Amelia;
I couldn't believe he said yes, he finally gave me the house I wanted, a beautiful 3-bedroom house and one of the biggest here. I know he only let me have my own place because he didn't want me to leave, but I was so thankful to be out of that damn mansion and if I am honest away from him as much as it broke my heart. We had sex again after our chat, the talk was meant to be us clearing the air and for us to both agree we were over, but again we couldn't fight the attraction between us and it ended up being a very wild night and everyone heard us, every single person in that bloody mansion heard…me.
'Where do you want this?' Piper asked holding up a crystal lamp that Marie had given me as a gift. She broke me out of the thoughts that filled my head and thank goodness she did because I had to stop thinking about him.
'I think that can go into my bedroom.' I smiled sitting down on the charcoal velvet crush sofa that came with the house. Piper nodded and went upstairs; I sat back and rubbed my stomach wincing as a cramp came across it. How could I possibly be still on this period? 'Typical' I muttered rummaging through my handbag trying to find a pad. Only my period could last longer than a week and get heavier the day I move into my house.
'Are you okay?' Piper asked walking towards me with concerned look on her face. Another pain came across my belly and I winced; it was getting more painful each time I got a cramp.
'Yeah, I am still on my period, it's already been a week, but it's a bit more painful than usual.' I shrugged trying to ignore the pain. 'I just need to keep myself busy.' I smiled standing up, I looked around at the carboard boxes in front of me, there were only six, I didn't have many belongings. Piper read the expression on my face.
'We can go shopping tomorrow and buy loads of new stuff, don't worry.' She smiled cuddling me. My body froze as another cramp hit me and I felt a gush between my legs.
'Oh crap.' I panicked and rushed over to my handbag, grabbing the sanitary pad before looking down at my grey jogging bottoms, the blood had filled the crutch of my trousers.
'Oh my gosh; Amelia. Are you normally that heavy?' Piper asked staring down at me in disbelief.
I shook my head, 'No not normally but I was a week late so maybe that's why I am bleeding so much and maybe that's why it's still going on?'
'Hmmm, I don't think you should be bleeding that bad, I have been a couple of days late before and it's never been like that and it's definitely not lasted any longer than a week' She concluded leading me up the stairs to my bathroom. 'Let me run you a bath.' I took my trousers and knickers off and threw them into my bathroom sink. I wrapped a towel around my waist and leant against the black and white tiled wall, the pains were getting worse and the blood wouldn't let up, I could feel it running down my legs. This was like no period I had ever had before. Piper looked back at me and then down at my legs.
'I…I think we need to get you to Benjamin.' She whispered turning the bath taps off.
I shook my head.
'No, it's fine, it's just a heavy period.' I said still leaning against the wall.
'Amelia, when was your last period before this one?'
I thought for a minute. 'Erm, I think it was a couple of weeks before Christmas.' I said trying to work out the dates.
'And today is the 26th of January? Which means your period was…like…6 weeks ago. W... when did this actually start; Lia?' Piper asked as she sat on the edge of the bathtub.
'Last week.' I replied, grimacing as another pain shot through me.
'Come on, we are going to the medical room now, this isn't right.' Piper said running into my bedroom to find me some clean underwear.
Arlo;
I watched as Matt stepped outside to take a phone call before carrying on the meeting, it was so unusual for his phone to ring at this time, everyone knew he would be here, so I assumed it was important. Everyone looked up at him as he walked back into the office, colour had drained from his face and his eyes full of worry.
'Arlo, it's an emergency, I need to talk to you. Now' He said, his tone serious before walking back out of my office.
'Excuse me a moment.' I said, rising to my feet and following him from the room, panic beginning to set in. I stepped out into the hall and closed the door softly behind me. 'What is it?' I asked, wondering If another body had been found, the thought made my skin crawl, I didn't know if my pack could take any more of this.
'It's Amelia; something is wrong. Piper got her to the medical room, b… but I think you need to be there… she is asking for you.' He whispered, his gaze travelling to the room across the hall. My heart sank. Not again; Lia. Matt's words filled my head again, did that mean that Amelia had tried killing herself? I shook my head, please not again. I stood motionless for a moment when Matt reached out, grabbed my hand and dragged me to the infirmary.
We stepped into the medical centre and both looked around, neither of us could see Amelia or Piper, but Doctor Benjamin was waiting for us. He nodded to me sadly and led us to a private room. Amelia was laying on a bed, only a white sheet was covering her bottom half, her white vest top was rolled up to her breasts and she was staring out of the window, with tears rolling down her cheeks. Piper got up from the chair which was situated next to the bed and weakly smiled.
'Matt and I will wait outside.' she said, nodding for me to sit down while taking Matts hand and leading him from the room. I was so confused, what the fuck was going on? I scanned my eyes over her bare arms, searching for any signs that she had self-harmed again, but there was nothing.
I sat on the chair and looked at Amelia, her eyes wouldn't meet mine, every now and then she winced in pain and grabbed hold on the bed sheets, she was deathly pale, and her eyes were red and puffy, she looked exhausted. I looked up at Benjamin who had a bottle of gel in his hands, he squirted it below Amelia's belly button and turned to look at the machine next to him. A black and white image appeared, and I stared trying to work out what he was looking for, Amelia's face was still turned away from the screen, away from me! But I could see she was trying to hold back the tears. I so desperately wanted to hold her, but I still did not know what was going on.
Benjamin closed his eyes and sadly turned to us before opening them again, he gently wiped away the gel from Amelia's belly and sat on the end of the bed.
'Amelia, you are suffering a miscarriage.' He mumbled looking down at his hands. 'I am so sorry to you both.'
My skipped a beat, miscarriage? What did he mean miscarriage? I looked down at Amelia, whose face was now covered by her hands, she let out a sob before allowing herself to cry out, my heart sank and at that moment broke into a thousand pieces. 5 minutes ago, I had no idea that she was even pregnant and now we had lost our baby. It doesn't matter that we aren't destined to be together; it was still a life that we both created that we have now been robbed of. I sat next to her on the bed and pulled her into my arms, her hands slowly flapped helplessly as everything hit her all at once, she took in a deep breath and let out a cry, a cry of a person who just lost a baby.
'Shhhh' I soothed holding on to her tighter. I should have been here for her these past couple of weeks, but I had to go to Ireland, I had to have these meetings.
Amelia was still bleeding so much that the nurses rushed in to change the large pad that protected the sheets, I stepped outside and looked at Matt and Piper.
'Did you guys know?' I asked leaning against the door, I needed a stiff drink. They both shook their heads.
'Amelia didn't know until we got here, Benjamin did a blood test on her and it showed that she was pregnant, but the levels were low and with how much she is bleeding he warned her she was more than likely going to lose the baby.' Piper said, her voice nearly a whisper as a tear escaped from the corner of her eye.
'How long has she been bleeding for?' I asked feeling guilty, If I hadn't been such a dick, she would have said something and maybe we could have found out sooner and possibly saved our baby.
'She was a week late but then she thought her period had come last week, she hasn't stopped bleeding since and it was getting painful and she started passing clots, Benjamin said that she would have started losing the baby when she first started bleeding. Going by her last period, he said she was around 4-5 weeks.'
Thank Selene for Piper! Matt said nothing, he just looked helplessly to the door of Amelia's hospital room.
'Thank you for getting her here Piper.' I smiled weakly. She shook her head, as her bottom lip trembled.
'Thank Matt, he carried her here, I just called him.' She said rubbing Matt's arm. I turned my stare to my best friend; my brother; and noticed the pained look on his face. I had never seen him so heartbroken before.
'I wish you would have called me.' I said feeling deflated.
'I wanted to, but Amelia told me I couldn't, she knew you would be in a meeting and to be fair, she thought it was just a really heavy period. I told her that this wasn't normal, I could just tell that something was off. I had a feeling that it was a miscarriage, and when I told her that she said that she wasn't sure if she could look you in the eye. She thinks she was the one who caused this, and she is convinced you would think the same.' Piper said tears filling her eyes once more.
I was devastated, she didn't want to bother me because of a bloody meeting. Or was the real reason because she felt like I would blame her again? This wasn't her fault, this was mine, I did this to her, all of the stress and accusations put too much stress on her body and now she is sobbing in a hospital bed grieving the child she didn't know she would have let alone lose. Piper burst into tears and looked at Amelia through the glass.
'She said she would have wanted this baby because she would always have a part of you and this baby would have loved her unconditionally.' I felt myself crumbling at Amelia's words, I would have wanted that baby too and as he or she would, I loved his/her mother unconditionally, no matter what she thought.
We all turned around when we heard the door of the entrance to the medical word open. In walked Ethan as white as a sheet looking worried and on edge.
'Is she okay?' He asked looking straight to Piper. 'I-I saw Matt carrying her and all of the blood. What happened?' Piper sighed and looked at Matt hoping he would do the talking. We all stood in silence for a moment, overcome with emotion. 'Guys? Seriously, what is happening? Is she ok?' Ethan asked, his voice desperate.
'She… she has had a miscarriage.' Matt stated looking from me to Ethan. I watched as the Mutts eyes fell to the ground. Why the hell was he so upset? It wasn't his baby… was it? Anger filled the pit of my stomach and I balled my hands into fists, turning and glaring at him.
'Did you sleep with her?' I growled my eyes turning dark. I watched as his face turned from shock to anger.
'What? No, I didn't! The only thing we ever did was kiss! Who the fuck are you to even ask me that?! You have made it pretty clear to her that you don't want to be with her; you're always fucking with her head! So, I don't even know why it matters whether we have or not.' I growled at his words; how dare he, he knows nothing of mine and Amelia's situation, and he had no right to speculate. Piper and Matt both stared at each other with wide eyes and then shifted uncomfortably.
'Watch your mouth!' I snapped walking towards him balling my fists in anger.
'Why don't you watch yours?' He shouted, taking a step towards me, his blue eyes shimmering angrily. 'Who the fuck do you think you are?'
'I am your Alpha! Don't you ever speak to me like that again. What is going on between me and Amelia is between us; no one else, do you hear me? I needed to know if the baby she just lost is mine! I care for that girl more than anyone will ever know or understand. If you ever raise your voice to me in anger like that, ever again I will snap your neck.' I pushed him into a nearby wall and stared into his eyes and all he did was look back into mine just as angrily. He pushed forward and made his way forwards, his face turning red, when Matt stepped forward and wrapped his arms around the Mutt.
'Enough! Both of you.' Piper cried putting her hand in between us. 'Amelia is in that room in bits! And here you two are, selfishly arguing over her. Do you think Amelia would stand for this? Allowing you two to tear each other apart?' She looked from me to Ethan; her face a shade of red I had never seen before. She was right. What the hell was I doing? I stepped back leant my head against a wall and sighed; I was deflated. I had never seen this side of Piper before, and in all honesty. It scared the hell out of me! She was not someone to mess with.
'Ethan; leave. As soon as Amelia can have visitors, I will call you, but right now she is in no condition to deal with this… any of this.' Piper said her face turning back to a normal colour. I watched stunned, as Ethan nodded at Piper and turned away walking back towards the entrance and slamming the door behind him. Why didn't my Alpha influence work?
'Arlo; that baby was yours. Amelia has only ever been with you. She may care for Ethan, but she loves you.' Matt said turning his face to mine. He put his arm around me and led me out of the medical centre, leaving Piper to go and sit with Amelia whilst I calmed down.
I walked into the office and noticed everyone staring at me. How was I supposed to get through this meeting? All I could think about was her; and the baby that we almost had. I sighed to myself and concealed all the emotions that were whirling around in my head, but just as I sat down, I heard Charlie mumble something.
'What did you just say?' Matt asked, his voice so cold that it brought a shiver across the back of my neck. Charlie sneered and moved a little closer to our delta and chuckled before repeating.
'I said… that we should think ourselves lucky. Who wants another one of her running around?' My world fell into slow motion as the reality of his words sunk in. My body moved as though it was on autopilot. I lunged forward, grabbing Charlie's wrist in one hand and the back of his head in the other, before slamming his face down onto my desk with a sickening crunch. I know that I should have stopped there but it was too late, the gate to all my anger and hurt had now been opened. I flung him across the room; as easily as a rag doll and leapt from my seat and landed on top of him. I brought my fists down onto his face over and over again.
I could feel hands on me, trying to pull me off of him but all I saw was red. I held my breath as I continued slamming my fists into his face, not even stopping when I felt the warm sticky blood coating my knuckles. I rose to my feet once more, dragging him with me and slammed him against the wall.
'Next time you want to talk shit about someone losing a baby, maybe think that it could be hurting more than one of them!' I snarled, my voice ferocious and full of anger. Charlie flicked his bloodied, swollen eyes in Matt's direction, and I laughed, it was humourless and full of malice, but I couldn't stop myself. I let go of him and watched as he slid down the wall and crumpled on the floor before turning back to face the shocked faces in the room.
'Sweetheart, it's ok.' My mother whispered, placing her hands on both of my shoulders. I shook my head and cleared my throat, hoping to keep my voice strong around the lump of raw emotion that had formed there.
'It was mine.' I roared, the gasps filled the room and I turned my eyes to my mother's shocked expression and noticed as the heartbreak set in. She held her head up high and turned around to the other pack members in the room.
'This meeting is over.' She said, making sure to hold eye contact with everyone in the room.
'But… we still have issues to discuss…' Jake said, helping his son to his feet and holding him up as he swayed back and forth. My mother turned to look at him with a hard stare, a look of anger blazing in her eyes that I had never seen on her before.
'I don't give a fuck. I said that this meeting is over. Now out.' Everyone stood stunned. My mother never swore, she always stood aside while my father ruled as she should have done. Something had changed within her. And I couldn't help feeling that that was down to Amelia too. No one moved. 'I said get out!' She screamed, causing everyone to flinch and scramble to the door; Jake literally carrying Charlie out of the room. The moment that everyone had left, my mother and father rushed over to me and pulled me into their arms. It wasn't until that moment that I realised that I was crying.
Amelia;
'I want to go home.' I whispered as Piper laid on the bed next to me wrapping her arms around mine.
'Benjamin said he wants to keep you in overnight just to keep an eye on the bleeding, if it slows down, then you can come home first thing tomorrow.' She whispered back, stroking my hair, her voice hoarse from all the crying.
'Where is Arlo?' I asked realizing he hadn't come back into the room.
'I think he needs some time to absorb what has happened.' I nodded at her words; I felt so guilty. 'He is coming back though, he said he wants to stay with you tonight.' She whispered rubbing my hand with her soft, warm fingers.
'Thank you so much for being here with me. I love you.' I whispered around a yawn, I suddenly felt exhausted and I couldn't fight the heaviness of my eyes any longer, the pain medication was clearly taking effect. I stopped trying to fight it and gave in to the darkness and slept.
Piper;
` I waited for her to fall asleep before leaving, I need to go for a walk to clear my head. Watching her go through that was one of the hardest things to see, I now understood why she attempted to take her own life, there was no let up for that girl. At the tender age of 18 she had been through hell, abusive father, a brother that wanted her dead and accused her of murder. She had been through the ringer and it seemed Selene hadn't finished throwing shit her way. I finally got it and it tore me apart. Amelia leaving was for the best; for her. I don't want her to go, Matt doesn't want her to go and neither does Eddie but watching the man you love imprint with someone else, I couldn't do it, in fact I won't do it. Maybe I could go with her? Me, Amelia and Pretty girl on our own adventure, starting a new life as deviant's. I toyed with that thought, but I had already made up my mind, I was going to go too.
I hurried from the room, trying my hardest to hold back the tears. Amelia was my best friend, and she was hurting more than anything I had ever known. I just wished there was something more that I could have done for her. My chest constricted as I felt the panic crawling up my spine. I stepped out into the cold January air and slowly walked over the gravel path, Eddie would be so mad at me for this, but I needed some time to myself too. I dropped into a crouch and pulled my palms up to my face, holding them there as I tried to compose myself. My cheeks flushed as heat washed over my skin. I gulped down a shaky breath and climbed back to my feet and turned to look up at the crescent moon sitting prominently in the sky above me. 'Why? Why would you let this happen? All she has ever done is try her best to make this pack a better place, and this is how you reward her?' I screamed in my head. Selene was supposed to protect us, watch over us. And look. So much death surrounding this pack. How was that fair? I pulled myself together climbed back up to my feet. I needed to see Pretty Girl; she must have been going out of her mind. I knew how close the two of them were, and she always seemed to know when something was wrong with Amelia.
I checked in on Pretty Girl who was standing in a corner of the stables, she looked sad almost like she knew what was happening; just as I thought she would.
'She will get better soon girl.' I smiled unlocking the stable door. Pretty girl nodded her head up and down and started moving her legs in excitement. 'You know she has her own house now, which means she will probably be with you every day. She misses you; she calls you her guardian angel. And I can believe that you are.' I said filling her bowl with some oats and a couple of apples. I looked at the Unicorn in front of me, she understood everything I said, what an incredible creature. 'Hey Pretty girl, do you reckon you could find me one of your Unicorn friends?' I joked stroking her silver mane. 'I have a secret, not even Lia knows yet, but I am coming with you guys when you leave.' I grinned walking towards the stable doors.
The sound of people coming towards me snapped me from my angry thoughts and had me recoiling into the shadows. As a Mutt that was one thing that I had mastered; keeping hidden from sight. I pressed myself as flat against the wall as I could and held my breath, focusing on my racing heart and getting it under control. I strained my eyes out into the distance and noticed the long blonde hair shimmering in the moonlight. Lori! Her and the twins were looking suspicious as hell, all dressed from head to toe in black; and I am pretty sure that Lori was wearing leather?
'I mean, do you really think that it could be her? The one that has been killing everyone?' Harper asked, leaning in closer to Lori and lowering her voice. Lori rolled her eyes and shook her head.
'How many times does she have to tell you? Of course, it isn't! Think about it. Where are we going now?' Adela snapped back at her sister. Harper scowled and turned her face back to the path in front of them and continued in silence. Where the hell were the three of them going at this time of night? And what did that mean? Think about where they are going now? Something was seriously wrong here. I slowly inched forward and ducked down, making sure that I kept to the shadows.
'Why are we doing this again?' Adela asked, chewing her thumb nail nervously. Lori turned to her preparing to reply when she tilted her head to the side and paused. She narrowed her eyes, before shaking her head and continuing onwards.
'Look, I have already told you both, if you are too much of a pussy to come with me, then stay here! I am not forcing you to come with me!' Lori snapped, keeping her voice low. Adela and Harper paused for a second to glance at one another, their eyes wide and their mouths twisted in uncertainty. Adela shook her head and Harper rolled her eyes, before the twins spun back to face their "leader" and ran silently to catch up with her.
'You're right.' They both said in unison.
'This is for the good of the pack! It has to be done!' Lori said, cryptically. I narrowed my eyes as a million thoughts whirled around in my head. Could she be the one that has been killing the Mutts? She would have the means, and the desire to do so. Lori always made it clear about how much she despised us. I grit my teeth and slowly wandered forward, keeping myself as silent as possible.
I watched as they snuck out the gate and made their way towards the darkness of the forest. Lori paused and glanced over her shoulder one last time, her eyes scanning around the mansion grounds, seemingly checking that they were unnoticed. Her stare washed over the shadowed area that I was crouched in but moved on quickly. She hadn't noticed me! She pulled her long blonde hair up into a ponytail and flipped it over her shoulder before striding out into the darkness, with the twins hesitantly following behind her. I waited for a few more seconds, straining my hearing and making sure that they were far enough out of sight for me to make my break for it.
I pressed myself up against the wall and peered around the corner, scanning the darkness for any sign of the ghastly trio, but they were long gone. I sighed in relief and jogged out through the huge gates and wandered out into the darkness of the forest; paying attention to keep a track on my surroundings in case I ran into the three Elites once more; this walk started off as a need to clear my head, but now I had a mission. I needed to find out if it really was these three that were destroying our pack!
I knew that it wasn't safe out here, especially for a Mutt, but I needed to clear my head. So much had happened in such a short amount of time that I felt as though I was suffocating in all the misery. Just being out here was already seeming to take a little of the pressure off and my breathing seemed to ease a little. It was strange being out here at this time of night; strange and stupid! I was officially off of our territory, I knew it was stupid of me to do, especially with what was going on, but I swore to myself I wouldn't go too far.
I dropped down onto the grass, laid back and folded my arms behind my head. I stared up at the moon just allowing everything to run through my head. There was so much to try and process that it was hard to keep up and I felt that all the time I kept my eyes on the moon, that Selene would hear the shit that we had going on. I sighed softly and closed my eyes. It was so peaceful out here in these woods, the sounds of the wildlife scuttling about their business, the little squeaks and chirps of the life surrounding me. It was blissful! I drew in a deep breath and allowed myself to begin to relax when the sound of a twigs cracking underfoot had me snapping out of my daydreams.
I sat upright and looked around, straining my eyes into the darkness, trying my hardest see through the velvety blackness; although I had been listening to the wildlife a moment ago, these footsteps were louder, it was obvious that whoever, or whatever was coming towards me, was big!
The rustling of leaves had me spinning around to look in the other direction, whoever it was out there, there was more than one of them. I slowly climbed to my feet, cautiously turning around in a circle, trying my hardest to locate the source of the noise. Then a smell unlike anything I had ever smelt before washed over the clearing. It was so strong that it took my breath away. It was a mixture of mould, singed hair, wet dog and… rotting flesh! I raised my hand to cover my nose and mouth, attempting to shield my senses from the horrendous odour as it seemed to take over all my senses.
The sound of someone running, had me spinning around, preparing myself to fight, when something blew into my face, entering my eyes and leaving a bitter taste dancing across my tongue. A few seconds passed as I blinked, trying to get the sand-like grit from my eyes, when a pain unlike anything I had ever seen before swirled through me. My face felt as though it was on fire and every breath that I took in seemed to be getting more strained. Shit! This is it. The killer has got me! I grabbed at my throat with both hands, trying my hardest to gulp down oxygen. My eyes stung as though someone was jabbing needles in them and my vision was becoming darker. I dropped down onto my knees, fighting with everything I had in me to stay conscious. There was no way that I was going to give up without a fight. But with each passing second it looked as though I had no choice.
A shadow blacker than anything I had ever seen before flew past me, causing me to flinch. I strained my eyes, fighting my way through the pain to get a better look at my attacker; but it was useless. Whatever they had thrown at me was slowly causing my entire body to shut down. I felt as my limbs all started to numb, and I fell, landing on my back and staring up at the sky above me. The stars the only thing that I could make out through the increasing darkness.
A shadow caught my eye as it hovered over me. It must have been at least eight-foot-tall, and there were no distinctive features. It was almost as if this thing was a void in time. Something that existed but didn't. My eyes flickered from side to side as I tried my hardest to understand what it was that was happening. And that was when I noticed them. Eyes that were glowing white hot. Nothing but two spheres of white, slowly inching closer to my face. This was it. I was a goner.
Lori;
I stepped out through the gates of the mansion grounds and paused, glancing over my shoulder one last time, scanning our surroundings ensuring that we were alone. If anyone caught us right now then we would be in so much trouble, but sometimes there were risks that you just had to take. And this was one of them.
'You're right.' The twins mumbled as they ran to catch up with me. Of course, I was right. As much as it pained me to say, Adela and Harper didn't have a braincell between them. They were so used to following people around that they gave up on trying to think for themselves years ago.
'This is for the good of the pack! It has to be done!' I answered, shaking my head lightly. I had been over this with them both countless times, and yet they still questioned me! When were they going to learn? The three of us snuck out of the gate and I paused once more, scanning my eyes over the mansion grounds once more, making sure that we had not been seen. Lingering on the spot where that Mutt Piper was hiding; I mean, did she really think that I hadn't noticed her? I could scent her the moment she pressed herself into the shadows when she first heard us. I pulled my hair into a ponytail and flicked it over my shoulder. I wandered out further through the gates and ushered the twins along with me. We needed to lose Piper. She couldn't see what we were up to. I motioned for the two other girls to hide behind the trees and watched from the shadows as Piper hesitantly stepped through the gate and scanned her surroundings. I waited for her to go back inside. But she didn't. She glanced left and right once more before taking off and disappearing into the woods. I tightened my ponytail; once more and rolled my neck on my shoulders. This meant business, and there was no way that I was coming back here tonight until I had done what needed doing. Tonight, was going to be a success. I just knew it!
I sniffed the air every now and again, hoping to catch her scent. But it was useless. Wherever she had gone, she didn't want to be found.
'Are you sure that this is the right way?' Adela asked, her voice a hushed whisper. I rolled my eyes and glanced over my shoulder to glare at them both. How could they be so stupid? I blamed their parents. What Elite would raise two daughters to end up like… well, like these two.
'Of course, why wouldn't it be this way?' Harper snapped back, her eyes wide and full of fear. I whirled around on the spot and crossed my arms over my chest, continuing to glare at the pair of them.
'What is wrong with you two? Do you not understand how important this is?' I growled. The two girls squeaked and straightened up, and I knew that my eyes were glowing from my anger.
'Sorry Lori. It's just-' I held my hand up to cut them off while shushing them. 'No, please, I just want to apologise for-' I leapt forward and clasped my hand over both of their mouths and scanned the line of the trees surrounding us. I sniffed the ait once more. Gotcha! I pushed up onto my tip toes and looked through to a clearing. There was Piper, laid on the grass with her hands folded behind her head. I slowly uncovered the twin's mouths and slowly made my way towards the unsuspecting mutt. How stupid could a girl be? Just lying there like that, exposed in the open. And a perfect distance from the mansion that no one would hear her scream! I inched closer to her, trying my hardest to keep as quiet as possible, when a stench unlike anything I had ever smelt washed over me. I clasped my palm over my mouth and tried my hardest not to throw up. But the scent was relentless.
From the corner of my eyes I could make out shadows that appeared to be make a black smoke. The edges of their form were wispy, and it was hard telling where they ended and the darkness surrounding them began. The only thing about them that stood out where the glowing white eyes; that reminded me of animal eyes caught in a night vision camera. Whatever these things were there were loads of them, and they all seemed to be focusing in on Piper.
I turned my attention back to her and noticed that she was now standing, looking around herself with fear in her eyes, when a blast of purple shimmering powder blew into her face. Wolfsbane! She flinched for a moment and blinked rapidly. She opened her mouth and gasped, stumble slightly backwards, clutching at her neck as though she were struggling to breathe.
I watched in horrified silence as she fell to the floor and burn-like blisters began to form over her bare skin. The shadow creatures moved forward; at speeds that were fast, even for us werewolves, and hovered around her for a moment. I wasn't sure what was about to happen, but all I knew was that it couldn't be good. The sound of ragged breathing came from behind us and I whirled around just in time to see one of the eight-foot shadow creatures' swipe at the twins. Both girls dropped to the dirt and scrambled as fast as they could, running back in the direction of the mansion. I was not going to let fear control me. I glanced down at the ground around me and grabbed for a large branch that held some weight and swung it in the direction of the creature's face. Its glowing eyes blinked rapidly before it disappeared in a swirl of mist to reappear on the other side. What the fuck were these things?
It swiped at me once more, but I swung the It swiped at me once more, but I swung the branch at it once more, throwing it off balance. Its limbs were far too long, which I noticed as it dropped down into a crouch and threw its head back and howled towards the sky. The howl was unlike anything I had ever heard. It sounded as though it were able to shatter glass.
I swung my foot forward, catching one of its long thing gangly legs and throwing it off balance as it snarled at me and ran away, disappearing into the darkness. I turned back to face Piper and she was surrounded. The creatures were slowly lowering themselves down towards her. I had seen the pictures of the other bodies. I knew that this was only going to end one way.
I leapt out into the clearing, swinging the branch back and forth, feeling it hit nothing but air as I did. The other creatures leapt back and mimicked the actions of the other, throwing their head back and squealing. I threw the log towards them before dropping to the ground and scooping up Piper into my arms and running as fast as I could.
I didn't stop for a second, I pushed on until I was racing through the gates of the mansion grounds. It was late, and there was no one else around. I leapt up the steps to the main entrance and whirled around to the right, heading towards Benjamin's quarters. I carefully lowered Piper to the ground before slamming my palm against the hard wood five times. I waited for a moment until I heard noise coming from the room on the other side of the door when I turned and ran, hiding around the corner and waiting until Piper was taking inside by our best medic.
The moment his door closed I exhaled in relief, glad that she was finally getting the treatment that she needed. I just hoped that it wasn't too late.
Arlo;
I sat in my office chair thinking about everything that had happened, Eddie and Matt were both sitting on one of the sofa's talking about Amelia. They had waited for my parents to leave and come back to me. I couldn't express how much I loved these two guys. No one knew what to say to me, I knew most of them were disgusted that I had been sleeping with Amelia, but it angered me so much. They acted like she wasn't part of this pack and that I had betrayed them, but she was part of this pack and she was an Elite. The more I thought about it, the more it angered me. Her own father didn't go to check on her to make sure she was okay, his daughter nearly haemorrhaged to death and he didn't care. I clenched my teeth and balled my hands into fists as I tried to get my anger under control.
We were all startled when we heard rapid banging out in the hall, Matt and I jumped up and looked at each other.
'What the hell was that?' I snapped, running towards my office door. Matt and Eddie followed me out into the hall. Benjamin had just opened the medical centres door and stared down at the floor, a purple coloured girl with blisters forming over her body was having a fit, I watched in shocked horror as her body convulsed violently where she lay, thick foam bubbling from her mouth and pooling on the ground beside her. I noticed the shocking auburn coloured hair. The pretty features that were distorted from the burns.
'Piper.' Eddie cried running over to her and dropping down to her side. I dashed forward, closing my hands-on Eddie's shoulders, feeling as he tried his hardest to fight against me.
'Don't touch her.' I said, my voice cold and hard. He turned tear filled eyes to stare at me before looking back down to her.
'Wolfsbane.' Matt growled angrily, appearing beside us.
Amelia;
A woman's voice singing the tune to the lullaby that haunted my dreams filled my head. I thought that I was free from this, but it was now clear that I wasn't. I opened my eyes, Piper was no longer in the bed with me and I had since been hooked up to an IV, I must have slept through it all. I looked up at the clock, it was 3:47 am, the last time I checked the time it was nearly 6pm, I had slept for nearly 12 hours. I lifted my hand and studied the canula, deep red blood was being pumped into me. I must have lost more blood then I thought and then I realised another canula was in my other hand, this time a clear liquid was entering my blood stream. 'It's morphine.' I looked up, sitting on the chair next to my bed was Arlo and he looked like he hadn't slept a wink. I sat up and looked at him, I didn't know what to say except.
'I am so sorry.' Arlo looked confused.
'What are you sorry for? This wasn't your fault; Lia, none of it was, if anyone is to blame, it was me.' He put his soft had out to mine and I allowed our index fingers to hook around each other, trying to hold his hand would have been too difficult.
'You're not to blame.' I whispered feeling a lump build in my throat, he looked broken, but I honestly thought he wouldn't care. 'Hold me?' I never thought I would ask him to do that again, but I needed him, and I think that he needed me too. Arlo stood up and walked around the bed, gently laying on it as though he was scared, I would break. I snuggled into his chest and took in his scent, it soothed and consoled me, why did I have to feel the safest when I was in his arms.
'You know; Lia, despite everything I would have been so happy to have this baby... I am so sorry for how everything turned out; I will never ever hurt you again.' I looked up at his face, stubble had formed, and his curls were pulled up into a messy ponytail, he looked drained.
'You will have babies one day; And your soul mate will be an incredible mummy, I can feel it.' I replied rubbing my fingers on his forming beard. It suited him.
'But I don't want anyone else, I want you, I want you to give birth to my children.' He mumbled looking down at me. And I wanted that too, but I had to be strong and this time I had to mean it and not give in to my desires.
'I know, but Selene has other things planned for us. I would do anything to be with you, I want marriage and I want loads of children, I want to be your wife and I want to grow old with you, but I can't and I can't stay and watch you have that with someone else, once this is all over, I am leaving and I won't ever be coming back, we can't do this anymore, me and you. It's not fair to either of us, we are just torturing each other.'
Arlo met my eyes, I knew he understood, it just pained him as much as it did me. He smiled, trying to change the subject slightly. 'How many kids do you want?'
I grinned at him 'About 6.' He started chuckling.
'Woah; Lia, that's a lot of babies! Are you sure you really want that many?'
'Yeah, I am sure. I have always wanted a big family and 3 months ago I thought I would never have the freedom to even make friends, so I am going to make the most of it. Six or seven will suit me fine.' He started laughing.
'7?! This number is getting higher!' It was so nice to hear him laugh and it made me smile.
'I think I will give birth to one first and see how painful that is.' I reasoned jokingly.
'You will handle labour like a champ, you are a strong girl and you have balls of steel and by the way, I don't believe you when you say seven babies, I think you will have about 8.'
'How many do you think you will have?' I asked fighting the urge to touch him.
'With you 10, with someone else… probably none.' He said looking down at my hand, I knew he was fighting it too. This was going to be so hard. After today it was over, no more touching, no more kisses, no more sex, the whole lot would be done. Who was I trying to convince? Selene or I?
'Ahh I don't believe that, you have to have one at least, you need to make this pack a new Alpha.' I smiled imagining him running around with a toddler, it was a beautiful image. Thinking of him having a child with someone else made me feel sick but I would do anything to try and make him feel better. Arlo turned his head to me a more serious expression on his face.
'I am so sorry you are going through this, if I could take it away… I would.' He whispered before kissing my forehead.
'Go and get some sleep; Arlo, you look shattered' He ran his hand through his hair and nodded in agreement.
Arlo;
I walked into Pipers hospital room and listened to the low rhythmic beating of her heart monitor. I gulped down a deep breath and tried to shift the lump that was forming in my throat and slowly made my way over to the chair that was situated beside her bed, and hesitantly reached out and placed my hand over hers. It was ice cold and so pale that it was almost see through; and then there were the burns. Dark red and lumpy legions dotted over her bare skin. I couldn't believe that it was only a few hours ago that she was found outside the medical ward on the brink of death.
I glanced over to Benjamin who was frantically reading over her charts and searching his cupboards for anything that could make this easier on her, before hurrying back over to us and shifting the pillows behind Pipers head in attempt to make her more comfortable. There wasn't an antidote to Wolfsbane poisoning, and it was only a matter of time before Piper would pass away. Benjamin assured Tanya that he would heavily sedate her daughter; so, she didn't feel anything.
I sadly watched as Tanya sat beside her daughter and took hold of her limp hand; the tears of a mother losing her child was something I never wanted to see again. Eddie was sitting on the end of the bed rubbing Piper's legs begging her to somehow pull through and it took me back to Amelia. I honestly did not know what I would do if I lost her. I looked up at Matt and nodded; It was time Amelia was made aware of this before having to prepare to lose her best friend and the thought of it made my skin crawl.