I watched as Havers pressed the paddles to the man's unmoving chest. He was in horrible shape. Deep gashes ran down the entire length of his torso, and large blotches of purple and yellow stained his body. Unable to tear my eyes away, I watched as everyone worked tirelessly on him, trying to save him.

"Clear!" Havers shouted, just before he shocked him again. The man's unconscious body violently thrashed against the bed, but still nothing on the monitor changed. No heartbeat, no breathing. How had this happened? He hadn't been here yesterday when that fighting took place, and even if he had, his wounds were too fresh. They had to have happened within the last few hours.

"Damn it!" the doctor yelled in frustration. "Okay, call it." And just like that, he was gone. Davidson's beta was dead. I could feel the mood of the room change. One minute people were running around, talking frantically, and now there was a heaviness that hung in the air. No one spoke. One of the older nurses moved the sheet covering his body, up over his face.

Pulling his glasses off a rubbing his eyes, Havers took a seat on the far side of the room. His body slumped into the chair. He was exhausted, that much was clear.

"Your arm needs resetting," he said looking over at me. "Give me a second, and I can take care of that." Taking the seat next to him, I glanced down at my misshapen limb. It really did look messed up, even though it had healed.

"It's fine. I can get it taken care of later," I replied. Had he even slept at all? Havers let his head fall back and closed his eyes. For a moment, I was sure he had fallen asleep.

"This is the third one I lost today," he told me. "But it never gets any easier." His admission made me realize the painful reality of his job. Yeah, I felt the losses of our pack, but Havers watched them, felt responsible for them.

"How did he end up here?" I asked him, referring to the patient he just lost. Havers let out a deep sigh.

"I am not even sure. One of the guards brought him in. Said he found him just a few feet on the other side of the border. I do know that whoever did that to him, had to be strong. The guy put up quite a fight."

"Rogue?" I guessed.

"I doubt it," he said, shaking his head. "The bruising on his face and neck weren't from paws. They were made by someone's fist. It would be highly unlikely any rogue would come after a man of his size in their human form."

I peered at the covered body. For the life of me, I still could not remember the guy's name. I got from my chair and headed for the door.

"Where are you going? I need to fix that arm of your's."

"I need to make a call. I'll be back later. You can fix it then." My arm was the least of my worries. I walked through the halls of the hospital and realized for the first time, the number of gurneys that lined the halls. Some empty and blood stained, others holding the lifeless bodies covered by white sheets. Without Asher there to provide a distraction, I was now seeing what Havers had been forced to face.

This was what Aiden was trying to get through to me. I had run away yesterday and left everyone else to deal with the mess, but that would stop now.

It wasn't a huge surprise to find Asher down in the main lobby talking to some of our pack members. The man was teetering on sainthood.

"Asher, we need to talk. Privately," I informed him. The young woman he was speaking to, greeted me and quickly excused herself.

"What is it?" he asked.

I shook my head to let him know, here was not the place to talk. I didn't want to take the chance of someone overhearing, causing more worry.

"My office, now."

"Logan, man, what's going on?" Asher asked as soon as we reached our intended destination.

"I don't know. I can't make sense of any of it. I thought I had it figured out but then--."

"Woah, what are you talking about?" Asher could see my frustration, not that it was hard to notice.

"I just feel like something is going on. Something, I'm not seeing." I paused for a moment before continuing. "Someone killed Davidson's beta."

Asher just stared at me. It wasn't often high ranking pack members were murdered, with the accept of times of war. It just didn't happen. Werewolves were temperamental by nature, but still, murder remained a rare occurrence.

"Bernard's dead? How?"

"I don't know. Havers was working on him, but his wounds were too extensive. Someone did a real number on him. One of the guards found him near our border." At least, I finally had a name to put to the man.

Asher began pacing, one hand in his hair. With each length of the room, he traveled his steps quickened until his body began to vibrate visibly.

"Phillips. He did this," he growled, sounding less than human. "He is trying to bring a new war down on us. How else could you explain Benard's body being found so close to our territory?" Even in his angry state, Asher was still working it all out in his head. Was he right?

"I need to call Alpha Davidson and give him the bad news," I told Asher somberly. I couldn't help but think how I would feel if I were to receive the same call about Griffin or even Asher. Certainly, this would devastate him and his pack.

"He doesn't know?" He asked no longer pacing. He managed to regain control of himself a bit though his eyes were still black. Taking a seat at my desk, I eyed the phone, wishing I wouldn't have to make this call when my phone rang. Both Asher and I stared at it like it was some unknown creature. Was it Davidson? Did he know that his beta was dead?

"Hello?" My voice came out unsteady as I answered the call

"Logan."

~~~~~Author's Note~~~~

So after over a dozen attempts at updating finally success. Woohoo!

What do you think this new death will mean?
Is Phillips behind it?
Who will Davidson react and who is on the phone?

Also I would like to thanks everyone who has checked out and voted for my entry, Beautiful Oblivion, in #OnceUponNow. Your support means so much! If you have and would like to the link is in the comments below.