Okay, the hell storm is about to begin.

Chapter Quote:
"All secrets lead back to the big secret. To give one thing away means to give everything away."
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Chapter 20

Spencer

I sat in the Ferrari, changing the channels on the radio trying to find something good to listen to when I saw Mr. Laroche exiting the his hotel. He got into his car that I'd managed to park three cars away from. That was purely coincidental. I'd only come to the Stanley hotel to meet up with Lily and Caleb to get something to eat at their bar. My alphas had left on Caleb's motorcycle just a few minutes ago.

Mr. Laroche pulled out of his parking spot. A few seconds later, a black pickup truck followed him. Getting a bad feeling, and letting my better judgement leave me, I decided to trail the black pick up. I left my headlights off to avoid anyone seeing me. Unless someone had Guardian eyesight like I did, they wouldn't be able to see my black Ferrari. It was also a good thing that I did have Guardian eyesight or else I wouldn't have been able to see jack crap in front of me. Ren only drove for about ten minutes, pulling up to a long, winding driveway but not actually driving up it. Instead he parked on the driveway. I pulled off onto the side of the road. The truck drove past Ren. I waited until Ren had shifted into wolf form and was trotting up the driveway before I got out and went after him. Caleb would've told me to ignore it because we both knew that if I was caught trailing any of them, I'd be killed.

I hid in the trees, keeping the Laroche male well a ways in front of me. I twisted my head when I heard rustling a few feet to the left of me. A tall guy in dark jeans and a black shirt was watching Mr. Laroche carefully. He had a gun in one hand, another one in his back pocket. I let the guy get ahead of me before heading after them. I was a big wolf, the same size as Caleb who'd gotten much bigger in the past few years. In fact he was as big as Ren who was the largest wolf I'd ever seen. But my point is that if the guy decided to attack Ren, I could easily take him down, even if he was six feet tall.

Ren rounded a bend and when I did the same, I raised my eyebrows at the impressive sight before me. Five, large houses had been newly built. In fact, it looked very similar to the Laroche compound, if not an exact match. Ren shifted into human form and pulled out his phone. He hesitated before pulling out a piece of paper. It must've been a number because he dialed it into his phone and put it up to his ear. I was too far away to hear whoever was on the other end, but they must not have picked up because he let out a great sigh before hanging up. I glanced over at the other guy trailed Mr. Laroche. He was standing still, almost as if he was doing the same thing I was: making sure no harm came to the Laroche alpha. A twig snapping made all of us look in the same direction. Before I could react, a shot rang out. Ren let out a strangled yell. He started crawling over to the fountain for shelter but not before he was shot twice more. Shifting back into a human form, I ran over to him. He still couldn't know I was a Guardian. An arrow landed at my feet, a light blinking faster and faster. I skidded next to Ren and threw my body over his as the arrow exploded, sending dirt flying everywhere.

"What the-" Ren began. More gun shots could be heard but I realized that some of them were coming from the mystery guy following Ren. He yelled at me, "Get him out of here! I'll hold them off.

I didn't need to hear it twice. Throwing Ren's arm over my shoulder, I dragged him into the forest which thankfully was close to us. Bullets hit the tree next to my head, making me pick up my pace. Ren tried to help as much as he could but he was weakening faster and faster. I heard shouts coming from behind us and rustling. The only sentence I understood was: "Kill them!"

Hunters.

When I reached my car, I quickly put Mr. Laroche in there and tore away from the house. I was hoping that the guy who'd been shooting at the Hunters was okay but I wasn't going back to check.

"I can't... go to the h-hospital," Ren said. "Home. Take me... home."

I nodded. I slid onto the Laroche's driveway a few minutes later. I helped Mr. Laroche out of the car and kicked their door with my foot. I was met with silence, but I could hear the heartbeats of people inside. I kicked the door and yelled, "Help! Somebody help!"

Footsteps approached the door, swinging it open. Hunter Laroche stood there with Ember, Elsa, Noah, and Josilyn behind him.

"Dad!" Elsa exclaimed.

"Ren?!" Arya gasped. "Hunter, help Spencer with your dad and bring him into the living room. Noah, go grab your father. Ember, go grab Loren. Elsa, Josilyn, help me get the first aid kit from the living room."

Everyone disappeared while Hunter and I brought his dad into the living room. Hunter briefly left me to support Ren on his own while he placed blankets on the couch before we placed the Laroche alpha on it. Ren was barely conscious. I don't think he even knew where he was.

"Move!" Mrs. Laroche barked. Hunter and I scrambled back. Someone then proceeded to shove me out of the from behind. Shiloh and Loren were instantly next to Arya.

"What the hell happened?" Shiloh demanded. On that note, Hunter whirled around to me, picking me up by my shirt and slamming me against the wall. Involuntarily, I snarled at him.

"Who the hell are you and what the hell were you doing near my father?" Hunter growled.

"Hunter get off of him!" Elsa said, starting towards him. Loren firmly grabbed her arms, preventing her from going anywhere.

"I was at your hotel. My family and I were eating there. I was sitting in my car, changing the radio channels before I left when I saw your dad get in his car. I thought nothing of it until I saw someone following him. I followed them up to this big compound place. It looked just like this. He tried calling someone but I guess they didn't answer. When he hung up, someone, or someones, shot at him. Whoever had been following him started shooting back at the people. I was already on my way to get your dad out of there when the guy yelled at me to get him back to safety. Like I needed to be told twice. Whoever was following your dad wasn't there to kill him. If anything he was there to protect him. I brought him here because he told me to."

"Hunter, release him. Elsa, escort him out of here. Thank you for saving my husband," Mrs. Laroche said. The future alpha reluctantly listened to his mother. He snarled at me, showing his very sharp canines. My nostrils flared in anger. I wasn't someone he could push around. I wasn't in his pack. My pack was Caleb and Lily.

"Spencer, come on," Elsa said, grabbing my hand and dragging me away from the scene. When we were outside, she asked, "Are you okay? Did you get hurt?"

"I don't think so," I said.

"Then why do you have a hole in your shirt?" She pointed out. "Let me see it, make sure it's nothing serious."

I lifted my shirt to reveal a bleeding gash on my hip. I said, "Huh. I guess a bullet must've grazed me."

"Spencer, those bullets were laced with wolfsbane. I could smell it on my dad when you brought him in. If any of that got in your system, you could be in serious trouble."

"I'll get home and have Caleb and Lily take care of me. I'll be fine."

"No, let me drive you there. If you pass out while driving, you'll be in a worse state than you're in now," she argued.

"Is he hurt?" Mrs. Laroche questioned from behind us. We turned to face her. She must've given Ren a lot of blood because she looked ready to pass out herself, not to mention she'd lost most of the color in her face. Shiloh flanked her, also pale. I didn't know the Laroches well but it scared me how much blood Elsa's father was needing.

"Nothing fatal, Mrs. Laroche. Will your husband be okay?" I responded politely.

"Ren will be fine. He just needs to heal," she said.

Shiloh was staring at him before, "I don't like you. You're acting way too calmly about all this. Like, why you're not questioning why Ren told you to bring him here instead of a hospital? Or how you've just been shot at and you're so calm about this?"

I hesitated. I couldn't lie to them. They'd know it immediately and that meant I'd be digging myself into a deeper hole than I was already in. It was Elsa who covered for me. "He knows what we are. His family was into the supernatural. They told stories through their generations about the people who could turn into wolves. They knew the signs to determine who was a Guardian and who wasn't."

"Although I'm the first in my family to see you in person," I added. "A lot of them just thought they were stories."

"You knew this entire time and you weren't scared we'd rip out your throat?" Shiloh remarked.

"I knew this entire time, and I was scared you'd rip out my throat. I still am. I know what you're all capable of."

"Then you know we can heal others with our blood?" Arya said.

I nodded. "That's why you're so pale. Both of you. You were giving Ren blood."

"Yes. If it does not wig you out to much, Elsa can give you some blood to speed up the healing process of your wound. Especially if you were hit with a wolfsbane bullet. Those things are nasty for both Guardians and humans, although rather more deadly for us. Stay the night, let your family know where you'll be. You can stay in our guest room. I want to make sure you'll be okay. You saved my husband's life. Despite our rules of letting humans into the compound, you are an exception. You can borrow some of Hunter's clothes. You two are about the same size." Arya left the two of us alone. Shiloh glared at me as he walked away.

"Thank you for covering for me," I whispered.

"I've got your back. And my brother's. Come on, let's get you cleaned up." I followed Elsa back into the house and up the stairs. She instructed me into the guest bathroom, disappearing into a room that I guessed was Hunter's. Sure enough, she came back with a pair of sweatpants and a shirt.

"Here, why don't you take a shower and I'll wash your clothes for you, get the blood stain out of your shirt, and the dirt out of everything else," Elsa offered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. Just place the clothes outside the door before you shower. I can do a speed wash, but you might have to wait a bit for them to be dry. There's a robe in the closet you can wear until I can get your clothes back to you. The towels are in there too."

"Thank you Elsa," I said. "I really appreciate it."

"You're welcome." She kissed me on the cheek and started to leave.

"What was that for?"

"For saving my dad. If it weren't for you, my dad would most likely be dead." With that, she left the room. I took off my clothes and placed them outside the bathroom door. It felt good to shower even if the hot water did sting my cut. I stepped out of the shower and threw on the robe. I wasn't really a robe kind of guy, but this thing was really damn soft and comfy. I collapsed onto the bed, closing my eyes. About ten minutes passed before a knock made me get up to open the door. Elsa had my clothes, dried and folded. I gratefully took them from her.

"When you're dressed, come downstairs. I'll take care of your wound," she said. "Meet me in the kitchen. It's to the left of the living room. You can't miss it."

She left. I began changing into my robe when the first wave of dizziness hit me. I braced myself against the bed to gain my bearings again. Shaking it off, I went back downstairs. More people had come into the Laroche household. In fact it seemed like all the adults had.

"What is he doing here?" One of them asked gruffly. It was one of the twins. He was glowering at me.

"Isn't that Elsa's boyfriend?" the other twin asked.

"We're not dating, Sam," Elsa said. "And Dean, Spencer knows about our kind. Like actually knows what we are. Leave him alone. He's the one that saved dad. He got shot in the process himself."

"You don't look good kid," a woman said. She spoke softly, making me think she was the omega of the pack. Loren wrapped his arm around her shoulders.

"Melinda, honey, most people who get shot don't feel good afterwards," Loren joked although I heard the tiredness in his voice. Ah, so they were married.

"No, I mean he looks pale and he's sweating," she said.

"I'm fine, Mrs. Hess. I'm just hot," I told her.

"Spencer, come sit down," Elsa ordered, pulling me towards the table. I didn't sit but lifted my shirt so she could have full access to my cut. "You're lucky it just grazed you. Josilyn, can you hand me the antibiotic cream?"

The girl hurried over to her friend with the requested item in hand. She smiled shyly at me. I returned it. Josilyn queried, "Would you like anything to drink?"

"Get him some water. He doesn't look good," Elsa commented. She finished putting the bandage on my hip and told me to sit down. I did so obediently, another wave of dizziness hitting me. I started worrying that maybe I had been hit with a wolfsbane bullet. But if I had, the effects would've been much more immediate. Josilyn handed me a glass of water which I gratefully took, gulping it down.

"Would someone go grab the kids? We need to have a meeting," Arya informed.

"Now?" A woman with raven locks groaned. "Arya, it's one in the morning."

"Reyna, this was the work of the Hunters. We're having a meeting now."

"I'll go get them," another woman offered.

"Thank you Casey."

"How are you feeling? You don't look well," Elsa said, bending down in front of me.

"I'm fine. I think I'm just coming off an adrenaline high," I replied.

"I want Spencer here for this too. He knows too much about what's going on. They'll go after him for information," Arya said. Oh if she only knew...

Elsa and I walked over to the group, standing away from the fire. Hunter was standing next to his mom. He stared at me with evident dislike. We waited for a few minutes before all the kids filed into the living room, which even though there was over thirty people in the room, we all still fit in comfortably.

Arya stood up, clearing her throat. "The Hunters are back in Estes. They attacked Ren and if it weren't for Spencer here, he'd be dead. From now on, he is allowed to be on compound grounds. He knows about us and our kind. This attack though, this was a direct attack. Therefore I'm implementing some rules. Any bending of the rules will not be tolerated and the harsh punishment will follow those who disobey. I know Ren and I ordered everyone to travel in pairs wherever any of you went but we were lenient with that rule, especially when the Hunters made no more appearances for a few months. But after tonight, that is changing. You take a foot out that door, you take someone with you. You are forbidden to go anywhere without taking a partner with you. If you are under eighteen, you take two people with you. Second, if you come across a Hunter, do not kill them. I don't care if you maim them, but I want them brought back here for questioning. I'm going to contact the Searchers to get some guard detail out here. If worse comes to worst, we will be moving into the Academy with the Searchers until it's safe for us to come home. Am I understood?"

Everyone murmured a yes. Arya dismissed everyone. Hunter, Shiloh, and Loren stayed with Arya. Ember said goodnight to her family, said if they needed anything to come get her. She swiftly went up to her room. Elsa kissed her dad on the head, hugged her mom and brother goodnight, offered the same help Ember did, and then took me upstairs. We were almost to my room when I stopped short. My vision went blurry. I vaguely heard Elsa saying my name.

"Elsa, what's happening?" Ember inquired. I saw a shadow kneel down on the other side of me.

"I don't know. He just collapsed. Help me get him into his room," Elsa ordered. I felt arms picking me up. I think I blacked out for a few seconds because when I was able to figure out where I was, I recognized the room I was staying in. "Spencer, can you hear me?"

I nodded but the action sent pain racketing through my body. I groaned.

"Damn it, it was a wolfsbane bullet they hit him with," Elsa muttered.

"But it's working so slow," Ember noted. "It's not a regular wolfsbane bullet."

"No. The Hunters are changing up their weapons. I'm going to go get some water for him. Start giving him blood. I'll be back."
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Elsa

I went into my room, frantically calling Caleb. He picked up on the first ring. "What's wrong?"

"Dad got shot by Hunters. Spencer saved him but a wolfsbane bullet grazed him."

"Do they know-"

"No, but they know he knows about our kind. I told a small lie saying his family passed stories about us through their generations. This bullet though, it's not like most wolfsbane ones. It was slow acting. He was shot over an hour and a half ago and it's just now affecting him."

"Lily and I will come over. He's in the guest bedroom right?"

"Yeah, but how are you going to come over here without them noticing you?"

"The guest room is on the second floor and it has a balcony. I can climb my way up there. Trust me. I'm on my way. I'll text you when I'm there. Just tell me when the coast is clear for me to come up."

"Okay. See you soon."

"Love you."

"Love you too." I hung up and dashed downstairs, grabbing a glass of water. I quickly explained to mom what was happening. She told me that if I needed any more blood to give to Spencer, to come downstairs. I nodded before going back up. Ember was still giving Spencer blood.

"Em, go to bed. I can take it from here," I said gently.

"Are you sure?" she mumbled.

"Yes, you're tired and weak. Go on."

My sister listened to me, leaving the room and shutting the door. I texted Caleb saying the coast was clear, unlocking the door to the balcony so he could enter when he needed. I sat next to Spencer and told him needed more blood. I made an incision on my wrist and put it my mouth. He was barely conscious but he understood what I was doing. His hand found my wrist and grasped it. How much time had passed, I didn't know but I felt the light-headedness setting in. I braced my forehead against the palm of my hand, forcing myself to stay awake.

"Elsa, stop," Spencer murmured. "I'm okay."

"I don't want to risk it. I'm fine."

"No," he protested weakly. We argued back and forth until I heard the balcony door open. I turned around, instantly becoming dizzy.

"Oh my gods," Lily breathed, hurrying over to Spencer. Caleb came over to me as I stood up. He placed a steadying hand on my shoulder.

"Are you okay?" Caleb asked.

I nodded. "Fine. Just dizzy. I gave Spencer blood to help him counteract the wolfsbane."

"She gave me too much," Spencer said weakly from the bed. Caleb and I sat next to him, opposite Lily. "Her and Ember took very good care of me. Very... very... good care."

"And yet you still look deathly pale," Lily chastised. "What happened again?"

"He said he followed dad because he saw someone else following him. I don't know why but dad went to the south compound. At least that's what I'm guessing from the description he gave us. He tried calling someone, apparently they didn't pick up, and a few moments later someone shot him. The guy trailing dad started firing at the people shooting at dad while Spencer got dad out of there. He brought him here. Dad told him to.

"Why would he go to the south compound?" Caleb inquired.

"What's the south compound?" Lily chimed in.

"The pack we have now... it's what is left our original pack. The Hunters, when I was one, Caleb was four, they planted bombs at our south compound. Our pack used to be double the size it was now. Their heads had been cut off and placed on spikes before the bombs went off," I explained. "My parents killed a lot of Hunters after that. The Searcher's helped them."

"You... you never told me that, Caleb," Spencer mumbled. "No wonder you're so over...protective."

"I never found the right time to bring it up in conversation. It's not a light topic," Caleb replied. "Get some sleep Spencer. The rest will do you good."

"I'm fine. I'm just-"

"Elsa? Are you in there?" The four of us froze at the sound of my mother's voice.

"Uh, hang on mom! I'm in the bathroom!" I lied. I shooed Caleb and Lily onto the balcony, shutting the curtains and flushing the toilet. I washed my hands and ran to open the door. "Hi mom."

"How is Spencer doing?"

"I think Ember and I gave him enough blood to counteract the wolfsbane. I don't think he got hit by much, just enough to weaken him."

"Would you like me to watch him sweetie? You look tired," my mom offered.

"She gave me too much blood, that's why!" Spencer called out faintly. "She's very stubborn!"

Mom smiled. I hastily said, "He's a little loopy. I think it's because he's tired. He just refuses to sleep."

"Get some sleep yourself. I'll come check on the two of you later. I love you." Mom gave me a hug. I shut the door, making sure she was at the bottom of the stairs before I let Lily and Caleb back in.

"We'll give Spencer some more blood, just to make sure. Then we'll leave. Call us if you need anything," Caleb said. I nodded, crawling onto the other side of the bed. It took all my strength to keep my eyes open until they left so I could lock the door to the balcony. Once they were gone, I collapsed onto the bed and fell asleep.
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Longer chapter than I expected but oh well! Reviews would be lovely :)