An hour before the dreadful incident....

"Can you stay with me?" Zade asks Inara as she tucks his blanket.

"But Brent is outside, plus..." but he pulls her on his chest, inhaling her chest.

"I need cuddles." He whispers. Inara giggles and gets on the bed, snuggling inside the blanket. Her head was on his chest, listening to his steady heartbeat. She draws circles on his chest as she could feel his arms tighten around her.

"Does it ever stop hurting?" Inara asks out of the blue.

"No, you just make room for it." Zade plays with her hair. She never openly talked about her memories being back.

She sits up and Zade does too. She keeps her head on his shoulder.

"Luca asked me to choose my pack over him." She says. Zade rubs her arm, comforting her in every way possible. "At that time, I thought it was the best option. He knew I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I knew I had the chance to save my family but chose otherwise."

"He was ready to sacrifice himself to save me from a pang of lifelong guilt. He knew what dangers he was putting himself in when he fell in love with me and marking me as his mate. But that didn't deter him from his choice. Just like you." She smiles and lifts herself up to press a loving kiss on Zade.

"Odin once said this, 'Loving someone was the most exquisite form of destruction'. We take the risk because our hearts want to stay in peace. Luca was brave. He was lucky to love you, to have you. Just like me." He kisses Inara's forehead as she smiles.

"Abir always kept warning me about your memories." Zade remembers.

"What do you mean?" Inara sits up, caressing Zade's face.

"He said once that I won't be able to save you from yourself. The memories you buried away are too painful." He looks her up and down making her blush, "But from what I can see, you are holding up pretty well."

Inara blushes at that compliment but she knows it's not the truth. Her family was hiding something from her. She looks into Zade's eyes and decides not to worry him anymore. He already has a lot on his plate.

"Irene was more than a sister-in-law to me. She was my best friend." Zade gets emotional but he is assured as Inara was right beside her. "She would know my heart even before I knew what it wanted. Even Hunter opened up to her the most."

"I know. Those six years must have been so painful without Hunter." Inara nods.

"It was hell. After Irene was gone, the only person I could talk to was Hunter. And he chose to shut himself off." A tear falls from his eye but Inara wipes it away. "At that time, I thought she was safe in that hideout. I thought it was the best option." He says quoting Inara's previous thought.

"What we think is best, doesn't always turn out that way. I thought at that time, by sacrificing my love, I can save my family. But in the end, they got killed anyway. You thought Irene would be safe. You had to look for Damon, thinking he was the best option. But ended up with both Hunter and Irene gone from your side. Fate is a bitch." She says bitterly. Zade giggles at her cuteness and leans in to kiss her deeply.

The kiss turns a bit passionate as Inara's hands snake around Zade's neck as a reflex. Zade's hands roam around her neck, swiping her silky hair from the way. He presses down pepper kisses all along her jaw, stopping right at her mark. Her mating mark.

"What happened?" Inara asks, confused. She was really looking forward to what would happen next.

"Your mark." He touches the spot softly, "It's gone."

Inara looks at the mirror on the side of the bed, caressing the spot gently. "Maybe Alaska has finally accepted you as my new mate." She smiles.

Zade couldn't believe it. This beautiful woman with the most beautiful eyes, honey voice, flawless personality is all his. He reduces the distance by crashing his lips on her. She was his heaven.

She was now on top of him, straddling him. "Are you in pain?" she asks, stopping the kiss.

Zade shakes his head and kisses her again. He bites her lower lip, asking for permission. Inara's one hand runs down from his chest to his abs and the other one fisting his black hair, unable to break the kiss.

A groan escapes from Zade's mouth when she starts tracing his abs. That groan, in turn, makes Inara more impatient. A pleading noise escapes from her lips in between the kiss, setting their skins on fire.

Zade slips his hand under her blouse, trying to take it off. They break the kiss as Inara throws her blouse away. His eyes fall on the scar on her stomach.

"It's ugly. Don't see it." She tries to hide it but Zade removes her hands. He leans in to kiss those scars.

"It's beautiful." He looks at her again with half-lidded eyes. "You are beautiful."

The kissing doesn't stop as Inara's hands go down to his pants to unbuckle it. "Are you sure about this?" he asks her to confirm one more time in between their kiss.

"Mmmm." She moans in the kiss, "Definitely...."

"Inara, Zade, we are back!" Ivory's voice echoes through the house.

"Not." Zade sighs and chuckles looking at Inara who looks as disappointing as he is. "There goes our cue." Inara chuckles too and pecks his lip one more time before getting off of him and wearing her blouse.

"Ahhhhh" an inhuman screech reaches their ears as Zade dashes out of the room, Inara closely behind him.

"What happened?" Zade asked as he eyes the box in front of him.

"What is that?" he walks towards it.

His eyes grow wide as he falls on the ground. Inara holds him back, trying not to look in. Damon was standing there, gaping at it, expressionless.

Odin's head. Ripped off from his body. The blood beneath the cardboard box.

"What the fuck is this?" Abir holds Brent's collar. "Was this all a fucking trick?"

"I swear!" Brent pleads. "I didn't do anything!" he looks at Kyros, "Who else knows about me being here?"

"The Alpha Elder." His eyes were on the letter beside that heinous crime that Victor just committed.

"To my little brother." Kyros reads it, "Sending you and your new family a farewell gift. He wasn't talking so I permanently made him mute. Little brother, I used to think of you as somebody that would never, ever hurt me. But your actions speak otherwise. And what a shame that I had to find out about this from the Elder."

"This isn't a declaration of war. This is hell. And you have just scraped through its surface. If you don't want butchered parts of your poor Beta, I suggest you stop meddling in my plans. I just need one thing and your hell will disappear."

"Don't disappoint me. Vic." Kyros crumbles the paper and throws it at Brent. He knows he wasn't at fault but he has to take his anger out at something.

Both Zade and Damon are sitting there silently, watching the head. Brent bows his head, feeling ashamed of his own brother.

A sob comes out of Zade's mouth as Inara hugs him.

Damon silently sheds tears as Kyros pats his back.