James' POV

My head feels like a truck hit it, before a shark ravaged the rest of my body. Blood falls from my temple into my eye as I try to stay standing, the adrenaline slowly draining away.

I watch as the rest of our Allies join us, dragging or herding the defeated Rouges into the clearing.

I see Charlotte counting, making sure that we have all of them and one didn't slip away. I feel insanely tired, but that doesn't stop me from rushing towards my sweet Cody who comes limping towards me.

I grab him in my arms, hugging him, letting go in horror when he cries out in pain. Remorse and then fury fill me, hating that this bitch and my own father dared raise a hand to someone to pure and innocent. I rub his cheek, giving him a soft kiss, one of relief and of more days to come.

I turn to go towards Alpha Lucas who's talking to Alex and Beta Cole by the river, when there's a scream and a warning that almost come a second too late.

"Wait. No! Alpha! Watch out!" I hear Charlotte yell, and I turn my head in time to see a large wolf going straight for Cody who's standing yards away from a bound Makayla. Without thinking, I launch into the air, shifting before my feet when hit the ground. With two large bounds I intercept the large devastatingly familiar wolf, biting into his side as I slam into him, sending us rolling.

The large wolf snaps at my neck, trying to use his weight to over power me, but I'm able to use it against him, tearing at his stark black eyes sending him howling. He steps back for a second, pausing before trying to lunge towards Makayla, Cody, realizing what's happening, refusing to back down from between them. In my heart I know I should be willing to sacrifice myself and my love for the safety of Kaulike, but Celeste dammit, I feel like I sacrificed it all. It's time for someone else to pay the price.

So when the possessed outcasted wolf tries to go for Cody's vital organ with a swipe, I use the opening to knock the wolf on his back and ripping a chunk of furry warm flesh from his neck.

There's a horrid moaning choking sound that comes from the wolf before blood starts soaking the ground, the entire clearing silent as I shift back into my human form, hysterically wiping the blood from my mouth. I watch in saddened horror as a liquid darkness drains from his wound, slithering away towards the Enchanted who I can't bare to face right now.

I fall back into the now bloodied grass as I was the wolf turn into a man, our therory about them not being able to turn not so accurate after all. Maybe that's only true if the shadow really needs to take control of the victim. What if the host doesn't need much convincing at all? Would those powers be available then?

I don't know if it's to distract myself, or if it helps, but I find myself asking these questions as my father's face appears before me, covered in blood, eyes finally his own.

He turns towards me, his face no screwed into that disgusted look of disappointment it usually is.

"Thank you, Alpha." His words are low and gurgled but the impact is felt, my breath gone as I watch the man that gave me life, and made me want to take it away die all alone in a field of strangers.

I don't know how long I sit there before Cody comes over, my baby looking as tired and wrecked as I feel. Makayla is finally quiet, the Enchanted fuming when we placed anti mana cuffs in her after spotting her trying to poison herself with a spell. She clearly had information on what the hell is going on, and if she's one of many recruiting people and wreaking chaos in Kaulike, then we need to get word out quickly and gather as many allies as we can.

I honestly wouldn't be able to place a bet if all the Nightlies fought against Divine Children, but the thought of so many of them being able to contour countless shadows is incredibly debilitating and overpowered.

How can we fight against that?

The last time it was purely Divine Vs Nightly, we had literal Gods on our side.

I'm not so optimistic of our chances right now.

I find myself spiraling, not even focused on what's going on around me, my anxiety eating me alive from the inside out, my pain it's own distraction. That is, until Jessie's face comes into view, calm and warm as he reaches for my face, cradling it before he places a kiss on my forehead.

"We can worry about tomorrow, tomorrow. Let's celebrate and finish today. I'm right here. Just a little longer." He encourages me, making my eyes water. I can tell something is bothering him too, but I don't ask, knowing it's not the time. Instead I let his words and love wash over me, giving me the little boost I need.

I take a breath and gather with the rest of our group, grateful to count all twenty of us.

Some are injured and some are still out cold, but everyone is alive.

I notice that my Commanders were able to save Jessica, the battered and injured wolf held securely in Titan's arms. Relief fills me, knowing I would not be able to face her grandfather if I failed to bring her home.

I turn towards my gathered friends and allies, clearing my throat to get their attention.

"Thank you everyone. You did a great job. The Rouge's have been neutralized and Athena can go around expelling the Shadows from those still possessed." I tell them, Jessie and I using each other to stay standing.

Alpha Lucas steps forward, only a few bloodied scratches on his arms and chest to show for the battle, his lack of severe injuries proof of his years of experience. "We're happy to lend a hand. And she would have been on our doorstep eventually. It would be naive of us to ignore the dangers she possessed. Allow us to clean up here." He offers and I gladly accept.

"That would be a great help. Artemis and Zee can set up at the White Cabin and anyone that needs medical attention is more than welcome to come." I tell them before turning towards my Commanders. "I expect you to help Charlotte bring Makayla back to the Pack Holding Facility. Let's ask her some questions before we decide what to do." I tell them and they all nod their understanding before cheering for our victory. Slowly we all make our way back towards the White Cabin, tired, in pain, and in shock.

There's a certain type of silence that seems to fall between us all as we make our way back towards the safe house.

It's a silence that comes before a storm. The moment everyone realizes that if you haven't found higher land by now, more than likely, the storm would sweep you away.

✨✨✨

It's three hours later when Cody and I finally are able to walk into the Alpha Suite at the pack house, bloodied and dirty, even if Art and Zee healed all of our injuries.

The biggest thing I feel is tired.

And empty.

And a little bit as peace.

I don't know what that makes me.

I'm not sure I want to know.

The silence is heavy as we close the door, the two of us just standing in the middle of the dark empty room. And then I hear Cody sniffle, Jessie fading away after they were healed, claiming he was tired, though he clearly just isn't ready to talk.

I make my way across the room to Cody as his shoulders hunch over as they start to shake, small sobs falling from his chest as everything from the day catches up with him. My eyes own water as I gather my sweet Luna in my arms, grateful to be able to squeeze him tightly now needing the reassurance that he's really here in my arms. When we were at the Cabin, tucked away into a corner away from the others, he told me about the small scar he now has right above my Mark, Artemis unable to heal the skin completely.

I lean down to kiss it over and over, my tears splashing against his gorgeous skin, not minding at all when his hair gets into  my nose or tickles my face.

"I'm so glad you're okay. Celeste, I was going crazy. Swear to Celeste, I would have killed them all to get to you." I tell him and I mean it. Every word.

"I was so scared, James. I thought you wouldn't make it in time." He tells me between sobs and I hug him tighter as he grips my shirt. "I was chained to a post with anti mana chains stopping me from shifting, switching with Jessie or healing properly. They kept doing everything they could think of to get me to talk but I didn't know anything. It felt endless." He whispers the last sentence and it breaks my heart.

Unknowingly he's also just told me why Jessie's so upset.

He was stuck to witness Cody go through all of that himself. The same wolf that took over to save Cody's life and save him six years ago. It must have been torture.

I remind myself to check on him as I pull Cody towards the couch, my bean throwing his legs over mine as he sinks his head into the crook of my neck. I can hear him sniffing his Mark in comfort, and I bring my arm around him to rub his back softly as I admit my own fears and short comings.

"I was a goddamn mess the moment I realized you were missing. I tried to pull it together and take charge but every single second I was going insane, thinking the worse. Thinking everything would go wrong and we wouldn't be there when you needed us. She almost took everything from me over something I know nothing about. It was terrifying." I tell him and I feel him nod into my neck.

There's a few moments of silence before Cody is the first today to bring up the elephant in the room.

"You killed your father." It's not a question, but a statement.

One that doesn't bring up the emotions I expect. It was like that blow took away all the pain and puppet strings that have been attached to me for years. When he thanked me, and called me Alpha it was like an admission that I became a man in my own rite without his control and manipulation.

I don't feel a loss.

Or even guilty, not when I know I did it to protect my pack and Cody.

"I know. I did. It might sound weird to you, but I really don't care. It feels like a satisfying end to a good book that I'm okay with ending and putting on a shelf. That part of my life is done now. It sounds callous but it's how I feel." I tell him honestly, a sense of shame filling me at my lack of remorse, but Cody stops me.

"No, it's not weird or wrong. You don't have to be sad or heartbroken your father died just because you were related. You're allowed to feel relief or satisfied. It doesn't make you anything but a person." He tells me quietly, his words much more comforting than any tears or guilt. I wrap them around me instead, especially as we whisper back and forth our love for one another.

For a while we talk and relax until I finally ask Cody to let me talk to Jessie. With a smile and a kiss, he does so without complaint, and I watch, never getting tired of watching one turn into the other, both faces of people I love.

A moment or so later, it's Jessie who opens his eyes, and I can tell from just looking at them that he's having just as much of a tough time with this as I thought.

"Hey, Jessie. How are you feeling?" I ask him, holding his hand, and he scoffs, eyes unable to reach mine, shame hunching his shoulders.

"Useless." He admits and my heart breaks for him.

I lift his chin so I can look into his eyes, forcing his to connect as they fill with tears and spill over. "You didn't do anything wrong. You were tricked, ambushed, and trapped with anti-mana cuffs. There was nothing you could do. What happened to Cody wasn't your fault. You couldn't have possibly seen it coming so stop beating yourself up." I tell him as he starts to sob, moving his legs to beneath him so he can bury his crying face into my stomach.

I rub his back, letting him cry it out, wanting him to understand that being hard on himself is only going to bury him in guilt that he shouldn't have.

"I'm scared James. If one Enchanted can do that, what the hell would an army of Daemons and Devils do?" He asks, and the thought is so debilitating I have to shake it out.

"It's okay to be scared, Jessie. It was a scary day. We'll worry about that day when the day comes. Clearly they don't have the tools they need to make it happen or it would have already and Makayla wouldn't have been here searching for the key." I remind him before throwing his own words at him. "We'll handle tomorrow, tomorrow. Let's just focus on today." I tell him with a kiss and he nods before softly punching my leg for quoting him back to himself.

I laugh lightly and we all spend the night with each other, being there for the raw emotions we're trying to process.

It's a messy and heavy ending to a scary and horrible day, but when Cody falls asleep in my arms at the end of the night, I find myself willing to do it all again, if this is the end result of it all.

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Okay! The battle is over! Thoughts on this angst vs the OG Unattainable? How do you feel about James killing his father? I know there's a lot of names and people in this book, but they're going to be the same people throughout the entire series so over time you'll recognize them all. If you want an actually reference check out my Character Profiles on Patreon!

Thoughts?

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QOTD: Twix or Snickers?