The bar remained quiet as Ashina stopped before it. Lena held out her hands as she wept profusely, her entire body shaking from the intensity of her sobs.
"Give him to me," she rasped, her voice breaking.
"Lena…" Ashina whispered.
"Give him to me." When she repeated it, her voice was more firm and authoritative. She was a woman used to giving orders and having them followed.
Without another word, Ashina gently transferred the dead alpha into her arms. Overcome with grief, Lena fell to her knees. Agnes came to her side to help her but the grieving woman shrugged her off, "Leave me alone. I want to be alone with him right now. Can I have that?"
No one stopped her as she carried his body and walked away, struggling to control the tears streaming down her cheeks. Soon, she was swallowed up by the darkness, but the unsettling quiet of the bar remained. A few minutes later, Ashina realized it was because they were all staring at her. They were waiting for her to tell them what the hell had happened in the woods.
Her eyes roved over the crowd as they cleared a path for her into the bar. She didn't say anything as she made her way through, her fingers were interlocked as she took measured steps. With each step, she felt like her boots were too heavy and her knees felt weak. She could feel the eyes of every wolf in the Borough on her, and she felt naked and exposed.
She stopped at the center of the bar, where Drake had been standing before she emerged from the woods. Now, he was with the rest of the crowd, watching her with avid curiosity. He was taking in her movements and the way she was carrying herself. From his point, he saw a woman who had been through a lot in just one night. She looked disheveled and there were scratches on her arm and face.
As she gazed at the crowd, their eyes met and for a fleeting second, he was struck by how intense her eyes were. Her brown eyes pierced right to him and in that moment, he was reminded of just how beautiful Ashina was. Even though she looked like she had been through hell and back, there was something alluring and captivating about her. He saw a vulnerability he had never seen her show before and it was a new thing because the Ashina he knew had always been strong. She had been strong when her mother went missing, she had also been strong when she lost her father.
However, it was all beginning to look like it was too much for her. The ordeal of losing so many people close to her was finally telling on her and her strong façade was beginning to show cracks. Somehow, it made her more beautiful than he would have loved to admit.
However, Ashina only held his gaze for a split second and the moment she looked away from him, he snapped himself back into control. He couldn't believe he was fantasizing about her and thinking about her looks when Ulva just died and he had to keep the pack in check. It was crazy.
Ashina swallowed once and made to speak. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Just then, someone's foot shifted and for some reason, it sounded like the crack sound Ulva's neck had made when she snapped it with her bare hands. She felt her throat close up, her breath was restricted. She closed her eyes and took deep breaths, bunching her hands into fists as she struggled to get herself under control.
When she opened her eyes again, they were flat and expressionless. Her voice was bland and robotic as she gave a version of what had happened.
"Ulva and I were in the woods when we got attacked." She said, her voice was exceptionally loud in the quiet bar. "We were set upon by hybrids, and from the looks of it, it could have been an ambush because they were coordinated and they knew just where to strike us."
"Whoa… just hold up!" Someone cried, "There's no way hybrids attacked you guys, Agnes would have known. And she swore that there was no breach of the magical barrier."
At this Agnes got up and looked around at the bar, "the magical barrier that covers the entire borough is designed to inform us when a magical creature comes in. Wolves from other packs, vampires, and hybrids. As I said, I checked before I came here, if the barrier was breached, I would have known."
"Well, maybe you need to check again because I know what attacked us. They were hybrids. Dozens of them. They seemed to be coming from everywhere, we were easily overrun. Ulva put up a good fight, but things started to go downhill when he got bitten by one of them."
"Did you see the hybrid that bit him?" Drake asked.
Ashina shook her head, "there were so many of them. I don't even know when exactly he got bitten. The venom weakened him severely, but we managed to really weaken their numbers. We killed a lot of them before the survivors decided to run. By then, it was too late. The venom had spread too much." She stopped to suck in a deep breath, then she said the final words, "he died in my arms."
"So, we're just supposed to take your word for it?" a middle-aged lady cried. Ashina knew her very well, her name was Loya and she could be problematic when she chose to. "There are so many weird things about your story, Ashina. Hybrids getting through the barrier without notice, Ulva dying but you somehow getting out alive with barely a scratch." She gave Ashina a once-over, "or barely more than a few scratches."
Ashina sent a cold stare her way, if she could bore a hole through the woman's head, she would have happily done it. As if noticing this, Drake tried to interfere, "I think what Loya is trying to say is that the story is just not clear, that's all."
"Whether you believe me or not is irrelevant," Ashina replied. "What remains is that Ulva is dead and he was killed by the hybrids. I don't know who the hybrid is but with some investigation, I'm sure we can find out who set them upon us. That's everything that happened tonight."
"Not so fast, girl," Loya spoke up again. "Don't tell me you're leaving just yet. You can't just drop a half-baked story with us and expect us to buy it. How the fuck did the hybrids get in without our knowledge? How did an alpha get bitten but you went through unscathed? These are questions that require answers girl, and let's face it, there's more to the story than you're letting on."
At that, Ashina simply turned and walked out of the bar. She didn't even spare them a word. She just walked out. At once, the bar exploded in an uproar, complaining about her lack of respect. Luke pushed through the crowd of wolves and ran out of the bar after her. Meanwhile, Drake went to take the spot Ashina vacated.
When he managed to calm them all down, he said, "This is not the end, I can assure you that I will get to the bottom of this. I know we're all going through a lot right now, but we need to cut Ashina some slack. We all know who Ulva was to her, and what watching him die would have done to her. So, we'll let her have tonight.
"On my end, I'll track down the hybrids that attacked them and see if I can find who bit Ulva. Since the bite was what killed him, then I'll find the particular hybrid and kill him. That way, the Mantle of the Alpha will return to our pack."
At his declaration, everyone nodded in agreement, it was the first good thing they had heard since Ulva's death.
"Meanwhile, I have only one thing to ask of you all," Drake said. "You all have to prepare someone for the ritual. We need a new alpha, so the ritual must begin ASAP. By tomorrow, I hope each family will be ready with their candidates.
"This meeting is over."