Maverick comes barreling through the crowd of people, eyes wide as he takes in the scene before him. He freezes, trying to process what he's looking at, shock clearly evident on his features before he drops to his knees too.
I step over to them, finding space as I crouch down to look at my beautiful girl.
She looks so peaceful, her face exactly how I so vividly remember it. How she looked every morning in my bed.
“What the hell happened? Who did this?!” Cade asks in a cracked voice, hand brushing over the protruding instrument in her chest.
I don’t have an answer for him. For any of us.But I damn need one right now.
Somewhere behind us, a broken voice that sounds like Lena croaks out, "Nyx did it…"
New pain explodes in my chest as I try to process her words. They don't make sense. She may as well be speaking another language. Why would Nyx do this? To us?
Why would she kill herself?
The crowd parts and I glance up, watching as Daxton appears with Alix. He takes one look at Nyx, lips parting in disbeliefand devastation before gazing at the three of us with a pitying, apologetic expression.
Before he can speak, someone calls out over the crying.
“Alpha. We found someone alive from Orson’s pack.”
There’s a loud growl and it takes me a few seconds to realize it’s coming from me. I stand up, pushing people out of the way as I go searching for this asshole.
I’ll kill them. I’ll rip every inch of skin from their skeleton, slowly, until they bleed out and die like they deserve. And then I'll find a way to bring them back just so I can repeat it.
A hand swings out to stop me, resting firmly on my chest.
“Lex, let me handle it.”
“Get the fuck out of my way, Daxton,” I warn, glaring at him. “You have no right to stop me. I'm done taking direction from you.”
Daxton nods slowly in agreement, attempting to deescalate the situation. It makes me even angrier and I'm about three seconds away from killing him too if he doesn't get the fuck out of my way.
“There has to be a reason they didn’t vanish. Let me question them first. Then you can have them.”
Gasps of shock erupt behind us as Maverick aggressively shoves people aside without care. “She's dead! Fucking dead, Daxton," he yells in the alpha's face, pushing him backwards. "Our mate is dead because of them. You have no say at all what happens now. I don't give a shit that this is your land. This is our right. Our decision. And if we want revenge and retribution, we'll take it. Fuck your questioning."
I nod angrily in support, happy that we're on the same page.
I need vengeance. I need to hurt someone. I need to do something other than just stand by while my mate starts to go cold.There's a fucking jagged piece of rock sticking out of her chest.
She killed herself for us. For him and his pack. The very least we can do is avenge and honor her.
Daxton looks at the both of us with a pained expression. “I promise you, this is your decision. But as Nyx's alpha, I need to find out everything I can while we have the opportunity. Please."
"You're not her alpha," Cade says from the ground, still cradling Nyx. "We are."
I can't even look at them. Out of the corner of my eye, I see my brother walk up to Cade with a blanket. His hands are shaking as he lays it over Nyx's naked body, covering her modesty.
We make eye contact and I give him a little nod of appreciation before turning back to Daxton. "No, Daxton. They took her from us. Now we get to take their life as well."
"She did it for all of us," he says cautiously. "Don't let it all be for nothing. All that research she did, all the information she unraveled, we owe it to her."
"Don't you dare guilt us into agreeing with your decision by using Nyx against us," Maverick spits back. "It's irrelevant now."
"No, it's not."
I stare wildly at the two witches, angry that they are teaming up with Daxton. Cade must share my sentiments, jumping to his feet. He refuses to let Nyx go though, still carrying her against his chest.
