I watched the truck as it pulled away, spitting gravel as it headed up the mountain. I had handed her off but my stomach and heart still clenched with worry and fear. I pushed it away, I didn't need to deal with that right now. Lynn was in good hands, she was going to be alright because I knew the doctor would do his absolute best to ensure her survival.
I moved back towards the group where Azrael had Lace standing next to a stretcher before he gently lifted her up, setting her down on it. I limped closer as he brushed her hair from her face, grasping her hand as he kissed the back of it. "We will be back, you stay safe." She waved him off before she reached out and brushed her fingers against his cheek, her claws skipping across his skin.
"Don't come back until it's all burned. Remind them why they do not engage our wrath." It was a heavy command and he nodded before kissing her gently before he backed away, letting the shifters move her towards the other medical truck.
The two younger healers shifted on their feet before Derek cleared his throat. "We should-"
"You should ensure that my Beta is healed." His voice was clipped and the two healers flinched, their gazes landing on the ground. "I need him for our trip to Caligo." The two healers moved towards me and I caught Azrael's eye. He shook his head in warning, as if sensing my agitation with the moon touched individuals. "Plato." At the hard and snapped name my gaze sought out the old healer. He was standing near the edge of the mountain side, more than likely staring out over the damage the rollover caused.
"I am in no state of mind to put forth a punishment for you right now but there will be one. The callousness you have shown towards one of the pack members is inexcusable. Mundane or not, she is a ranked member of this pack and she deserved more than that." There was a heavy censure to his voice, a heavy reprimand as a low growl rumbled the air around him. "How would you have felt if someone had treated your female that way? If someone had callously said as you did with your female clinging to life?" Natasha and Derek grasped me and I fought the urge to snarl at them. I didn't want them touching me after they had ignored my female.
"My female is dead, Alpha. I do not presume to think of situations that never happened nor ever will." Plato's voice was clipped and Azrael shook his head. Heat flooded through me from the hands of the healers as their magic forced my body to heal what was broken or injured. I put up with it for as long as I could before I shoved their hands away.
"You aren't fully healed, Beta." Natasha's voice was low and I glowered at her darkly.
"Neither is my female." I hissed the word at her and she bowed her head, her lips pressed together firmly. I didn't care that I had upset her. I wanted to hurt her but she was lucky I was holding myself back because my wolf was baying for blood and he didn't care where it came from.
"Let them finish." The command was heavy and as much as my wolf and I didn't want to bow down and listen we forced it down, gritting our teeth as Derek and Natasha once again put their hands on me, their moon given magic surging through me once more. I didn't like it, I just wanted to go and to mete out the punishment that was due for the actions taken against my female and my Alpha Female.
I looked away from the healers, unable to handle looking at them without shoving their burning hands away. A large truck came around the curve to the road, passing beside the truck that held Alpha Lace and I could sense the pack warriors that it carried. It came to a stop before I spotted another one that came around the curve. The healers removed their hands from me and I pushed passed them, heading towards Azrael as a still silence fell as those in the trucks took in the sight before them.
I could only imagine what they were thinking, a pile of dead shifters rested on the road and everyone seemed to be ignoring them with a heavy wariness. I could see it building within them as well. What had happened to the shifters was not natural and beyond our imagining and it showed in the grey skin and the skin pulled tight over bone. As much as I didn't want to, I appreciated the lack of aches and pains that I now had. I could move fluidly, with the exception of my leg.
"Our orders are this." Azrael spoke low and on heavy tones, his eyes sharp and held and edge of cold cruelty. "We return the dead to their pack, kill those responsible, and burn the territory to the ground." I watched the warriors as they slowly came out of the trucks, their eyes gleamed as they took us both in. "Caligo has issued a declaration of war with their actions." His voice rang over the crowd and I watched the warriors shifting on their feet, anger marring their faces.
"Attacking us on neutral territory, attempting to kill your Alphas, attempting to kill your Betas. They gave no thoughts to my female's condition, wanting her and our child dead just as they wanted me." His heavy hand grabbed my shoulder. "They gave no thought or care of the delicate nature of your Beta female, wanting her dead with the rest. The shifter ranks are alive but your Beta Female is clinging to life and they have brought that to our door." There was a low murmur in the crowd as Azrael squeezed my shoulder, the action holding more anger and rage than comfort but I didn't care.
"They bring death to our door in a cowardly attack that has threatened the security and safety of this pack!" His voice boomed from him, dominance and anger sharpening the tones to harsh and deadly edges as his hand fell from my shoulder. "Who here is willing to stand up and fight for their pack, their ranks, and their Beta Female that clings to life because of the whims of cowards who attack those weaker than them with weapons they cannot fight against?" He threw his arm out, pointing to the semi. His chest heaved before the crowd of warriors, male and female, pounded on their chests, howling their support. "We kill those responsible and we burn the territory to remind those that are left to never test the wrath of our mountain again!" A guttural snarl escaped him as Azrael thumped his own chest, a howl of pain and rage escaping him.
I thumped my own, letting my howl join with the rest. I spotted the moon hanging near the horizon, nearly hidden in the afternoon sun but I aimed my rage filled sound towards her. I wanted to her to know that if she took Lynn from me while I avenged the harm done that I would come for her next. I thumped my chest again, eyeing the waning symbol of our goddess with determination. I hoped she would be watching what would be coming next, I wanted her to see all that she risked if she took Lynn from me.
Azrael pulled me away as he grasped my shoulder, pushing me towards the closest truck. "Get in. The warriors will deal with the dead." I nodded at him, striding to the semi as smoothly as my leg would allow. My wolf paced within me, his wrath knowing no bounds as anticipation flooded our veins. We would help destroy those responsible for the harm done to our female, that had been done to our pack.
I yanked the door open, sitting myself in the passenger seat as I watched Azrael gesturing to the dead and then to the trucks. The warriors moved forward, picking up the dead. I watched as their faces twisted when they grew closer and deepened even further when they actually touched the skin of the dead. They loaded the dead into the back of the trucks and within a few moments Azrael got into the driver's seat and we were on our way.
There was a heavy silence that seemed to grow heavier as Azrael drove the truck down the logging road that lead up to the pack compound. His hands tightened on the steering wheel until his knuckles went white. "Cowards." He snarled the word as he slammed his hand against the steering wheel, shifting down gears as he got ready to turn the truck onto the main highway. "To do it like that? Using a semi because they knew we couldn't defend against that? Fucking cowards!" He slammed his hand against the steering wheel again.
A heavy rumble escaped him as his muscle bulged underneath his skin. His rage was palpable as he turned the truck onto the main highway. "Your female saved mine and my daughter." His voice wavered for just a moment before it sharpened. "I don't know how but she did and she has my eternal thanks for it." He shook his head, the steering wheel creaked underneath his grip.
"Is your female okay?" She had seemed fine but I wanted to make sure that she was okay. She was my Alpha Female and there was a bit of instinct, despite being born an Alpha, my new rank ensured my want to make sure that the Alpha pair was in good health.
"She is fine, nothing is wrong with her or the baby. Whatever Lynn did healed them both, inside and out." His teeth ground together loud enough I could hear it. He gave a heavy shake of his head. "Never should have brushed off the trespassing." I didn't respond as his emotions rolled through the air, nearly vibrating it in their intensity. "Should have dealt with it when it started!" He shifted the truck roughly, the gears nearly grinding as he did so.
"Caligo is small, why would you assume the worst?" I knew I hadn't. They had less than fifty members and had been corralled to the lower valleys of the mountains. They had shown no need for force because they had no aura of danger to them.
"Snakes! They are all fucking snakes!" Azrael gave a heavy snarl and I couldn't argue with the assessment of those responsible. They had been pretending to be innocent and easily controlled only to turn around and strike with a near deadly accuracy.
The drive didn't take too long and once we had reached Caligo's territory. Azrael didn't pay any attention to the fence on the side of the driveway as he drove through it, flooring the truck as he shifted it. I could see the pack members coming out of their homes quickly, anger painted on their faces at our rude trespassing. I bared my teeth, gripping the door tightly in my hand as my rage surged through me once more.
The truck came to an abrupt stop and Azrael and I left the truck at the same time, jumping down to the ground. "Alpha Louis!" Azrael's voice was a boom and I moved to the front of the truck as Azrael paced, his form bristling and bulging. I crossed my arms over my chest as my eyes narrowed, a growl rumbling my form as my wolf bared his teeth, demanding that he be allowed out to destroy those responsible.
"What is the meaning of this?" The Alpha in question came storming out, followed by what looked like his ranks.
"Just returning something that belongs to you." Azrael's tone was icy as the sound of the back of the trucks opening as the pack warriors came out. They drug the dead shifters towards us, tossing them in front of the Alpha. He stared at them, his face paling before it went red.
"How dare you!" At the angry statement Azrael jumped forward, grabbing the Alpha by the collar of his shirt and hauling him into the air.
"How dare I? How dare I?" A heavy rumble vibrated the air as Azrael lifted him higher. "You should have thought this out a bit better, Louis. It turns out the moon has more favour for me than she does for you!" He shoved him hard to the ground before whirling around at the pack. "Who here knew of the plot to kill me and my ranks? Who knew what they were doing outside of my territory, orchestrating a crash that was supposed to kill not only me but my pregnant female and my Beta's mundane female?" Silence fell and the Alpha got to his feet, his expression black.
"Take your filthy accusations else wher-" Azrael cut him off as he grabbed him around the throat.
"Either you tell me who was involved or I kill them all." It was a low and deadly as Azrael wrenched his head, forcing him to look at his pale faced pack. "I will destroy each and every one of them if you do not tell me now." There was another silence and Azrael tightened his grip until the male choked. "Do not test me." He turned his head.
His narrowed eyes met mine. "Get his female." At the heavy order I moved quickly, seeing the female almost immediately as she stood, clutching her skirt tightly in her hands, her eyes on Azrael as her male. I made a bee-line straight for her, grabbing her before she understood what Azrael meant. She shrieked, fighting me as I wrapped my arms around her tightly, picking her up and moving her away.
"Leave her!" Alpha Louis shouted it and I grabbed his female's chin, covering her mouth to cut off her screaming.
"Did you know what this was? My female is close to death, are you one of those who knew and did nothing?" At the angry words I growled into her ear, she stiffened but gave no answer to my question. "Your male is going to die." I hissed the words at her and she gave a choked cry behind my hand. I watched the Alpha as he struggled, fighting against Azrael's grip.
"Tell me, Louis, or I will force you to endure as I was nearly forced to." He said it slow and even, letting the male hear the threat loud and clear. I could see Louis wanting to fight it, wanting to deny but one look at me holding his female and he crumpled.
"Step forward." He choked it out and thirteen pack members stepped forward, their faces ashen and their limbs shaking. His ranks were among them but their heads were held with a bearing of no regret. It heated my veins, boiling my blood at their arrogance.
Restrain them. Azrael's voice rumbled through my mind and a matching number of pack warriors moved towards them, each one grabbing a shifter and forcing them to the ground. There were struggles, small cries as they attempted to fight but they weren't able to do much of anything against the large warriors. Males and females watched us, waiting for their orders and I bared my teeth, wanting their deaths, wanting their blood.
"Is this all of them?" Azrael looked like controlled rage, a cold and calculating beast that waited for the perfect chance to strike. Louis nodded before meeting Azrael's gaze. "Your female? Did she know?" It was low and heated and I tightened my grip on the female who stunk of fear.
Louis immediately and violently shook his head. "No! She didn't know!" The outburst was violent and I removed my hand from her mouth.
"Tell us if you knew or we will kill your male in front of you." I knew it was cruel but I didn't care. What was cruel was coldly planning the assassination of the ranks of a pack that included a pregnant female and a mundane female in the pursuit of power. We were just bringing justice down on their heads. They deserved this.
"I knew." She gasped it out, her entire form shaking at her confession.
"Lily!" Louis called it out, his expression stricken and horrified. "Don't!"
"I knew and I am sorry! I am so sorry!" She struggled in my grip, reaching for her male.
Kill her. Azrael's voice was hard and harsh in my mind. Let him suffer as we would have.
A cold rage settled into my limbs as I grabbed her chin and without much effort, snapped her neck. Louis gave a choked sound of horror before Azrael grabbed him, forcing him to watch as I let his female drop to the ground in a heap, stepping over her without a thought.
A still hush fell over the pack, everyone silent at the actions that had been taken, at the death of their Alpha Female. "This is your punishment. Look at what your actions have done." Azrael growled it low into Louis, holding his head, making him see his dead female twitch on the ground, her body not quite aware it was dead. "Her death is on your hands just as my female's would have been. As my Beta's female's would have been." Azrael's grip was tight, his hands shaking with anger and rage. "You attempted to take from my, Alpha Louis, you threatened the mountain and here is its response." each word was a heated whisper of hate and Louis gave a low sound of pained horror, his eyes wide on his female. Azrael gave no sound or warning as he slashed his throat, like mine had been, before shoving him to the ground. We watched as Louis attempted to crawl across the ground towards his female's still form. He choked and gasped, gurgling on the blood in his throat as it painted the green grass red with its vibrancy. We watched dispassionately as he collapsed a few feet from her, unable to reach her before his body gave out.
An eerie sort of expectant silence fell, as if there had been a collective inhale, before Azrael turned his gaze to the warriors. "Kill them, clear the buildings, and burn it down." Azrael stood tall as screams started to pour out of the shifters around us as the pack warriors dispatched the shifters they had pinned. Blood poured from their twitching bodies as the other pack warriors surged forward, heading for the buildings. The screaming grew louder and more frantic as the shifters died, as they realized what had happened.
I watched with satisfaction as as absolute chaos descended on the Caligo pack.
The pack members ran around, some trying to stop the pack warriors as they moved to the buildings, some grabbing their children and running into the forests. Others cried, grabbing at the dead bodies of those that had been killed, pleading with their loved ones to return. I watched it all dispassionately but there was a sense of justice that flowed underneath my skin, a sense of satisfaction at the lesson we were teaching. We were righting the wrong done to us, to our own.
I watched as some of the pack warriors shoved shifters from the buildings before others tossed gasoline on the exteriors from cans they had in the back of the truck before setting them on fire.
I watched as, one by one, the buildings went up in flames. The shifters screamed and cried, shoving against the pack warriors but the orders held as the pack warriors kept them away as they let the buildings burn.
There was a heavy orange glow that reached up into the slightly darkening sky and I crossed my arms over my chest as I watched it all. I revelled in the chaotic sounds, the roat out of the fires, the screaming of the pack as theu watched their territory burn, in the pain they had.
Time passed, the dark started to settle over the area, highlighting the hellish flames that consumed the pack territory. The chaos seemed unending before Azrael let out a heavy howl, rallying the pack warriors to return to the truck. The Caligo shifters coughed on the balck smoke of their lives burning down around them, some choking on their sobs as they followed.
"You are a monster!" One of the females screamed it at Azrael, the tears on her face seemed to reflect the flames still snapping and growling high in the sky. She clutched at her shirt and shook, her eyes wide with pain and hurt.
Azrael gave a cold laugh that was enough to nearly raise the hair on the back of one's neck. "The mountain takes a lot of abuse, a lot of mistreatment, but it is no monster when it shakes and rumbles when it hits its tipping point." His words were cold and filled with hate. "Stay off my mountain and don't risk its wrath again." It was a low and foreboding rumble that escaped him before he gestured once with his hand. Leave them to their lesson. His voice held a low heat but there was a heavy satisfaction to it a well. One that was echoed through me.
We got into the truck and the drive home was silent, no heavy emotions pressed down on me from Azrael but my emotions were just as heavy as his had been. With the anger gone and burned out and the vengeance sated, my worry for Lynn grew sharper in my stomach. I needed to see her, to reassure myself that she was okay. The emotions had me gripping the door tightly, the metal groaning underneath my fingers the entire drive back to the pack.
I had a feeling that Azrael wanted to say something but he didn't as he drove the truck up the logging road. I could still see the faint orange glow of the fires we had started down in the valley but it was growing dimmer the further we moved up the mountain side. I grimaced as the worry raked through my stomach angrily and the bond demanded we see Lynn and punished me for the condition she was in.
I was half a moment from shifting by the time Azrael pulled up to the compound gates. I shoved out of the truck, ignoring everyone as I limped quickly into the compound and straight for the infirmary. I shoved the door open and one of the nurses, Bettina, met my gaze and she pointed to the side. "Room sixteen, Beta Bastian." I followed the directions and shoved open the door, my eyes fell onto Lynn. She looked so small and delicate in the infirmary bed. She was hooked to an IV, an oxygen line ran to her nose, and a heart rate monitor beeped evenly, if a bit slowly, in the quiet space.
"She is stable, Beta." Doctor Abel wrote on a clipboard as he moved away from the a small cupboard. "Her heart rate is still low, her breathing is far too thin, but she isn't growing worse." I moved across the room, grabbing a chair and setting it beside her bed as I picked up her delicate hand, reaching out to stroke her hair. "I promised you there wouldn't be a stone for you when you returned but I did not mean like this." He gave a heavy sigh as he shook his head, lowering the clipboard.
I looked over at him and frowned as I smoothed my fingers over Lynn's skin. "What do you mean?"
"I believe she is in a coma." He said it slowly and there seemed to be a heavy weight pushing down on his shoulders. "There is no recognition with her, no response. I hope this is not the case but we will see in the coming days." He gave a rather helpless shrug, his expression pained. "I am not used to mundanes and their health. They are so terribly fragile." He gave another heavy sigh as he came over, giving my shoulder a small squeeze. "But she is stronger than most. Let's count on that." He let his hand drop and I turned back to my female, smoothing my thumb over her forehead. I noticed the stitches that closed the cut on her cheek and I pressed her hand to my cheek, holding it there as I inhaled her scent deep into my lungs.
I would wait for my female to return to me. I knew she would, as Doctor Abel said, she was stronger than most.