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Keir turns five today, playing with a three-year-old Coen.
Ilyas had found his mate that stumbled onto pack territory shortly after Keir had been brought into this world. It was a shock though...because his mate was a luna's daughter running for her life from a pack of rogues that's recently slaughtered her entire pack.
We found out exactly who Ilyas' character was...because he took her last name in honor of her mother's position and that of the dead alpha.
Tamra Hale is an amazing woman who I've come to know as the sister I never had. Our sons are inseparable, Keir and Coen always getting into trouble, especially when it comes to sneaking a second dessert.
"Vanilla with cherries," I release a sigh at the odd taste Keir had inherited as of late. I stare at the cake Zeta had helped Tamra and I bake.
"Haha!" Keir's sweet laughter causes the aura of the living room to lighten. Coen chases him around the coffee table, giggling when Keir jumps up onto the couch.
"Aww," Tamra gently nudged my arm and states, "those two boys are long lost blood brothers, I swear!"
I eye her and ask, "Should we let Keir open one of his presents early?" Winking at her, she nods, grinning with the same excitement the boys will hold soon enough.
"Keir," I call for him, watching his eye widen when he turns to see me holding a present.
He runs right off the back of the couch, landing with the grace and agility of a cat before he nearly crashes into my legs. He's jumping up and down going, "Oh! Oh! Mamma! Please?!"
"I wouldn't have brought it out to tease you with," I watch his eyes grow bright, handing him the present before he sits on the floor and tears into the wrapping paper. Coen wanders over, staring over his shoulder as two water guns come into view. Coen stares with wide eyes when I tell Keir, "One is for Coen."
"Well duh, mamma..." Keir rolls his eyes, a little sarcastic attitude coming through.
I place my hands on my hips and ask, "Excuse me?"
Keir's demeanor shifts as Rakkon now stands behind our son, looking up very carefully and then laughing nervously before saying, "Sorry mamma..."
"That's not the only surprise," I wink at him and his brows with utter confusion. While Tamra helps the boys fill the water guns from the outside hose, Zeta helps me gather the water balloons we'd filled earlier for the pups to have a fun water balloon fight.
As I stand to my feet from dropping the balloons in my arms into the bin, Rakkon's arms wrap around me. I breathe out, giggling when his breath tickles my neck, his voice holding concern as he asks, "How are you feeling?"
"It's not as bad as when I was pregnant with Keir," I smile back touching his cheek from over my shoulder. Rakkon's hands move over my swollen belly, feeling a faint kick from her in return. He chuckles as he feels the movement, pressing back gently to acknowledge the unborn pup's existence.
"I'm glad," there's relief in his voice. After what had happened with Keir, I was beyond frightened when I found out I was pregnant again. Rakkon had helped ease my fears, knowing we'd be prepared this time around should anything change and I was to notify him and Nakissa the second something did.
A moment later, a very drenched Fern comes to stand in front of the bin. Rakkon's touch leaves me as her eyes lift to meet with mine. She asks, "Can I take them now?"
"Oh, dear...what happened?" I ask with apprehension.
Her temper boils and snaps, "Keir wouldn't stop squirting me with the water gun!" She grumbles her discontentment as I can't help but giggle.
Even Rakkon chuckles and says, "It's only water, Fern."
"Then we'll see how he likes it..." her voice trails off as she grabs a couple water balloons, Laressa running up beside her, almost out of breath as she also leans over to gather some. Fern tells Rakkon, "Remember what you just said, Alpha," she teases as a devious look crosses her features. She then turns to Laressa and asks, "What happened to you?"
"Coen," Laressa huffs out under her breath as she is already loading up the balloons in her arms while the rest of the pups are quick to join in on the fun. The girls are ready to tag-team the young pups, a lesson the boys will soon learn as to not dish out what you can't take in return.
We watch from afar, seeing how the girls are quick to surround the boys, distracting them while others throw the balloons. A giggle surpasses my lips when Keir is pelted from behind, turning around to try and counter with his squirt gun. They are laughing and having fun, feeling a sense of calm wash over us as the afternoon continues to hold such beautiful weather.
What surprises me, is when Keir comes over to where I'm sitting on one of the back porch steps. I have his towel in hand and he asks me, "Mamma?"
"Yes, Keir?" I ask him, watching the way his eyes shift to the side for a moment and I catch the gaze he lingers on Fern.
Ah...
"Can I give Fern my towel? I can just dry in the sun," he asks me as if I'm going to tell him no.
I don't tell him, no, but I do tease him as I outstretch my arm and reply, "You're going to shrivel up like an old prune...but go ahead and give her your towel," he grins when he takes it from me and I add, "I'm glad you're a gentlemen."
Keir beams with pride and suddenly leaps at me and I'm taken aback for a moment. He wraps his arms around my shoulders and whispers, "Thanks, mamma. I love you."
"I love you," I whisper in return and he grins, feeling his smile from ear to ear as he pulls away from me. I watch him run off to Fern, seeing him outstretch his arm before offering her the towel. She smiles shyly, taking it in return before she wraps herself in it.
Keir whispers something to her, furrowing my brows a moment later when I catch Keir, Fern, and Knox slip away from the rest of the pups. I rise to my feet, seeing them run off near the west side of the lodge before disappearing behind the tree line.
I'm quick to my feet, looking from side to side as I see the rest of the pups being gathered together with Zeta. Sanderson catches sight of me as I move past the tree line, wandering through the tree trunks as I hear the giggling of the pups. They're moving further away...
Luna Ashling.
It's Sanderson who mind-links with me a second later.
Three pups got away from Zeta including Keir.
I'm moving quicker though because it is starting to get dark as the afternoon draws to a close and evening sets in. They're moving further and further away, my voice calling, "Keir."
"Oooooooo!" I hear Fern giggling, the three of them moving out of sight once I see them in the distance.
Ash? Where are you?
I'm getting Keir, Fern, and Knox...they evaded Zeta.
Where. Are. You?
I can hear far-off howling and screams erupting and my heart skips a beat. I call louder, "Keir!"
Rakkon, I'm through the west side of the woods and almost at the territory border. Sanderson wasn't far behind me.
Rogues are attacking from the east, you stay with Sanderson and get back to the lodge as soon as you have the pups.
"Keir!" I yell again, desperation in my voice as I follow the sounds of their playful laughter. They are weaving in and out of the tree trunks a good ten yards ahead of me. Pushing low hanging branches out of the way, I call, "Keir, come here now!"
"No mamma, we're playing!" Keir's voice is a relief to hear in itself, but I don't know exactly where they move next.
Fern giggles, "Let's go here!"
The sounds of their footsteps alter and I adjust my path, following them while tilting my head to the side. My breathing is even, trying to calm my nerves as I call out again, "Keir, come back now!"
Luna Ashling!
It's Sanderson again...
...but I know it's his wolf when I hear the pups scream.
Their screams only grow louder when I hear vicious growls, my blood running cold as I urge myself to run to where the sounds originate from. My heart is beating wildly out of my chest, breaking through the gap in two tree trunks to see Keir, Fern, and Knox cowering on the grassy floor.
Sanderson's wolf lunges at the wolf that evades around him, readying to strike the pups first...though he arches his back and snaps his jaws around the rogue's scruff. He throws him far, knocking him against the tree.
Get the pups away.
Sanderson's wolf stares at me for a moment, his eyes meeting with mine as I hear the soft sobs and cries of the pups. He's pushing off the grassy ground a second later, the rogue wolf having gathered itself to its feet and sets its sights back on the pups. Sanderson's wolf growls viciously, evading around the rogue until he throws it off guard, lunging upward and sinking its teeth into the soft underpart of its neck.
I'm already kneeling next to the pups, Keir's eyes wide with fear as his lip quivers. I calmly whisper, "Let's go."
Fern and Knox are shaking as they rise to their feet, my own hand wrapping around Keir's upper arm before drawing him to his feet. They're not even able to walk, petrified with the attack as they become rooted to the spot.
Ash!
My breathing is uneven as I feel the cut in our pack bond...my heart stopping in my chest as I glimpse Sanderson being taken down by another rogue. The one he'd killed, it wasn't the only one to turn up on this side of our territory.
"Run," I tell the pups, but they are so overtaken by fear, the rogue wolf staring us down with a malicious look in its eyes. My eyes widen when it runs forward, Sanderson's blood spewing from its muzzle as it leaps into the air. I breathe out, turning my back away as I crouch over the pups, hearing them screaming and crying.
Keir's eyes meet with mine, tears staining his cheeks as he cries out, "Mamma!"
That's all I hear before I feel teeth sink into the flesh of my shoulder, pain flooding my body as I then feel myself being thrown across the grass like a ragdoll.
Rakkon...
The rogue isn't at all concerned with me stopping it, my eyelids fluttering open as I see it stalking closer to the pups.
Keir.
Ash! Ash, we're a mile off-
He won't get here in time...
I'm so sorry...
Tears fill my eyes as I brush my hand over my belly, cringing in the worse pain possible as I allow her to shift to the center of my mind. Bones snap and ligaments realign, feeling fur tear through my skin before I'm breathing hard and thrown into the backseat. My wolf...she comes forward and dashes fast to close the gap between her and the rogue.
She launches herself at the side of it, snapping her jaws down hard on his upper shoulder. She snarls and tries to tear away the flesh and fur, hearing Keir screaming to the side of her. The larger wolf is quick to easily twist sideways, its teeth sinking into the top between her shoulder blades.
It viciously throws her to the ground, rushing her harder this time and snapping its teeth on her front leg when she tries to push the rogue wolf away. Her howl is pained, feeling the residual agony she feels ripple through our body. She's on her side when the rogue wolf releases her from its jaws, its eyes trailing over her as it encircles around. It's waiting to strike, looking for an opening for the kill shot...
She whines at Keir, urging the pups to move, to run...but they're too scared...
A low growl comes from the rogue wolf as she glances at the pups once more...though a second later, it lunges at her. Teeth sink into the soft fur and flesh of her neck, a loud whimper and whine leave her muzzle as she tries to roll out and away. My subconscious flickers with black dots crossing our vision as everything becomes weak and hazy...
...though she's strongly kicks and paws at the rogue wolf, not wanting to lose this fight for the sake of the pups...for the sake of Keir...
She manages to get the rogue wolf to loosen it's grip before it suddenly flings her again, only this time, her body skids across the grass and halts near the pups. She's on her side, panting and yelping as it stalks closer. She attempts to rise up onto all fours, but her legs shake with exhaustion before she collapses once again.
"Mamma!" Keir yells, feeling his small hands grasp the fur of her back, his body hugs hers.
His presence exudes with authority and power, Rakkon's wolf soaring overhead before he stances himself between us. He snarls, growling while his fur bristles...I recognize Oakley's wolf, along with a few others as my vision distorts through her eyes.
I've never seen anything as savage, the way Rakkon's wolf doesn't waste another second before he lunges at the rogue wolf. His teeth tear through flesh and fur, pulling back and removing chunks of flesh from its body. Gurggling and choking sounds emit from the wolf, along with whimpering...though Rakkon's wolf shows no mercy, tearing it limb from limb.
"Ash?" Rakkon's voice is panicked when I realize it's him kneeling next to my wolf, though she's hardly conscious as she fights for life, "Ash?!"
"Daddy?" Keir asks with fear in his voice, though a scream is what comes from my lips when she's had all she can take and withdraws to the furthest reaches of my mind. I'm shaking, pain raking through every muscle as it feels like someone's punched me in the belly. The rest of the pain...the bites, I'm well aware of...
"R-Rak-"
I can't even form a sentence as I soon feel Rakkon lift me into his arms. While warriors split off, finding any others trespassing, Will is soon seen just out of the corner of my eye, Rakkon ordering the pups into his protective care. The lodge is no longer that far off, though I'm not taken there...
Keir, Fern, and Knox are ushered inside where Ilyas and Narkis are the ones to now to charge of guarding the pups and the rest of the pack. I don't even know if they're any more rogue wolves on our territory, the pain becoming too much.
There are those who have been injured, that is being treated by those assisting Narkissa, but the moment Rakkon yells, "Narkissa!" She turns to see us both, her features dropping as I feel the demeanor shift of all those around us.
I'm being hooked up to monitors, passing in and out as pain continues to cripple me. I can hear Narkissa ask, "The pups?"
"Uninjured...though..." Rakkon's voice holds the same pain that I felt when Sanderson had been killed trying to protect us.
"Sanderson..." Narkissa breathes out carefully, a sadness filling the air as she continues to work. While others assist with the deep bites, she's checking me, telling Rakkon, "The pup's breeched," as she adjusts the heart monitor multiple times on my belly, her voice comes out nearly as a whisper, "I can't find a heartbeat..."
It's my fault...
...I did this.
Tears fall down my cheeks as that familiar sedative is injected into the needle in my arm, fighting to keep my eyelids open. Shaking my head, I'm begging Rakkon, "I-I'm s-s-s-so-sorr-y, I-I c-"
Rakkon holds my hand and whispers, "Shh, just let go, Ash."
I don't want to...I don't want to...
...though it's only a matter of time before my eyelids flutter shut, hearing the blood pounding in my ears. I don't know how long I'm like this, the darkness rooting in my mind before I feel the covers beneath my fingertips. Feeling returns and gradually...so does my senses as I become aware of the heart monitor beeping in the background.
Rakkon is sitting on a chair next to the bed I'm on...and when I see his eyes, they're filled with tears. Instantly, I feel the bridge of my nose sting with pain, releasing a shaky sob before Rakkon moves to me. His arms wrap around me, my face pressing into the top of his shoulder as I cry, feeling the pain deep within me. My shoulders and heaving up and down, hearing him draw in a breath, sniffling back the tears he holds as his warmth surrounds me.
I did this...
...it's my fault.
•To Be Continued•