The Return of the Starnik
Chapter 10: Shadow's Time
Scott's P.O.V
"This is where the Starnik prophecy started." Everyone look around at the clearing in awe, this was the birthplace of the Starnik, the place it all started.
"I came running out of those bushes..." I said pointing to some to the edge of the tree line. "I then came running across when I saw the hunter with the gun and jumped in front of it to try a save your grandmother. As you can tell it didn't work and we both died." I added with a chuckle. Rosie then walked off to the right towards a large log just in the trees.
"And I was hiding in here." She said as she moved a small bush out the way to reveal a hole in the log in which she witnessed the entire event. Shadow, Lupa and Dakota all walked over to their mate and mother to examine the hole; it was only just big enough to fit a fully grown wolf.
"You two have been through so much here." Shadow said quietly as he nuzzled her neck.
"We have, but when we left and I met you, that all changed for the better." Rosie replied giving her mate a quick but passionate kiss.
"Sorry to split you guys up but we should head back, remember what Sarah said." I reminded.
"Ok." Rosie replied. With that, Dakota jumped us all back three at a time, to the SRC science block, back into the testing room we were in before. Only it was harder to see, the lights were red allowing us to see a little.
"What's going on?" Asked Shadow.
"No idea, come on let's find out." I said walking to the door. It was a little stiff but it opened after a good push. We walked down the glass corridor to find no-one was around, not one person.
"Where is everyone?" Rosie asked. The lights were the same here, red, must be some sort of emergency lighting. I reached out my mind looking around the block for anyone, I found none. So I reached further out past the science block.
"Found them, everyone's in the Canteen." I said come back to reality. It must be some sort of emergency so Dakota jumped us there to save time. When we arrived the canteen was full to the brim, everyone was here, security, counsellors, the pack, the empaths and other supernaturals. But the empaths were sat around their table everyone keeping their distance from everyone. Something was up.
I reached out for John and found him across the canteen. "Stay close." I said loudly over the voices of the others. They nodded in confirmation as we made our way through the crowd; nobody seemed to know what was going on. John finally came into view after a few moments of fighting our way through the crowd. "John!" I yelled getting his attention. He spun around and saw me waving. When we reached him I checked all the wolves were here which they were and then turned back to John. "What's going on?" I asked.
"Someone's cut out the main lights, we're dealing with it." John replied.
"What about the president?" I asked again.
"He's far away. He's going to come back in a few months to talk about rehabilitating you to the public." He answered. That was great, our first steps to completing the prophecy. I nodded with a smile in understanding and then told the wolves of the problem.
"We should go to the pack." Rosie yelled.
"Good idea." I answered. We fought our way back through the crowd and reached the pack towards the back of the hall near the empaths, they all had worried looks on their faces.
"Scott!" Lara yelled after seeing me.
"What's wrong?" I asked coming to the table.
"Kate's missing, she's not here. No one can find here!" She yelled worried. I became worried myself; I had a gut feeling something wasn't right, about the whole thing. I turned to Rosie and asked.
"Can you find Kate? I need to talk to them." I asked pointing over to the empaths. "Come over when you find her." I added. She nodded before looking to the ground slightly, zoning out of reality and reaching her mind out for Kate. I went over to the empaths but just as I was about to step over their taped border, I nearly forgot to block them out, I quickly did that and stepped over the line.
"Scott, you ok?" One of them asked.
"Yeah I'm fine; I just need your help with something."
"Sure anything." Another replied with a smile. I quickly spun around and yelled to Dakota over the crowd.
"Dakota! Can you jump back to the room and grab my bow and arrows!" He nodded and vanished. Just then Rosie came running over the line.
"I've found her, she's in the forest, but she's not moving! I don't know what's wrong, she could just be asleep." Rosie said sounding worried.
"What was it you needed from us Scott?" The empaths reminded.
"Oh sorry, I need you to find out if Kate's ok." I replied. I knew they had no idea who she was but they could find out if she was hurt or asleep.
"We can't reach out that far." One of them replied.
"Rosie can help, she's found her, Rosie will go into your mind and you can use her to lock in on Kate." I replied. Just then Dakota reappeared with my bow and quiver under his paw. I got up and walked over to the line, I clipped the side quiver to my belt checking it was securely fastened, and then placed the bow over my head before sitting back down on the table. Rosie and one of the empaths, Charlotte was still checking over Kate. Suddenly Charlotte screamed in bloody torture and clutched her side; Rosie as well screamed in agony and fell off the table nearly crying. The two instantly broke the connection to Kate and begun crying. The whole crowd in the canteen heard the commotion and turned to listen in, John came running through the crowd with his gun in hand.
"What's wrong?" He asked careful not to step over the line. I went over to Rosie and lifted her head; she was crying but seemed to be ok.
"Are you ok, what's happened?" I asked concerned. I looked past her and saw her family looking on from the other side of the line.
"She's hurt, real bad." She replied.
"What?" I asked again in disbelief. Then Charlotte spoke up from the other side of the table.
"She's hurt really badly; you need to get to her." She replied wiping away her tears. They both seemed to be fine now.
"Are you ok?" I asked checking over Rosie.
"I'm fine." She replied. I then turned to John.
"Kate's hurt, I'm going out to get her." I said getting up.
"I can't let you do that." John replied. I looked at him coldly, the first time I've had to do that.
"Kate is part of the pack, she is part of the family, now I'm going to get her and if you don't want me to you're going to have to shoot me." I replied getting up into his face. I knew he wouldn't, and I knew correctly as he placed his gun back inside his jacket.
"Fine but I'm coming with you." He said sounding defeated.
"Fine let's move" I said walking through the crowd who had moved out the way to form an aisle to the canteen exit. John, Rosie, Shadow, Lupa and Dakota all followed me out and once we were we ran down the corridors and out the sliding doors we sprinted into the forest. We didn't stop running as we ran through the forest. We followed Rosie who had her mind linked with Kate's so she could follow the signal she was getting off her.
"She's close!" Rosie yelled whilst running. I removed my bow ready to use just in case. We ran up a small hill and there she was, lying motionless on the floor, we all ran up to her to see what had happened. I fell to my knees and placed my hand under her head lifting it up. I noticed she had a bullet wound in her chest with a pool of crimson blood under her. It matted and glued her pure white fur.
"Kate what happened?" I asked with a small tear of worry in my eye. Rosie came round and was about to heal when Kate muttered.
"t...t...trap." Suddenly there was a loud crack of a gun, wherever it came from, it hit Kate straight in the chest again, killing her instantly. John removed his gun and frantically looked around for the source of the bullet.
"NO!" I screamed. A small trickle of blood leaked its way out of Kate's mouth. She was dead. "Rosie you can still bring her back!" I yelled frantically. Just then there was a sharp sting in my side, I let out a small grunt thinking I was shot or something, but no, it was far worse. I looked down to see it was a dart, containing a yellow liquid that quickly disappeared and into my body. I pulled it out and looked closer at it. My eyes widened in horror when I saw what it was, I looked at Rosie who looked just as scared as me. "Rosie run! Get as far away from me as possible!" I said.
"Scott I'm not leaving you!" She retaliated.
"GO!" I bellowed.
"Mom what's wrong?" Lupa asked concerned.
"Scott's been shot with a dart." She exclaimed taking small steps away from me.
"What's wrong with that?" John asked.
"These are the same darts the Ditori used on us to kill all those wolves back in the complex, it's a mind control drug. You need to go now and get everyone out of the SRC. And far away." I said getting to my feet and staring to walk further into the forest.
"Where are you going?" John asked.
"Getting as far away from everyone as I can, I could kill all of you." I replied. Then I felt the drug start to kick in, I began to feel light headed and my vision went blurry. "Please go!" I pleaded stumbling around.
"Scott please let us help you." Rosie pleaded.
"No please just go, I will kill every one of you. There's nothing you can do" I groaned feeling it take effect more. "Dakota get them out of here now!" I bellowed. He was a little hesitant at first but agreed. First he took his father and sister away. "John, you may need to kill me, please don't hesitate." I asked of him. I fell to my knees, I couldn't last much longer, but I was going to fight it for as long as I could. Dakota then reappeared for Rosie and John. "Dakota, remember the shark pool I told you about." I asked him through blurry eyes.
"Scott I can't do that." He replied.
"You can, and you may have to." I pleaded. I was about to pass out knowing that this was it. "Go, now!" I yelled. I could make out Dakota grab John and Rosie before disappearing. I groaned as I crawled to my feet and began running, well, more like stumbling deeper into the forest. The trees started to turn red, the sky orange, it felt like I was in a car repeatedly going around a roundabout. Gaps started to appear in my memory, I forgot the most simplest of things, all I knew was that I had to get away from the building. I began to sweat, trying to resist the drug's urge to take over. Eventually, I gave out. I fell to my knees and sat on my heels. There was nothing i could do, I was prepared to die if it came to it. Then I heard a voice behind me.
"Such a shame. They'll all be dead in a few hours." I knew who it was.
"Sam...you're still the same sick prick...I knew in high school." I replied in-between breaths.
"I may be, but what happened every time we bumped into each other...?" He asked coming right into my face. "I always won." Then everything went black.
Rosie's P.O.V
"Go now!" Scott bellowed at us fearful he might hurt us. Before I could retaliate Dakota grabbed me and John and jumped us back to the canteen. John immediately climbed onto a table and yelled.
"Everyone, quiet please." It took a moment but everyone eventually listened to what he had to say. "We have a situation so we need everyone to leave the building now and head to the town, I need a few people to stay behind to help keep the threat back." He finished.
"What is the threat?!" Someone asked from the crowd.
"Scott is. He has been given a mind control drug and is on his way to kill us; he's out in the forest probably on his way right now." John said pointing out the window towards the forest. "I need everyone to leave now!"
"Who gave him the drug?" Another yelled. I decided to speak up.
"A group of people who have been after us for years, they somehow found where we are and have shot him with the drug, now he's coming to kill us all. Just remember, it's not him doing it, he has no control over his actions!" I yelled out my thoughts trying to defend him saying that he was doing this against his will. Suddenly there was a loud creak and groan, it was coming from the building itself. Something was putting a lot of pressure on it, actually weakening it. I knew exactly what was happening. I looked up at John with a scared and frantic look. "John, he's here!"
"Everyone out now!" He bellowed. Everyone took his orders and without hesitation ran out the doors. Suddenly the window smashed and a long thin object came straight through and into John. He fell off the table landing with a thud. I ran to his side and saw it was an arrow! I quickly took hold of the arrow in my mouth and yanked it out, cries of pain escaped his lips, I then healed as much of the wound as possible, just enough to form a scab so it wouldn't bleed, I didn't have time to heal him fully.
"We need to hold him back so everyone has time to escape." I yelled over the screams of the terrified crowd trying to get through the small doors.
"Got it." He replied getting up.
"I'll help." A voice said from behind. I spun around and saw it was the firestarter, Michael.
"Are you sure?" I asked. He just smiled as a response. He then looked behind me and his eyes widened with fear I spun around to see the broken, razor sharp shards of glass rising off the floor, Scott was still nowhere in sight but he was obviously doing this. The hundreds of pieces slowly picked themselves off the ground like the gravity had been switched off. Suddenly it was like they had a mind of their own as they quickly darted across the canteen straight towards John, Michael and I. I closed my eye's waiting for death to come, but it didn't, for I opened my eyes to see a green transparent shield inches in front of us blocking the glass reducing them to pieces the size of sand. I completely forgot the kids were here, I needed to get them out of here. I looked back at the door and saw the crowd as no longer there. "They're out, let's go!" I yelled knowing what would happen if we stayed. Everyone nodded in agreement and ran for the door, but we were stopped when all six of us were picked up, thrown and pinned against the wall by some force. We all hit with a bang, we were stuck to the wall unable to move.
"Scott let us go!" I yelled. Then he appeared from the window. He stepped over the glass and slowly walked over to us, I could see in his eyes anger and rage as well as the Starnik energy flowing around them, that wasn't him. "Scott fight it!" I yelled in a desperate attempt which was futile, he just continued walking towards us with a neutral face, showing no emotion what so ever. Suddenly a fire appeared just in front of him making him reel back; as a result we fell to the ground, now free to move. Michael had him surrounded with fire making a kind of cage, the heat was burning hot for us but it had to be worse for him in there.
Before I could react I found myself standing in the town, everyone else from the SRC standing around talking and fearing what is going on. "How did I get here?" I thought. Then just in front of me appeared Dakota with Michael and Lupa. He fell to the ground holding his head in pain, he must have jumped far too much today and it was taking its toll, he wasn't screaming in pain, just whining a little still standing. "Why did you bring us here?!" I yelled at him.
"I had to or he would have killed us." He replied a little fearful at how I yelled at him. Shadow ran to my side.
"Don't yell at him, he was protecting us!" He yelled back defending his son. I then snapped out of my angered trance and looked at him.
"I know, I'm sorry honey." I said placing a paw on his shoulder.
"It's ok, I understand." Dakota replied with a smile. I looked around at the crowd who were all watching us wondering what we were doing here. Then there was a bloodcurdling howl in the distance coming from the SRC, it was Scott.
"He's coming!" I exclaimed. "John he'll be here any minute. We need everyone to get out of here!" I said turning to john. He nodded and turned back to the crowd.
"I need everyone to get in a building and stay there, now!" He bellowed. Nobody waited another moment and ran for the nearest shop to take cover. "I need all security to take cover somewhere and prepare to attack. Rosie I need you, your family and Michael to be the front line, hold him back." He said dashing off behind the fountain. Everyone was genuinely scared of Scott now, even me. I turned back to Shadow.
"Shadow, I need you to hide, please." I asked pleading.
"I'm your mate; I took a vow to be by your side forever." He responded with a smile.
"No I ca…" I didn't have time to finish as he pushed himself onto me and kissed me on the lips. It lasted a few moments until he pulled away.
"Till death do us part." He added with another smile. I knew I couldn't convince him.
"Stay close." I replied and gave him a peck on the lips again before walking out to the middle of the town with Michael, Shadow, Lupa and Dakota, all of us in a line. What was I thinking? I was putting my family in danger, what kind of mother am I?! We waited for him to come round the corner. John and his men were spaced around and behind the fountain in cover, guns drawn. Then just around the corner there was a flash of green, it must be him turning back from his wolf form I thought, no wonder he got here so quick. It was then he stepped around the corner and stood 30ft from us just staring with dark eyes and an evil expression. There was a deathly silence, around the town, I could sense all the towns' civilians and SRC workers hiding and watching in the shops fearful of what could happen. I stepped forward 10ft to confront him.
"Scott, snap out of it. This isn't you, this is your body, and you control your body." I yelled across the town.
"I am in control of my body." He replied evilly. "And I can control yours." He added with a dark smile. Suddenly before I could react, he threw his arms out Apexing me; I flew back over everyone's heads and into the fountain. A loud crack came from my back as I hit the top of the fountain and fell into the water. I screamed in pain, unable to move, luckily the water wasn't deep so I didn't drown. Shadow came running up to me.
"Are you ok?" He asked fearing the worst. Another loud crack came from my spine as it snapped back into place.
"Yeah I'm fine, that's the second time he's broken my back." I replied. He smiled and leaned in to kiss me but before he could he was pulled away and launched across the clearing towards Scott. "NO!" I screamed jumping out the water and running back to the others. I watched as Scott had Shadow levitating beside him, he tried lashing out at him but he was too far away. He was dropped to the fall and he tried running back towards us, but it was like he was kept there, his paws were moving, but he wasn't going anywhere. Lupa and Dakota watched in horror as their father was in the hands of a monster. Lupa took a few steps forward desperate to do something and Dakota vanished. He then appeared behind Scott and jumped on his back and biting into his neck. Scott let out a scream of pain but easily threw him off and to the side. Shadow was still seemingly pinned on the ground and lashing out, whimpering in fear for losing his son. Scott pulled off his bow and with lightening speed drew an arrow and fired it at Dakota. But Lupa was quicker throwing up a shield in front of him stopping the projectile in his path. But she wasn't quick enough for what happened next. I was in a state of panic, i didn't know what to do, I couldn't hurt my friend, but I couldn't let my mate and children die. Scott then pulled out a second arrow, but in stead of shooting someone, he knelt down to Shadow's level and looked deep into his eyes for a moment before driving it into Shadow's chest who screamed in pain. Once again I screamed but this time it made a shockwave throwing Scott off him and away a few feet. He spun uncontrollably in the air before slamming against the ground several feet away and breaking the connection he had on Shadow who slumped to the ground. I ran towards my mate to help, I wasn't too late to heal him, but was instantly thrown away again as Scott quickly scrambled to his feet. Dakota tried to jump to his father but was too thrown into the wall of a building being knocked unconscious with a swipe of his hand.
Scott ran towards us but was stopped as a wall of fire blocked his path; I looked up to see Michael focusing on him. I turned back to Scott who was standing in the ring of fire desperately trying to get out. Suddenly Michael was thrown away as well but landed in the fountain therefore breaking his concentration. The fire disappeared but left a small flame around Scott. He then came running out of the fire screaming for blood. I then heard John yell behind me.
"Open fire!" I threw myself at Lupa tackling her to the ground as bullets soared over head. I watched as the bullets flew directly at Scott but stopped just before they hit him in mid air. When the firing stopped, the hundreds of bullets molded together forming a giant metal ball, Scott then Apexed it straight into the fountain reducing it to rubble; many pieces fell onto the men hiding behind it and were either crushed underneath it or showered with concrete rain. Some ran for their lives and others were not quick enough. He used it like a wrecking ball, smashing buildings and other structures around, endangering the lives of the civilians inside. This has to end!
I ran at Scott screaming and launched myself at him, I landed on his chest pinning him to the ground. I then snarled in his face and was about to bite into his throat, ending his murderous rampage. But how I could, I grew up with him, we lived together, and in a friendly kind of way I loved him, and I knew he did to. I looked into his eyes and saw the man I grew up with many years ago. This wasn't Scott; this was the Ditori messing with his head. There was a moment as I looked in his eyes; I could see they were no longer full of rage, but of sadness, loss and I could see he wanted this to end, it was like he was really in there and could see everything that was happening, but I knew he couldn't. It was like I was looking at the real Scott, not this shell.
Suddenly I was thrown again in the air and back towards the fountain, but this time I landed on a shield Lupa made, softening my fall. I landed on my feet and thanked my daughter. I then turned my attention on Scott who for some reason went back to Shadow picking him up in his arms and started walking over to us, he stared at us with an evil smile, like he was showing off his trophy. Then for some bizarre reason he fell to his knees and looked down to the ground, why was he acting like this? Michael, John, his men and everyone else were still hiding ready to act if need be, Dakota was still unconscious and Shadow was…
I watched as was acting funny. He then lifted his head and looked around, he didn't seem to noticed us, he looked around at the destruction and then at Shadow in his arms. He then went wide eyed at the sight. "Scott?" I asked stepping forward; he looked up at me with water in his eyes.
"Rosie?" He replied.
"Scott is that you?" I asked checking it wasn't some trick.
"Yeah it's me, get here quick!" He yelled. I knew instantly he was back. I ran crying with Lupa beside me to him and Shadow, Scott placed his hand on his neck then on his chest. "He's not breathing." He said in shock. "It's not too late; you can bring anyone back two minutes after death!" He added scared for what he might have done, I couldn't believe it. He was dead!
"Lupa go check your brother!" I yelled. I didn't want her to see this. Reluctantly she ran to the unconscious Dakota. Scott pulled the arrow out from Shadow's chest, a river of blood flowing from the punctured wound; the arrow went all the way through and out the other side. I placed both my paws on the wound and tried to heal it, I was waiting for the light to appear, but it didn't.
"Come on heal him!" Scott yelled.
"I'm trying, it's not working!" I yelled frantically back. Everyone came out of their hiding place and made a large circle around us, john and his men still had their guns drawn. I frantically tried to heal his wound, but still to not success.
"Rosie..." Scott said quietly. I knew what he was trying to say so I ignored him. I went through every memory I had trying to find the most potent, none worked. "Rosie it's too late." He said crying and taking my paws in his hands.
"No its not!" I yelled angry that he would say that and hitting his hands away hard and trying again.
"Mom?" I heard, I looked to the left of me to see Lupa and Dakota coming out of the crowd.
"Why isn't dad healing?" Lupa added. I didn't want to say it or think it. I looked up at Scott who was still cradling Shadow's body with tears streaming like a river down his cheek. I removed my paws and willingly let the tears flow, I them turned to them and pulled them both into a hug; they knew exactly why I did that, they knew what had happened. They both planted their faces into my shoulders and wept away. I looked up at the crowd and saw they were all upset, some were crying and others giving dirty looks at Scott for everything he did. Slowly they all began to disperse to go home, return to the SRC or tend to the wounded.
"Rosie I'm so sorry." Scott pleaded. I released my children and turned back to Scott who gently placed Shadow on the ground. I then pulled him into a hug.
"It wasn't your fault, it was them." I whispered. I didn't want to even say the name they were so evil. I pulled away as he looked at the kids.
"Guys I'm so sorry." He wept. They didn't answer; they were too busy crying into each others fur.
"Rosie we need you!" I heard. I spun around to see John waving his hand. I left the three alone and walked over to him. He wanted me to heal some of the wounded which I did, some like Shadow I was too late for, others came back. Afterwards I padded back to the others who were still grieving. Lupa and Dakota were lying beside their father crying over the loss of their father, and Scott was sat up curled into a ball crying into his knees. He must feel so bad, he did all this and killed over 10 people, and he had no control over his actions. He was going through a repeat of what happened back in "their" complex, but only now it was ten times worse, for he had killed a member of the family.
"Come one guys, we need to go." I said trying to hold back the tears, i had to be brave. Slowly they arose to their paws and Scott got up to his feet.
"Can't we bury him?" Lupa asked wiping away tears but only to be replaced by more.
"Of course, and I know the perfect place. Let's go home." I replied. Everyone turned and begun walking towards the SRC. "No, our real home." I added. Dakota nodded in understanding and took me and Shadow's bloody body first then vanished and reappeared moments later with a destroyed Scott and Lupa. I thought it would be best to bury him here, he grew up in this den, he's lived in it since he was born, this should have been the place he died, so the least we could do was rest his body here. After his parents were killed when he was young he buried them to the side of the den so they were always close to him. Scott picked his body up and followed us around the side of his den. He then placed it down and we all begun digging a hole beside his mom's grave. Everyone took it in turns to dig, we swapped when the other felt tired and continued the cycle. After 20 minutes of digging and crying in between we were done, Scott placed his body gently in the hole and stood back. We then all pushed all the dirt back over the grave, concealing his body under the dirt.
Now he was covered, a bump in the earth marked where he was buried beside his mother and father. We all sat back and looked at the grave; Scott walked away for a moment and came back with two sticks and a small thin vine. As he was doing something with them all I broke the silence. "Does anyone have anything to say?" I asked nearly whispering. Nobody moved but eventually Dakota was the first to stand, he walked over to the grave and sat just in front of it.
"Dad, I will never forget you. You taught me how to hunt, track and be a caring brother. I will use everything you taught me to make sure nothing happens to our family. I swear on your grave that I will never let anything happen to them. I love you dad." He finished before he stepped away, tears falling from his face. Lupa then stood up and approached the grave.
"Dad, I was your little girl, when you told me you never wanted to see me leave, you called me "daddy's little girl". You thought I never liked it, but I really did; it's something I will remember about you, I really did like it. I will always be your little girl, even when I'm old and grey. I love you so much." She finished. She then returned next to her brother and started crying again, Dakota wrapped his forepaws around her and let her cry into his fur. I saw Scott was still playing with the sticks making something, so I decided to go next.
"Shadow, you are my mate, and I say are because no matter where in the world you are, you always will be. The day I met you, you asked me if I was a falling star, you are the sweetest wolf I've ever known. Together we had two beautiful pups that grew to be two wonderful wolves. You got to see them grow and you were there for them. The day I married you, you vowed to never leave me, even in death. I still hold you to your word; I never want you to leave me. I Love you Shadow." I finished. I fell to the ground on the spot and began crying. I then felt a hand on my back, followed by a voice.
"Shadow, although I only met you a week ago, I'm happy to call you my family. I want to thank you for making Rosie happy over the years. You two were perfect for each other." Scott said. He then reached over the grave and put something in the ground. It was a cross which he made out of the twigs and vine. "You should have died here, in the place you were born, I'm sorry your death was at my hands. I shouldn't have come looking for Rosie, your life was perfect here with your family, if I hadn't come, then you'd still be here in your den living a happy life. Your blood will stain my hands forever and I shall never forget what I did to you. I hope that wherever you are, you are in no pain and with your family. I'm making you a promise, I swear on your body that I will find the Ditori and kill every last one of them. I will not rest until they're all dead. Goodbye." He finished. He started to cry so I pulled him into a hug and we both cried into each others shoulder. Everyone was crying into each others shoulders. I motioned for the kids to come over which they did and we all cried together. "Guys I am so sorry." Scott pleaded again. Everyone pulled away from the hug and looked at him.
"It wasn't your fault." Lupa replied hugging him, he didn't answer, but he gladly accepting the hug.
"Did you really mean that? Going after them?" Dakota asked. He released us from his grip and answered.
"Of course, they made me do something I can never take back. I will not rest until I see every last one of them dead in a pool of their own blood." He exclaimed proudly. I was shocked to hear this, he's never been like this, and it must have really changed him. Before he never wanted to kill, then there was the Kalispell incident, then the Ditori and now this, he was out for blood, he has never broken a promise and I knew he would never break this one.
"Why don't we go home?" I asked. Everyone nodded in agreement, but not before saying their finally goodbyes to Shadow, and with that Dakota took us back to the SRC. He could take us all back in one trip now as he had one less to jump. We arrived at the room; we didn't want to talk to anyone yet.
"Does anyone want a bath? We're all kind of dirty." Scott asked. I looked at myself and then at the kids, we had dirt and blood deep in our fur and Scott was just as messy.
"Sure, good idea." I replied trying to put on a smile. He placed his bow and arrows on the couch and walked into the bathroom to warm the water up. He came out three minutes later asking.
"Who's first?" I wanted to get Shadows blood off me quickly so I hopped off the couch and into the bathroom. I placed a paw in the water testing the temperature before jumping in, the warm water ran it's fingers through my fur, it was so nice, it only went up to my stomach but it was still a good feeling. Scott walked in as I laid down in the bath wetting all my fur. I watched as the water started to turn a mixture of black and red from the dirt and blood. I then stood up so he could scrub my fur. He put some shampoo along my back and using his fingertips dug them deep into my fur to get the smell of blood and the sight dirt out. He scrubbed along my back, sides, neck, legs, chest and belly. Doing my belly was a little awkward for the both of us but we didn't care, we'd both talked about stuff like this before, plus we had been through a lot in the last few days so something this minor didn't matter. After he was done I laid back in the bath letting the water flow over my back, he then rubbed me all over to remove the shampoo which didn't take long. I then jumped out and shook dry, and he finished me off with a towel before draining the bath of the dirty water. When he was done he let me go and told me to let the others know it was there turn. As I walked out he started the bath again, I saw Lupa and Dakota on the couch talking quietly to themselves.
"He's ready for the next one?" I said approaching them trying to put on a smile. Lupa jumped off the sofa and tapped her way to the bathroom.
Scott's P.O.V
Lupa walked in to the bathroom just as the bath was ready. She jumped in and soaked her body in the warm water letting out a relaxed hum. "Nice is it?" I asked.
"It's the first time I've had a warm bath." She replied glumly. I noticed she had wet streaks running down her eyes and down her cheeks from the amount she was crying. After a moment of relaxing a little, she stood up and let me put the shampoo on. I massaged it into her fur which she enjoyed a lot and afterwards she soaked her self again under the water as I scrubbed it out, the water wasn't that bad so I decided to leave it in for Dakota. Like her mom, she bounded out, shook dry and let me finish her of with a towel. She thanked me for the bath and went out to get Dakota who came in a few moments later. He jumped in and lay in the warm water for a moment.
"I want to come with you." He said standing up. I looked at him confused as I put the shampoo on his back.
"What do you mean?" I asked.
"I want to come with you to kill those bastards." He replied. I was a little shocked he swore like that.
"No, you can't, your mom wouldn't allow it. She'd kill me." I answered.
"She doesn't have to know. They killed my dad, not you. I want to see their blood just as much as you." He said. I just finished his back and sides and moved on to his chest, I didn't go any further down as that would be really weird for both of us. He laid down in the bath as I scrubbed it out.
"Fine, but you listen to me. Got it?" I replied giving in.
"I promise." He said standing up and jumping out. He shook dry as I finished him with a towel.
"When are we going?" He asked.
"Tomorrow. As soon as possible when they least expect it." I replied finishing him.
"Thanks for the bath" He said stepping out. Finally now it was my turn, I pulled the plug and undressed. When the bath was empty I started the shower, I watched as the blood on my hands dripped off into the bath beneath me and down the drain. Shadow's blood will always be on my hands, maybe not physically, but it will be mentally. I furiously scrubbed my body to get every speck of dirt and blood off. I then washed my hair and stepped out drying myself off. I then wrapped the towel around my waist and walked out through the lounge and into the bedroom to get changed. After that, I stepped back out into the living room and saw the family all talking on the couch. I couldn't believe I did that to them, I took away a loving mate, father and friend from them, I would never forgive myself. I walked up to the family and sat on the chair opposite the table. Everyone had bloodshot eyes from the amount of crying we had done, they weren't crying now though, they were trying to be strong for each other. I looked over at the time to see it was 11:55pm.
"Why don't we head to bed?" I asked. Everyone nodded in agreement; we were all tired and have been through a lot, especially them. We walked into the bedroom, Dakota and Lupa got into their beds and snuggled close together, but closer then normal seeking comfort from one another, Rosie was about to get into hers, but when she saw that she would be sleeping alone for the first time she turned and jumped on my bed beside me.
"Do you mind?" She asked.
"Not at all." I replied getting under the covers. I lay on my side and Rosie lay against my chest, she pushed her nose under my arm wanting me to put it over her which I let her. She then rested her head on the pillow beside me.
"Mom, can we come up there?" I heard a voice ask. She lifted her head to look over the bed.
"Of course guys." She replied patting the bed. "You ok with it?" She asked turning back at me.
"Of course." I answered. Lupa and Dakota jumped on the bed, Lupa went up to her mom and laid against her chest like Rosie was with me, but Rosie brought her tail round and placed it over her as a kind of blanket. I turned on my back as Dakota came on the right side of me and curled up by my other side, resting his head on my chest. "Good night guys." He whispered.
"Good night." Everyone replied in unison. Everyone fell asleep very quickly that night. Dakota and I had a plan to leave unnoticed and rampage through the Ditori's complex. We wanted blood, and we were going to get it.