"Why did we get him? Of all people him? He's incompetent. An imbecile."
"We could use it. His pack will be the first wave. You know how your brother is. If he's the first out then he thinks that he's in charge. Let him think it. It'll give us extra time." Peyton argues, trying to convince me that my brother isn't a threat. Her rough figure hangs above me as I over look attack plans.
"He wants me dead. How can I trust him to be near my pack? I can handle myself but them!? What will they do? I can't risk it Pey, I can't." Placing the papers down, I get out of my seat, annoyed that I can't help my family.
This whole things started because Havana's father blames me for the death of his mate when, in all actuality, it's his fault. He didn't give her the attention she needed. He kept her out of his sight, almost forcing her safety on us. It wasn't anyone's fault but his and now we're in this fucked up situation because he's gone mad. To top it all of, a fucking vampire is telling him what to do and he's listening. He's listening as she poisons his mind, putting us against each other when we should really be working together to kill her!
He's a damned fool! Trying to calm myself, I look out at the woods before me and my heart beat slows down. The moon's light shine makes the night glow, seeming to give life to everything. Swaying with the wind, the trees dance together in the silent night. It looks so peaceful.
Someone knocks on the door but Peyton answers instead of me, wanting to leave me relaxing. Anna's scent drifts to my nose as I listen to them whisper, poorly, of what she's found.
"Skylar. They're here." Leaving the peaceful scene before me, I follow them out of my office and towards the living room. Our feet echo in the empty hallway as we head for our visitors, who are just as quiet as we are.
There, sitting behind the table, is Barron's disgruntled figure staring aimlessly at the walls. He looks so lost. His hair, greying, is un-groomed and untouched; his once glorious muscles are barely there, slowly fading away like he is; his eyes are the worse part. They are just dull, almost white, orbs resting in his head. Whatever Eric put them through, he felt all of it ten times worse. Looking at the other in the room, I notice that they too hold ghastly looks, not even able to acknowledge my presence.
Walking forward, I squat in front of him as my hands reach out to Barron's absent body and for the first time, he reacts. His body tenses before his arms lock around me, tears slipping from his dead eyes. He squeezes tighter as he apologizes for what's happening. How he wishes that he were strong enough to own up for what he did but I couldn't blame him. He was thinking about the fear of the situation and, in all honesty, if he had owned up to it I still would have convinced Eric that it was me.
"It's not your fault okay? I admitted to being responsible for the Death of Havana's mother. Me. Don't worry about it any longer, okay?" Pulling back slightly, a reassuring smile dances on my face but her ink cries harder.
"But it's wasn't you! I failed that day. I should have been killed but I was a coward!" He sobs, clenching his fist as his eyes focus on the floor. He's been tough on himself for being a coward and he still can't stand to look at himself because he would have done it again. He would have let someone else take the blame for his mistakes because he was afraid and I know I can't change that.
"Hey, listen to me. I forgive you. I don't blame any of what's going on, on you. It's hard, to own up to something like that, it's hard so don't go beating yourself up. I took on the burden because that's the best that I could do to make sure that you all were safe."
"Eric can hate me till he's blue in the face and until his lungs run dry and I'm okay with that. I'm your alpha and it's my job to protect you all, okay? We're an army of rogues so yeah, it'll be tough but I'll be damned if I let anything bad happen to any of you." His eyes were sparkling with tears and my heart swelled because he was feeling again. His blood is finally pumping through his veins. Barren is living again. The natural glow that always surrounds him is back, not a bright as before but it's a start.
The others in the room, tears running down their faces, have seemed to kick start themselves back to life as well. Whatever Eric or that Queen Bitch did to them is finally wearing off and I couldn't be happier.
"Alright. Peyton will show you all to your rooms and rest up, we start partner battles tomorrow and you all look like you need a good fight." They all cheer in agreement as they follow Peyton up stairs and out of sight. Walking out onto the patio, I lean against the wooden fence as I look beyond my pack house. Something doesn't feel right. The wind is sway too harshly and the once silent night is filled with birds chirping and animals moving. A dark figure dashes across the field and judging by its size, I can tell that it isn't an ordinary wolf. Shifting, my wolf runs through our backyard and towards the direction of the intruder.
"I'm going for a run." I tell whosever listening through link as I quicken my pace. Hideous scents thrash inside of my nose and I almost pass out from the deadly smells but I don't slow down. Whoever was here, was here for a reason and I can't let them leave without properly greeting them. A few strides later, I see the figure again but it's not alone this time. Eight bulking figure run next to it and I know they aren't just wolves. What the hell are they then?
Dashing forward, I leap in front of them as they all stop moving. The bigger creatures create a protective circle for the wolf that reeks of Eric scent.
"What do you want, pup?" One of them snarls at me, his voice twisted with hatred and anger. His inner demon is talking for him and it intrigues the hell out of me. What the hell do he do to get this kind of punishment. It's not a blessing to lose yourself to darkness, no. It's much worse than that. His blood red eyes watched me with so much malice that it almost scared me. Almost.
"Answer me!" He roars and I know my pack mate heard it. I can't let them come in contact with whatever they are, so I get into a fighting stance.
"Why are you on my territory without my permission you swine?" Baring my teeth, I pace back and forth waiting for an answer. The smaller wolf has fallen silent as she sits behind the biggest wolf, radiating some fear as she looks at me.
"I'll give you two more seconds to answer. That way you can go back home, alive, and greet your children with whatever sin you have hanging around your neck." Anger erupts throughout all of them as they all attack at once. Smiling, I jump out of the way before pouncing on one of their backs. Sinking my teeth in his back, I take a bite out of his spinal cord, crippling him in an instant.
A pressure of about a thousand tons head butts me, sending me flying into the nearest tree. It snaps on impact as I keep flying through the ugly air before tumbling and bouncing off the ground.
Shit that hurt.
Seven more. Standing up weakly, I charge at them again, this time heading for the bigger mutation first. His bulk slows him down as my jaws chomp down on his hind leg. Howling in pain, he attempt to shake me off but my teeth stay locked in his leg. From my peripheral, I can see two wolves charging at me and, just before they can hit me again, I release his leg and jump out of the way. His leg snaps from the impact of both of his men running into him at full speed and he slowly tips over, a black substance oozing out of his leg. What the hell?!
Not getting too carried away, I focus my attention back on the six heathy, bus fucker in front of me. My vision blurs for a slip second and they all take that time to charge. Regaining my posture, I roll hoof the way just I time as they all charge a tree. Why won't they bite? It is because of this black shit that flowing through them? What's in it?
A large figure jumps over me and I dodge it heavy paw before it can cause serious damage. Bouncing back up, I size them all up, noticing that some of them twitch every now and then whenever we make direct eye contact.
'Give me control. Quickly!' My wolf demands and I don't hesitate to let her take control. My bones ache as they grow into her full size. Blood, a little black from bitting both wolves earlier, trails down my gums as out canines extend.
"What business do you all have here?" She breathes out, a little weakened from my wounds. They all stare at her as their blood red eyes morph to black. They aren't themselves any longer. Their bodies begin to shake as them jog towards me. Readying herself, she charges them as they all run at her. Bitting and tearing away chunks of muscle, she's careful to not let them bite her. The black ooze now drips from their mouths freely.
As it touches the ground it sizzles and hisses, killing whatever life is left there. Two left. The black blood that splattered itself on our fur coat and mouth obviously burned but we wouldn't stop fighting. Not just yet. It takes every ounce of our combined control to stay conscious to fight off these.. abominations. They aren't of the wolf kind anymore. I can't be too sure if they were to begin with.
They race towards us, their bodies in perfect sync and I already know that we can't dodge what's next to come. Not with our current state and my wolf knows it too. Deciding to go after the healthier one, we sink our teeth into its throat as the other attacks out leg. Almost instantly, we crumple from the combination of pain and burning but not before tearing out his partners throat. Just barely shaking him off, a figure attacks him, sending both of this tumbling away in the distance and I already know who it is.
Get up dammit. GET UP.
Forcing ourself through the pain, we hobble to our mates side as she hops off of the creation.
"Stay back and don't touch me." I breath out slowly, barely able to keep myself up. She can't get rained by whatever the hell this animal has. Pressing my paw down, quick and strong, I end his life as I look for the stray pup that stuck around with them. She was shaking, hiding underneath the bigger wolf who was still alive and barely living.
Havana whines freely next to me, frightened from my current state and hurt because she knows that she can't touch me. The rest of my pack finally arrive as I direct them to capture the paralyzed girl. Dragging myself to the bigger wolf's bulking body, I stop before him, noticing that his eyes are normal. They were no longer black and I could almost see his humanity rushing towards his side.
"He's gonna kill you." He spits, blood seeping out of his mouth as he slowly dies.
"What has happened to you?" I ask, placing my paw above his throat.
"Those damn vampires. They said that if we mixed out blood then we could make it. We could be gods! And we believed them. Ate it all up really. What they didn't tell us is that their blood doesn't mix with just anyone." He grunts out as his body shakes again.
"You can't let them do it again. Not again." He cries out to me as he coughs, causing his breathing to shallow out. His eyes began to morph back to red, leaving me no choice but to kill him.
"Shit. Skylar. I need you to sta-" I couldn't even stay awake long enough to hear he warn me not to do whatever. The world moves in slow motion as my body slumps to the ground. Havana's being restrained by an army of wolfs but she can't touch me. I whine, wanting my baby by my side but it's no use. She can't be near me. Isabelle slowly approaches me sadness lingering in my eyes as she says words that I can't even register.
My body starts shaking and the blackness that tugs at the back of my eyelids finally captures me, sending me into the blissful darkness of my mind.