Hannah POV
During the next few days, I have been trying not to think too much about what Jake had told me.
He was right about one thing, though; it will be all or nothing. If I stay here, I will be Mikkeli's Luna. If he decides that he doesn't want to mark me, I will leave, and there will be no "between". I will have all of Mikkeli, or I will have none of him; that much is certain.
I also have been thinking about what Jake said about Hayden, about his supposed feelings towards me. Hayden is my friend, it took me a while to accept him as such, and I'm scared that something like unrequired feelings may destroy it. Plus, he's my brother's father, and we have to raise my siblings together whether we like it or not, so the situation between us should be clear and not complicated.
"Hannah, can you bring this to the garden shed?" Rose's voice makes me get focused on the present moment.
It's evening, the warriors have already finished their dinner, and most are probably already in their quarters. Hayden is taking care of my siblings, and Mikkeli is with all the Alphas in the dining room, eating. Everybody slowly prepares to finish daily duties and go home to rest.
I listen to Rose and take the things she gives me and head toward the garden shed. The garden seems to be quiet and empty, covered with darkness. I decide to take a different route to go back and go towards the house through our front yard, not directly into the kitchen, and that is when I spot her.
She's half-covered with darkness, but I know it's Connie; I see her face in the dim moon's light. She's pressed into the garden's stonewall very close to the house. It's a good hiding spot, Mikkeli and I used it too, around two weeks ago. Both her arms and legs are wrapped around somebody else, who is now assaulting her neck, as she moans in delight.
She looks so happy, almost enchanted. The proud and spoiled daughter of Alpha is gone; right now, I see a woman, a woman who seems carefree.
I know that Mikkeli is in the dining room, and the person who is now with Connie is a much more gentle posture than him, so I have no reason to be jealous. I turn around and leave them alone. Connie looks so happy that I hope that whoever is with her will choose them, not her ambition as a future Luna with mighty Alpha.
When I get back to the kitchen, I hear Rose complaining that nobody has seen Kyle for a while, and he's supposed to be helping her. And that's when I spot her.
One of the pack's tiny omega girls is standing in the corner of the kitchen, fidgeting with her fingers and obviously looking nervous. She notices that I look at her and quickly leaves. I follow her immediately; I know that something is wrong.
"Hey, stay; I'm talking to you!" I catch her in the corridor and stop her from leaving. "What's wrong? Where is Kyle? Do you know something?"
She tries to wiggle out of my grasp and avoids looking me in the eyes.
"I... I'm just worried about that... Kyle and I were today in the quarters of Full Moon pack to clean, but we didn't finish when some of them came after dinner, and they told me to leave, that they wanted to be alone and didn't need any omegas fidgeting around... So I- I left and I- I was expecting that Kyle who was upstairs would've followed me soon, but he didn't so I... so after a while, I came back to packhouse and he's... he's not here still, and it was almost two hours ago" she stutters.
I can feel my blood getting cold, and the awful, sickening feeling of fear is getting overbearing.
"Go back to the kitchen. If I'm not back in 15 minutes, you will tell Rose that I went to the Full Moon pack. Is it clear?" I say in a stern voice, and she nods.
I ran there as fast as I can, trying to spot someone having a high enough position to help me, trying to ignore this sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. I know there's no point in panicking yet, but something is wrong; I just know that something is wrong.
I bump into someone in the darkness; strong hands don't allow me to trip.
"Hannah? What's wrong?"
Thank God I know this voice.
"Hank, please, I need help. My friend Kyle was cleaning today in your pack quarters, and he should be home, but he's not, please" I can hear my voice trembling.
He assesses the situation very quickly, grabs my hand, and heads quickly in the direction of the house. We are there a couple of minutes later and go inside.
No one seems to be downstairs, but I can hear some laughing and cheering from above. Hank runs there almost immediately, telling me to stay, but I don't listen to him.
I can hear them in one of the rooms, Hank kicks the door open, and I struggle to catch my breath feeling tears dripping down my face knowing that I will never be able to erase that sight from my memory.
There are at least six of them in the room, and the stench of blood, alcohol, sweat, and semen. It reeks; they all reek.
Kyle is lying in the middle of the room with his arms yanked above his head and his face pressed into the floor, held down by one of them. Behind him, holding his hips in the air in a tight grip with his nails digging into delicate skin is another guy pounding into him with big force.
I can see blood and semen dripping down Kyle's thighs, a small pond of blood beneath him, and bruises and cuts all over him. He's not unconscious because he looks at me with such pleading eyes, full of suffering and shame.
A moment ago, I heard all guys in the room cheering and laughing and now is dead silence.
Hank growls with one of the most inhuman voices I've ever heard. Half of them immediately bow their heads in submission, two try to approach Hank, but he quickly throws them into the wall with another loud snarl. The guy who is holding Kyle's hands and neck immediately lets go of him, and the other one who is raping him is ripped away by Hank, who shoves him to the ground and starts repeatedly punching him.
Feeling his release, Kyle tries to huddle himself. He flinches away when I touch him, and a shallow whimper leaves his throat, so painful, so scared.
I hug him close, I can feel him shivering, but he has no strength to push me away. I whisper into his ear that I got him, that he is safe, that this is already over, that they are gone. I just hold him as he trembles in my arms. I bit my lips, trying not to cry more. I must be a strong one here, for Kyle's sake.
After a moment, I notice that I am alone in the room with Kyle, although I can hear a loud commotion and shouts downstairs. I try to stand up to find something to cover him, but this time he doesn't let me go, squeezing my hand hard and whimpering in distress.
Hank enters the room again, guilt is all over his face, and he's holding a warm blanket.
"I mindlinked people I trust; they are here, and they will guard them," he kneels in front of us.
"Pup, I'll put this blanket around you now."
Kyle flinches again, squeezing my hand harder when Hank slowly and gently covers him with the blanket.
"Pup, we will take you to the doctor now. Hannah will be next to you all the time, but I have to carry you; I promise you're safe."
Without any noise, everything in Kyle seems to scream to be left alone, but he has no strength to fight Hank when he gently takes him into his arms and lifts him. We go downstairs; I try not to look around too much; I don't want to see them, none of them. Hank walks quickly in the direction of the packhouse cradling Kyle toward his chest. I guide him towards the infirmary. We pass the Rose in the hall, who looks at us with terror on her face as she follows us.
Gideon is sitting by his desk, dealing with some paperwork, when we enter. Just like Rose, he looks at us with a mix of disbelief and horror.
"What happened?" he asks me, but I'm unable to speak because if I do, I will start sobbing.
"He's been raped," says Hank putting Kyle on the hospital's table.
Gideon tries to touch Kyle, but he screams and starts shivering harder. Gideon bites his lip and turns around to go back in a moment with the injection.
"He'll be asleep in a minute," he says, giving Kyle, who is held still by Hank, the sedative.
Hank leaves the room to wait outside, but Rose and I stay because Gideon asks us to help him.
After Kyle goes numb, we take the blanket away from him. I try not to cry harder when I see the state he is in, and Gideon proceeds with a checkup. Kyle has a broken nose, broken arm, and bruised ribs, he is covered with scratches and marks, and he keeps bleeding from his anus.
"Hannah, I need to check him for internal damage. Can you please go and tell Mikkeli? I don't want to mindlink him. It's better to tell him in person" Gideon looks at me, and I nod.
I pass the distance between our infirmary to our dining room, feeling like I was sleepwalking, feeling numb and empty. I don't knock on the door. I just open it and go inside.
"Mikkeli..." I say, and eleven pairs of eyes immediately look at me; a moment ago, they were smiling and talking; now, all the faces are painted with confusion.
I'm pretty sure I look awful. I am aware that my T-shirt and jeans are stained with Kyle's blood.
Mikkeli almost jumps out of his chair and is immediately next to me, shock and worry on his face.
"It's Kyle; we must go to the Infirmary," I manage to whisper.
I know he hears tears in my voice, he squeezes my hand, and we leave the dining room, and in a matter of seconds, we are back in the infirmary. Gideon is talking with Rose and Hank and then looks at us as we approach.
"What happened?" Mikkeli asks but doesn't let go of my hand.
"His condition is stable. I sedated him, and he should sleep at least till tomorrow. Thank Goddess, there was no internal bleeding, but his anal canal is torn, and he has many external wounds."
"What happened?" Mikkeli asks again. I can feel the grip on my hand getting stronger.
"He was beaten and raped; many times and very brutally," Gideon answers.
Mikkeli tenses, and he starts shaking; I see his eyes shifting.
"Warriors of the Full Moon Pack did this," Hank says.
Mikkeli's hand is a blur when he shoves Hank to the wall by his throat, a loud snarl echoing from him as Hank tries to fight for some air. I see blood dripping from his neck.
"Don't," I scream, wrapping my hands around Mikkeli's waist. "He helped me; he saved Kyle!"
Mikkeli growls dangerously but stays still. I sense Byron's bloodthirst and rage. I don't know what to do or how to stop him from killing Hank. I shake. I just want to scream at the top of my lungs.
"Mikkeli, you need to get a grip!" Tony is standing in the corridor with five warriors, including Becca. "We will escort you to your office; you need to get Byron under control. Hannah will stay here with Kyle. Let me handle this until you get this."
Mikkeli keeps snarling but, after some time, listens to Tony and lets Hank go; his canines are still out, and his eyes are still shifted, but on his face, I don't see fury. I see sorrow and guilt.
"Beta of Full Moon pack, I trust you can inform your Alpha about the situation. We will meet in an hour in the alpha's office to discuss the repercussion for your warriors' crime," says Tony and leaves with Mikkeli.
I am still anything but calm when in the next moment, Rose and I are in the infirmary next to Kyle's bed. We gently wash away all the blood and semen from his body. I fight hard not to start crying again, seeing strangulation marks on his neck, his bruised and cut hips and thighs, hickeys and bite marks littering his chest, and handprints on his arms and waist.
After we are done, Rose gently kisses my cheek and asks me to go to bed.
Hayden is waiting for me in the corridor, holding his hands in my direction.
In a moment, I cry on his chest with his arms wrapped around me, and his gentle voice is trying to shush me. I'm unsure how long he was holding me and how many tears I spilled, but finally, I feel I can't cry anymore, yet Hayden doesn't lessen his grip around me, still holding me tight to his chest.
I hear footsteps approaching us and lift my head to see Tony.
"Hannah, I need you now," he says, but I'm unable to respond because Hayden does:
"Why the fuck do you need her now? Don't you see what state she is in?" he shouts.
Tony takes a deep breath but doesn't seem intimidated by Hayden's outburst.
"She needs to calm Byron down."
"Are you crazy! What if Mikkeli loses control completely and does something? It's not safe; I won't allow it!"
"I am the Beta of this pack, Hayden, don't try to challenge me now! It's definitely not the right time for this," Tony snarls in response, but Hayden doesn't look ready to give up.
"Hayden," I finally decided to stop their barking, " I got this, OK?"
"Hannah, I don't think it's a good idea..."
"Please do what I ask you; I know what I'm doing," I try not to show him how nervous I am.
"Don't worry, I do not intend to put my future Luna in any danger," says Tony.
Hayden snarls again but lets me and Tony go. We stop in front of Mikkeli's office, still guarded by Becca and other warriors.
"OK, Hannah, Mikkeli is fighting to get control from Byron. You need to help him calm down enough so he will be able to get that control. I need to bring here the Alphas so we can discuss today's incident, and Mikkeli must be calm enough to deal with this."
"Do you even intend to punish them for what they have done?"
"Of course I do, but if Mikkeli snaps, he can do something stupid like killing Ryan, his wolves will try to avenge him, other Alphas will intervene, and we can have a bloodbath here. We need to do this cleverly and according to werewolves' law so we do not break the alliance because there will be no attack against hunters, and many people will die in the future if we don't do this," his voice is calm, but all his posture is tense.
"And Kyle? What about him?"
"I assure you, Hannah, that Mikkeli will never allow this to go unpunished; trust him on this. But he needs to get Byron under control to do it, and he needs to keep that control during the talking. And you are the only one capable of helping him in this."
I take a big breath and enter the office.
Mikkeli is sitting in the middle of it, half-shifted. Claws, canines, some fur is out. He looks ready to attack at any moment and at everything that will approach him, but at the same time, he whimpers as if he is in much pain.
Dad taught me never to approach wounded wild animals, but now I am about to do exactly that.
I get on my knees so I'm at his level, and I start crawling in his direction very slowly. He growls from time to time, making me stop and wait a moment until I can proceed further. My hands are shaking, but somehow I know he won't hurt me.
Finally, he is within my reach; I stretch my arm and gently touch his face. He leans immediately into my touch, caressing my palm with his beard. I get closer and wrap my hands around him, slowly pressing his nose into my neck. He takes a big sniff, and I feel that his muscles immediately relax a little bit.
We stay like that; he sniffs me and keeps relaxing more and more. His canines are slowly retreating, fur and claws disappear, and only his eyes remain dark. He wraps his hands around my waist and hugs me as I gently start patting his back.