Randy stood over John, petting his head to let him know they were done.
"Remember this the next time you don't want to listen," Randy said softly, his words for Evan. With a last affectionate ruffle of John's hair, he turned and walked away, leaving the mates alone.
Once he was sure Randy was gone, Evan went to John and dropped down to his knees and wrapped his arms around him.
"I'm sorry," Evan murmured, burying his face in John's neck. "I know it doesn't mean anything, but I am."
"It means something," John assured him, rubbing his hand down Evan's back before hugging him. "I want you to be happy, Ev; but this thing with Sabin and Shelley, you need to settle it."
"I know I do," Evan said softly, taking a deep breath. "I'm going to apologize to them; especially Shelley. He didn't deserve what I said about him. And after I saw Wade again, I knew it. I was just scared, I guess... I don't know."
John hugged him one more time before he stood up and helped Evan to his feet. "Come on, let's get back to the others."
As they walked, Evan glanced out the corner of his eye at the nasty bruise that was along the right side of John's face. "Your face," he murmured. "I'm sorry."
"What, this?" John asked, tapping a finger on the bruise and laughing. "It's nothing; as soon as I Change, it'll heal."
"Well, Change then," Evan said, stopping in his tracks. "I don't like seeing you all bruised -especially when it's my fault."
"I can't; it's against pack law," John explained at the confused look on his mate's face. He reached over and tugged on Evan's hand to get him to start walking again. "If I healed myself as soon as I got punished, it wouldn't be much of a lesson, would it? I have to stay like this until I'm healed normally -or a half hour passes."
Evan nodded; it did make sense and he could see the point of it. He kept his hand in John's, trying to figure out how he was going to apologize to Alex.
Randy walked back into the clearing, shaking his head when he saw Mike and Shelley playing catch with one of the dead vampires' head. He supposed he should stop them, but he let it go. They deserved a little down time after the stress of the last couple days.
He could see Justin and Cody coming back from Sabin and Shelley's house, their heads close together as the snickered about something; Dan and Josh were a couple feet behind them and Josh was laughing at something Dan was saying to him.
Randy smiled when he noticed Dan tilting his head to the side and a familiar gleam enter his eyes. Even as he was smirking about it, Randy reminded himself to tell Dan and Josh that they weren't on guard duty any more.
Chris spotted Randy and wandered over by him, smiling a little.
"Doesn't take much to amuse them," Randy murmured. He scanned the clearing, his eyes lingering on Wade's prone body.
"Could you imagine if those two needed anything more complicated then that to entertain themselves?" Chris said, wincing. "It's too horrifying to contemplate."
Randy opened his mouth but closed it when he noticed the maniacal gleam in Mike's eye and the devious smile curling Alex's lips. Chris was right, he decided. He didn't want to think about it, even briefly.
Justin wrapped himself around Randy's waist, resting his head on his mate's shoulder. Randy dropped a kiss on the top of his hair, raising an eyebrow at the smirk on Cody's face.
"Yes, Codes?" Randy asked, moving his arm to place it on Justin's shoulder.
"Oh, nothing," Cody said, innocently. He glanced over his shoulder as everyone started moving towards them, Alex dropping the head in the pile before he went to go stand next to Chris. "It's nice to see you not being surly for once."
Randy felt Justin tense for a second before he relaxed when he didn't say anything. Cody grinned up at him, confident in his place as Randy's friend and all around pet of the pack.
"I'm going to tell Ted to keep you on a shorter leash," Randy told him, playfully punching his shoulder.
"Either that, or keep your mouth too full to say much of anything," Jay said, snickering at the glare Cody leveled him with. "Give it up, Cody; it's like having a squirrel try to scare me, it's not going to work."
"Oh, just for that, I'm telling Teddy," Cody pouted, trying to keep from smiling.
"Tell me what?" Ted drawled as he walked up with Adam. Cody immediately wrapped himself around the bigger wolf and rubbed his face against Ted's chest.
Recognizing Cody's tactics, Ted rolled his eyes even as he put his arm around Cody. "Teddy, Jay said I was -"
There was a groan from nearby as Wade started moving. Instantly, there was a chorus of growls as mates were shoved behind the dominants and claws and fangs came out.
In two seconds, Randy had Wade by his throat, holding him up off the ground.
"You," Randy snarled, his clutching convulsively on the vampire's throat, his caws slicing through his skin, making blood pour down his arm. "You should have just stayed away."
Wade's mouth opened, but he couldn't really saying anything. After a minute of trying, he managed to spit out, "Mine. They're...mine."
Randy growled again, this one gaining in volume until anyone a few hundred yards away would've heard it. His eyes turned green and he lost control enough that a thin sheen of fur spread over his body. He shuddered when Ted put his hand on his shoulder and Chris touched his side.
Taking a deep breath, he controlled himself enough that his eyes stayed wolf, but the fur disappeared back inside his skin, receding almost like a wave at a beach.
"Ted," Randy said, motioning his second with his head to the pile of bodies. Ted nodded and grabbed the lighter from Cody, dropping a kiss on his forehead before he walked over to the pile. After adding some sticks and a few leaves, he crouched down and after a minute, a few flames started; steadily getting bigger as the fire ate more and more oxygen.
Randy slowly walked closer to the blaze, watching Wade panic and start fighting to get loose. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Chris and Alex's instinctive flinch as they got closer; but other then Chris putting his hand on the back of Alex's neck briefly, they didn't falter.
"You should have stayed away," Randy repeated, his own fury clear. "You'd still have your life; trust me when I tell you that this going to hurt more then anything you've ever felt before.
"And, you can also believe that I'm going to enjoy every second of it," Randy snarled before he dropped Wade into the bonfire, where he immediately caught on fire.
The pack stood with their Alpha, until Wade's screams stopped, until the fire burned itself out. Dawn was just streaking through the sky, and it was a somber group that turned and headed for their respective houses.
