Chapter 32
---Damen’s POV---
“Alright we have to find her before the others do.” I said, quickly making my way down the hall. I didn’t have much time and I already wasted a good amount of it just trying to get my cousins on my side. I turned my head sharply to look at them again while we continued walking. “Where are the others?”
“They should be out on the field or already in the forest.” Austin told me.
“What?!” That only meant that I had even less time than I thought. I needed to find her or the rest of my pack. I would have preferred to find my pack though because I needed them to call off the hunt; they had to. I also needed to find my grandfather. I needed him to tell me that everything Ryder had said was a lie and that he was a good man—maybe I could get him to change everyone’s mind and call off the hunt. I didn’t care what anyone said; he was a good man. “Spread out—tell anyone that you find to stop the chase before I get the time to get through with them.” I ordered before hastening my step. Soon we were on the field again and everyone ran off in their own direction.
I made my way to the forest. If I was going to find my grandfather he would more than likely be in the forest.
The howl that came from somewhere in the forest alerted me to his exact location. I broke through the trees and hurried. The howl I heard sounded too confident. I didn’t like the sound of it.
I got to the clearing in time to see my grandfather, my father and four other pack members all closing in . . . but on what.
“Damen!” Came her terrified yet somehow weaker voice.
My eyes shot to the centre of their focus and I saw Alex, on the floor, staring over at me with wild eyes. From where I stood I could see her shivering slightly and there was a deep red stain that was almost completely hidden by her hands that she had pressed to her side.
I growled instinctively. If they had hurt her then they were going to regret it. I was going to make them pay—especially for dragging my grandfather into all this.
They each turned to me and I made my way over to her, taking on a defensive stance. They wouldn’t get the chance to hurt her again; not while I was alive. “What happened to your side?” I asked her, only half turning to look at her.
“One of them got a bite out of me.” She muttered before sighing.
I turned to face them again, this time glaring. “Stay away from her, do you hear me?! I don’t want any of you near her again. She’s my mate and I plan to protect her with my life.”
“Damen, stop this rubbish and get out of the way.” Granddad ordered.
“No! And how can you agree with them on something so cold hearted and low? They can’t defend themselves—they can’t fight—“
“It’s best to strike while the iron is hot! You think I care about how fair this fight is; this will be my chance to rid the forest of them and not even you will get in the way. They deserve to die; they’re too weak and have no purpose except to use up the valuable oxygen that seems so scarce now.”
“You don’t really feel that way.”
“Yes I do, they should die—they should all die and if I could I would burn them alive and watch them burn into nothingness while I enjoy their pitiful screams of terror.”
“But that’s cruel!” I couldn’t believe that he was saying all this. He wasn’t supposed to be in anyway cruel so what was with all the insensitive talk? What had happened to the old man I knew? The docile old man who treated everyone kindly.
Don’t tell me the mutt was right and I really did have to kill him. Despite all he had said I didn’t think that I had it in me to actually kill him. He was still my family . . .
“And you’re just too soft. Damn it I told your father to let you have a taste of blood from an early age but no; he spoiled you! Shielded you from what you needed to see so now I’ll open your eyes.” With that he lunged forward and it was only quick reflexes that allowed me to dodge the attack while diverting it from Alex. My grandfather landed a few feet away from me. He began growling and soon everyone began moving in closer. I didn’t care how many of them there were, they wouldn’t get to her.
---Maia’s POV---
He couldn’t possibly have taken them all; he should have just run. If Nature meant what she said then I wasn’t going to die tonight, no matter how much pain I would have to endure so he didn’t need to do this. There was no need for him to play hero.
The four that stood to the side rushed forward and piled on top of Damen. I sucked in a deep breath hoping that he would be able to hold them off long enough for some kind of help to come along. There was a long struggled before he was able to push them off then steady himself. I let out the breath I was holding and felt a sharp pain in my side where I had gotten bitten. The pain reminded me of how I had gotten it.
Teri and I had been running for a while before they were finally close enough to latch onto us. They grabbed Teri and began tearing away at her. I wanted to stop but she begged me to keep running so I did. It wasn’t until I got here that they caught me and Damen’s grandfather bite into my side and threw me across the clearing. Damn it hurt. . . .
“Alex get out of here!” Damen shouted before being consumed by the rabid wolves of his pack once more. I scrambled to my feet. They felt heavy. Like I couldn’t move or something. Perhaps it was the fear that was slowly rising in me as I watched Damen battling it out in an unfair match that would most likely not end in his favour. “Run!’ He urged.
This time my feet got the message and I took off. I could hear footsteps behind me as I ran. I struggled to take in air as I ran. My chest hurt and I felt as if I was going to pass out. The pain associated with the harvest moon had only softened a bit but it still hurt to move and my head was still spinning. I turned but only saw three wolves. The other three must have stayed to fight Damen. I found myself whispering a small prayer that he would be okay; that they would all be okay. I hadn’t seen Ryder since I entered the forest and I hadn’t heard him howl either. This probably didn’t mean anything because he was a silent wolf anyway. Perhaps he was howling silently. . .
I kept running until I felt something heavy on my back. The weight sent me spiralling to the ground and I hit it hard. Instead of leaves my fall was broken by jagged rocks on the foot path that led to the creek. I barely had time to turn before all three wolves were over me, snarling and snapping. I screamed, flailing and flashing to get them off. One bit down into my hand. I cried out and tried desperately to get it off but that only made the teeth bury deeper into my flesh.
“Get off me!” I grunted. I took in a deep breath then kicked until I had made a clear path to freedom. I sat up in time to avoid another pushing me to the ground but ran right into the teeth of another. I pulled away immediately, hitting my back against the jagged stones in my attempt to keep my face. “Get the hell off me!” I tried again and when I was able to I sprung to my feet and took up a defensive stance. This time I was angry. I could feel the energy slowly draining out of me. “How the hell do you expect me to fight like this?!” I shouted blindly at the night sky. “You want me to help you—help me damn it!” I paused, finding that I needed to take a breather. When I was settled again I saw the wolves coming closer to me. Their heads were low and their growls were terrifying. I clenched my fists. Fight or flight and right now I couldn’t move an inch let alone run a mile so I guess I would have to fight. “Well?!” I challenged.
All three wolves ran forward. I cringed, bracing myself for the impact.
Suddenly there was a powerful wind that knocked them back and had me on my knees. I tried clinging to a few of the over grown roots, my eyes squinted through the rising dust. I managed to see one of them hit into a nearby tree with a yelp.
Run you fool! You ask me to save you and when I do you waste the opportunity! Run!
The choice shocked me back into reality. I pushed myself up and was immediately blown unto a tree. I clung to the closest branch and began making my way around. Slowly I got back on the floor and began crawling until I was out of the blow of the wind. This was when I made my way down to the creek. At the edge of the clearing I drew immediate brakes. Nala was standing by the water looking down. I ran over to her.
“Nala!”
My eyes went wide when I looked down and saw that the water had turned blood red. I looked to Nala again. What the hell.
“The colour Crimson runs through the forest tonight . . . it senses the turning point,” she turned to me and her eyes were dead; they were also crimson, “make the change, do whatever you have to do, fight fire with,” She paused then walked directly up to me. She gestured for me to lean closer and when I did she whispered into my ear, “Fire . . .”
“Wait what . . .?” She began glowing paler. “No, don’t go yet—what’s that supposed to mean?!”
“Nature can only be your friend for so long . . .”
Then she was gone.
Get up.
My back straightened instantly and I began flashing around. What had I missed? My eyes darted around until it came to the top of the clearing where I saw a wolf staring over at me. My muscles tensed, telling me that they weren’t willing to allow much more movement. Great, they chose the wrong time to become non-responsive. It took me an extra few seconds to realize that it was only Ryder. I smiled in relief. At least he was safe . . . wait . . .
“Ryder?” I called. He didn’t respond, he just kept standing there. “Ryder this isn’t funny, you had me really worried.” I watched him take a step forward. On his second step he fell to the ground with a thud. I ran over to him as quickly as I could. “Ryder!” I threw myself on my knees at his side and clung to him. Something warm ran unto my hands. I withdrew them and gasped when I saw the blood on my hands. Tears pricked the corners of my eyes. “Ryder no . . . we’re supposed to get through this together . . . the two of us are going to rebuild the pack with our mates,” the tears began streaming down my face, “Y-you promised me that you would always be there for me . . .”
I felt his tongue on my knee and looked down at him.
“Hey . . . chin up . . . at least one of us is going to live to see the change in the forest. . .”
“No, don’t say that. You’re going to see it too . . . we’re going to change it together . . . remember . . . ?”
I heard him sigh as his muscles relaxed. “Just promise me you’ll be strong when I’m gone . . . none of that crying stuff okay . . . you’re the best she-wolf I’ve ever known and don’t you forget that.”
“Ryder no—you said you would save this speech for right after we won—we can still do it just hold on—“
“I can’t for much longer, I won’t see the end of this fight from this side of life but I’ll watch you fight the winning fight with Nala and the others . . . we’ll cheer you on . . .”
I could no longer control my sobs. I threw my head on his fur and began crying my eyes out. “Don’t leave me, please don’t leave me, I need you . . . your my best friend . . .”
“Goodbye Maia . . . you’re my best friend as well . . .”
With that I felt his body stiffen. I clung to him despite this and cried even harder. This wasn’t fair. Why didn’t she protect him too?! He was Crimson Maire too! He could have helped bring change! It should have been me—I should have died. Ryder was the real hero. Left up to me we would have given up and killed ourselves from the moment we heard the news. How would I go on . . . ? My beta . . . my wolf . . . my brother. . .
I felt a hand rest on my shoulders. I turned slowly, feeling as if I barely had anything left in me. I didn’t know what to do anymore. With Ryder gone, Teri missing and Damen off fighting some battle I was alone. For the first time since this all started I had no one by my side who could help me. There would be no witty banter when I woke up tomorrow and there would be no sarcastic remark about my coward streak after tonight was over.
“It will be okay Alex.”
I flashed around immediately, jumping to my feet and throwing my arms out to hug him. Damen was still fine! I clung to him and continued crying. This was a horrible night that I just wanted to end and take me with it. Nothing was turning out right. My only solace was standing before me, half covered in blood. I felt him hold me tighter as he whispered softly in an attempt to soothe me.
“He’s . . . gone . . .”
“Try to calm down, I’m still here, I’ll always be here with you—“
“Don’t say that!” I looked him directly in his eyes, pleading with him. He looked confused. “That’s what Ryder said and now . . .—he’s dead!”
“You have my word Alex, I’ll stay alive just so I can protect you and be with you and nothing will ever separate us—“
Would you like to bet your life on that?
Suddenly I felt Damen tense in my hands. He looked down at me with wide, frightened eyes. I began to panic, not knowing what was going on.
“Damen?”
“It hurts . . .” He grunted before slipping from my hands and sinking to the floor.
“What’s happening?”
“Something in my chest—Aahh!” he cried out, his hand flew to his chest as if he were having a heart attck.
“No, this can’t be happening. Damen don’t leave me too! You can’t! Forever isn’t over yet! Damen!”
His muscles kept relaxing until he was sprawled out on the forest floor. I put my hand to his nose but could feel no breathing so I put my ear to his chest.
I—there was no heartbeat. . .
I lost him too . . .
NO!