CHAPTER 4
Dinner was a blur and soon, I was excused back to my room. It was a welcome distraction, but alone in my room again, my heart aches for those I used to hold. My mate is not here to hold me while I sleep and I have no pup to sing to sleep. The quietness is deafening, a reminder of what has been taken from me. Try as I might, I cannot stop the tears that flow as I sing the lullaby that used to sooth my pup to rest.
Sleep my darling, Sleep sound
There is no danger here to be found
In my arms, you are safe this night
sleep happily till morning light
soon you'll be big and strong
To carry your family on
Should bad dreams come to you
I will be there to help you through
You are safe and sound here in my arms
I will keep you here from all harm
Sleep my darling, sleep sound
there is no danger here to be found
In my arms, you are safe this night
sleep happily till morning light
soon you'll be big and strong
To carry your family on
I eventually drift to sleep. In the darkness I hear the screams. I sit up panting, but the screams are still there. Something is wrong. I am back in my home with my mate passing our pup to me and telling me to run. I take our pup and run out of the house only to find my pack being slaughtered as they flee their burning houses. Screams drown out reason and my need to protect my pack battles with the need to protect my pup. Several of the pack guards are fighting back, but for every one of the attackers they cut down, another comes in to help quell the defense.
I turn and run to the forest taking a group of the younger pack members with me. As we make our way to the edge of our town, we pick up more and more stragglers. I watch helplessly as many die, shot down trying to reach safety. A scream draws my attention. I see my sister holding the body of her mate and as her daughter tries to pull her up, they are both shot through the heads. What family I have left has dwindled down to the toddler in my arms. I cannot lose him to. We run through the forest on foot and try to pick up whoever we can. Just as I think we are safe, a shot rings through the air.
A girl about ten falls, blood trailing from her head down her neck. She is dead. They are coming for us. We cannot stop, we must keep running. As I run, I notice more and more of my surviving pack members have fallen. A pain rips through my heart and I know my mate has been killed. Stunned by the pain, I slow down unable to keep my feet moving. A shot to my torso wakes me up. I begin my relentless pace again. I feel the bullets pierce my body, but refuse to react to them.
I must save my pup. I am almost to safety, a safe house hidden is just up ahead. Another bullet sounds, but I feel nothing this time. They missed me? They haven't missed a shot so far, how could they have missed? Then a sudden and sharp pain tears at my heart again. I refuse to look down, I refuse to acknowledge the pain. It can't be true. They missed! They missed! I keep yelling to myself even as I look down and see the growing red stain on the pajamas my 2 year old pup is wearing. My baby, my only pup, and the last surviving family I have, is dead.
I wake screaming, sobbing, and covered in sweat. I am being held by someone. I remembered where I am and all that has happened. I am inconsolable as sobs rack my body with full rigor. I am an alpha. Alone, weak, and broken. I am hopelessly lost and only one thing directs me now. Revenge.