The bed felt unusually cold and empty that night. I tossed and turned as sleep escaped me. All I could think about was my out of control mate who was just outside my window in the backyard. I could hear him and the others howling at the moon. I wouldn't be surprised if no one was able to sleep with that racket.
The others howling were barely audible to me. Dante's angry howl and scratching at the metal cage were all my ears picked up. After every ten scratches he would ram his body against the cage door. He was going to hurt himself if he didn't stop soon.
He howled in pain after ramming his body for the fifth time. I couldn't take it anymore. He was in pain and I wasn't just going to lay here.
I threw the covers off my body and tiptoed down the stairs. I tried to be as quiet as possibly when I went through the house and out the back door. The rain still poured down hard. The top of the cages were covered with tarp so the wolves wouldn't get sick.
He stopped howling when he saw me standing in front of his cage. His beautiful black fur gleamed in the rain. I knew I had to keep him calm this time or he would never let me near him.
His pitch black eyes stared into mine while he watched and regarded every movement. This time the tune instantly calmed him and he sat down for me without even asking.
I reached into my pocket and retrieved the key to his cage. This was a dangerous and stupid idea, but it was the only way. I had to walk into the cage while no one else was around. No one would be able to save me, but no one would be able to distract him again.
I didn't dare look away from his eyes as I place the key in the lock. After I turned it, both Dante and I smelled them. He immediately crouched into an attack position.
"What are you doing out here, Theo?"
"I should be asking you the same thing myself, Arianna."
"I am attending to my mate. You have no business out here. Go back to bed," I hissed at him.
"I am sorry, Arianna, but I cannot do that tonight."
I finally turned around to face him and was shocked at what I found. His dirty blonde hair was soaked and matted against his face. Gone was the light in his eyes and replaced with a cold, hard demeanor. A long kitchen knife in his left hand glinted in the moonlight. Astrid stood next to him with a crazed look in her eyes.
"Theo?"
"I have waited a long time for this, Arianna."
My wet hair slapped against my face as I shook it in disbelief. What was he talking about?
"You just had to let that mutt back into the pack. He has been nothing but trouble the moment he returned. You were tortured, Tristan is dead, and all the packs are fighting."
"None of that was his fault, Theo. He is not responsible for a war waged by a madman."
"Yes he is! He is responsible for everything and you are responsibly for him! Tristan would still be alive if you hadn't gotten in the way."
"Stop it, Theo. This isn't you, this isn't right."
"What right do you have to tell me who I am? Don't you dare, Arianna, don't you dare."
"What do you want from us?"
He shook his head and reached out to grab me.
"It's not what I want from you, it's what we were sent here to do to you."
"Please, Theo, just turn around and take Astrid back into the house. I promise I won't tell anyone what you said. Please, think about Freddie."
"It's too late. I'm sorry."
I looked at him in confusion. Everything felt like it was happening in slow motion. He roughly pushed me against the cage and slid the knife into my stomach. I barely felt any pain as I stared down at the knife sticking out of my body with his hand wrapped firmly around it. Astrid cackled in the background while she egged Theo on to finish me.
I could vaguely hear Dante in the background snarling and thrashing in his cage like a wild animal. Theo slowly slid the knife back out. I slid onto the ground with my back against the cage.
Theo stepped back to admire his work. I used the last of my strength to pull the cage door forward. I didn't have to open it a lot just enough to allow Dante to push through.
He didn't waste any time. I was pushed forward when he slammed his body into the door. It burst open and he was out. Theo stumbled to the ground as Dante appeared in front of him.
I pressed my hands into the wound when I finally felt the blood pouring out. My vision faded in and out along with my hearing. Theo's pleas were muffled in the rain.
Dante took a step back from him. He must have said something important.
'Dante, please,' I begged him when he turned on me.
His lip pulled back in a vicious snarl and he advanced on me. For the first time in my life, sheer terror of him pulsed through my body. I was actually afraid of him. I wouldn't be able to defend myself if he attacked me.
I pressed my hand tighter into my stomach before scrambling to my kneed. I lowered my head and bowed down to him in submission. If he thought I wasn't a threat to him maybe he wouldn't be interested.
He stopped snarling and knelt down in front of me. His nose pressed against the back of my head and he sniffed me out. I felt and heard his heartbeat. It quickened when he reached my stomach where the blood was slowly soaking into my shirt.
It was as if my blood snapped him out of a trance. His heavy body hovered over mine in a protective stance. He gave Theo and Astrid a warning growl. I knew this game. He would give them a ten second head start before chasing them. It only ended one way.
"Arianna, please, don't let him kill us," Astrid begged.
"This is a mistake, Dante. You don't want to hurt us."
Dante tilted his head and I could feel his mood turn sour. Even under Walter's 'serum' he didn't like to be told what to do. The Alpha in him was pushing out. Theo would have been on the ground dead if the poison wasn't slowing Dante's instincts.
"Walter will not be pleased about this."
Walter? Oh god. They were the spies Walter placed in our pack. Astrid I could believe but before Theo stabbed me I thought he was my friend. How could he have betrayed us like this?
I should have seen it coming. Tristan wouldn't have been the only one of his pack in league with the hunters. It was obvious now Dante and I should have concentrated on finding out if anyone else in the Hollows pack followed him. We were in serious trouble.
But Dante didn't care what Walter's repercussions would be. He smelled blood and someone was going to pay for it.
"What the hell is going on out here?" a voice called out.
I wanted ot look up to see who it was but Dante was pressing down too hard on me. His fur muffled the voice and his scent took over my lungs. I sighed in annoyance but I was hardly in a position to complain. Just days ago I longed to feel his body against mine and now here he was protecting me.
"This is none of your concern outsider," Theo responded.
Outsider? There were over fifty of those in our pack now.
"Everything to do with this pack is my concern. You better watch what you say when you are talking to me, especially in front of your Alpha."
Theo snorted.
"He has no idea what is going on around him. You think you can threaten me?"
The man laughed loudly and I instantly knew who it was from the laugh.
"You will know when I am threatening you," Cooper growled, "Like right now. You have five seconds to be out of this territory."
"Or what?"
"Or you have to answer to me."
"And me."
"And me."
My lips pulled back into as much of a smile as I could muster when I heard all the voices. Well it was what I imagined to be a smile. The pain was beginning to become unbearable. I could feel the blood sliding down my legs into a pool at my feet. I was losing too much blood. I would lose consciousness soon.
"Let's go, Astrid. You better believe we will be back with reinforcements," Theo threatened.
Logan laughed.
"That's if you make it out of here alive."
"Five," Cooper started counting.
"Four," Keith continued.
"Three," Logan shouted and I felt the ground shake.
They started running when they realized how serious the men were.
"Two," Cooper yelled.
"One," Keith finished.
Two more sets of footfalls ran past me and Dante. Theo and Astrid better run fast. Logan would be faster.
Dante growled as Cooper approached us. I needed serious medical attention and Dante was going to be a pain about getting off me.
'It's okay, Dante, they are gone. You can get up now. Cooper won't hurt me. You know you can trust him.'
My mate must have understood. He slowly stood up. As soon as I felt the weight lift off I looked up. Cooper stood there in shock as Dante revealed what he was hiding and protecting. I winced when I tried to smile. Cooper was furious.
"What are you doing out here?" he screamed at me.
Dante snarled at his tone.
"Just hanging out, you know. Thought I would play hide and seek, well you win."
He gave me an incredulous look before rolling his eyes and walking up to me. This time Dante allowed him to kneel down in front of me.
"Is everything okay?"
"Not exactly."
I slowly showed him my bleeding abdomen. He inhaled sharply as he took in my wound.
"Good god, Ari. What the hell happened?"
"I don't know, Coop," I sobbed, "I was just trying to help Dante when Theo and Astrid interrupted me. They are working for Walter among others in the Hollows pack. I didn't stand a chance, Cooper. One second he was talking to me and the next there was a kitchen knife in my stomach."
Cooper's eyes widened, "Your stomach?"
I gave him a confused look before realizing what he was trying to say. I slowly looked down at the wound that more than likely just ended the lives growing inside me. I knew that was too much blood for just one wound.
I stared at the blood on the ground and knew at once it wasn't just from my stomach. Dante sat down next to me and whined as he felt my pain. He didn't know what was going on but the mating bond was slowly starting to heal between us.
His nose nudged the side of my face and he tried to lick the tears as they fell.
"We have to wake up the pack doctor. If he doesn't fix this you will die from all this blood loss, Ari."
I nodded my head as he asked the silent question of whether or not he could pick me up. But Dante wouldn't be a threat to him right now while I was hurt. Cooper's arms slipped around me and he picked me up off the ground. Dante trotted behind him and followed us into the house.
"Eric!" Cooper called out once we were inside.
"Shh, you are going to wake everyone up," I hissed at him.
"You have a hole in your stomach and you are worried about a few pack members missing out on their beauty sleep?"
"I don't want everyone knowing Theo is a traitorous murderous bastard that decided to stab me in the middle of the night."
"Theo did what?" a voice came from behind us.
"Well crap."
"Arianna, what is going on?" another voice called out.
"Thanks, Coop."
He grinned and continued through the house in search of one of the pack doctor's rooms. It was on the second floor, down the hall, and the fourth door on the left.
Cooper slammed his body into the poor doctor's bedroom door. It burst off the hinges. The doctor, who was probably sound asleep, sprang out of his bed and began shouting profanities.
"What is the meaning of this?"
"I am awfully sorry to disturb you, Eric, but I seem to have into a bit of trouble and need your assistance," I quickly apologized.
Cooper rolled his eyes at me before turning around. He left the shocked doctor behind and walked down the hall into the Alpha bedroom.
Dante sat down next to me the instant Cooper laid me down on the bed. The doctor raced into the room with his medical supplies and quickly began to set up.
I could barely feel anything anymore. My eyes started to flutter closed. I was surprised I even lasted this long.
"Doc, she is passing out!" Cooper called out.
"I am going as fast as I can."
'Hold on, baby,' his low, sexy voice pushed into my mind.
My vision blurred and my eyes slowly shut one last time. The sight of Dante's beautiful face was the last thing I remember seeing as I finally lost consciousness.