Enjoy :)

Chapter Quote:
"Tess was sobbing, and each cry was like a razor slicing my skin."
~Wolfsbane, Andrea Cremer
____________________________

Josilyn

The first casualty came through a portal thirty minutes into the mission. Thankfully for me, it was none of my family. The first death came only a short time later. Again, it was someone I didn't know. I kept myself preoccupied from worrying about my pack by helping the Healers fix injuries. About two hours into the battle, Braeden popped through the portal, announcing that we had won the battle, that they were now rounding up the remaining Hunters. She proceeded to say that if a few of us wanted to come through to find and help the injured, we could. I was the first to volunteer. I followed Braeden through the portal to find a massacre before me. Dead bodies- Hunters, Searchers, and Guardians alike- were everywhere. Fortunately, I saw more dead enemies than dead allies. In front of me, the last few remaining Hunters were in the center of the room, surrounded by Searchers with weapons pointed at them and my pack in wolf form. In their Guardian form, they looked mostly unharmed. It was when they started shifting that I saw the damage done to them. A few were missing from the pack: Caleb, Lily, Spencer, Ember, Barry, and Dom from what I could see.

Two Hunters tried to break free from the circle but Elsa and Anna leaped in front of them, staring them down as they blocked the exit.

"Just because you've killed most of us doesn't mean you've won. If we're going down, then we're taking you down with us," a Hunter declared.

"BOMB!" Connor shouted. Everyone dove for cover. Some unseen force yanked me back through the portal just as the entire building shook from the detonation. I was dazed from shock over what had just happened before my wits returned and I scrambled back through the portal, terrified that I'd just lost my entire pack. I screamed every pack member's name, hoping to get a response. My eyes landed on my fiancé; his shirt was ripped to shreds and he was sitting up, looking confused.

When he saw me, it was as if all his pain disappeared because all of a sudden, Hunter was in front of me, cupping my face. His lips were moving but I couldn't hear a word he was saying. I pulled him into a hug and buried my face into his shoulder, sobbing because I thought I'd lost him. His arms wrapped around me as tight as they could. He murmured things in my ear but all I cared was that he was alive. When I pulled back, I saw the blood running down his face.

"You need help," I said, wiping tears off my face. "Let's get you to the infirmary."

Putting his arm around my shoulder, I escorted him through the portal. He was immediately taken by Healers. As much as I wanted to stay with him, I knew I needed to help the others. Stepping back through the portal, I saw my pack mates starting to rouse themselves. Some had been buried underneath rubble. All were bleeding from scratches and gashes on their bodies.

"Josie!" my dad rushed up to me, pulling me into a hug. Mom wasn't far behind. "Are you hurt?"

"No, I'm fine. I wasn't in here when the explosion went off. Are you two okay?"

"Rattled and shaken up but we're okay. We need to find Arya and Ren. What are you doing?"

"Helping the injured get to the infirmary."

"Okay. Be careful. There may still be Hunters around here. We love you." Dad and mom dashed off as wolves, noses to the ground to find our alphas' scents. Riley and Thea were sitting against a column, holding hands as they stared at the debris in front of them.

"Are you two okay?" I asked.

Riley blinked and looked up at me. "Uh, yeah. Just... I don't know. We're fine. Give us a few moments."

"The portal to the infirmary is over there. If you need help getting there, let me know. I'm going to go look for more casualties."

"Okay. I love you, Josie," Riley said.

His statement took me by surprise but I returned the sentiment. It was only as I walking away that it dawned on me he was in shock. He'd just witnessed an event that could've been the last thing he ever saw or the thing that killed everyone he loved. Either way, he wanted everyone he knew to know that he loved them in case those were his last words.

My next stop was the twins. Elsa was using a column to support herself, holding her head in her hand. Anna was next to her, cradling her arm.

"Elsa, what's wrong?" Anna asked. The twin gave me a small smile when she saw me approaching.

"I- something's wrong. Spencer is in trouble," Elsa answered. "I need to find him."

She stumbled away from the column, surging forward towards a hallway. Anna and I chased after her but not before I yelled for Adne, Ren's sister, to follow us.

"Where is Elsa going?" Adne asked when she caught up to me.

"Going after Spencer," I huffed out, already feeling out of breath. "Something's wrong with him."

"How could she tell?"

"The only thing I can think of is that they mated and she sensed it, but that's so rare before marriage."

"Spencer!" Elsa screamed. She went sliding down to the ground, cupping Spencer's face in her hands.

"Dom!" Anna shrieked. She ran over to him, mimicking her sister's actions. Unlike Spencer, Dom opened his eyes but his focus was going in and out.

"Anna?" he groaned.

"Hey, yeah, it's me. What happened?"

Dom groaned and tried to sit up some more but Anna made him stay put. "There was an explosion and a lot of metal shards went in my back. Spencer and Barry helped me over here when we were ambushed. Spencer got shot with a wolfsbane bullet. He tried to stay awake but about a minute ago he passed out and I had no energy left either."

"Where's Barry?" I asked quietly.

Dom stared at me with an expression on his face that made me dread his answer before I even heard it. "I'm sorry Josie... the ambush, he didn't survive. That explosion that went off a few moments ago, it caused some of the ceiling to fall in. He's... he's underneath the debris."

I snapped around, digging through the plaster and metal. When one piece of plaster revealed a hand, I froze. On it was a class ring that I recognized all too well.

"Oh my god..." I whispered. "Barry..."

I felt Adne place a hand on my shoulder. Gently she told me, "I'll have someone extract his body from the wreckage. Why don't you help Anna and Elsa while the Healers get Dom and Spencer into the infirmary?"

All I could do was nod. My feet moved on their own accord as I made my way over to Elsa and Anna. The former had her arm wrapped around her twin, face buried in her shoulder. Anna opened her free arm, silently motioning for me to join in the hug. I did so without hesitation. I could feel tears falling down my face. I heard Anna and Elsa crying too. The three of us stood there for probably ten minutes, relishing being with each other and the fact that we were all alive while mourning those we knew we had lost. I had a feeling Barry wasn't going to be the only fatality in our pack.

"I... go help search rescue," Elsa finally stated, her voice sounding off.

"No, you both need to get fixed up. Anna, you shouldn't have a bone sticking out of your arm and Elsa, besides probably having a concussion, I don't think your foot should naturally be in that position. Elsa glanced down at her foot which was pointed directly sideways. She tried to move it so that it pointed forwards but that resulted in a strangled cry of pain. "Come on you two."

The three of us stepped through the portal where we found some of our pack, most in infirmary beds; I noticed quite a few members were missing though. I felt sick to my stomach when my mind began wondering where all the missing members were and what had happened to them.

"Elsa! Anna!" Arya Laroche exclaimed. She pulled her girls into a hug, immediately releasing them when Anna let out a cry of pain.

"Sorry mom," she said, lifting her broken arm to explain.

"I'll get Healers to help you two. Are any of your injuries life-threatening?"

"No," the twins responded simultaneously.

"I think Elsa might have a bad concussion. I know she's in shock from a lot of things but that gash on her head indicates something heavy hit her. Anna might have a mild one," I informed. "Wh-where is everyone?"

At this, Arya paled. "Dean, Taki, and Rigg are missing. Ren, Melinda, Erin, Noah, Sebastian, and Spencer are all in a coma. Caleb is somehow miraculously alive but his lungs keep filling back up with water, he has multiple stab wounds, and he keeps flat-lining. He's in a coma as well."

"He's alive?" the three of us squeaked.

"Girls... I barely made it out of my situation alive and he's worse off than me. As much as I hate to say this, please prepare for the worst. We can heal quickly but I don't see how any of us could-" Arya's voice cracked.

"Mom, do Sam and Casey know?" Anna said quietly.

"Know what?"

"About Barry..."

"Oh no. Please tell me he's not-"

"He was shot," I piped up. "He was helping Spencer get Dom to a safe spot when they were ambushed."

"Not another one..." Arya murmured.

"How many of our own have we lost?" I inquired worriedly.

"Nancy, Derek, now Barry. Otherwise we're all accounted for but I'm preparing for more. A few friends of ours are missing. Connor hasn't been seen since the explosion. Ethan and Sabine are MIA. Their son, Kit, he's out searching for them with a couple friends."

"Where's Ember and Lily?" Elsa queried.

"Your sister is with Noah. Lily is unconscious at the moment. She passed out when Caleb died."

"Where's Spencer and Dom?"

"They're in the back room over there. You can wait in there with them if you'd like until some Healers come to you. Josie, would you escort them there?"

"Of course," I answered. I had no plans of leaving the twins' side until I knew they had someone taking care of them. I was particularly worried about Elsa. Between Spencer being on the brink of death, her brother dying and then coming back but barely alive, and her physical condition, I was amazed she was still up and at it.

Slowly the three of us made it to the back room where Spencer and Dom were. Upon arriving, we found Dom on his stomach on a hospital bed with surgeons plucking metal shards out of his back. Anna went over to him and took his hand in hers. They said nothing to each other but then again, they didn't need to.

Elsa hobbled over to the area blocked off by a curtain. I hurried after her, knowing it couldn't be good if they had something to prevent people from seeing over there. My friend pushed the fabric aside. At the sight of her boyfriend hooked up to machines with blood and gashes all over his torso and with all the other information she'd been besieged with in the past few minutes, it must've finally overwhelmed her because she promptly fainted. I barely caught her. A Healer rushed over to her and started carrying her to another room.

"Go with your sister," Dom grunted out. "She needs you. I'm not going anywhere."

Giving his hand a squeeze, Anna followed the Healer that was carrying her sister. I walked beside her. I felt her slip her hand in mine and when I gave her a questioning look, she said, "Sorry... I just- I just need something to keep me grounded. I don't feel well. Seeing all this... it's really getting to me."

"I'm here for you if you need me," I promised.

"I just got my family back and I've already lost some, I'm worried I'm going to lose more. I'm not ready to deal with this. I've been around death and destruction before but not around people I care about. That's a completely different rodeo."

"Whatever happens, we're not letting you be taken again. And whatever happens to any of us, we'll help each other get through it."

"Elsa talked about you a lot when she was telling me everything I missed. You were there for her a lot and replaced me as her sister. I never told you this but thank you for being there for her."

"I didn't replace you. No one could replace you. But I like to think that I became a sister to her. She was certainly the sister I never had."

"You are a sister to her. I promise. And I hope you don't mind me saying this, but you're a sister to me now, too."

"I'm honored. You must not trust people easily after what you've been through."

"No, I don't, but I trusted you from the start." We stopped in the room that the Healer placed Elsa in. Anna gave me a hug. "I can take it from here. She and I aren't going anywhere anytime soon. Go help the others. I'm sure some people around here could use some of your pick-me-up."

"I'll come see you later."

Anna walked into the room and shut the door. I went back into the main area where my pack was. To my relief, Rigg, Taki, and Dean were safe and sound. Even though Dean was on a stretcher, he was alive. Reyna was hugging the living daylights out of him, tears flowing down her cheeks.

"Josie?" a voice said behind me. Turning around, Hunter stood before me. He was in a new shirt, his eyes were bloodshot, his arms had scrapes and bruises all up and down them, but he was in one piece and seemed to be one of the least injured of the pack. I threw my arms around him, grateful beyond belief that I still had him. "I love you. I love you so much."

"I love you too."

"So much of our pack is damaged... the twins? Are they okay?"

"Elsa and Anna both have broken bones. Elsa definitely has a concussion but I'm not sure how bad, and she's in severe shock, especially after seeing Spencer just now. She passed out and is currently being treated by a Healer. Anna may have a mild concussion and she's in shock too but seems to be handling it the best she can. How's Noah?"

"He's in a medically induced coma. He had some brain swelling so they want to get that down. They think he'll be able to wake up in a few days. I've been-"

We were interrupted by a sob from Adne. The two of us turned our heads in her direction. Kit was silently sobbing. Two bodies were carried past us to the temporary morgue and although I didn't know them well, I knew the people well enough to know their scent, and to know that it was Ethan and Sabine.

Kit's parents.

Both dead.

Adne and Connor embraced Kit in a hug. Hunter's grip tightened around me.

"Can we go to my room? I can't be here any longer," Hunter whispered. "I need to escape."

I nodded, feeling the same way. The two of us slipped out of the area and hurried silently to our bedroom. Hunter sat on the edge of the bed with me next to him.

"Dad's in a coma, Barry's dead, Nancy and Derek are dead, Sabine and Ethan are dead, Caleb most likely won't make it through the hour, all of our pack is injured..." He looked up at me and what I saw shocked me. Not only did Hunter have tears in his eyes, but they were cascading down his cheeks. My fiancé, the strongest man I knew, was crying. I cradled his head against my shoulder as he let everything he'd been holding back out.
____________________________  

You're welcome SACarter. Reviews would be great :)