by Mandy Adler
Lily
“Tomorrow night our mission is just to find out were Jimmy is being held. No heroics, do you all understand? I won’t lose anyone tomorrow.” Zach was a sight to behold when he was in full Alpha mode. “Lily, myself, James, Abby, Sue, Kyle and Leo will go, collect the information and return. Thomas is to stay behind to lead the pack until our return. Continue your training, keep your eyes and ears open at all times.”
“Yes Alpha.” They collectively said at once.
Tomorrow night we were headed to scout out where my father was supposedly being kept. I was terrified someone was going to get hurt, but Zach has assured me the we were only scouting. We had to know where he was before we leaped in without thought. I understood it, but I knew it was going to suck to see my father and not bring him home the same night. I was glad we were bringing James, Kyle, and Abby, but Sue made me nervous. She has been better since our little face-off, but I still didn’t know that I trusted her yet. Leo was a pack member that Zach said showed potential. He was maybe around seventeen or eighteen and was pretty dominant according to Zach and James, and a heck of a fighter. He had apparently lost both his parents in the last battle when he was very young. The seven of us were meeting privately in a while to assess our mission and make sure we were going to be a good team, Zach wasn’t leaving anything to chance tomorrow night.
I realized the meeting had come to a close as my thoughts had been running. “We are leaving before most of you will wake. So, until we return you are all to be on best behaviors. Show me that this pack can function without me here to run everything. Treat Thomas as you would your Alpha in our absence. You are dismissed. Kyle, Sue, Leo, Thomas, James please stay after so we can discuss the trip.” I knew I had to stay also, it was left unspoken but he had explained that I was to attend every meeting as the Alpha’s mate.
He waited until the last of them filtered out before gesturing for us all to sit. As Alpha he mostly stayed standing in the presence of the pack, but we were mostly among friends.
“This may just be a scouting, but it will be dangerous all the same. If anyone wants to stay behind now is the time to tell me, there will be no hard feelings.” He looked around at everyone as they stayed silent. “Okay then. We will be scouting in teams; do not approach anyone you see. Lily, Kyle, and myself will be one team. Kyle your job is to stick close to Lily at all times, you’re still her guard. They want her and if they catch wind that she’s there we will be in for a hell of a fight. James and Abby will be the next team, you two will come from behind and check out the back. Sue and Leo will be our lookouts. You two are to stay near the entrance, let us know if anyone comes up from behind, we don’t want any surprises. Thomas…”
“I will lead in your stead Alpha. The pack will be safe, awaiting your return.”
“Thank you.” They clasped hands and shook, the gesturing seeming almost formal.
“Stay safe, all of you. They have shown they are not afraid to kill, let’s not give them anymore under their belts. Abby, can you do a spell to make detecting us harder?”
“Yes. I’ll have in ready by tomorrow night.” Her sarcastic personality gone, she was all business now.
Zach gave a quick nod. “No heroes tomorrow, we get in and we get out.” He said this last part with Alpha power in his voice and we all let out an involuntary shiver. “Go get some rest. I don’t expect trouble tomorrow, but we need to prepare for the worst all the same.”
They bared their necks before taking leave. When it was just Zach and I left in the room he turned and cupped my face in his hands. “That meant you to. I know you want your father back, and we will get him. But I will not lose you in the process. You stay in between Kyle and me, okay?”
“I understand. I won’t do anything stupid tomorrow.” I tell him honestly. I knew we were risking the people we were taking with us just by having them so close to the mages, I wouldn’t do anything to jeopardize them any further.
“I know you won’t. But if you see your dad, it’s going to be hard for you to walk away and return another day. I want you to understand that.” God, was he right. That was going to be torture.
“I know. I’ll hold it together. I’ll follow your lead, I trust you.”
“Thank you.” He whispered, kissing me gently. “If we see an opportunity to grab him without a fight we will. But we can’t go into this looking for a fight with only seven of us.”
I nodded as he let out a sigh of relief. I knew he was terrified of my being taken or hurt, I could feel it through the bond. The blinding, gut-wrenching fear. He was filled with it.
I meant what I said; I won’t do anything tomorrow, I won’t risk our family. But I was going to take the mages down, maybe not tomorrow… but soon. They had taken too much from me, too much from everyone in this pack. Our pack would win this fight once and for all, and we will finally be able to breathe.
Chapter Eight
Zach
One person in each group was to stay wolf, just in case of trouble. I watched as our groups separated. James, in wolf form went with Abby towards the back of the building. We were leaving Leo as wolf with Sue near the entrance of the street. I kept Lily’s hand firmly in mine, she kept the other in Kyle’s fur as we snuck towards the front, crouching low as we grew nearer.
There weren’t as many mages milling around as I thought there should be for a group holding a hostage; they were sure of themselves. I wasn’t sure if that was a good sign or a bad one. I lifted the barbed wire, letting Lily and Kyle under before going under myself. I let Kyle lead, his nose was better than mine in this form. I stayed right behind them, making sure no one came up from behind. Lily was shaking like a leaf, her nerves getting the best of her.
I pulled her to a stop and placed my forehead on hers. Breathing her in, letting her breath me in; giving her some of the strength she needed to do this. After a moment she nodded, her eyes shining her gratitude. I kissed her once before motioning Kyle to continue on with Lily following.
Kyle stopped, his ears twitching back and forth. He heard something. I strained my still-better-than-human hearing, there was two men ahead. Patrols, probably. My phone buzzed with a text from Abby; At the back. No sign yet.
Lily read the text and frowned. I crept forward silently, Lily close behind and Kyle flanking her. We waited until the patrol were out of sight before nearing the windows. I slid one up, thanking god they were silent. Kyle jumped in first, followed by Lily, then myself.
The room was dark. Silent and dark. We sneaked around the empty room until we came across a hallway. Lily asked me which way with a look, I shrugged. She started to go left, I tugged on her arm, placing her behind me. I would go in first, if anyone saw her… I couldn’t even think of what could happen without feeling my wolf rage. We came across a room that had lit torches on every corner. Lily let out a shiver at the sight but didn’t break down. Her emotions were determined, she wasn’t going to panic. We stuck close to the walls as we moved on. I didn’t understand why the place was so empty. Where was everyone?
Lily tugged my hand, directing me to look right. There were cells, like actual prison cells. I nodded to let her know I saw them. Kyle checked behind us every few moments, making sure we stayed clear. We slowly began checking the cells, the first few empty, no signs of being used recently. Then we heard a cough.
Lily bolted to the last cells. “Daddy!” I cursed before running after her. This was too easy, there had to be something else to this.
“Lily!” I whisper-shouted. She was on her knees when I made it to her. Her arms stretched through the bars as her father hugged her back the best he could. He was a little bloody but nothing life-threatening that I could see. She had tears running down her face, breaking my heart.
“Baby girl, what are you doing here?”! Jim exclaimed. “It’s a trap! They want to weaken you, take away some of the numbers protecting you. You need to go!”
“I can’t just leave you here!” She cried.
“They did
n’t leave the keys baby. Go save your family, know I love you, always have and always will. I’m sorry I didn’t say that more.”
I shook the bars, they held firm. Crap. Lily was hysterical now. I heard shouts coming from behind us as Kyle leaped, pinning one down. It was the patrols from outside. Shots fired, I grabbed Lily and spun behind a nearby pillar. She kept screaming. I heard Kyle whine.
I grabbed her face in both hands. “Stay here!”
I shifted midleap, landing on the man who had just put a bullet in Kyle’s leg. Before I could think twice I bit down, he wouldn’t be shooting anyone ever again. I turned as I heard the sobs coming from my mate and my stomach dropped. She was holding Jim best as she could through the bars, blood coming from his chest.
“I can’t heal him! Why can’t I heal him?!” She yelled frantically.
I knelt beside her slowly. “He’s gone sweetheart. I’m so sorry.” My heart shattered at the sobs coming from her, shaking her small frame violently. “We have to get out of here Il mio bel fiore, we have to get back to the pack.” I was worried what was happening, Jim has said this was a trap. There were children at home, kids that couldn’t even shift yet.
She slowly nodded. She was numb, she had shut everything off. She walked over and healed Kyle before walking out the building, Kyle and I following close behind.
“What happened? We heard shots?” Abby asked as we approached the car. James was wearing a pair of pack sweat and I realized I had shifted and wasn’t wearing anything. I caught the pants he threw to me.
“He’s dead. They killed him.” Lily spoke, but the sound was nothing like the sweet, loving girl I knew. It was hard, barley any emotion behind it.
“He said it was a trap. We need to get to the Lodge now!” I looked around and noticed we were missing someone. “Where the hell is Sue?”
“She was gone when we got here. Leo was passed out and she was missing.” James face showed his suspicion. And I understood it, did she get captured or did she betray us?
“No time now. We have to get pack, we’ll sort this out later.” I demanded before placing Lily in the passenger side and buckling her in. I walked around and got in the driver’s seat while everyone else piled in. I hit the road as fast at this truck could take us.
Lily
He was gone, he was really just gone. One moment I held him in my arms and the next they shot him. The man had never hurt a soul, he was a doctor! I had shut everything off, I knew Zach was worried but I couldn’t deal with my father’s death right now. Not when everyone we knew was in danger. Dad had said it was a trap, all those children… they couldn’t even shift to protect themselves. What kind of monsters would do this? What kind of people could take parents away from their children, attack a home full of kids, all this endless violence? Why? What did they want from me so badly?
I could hear them all talking in the back of my mind. Zach and Kyle explaining what had happened, the others shock and outrage. I could feel Zach’s concern for me, his love. I just couldn’t focus on anything right now; my mind was a mess. I can’t believe I lost him, it didn’t feel real yet. We were supposed to have time to make things right between us, now he was gone forever.
As we drove up the place was in chaos. Wolves were running around chasing men, fire was bursting everywhere. Everyone jumped out of the truck. “Kyle stay with her!” Zach yelled as he shifted, leaping on the nearest mage. People were screaming, wolves were howling, it was a war.
I could hear Abby as she chanted, putting out as many fires as she could while walking down the middle of the battlefield. James was beside her, taking down anyone that got too near. I looked around for who to help first, I wanted to help them all, but there was just too many injured.
Finally, I spotted a few familiar faces, children, huddled in the tree line. I rushed over with Kyle at my side.
“Lily!” Laney, a little girl around three years old called out. There were around five of them; Laney being one of the youngest in the pack, Ryan and Peter were brothers at nine and eight, Nora was a six-year-old full of spunk, and Seth a little two-year-old I had begun reading to almost nightly. Where were their parents? Seth had his thumb in his mouth but ran into my arms as soon as he saw me.
“We wanted to fight but we had to protect the babies.” Ryan explained while Peter nodded. The thought of these two kids fighting sent chills down my spine.
“I’m not a baby!” Nora exclaimed.
“You did good.” I tell the boys while looking around for a safe place to take them. “Zach is here, we will get this all taken care of.”
“They came out of nowhere! Mom told us to take the younger ones and hide. We didn’t want to leave them, but she made us promise!” Peter was holding Nora, but struggling. She was a hefty three-year-old.
“Okay. It’ll be okay.” I told them, though I was unsure myself. How was I going to keep these kids safe? They were the future of this pack and too innocent to be wrapped up in all this violence. “Come on guys, let’s try and get inside, find someplace safe until this is over. Then we will find your parents.”
I scooped up Seth while Kyle grabbed Nora.
“Stay close kids.” Kyle told them gently, shooting me a look to say that I do the same.
We stuck close to the trees, trying to stay unnoticed. As much as I wanted to help make sure everyone was okay, I needed to get these kids to safety first. Then I could heal all of our injured. I only hoped Zach and the others were okay.
We hadn’t made it far before the first mage stumbled upon us. He shot a fireball that missed us but hit a tree nearest to Ryan. I panicked, thinking about that fire hitting this innocent child. My magic shot out of me without even trying. I stuck my hand out on instinct and a thin stream of a line linked me to this man that meant these children harm. I pulled, there is no other way to describe it. I pulled with everything in me and the man grunted, falling to his knees I felt it pull from the center of my heart, burning like it was really at risk at bursting into flames. All this extra power was swirling inside me with no place to go. I screamed with the intensity of it, it felt as my inside were overflowing at the seams. I shot my hand to the left and all the trees exploded. We hit the ground, shielding the children the best we could. What was that?
The man was still moaning on the ground. “You took it! Just kill me already!” I had taken his powers and my body couldn’t hold it so I had let it out the only way I could, he wouldn’t be getting it back. I guess now I know why they want me, but why would they want me alive?
“Come on, just leave him. He’s no longer a threat.” I told Kyle. He shot me a questioning look but obeyed.
It felt like hours before we made it inside, but in reality, it was probably only a couple of minutes. We ushered all the kids into Zach and mine’s room. I knew it was probably one of the safest rooms in the building. Then we waited. I hated the waiting, the not knowing what was going on outside, but right now we had to keep the kids safe. Kyle was pacing back and forth with nerves, knowing his Alpha was outside and he couldn’t help.
Finally, things grew quiet. “Stay here, I’ll check it out.” Kyle told us as he inched open the door and slowly made his way out. I held a sleeping Seth in my lap, how he can sleep at a time like this was beyond me. Ryan and Peter were quietly playing with Nora and Laney, keeping them occupied. Kyle popped his head back in after a minute. “It’s over, the Mages retreated.”
We cautiously made our way back outside and the sight was devastating. There were bodies everywhere, ours and theirs.
“Nora!” Sheila, Nora’s mother, yelled as soon as she saw us. She scooped up her daughter and hugged her with a fierceness that tightened my chest. “Thank you for keeping her safe Alpha.”
Not long after Ryan and Peter’s parents came and repeated the same actions, hugging their children tightly, then Laney’s. Seth’s parents never showed. I kept him in my arms as we walked the land, looking for my Mate and his parents. Kyle stayed beside me, checking on the wounded as we p
assed. I healed who I could along the way, draining my energy to dangerous levels.
Finally, I saw him, he was talking to James, Thomas, and Abby. They were surveying the damage all around them.
“Zach!” I called.
He turned and bolted to me as soon as he heard my voice. He hugged me to him, Seth trapped between us. “Thank god you’re okay!”
“You to.” I replied in between the kisses he was frantically placing all over my face. “I can’t find Seth’s parents. Kyle and I found the children and got them to safety, then we found the parents once it was over. But I can’t find Seth’s anywhere.”
“We are still accounting for everyone. We are gathering our dead a doing a ceremony for them tonight. We will find his parents… but if they are among the deceased…” I knew what he was trying to say. After one horrible moment Seth could be an orphan, just like me.
Zach
His parents were found together. I told Lily to take comfort in that part at least, they would have wanted to leave this world together. She didn’t speak, just held the sleeping toddler tight. I knew she felt for him, she connected to him. I had a few pack members set up the room connected to ours for him. If any could understand and help the little guy overcome this, it would be her, and I didn’t think she would be willing to let anyone else have him anyways. He had no other family except this pack. His grandparents were killed in the last battle, and his parents were only children.