Vampires did this and left her here in hopes we found her. They knew we were looking for her, yet they waited until we were close enough to kill her completely, and I don’t understand why. The blood is fresh, I can smell it, the kill is still warm, and I can still feel the traces of her heat and her scent around me as though her soul still lingers. Feel the ebbing away of her emotions and fears in the air around us because they are still so recent and my gift homes in, tortured by what I can feel.
Was this a game to them? It feels like they were luring us out here this far for fun, and I look around, trying to sense if this might be a trap with so many of our kind out here, but there’s nothing. The vamps have retreated and gone, and only the chaos they have caused is left behind in the air around us. There is no hint or trace that they are close, not even the feeling of eyes observing.
“Meadow… take Carmen and Lorey back to the house. They don’t need to be here for this.” As he instructs, Colton yanks my focus back to him, and Meadow appears behind me like a sudden shadow. All the other packs are now flooding into where we are, so we’re grouped as one unit once more. Colton linked them, and Carmen’s scream brought them zoning right in. Colton has lifted up to pull the trembling figure with him to their feet, and I look away quickly as he hauls her into another hug soothingly and lets her weight rest against him. That stirring of dislike is growing like a warm ember in my belly, even though I know he’s only being compassionate. He’s being the Alpha, and this is no time for feeling threatened.
“Come on you.” Meadow leans in to take charge of Carmen in Colton’s arms, and I realize tears are still washing down my face as I stare at them again in stupefaction. Cooling my skin as the air turns them from warm to icy cold. Hating myself that I feel warm inner relief when she’s taken from my mate’s embrace and blush with shame at my selfishness. I’m so stupidly possessive of him sometimes that it’s not admirable.
The shock of what we have in front of us comes back into view as I stare in the direction of chaos, and it pushes my emotions to quiet as Meadow guides Carmen past me. She seems to snap at the sudden release of his arms and makes a dart for the body's remains once more in blind hysteria. A painful sob escaped her lips, but I am faster this time, and she’s closer to me than him. Meadow is startled by her sudden change of direction, so she loses grip for a second, and I flash my hand up. Catching her in the air, holding her steady, and pulling her around. Lifting her from her feet and back towards me as soft as air and making her fly with my ability.
My gift never fails me, and I glide her to my side and hold her there as she gently meets the ground once more, wide-eyed and still after what I just did to her. The shock silences her completely, and I release her once Meadow gets a grip on her hand and wrist in a way that signals she won’t get loose a second time
“Carmen, go home with Meadow.” Colton alpha tones her again, leaving no room for a second error, and she reluctantly turns on her heel. Her skin is white and damp, her eyes empty and blurred, and her body sags with sheer misery. Her whole aura is that of grief.
“Lorey… come here, baby.” Colton moves to me, bringing my attention back to him as he pulls me into his arms and nuzzles me close. With one moment of attentive affection, he wipes away my brewing green-eyed monster and gives me a hug no one else gets. The ‘I need you’ embrace that sweeps me up into him and holds me tighter than he held her while burying his face in the crook of my neck. Warming my skin with his deep exhale before pulling up to look me in the eye again. I melt like liquid with his touch and let him wipe away my tears with gentle fingers.
I can feel his despair at what has happened, weighing me heavily.
“We need to bury her. We can’t leave her like this. Go home, wait for me where it’s safe and warm, and see if you can help her… somehow. I don’t even know how. You’ve been through the loss of your mother. Maybe you can …” Colton trails off at a loss, squeezes me tight, kisses me softly, and wipes away the rest of my tears as I hug him back. Aware that most wolves are now moving in to see what’s been done, a couple rushes to the bushes to vomit. Not all wolves can stomach things like this.
“I love you.” I breathe hastily, that inner insecurity peeking out at me because I am sometimes still that unworthy girl he rejected. I give him a second kiss, more of a grazing of lips, and he nestles his forehead to mine as he does when he’s trying to reassure me. Maybe this time, he needs me to ground him. His emotions are definitely on the needier and cast loose side than mine are.
“I can’t believe I let this happen. I feel like I failed her….. Sun’s coming, so we can do this right and lay her to rest. I owe it to Carmen and her mom to treat her with the respect of the pack….. Take two wolves as guards, catch Meadow, and get home. Don’t hang around, especially not this far outside the borders. I don’t want you around this or helping. You shouldn’t be near this… I love you, baby. Go home for me.” He sighs heavily and tightens his arms around me once more, craving me yet needing me to leave him for now. I can feel his conflicted feelings and make it easier by letting him go with a nod.
Colton lets me loose and nods to two guards who appear beside me in the dim and less dark light. I note he’s sending the two who threw up, sensing neither will be any good at helping with what he has to do. They stand patiently and obediently, waiting for me to move.
“With many wolves digging, it should be fast and then….” He sighs, knowing he has to get somehow that mess buried in some respectful way, and I nod, knowing what he’s thinking. I don’t envy the task of clearing this up and putting every piece of her and her blood in the ground to honor our ways. He may have to scorch the area and burn the surrounding landscape to send her soul to the fates properly.
Taking one last much-needed hug to try and calm my distraught heart, I turn on my heel to go but pause a second. Something crosses my mind, knowing I should catch up and stay close to Meadow, even if my powers make me more capable than most wolves.
“I’ll ask the Shaman to start preparing a ceremony. Help Carmen with closure and allow her time to grieve. Give the pack a good funeral service to grieve a kin member…… Tawna’s mate?” I ask absentmindedly, knowing that Carmen maybe needs to grieve two parents and not one, and we should give her that, even if he’s not someone we should remember. Colton’s face tenses, and he signals yes with the slightest head movement, making my heart sink further.
“Dead the second her heart ceased to beat. My dad will also be in chaos on the mountain, as he just lost his second in command. Her death wasn’t for nothing but…. I would rather her here with us than my father lose some control. Ask the Shaman to mention them both, but only honor Tawna. This is for her, not them.” Colton’s eyes are filled with unshed tears, and I can only bite my lip and agree with a nod, again crying softly despite the overwhelming emptiness and numbness coursing through my veins. All this feels so overwhelmingly awful that my brain can’t process it. There’s a dark heaviness taking over me that I know is sadness and I can barely breathe. I can’t imagine how Carmen feels right now.
“Stay safe, don’t be long,” I add in haste, one last glimpse of his disheveled face, and take off after Meadow with my two guards in tow, making light of the distance in hyper speed. I try focusing on doing rather than feeling and aim to catch up.
I won’t be. I’ll follow up once this is done. Knowing you’re home will make me feel better about being here. Stay safe, Baby.
Colton’s voice follows me, and in such a short time, I catch up to Meadow running with Carmen, although not at full speed, as Carmen seems to be struggling to pull herself together. I slow as I get to them and pull up on the free side of Carmen’s sagging posture, pulling her arm into mine and holding her up a little. Her body is icy cold, giving off a wave of devastation around her, and she doesn’t even flinch at my touch.
She’s sobbing, staring blankly ahead as her feet stumble over debris she isn’t trying to avoid, and Meadow is struggling to keep her steady, casting a glance at me that says, ‘she’s a mess.’ Overwhelming empathy runs over me, both from her and my internal emotion piping up at the sorrowful state of Carmen. I wish she didn’t see what she saw, and I don’t blame Colton for tackling her and holding her tight. No one needs to see someone they love end that way, and it will forever haunt her. Knowing her mom’s last moments were in terror, agony, and untold suffering before she took her last breath.
What are we going to do with her when we get her home? Meadow breaks into my thoughts in a private link, and I try and sort my feelings from the two invading next to me. Carmen’s despair is so strong I’m finding it hard to keep my logic and mind straight.
Take her to the med bay. Maybe Doc Maigo can give her something to relax and calm her down. I don’t know.
The homestead looms, and the rustle behind us of the following guards alerts me that they are still close and watching us. I turn and glimpse over my shoulder as I feel the physical change in the air of us crossing the frequency boundaries and the static sizzle of safety that means we no longer need assistance. We’re safe.
“Go back and help. We don’t need you now. More hands do swifter work. Sun isn’t up yet, and there are dangers for our pack out there.” I order and get two unquestioned nods as both males turn and take off back towards my mate and my people in a gust of breeze as they hyper-speed away.
Meadow gets tired of dragging Carmen and stops to hoist her over her shoulder in an unresisted maneuver and frees our clumsy deadweight. She takes off in front of me at speed, and I follow, running and skipping through the last half mile of forest floor and fallen trees until we end up on the illuminated gravel drive. More wolves are out here, some of the less capable sentinel guards who were left behind, so the house was not completely unprotected, and some from the village have ventured out to find out what’s happening. Most concerned males worried their families are in danger because news spread fast that most of the capable had spread into the woods to chase Tawna.
“Everything is okay…. Return to your homes, and we will call a meeting for the whole village before noon. To explain. The pack will be home shortly, and there’s no need to worry about them. Sun’s coming, and all is quiet now.” I announce as loudly as possible before following Meadow indoors, and we head straight for the sick room. I know those who heard me will pass the message on, and I hope it brings some calm back to those left behind.
We have twenty-four-seven staff in our medical bay because we never know when we may need it, so I am relieved to see the Doctor and a nurse coming to Meadow’s aid. Since moving here to damper air, the children have been getting sick sometimes, and with playful, fearless wolf cubs, they injure themselves frequently.
Carmen has stopped fighting at all, in any way, and seems to have ceased responding emotionally. Silent, numb, and staring at nothing as she’s manhandled like a wet rag and does nothing to stop us. It’s like her mind has left the building, and all that’s left is a broken, empty shell of shock, and I wonder if life finally played that last hand at her that snapped what was left of her mental strength.
I walk behind Meadow; Carmen’s body is limp, her face partially concealed by her masses of blonde hair, but there’s a heavy ambiance of surreal calm because she is so motionless. Her sobbing has stopped, and it’s like all her energy is gone. She’s defeated and broken, and despite our past, I have never felt so much sorrow and pain for anyone as I do now. Maybe it’s because I know what it’s like to lose your parents in one fell swoop, your whole family when they were all you had. Perhaps it’s because I, too, witnessed the horrifying death by vampire of my home family of rejects and still live with the memory of their blood and bodies scattered across the ground, much like we found Tawna. Either way, my heart pangs for the girl before me, and I internally cry for her pain.
Vampires are ruthless and brutal killers. They leave mess and chaos and rip their victims to shreds when the feeding frenzy takes them. In the case of wolves, they can’t drink too much of our blood or kill them, which somehow makes the murder more violent. They tend to leave nothing but remains spread across the countryside when they battle our kind. An act of violence purely because they hate our kind.
“Luna Alora, it’s my pleasure. How may I assist.” The doctor gracefully moves toward Meadow, rolling Carmen from her shoulder onto the bed and flopping her back against the cushions. Carmen does not fight her; her skin is ashen, and her eyes are red-rimmed yet lifeless as she silently gazes into the air. Her mind somewhere far away. Tears roll down her pale cheeks sorrowfully as the warm voice smooths over her, showing a hint of acknowledgment she hears, but she stares at the ceiling regardless. I gesture the doctor aside and pull her close with a hushed tone.
“Her mother was killed in the forest by vampires tonight…. she saw the remains….. it was traumatizing. Both her parents are now dead. She needs emotional help to get through the shock and despair tonight until this sinks in and she’s more able to process what’s happened.” My voice trembles as I push the memory aside and focus on the task at hand.
“I’ll sedate her for now. Let her sleep, as it might be the last she gets for some time when she wakes up. I’m so sorry.” The doctor is one of our gentler femmes, compassionate and big-hearted. She trained with humans at a medical university and learned a lot about mental health and ways to deal with human reactions to certain things. Death to wolves is not as normal as humans, so our grieving can be completely horrific when we do lose someone we love. I guess that’s the downside to being almost unkillable and having long life spans.