I am unable to move from my spot outside of the den. My brain was on high alert. Nothing like this had ever happened to me and I wasn't prepared for it. Katherine's lifeless body was still crumbled on the ground at my feet, her head merely steps away. My mouth was gaping and my brain swimming. Blood was splattered over the bottom of my jeans and I stare at the blood in horror.
A distant howl rips through the forest and my eyes widen at the raw vulnerability that could be heard. A few seconds later, a large sleek black wolf barrels through the nearby bushes and immediately collapses to the ground in front of Katherine. Small heart shattering whimpers are leaving the wolves lips and tears well in my eyes.
Sebastian was crushed. The desperate sounds he made as he nudges her body repeatedly, clearly hoping she would get up, break my heart. Lowering myself to the ground, I bring my knees to my chest and let out a sob. He had so much hope for her. They were for once actually together and now that is all ruined.
Sebastian lays down silently next to her body, tearing leaking freely down his snout. Pulling myself together, I attempt to wipe the tears from my cheeks. I wanted to be strong for him, he needed the stability. But no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't bring myself from crying.
"I'll go get help, Seb." I whisper, patting him on the head.
He looks up at me with a whimper and buries his head further into Katherine's shirt. A loud sigh breaks past my lips and I turn back into the trees of the forest. My teeth clamp down on my lip to stop myself from sobbing, as I make the small journey over to the house.
My feet drag against the dusty ground and I struggle to keep myself from fainting. Opening the front door, I stumble my way up the stairs, following Alex's scent to his bedroom. I stand in front of the door for a second trying to collect myself. Limply, I raise my hand to the door and knock. After a few seconds, with no answer, I knock again.
This time, I hear a faint growl from inside the room. Seconds later, the door is thrown open and a glistening Alex stands in the doorway. My eyes nearly bulge from their sockets and my mouth falls open.
A trail of water drips from his chin and descends down the space between his perfectly formed pecs, to his muscular abs, until it is finally absorbed by the hair at his lower abdomen. I rip my eyes away from his chest and back up to his eyes. Alex is wearing a smirk, but his eyes are clouded with worry and surprise.
"Why are you crying?" he tries to ask softly, but like everything he says, it comes out harshly.
I sniffle as another tear slips from my eye. I quickly reach up and wipe it away.
"Get dressed." I said softly.
This makes him furrow his eyebrows and throw me a questioning look.
"You know most girls would be begging me to leave them off." he teases.
Closing my eyes, I sigh, "Please, Alex, I'm not joking right now. Just get dressed."
His face turns serious and he takes a deep breath, before becoming motionless.
He sniffs the air again, before snapping his eyes to mine.
"Are you okay? What happened?" he asks, in a slight panic.
My lips part and he continues to sniff the air.
"Are you hurt? Why do I smell blood?" he mutters, taking my wrist into his hand.
"I'm fine." I mumble, "It isn't my blood."
A relieved expression falls over his face, but it quickly turns grim.
"Did somebody die?" he questions, gripping my wrist tighter.
I silently nod my head and he immediately turns the other direction and shuts the door. I lean back against the wall opposite the door, waiting for him. In no time, he walks back out of the bedroom wearing jeans and t shirt.
"Let's go." he says, as he starts to walk to the stairs.
"Now what happened?"
My face immediately falls and I feel a new wave of sadness fall over me. I can feel the dam of tears threatening to break.
"Come on." I whisper, leading him out of the house.
He silently follows behind me and as we near the forest, he grabs my hand, intertwining his fingers with mine. I gasp at the sudden sparks jolting through my body and rip my hand away from his. He looks down out my hand with an expressionless face, before lengthening his strides and walking faster.
Jogging to match his strides, I slip through the small break in the trees and latch onto his hand, pulling him further. His hand tightens around mine and we remain in a comfortable silence for the rest of the walk. Once we are a few steps from Sebastian's den, Alex pulls back on my hand.
"Get behind me." he orders and I silently do as I'm told, too weak to object, "I can smell the blood even stronger than before. The enemy could still be near."
"It's just up there through the trees." I mumble, cupping my hand over my elbow.
As we reach the clearing, I clamp my eyes shut momentarily. Taking a deep breath, wincing slightly at the heavy tinge of blood in the air, I open my eyes again. Sebastian is still closely huddled over Katherine's body, his whimpers never ending.
"Katherine." Alex mumbles, moving towards his brother.
Placing a hand on Sebastian's back, he sighs, "I'm sorry, man."
Sebastian turns to look at his brother, tears still leaking down his snout.
"Shift and get dressed. We need to talk." Alex orders, nodding towards the trees.
Sebastian shakily stands to his feet and trots over to the nearby trees.
Alex casts a look in my direction, his eyes once again heavy with worry, "You okay?"
I nod my head and he reaches over and wipes a tear off my cheek. Seconds later, Sebastian comes stumbling through the trees. Once again, collapsing in front of Katherine's dead body with a forlorn look on his face.
"What happened?" Alex asks, tilting his head to the side.
Sebastian says nothing, shrugging his shoulders and shaking his head. Alex turns to me, raising an eyebrow.
A sigh slips through my lips and more tears dribble down my cheeks.
"I'm so sorry, Seb." I whimper, "It's all my fault."
He looks over at me his eyes cold and emotionless.
"What are you talking about?" Alex says, moving closer to me slightly.
"She was trying to warn me about something." I sniffle, wiping more tears off my cheeks, "She was panting and out of breath, obviously running from something."
Alex casts a look over at Sebastian and then focuses his attention back on me.
"Then, out of no where a." I pause, biting my lip, "Rogue came out of nowhere."
"A rogue did this?" Alex mutters, looking over at the fallen body.
I nod silently, biting down harder on my flesh. Sebastian stares at me, his eyes never leaving me. He knows I'm lying. He has to. I can't tell Alex about my powers yet, they'll scare him away. I need to talk to Sebastian alone.
"Okay." Alex sighs, rubbing a hand down his face, "I'll call a meeting."
"Come on, Seb." I nod, "Let's let Alex deal with this. I'll take you back to the house."
He numbly stands from the ground, stumbling over to the tree line. Looking back one more time at Alex, I trot along behind Sebastian. As soon as we are out of hearing distance, Sebastian spins around, glaring at me with blazing eyes.
"Why did you lie to him?" he spits, "What the fuck happened to my mate?"
"Seb, he can't know about my powers yet. He just can't." I blurt, "He'll punish me."
"This is about your powers?" he gapes, anger flaring in his eyes.
"Yeah." I whisper, slowly nodding my head.
"What the fuck happened?" he spits, "What did you do?"
"I didn't do anything. Not directly anyways!" I yelp, backing away from him.
He jolts forward, grasping my wrist harshly.
"What did you do?" he spats, narrowing his eyes at me.
"I'm so sorry, Sebastian." I whimper, "She came to warn me about my powers. She said that I was in danger and I needed to get away and then this black mist thing showed up and decapitated her."
"A black mist killed her?" he asks harshly.
I nod my head, wringing my hands in front of me.
"This isn't a fucking joke, Lisa. She was my mate and now she's dead. And you actually have the nerve to damn well joke about it?!" he screeches, his voice cracking on the last word.
"No. Sebastian, I'm not lying. I swear to you. It doesn't make sense and yes, it sounds crazy, I'll admit that, but it's the truth. I don't understand it myself. We'll figure it out." I try to reassure.