Her words stunned me and for a few seconds, I stared at her.
"Why?" I finally managed. Penelope licked her lips, her eyes showing how uncomfortable she was feeling.
"You don't have to tell me, its fine." I quickly assured. Penelope shook her head and gave me a weak smile.
"It's okay. The memory just brings back so many emotions." Penelope closed her eyes briefly, before continuing. "A few years ago, after Xerxes' father died, his mother mated with a man called Dereck. Dereck had a son, who is Gary. Xerxes hated Gary and Dereck. Xerxes knew that Dereck was only using his mother so that he could persuade her to make him step down as Alpha and allow Gary to be the one instead. Of course, that didn't happen." Penelope paused, her eyes darting over my shoulder as if to see if someone was watching us.
"Dereck had influenced Xerxes's mom to drink and she quickly became a violent alcoholic. She obviously wasn't able to carry out the neccessary duties that she was asked to do whilst Xerxes and Flynn were away."
Penelope continued, "One day when she was intoxicated and Xerxes and my mate had flown overseas, a human accidentally walked into our territory. Gary and Derrick caught her, beat her and put her into the cells, not allowing anyone to give her food or water. My mother, however, went against his words and gave the girl some food. She was getting away with it for a few days until Gary followed her and saw what she was doing. My mother was dragged by Gary into the middle of the territory. Derrick gave Gary a barb wire and she was beaten in front of the whole pack until she died."
Tears were streaming down Penelope's cheeks and she choked on a sob. "I couldn't do anything. Derrick ordered three guards to hold me down and watch."
I allowed her to cry into my shoulder while I hugged her, trying to soothe her painful memories and tears. I was surprised no one seemed to hear her cries. After composing herself, she continued, her eyes wide and red.
"Xerxes found out about it and killed Dereck. Gary managed to escape for a couple of years, but then was found by Flynn. Xerxes was going to kill him, but his mother begged him not to. Xerxes has never and will never forgive him for what he did. His mother pushed for them to work together, but Xerxes has a very low tolerance for him. Gary disobeying him and ignoring his rules in the contract was the last straw for him. He's set on killing Gary when he has the chance." Penelope sniffled, wiping away a few strayed tears. "He deserves it."
"Of course he does," I breathed, blinking rapidly. "What happened to the girl?"
Penelope glanced over my shoulder again. "She works for us. She's actually flying in tomorrow. Charlotte, remember?"
I gaped. So she was the human girl. She probably got those scars from Gary and Derrick when they had beaten her. My fists clenched into fists and I opened my mouth to speak, only to press my lips together. People were leaving the room in which the meeting had taken place, including Flynn and Xerxes.
Penelope cursed under her breath and wiped furiously at her eyes. They just became even redder.
"Hey babe." Flynn reached us and drew a hand around his mate's waist, pressing a kiss on her hair. Penelope cleared her throat.
"Hi." Penelope croaked, avoiding eye contact with him. Xerxes cocked his head, noticing her eyes. His gaze went to my wet shirt which she had cried upon. I slowly shook my head and a muscle ticked in his jaw before he gave a small nod. His eyes however, warned me that he would be questioning me later.
Flynn didn't notice, at least he pretended not to. "Anyone up for some ham and cheese sandwiches? They are being served in the kitchen and I'm starving."
"Sure." Penelope said. I shrugged and followed them into the kitchen. After piling the sandwiches unto a plate I sat far from the crowd of people, near the door on a chair. I savoured the taste of my food, knowing that tomorrow I probably wouldn't be having any.
I finished them off and relaxed back into my chair, watching the people around me converse. The noise of a chair being dragged to me made me look to my side. Xerxes sat beside me, folding his arms across his chest. There was silence between us for a few minutes, before he broke it.
"What happened?" He asked, referring to what took place earlier between Penelope and I. I told him what she said and his expression became dark.
"Gary is revolting," Xerxes snarled. "Penelope is like a sister to me. One of my worst mistakes was letting him live after he killed her mother. When I find Gary, I'm going to crush his skull."
I raised my eyebrows. "I don't doubt it." I muttered, leaning over to place my plate unto the floor by my feet. The mate bond sizzled as I accidentally brushed against Xerxes's shoulder when I began to straighten up. Both of us stiffened at the jolt that went through us I heard Xerxes's sharp intake of breath. I was the first to shake off the feeling.
"What time do we leave tomorrow?" I asked. Xerxes blinked and I could see him from the corner of my eye recovering from the touch.
"Uh, at dawn." Xerxes cleared his throat. "All of the supplies are packed in the trucks already. It's going to take us at least four hours to get to the site." His eyes moved across the room as if looking for someone.
"Who are you traveling with?" He asked. I shrugged my shoulders.
"Most likely with the leaders." I stood from the chair, straightening my shirt. Abruptly, Xerxes stood as well. Once again, his height and muscularity made me a little intimidated as his silver eyes gazed down at me.
"I'll be going to shower." I said slowly, staring at him quizzically. Xerxes nodded.
"I need to have a word with Harold." He said. With a parting nod he walked away from me. Shaking my head at his strange behaviour, I went up my room.
The shower was freezing cold and my teeth were chattering as I changed into some warm clothes, sat on a sofa and read a book until late in the evening. Afterwards, I went outside into the snow to recheck my supplies and make sure everything I needed for the war was there.
******************
"Stay awake, Becca." Leo snapped his fingers in my face and I shot him a glare, my tired eyes burning. I straightened up in my seat and looked through the window at the passing trees and the snow that fell. The material of the heavy, thick and dark clothes pressed into my skin, the bullet proof vest gripping my stomach underneath it. I was dressed completely in the appropriate clothes that were designed to help protect against stabbing and gunfire. The material helped prevent a dagger from stabbing entirely into me and would just graze it instead. Not only was I wearing these clothes, everyone else were also. Excluding Harold. He had yet to put on his shirt because it got wet. Instead he wore a simple blue shirt.
Leo was excited to wear these clothes, claiming it made him look badass. I didn't care about the appearance; I just wanted them to help protect me against injury. When I told him that he gave a grunt and muttered something about me ruining his mood.
Harold coughed from the front seat and I looked at him in worry. He had gotten the cold when he got here and had become very weak. But he was determined and assured me that he would be fighting in the war.
Charlotte had arrived just as I had been leaving. She pulled me into a warm embrace and whispered, stay alive, to me. I had chuckled and gave her a little squeeze before I went to the truck. Apparently she would be staying at the house as a nurse so that when the war was over and we came back to the houses, she could tend to us if injured or hurt. She wasn't the only one who would be staying as a nurse as well, they were around sixty-five nurses to tend to all four hundred and ninety of us if we were all to be injured. Some were still flying in by plane.
"You good there Harold?" Mr. Daniel asked. Harold nodded and gripped the steering wheel, as the snow fell even harder. Behind us were the trucks which held everyone else who were on our side.
Harold and Mr. Daniel exchanged a joke and their laughter made me feel more at ease. That emotion was quickly wiped away when the truck drove hard into something, the wheels screeching loudly on the road.
I could hear Harold yelling but his words were unclear; garbled. I felt the truck flip over and over, and items inside the truck fell, narrowly missing my head and some actually colliding onto my head. Glass from the windows flew everywhere and I closed my eyes tightly, pain ripping through my back as the truck once again banged into something that made my ears ring. The metal of the truck scraped against the road and I winced at the harsh, grating noise, heard someone curse rapidly. Something crackled loudly from the roof of the truck.
The rolling eventually came to a stop and the truck thankfully stopped on its wheels. With shaking fingers I took off my seatbelt, feeling blood trickle down my forehead.
"Leo!" My voice was hoarse and soft from fear as I struggled to turn in my seat.
"I'm here," Leo said from beside me. I heard him moving around slightly, a small groan coming from him. "I think I blacked out for a bit."
"We've been ambushed." Harold said from upfront. I heard the whooshing noise of a truck door opening and Mr. Daniel got out.
I began to open my truck door, when someone flung it open completely and gripped my waist, pulling me from the truck and towards the warm body which held me up.
"Rebecca." Xerxes gasped, looking at the injuries on my head. His silver eyes were gleaming and his fangs were enlarging until his mouth twisted into a furious snarl. His large hands moved to my face to cradle it as he glared down at my injury, a thumb swiping at my blood. My shock was slowly fading away and the pain came full force. A cry escaped my lips and I almost fell to the ground from the feeling of it. My spine felt like it was breaking apart. Xerxes dropped to his knees beside me and helped me stand again. He refused to withdraw his hand from my waist as if he knew that I would drop down again without his support. Xerxes looked at Harold and Leo who were clambering out the truck.
"Gary and his army is here. He must've somehow figured out that we were coming in this direction and placed some obstacles in the road that would cause this accident."
A gunshot rippled through the air and I flinched. Xerxes answered with a piercing growl and turned, pulling me gingerly with him.
"We need to get into the forests. The others are waiting there." He hissed at us. He didn't wait for a response and taking my hand, began jogging to the trees. I released his hand once we burst into the forest, trying to ignore the pain in my back. I began to grab some guns and daggers from a pile on the ground in the forest, as did Harold, Leo and Mr. Daniels when they arrived.
The people around us were talking loudly and I whipped around to face them. "Be quiet!" I ordered. There was silence as soon as I had spoken the words. Breathing in deeply and releasing the air I looked across the forests. Heavy noises of boots walking sounded and I gripped my gun.
A low rumble came from Xerxes, who also held a gun in his hand. A branch snapped and gunfire was let loose. I ducked behind a tree, as I saw a flash of brown run past me. I sat up on my knees and fired a gun at an angry red eyed werewolf. It yelped as the bullet hit its chest, before collapsing to the ground, dead.
An animal tackled me from behind, its teeth sinking into my shirt. I grabbed my dagger and yanked my arm back so the dagger sunk into the stomach of the werewolf. It snarled, its hot breath right by ear. His weight was lifted off of me and I watched as Leo shot it twice.
I could feel the stinging pain in my back and I winced. The weight of the werewolf had managed to make my back worse. I took a few seconds to regain myself and looked around the forest. I could see Harold and Mr. Daniel both armed with daggers killing werewolf after werewolf who dared to try and attack them.
"Come on." Leo took my arm, leading me away. "We're going to the clearing. The trees are making it difficult for us to fight. They'll follow us."
I followed his lead and jogged after him. The snow made it difficult for us to run through and more than once I stumbled. Behind me I could see both or enemies and allies also leaving the forests, blood spewing as many were shot and stabbed to death.
I gripped my gun and fired at some werewolves who began attacking one of my allies. They fell limply to the ground and I moved on, using my dagger to stab another werewolf, its blood spraying unto my clothes as I withdrew the weapon from its flesh. My eyes scanned the people around me. I spotted Xerxes fighting some werewolves, his fangs elongated as he snarled. Penelope was a few feet away from him, firing her gun wildly at a bunch of wolves attempting to attack her mate, Flynn.
"Behind you!" Leo's hoarse yell echoed and I whipped around, dagger drawn only to see a large grey werewolf pounce on me. I screamed, stabbing its stomach over and over. Its fangs were reaching my face and using my other arm, placed it underneath his throat. I stabbed an artery in his stomach and he released a howl, the noise ringing in my ears. It collapsed unto me, more blood seeping unto my clothes and I shoved him off.
Breathing hard, I looked up to see Leo fighting off some wolves. I got to my feet and began running in his direction, only to be tackled down. I looked up to see the eerie black eyes of Gary as he grabbed at both of my arms, trying to hold me down. I kicked my legs and bucked my hips furiously, in an attempt to get his heavy weight off of me. Gary chuckled and raised a clenched fist.
Someone smacked Gary on the back of his head with the butt of a rifle and he fell off of me. Harold, still aiming the gun at him, helped me to my feet. Gary moaned lowly, holding the back of his head. When he withdrew his hand blood trickled down his fingers. His eyes moved from his hands and darkened even further as he faced us. Snow kicked up into the air as he leapt at us, claws drawn as he pierced Harold's chest. Harold fired his gun as Gary stabbed him. Blood dripped out of Harold mouth as he fell onto the ground, whilst Gary also fell from the impact of the bullet.
"Harold!" I yelled, dropping to my knees beside him. The material of the clothes were ripped and blood spurted out the deep cut. Harold scrunched his eyes together as he began bucking on the ground from the pain. I tore off some of my shirt and wrapped it around the wound, using my other hand to stroke his hair. His eyes bugged as he released a throaty scream.
"Stay awake." I begged. Harold made a choking noise, his eyes widening in panic. A shaky finger pointed behind me and I began to turn, only to feel something whack me on the back of my head. I fell to the ground and my eyes fluttered darkness filling my vision. A slow, painful sigh left my lips before I allowed the darkness to consume me.
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