by Belle Harper
“Raff?” Maverick’s voice lined with concern.
I looked back to see a wolf where Ranger was. But Rafferty? He stood there, his long pale hair plastered around his face. He was covered in dirt and blood, his tattoos almost hidden. The rain had washed some of it away, but it wasn’t enough to clean him. It was his face that had my attention. It was pale, not his usual paler complexion compared to the twins. You could see the color had drained from his face. I was concerned about him too.
“Raff?” I hissed out. His blue eyes flicked up to mine. You could see he was lost in thought. Like we all were. But I needed him to snap out, just for now. He wasn’t a big talker, and I knew it would take time before he opened up to one of us about what had all happened here tonight. But Lexi trying to... when she jumped. In her mind, it would save us all. But it wouldn’t have solved the problem, it only meant that we would live in a world without her. And that would be a dark place without our Lexi, our angel.
I really needed to speak with Rafferty when we got back, I knew he was hurting. She had left him once, twice... but this was different. His old pack, his own blood, betrayed him over and over. Tried to take the one good thing he had away from him. He was broken, but now wasn’t the time to figure this out. We needed to get back. To end this all and tomorrow we would take care of all the emotional damage.
I took off to the house before the other two shifted, hoping that Rafferty would follow. I cradled Lexi to my chest and when I arrived onto the lawn, I could see the three packs— Kiba, Rawlins and Kenneally together in a large circle. They surrounded a beaten down group of wolves that was seated on the lawn... when I saw the scum from the Russet pack, my fangs descended and I stalked forward. Lexi still sleeping and unaware of what was going on.
I got to the edge of the circle and hissed low at the sight in front of me. So many... there were at least a hundred or so shifters and a couple of day vampires in front of me. But they weren’t moving, they just stared at us. The fear rolling off them, some of their eyes giving me mixed emotions, worried about what was going to happen. Yet, I didn’t know what was going to happen to them. The Alphas hadn’t spoken with me about this; I wasn’t invited to those meetings. Only the ones where they needed vampire input. I could envision what I wanted to happen to them all. They were all threats to Lexi as long as they were alive.
I saw a flash of gold out of the corner of my eye and knew that Tobias must be controlling all our attackers. You could feel the power oozing from him up on the cliff. Now you could really see the effects of it. There would be no way I could ever go up against Tobias and come out alive. I just hoped that he wouldn’t take Lexi from me. From us. Now that he was here. Would she go with him? Fuck. I never thought she might want to.
“How is she?” a female voice asked from my left. I turned, baring my fangs at the sudden move towards me. The face I saw before me wasn’t scared of me and didn’t even flinch away. She just gave me a sad smile as she looked down at Lexi.
“Zara, I...” She held up her hand and shook her head.
“No need. If you didn’t react like that, I would have been worried.” She reached down and stroked the hair from Lexi’s face. She held Lexi’s hand in hers as she looked back up at me. Her face held many expressions, happiness, sadness. You could see her heart was breaking. And not just for Lexi, for everything that has happened this night. But also for Callum. Ranger’s pack mate would have meant Lexi would have become her daughter-in-law. Not only did she lose a son, when he was sent away, she lost the chance at having a daughter. Grandchildren. She has two other sons, but none as close as Callum was at having a mate when Lexi chose Ranger.
“She is safe. We all are.” When I looked up around me, so many members from Kiba surrounded us. Everyone was grouped in their packs.
Ranger pushed his way through the group, Rafferty and Mav right behind him. When Ranger saw that Zara held Lexi, he froze. I knew he felt guilt for the way everything went down with Callum, but Zara was such a strong woman. I knew she didn’t have any bad feelings towards Ranger over what had happened; she had told me herself. She wiped a stray tear away and turned to Ranger. He hesitated at first before she nodded her head at him. He went to her, wrapping his big arms around her small frame.
“It’s okay, Ranger my boy. I know. I know...”
Chapter Four
Ranger
When I saw Zara holding Lexi’s hand, I lost it. Not only did I lose my best friend Callum, I lost her as my second mother. Because that was what she had been since my mother died.
I needed her when I lost Callum. I needed her forgiveness. It was all my fault. I had ignored it for as long as I could, but now, here. I shouldn’t be doing this. Now wasn’t the time. But her face, the way she was looking at me and nodded. I couldn’t hold back. My arms engulfed her small frame. But she held me tight. I tried to speak, but my throat felt thick.
“It’s okay, Ranger my boy. I know. I know...”
My body shook with sobs at her words. My boy. She had always called me her boy for as long as I could remember. Because even when I was a child, I was one of hers. Callum and I grew up together, best friends since the day we were born. We were going to be mate bonded to the same female, we would talk about it endlessly and when we were thirteen, we made the packmate bond. We would be together forever. But I ruined it all by not talking to him. For picking Lexi over him without explaining it to him, I should have known it would set him off like that. I just needed time... time with Lexi to explain better to her what it meant to break the bond. What Callum meant to me. Could mean to her.
But in all honesty, Callum and I had been drifting apart for a while. We had made the packmate deal when we were too young to really know what it meant. I knew that now. I just didn’t want to acknowledge it, but I could see it clearly.
He had become angry and more aggressive over the last few years. I had spent most of the school year trying to get him to calm down. He was fighting all the time with the other packs at school... yeah; I was too. It was hard when he was always there starting fights; I was jumping in with him to finish them. Backing him up. But this was different. His wolf, his anger, they were controling him, much like mine was. But it wasn’t always my anger that had my wolf coming out all the time. It was little things, the way my father acted around my brothers, then treating me like I was the joke of the family. The way people just saw me as this cocky asshole.
I guess that was all I ever let them see me as; it was what they expected. It was like all the other roles had been taken, and this was the only one I could do well. The jock, the player, the Alpha’s son who couldn’t control his shifts.
I admit, I’d messed up more times than I could count, but the difference was I was remorseful. I made amends with Raff, fuck. We claimed the same girl. We did more than just make amends; we were packmates. Galen... the guy couldn’t stand me, okay that was a lie, he loved having me in his class fucking with him. But I used to hate how he would report back to my father about all the shit I did, and now he was also my packmate. A vampire... the first my pack has ever had in a family. But I was all for being progressive and shit.
If someone had told me at the start of the year, I would be mated to a beautiful angel who almost died at the hands of my best friend, have my twin brother express his feelings for our male history teacher— who was also a vampire. And they both became my packmates, plus a rogue red wolf that was stronger than any person I had ever met would turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to me. I would have laughed in everyone’s face. I would have bet against that, because those odds were crazy high stacked against that.
I guess in the last month I really did some growing up. Callum just didn’t do that. He didn’t grow with me; we grew apart instead and I should have said something sooner, but then I didn’t think I would find my mate this fast.
I didn’t think she would come this soon though; she jumped right into my life. And I didn’t look past my own love for Lexi. Once I had her
I just cut him off without giving him a chance. I never think things through. Father was always telling me that. I was always being punished for not thinking first. And this time the consequences were more than I could bare.
I missed Zara so much and I didn’t know how much until now. Having Zara hug me like this, treating me the same as always. Like I didn’t just take everything from her. Her son, the chance of her having Lexi as a daughter-in-law. But maybe I could make it up to her... Noah. Noah was in love with Ada. If I could somehow make that work between them... It won’t bring back Callum, I knew that. But if I can help one of her sons find happiness, that might help relieve some of the guilt I felt.
“I miss you.” I whispered into her hair. She patted my back as we pulled apart. Her hand reaching up to cup my cheek.
“You take care of your mate now. She is one of a kind, that girl. And you better treat her right or I will come whoop your ass boy.” Chuckling at her words, I nodded. She might be smaller than I was. But she scared me more than my own father. She would whoop my ass; I knew because she had... many times.
“Pack Kiba?” My father’s voice called out, my body turned to the direction it was coming from. My father, my alpha, was standing between the two other alphas of Rawlins and Kenneally packs. They all called out to their packs for attention.
“We have some sad news to report. We have fallen pack members.” My heart sank. I knew that we didn’t all make it out unscathed. We had Lexi helping to heal, but there was some who fell never to get up again. I knew that not all of us would walk away, but hearing my father say it made it too real.
“Elder John Edwards from pack Rawlins, Elder Carl Grey from Kiba...” they read out more names but I wasn’t listening. Carl. He was older than my father, he never married and usually kept to himself, but he was a good man. As an elder, he was supposed to be protecting the kids. I looked over to my father. I could see the heavy weight he carried being alpha of the pack. Something I was glad I would never be. I watched as all three alphas stood tall, then hung their heads for a moment's silence for the fallen. But as everyone hung their heads, I couldn’t tear my eyes away from Tobias. He watched us all, his eyes roaming over us. It made me uneasy. He stopped when he saw Lex in Galen’s arms.
I looked over and saw that Galen was staring right back at Tobias. The power I felt between them made my wolf nervous, like I wanted to run away.
I wanted to tell Galen to stop this stare down, but I knew my father would be upset if I spoke during the silence. No one else was watching this exchange between the vampire and angel. I had never met an angel, honestly didn’t know they existed until Lex. But he was very powerful, you could feel that. If he wanted he could take Lex from us and there was no way we could stop him. Finally, heads started to rise, and I let out a sharp breath.
“Galen,” I whispered, pleading for him to stop.
“Ranger.” Galen hissed back. He wanted me to stay out of this, but I wasn’t going to. I reached over to take Lex from him. I didn’t understand why he was acting like this, but I wasn’t about to lose my mate because he wanted to measure dicks with her father.
“Give. Me. Lexi,” I growled out between my teeth. Galen took a step back, his eyes flicked to mine. He glanced down. Lex was still sleeping. She must have used up so much of her powers to be this out of it still. He pulled her up higher and placed a kiss on her forehead before handing her gently over to my waiting arms.
Once she was safe against my chest, I let out a deep sigh. Like I needed this, I needed to feel her close to me. She was my sunshine on a cloudy day. The light at the end of all of this.
I nuzzled my face into her neck, breathing in her scent. My wolf marking her as mine. Letting Tobias know that Lex was mine, she was going to stay with me.
She was never going to be out of my sight. I would keep her safe.
Chapter Five
Rafferty
The crowd had moved away at the alpha’s commands. My feet went to leave when my name was called by Alaric to stay behind. I froze. My wolf vibrating inside, wanting to stay yet it wanted to run. I didn’t want to do this, no that wasn’t the truth. I did, but now it was here... how was I going to face them. My uncles.
I glanced down to my hands, they shook slightly as I closed them into fists. I didn’t want to show how much this was affecting me. I wanted to stay strong, I was now a Kiba wolf. I was no longer from the Russet pack. I would never have to live in fear again. Yet here they were, my uncles glaring up at me. And the fear that had left when I joined Kiba had returned even stronger than before.
A sly smile creeped over uncle T’s face. He wanted me to lose control, he always did. But my wolf knew better. He held strong as I glanced down at my naked body. My skin showed him how strong I was, after years of his sadistic torture. I was not some weak kid anymore; I could see that in his eyes. The change in me was all around us. My new pack, they gave me strength, made me stronger, better than Russet ever would be. And I could see for the first time in my life, he feared me.
I was so angry at everything, my uncles, the attack on Lexi. My mate. I turned and stalked back to where Alaric and Nash were standing with the other alphas and some of the elders. Galen and Maverick were also called forward. Ranger had left with Lexi. He wasn’t called to stay.
I was glad; I didn’t want her to see where I came from. The type of people who shared my blood. But I also saw Ranger’s face when he had been dismissed. He wasn’t included in this. His father seemed to dismiss him often. I had noticed the different treatment towards him since I moved in. He got away with more stupid things, but if something was serious, he was dismissed.
“Rafferty,” Galen held my shoulder, I was so tense I didn’t realize I was growling lowly.
A throat cleared. And everyone turned and faced Tobias. When they said Lexi was part angel, it was strange, at first. But then it was just a thing, Lexi was an angel. But seeing Tobias and watch him fly with those gold-colored wings... made it even more real. Angels were real.
“I have the power to heal, as I have for all your packs here this day. I am able to control, but there is a limit to how much. I cannot compel like a vampire can a human. But what I can do is hand you your enemies, the enemies of my daughter.” He paused for a second before continuing. “But if let go, they will re-offend. They will tell others, and Alexis will never be safe. We must end this now. This day.”
He turned to Alaric and nodded as he stepped aside, as if he was handing them over to him. Tobias was an angel, but not like the sweet ones you would see in movies looking over humans. No, this golden angel wanted us to kill them all. And with them all like this, they wouldn’t even be able to fight back. It would be an easy kill for anyone. I didn’t want to let them walk away either. It was the only way to keep us all safe, keep Lexi safe.
With them all gone, no one else has to die. No more innocent lives taken.
“We can compel them, we don’t want all this death on our hands if we can make them forget what Lexi is and to leave and never return,” Alaric told Tobias and the others. I could see from the shocked look on the other packs faces that Alaric had really kept Galen secret to himself. He never told them about how he can compel the shifters. I guess because he was also a threat to shifters and if they knew, maybe they would have tried to take Galen out.
“How?” the alpha from Rawlins asked. He stepped closer. His eyes darting to Galen, the look on his face was one of shock laced with fear. Galen nodded in agreement. I would fear Galen too, any supernatural would if you knew he could compel you. I wasn’t afraid, Galen was my packmate. He would never betray me. He was my family.
“I can compel,” Galen dropped his hand from my shoulder and stepped forward. “I can compel shifters with Lexi’s blood in my system.” And Galen had a lot of Lexi’s blood in his system.
There were discussions for a while between the alphas and Galen. I wished I was holding Lexi, that she was here with me. I knew in my heart she wasn’t trying to hurt me when she
dived off that cliff. I could see the way the guys looked at me, especially Galen. Like I was going to break. I wasn’t upset with her, well I was, but that wasn’t it. I think I was in shock about everything. Everything that had happened just caught up to me.
But once Lexi gets something in her mind, there was no changing it. She was very independent and strong-willed, and that was something I loved so much about her. But she was sweet and caring. She cared too much.
The thing was, and I hate to say it. But I would have done that too. I just... fuck. It broke me seeing her, so small and delicate in Tobias’s arms. We needed her; she needed us, and we failed in that moment. We didn’t have the strength to protect her, and I felt guilty.
I wanted to be with her now; I wanted to tell her I was sorry. That all this happened because she met me. Honestly, I wanted to be anywhere else but here. Maverick was standing beside me. His shoulder was touching mine. It was the only thing stopping me from running. That and Alaric had commanded I stay. Galen broke away from the group and came over to me.
“It has been discussed that the ones who have killed our pack members will die. Some of the others...well, there is a vote.” Galen looked me right in the eyes, I already knew where this was headed. “The vote is to eliminate Pack Russet. I told them I wanted to speak to you about this, and not the alphas. Your vote will count, if you decided no, no one will talk you out of it, it you vote yes, the same. But I want you to understand. You don’t have to vote. You can walk away. You can stay. You are the one to decide.”