"Good morning." I greeted, sitting down with Anna.
"Morning." She greeted.
"Is Emmy at school?" I asked. Anna nodded.
"It's waffles for breakfast at the school- Emmy always wants the waffles."
"That's cute," I remarked, and she laughed.
"How'd you sleep?" She asked. I shrugged.
"I slept alright. I'm still having those dreams." I admitted.
"You haven't chosen?" She asked.
"How can I?" I asked. "It's my brother or my mate."
"May I?" She asked, and I nodded. "Your brother is gone, Taylor." She said gently. "Evan is still here. And I think you've already chosen," She added, sweeping my hair back and gesturing to the mark on my neck.
"So why haven't they gone away?" I asked.
"Because you haven't admitted to yourself that you've chosen." She said.
"I'm scared I'll stop seeing Thomas. He said I can't have them both." I said.
Anna got up. "Walk with me." It wasn't a request.
I got up and walked with her, following her out of the pack house and down the running path around the back.
Evan wouldn't let me go in the woods unless he was with me, after that minor incident.
"You can't move on and be happy if you keep seeing your brother every night. Time can't heal that hole in your heart if you don't let it." Anna said to me. "You need to stop choosing the dead over the living."
We walked through the training field, and I saw Evan chatting with Axel, standing by a mat.
He scented me and turned, waving for me.
"Taylor!"
"Emmy got in trouble with her teacher." Anna said with a sigh.
I turned to her. "What happened?" I asked, worried.
"Emmy got into a fight with the school bully, she was sticking up for a younger kid. I've gotta go pick her up." Anna left, and I walked over to my mate.
"What happened?" Evan asked.
I shook my head. "Emmy got in a dustup at school."
"What happened?" Evan asked, although he didn't sound surprised.
"Bully plus tiny kid plus Emmy' s protectiveness equals Emmy hopefully giving bully ass kicking in said dustup." I said, winking.
"Your wishing for a child to be hurt?" Axel asked, raising his eyebrows and shaking his head at me.
"You open yourself up to get punched if you wanna bully other prople. Look what happened to my bullies." I pointed out.
"And what happened to your bullies?" Axel asked with attitude.
"They're dead, and the ones that aren't yet will be soon." I said, and Evan smiled at me proudly.
"Spar with me."
"Aw, Evan, come on, I'm not in the-"
Evan punched me and I grabbed his fist, twisting around and pulling him over my back.
He landed on his back and looked up at me, not even fazed.
"That's my girl." He said with a grin, jumping to his feet.
Come on," I said with a sigh, gesturing for him to come at me. "You'll win, you have your stupid Alpha strength, and that lycan."
"Are you accusing me of being a cheater?" Evan asked, mock offended.
"You'd do anything to get what you want, if you want it badly enough." I replied.
He came at me and tackled me. He used his Alpha strength, I had no chance against him.
He pinned me, a smug smirk on his face.
"Gotcha." He whispered. I leaned up and kissed the mark on his neck, and he froze.
I rolled him over, straddling us.
"Gotcha," I smirked.
"I don't mind," Evan was surprisingly teasing today, eyeing me up and down.
I gave him a kiss and got to my feet.
"Tease." He grumbled.
He got to his feet and walked away, grabbing something from the grass.
"What the hell is-"
Evan tossed me a Bo staff and I caught it.
"I saw the one in your bag." He said. "It's a cool contraption."
"I'm not very experienced." I said slowly, and he twirled his in his hands.
"I'm a good teacher." He said, and he went to knock my legs out.
I blocked his swing with the end of my staff, and he came at me.
I was pushed to defense, blocking his lightning quick moves. There was no break between hits, no time to get in one if my own.
Evan forced me to block up, and he kicked me in the chest, sending me flying back on my butt.
I opened my mouth to say something, but alarm bells started ringing, and I could hear people shouting, while they ran towards the pack house.
"What's-" Evan ditched the staff and ran over to me, pulling me to my feet and pushing me towards the pack house.
"We're under attack." Evan said, his voice urgent.
He pushed me onto the porch. "Get inside, and stay there." He said.
I turned around, fighting him. "But-"
"Promise me!" He yelled, grabbing my face in his hands, his eyes wide and panicked.
"I- I promise- Evan!" Evan took off running down the steps and across the lawn, Axel right behind him.
"Taylor! Taylor!"
Anna came running up, distressed tears streaming down her face.
"I can't find Emmy! We were playing hide and seek but she's gone!"
"Stay here!" I ordered, running down the steps.
"Taylor!"
I ran through the woods, my breathing erratic, the only thought on my mind was Emmy.
I knew her favorite hiding spot.
I jumped over a fallen log and cleared it by a mile, moving before I'd hit the ground.
I found the hollowed out log by the pond.
"Emmy! EMMY!"
"Taylor help me!" I heard Emmy scream to my right and turned.
Emmy was trying to climb up a tree, surrounded by rogues.
"Get away from her!" I yelled, running forward and releasing a powerful surge, blowing back five wolves.
I shifted mid air and took down two more, ripping them apart as my eyes were blinded by rage.
No one would hurt my Emmy.
"Ahh!" Emmy screamed and fell out of the tree. I shifted back to human form and ran forward, releasing a surge to slow her fall.
She landed in my arms and I caught her, setting her on her feet behind me.
"Stay behind me." I ordered as the other rogues advanced.
||Evan's P.O.V||
I roared, grabbing a rogue in my paws and ripping him in half.
I turned, looking for the next opponent.
Alpha, Emmy was missing, Taylor went to find her, they're in the south woods! Anna linked me.
I let out a roar of fear and rage and took off running. My pack had it handled.
Axel and another followed my lead, hearing my distress.
Taylor! Taylor where are you?! I linked her, desperately awaiting her response as I ran as fast as I could.
Evan help! She responded.
I heard Emmy scream from somewhere to my right and followed the sound.
I came to a break in the trees, where I found rogues surrounding Taylor and Emmy, who were backing up towards the pond.
I watched the worst thing in my life unfold in slow motion, unable to move the change the actions.
A hunter appeared with a clear shot of Emmy from across the tiny pond and fired.
Taylor turned and threw Emmy to the side, into the lake, and the bullet hit her in the chest.
I let out a roar of pain and rage as Taylor's body jolted, and she felt to her knees, face first into the lake.
I ripped apart three rogues in my way in a matter of seconds while Axel got Emmy out and the other wolf took on the remaining rogues.
By this time some more of my pack members had flooded the field and were killing anyone in their way.
I shifted to my human form and splashed into the pond, grabbing Taylor around the waist and hauling her out.
I laid her on the ground and she looked up at me, still awake, but barely breathing.
The bullet wound was in her left chest, close to her heart.
"NO!" I screamed, puking her upk to me.
"No, no no no," I wailed. "Taylor! Taylor! Hold on, baby, hold on! Don't leave me, please, please don't leave me!"
Panic swelled in my chest and I couldn't think straight, I couldn't even breathe, I just kept my hands pressed to the wound, trying to stem the blood flow.
My hands were coated with her blood and it made me sick to my stomach.
She stared up at me, before her eyes slowly started to close.
"TAYLOR!" I screamed, slapping her cheek slightly. Her eyes jolted open, but started to close again. "TAYLOR NO!"
I cried in agony, trying to stop the blood flow.
"Please," tears streamed down my cheeks for the first time since I was a boy. "Baby, please."
-------------------------------
"How is she?" Mila came running into the private waiting room we were in.
"She's still in surgery." Axel said. Mila covered her face with her hands, tears boiling over.
"How did this happen? Why was she alone?" Mila asked, and Orion hugged her as she cried.
"Anna couldn't find Emmy. She'd run off, farther than their agreed boundaries for hide and seek. Taylor knew where the spot was and went to go find her. She was outnumbered, she couldn't protect Emmy and fight that many rogues at the same time." Axel said.
I paced in the hall, wringing my hands, feeling like crying again.
The door to the surgery room opened, and Sarah came out, a nurse at her side.
"Just get this to Dr. Caldwell and prep some more blood from one of our donors." Sarah instructed the nurse, and she nodded, hurrying away.
I hurried up to her. "Is she okay? Is Taylor okay?" I asked. I hadn't felt the bond snap, although I'd been anxiously waiting for it to happen, afraid it was only a matter of time.
"The bullet missed the artery in her heart, it tore at some of the tissue around it. The width of a hair further and she'd be dead. They have to take blood from one of us, and there are only two compatible DNA structures." Sarah told me. "We have her in a medically induced coma for now, but the bullet wasn't pure silver, so she should heal quicker than I thought."
"Will she wake up?" I asked worriedly.
Sarah nodded. "She will, and from her brain scans it doesn't look like any damage was done. There's still a possibility of temporary amnesia, but it's unlikely."
"Can I see her?" I asked, and Sarah nodded, leading me down the hall towards my mate's room.
She opened the door and I walked in, finding her, laying in the hospital bed, pale and surrounded by IV tubs, a machine monitoring her heartbeat.
She smelled all wrong, but I was so glad she was alive.
I walked over to her and sat down beside her bed, taking her hands in mine.
I let out a shaky breath, and it all came crashing down again, how close I'd come to losing her.
"It's been three hours since the surgery, I was making sure there were no possible dangers with her powers or an infection. She should wake up within the next two hours at most." Sarah said to me, and I nodded.
She closed the door behind her, and I laid my head down on Taylor's leg, holding her hands in mine.
"Please don't leave me," I whispered, my voice breaking.
"Evan?" I looked up quickly and saw Taylor's eyes were mostly open, looking around.
"Taylor?" I asked.
"Are you crying?" She asked me, her voice hoarse.
"Yeah, I think so." I said as tears streamed down my cheeks.
"Evan," She said softly, and her hands weakly grabbed at mine.
I lowered my head and broke down, crying in her lap.
I felt her fingers weakly rest on top of my head, and she comforted me while I cried.
||Taylor's P.O.V||
"No, I don't give a damn about your badge! You let me in or I'll shove that thing so far up your ass, you'll puke it up!"
A woman's raging voice pulled me out of my sleep and I inwardly winced as the change in breath caused pain to erupt in my chest.
"Oh Goddess." Evan rubbed his eyes, lifting hid head from my bed where'd he'd fallen asleep after his very peculiar sob fest.
The door opened and an older woman walked in, eyes blazing with fury.
She had short, straight white hair and was thin, with fiery blue eyes.
"You told them I couldn't come in?" She demanded Evan, outraged.
"I told them no one could come on," Evan replied.
Who was this lady?
I was so high on the drugs Sarah gave me, I didn't realize I'd spoken out loud until they were both staring at me weirdly.
"I'm really high," I said weakly as an explanation.
"And you should be," the woman said. "As to the question of who I am, I'm Janice Mikaelson. Evan's Mother.
Oh damn.
Apparently I said that out loud too.