My cry fills the air.
A few of the rogues have targeted me, two of them lunge toward me and bite onto my back legs, pulling me towards them. I can't run any longer. I need to turn around and try to defend myself.
This is payback for the stunt I pulled in the forest. Those dumb hounds didn't see me coming and completely underestimated me. I ran so fast, up and down a tree and back again, that I had left them stranded and confused.
This little trick of mine left them infuriated.
No rogue had ever been so outwitted by a female, let alone an Omega like me. I was so powerful, so amazing. It frightens me now, as I realize how quickly that could all be taken away.
Now they were out to get me back.
Jac I can't finish calling out his name and instead I scream out in pain again. I hear their jaws rip through my tendons. I am not used to this type of pain and it makes me feel like I'm going to vomit.
They claw at my body and pull me closer to them.
My heart suffocates me as it rises into my throat. I'm in huge trouble now. I have always wanted things to end, but I wanted to die by my own hand. Two raging wolves are a far more torturous way to go.
Suddenly I see Jacob's eyes. They were so confident before, but now they are being drained of all their color. When we were fighting together earlier, we were in sync.
It felt like we were undefeatable.
We had moved through the battle together like dancers. I have never felt so connected to him or anyone before. I had his back, and he had mine. He kept his eyes on me the whole time to make sure we were both in the right place at the right time.
It felt great to have been so helpful. It was like I had a real purpose!
No.: My wolf can't hold back the words.
This can't be happerning.
I have been by his side through this entire ordeal, and now it seems like I may lose him. His intense eyes are pinned on me.
He's looking over his shoulder. He's not watching the wolves who are still coming for them.
JACOB!' Derek's voice fills all of our brains like an alarm.
He had turned his head away from the fight to watch me being pulled down.
He didn't see the rogue coming, soaring through the air, making his way to Jacob's undefended, unprepared body.
All I could see from the ground was the rogue's wide-open mouth, like a valley of death lined by shiny white spikes, ready to consume a soul as it tears away the flesh of its enemy.
The claws of my attackers dug deeper into the muscles of my legs as I tried to move away. I wanted to help him. I wanted to be there like I had before, how I had saved him from being bitten. I wanted to do that again.
I couldn't move, my captors had me pinned.
I can't helplessly watch Jacob being attacked. I closed my eyes, knowing that this was the last moment I would ever see him again.
Silence fills my ears. I thought of all the amazing things. All the moments, the time we had spent together as children. The laughing, the adventures, and the teasing. I think I'm going to lose him at this moment and I can't take that pain. That's not the torture I'm after.
I don't know if my soul will heal from that loss.
Jacob means more to me than anything else in this world. I think of what a prominent leader he could be. How Gisele would feel ifhe were gone. I think about how the entire pack would miss the wolf they all truly admired. I was already grieving the loss of someone great.
I closed my eyes tightly, waiting for the final blow.
I heard a bone crack and a whimper.
Iopen my eyes to see the destruction.
But it wasn't Jacob's bone that cracked.
The Alpha rogue and Jacob's father's corpse came crashing down right on top of him.
He immediately buckles to the ground under the weight of two hearty fighters.
Derek launches himself with the last of his strength onto the beast that attacked our Alpha and tackled him away. They roll away from the scene.
All the other wolves seem to back off slowly. There is a slowness and a sense of shock that has infiltrated everyone's movements.
They had one goal today, and it seems like they may have achieved it. All the remaining rogues stalk back slowly. They glued their eyes to the body of our Alpha.
They need confirmation before they leave.
Jacob is panting heavily. He does not fully understand what has just happened. He is being held down to the ground by the weight of his father's body. The Alpha is completely limp, his limbs hang, his jaw is slack.
He is not breathing.
I can swear I see the body cool down and get lighter as life and soul leaves the lifeless body. My eyes well up with pain and fear.
That wolf had helped raise me. He was like a father to me, and in an instant, he was gone from this world.
He must have jumped and taken the bite that was meant for his son's neck. In the middle ofthat battle, he had focused on the one thing he loved in this world.
He sacrificed himself for his boy.
I smell his scent deeply. They are a few feet away from me, and I can feel Jacob's heartbreak as he realizes what has happened. Salt fills my mouth.
I feel the captors back off. They, too, begin to slink back into the forest. I try to stand, but the damage is bad. I am on my belly. I can only raise my chest off of the ground.
Derek is on the ground near Jacob and the
Alpha.
Jacob is on his back, his father's body covering him.
He looks into my eyes again. I see rage; I see pain. I see fear. I see tears.
You need to get up, Jacob!' I say.
Jacob turns and belly crawls out from under his father and lets out a few whimpers. I'm still in shock. My heart is broken.
Derek is standing, watching the last of the rogues scatter back into the forest. They came for the Alpha and they got what they wanted. Now they are running away.
Fury overcomes Jacob. "Run, like the cowards you are!" Jacob screams to their wolves. He is walking in a circle screaming in his human form. He had changed so quickly. His face is red, his veins protruding as he continues to scream.
He screams for so long and so loud that he brings himself to his knees at the side of his father. He lets out a sigh.
I don't think they heard him. Their celebratory howls can be heard in the distance as they continue to run through the forest. "How could this happen?!" Jacob screams. "FATHER!"
I continue to lie on the ground with deep gashes in my legs. I take a moment to focus on the pain. It relieves me from the reality happening right now. From the image of
Jacob crying at the side of his dead dad. Of
Derek solemnly standing with one hand on the shoulder of his best friend. Of his new
Alpha.
The blood pools from me. In it is the reflection of the rest of our warriors arriving, moments after their leader has fallen.
The first of the stars are in the sky now and they shine like the tears under the eyes of everyone around.
The pain in my legs becomes unbearable and I drift off into a dark sleep.