Just when I thought it was over, I feel claws rip through my back and a mangled scream leaves my lips, as I feel a rogue’s claw slash down my back, ripping flesh and fur from me. Kade lunges at my throat, his teeth bared and claws out as he throws everything he has at me. I closed my eyes, knowing it was over for me. That his claws were aimed straight at my chest, even Aria screamed my name and I smiled. I didn’t care that I was about to die, because they all survived. The sickening sound of flesh being ripped apart made my eyes snap open, going to Kade’s. Only I couldn’t see him, only the back of my mate. I scream knowing the sound was Damien, feel his pain radiating out of him and into me as he blocks Kade from me and I scream. Pain radiating throughout my body.
My mangled, tortured scream dying out when I feel something drop next to me, Damien dropping to his knees in front of me, Kade’s lifeless body next to him in a bloody crumpled heap, his dead eyes looking up at me in shock. An enormous hole in the centre of his chest where his heart used to be. I clutch onto Damien’s back and he leans into me, tears running down my cheeks as I clutch my mate.
“Stop crying love, I am fine. I will heal” Damien’s pained voice coming to my ears as he turns to look at me and I noticed the pain I felt wasn’t him dying but was actually where Kade had stuck his claws through his shoulder.
“I thought he killed you” I cried in relief. Looking around all the fighting had stopped rogues backing away trying to escape not that many were left. The pack seemed to take care of them and chased a few away. Aria and Reid were next to Ryker, who was now conscious, but a little disorientated. Callie’s wolf walks over and drops her head into my shoulder, sniffing me. I rub her furry head and she whimpers. All the wolves moving closer, their eyes gleaming red under the moonlight.
“What happened to them?” I ask Layla.
“They are like us now” She says, and I could hear how tired she was. It exhausted everyone, as they shifted and lay on the cool blood-soaked grass, their eyes turning back to their original colour.
“Well, seems like you have your own army of Hybrid wolves Lily” Aria says walking over with Arial and Lana in her arms. She sits down, leaning against me.
“How is that possible?” I ask turning to her, Damien turns, and I notice his shoulder has healed already.
“I don’t know, but your packs wolves are like you and Layla, I noticed they smelt a little different”
“But your pack isn’t hybrid” I state, confused.
“The only thing I could think of is, I was born Hybrid before becoming their Luna, so I never changed after my pack bond. You were Luna, which created the pack bond, then changed, affecting your pack. That’s the only thing I can think of” Aria says, stroking her daughter’s curly black locks. Amber walks over, flopping on the ground next to me naked.
“What next?” She says looking at Aria and I. Looking next to Damien, his father’s dead body lay still in the grass.
“We bury our dead” Aria and I say at the same time. Aria’s eyes darting over to Abel’s body. Making me realise he never got up. Before her eyes move to a ball in the distance. I watch as Reid walks over to it with Ryker. Ryker falls to his knees next to it.
“Poppy’s gone dad?” He says looking up at his father and I realise Aria lost her father too. Aria turns her head looking away from them and I can tell she is trying not to cry. Amber gets up, walking over and grabbing some torn clothes from the ground. She then walks over and drops the cloth over Abel’s severed head before picking it and taking it over to his body. Callie, Max and Tatum go to help remove his body, so Aria doesn’t have to see her father like that. I place my hand on her shoulder and feel her chest heave as she holds in her sobs. Damien gets up behind me before taking her girls and picking them up.
“Let’s go make some breakfast,” He tells them, placing them on his hip, heading toward the pack house. I see a couple of wolves from both packs start cleaning up the bodies, placing them beside the house out of view. Natalia heads inside after Damien. Aria and I both lay down, our heads beside each other on the grass.
“What a night?” Aria murmurs.
“I never thought Abel would die” I whisper.
“Everything dies eventually, there is always a loophole. I never thought you would be a Hybrid. Funny how the world works. Remind me to never go to war with your Pack. Now your pack’s wolves would be bloodthirsty,” She says, and I chuckle.
“I don’t feel hunger though, when Layla took over, I did”
“I don’t think we will ever know for sure the extent of the mutated genes. This all started with my father and a misunderstanding, I can’t believe it ended with his life though” She says gripping my hand. I squeeze hers back.
“The babies?” I ask. Her hand went to her stomach.
“They are fine, I can feel them moving and hear their heartbeats” She says, and I sit up looking down before placing my hand on her tiny baby bump. It feels hard under my palm.
“Can’t believe Ryker shifted” I tell her before something wriggles under my hand, making my eyes dart to it. I smile, realising it was my nephews.
“Reid will be so foul he still can’t feel it” She says beaming up at me.
Before her smile turns sad. “Ryker thought you were dead, that Brent killed you. I think that’s what caused his wolf to awaken. I thought they would be like me, with no wolf” She says, and I could see the concern behind her eyes for her son.
“He is going to make an excellent Alpha one day” I mutter, staring over at him and Reid who were sitting on the stairs. Reid’s arm draped over his shoulder as Ryker cried against him.
“We will be okay now, Ari, everything will be okay. Just need to keep moving forward,” I tell her, looking down at her. She looked so broken and feeling the loss of her pack, then her father, plus being pregnant. I don’t know how she held back her emotions, but I was glad because seeing her break would break me.