Chapter 13: All too Familiar

He stepped out of the car and looked around at the burning houses, the families deserted, forced out on the street to watch their homes burn. He took a deep breath, clenched his jaw and balled his hands into fists as he fought to stay in control. He looked around him at the front line of his wolves, everyone was here ready to make quick work of the intruders. The bitter smell of rouge wolves filled the air as six bodies emerged from the smoke.

Six? Why the fuck is there only six?! He thought, and then it hit him like a tone of bricks. It was all a set up.

He turned to face his cousins "Get back to the house now!" He ordered before turning back to the front line. Rouges were a difficult bunch and with a bunch of new, young, and freshly turned wolves, he knew he was needed here even though he itched to run back and protect his family.

The rouges were quicker, stronger and not afraid to die, with the werewolf bite infecting them like a poison, they were dead anyway. But his pack being wolves of the blood had the advantage of control, full moon or not, and we have the strength of a pack.

They charged at them, ganging up two wolves to each rouge. He stormed through the crowed of snapping jaws, howls of pain and thrashing claws, grabbing a wolf that had one of the newly turned, a boy of sixteen, pinned to the floor, he grabbed his head and dug his nails into his neck and pulled, ripping out his jugular, killing him instantly. He bent down and quickly pulled thw boy to his feet and moved on to the next.

It took only minutes before the rouges littered the ground, their body parts scattered around unrecognizable, with only little casualties of his own. Wasting no time he ran over to the cars and jumped in, flooring it until he was back at the house.

Pulling up, he saw his cousins and the other wolves rumaging through the bodies, the six guards and nine others, only these weren't rouges. He felt a shrap pain in the side of his neck and stopped dead in his tracks. Melody.

"In the woods! Look in the woods!" He yelled as he rushed into the house. His heart was pounding in hos chest, his mouth dry, hands twitching in anger, and his blood was boiling, control was not an option when he got a hold of who ever did this.

His head snaped in both directions as he entered, hoping, praying that would find he boys, alive and safe, hoping that would find her. His gaze fell on the body that laid in the kitchen. Tory. Walking over to her slowly he kneeled down on front of her and gently closed her eyes. Her arms were lined with scratches, her neck was broken and throat cut. She had lost too much blood, too quickly making it impossible to heal.

He looked up at the sound of the door opening and shutting to find Cory shocked and opened mouth.

"Cory, clean her up, we need to give her a proper burial." He said with a sniff of his nose. Getting to his feet once again he stormed up the stairs taking them three at a time, he barged into his office and walked over to the mantel, fumbling with the key, desperately trying to open it.

"Harley!" He called out praying that he would something, anything.

"Harley!"

Forcing the door open he was flooded with relief. "Daddy!" Harley screamed as he jumped into Carter's arms. He cradled his son for a moment before looking up at Will and Jack, he picked up Harley before walking up to the boys sitting on the bunk bed, he ruffled Jacks hair and pulled the boys into his embrace.

"Did you find Melody?" Will asked eagerly.

Carter's heart ached at the mention of her name. It hurt not having her with him but most of all it pissed him off that she was taken from him.

He swore right then and there that when he found who ever did this he will torture them until death is a blessing and when their heart finally does stop, he will resuscitate and do it all over again until their heart will no longer start.

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I slowly started to open my eyes, fluttering them open slightly so that they could adjust to the light, only, there was no light. I could feel my body, heavy as led as it laid perfectly straight on a hard mattress, the springs seem to be stabbing me in the back in a more than painful way but I couldn't seem to move. Finding some strength I managed to turn my head and look around the room.

Nothing, literally nothing. The room was dark and small, only a small amount of dusk light lined the walls and floor allowing me to see only slightly but not enough to really hurt my eyes. Taking a deep breath I slowly sat up finding that the mattress was on the floor and covered by dust.

Great, just great. One minute I'm running through the woods and the next I'm stuck in a dark place with nothing but a dusty mattress for company.

My head was spinning, my stomach hurt like someone had just kicked me thirty times and my neck was stiff and... bleeding. I moved my hand to my neck and found dried blood covering one side, the side where Carter's bite mark had once been but now replaced with the claw marks of my attacker. Pulling myself up I managed to find my feet and start looking around the room for a door of some sort, Leaning against the wall I mindlessly shifted my weight from one part of the wall, stretching my arm out, looking for a door handle when I suddenly fell flat on my face.

Ooww!

Groaning I lifted my head off the ground and looked around at the now broken door that I was laying on and the bright hallway that looked more modern then a show house. Looking forward my eyes seem to freeze on a pair of shoes before slowly following them up to the black jeans, blue tightly fitted shirt and a seemingly familiar face.

"Your awake five minutes and you've already broken my door." His deep husky voice said and my heart suddenly jumped to attention. I looked into his brown eyes with his light brown hair tousled in all directions but I couldn't seem to be able to place the name to the face, but yet I felt strangely comfortable with him so close, oddly protected.

"What?" I found myself saying with a hoarse voice as my cracking lips, and dried throat suddenly felt extremely dehydrated and in need of water... a whole lake of it.

"Come on, get off the floor, before the bugs start crawling on you." He told me as he bent down to help me up.

Bugs!!! I'm up.

Jumping to my feet I suddenly felt the light headiness hit me and the hallway began to spin, I stepped back a little trying to find my balance but before I could protest my captor had hold of me, stopping me from falling and lifting me up into his arms so that he was carrying me bridal style.

I only vaguely looked around as he carried me up some windy stairs, down another hallway and into a large room dominated by the colour grey. He sat me down on a white couch, gently placing a pillow by my head before taking a seat next to me and allowing me to rest my feet on him.

"Where am I?" I muttered as I reached to hold my head before it fell off my shoulders.

"The river lands." Was all he said as he just looked at me like I was the biggest idiot of all time.

I narrowed my eyes at him showing my pure displeasure with him. "Why?" I said as sarcastically as I could muster in that moment.

"Well this is where you belong, it is where you were born after all."

I knew that, but how did he? My parents had moved our family from the river lands when I failed to change into a wolf as a kid,  seeking the protection the whispering woods would give us. But no one really knew where we came from, no one cared enough to even ask.

"How do you know that?"

"I find it interesting how your not more concerned with why you're here and what's going to happen but ok, I'll play along. I know that because I'm family, don't you remember me?"

I looked into his eyes and then at the rest of him. It couldn't be.

"My family is dead."

"Wrong, I'm still here."

I shook my head in denial as I tried to make to sense of everything. My family was dead and that's it nothing more to it, I had long since come to terms with it and I didn't need this asshole steering up old memories that only hurt more each time I revisited them.

"Your lying!" I yelled trying to pull away but he caught my legs, holding me in place.

"Am I? You should know if I was." He said before pausing for a moment, his face suddenly turning from a certain, almost cocky look to a stunned one. "You know
I heard a rumor that omitir can turn their werewolf side on and off like a switch but I never thought that it was true."

I swallowed hard and looked down, avoiding his gaze. It was true, I had shut everything out since my parents and brother died and then even further when I meet Carter. I was nothing more than a human with werewolf blood, a carrier.

"You know I'm telling the truth, that's why your not running out of here screaming, you trust me and you don't know why, it's because we're family, you know who I am you just don't want to admit it."

I looked up into his eyes and felt the strange connection, he was right I knew who he was. Thomas, my brother.