My body still hurt after being tossed around by my brother, but I had to go get someone. There was just one problem with that. Who was I supposed to turn to? My father? I didn’t think he was in the settlement at all. He spent the chaos on the shores of the lake, mourning my mother’s memory. I couldn’t get there, not in my condition.
It didn’t really matter. As Sam and Nate clashed with Stuart again, they pursued their advantage. The chaos took over. Sam and Nate went feral too. All of a sudden, they were a blur of fur and anger, and I couldn’t distinguish what was happening anymore.
Stuart whined in pain, and blood splattered all over the floor. The sound was cut off when Nate finally pinned my brother down. Just like Stuart had done earlier with Andrea, Nate buried his fangs into his opponent’s throat. This time, though, I no longer had the strength to intervene. I let out a loud howl of protest, anyway. “Don’t! Please!”
Stuart might have attacked me, but he was still my brother and I loved him. And maybe Nate understood that because he let go.
He still clawed Stuart’s side open, tearing into muscles and tendons with ease. By the time he and Sam were done, Stuart lay on the floor in a bloody heap, powerless and unconscious.
Of course, it was at that exact moment—when it was too late—that reinforcements finally showed up. One of my father’s betas, Ellery Duncan, must have heard the ruckus. He rushed past me, followed by a contingent of guards led by Abbott and Dana, two of the older wolves in our pack. They were all in their humanoid forms and carrying their werewolf hunting gear.
Everyone froze when they saw what had happened. “Samuel?” Ellery asked. “Nathaniel? What have you done?”
Sam and Nate looked between my brother’s unconscious form and Ellery. They blinked several times, as if they couldn’t understand the question.
“I… We…”
“Did you just kill Stuart and Andrea?” Abbott asked in disbelief.
At that, I found my voice and more or less crawled to Ellery’s side, tugging on his pants. “They were trying to protect me. S-Stuart… I don’t know what happened. He just went crazy.”
The others finally seemed to notice me. Ellery dropped to his knees and picked me up, sweeping his hand through my blood-stained fur. “Luna? Fuck, what did they do to you?”
I flinched at his touch. My body was trying to heal me, but it was slow-going. Something wasn’t right, I just knew it. But I had to make it clear that none of this had been Sam and Nate’s fault. Ellery had ignored my words the first time around. I needed to try again.
“Beta Duncan, please. They did nothing wrong.”
“Yes, they did, but that’s not something you should worry about. You need to rest and heal.”
Ellery couldn’t give me Alpha Commands like my father, but his voice still held enough authority that I almost complied. If I didn’t, it was out of sheer stubbornness, because I needed Ellery to understand this simple truth.
“They tried to save me from Stuart. It was Stuart who…”
Another ripple of pain shot through me. Every single muscle in my body screamed in protest. I finished the sentence anyway. “It was Stuart who hurt me.”
If Ellery heard me, he didn’t show it. “Get them,” he shouted at the other wolves. “Capture them!”
I couldn’t argue with him any longer. Instead, I looked at Sam and Nate, willing them to flee. As our gazes connected, something clicked at the back of my mind. The two golden wolves hesitated, but seemed to understand what I wanted.
Abbott and Dana lifted their guns first, but they never got the chance to shoot. Sam and Nate turned away from us and leaped through the window, outside. The others tried to go after them, but somehow, I knew it would be pointless.
The twins were gone. They were safe. But as I closed my eyes, I knew I wouldn’t be so lucky.
* * *
Samuel
Stuart Clayton was dead. I knew that from the moment we left Andrea’s hut. I tasted blood and fury in my mouth, but no regret. He’d deserved what he’d gotten for attacking his own sister, for attacking Luna.
The Alpha’s daughter had always been special for everyone in the Wolfsbane pack, and often, not in a good way. She didn’t seem to realize it, but everyone spoke in hushed murmurs about her silver fur. Some called her blessed by the moon. Others argued it was a curse.
We’d known better. We’d known her fur wasn’t what made her beautiful. The pack had been there for us after our parents had died, but with Luna, it had been different. She’d attached herself to us and made sure we never forgot we were more than just a part of a pack. We were important as individuals, too.
She was the only one who’d ever been able to tell the difference between Nate and me. Even our parents had had trouble from time to time. Biologically, we were so alike that our scents were identical. But Luna always knew, and she always stayed by our side. And because of that, we’d always known we had to protect her.
Her brother had treasured her and had always stood up for her. He’d seemed to love her. But maybe that hadn’t been exactly true, because the chaos had unleashed dark impulses inside him. And now, he was dead, because Nate and I had killed him.
The only thing that grated on me was the fact that we had to flee. My self-preservation instincts were screaming at me.Run. Get away. Escape.My brother felt the same, although, unlike me, he actually had a plan.
