Jonas ~
It all started with a scream. Lois' scream.
I jolted up and ran out of my room, Karen on my heels, my head pounding in fear of what was happening.
Lois chose that moment to scream again.
I winced at the impact of that sound on my enhanced hearing, but that was my daughter screaming, and I couldn't stop running just because my ears hurt.
My heart hurt, too, and I could feel Lois' distress through our pack link.
My wolf clawed at my chest, wanting to take over. But I didn't let it. I had to be conscious of everything, calm and calculated in whatever I did. Having my wolf take over was tantamount to exerting only violence, and my blind rage was a terrible thing to see. I couldn't risk it. So I kept running in my human form, feeling my mate running right behind me.
'Why are these rooms so far apart?!' I yelled inwardly. Lois' room was located at the far end of the west wing of the pack house, along with all the young wolves. My and Karen's room was on the East wing, along with all the leaders of the pack, including the Alpha, my best friend, Beckett. I sent a quick message to him through the link, although I knew he hardly slept and would have heard the screams.
Finally we arrived at the teenagers' wards, but Lois' room was wide open, and there was no one there. In fact, it didn't seem as though she had climbed her bed that night.
My worry grew, and my heart squeezed with pain. So, I sent a message once again to my best friend, hoping he'd reply and not ignore me like he did on his numerous moods.
'Come downstairs, Jonas," his smooth voice rolled into my head through the pack link. "I have found your daughter."
It should have been the end of that, honestly. Except it wasn't, because when Karen and I went downstairs, I saw a half-dead version of my daughter in Beckett's arms. He looked at me with hooded eyes, and I knew he had a lot to say about it. A lot he wanted to discuss with me. But I didn't move. I didn't know how to move. I'd frozen, staring at my daughter, whose eyes were glassy and her skin pale.
In fact, the only thing that made me know she was alive was the faint thumping of her heart.
I don't know how long I'd stayed there, staring. If not that Karen made a strangled sound that got me conscious of everything again, I don't know if I'd have continued staring at my daughter's half-dead body.
"Who?" The question had come out of my mouth in form of a snarl, but anyone could hear the pain laced in my tone. I was angry, but I was also sad. My own daughter, an innocent five year old, attacked by some creature with no sense of rationality. It was a wonder she wasn't dead.
My fists clenched. "Who was it, Beckett?"
He frowned and showed me Lois' neck. The two bloody holes would not have been obvious to a mere human at the time, but I was no ordinary human.
My jaw slackened in shock. "The vampires? But they know the rules of the peace treaty. How could they -"
Beckett pursed his lips, then nodded. "They broke the pact. And they did it deliberately."
Karen, being a true Epsilon, growled at the statement, and her anger became extremely apparent through the mate bond. Although my wolf purred with pride at her behaviour, it knew there was a more serious issue at hand, so it concentrated back on our Alpha.
"They mean war," she said, and my jaw clenched. "Why?"
Beckett worked his jaw. "I have no idea. But they've done this. And they know the repercussions. If they want war, we'll give them war."
At that moment, Lois turned and groaned, causing all our gazes to be drawn to her frame. Wordlessly, my Alpha extended her body to me. "Take care of her. And do not let her know anything about her experience this evening. The leaders are to assemble at dawn."
Karen and I nodded, and with that with we dispersed.
*
The war had begun. There was chaos everywhere in the woods. All night creatures were aware of the bloody event, so only vampires and werewolves were prowling about that night.
Many of the werewolf leaders were bloody and injured. I was too, but compared to the fighting stances most of them were giving, I was one of the few that still had a lot of fight left in them.
I had just ripped out the heart of a vampire when I felt Karen's part of the bond sag, indicating that she was beyond weak. She was about to give out.
I'd swivelled around, hoping to save her from danger. But my breath caught in my throat when I saw a vampire snap her neck. The bond was cut off completely.
After that, all I saw was red.
I single handedly won the war that day, destroying the vampires without a second thought. My wolf was on a roll, and I didn't stop it. I couldn't. I was full of bloodlust, and my heart bled with agony from the pain of a lost mate.
I didn't stop fighting until all of the enemy soldiers were dead.
After that, I blacked out.