One of my oldest friend is dead. I killed him. For a human girl.
The words roll around in my head as I carry Dave's body with no destination in mind. I just needed to get out of there, to collect my raging thoughts and make peace with the unbelievable reality I'm fucking living in right now.
I came home for peace. To rest. To leave the city and the fights I find no joy in anymore.
But here I am, carrying my friend's body and wandering about in the woods.
A sigh rumbles out of my chest. I should've stopped. I should've controlled myself.
But she was gone too long. I was starting to wonder what Dad had told her, if he had finally decided to send her away like I've been saying. I went to get her.
Only for me to see Dave choking and pressing against her with fangs so close to her neck.
Something in me snapped. The rage I felt in that moment I've felt only once in my life and I'd promised myself I wouldn't anymore.
But I failed.
Of course I did. I've never been able to control my anger the way I'm supposed to.
But Dave was going to hurt her. The smell of her fear shattered every single shred of control I had and made me see red.
"ALPHA LIAM!" I hear the thunderous roar blast through the trees like a wave.
Terrence has arrived.
It's about time.
Everybody at the party had heard the commotion, they knew something bad had happened when Mom sent them away. And it wouldn't be long before someone realized Dave was missing and told Terrence.
Now the Beta is here with a fuck load of trouble.
Dave was his heir. He just got mated. His wife is pregnant for fuck's sake.
Why did he do this?
Why would he fucking touch Arielle knowing she's under our protection?
"ALPHA LIAM!"
"WHERE'S MY SON?!"
I adjust the sack on my shoulder and turn back toward the house. My legs finally have purpose and cross through the wild underbrush in quick strides. The moon has slipped behind dark clouds and the night has a darker, ominous feel that I can't help but feel the weight of something sinister.
Dad is standing at the top of the steps when I reach the front of the house. He hasn't said anything but his glare leveled on the group is cold and dark. His ruthless wolf stirring malevolently behind his eyes.
Terrence has come with the males in his family, all of them already shifted into their wolf forms and baring fangs that promises bloodshed.
In the words of Kyle, This is fucked.
I count eleven wolves including Terrence and though they're not as large as we are, their strength lies in numbers and if it comes down to a fight, it's them against the five of us. They're going to do damage.
It's naive to hope this is resolved peacefully but Dad can talk anyone out of anything. It's why he's still Alpha despite being a pacifist.
Mom has positioned herself beside him. Her tendency for violence already showing in her outstretched claws and glowing green eyes. She doesn't share Dad's pacifistic ideas and isn't above asserting her authority as Luna. It's a fucking wonder how she still gets queasy around the sight of dead bodies. She had Jean do all the work moving Dave into the sack.
Jean who hasn't bothered to wash the blood off his hands take Dad's other side like a soldier.
I can't shake the pang of jealousy in seeing them like that. The perfect fucking family.
Focusing back on the immediate danger, I walk with measured steps into the midst of men and wolves with the dried blood splatter that refused to wipe off. Terrence immediately stares me, his furious eyes examining the blood, the sack on my shoulder, the lack of emotion on my face.
Before I drop the sack on the ground, it's clear he has concluded in his head what has happened and his lips curl into a raging snarl.
"Is that my son?"
Keeping my eyes trained on Terrence in case he strikes, I crouch down and open the burlap. Dave's lifeless eyes stare out at nothing, his jaw hanging loose from where I tore it open.
Terrence inhales sharply, a shocked hiss rippling through the group behind him. Then a piercing cry for blood.
I stand back as he approaches, positioning myself between him and my family. But Terrence stares transfixed at the body of his son and for a fleeting second I glimpse a deep sorrow, then he blinks and his eyes fills with hate.
He lifts his gaze to Dad. As his strongest Beta, he's the only one that can challenge him.
"Who did this?"
With the pungent smell of old blood filling the air, it's no mystery who did it. But still they wait for verbal confirmation. Words make all the difference in these parts.
After a tense moment of silence, Dad speaks. His Alpha voice booms across the yard.
"What happened to your son is a great tragedy, Terrence. I'm very sorry for your loss, please accept my deep condolences."
Terrence doesn't blink.
"He attacked my foster daughter. She was defenseless."
"So you killed my heir because of a human?"
"It was in defense. A fatal accident," Dad explains sympathetically. And a part of me wishes it was. But I was fully aware that I was going to kill Dave when I saw him with Arielle.
There was something about seeing him lay hands on her that was enough to seal his fate.
"An accident?" Terrence points to the body, a twisted expression on his features. "Does this look like an accident? Save your pathetic lies, Alpha." His eyes flick over our faces and lands on me.
I know he knows.
I'm ready for whatever happens next.
Shuffling quietly out of the corner, Kyle catches my eye. He nods discreetly at my questioning gaze and returns to scowling at Terrence. I feel a small weight of relief knowing the girls are safe and are far from this mess.
Jean is right. I mess up everything.
"So what happens now?" I ask.
"As per the pack law, you should bury your son and mourn Terrence before I declare the punishment," Dad replies.
Terrence scoffs, an unhinged sound that seems like a challenge. "No. I'm not doing anything until Casper is punished."
"Terrence, that is the law."
"Fuck the law! I want vengeance for my son now."
"Your son broke the law that led to his death. Are you sure you want to do that too?" Mom flexes her claws in clear warning.
Terrence scoffs, dark anger flashing in his eyes as his clothes rip away, his body shifting in a second into muscled grey fur and hateful eyes.
"I'll be back." The words rumble from his chest.
To our surprise, the group back down. Terrence bares his fang at me once, carries an edge of the sack between his fangs and turns to the woods. He takes off with the other wolves hot on his tail and the body of Dave sliding along the dirt.
I turn toward Dad. "Something doesn't feel right."
Without a word he nods to Kyle who enters back into the house.
Not even a minute later, Kyle barrels back outside with a crying Diana in his arms.
"She's gone! Arielle is gone!"