A/N: Character death warning/heavy chapter. Don't hate me 😑

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Lo slowly awoke to the sound of a pot clanging and a quiet scolding. It was Edith's voice. Her eyes immediately felt sore.

Crying again...

Lo took a slow breath as she looked at the window. Kit's scent was still heavily on the bed beside her. He had clearly laid with her for a while. She must have fallen asleep. She hadn't slept all night...

It looked around midday now.

She felt... she didn't know how she felt.

"Lily? Are you awake? Mama made lunch, you missed breakfast." Kit's voice came from the cracked door. Lo forced herself to push up into a sitting position. Kit bound over to her.

She wasn't hungry, but she found it hard to refuse his requests, especially as he took her hand and tugged at her with a childish; "Come oonnnn!"

Lo reluctantly followed him into the kitchen at his insistent coaxing as he yanked her along by her hand. Lottie, Edith, and Dena were there.

"How are you feeling sweetheart?" Edith asked. Lo forced a smile.

"Better." She lied. What was she supposed to say?

She felt wounded deep inside.

Lunch was awkwardly quiet aside from a few comments here and there between the three females. But Lo remained silent.

She cast an occasional glance at Lottie as she left the table early to go back into the bedroom. She didn't know what it was, but something seemed off with her.

"We all have some packing to do still, is there anything you want to take with us?" Edith asked gently as she picked up the dishes.

"I'd like to take my mother's things." Lo said without hesitation. It was all she had of her... Edith gave her a smile.

"I've already had those taken to the pack house, is there anything else?" Edith asked. Lo fidgeted a bit nervously before shaking her head.

She had nothing else.

Lo sat there and listened to the others chat. Kit occasionally pulled her into the conversation but she kept her answers short. She couldn't manage more than that.

And it went on like that as Dena and Edith did the dishes and Lottie packed in the back bedroom. Lo stayed at the table the whole time.

A cool breeze began to pick up outside, Lo could hear it rippling through the forest. She glanced to the gently rattling window when a sudden feeling of unease washed over her. Her wolf became alive with restlessness.

What was wrong with her?

She looked to the others. They just continued their easy conversation. Did they not feel that?

... should she say something?

What would she say?

She thought of how they looked at her at the pack house...

Lo glanced at Kit lying on the floor doodling with some paper and chalk. She stared at him for a moment, and felt the unease rise.

"Come on Kit, we have to get the rest of the house packed." Edith said as she headed for the door. Kit whined but reluctantly stood. Lo felt sudden fear lace through her.

She didn't want them to go.

"Wait..." Lo said as she shot to her feet. Edith paused and glanced back. Kit too was looking at her. Lo glanced to Dena who also turned around.

Lo froze in all their gazes... but she forced herself to speak.

"I just... I have a bad feeling. Something's wrong." Lo said. Dena glanced at Edith, but Edith continued to look at her calmly, even a bit sympathetically.

"I know it's going to be a big change leaving everything you've known. It's okay to feel nervous." Edith said as she gave her a sympathetic smile.

No... that's not what she was feeling. Lo glanced back as Lottie appeared in the bedroom doorway. They were all looking at her now.

None of them seemed worried at all. Lo didn't understand it.

...how were their wolves not setting off alarms inside them? She felt her inner self becoming increasingly nervous. Antsy.

"I... I think there's danger." Lo said, and the moment she said it, she felt foolish by the looks on their faces.

"We have extra border guards in place, they will alert us to any threats." Dena said simply. Lo looked at Kit. He was watching her now with a furrowed brow.

Lo felt the sharpness in her gut. She felt like if he left the house, she may never see him again.

"We are safe for now." Dena reiterated. Lo wished she could believe that. But she didn't.

But how could she blame them really? Of course they wouldn't feel what she did. They didn't know the Vargas... stealth was something they were very good at. And this was their land... They were constantly coming and going, on and off it.

That border guard didn't sense the Varga Gamma. Or any of the others that were there either. They didn't even find any trace of them...

They may have a false sense of security, but Lo didn't.

Far from it.

"We will be back in a hour or two, the trucks should be here by then." Edith said gently. Lo was beginning to hate that soft tone of hers.

She wasn't a child...

"Come on Kit." Edith said and offered her hand. Kit took it. Lo wanted to protest... but what could she say?

She just watched them go.

"I should get back too. We will meet you at the packhouse in a few hours." Dena said, but it seemed she was talking more to Lottie than her.

Lo watched their brief exchange, before Dena too left.

Lo felt it deeper in her gut that something was wrong. She looked to the two enforcers that were still out front. They were both easy.

So why was she feeling this way? Was her wolf's instincts sharper than theirs?

She remembered Edith talk of the woodland's wolves human mixing weakening their instincts. Maybe... maybe she had better ones because of her winter wolf side.

Lo paced the front room for some time, unable to sit still.

"Lo? If you're tired you can sleep a bit more." Lottie suggested. Lo wondered if she could hear her quickened heartbeat and she was just trying to reassure her. Lo kept her eyes on the enforcers outside.

"No I-" Lo began, but the sound of shattering glass made her jump. She looked back at Lottie, her eyes had gone wide... the shattered remains of whatever she had been holding were at her feet.

Lo instantly caught the scent of sweetness before she saw the wetness at her feet. Lottie took several deep breaths and Lo saw her eyes glaze with her wolf.

Lo's inner panic spiked to a whole new level. It was clear Lottie was in labor...

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"Tris!" Kit shouted. Tristan stood outside their house with Noah. He turned his attention to the pup as he bound up to him.

It hit him long before he even approached them. Her scent was all over him... It gave him a strange deep ache.

"Stop being mean to Lo!" He unexpectedly growled. Tristan stared down at him for a moment, before he glanced up at his aunt. She was giving him a severe look, before she turned her attention to her mate.

"How much longer for the trucks?" Edith asked Noah. She seemed to be ignoring him.

"Nathan said the first of them should be here within the hour. You and our families are going first, the rest of the transport should be here before sundown. All our vulnerable should be gone before dark." Noah said. Relief flooded Edith's expression, but she still seemed worried.

"You are staying?" Edith asked. Noah just gave a nod. Edith glanced at Tristan next. He met his worried aunt's gaze.

"We should all leave... it's not worth it." Edith said firmly.

"Edith... we need this land. Once we get rid of the rest of them, it will be fine." Noah said firmly. Edith looked angry.

His aunt and uncle just stared at each other for a moment, before she stalked inside. Noah sighed as he glanced after her.

"I have to get back to your father. Make sure they get to the pack house." Noah said as he turned and headed out.

Tristan watched him until he was far into the trees before he glanced back to the doorway. He didn't particularly want to be around his aunt right now.

But he told his uncle he'd help.

Reluctantly he went inside. Edith was angrily throwing non-breakables into crates. Tris glanced beyond her to his cousins Will and Jake in a back room, clearly they were packing their things. They exchanged a glance with him too. One of weariness.

Their mother was clearly in a mood.

"Can I-" Tris began.

"No." Edith snapped at him. Tristan moved over and plopped into a chair. He had to be there regardless, whether she wanted his help or not. She instantly looked annoyed. Tristan's attention went to Kit though. He couldn't help it.

He smelled like his mate. He must have been in extended close contact with her.

And as Edith continued to hastily pack their belongings, he couldn't seem to focus on anything else. Kit was bounding around happily, tossing his own things into boxes.

"Kit... go for a run." Edith said firmly. Tristan glanced over at her. He hadn't noticed her attention had shifted to him again, and she had an odd look now.

"Why?" Kit asked skeptically.

"Because we will be in those trucks for a while and you won't be able to until we get home. Go stretch your legs." Edith insisted.

"I want to hear what yo-" Kit began.

"Go, now. And stay near the house." She growled. Kit frowned, before he turned and darted off out the door.

"He's too damn observant." Edith sighed as she watched him run off.

It went silent between them. Uncomfortably so. Tristan knew this feeling. He was about to get another lecture of some kind.

What had she seen in his expression?

"You want her now, don't you?" Edith asked bluntly.

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Lo stood frozen for a moment, staring at Lottie.

She wasn't a pack sister... she knew she would have to quickly leave. Lo cast a frantic glance at the enforcers outside. She started to turn.

"Don't leave!" Lottie said in a panic. Lo paused and looked back at her. The wolf glaze in her eyes had taken over as she breathed slow and deep.

Lo studied her face and for a moment she was confused... she didn't seem weary of her.

It struck Lo then that maybe she recognized her as family, she knew that wolves even in a crazed state could still scent family even if they weren't pack, her mother had explained it to her so long ago.

...but even as the gifted mate of her brother, he didn't accept her. Did that still count?

"Just... send one of them to get Edith." Lottie said shakily as she griped the back of a chair. Clearly in pain. She was holding on to control by a thread. She flicked a glance to the males outside.

Distrust was heavy in her stance.

"Okay." Lo said as she slowly moved to the threshold, but there was no need to shout out to them. They must have been listening, because one was already bounding into the forest in fur.

Lo looked back at Lottie.

"Do you want to stay here?" Lo asked. She was trying to draw on all her knowledge of when her mother helped the other females. A lot of them preferred the forest in fur. Her mother told her it was easier...

"Something's wrong..." Lottie growled as she glanced outside. Lo followed her gaze.

Did she feel the danger now too? Labor tended to heighten their senses...

Lottie suddenly growled and bent down, her breathing unsteady. That was another contraction?

They were that close already?

Lo felt her inner panic rise. How long had she been having them? Why hadn't she told Edith?!

She shouldn't have left!

"I... I thought it wasn't real. I'd been having some for days, they were mild...." Lottie said once she could talk again.

Lo slowly moved over to her. She already seemed to have more control than most while in labor. If she hadn't attacked her and told her to leave by now, she didn't think she would.

Lo gently took her arm around her shoulder and guided her back into the bedroom to set her on the bed.

"Let me check you." Lo said. Lottie laid back as she breathed slow and steady. Lo helped her out of any extra clothes, and the moment she looked between her legs she glanced up at her face with wide eyes.

__

Tristan stared at her for a moment, unsure how to answer. He glanced back to where Jake and Will were still packing, but both were pretending not to pay attention.

Tristan looked to the window, in the direction he knew she was. His thoughts were jumbled still... but that one truth was blatantly obvious to him.

He scrubbed a hand over his face with frustration and finally looked up at his aunt.

"I never didn't want her... it's just... complicated." He said honestly. It was true. At least part of himself never rejected her.

It was just the skin side that was left with the hard decisions and the complications that arose from it.

"You made it more complicated than it had to be." Edith said with a frustrated sigh. Tristan looked over at her as she was now meticulously setting things into the crates now. Whatever anger she had was fading.

"I don't know what to do. Arthur threatened us, and my father-" He began.

"Tristan... your father is in a vulnerable state, yes, but he's not defenseless, nor is he as compromised as you think. He said some things I'm sure he will regret, but after what he's going through, he would never deny you your gifted mate. In fact, once the worst of his pain begins to ease... and believe me I know it will take some time, but it will ease, I have no doubt he will insist you mate your gifted, as you were always meant to, treaty be damned not even Arthur can interfere with gifted mates, it's in all our laws. The rest of the packs will back us up on that." Edith said.

There was a strange mingling of hope and frustration at her words...

But mostly frustration. Everything had gone so far to hell. All the doubts inside him were starting to feel suffocating. The doubts of staying away... of just going with instincts and accepting... the confusion inside him only seemed to deepen the more time passed.

The more time he spent around her.

Something was still holding him back. Nagging at him deep inside. He realized there was so much about his situation he hadn't truly been able to talk through with anyone.

They were all just angry at him.

"Have you ever heard of this happening? Children of gifted mates?" Tristan asked. Edith paused in her packing and looked over at him again.

"No... but your circumstances are unusual. No one is denying that." Edith said. Tristan glanced toward the door.

"Do you think... she would even be capable of being an Alpha?" Tristan asked in a way that he wasn't sure he wanted the answer.

But these were things that were weighing on him.

Edith didn't hesitate.

"Of course. She was gifted to you, an Alpha male, for a reason. I see great strength in her, it's buried, but it's there. What she needs is a chance to heal away from here, to be around other females who haven't been forced to be subservient their entire lives. She has already improved in the short time I've been with her.

She does speak her mind sometimes, but you can tell she struggles with that the most. Silence has been her self defense for so long, it will take some time to break that habit." Edith said. Tristan studied his aunt's face. She was speaking genuinely. He could tell what she said she truly believed.

It gave him an odd feeling. Maybe he was overthinking this...

"She also needs her mate to stop shattering what confidence she's able to build. One that will help her heal, not hinder it by telling her she's not good enough for him.

Accept her, get to know her, and I have no doubt you will easily love her and all her faults. Likewise, she will love you and all your faults as well. She is made to be with you Tristan, and you were made for her, I don't understand how you seem to be the only one who doesn't see that." Edith said with frustration.

Tristan said nothing for a moment as he stared out the window.

How did everyone think this was so easy? That he could just blindly accept her without acknowledging all the complications that come with their mating?

With her bloodline...

It irked him. Deep inside. He couldn't help it, even still. That accepting her meant mingling his bloodline with that unhinged Alpha.

She was the daughter of the wolf who had done so much harm to their family... to so many. That reputation would follow her.

He thought of Willa, his little niece. How would she feel knowing he would mate the child of the one who was responsible for the slaughter of her entire family?

He knew Lo was innocent of her father's crimes... he wasn't foolish enough to blame her for any of that, but the connection was there regardless.

Tristan shoved up to his feet and paced the room. He couldn't sit still. He felt his aunt's eyes on him the whole time.

She didn't say anything. She just watched him patiently.

It must be obvious, his inner turmoil.

And there was a lot going through his head. Too much to sort out...

Emma's words came back to him. About how those Varga females were treated back home. It worried him... how would they treat Lo? Knowing whose child she was? His wolf felt restless knowing she would be away from him in a possibly hostile situation.

Even though he knew it was probably for the best...

He couldn't control himself around her. All his inner thoughts just spilled out of him whenever he was in front of her... he had no control.

She made him unable to think sensibly.

And he truly hated that he hurt her.

A tiny feeling deep inside that maybe he truly was overthinking everything started to grow in strength. It was becoming a prominent thought.

That he shouldn't be fighting this at all.

Emma could be exaggerating... He knew the other enforcers looked at Lo with distrust initially, but as he thought back to the last few weeks... even that seemed to have faded now.

Tristan frowned and tried to focus on all their interactions in the past month. He suddenly couldn't think of any Lykaia wolves that seemed uncomfortable around her now, aside from that initial distrust.

But they were fresh out of a battle... any non pack wolves would have elicited the same response. Why had he thought so much of it then?

Tristan looked at Edith. He knew she would never lie to him or exaggerate to prove her point.

"Those females we sent home, how is the pack treating them?" Tristan asked.

"What do you mean?" Edith asked with an odd tone. She had paused her packing and looked over at him. Tristan was quiet for a moment. How could he articulate it?

"Are they-" Tristan began but abruptly cut off when he felt a spike of danger shoot through him like an arrow through the chest. He cast a sharp glance to the window.

No warnings had been issued... so why did he feel this way?

"What's wrong?" Edith asked. Tristan stood still, listening hard.

There was nothing out of the ordinary, but the unease inside him was escalating.

"I don't know." Tristan said. Edith looked to the door. Jake had come into the front room now.

They all stood still and listened hard, but nothing was out of place.

"Lo was feeling uneasy about the move... maybe you are feeling-" Edith began.

"No... Jake, get them all to the pack house now." Tristan growled when he finally caught movement that seemed unnatural far out into the trees.

"Tristan-" Edith began, but he was already out the door mid shift. Tristan sprinted hard through the brush, and it wasn't until he was nearly upon him that he finally caught the faint scent...

It was a Varga. Inside the territory.

Tristan didn't give him a chance to shift. He pounced on him and showed no mercy. It was over within seconds. Tristan shifted back and shoved the lifeless body over.

He was still breathing heavy as he stared down at what the wolf had in his hand. The scent of it hit him first...

Panic seized him.

"What is that?" An enforcer asked beside him. Three other enforcers ran up just then, alerted by the fighting. Before Tristan could even start to respond...

BOOM.

The ground shook. Tristan barely managed to keep his footing. Both of their attentions shot toward the direction the explosion had come from. It was the pack house... or very close by, it had to be. The smell of smoke and charring hit his senses hard.

And fire...

"Human explosives." Tristan said in a panic. He could barely catch his breath as he shot a glance in Lo's direction, before he looked back to the clinic.

Howls of warning began to sound around the territory.

__

Lo frantically glanced back to the door with wide eyes at the sound of the distant boom. The enforcer that had been outside was instantly at the doorway. Lo looked back at Lottie as she cried out in sudden pain.

It was a heart breaking sound.

A heart wrenching sound...

Lo felt the chill of it down to her bones. She quickly grabbed Lottie's face to try to make her focus on her when she saw her wolf start to take over.

The overwhelming bout of emotion had her nearly shifting. Lo couldn't have her do that now! Not mid labor.

"LOTTIE!" Lo snarled. She didn't know what was wrong!

"My mate!" Lottie started hysterically sobbing. Lo's took a shaky breath. She glanced back to the window. It dawned on her. That explosion... Lottie must have felt her mate bond snap.

Morgan was dead.

__

Tristan felt suddenly torn in so many directions...

Another distant boom exploded in the opposite direction. Followed by a third in another direction. The smell of smoke was rising fast, right alongside the panic inside him.

"GET EVERYONE OUT OF HERE! GET THEM TO THE ROAD! NOW!" Tristan snarled at the enforcers as he darted off back to the clinic. Edith was outside. But Will and Jake were gone.

"KIT!!!" She was screaming out into the forest.

"Tristan! They went to find him." Edith was in full blown panic now. Tristan grabbed her shoulders.

"I'll get them, run to the road, now." Tristan said firmly. He knew that's where the others would send everyone.

If it was a trap, they were as good as dead anyway. It was their only exit. He had to hope his father and the others would have the same thoughts he did. And that they'd send enforcers to prioritize clearing their escape route. The trucks shouldn't be far.

They could meet them.

Tristan's mind was on overdrive. His thoughts went immediately to their vulnerable. The scent and sound of fire was becoming overwhelming.

And it was coming from everywhere...

Tristan realized in deeper panic, there was no putting this out. Not that much...

And the strong scent of fuel was sickening. It was no average fire. They would destroy the land rather than give it up? That had never once occurred to him until then...

Tristan shoved his aunt toward the direction of the road.

"Run!" He snarled at her. He was an alpha son, and at times, he had some Alpha authority. He used every ounce of it he had to get her to go.

But even then, it didn't work. She angrily snarled back at him. And he clearly saw the fierce mother wolf in her. Her eyes were alight with rage, it reminded him that she was an Alpha daughter too.

"NO! I will not lose another pup!" Edith snarled. She shifted and darted off into the trees, letting out a loud howl in the process. Calling to her young.

Tristan growled and cast a frantic glance in Lo's direction, before he forced himself to follow his aunt.

He had to see to this first. He comforted himself knowing she was closer to the road than they were... and enforcers were still with her.

They may already be headed to safety...

__

"Lottie... I know it hurts, but you need to push!" Lo said in a panic as she shot a glance to the window again.

The sound of the second explosion had sent Lottie into a hysterical panicked state. Lo was struggling just to get her to listen.

They could hear everything happening outside, and Lo was fighting hard with her instincts not to run. Her nerves were alight with danger.

The scent of smoke was getting stronger. Lo could hear fire crackling in the distance. Snarling, fighting. And Lo just knew it wouldn't stay in the distance for long...

Lottie was hysterical still, crying out her heart break. Pacing the room. Lo was desperately trying to keep her from going full wolf. She was close to it.

She wasn't listening.

Lo looked back at the enforcer who was now pacing in the front room. He wanted them to move.

But they couldn't go... Lottie couldn't be moved now. Not until they could get the baby out...

"LISTEN TO ME! YOU NEED TO PUSH!" Lo snarled with the fiercest voice she could muster as she grabbed her face again.

They stared at each other for a moment. Tears were continuously dripping down her cheeks.

"Your mate is gone, but your pup is not, and it needs you." Lo growled fiercely.

Lottie sobbed hard again but nodded slightly. She was breathing heavy as she leaned forward against a chair. Lo quickly put her hand on her belly, trying her best to keep her calm as she'd seen her mother do before.

But her mother has never done it like this... Lo didn't know what she was doing.

Lo felt the stress inside her rising, and she could only imagine what Lottie felt.

Lottie was still taking hard breaths, until they stilled as Lo felt another contraction ripple across her stomach.

"PUSH! NOW!" Lo shouted. To her relief, Lottie did, crouching down. Lo dropped down with her. She was drawing on every memory of her mother doing this.

Lo had never done this alone. She had only helped in small ways. She didn't know what was keeping her so calm.

Especially with the chaos around them.

She felt she should be panicking more. Hysterical right alongside Lottie. But she just kept hearing her mother in her head. Guiding her.

"Good! Just one more." Lo said as she felt the pup's head slip free. She was repeating her mother's words. All the times she'd heard her say these things.  She tried to ignore everything else. Even as the enforcer kept shouting at them to hurry up, that they needed go.

Lo felt more blood then what should have been normal gushing out of her, it worried her, but she fiercely ignored it. One thing at a time...

Lo kept repeating that in her head. Even as she heard the roar of the fire coming dangerously close.

One thing at a time.

"Okay Lottie-" Lo began, but cut off as she heard the enforcer dart out the door. Snarling and rustling brush stole her attention. Panic increased inside her.

It was growing into terror when she realized what she heard... was fighting. Right outside.

Her focus was torn. Lottie cried out again.

"Push push!" Lo growled at her when she realized it was another contraction. They had to get out of there...

The moment she felt the weight of the pup drop into her hands, she immediately brought the little infant up to her chest. She could smell it was a female. Lottie's glazed eyes turned back to her. Lo quickly passed the baby to her and snatched the blanket from the bed to wrap and tie it around them both.

The after birth would have to wait...

"Come on.." Lo said as she tried to yank her to the door. Her hand ripped free, she had no grip. Lo was covered in her blood.

"I can't..." Lottie sobbed as she sunk to the floor. She was shaking horribly. Lo looked beneath her, and saw the pool of blood continue to form.

Lo could barely breathe. Something was wrong...

But they couldn't worry about it now.

"Listen! I know you're exhausted... I know you're hurting, but we have to go!" Lo said. The smoke was upon them now. It was starting to choke the air.

And it was just that moment that Lo realized she could no longer hear fighting.

The fear was almost suffocating, especially as she smelled the blood.

Lykaia blood. And not Lottie's.

Lo yanked Lottie up and shoved her toward the back door, but it suddenly burst open. Lo grabbed Lottie and pushed her behind her. She felt the prickling of dread inch up her spine as stared with shock at the Varga Gamma and four other Vargas standing on there at the threshold, looking murderous. They were all fresh out of a shift, and covered in blood.

"No..." Lo whispered. All her nightmares came to the surface again.

And her thoughts turned to Tristan.

__

"EDITH!" Tristan growled. The fire was everywhere now.

"WILL! JAKE!" Tristan shouted desperately. He glanced down at the Varga he'd just downed. It had stalled him.

They all vanished into the smoke.

Tristan's eyes were burning. He looked to the left when he thought he heard movement.

"TRISTAN!" It was Nathan.

"HERE!" Tristan coughed as he started moving toward his voice. He couldn't believe how quickly the fire was spreading.

Worry for everyone hit him hard.

And that's when he felt the strongest spike of fear he'd ever felt. It took him only a second to realize it wasn't his.

It was Lo's.

"WILL!" Jake's voice gave him pause.

Tristan had never felt so torn in his life. His wolf was fiercely pushing him to go to Lo...

But his family mattered too.

"JAKE!" Tristan shouted.

"Go that way!" Jake shouted. Tristan shifted and ran hard toward them. Edith was carrying Kit in fur. She and Jake were running. Nathan joined them a moment later. Tristan shifted to skin.

"Go! I'll find Wi-" He began, but Will darted up right as he spoke. Tristan felt at least a brief relief.

"Get to the lake!" Tristan snarled. It was closer, they could follow it around to get to the road. The wet ground would be safer. The smoke was getting worse, and he could feel the heat of the flames getting closer.

None of them hesitated, they darted off, but Tristan stayed and looked toward the direction Lo was in.

He could feel her terror. She clearly hadn't escaped.

He couldn't leave her...

Tristan darted off in that direction. It took him only a moment to realize Nathan had changed direction and followed him.

Tristan ran hard, harder than he had ever run in his life.

__

"Please Gamma-" Lo began, she didn't know what she was trying to do... she knew the rules.

She wasn't supposed to speak.

"Traitor." He spat with fury. Lo backed up a step, pushing Lottie and her infant back in the process. Her eyes darted beyond him to the others there, then back toward the front of the house.

But she heard more Vargas out front as well... at least seven.

She was frantically trying to come up with an escape route, but as she looked at Lottie going pale with blood loss, and in her state. Lo knew there was no running. She would have to leave her.

And she wouldn't leave her...

They were trapped.

Lo looked back at the Gamma and took a shaky breath. Despite her terror, she forced herself to speak.

"Please don't kill her. I'll go with you, I won't fight it." Lo said. Somehow she just knew... the way he looked at her. They didn't intend to kill her. They had respected her father, his blood, and she was their last Alpha link. And that terrified her even more.

But Lottie didn't have that same curtesy...

The Gamma glanced beyond her to Lottie. Lo swallowed thickly by the look of vicious contemplation on his face. He glanced down below them. Lo followed his gaze, and was disheartened to see the amount of blood on the floor. She looked back at Lottie in fear...

She looked listless, and close to passing out. She was barely standing, her arms were weakly clutching her pup. Lo felt a sick feeling deep inside her. She'd seen that look before on a female. The one her mother wasn't able to save.

"Come here then." The Gamma snarled. Lo took a terrified breath and moved toward him. Maybe if they left quickly... someone would find her and the pup... and be able to save her.

The moment Lo got within arm's reach, the Gamma yanked her harshly and tossed her to another of their enforcers behind him. Lo glanced back in horror as he closed the distance to Lottie.

Lottie's terrified eyes met Lo's a moment before the Gamma snapped her neck. Lo felt the shock deep down into her bones as she watched her crumble to the floor, unmoving.

Lifeless.

She heard screaming, and it took her a moment to realize it was coming from her.

The Gamma crouched down and gathered the blood that was dripping from Lottie's mouth, before he stood and approached her. Lo just stared at Lottie, unable to do anything but scream in anguish.

She hadn't known her long... but she had been her friend... she had welcomed and treated her kindly.

Like a sister...

The Gamma's warm wet hand on her face snapped her attention to him. He was smearing Lottie's blood on her cheeks. Blood that smelled like death.

"Now you will come with us willingly." He spoke calmly, viciously. Lo was trembling. She didn't know what emotion she felt more of at that moment.

"You have their Alpha daughter's death blood on you, there is no returning to them," He said with a dark tone. Lo stared at him, wide eyed.

Lo felt the coldness seep deep inside her, down to her bones.

...would they think she did this?

"Go." The Gamma snarled. Lo felt herself yanked out the door. Numbness was creeping inside her. She looked back at the small squirming female lying atop her dead mother.

"Don't... please." Lo begged. Don't let the baby die too. Words she couldn't articulate.

But she was ignored anyway. The air was full of smoke. Lo could barely breathe as she was shoved along, but they kept low to the ground.

"Stop." The Gamma said suddenly. Lo looked in the direction all their attention diverted to, and she stared in shock at Tristan standing beyond a large fire line that separated them.

His eyes were wide as he stared at her through the flames. Lo felt a sinking in her gut.

She had his sister's blood on her.

His gaze snapped beyond them to the house that the flames were getting closer to. The roaring fire around them was all she could hear. They stared at each other.

Maybe she did still have hope... because what she felt now was the anguish of hope dying as the look of betrayal took over his eyes. Nathan ran up behind him and began yanking on his arm, but Tristan didn't budge.

"GO-" Lo tried to scream for him to get his newborn niece, but an enforcer yanked her back and shoved her forward to get her to run. The rest of the Vargas shifted to their wolves. The smoke was growing thicker.

"Shift now girl, or we'll take a detour and kill that male too." The Gamma snarled. Lo looked frantically back at him, but Nathan was yanking him away. She couldn't hear what was being said between them. The fire was too loud.

Lo felt the tears spill down her cheeks as she shifted and took off running with the others... hoping he would go to the house and check.

Please save her... Lo said over and over in her mind, hoping beyond hope that he would feel that from her.

__

"Tristan we have to go!" Nathan snarled in his ear.

He felt numb. Numb and torn.

"She's clearly chosen her side! We have to leave!" Nathan snarled.

Tristan only half heard him. He didn't know what he felt. What he thought. His gaze snapped to the house. He had to know for sure.

Maybe he didn't scent what he thought he did.

Tristan darted to the house and shoved inside. He coughed as he turned the corner. Nathan was right behind him.

He stopped abruptly.

A horrible sickening feeling coursed through him. How many times in a lifetime could this happen to one person?

Nathan was the one who moved forward to check, even though it was obvious. The muffled cry of an infant had Nathan lifting the blanket off her. Tristan swallowed painfully as the twisted sense of dejavu hit him.

"We have to go." Nathan said as he cut the umbilical cord and ripped the blanket to bundle her. He shoved her into his chest and pushed him toward the door.

Tristan looked down at the small shivering pup in his arms, before he looked once more to his little sister.

Pain hit him hard, straight through his heart.

"We have to go! Now! Or we all die here!" Nathan snarled. It tore him out of his shock, and he quickly followed Nathan outside.

He felt sick leaving her there... but there was nothing they could do.

Tristan quickly set the pup down and shifted to fur. It would be best if he could get the pup to shift, but only mothers and Alphas had that ability. So he carefully picked the ends of the blanket up with his teeth and darted off into the forest, headed for the lake.

Tristan wouldn't let himself think, he just tried to focus on getting them out of there, but his feelings and thoughts were so jumbled. It was hard to focus.

Thankfully Nathan noticed. He ran ahead to take the lead and Tristan blindly followed him, the air became clearer as they got out of the thick of the fire and put some distance behind them.

As they approached the lake, Tristan felt he should feel relieved to see so many others gathered there with the road clear. The rest of his family had made it out.

But all he felt was numb.

The large trucks and reinforcements stood there staring out at the fire in shock, others were frantically getting everyone into the vehicles.

Nathan led him straight to his parents. Tristan shifted back. His parents both had looks of shock and despair on their faces.

They knew. They would have felt her Alpha link snap.

"Tristan!" Edith was frantic as she approached him, but she slowed when she realized what he carried. Her gaze was heavy on the squirming bundle.

"Oh no..." Edith said with heartbreak as she moved to take the pup from him. She immediately began to check the little female. Tristan smelled the salt of Edith's tears, but he kept his eyes away from her.

He couldn't handle looking at her now.

"How bad?" It was Sawyers voice. Tristan looked over at him. Before he looked at both his parents. By the look on their faces it was clear.

It was bad. Very bad.

Everyone seemed in shock.

Nathan coughed several times. Tristan realized he was wheezing. He must have been back and forth into the thick of it.

"We got most of the females and pups," Nathan said with some difficulty as he nodded toward the trucks that were already packed. All the chaos and commotion continued behind them.

"But... we lost a lot of our enforcers. And nearly all the border guards, they took them out quietly, it's how they surprised us..." Nathan said. There was shame in his voice. Grief too.

He was their charge. Those were his men.

"Dear spirits..." Edith said in shock.

"Get everyone home, fast. They don't have vehicles, we can outrun them on the roads. Anyone still well enough to fight, we need to prepare in case they are waiting to ambush us." His father finally spoke, but it lacked his usual fierceness. He looked backward toward the trucks.

"Sawyer, get my family in the trucks," Ivan said in a tone he had never heard his father speak in. Tristan looked at his mother as Sawyer gently tugged her away toward one of the large trucks where the rest of his family stood. They seemed unharmed... it was a relief. A tiny bit of a relief in the sea of other emotions he was feeling.

But his mother's eyes were on him him now. The grief in her eyes made his throat feel tight.

He had some of Lottie's blood on him.

"Noah's not here! And where is Lo?!" Edith said frantically.

"That bitch is a traitor!" Nathan snarled suddenly. Tristan's eyes snapped to him.

He knew what they saw but... he couldn't let himself accept that.

He didn't believe that.

"What?" Edith asked in shock. Dena was standing behind her now. Her eyes wide.

"She ran off with them after they killed Lottie!" Nathan growled.

Tristan just stood there. He couldn't dispute that.

But everything inside him told him it wasn't willing. That Nathan was wrong.

He could feel her even then.

Terror, fear, sadness, and grief. He didn't know where hers began and his ended.

And she was now with those twisted bastards. His wolf came alive at that thought.

Frantic. Terror. It was almost hard to breathe.

"Noah!!" Edith screamed as his uncle ran from the smoke followed by a bunch of others, he heard the relieved gasps and sobs of those that were suddenly reunited, but Tristan's focus had shifted. He stared off in the direction he knew she was in.

And the realization came down hard that he couldn't leave her.

"Tristan let's go!" Sawyer snarled at him, all the others were quickly leaving now, but Tristan didn't listen. He started walking in the opposite direction, back toward the fire. They must have gone a different way off the land.

"What are you doing?!" Nathan's tight grip on his shoulder made him pause.

"I can't leave." Tristan snarled back at him.

"Are you crazy?!" Nathan growled. Noah was suddenly there as well.

"I can't leave her..." Tristan said firmly. The panic growing inside him at just that thought was starting to become suffocating.

"You against all those wolves Tristan? They just decimated us... come with us... we have to form a plan, do this right." Sawyer said.

"She's a traitor!" Nathan snarled. Tristan suddenly spun and gripped him by the throat, hard, and slammed him back against a tree.

"Say that again." Tristan snarled viciously in his face.

"Tristan!" Jay shouted. Both he and Cal were suddenly beside him. Not that either of his brothers could match him in strength. Not even together.

Not with how furious he suddenly was.

Not with his mate in danger...

"Tristan... let him go Now." Ivan snarled his Alpha command. Suddenly they were surrounded by others. Tristan shook with fury, but couldn't resist his father.

He let Nathan go.

"Now get in the truck!" Ivan snarled just as angrily, but Tristan didn't even feel that command. His angry eyes found his father's.

A furious anger the likes of which he never felt before. But it wasn't just anger. It was so many emotions. Fear being another prominent of them.

He was shaking with it.

"I can't leave her," Tristan said furiously. He felt his wolf rising. His eyes glaze. His family were staring at him in shock.

So many thoughts raged inside him.

How could he have not immediately accepted her?

... why was he so blind?

The threat of losing her now was eye opening in the worst way. His wolf was panicked, frantic.

What had he done? If he had just accepted and marked her... would this have happened?

Tristan looked at his father. Some of his inner fury was directed at him. He couldn't help it. His wolf was furious.

"Tristan please... we have to go..." Emma spoke from behind Jay. His wolf bristled with fury as he glanced at her.

He hadn't thought of her, not once in all the danger. He wasn't even relieved to see her there. It just made his mistake even more blatantly obvious to him.

"Tristan be reasonable. You know they won't kill her... she has their alpha blood. We can do nothing now. We have to get home... regroup." Sawyer spoke now.

"And we've already lost one sibling today, don't make us lose another." Dena spoke with a broken begging voice.

But it did nothing for Tristan. His wolf was pushing against him in the worst kind of way. The reckless way.

An uncontrollable urge to shift came over him.

He felt himself losing control. He couldn't stop thinking of her. And his wolf didn't care how stupid it was to go after her alone.

But he couldn't not.

Just as he turned to let his wolf take over, he felt a sharp thud to the back of his head just before the world went dark.