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Chapter Quote:
"I can't watch him die."
~Calla Tor, Nightshade
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Chapter 45

Spencer

I woke up to a crash. Immediately I checked on Elsa but she was sleeping with her back faced to me. I closed my eyes again, intending to go back to sleep until there was another crash. What were the Searchers doing? I sat up, rubbing my eyes. Elsa partially rolled over and murmured, "Everything okay?"

"Yeah, heard some crashes outside. I'm going to check it-" I never finished my sentence. My door was thrown open. A Searcher came stumbling in, clutching his chest.

"H-Hunters," the guy wheezed out. "Run!"

With that, he collapsed to the floor. Elsa jumped out of bed, kneeling next to him. She placed two fingers on his neck, checking for a pulse.

"He's dead," she breathed. "He's dead."

I threw on a shirt while saying, "We need to find our packs."

The two of us dashed outside. Although there wasn't anything going on in the hallway, I could smell smoke coming from somewhere else.

"What's going on?" Dom's groggy voice asked. "What's that smell?"

"Get dressed, we're under attack. A Searcher just came into our room and told us. He's dead. We need to find our packs," Elsa said. Dom hurried into his room, throwing on a shirt. He came back out five seconds later.

"Here," Dom said, handing me and Elsa a gun.

"How many guns do you keep in your room?" I asked.

"Enough that I could hold my own against multiple attackers if I had to. Call it paranoia after I left the Hunters. Come on, get behind me."

"Why?" Elsa queried.

"Because they're after you. If I go around the corner first, I'll be the first to get shot and that'll give you warning to get the hell out of there."

"You let yourself get hurt, I'll shoot you myself," Elsa growled.

Dom actually grinned. "Okay, Anna, calm down."

"I need to get to her. They'll kill her if she's trapped down there. Callie too."

"We'll make that our first pit stop. Let's go."

The three of us crept along the hallway. Dom led us forward, I guarded the back. Elsa kept watch on both ends. Suddenly Dom's gun fired. I whirled around. Two Hunters lay dead on the ground.

"Nice shot," I complimented.

"Dom, this gun is useless to me. I'm better off as a wolf. Here, double-arm yourself," Elsa said, handing him her weapon. She shifted into a wolf. I did the same. I was better off as a wolf than with a gun. As we made our way farther down the hall, someone let out a yelp. Without warning, Elsa bolted down the hallway. Dom shouted after Elsa as we chased her down. A Hunter leapt out in front of her but Elsa met him with jaws wide open, clamping down on his neck. The kill didn't faze her as she continued running down the hall. Now the smoke was getting thicker. Being lower to the ground, I was relatively fine, but it was making Dom cough.

Suddenly we were in the midst of a raging battle. Wolves were snarling and snapping at Hunters with knives and guns. Searchers were wielding a variety of weapons that ranged from guns to bows and arrows to Chinese Ring Daggers. One guy was even using a whip. The fire was coming from the Pyralis wing.

I lost Elsa in the fray of things but I didn't dwell on that. She could handle herself. I threw myself into the fight, going for the closest Hunter to me.
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Caleb

I'd been nicked in the shoulder by a non-wolfsbane bullet (thank god), been kicked in the ribs, hit in the head, and nearly had my tail chopped off. But I still kept going. I wasn't letting these Hunters take anymore family away from me. I was done with them.

I was fighting next to my dad who was taking on three Hunters by himself. I'd forgotten how ferocious my dad was in battle. It made me remember that he'd survived one war already. He was a veteran. He knew how to survive.

I finished handling my Hunter and went to help my dad. One of the three Hunters saw me coming, swinging his machete at me. I ducked out of the way and bit onto his arm. He proceeded to elbow me in the hard back. I let out a yelp. Suddenly dad was latched onto the Hunter's thigh. I got up and bit onto his calf. Together, my dad and I jerked the man down to the ground. I let my dad have the kill.

Thank you. I said. My dad nodded at me but said nothing. He went off to fight more Hunters. He had a bit of a limp. I wondered what happened to him. I looked around for my next target. All of the Laroche pack and my pack were here with the exception of Anna and Callie. They were still in their cells. But then I noticed something else: my mom was nowhere to be seen. I started to panic. Where had she gone? I put my nose to the ground to track her scent. Despite having been gone for almost ten years and despite the fact there were over thirty wolves in total, I knew my mom's scent: peony and blush suede perfume. She liked her floral perfume, fitting, I always thought, since she loved flowers.

It took me a few moments before I was able to pick it up. I followed it down the hallway, trying to take down as many Hunters in the process that I could. Once I was out of the main part of the fighting, my mom's scent became much stronger, but there was another scent mixed with hers. Multiple actually. One was blood. Problem was, I didn't know if it was my mom's or the other persons but I was hoping to god it was the latter.

Her scent led to one of the smaller, private conference rooms. The door was cracked when I got there. I pushed the door open with my nose. The moment I stepped in, I saw a man twice the size of my dad lift my mom up and slam her down into a glass table. I charged him but I didn't get to him in time before he stabbed my mom in the stomach with a shard of glass multiple times. The man backed up only to have his neck meet my teeth. I yanked him down to the ground, my vision going red with fury.

I don't really remember what happened after that but when the haze finally lifted, the man was in a mangled heap on the ground, his head almost completely dismembered from his body.

I shifted into human form, kneeling next to my mom and trying to block as many wounds as I could with one hand. I cupped my mom's face with my other hand. I heard myself shouting at the top of my lungs for somebody to help me. Then when I realized no one would hear me over the battle, I howled long and loud. A groan made me look down at mom. Her eyes were going in and out of focus until they rested on me.

"W-who... are y-you?" she croaked out.

I bit my lip to try and stop the knot forming in my throat. "It's me, mom. It's Caleb. Listen, you're losing a lot of blood, you need to drink some if you're going to live."

"C-Caleb? You... you're h-here?" My mom's hand found my cheek. Tears began streaming down her face. "Oh m-my... beautiful boy! Y-you were... Stark the en-en..." she coughed, a trickle of blood coming out.

"Mom, drink, okay? Please. I'm not losing you. Not today," I said, making a cut in my arm and putting it to her mouth. "I'm so sorry mom. I'm so sorry I didn't tell you sooner. I was scared. I wanted to come home the moment I left but I'd screwed up so badly... I thought I couldn't. I've called the house multiple times, each time with the plan to tell whoever picked up the phone that it was me and tell them where I was but I always chickened out, mom. I'd just tell you I had the wrong number and hang up." I swallowed the knot forming in my throat again. "I kept tabs on you though. All of you. I sent you and Elsa and Ember flowers on your birthdays and holidays. I was at Elsa's graduation with Spencer and Callie. I was at that hotel conference in Denver. I was at Elsa and Spencer's dance competition."

"C-Caleb, en-enough blood," Mom choked out.

"No, you need more. Help is on the way. Stay with me mom."

"I-I'm so pr... proud of you. And... I l-love you s-so much."

"I love you mom. And I'm so sorry. I'm so sorry mom."

"Honey... do-don't cr-cry."

"Arya?" I looked up. Loren Hess stood mortified in the doorway before bolting towards us. "What ha-"

"Go get help!" I ordered.

"You're not my alpha!"

"I'm the only alpha here able to make decisions right now! Help! Go! NOW!" I shouted. Loren hesitated for a second, staring at me, before dashing out of the room.

"H-he didn't... rec-"

"I don't care if he recognized me or not. All I care about is making sure you live through this. Drink more blood mom. Please."

She had no strength to oppose. I put my arm back up to her mouth. An agonizing thirty seconds later, help arrived. Searchers brought a stretcher and bandages to block as much blood as they could from escaping mom's wounds. Very carefully, they lifted her onto the stretcher and carried her out of the room. Loren had come with them. He stared at me, but not suspiciously, more out of curiosity.

"What?" I demanded.

"Nothing. You just remind me of someone. You okay kid?"

"Fine. We should get back to the battle."

"Battle's over."

"The Hunters?"

"Escaped."

"What do you mean escaped?"

"They weren't targeting us as a pack. They were after two people in particular."

"Who?"

My question was answered when I heard Elsa's distinct voice shouting frantically. When I realized who she was shouting for, my blood ran cold. My sister came sliding into the room. Blood trickled down her face but other than that, she seemed unharmed, just extremely alarmed.

"Elsa, what's wrong?" I asked.

My sister blinked at me, her worry temporarily disappearing. Her eyes flitted between me and Loren. The latter glanced down at her, as if shocked by her sudden change in attitude.

"Elsa, what's wrong?" I repeated.

Elsa bit her lip, her face reddening. Her voice cracked as she said, "Anna's missing. So is Callie."
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