Bomb

EVERETT

~The beta of the Red Moon Pack is dead.~

~And I am fucked.~

~Supremely fucked.~

I climb back through the window from the fire escape and walk up to Rory, who is chatting excitedly with Freya and Ace, a drink in her hand.

I grab her by the arm and she jumps and drops her red wine onto the carpet.

“Everett—what the—”

“Let’s go,” I say to her.

She looks down at the mess in front of her. “But…,” she says, “no… We need to fix this. Deacon won’t be happy about—”

“I’m sure Deacon’s mommy can pay to get the carpet cleaned,” I say. “We gotta get out of here now. You too, Ace.”

“Noooo, don’t take them away from me,” Freya says, drunkenly leaning into my arm.

“Beta Robert died,” I say, deciding that I have no choice but to drop the bomb.

I see a look of understanding wash over Rory’s face and without skipping a beat, she jumps into action. She gives Freya a swift hug goodbye.

“I’ll call you,” she says.

“I will too,” Ace says to her.

And with that, the three of us rush out the door of the apartment.

***

The entire ride back to the pack house is spent in solemn silence.

But inside my head, Chaos is raging.

“~We tried to protect him.~”

“~We tried to give him pack security.~”

“~He refused.~”

I breathe through my rage, scared that if I lose control, Chaos might take over.

But my wolf is angry for good reason. He knows the truth… Beta Robert’s death will only expand the divide between the Shadow Blood Pack and the former Red Mooners.

They will never understand that I did everything in my power to stop this ~exact~ thing from happening.

When we turn into the gates, my worst suspicions are confirmed.

The entirety of the Red Moon Pack is gathered around the pack house, awaiting our arrival. And they look furious.

If I didn’t know any better, I’d think they were about to pull out pitchforks.

I take a deep breath and feel Rory in the seat next to me squeezing my hand.

“It’ll be alright,” I whisper under my breath. But I’m not so sure…

We get out of the car and walk toward the front door of the pack house as the Red Mooners hurl threats and insults in my direction.

I can only understand bits and pieces of what they are saying, but the words that I ~do~ catch cut deep.

~“This is what happens when the alpha goes on vacation.”~

~“What kind of alpha are you?”~

~“You can’t even keep your own pack safe.”~

One person steps in front of the rest of the group.

She’s a slender, blonde woman with tears streaming down her face. I recognize her instantly as Robert’s mate, Louise.

She’s pointing a shaking finger...but not at me. She’s pointing at Aurora.

“This is all ~your~ fault,” she says to my luna.

~What?!~

~I know this woman is grieving...but now she’s crossing a line.~

I look over at Aurora and see her face fall. I hold her hand even tighter as we stride in lockstep toward Louise.

“I’m so sorry for your loss,” I say to her. “Of course we will handle all the funeral arrangements and provide heightened security for the rest of your people to make sure nothing like this happens again.

“I will be in touch with you shortly to discuss further details. Again, I’m very, very sorry.”

There is so much more to say, but I want to get Aurora inside the pack house before this escalates any further.

I pull her toward the door and we slip inside, Ace swiftly clicking the lock behind us.

I turn to my mate and see that Rory’s face is a ghostly shade of white.

“Don’t listen to her,” I say. “She doesn’t know what she’s talking about. She’s in distress.”

“No, Everett,” Aurora says. “It ~is~ my fault.”

“Aurora—stop—”

“If I had never run out into rogue territory unprotected, then you wouldn’t have had to kill Red,” she says. “And then Robert would still be alive. Also if we had never gone to New York to visit Freya, then I could have saved him.”

“His blood is on ~my~ hands,” I say. “Don’t think about it any other way. Please.”

But I know Aurora.

There’s no use trying to reason with her...

If she blames herself, she won’t rest until she finds a way to fix it.

***

RORY

Robert’s death is my fault.

I’m sure of it.

But as my mind is reeling from that horrifying reality, an idea suddenly dawns on me of how I may be able to make it right again.

When Everett disappears to speak with the Warriors, I sneak off to the dining hall, where I find Lucius staring soberly into his food.

“Hello, Luna,” he says when I sit down opposite him. “I’m sorry. I tried to clear them all away before you arrived. I didn’t want you to be greeted with a mob.”

“It’s fine, Lucius,” I say. “They’re hurting. And maybe I can heal them. I need you to take me to the morgue. Now.”

Lucius eyes me suspiciously. But I’m the luna. He can’t say no.

***

We slip out of the back door of the pack house to avoid the crowds, hopping straight into Lucius’ SUV. And just a few minutes later, we arrive at the morgue.

It’s afterhours, but Lucius manages to bust open the front door with a bit of brute force.

It’s eerily silent in there. I guess that’s to be expected from a place where the only residents have no heartbeat.

We tiptoe through the marble-floored entrance hall until we arrive at a door labeled “Cold Chamber.”

Lucius slowly pushes open the door and I shiver as I step inside. He leads me over to a long metal table that is covered in a single, white sheet. I can just barely make out the outline of a body underneath.

When he pulls the fabric away, I see the face of the man.

His usually stoic, composed face is covered in bite marks. His hair is caked in blood.

I shudder at the sight, swallowing hard to stop the tears that are threatening to come.

I look up at Lucius and can instantly tell that he is hurting.

“I was the one who found him,” Lucius says, his voice cracking. “I had to break the news to his mate. It was horrible.”

“I’m so sorry, Lucius,” I say. “We should have been there. That’s the job of the alpha and the luna.”

“You couldn’t have known something like this would happen,” he says. “You are both trying your best.”

“Well, clearly our best isn’t good enough,” I say curtly. “Otherwise this wouldn’t have happened.”

I am determined to reverse the damage that has been done.

I have brought people back from the brink of death many times now—from injuries so fatal that they are seconds away from slipping into the darkness forever.

And I have brought ~myself~ back from the dead on more than one occasion.

But I have never brought another person back from the other side. Now, I will try to do that for the first time…

I will try to revive Robert.

I place my shaking hands on his cold, lifeless body: one on his heart and the other on his forehead.

Holding him steady, I close my eyes and try to detach from my physical body and enter the familiar spirit realm.

But no matter how hard I try, clenching every one of my muscles, my teeth grinding together viciously, I can’t seem to enter the astral plane that I have visited many times before.

Robert’s body remains completely and utterly lifeless.

But I’m not ready to give up.

Grasping onto his shoulder, I shake his form, praying for any god or goddess in existence to help me bring him back from the dead.

“Aurora,” I hear Lucius call out to me. “Aurora, stop!”

Defeated, I let go of Robert’s body, my cheeks flushing red with shame.

“I can’t do it,” I say, feeling a hot tear fall onto my cheek. “I failed.”

“It’s okay,” Lucius tells me. “Let’s go.”

He repositions Robert’s body and covers it again with the white cloth.

“He’s gone,” Lucius says as we walk away.

But I’m still not ready to accept that. I’m desperate to do some more research and see if there’s a way to bring people back from the dead.

There has to be a way.

I fear that the unity of our two packs depends upon it.

***

Back at the pack house, I run straight to Everett’s office.

I was expecting him to be there, but it’s empty. I walk over to the bookshelves behind his desk and start scanning for any volumes that might have the kind of information that I’m looking for.

Then, suddenly, there is a knock at the door. I turn to see Ophelia standing in the frame.

“Hi Ophelia,” I say, my tone somber.

“Hello, Aurora. Horrible news about the beta,” she says, shaking her head. “Just awful.”

“I’m trying to find a way to help,” I say. “Do you have any books in your possession about magic...or divination...or resurrection?”

She raises a curious eyebrow at me.

“Aurora,” she says. “What’s done is done.”

“Maybe,” I say. “But what if I can find a way to undo it?”

I notice a small smile forming on her lips. “I see that Everett picked an ambitious girl for himself...,” she says. “But I’m afraid you’ll only find books like that at the university library.”

“Thank you,” I say, rushing over to Ophelia and planting a kiss on her cheek.

I’m a luna on a mission. Nothing can stop me now.

***

EVERETT

I stay up late into the night, waiting to hear news from my pack warriors about the whereabouts of the rogues.

But when they report back that they haven’t been able to track them down, I just grow even more restless.

I just start to wander the pack grounds, turning everything over in my head. And before I know it, my feet have led me directly to the border of rogue territory.

I know that I should just turn back around and get into bed with my luna.

But I don’t. Instead, I take a deep breath and step confidently into the danger zone.

I have been walking for a few minutes when suddenly two figures appear in front of me, silhouetted in the moonlight.

I recognize them from the last time I was here, when we whooped their asses and they ran away, tails between their legs.

“Hello, Ian,” I say. “Hello, Eden.”

“Hello, Alpha,” they both sneer back, wearing smug smiles.

I’m sure they were expecting me to come. They’re probably surprised that it took so long.

“This is your final warning,” I say. “Stay the fuck away from my pack or it’s full-out war.”

“Oh yeah?” Eden scoffs. “A war against you and ~what army?~”

“Your people are completely divided,” Ian says. “And after what you did to Red, we’re going to make sure that it stays that way.”

“Your pack will belong to us before you know it,” Eden says, a terrifying grimace on his face. “You’ve been warned.”