I shove at him once more, then explode towards the door. I pull it shut behind me and run back the way I came, uncaring of who might see me.
I see Bear running down the street to my left, but I ignore him, not even bothering to call out. I have to get to her.
She screams.
The Ravage Wolf roars.
And something much louder howls into the night from behind me. I stand there, surrounded on all sides.
“Stuff it.”
I slip through the buildings, and when I get to a window, I jump through it. I see the body on the ground, and my heart stutters and stalls.
No.
I run faster and see the red, red hair. A different part of me aches. This alpha is as much a part of me as she is, and I didn’t know it. I slam to my knees, ignoring the pain, and roll him onto his back. I lean down and rip off part of his top and press it against the wound, then I lean down and cover his lips with mine and breathe into him.
Don’t go. I don’t know you yet, but it feels like I’ve just lost my best friend. Please don’t go.
I press my hand to his chest and compress, over and over.
“Live, Jarek, please.”
I’m crying and only partly because I know if something happens to him, she’s never going to forgive me. The rest of me is mourning this alpha I don’t know. But I can remember him lying in my lap, laughing as hebrushes back my hair, leaning on me with his elbow on my shoulder. Swinging her around. Kissing her. Kissing me.
Why do I have these memories that aren’t mine?
“Breathe, damn you!” I shout.
I hear a sound and turn, finding the three black-robed pledges approaching with their swords out.
“Get lost!” I roar.
They skitter back a few steps, but their fear doesn’t hold them too long; instead, they come closer to me, laughing and whispering to each other.
I lean down and breathe into his mouth again, furiously watching them get closer and closer.
“I mean, he would be good to take back.”
“He’d be terrible to take back, but we can kill him here,” His friend says.
I resume chest compressions and prepare myself to get up and fight them, but if I do that, Jarek probably will die for good. I don’t know how long he’s been gone, but he’s cold and getting colder.
I’m not giving up.
It wasn’t supposed to be like this. We were supposed to be together.
She promised.
I did as she said; I chose duty. That should have been right. Was I too late? Did I fail?
The pledges get closer, and one pulls out a long sword and lifts it up.
“Time to die, Alpha scum.”
I snarl, but my snarl is echoed by one much bigger and louder than mine. A black wolf slams into the pledge holding the knife. His fur is so black he’s just an inky stain, but when a bit of light hits him, I see he’s tipped with crimson, like he’s been soaked in blood. He’s massive, and when he bites the pledge, he crushes his ribcage.
The other two run, but he chases them down, throwing one with bone-breaking force into the side of a building. The other he simply stands on until his head crushes like an overripe tomato.
