarbone before slipping away from him and walking back out into the bedroom. I was guessing he was cleaning up the few drops of blood from the floor, so I carefully crawled into bed. Just as I began to get comfortable, Logan emerged from the bathroom and slid in next to me.
"I think we have a chance now," I told him. He nodded, his hand finding mine in the darkness.
"We'll get through this. Your family's here and they're a strong pack. We'll win this and everything will work out," he whispered, his emerald eyes burning into mine. My heart pulled for him. This was his land and legacy he was protecting, and I was just an extra complication.
One he obviously wants, a little voice in the back of my head told me.
That was true. He wouldn't be fighting so hard to keep me around if he didn't want me here . . .
Right?
Sighing, I decided to just forget about it for these last few moments before sleep overtook me. Resting my head on his chest, I melted into Logan's embrace. I felt so safe in his arms it almost scared me. Squeezing his hand, I raised my eyes to his. "I hope you're right," I murmured.
He leaned down and softly pressed his lips to mine. The kiss was nothing more than a peck, but it warmed my entire body.
"Go to sleep, Torian. You're going to need it," he told me, planting another light kiss on my forehead.
"Alright," I said on a yawn. No sooner had I replaced my head on his shoulder and closed my eyes did I fall into a deep and Xander-free sleep.
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