I fall to the floor coughing and sobbing as I glare up at the sky. Zeus is gone and the clouds disperse revealing a clear sky.
My mums cries fill the ranch, broken by sobs from the pack. I crawl to where my mum lay hunched over cradling her chest. Tears streaking down her face. I wrap myself around her and cry into her shoulder.
“I'm sorry Mum. I'm so sorry.”
She wraps her arms around me and she clings to me so tight that I feel her nails dig into my skin as she breaks in half. Lost in her sorrow. I hold her as her weight pushes me back. Like she can no longer bear the weight of her own body. Her grief pulling her down like gravity. We stay like that for a while. Kneeling on the ground holding each other as the tears slide freely down our cheeks.
I hear movement around us from the pack and I look up when sorrowful howling fills the world. The sound is heart wrenching. Full of grief and despair for their Alpha. They have all changed into their wolf forms and are in a circle around the blood stained soil in front of the charred remains of Caleb's' enormous form.
My mum holds me as we stand and walk closer. Separate from their circle. Her legs shake and I do my best to hold her upright. We are part of the pack, but we are not wolves. We standin silence as they howl deeply from their souls around all that is left of my Dad.
I feel a shadow on the edge of my consciousness and I turn my head to see Alistair still kneeling on the ground. Through the torrent of grief that threatens to rip me to shreds I loosen the shield around my mind to let him in.
“Be careful of Lukas. He will come for your mum. To secure his place as Alpha he can have no rival. He'll kill her to become Alpha.”
His voice is far away despite our closeness. I know instantly that it's to prevent me from feeling his pain and reacting. Thus alerting the pack and reminding them of his presence.
“She's still their leader! They love her!”
I can't wrap my head around what he is suggesting. Lukas would never kill my mum. The pack adore her. They won't betray her after she just lost her mate.
“She is not a wolf!”His voice in my head is filed with warning and desperation.
I shake it off. He doesn't know this pack. I love and trust all of them. Lukas would never do anything to hurt her. Anger rushes up through my grief at his sheer audacity to even suggest such a thing could be possible.
“He won't hurt her asshole! Besides what can I do to help anyway! I'm powerless thanks to your fucking father!”
I slam my shields up and turn to hug my mum. The pack would never hurt her. Never.
The howling stops and my Mum steps forward holding my hand. The pack step back making the circle bigger to accommodate us. She pulls fire from the camp fire next to us and arches it over Caleb's body. The fire engulfs him in such an inferno that within minutes all that is left are black bones. She clenches her fist and they break into dust that the earth soonabsorbs. All evidence of the betrayer is gone. He doesn't exist and he doesn't deserve to be remembered.
Gwen raises her hands as she calls on the earth and she encourages the grass to return. Flowers spring up in a ring around where my Dads blood once stained the soil with an oak tree slowing rising from the centre. It reaches 10 feet tall before she stumbles against me utterly exhausted from her use of power and her grief.
It kills me that I can't help her. To help the tree grow tall and glorious. Magnificent in its strength as my Dad was in his. Proud, loyal and dependable. Tall enough to watch over everyone ashedid. He knew his death was coming and he faced it with ferocity. Determined to strike at Hades before he faced death. To attack him for all the hurt and pain he had caused everyone that my Dad had loved. To show the pack one last act of defiance against evil. He was a true Alpha and if Lukas is the one to rise to take his place I can only hope that he will strive to be the man Carter was.
Carter, Son of Hercules, Son of Zeus. Alpha to the pack of Yellowstone. The husband and Moira bonded mate of Gwen. My Dad.
“I love you Dad.” I mutter to the tree as another tear slides down my cheek.
My mum and I hold each other. If I hold onto her tight enough I can stop the pain of her heart breaking in two. Stop the pieces from shattering in her grief.
Lukas breaks from the circle and starts pacing. His four paws thudding on the ground as he moves. It's strange how similar his mannerisms are from when he is human. He always paces or walks around whenever he's deep in thought or anxious. Like he's warring with himself. The angel on his right shoulder pulling him one way and the devil on the otherdragging him back. Caleb was the only person he ever seemed to really confide in.
A small seed of fear grows in the pit of my stomach as I watch his internal battle. The pack start to shift nervously. Their eyes darting from Me, my Mum to Alistair. Who's still kneeling prone on the ground. My mums posture straightens as she notices the shift in the packs energy. Alistair watches intently through the hair hanging over his eyes. His grey eyes are stark in the shadows. He doesn't miss a thing as he assesses his situation.
Lukas stops pacing as he turns to Alistair. He releases a low, guttural growl between his bared teeth as he stalks forward. His amber eyes pinned on Alistair's, exposed, barely beating heart. It's impossible for me to look at the gruesome wound without feeling sick. The way Lukas's gaze is focused on it is nothing short of hunger. Hunger for revenge. My stomach drops and I move. Sprinting to stand between them. My back to Alistair as I hold my arms out wide.
“No!” I shout. “Don't hurt him!”
My heart hammers in my chest as Lukas blinks at me. He crouches lower as he barks in my face. Ordering me to move. I stand firm.
“You will not kill him. I won't let you.” I snarl back, barring my teeth.
Lukas's claws dig into the earth as his flaming amber eyes burn into mine. His growl is a warning and a command but I don't balk. I know he won't hurt me. Will he?
There's no shred of the Lukas I know standing before me. This is a new alpha facing one of the biggest threats they have. The Son of their enemy kneeling defenceless behind me, but I can't let Lukas do this. There's been too much death today and I can't bear to witness any more.
Lukas snaps his jaws mere inches from my face before turning and running into the woods. The pack chasing after him.
