My ears are ringing. I can't even see straight, but I'm pushing myself up onto my hands and knees because I have to. There's no way. No way that I'm about to lose a second brother, especially not before keeping my promise to the first. I'm staggering. My knees are screaming at me to quit being an idiot and sit down but I can't. My heart is telling me to keep going, and that's the only thing I'm listening to right now.
I whipped all around the room, looking for Adam but I couldn't find him. Something shoves against me, heavy, dark paws; teeth are being bared inches away from my face, saliva dripping onto my neck. I'm too hazy to pick up on whose scent it is, whose growl is rumbling in my ears right now. I'm too weak to fight back again, and as I lay on the pile of debris in my dining room, a gigantic beast pinning me down, I start to think of all the reasons for why I deserve to die. The Pack's voices are blending into one fearful, loud mixture as more blood splatters across my chest this time, a heavy paw shoving down on my chest so hard that my breastbone cracks, my heart thudding violently before continuing at a dangerously low pace. I'm dying. I deserve to. I let Sam go. I let my family go through Hell for someone who can't even protect them because she's too weak. The heavy paws are removed, and there's silence. Nets are being thrown everywhere, whimpering filling my ears as I try to figure out who's died first.
I pray it isn't Embry. My entire body burns at the idea of living without him. Must be a good thing I'm dying then. There's more yelping from my Pack, some violent hissing and then Eli's voice is ringing through the walls, clear and human. It's gone soon. I'm empty. I'm alone.
The house is deathly silent. I can't move. Not even for a second. I feel heavy. For the second time in my life, I wish I wasn't part werewolf. Sadly, sickeningly, I can feel my bones starting to snap themselves back into place. How much time has passed? How many lives were just ended? One second I was living in bliss, waking up next to a God, and now I'm here, laying in a pile of rubble like some pathetic leech.
I winced as my breastbone popped upwards, the pressure on my heart instantly released. The muscle started thudding rapidly again, springing back to life as it pumped hungrily, my body desperate for blood and oxygen. A gasp flies past my lips, and I realize it's the first sound I've made since my fall from the second floor.
Am I here now, or was that later? Has anything changed? I'm rambling in my head through two different tenses, the time undetectable. I rolled over to my side, coughing lightly, dust and debris flying outwards all around me for a moment as my entire body coils and recoils, my muscles breathing lightly. I took a look around the room, my eyebrows knitted together as the scene unraveled in front of me.
Almost everything was destroyed. Mom's glass cabinet, the dining room table. A mass of blonde tangled hair laid underneath what was left of our table, a thin copper arm sticking out from underneath the wood. I shuddered. The Austrian-Crystal chandelier was in ruins on the wood floor, the windows all busted through. Broken windowpanes and drywall littered the floor, half of the boards torn up on the ground anyways.
"Mom?" I yelled, looking around. There was no answer. No nothing. "MOM?" I tried again, pulling myself out from underneath a few ceiling tiles. I stood to my feet, my breath catching as I caught my reflection in a thick sheet of broken glass. I was covered in dark blood, the sticky substance slightly matting my hair, scrawling across my chest and torso. Then I remembered whose it was.
I ran around what was left of my demolished house, checking any room that was left for signs of my brother. There was no trace of anything. Every scent was gone. Every sound was gone, every God damn print was gone. I had no trail. I had no family.
The overwhelming sense of isolation washed over me as I realized I had no one left. It meant that Embry was gone. Dad was gone. Adam was gone. I had no Pack. No family. What was I going to tell Melissa? Would she even want to look at me again? For letting my brother, the love of her life, fall prey to a man who'd only wanted ME all along? I'd never seen an Imprint lose their soul mate, and the very idea of it sent a chill down my spine. It'd be torture. Hell. The very THOUGHT of living without Embry set every nerve in my body on fire, each muscle shaking slightly at the idea. Who knows what it'd be like if he was really gone.
It can't be true. I would've felt something. Would've heard him, would've winced at the instant snap that would've thrust itself against every fiber of my being as the rubber band that kept us together was snipped in half. No. He was still alive. He had to be.
My head snapped up at the sound of rustling boards in the living room. My body tensed immediately, my senses tingling although they were still matted with a thick, sleepy haze that I couldn't put my finger on. There was more clattering as I rounded the corner, stalking as if I were out on the hunt.
There was a black hole developing in my chest, hatred boiling in the pit of my stomach as I readied myself to unleash nothing short of Hell on whoever was stupid enough to linger behind after that wave of leeches had washed over my house and taken my family. I crouched to the ground, my eyes flaring as the top of a debris pile shifted slightly, something doing its best to get out.
A large, copper hand shoved its way through the debris, my instincts shutting off immediately. I bolted towards the pile, ripping away large chunks of rock and ceiling tile. Collin's torso pushed its way to the top of the debris, his fist shoving our flatscreen away from his shoulder as he shook dust out of his hair. Immediately I threw my arms around him, his hot hands clinging tightly to my back as I did so.
"YOU'RE ALIVE!" I screamed, happy to see one of my members still breathing. Collin nodded, kissing the side of my hair as he held me.
"God, I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry Kitty."
"What the Hell happened?" I demanded frantically, pulling away from him to remove more of the debris.
"I don't even remember half of it," He groaned, running a free hand through his messy hair before shoving away more debris. He crawled out of the pile as I tossed him a pair of salvaged shorts, sliding down against the wall once he was dressed. "There were only three of us awake at the time. Me, Michael and Brady. Your Mom had gone to Sue's, and we were trying to find something to eat without burning the house down and then….boom."
"Boom?" I asked, sitting next to him slowly.
"Boom. They hit us like a wrecking ball," he pulled his knees up to his chest and hung his head. "There was a knock at the door and Brady went to go open it. Next thing we know, he's flying through the kitchen door, half his jaw dislocated." I winced at the idea of that, my eyes flickering towards one of our shattered living room windows. The sky was shining silver, reflecting off Collin's copper skin.
"You didn't smell them?"
"No, and that's the worst fucking part. We didn't even hear them coming."
"Why not?"
"They used a human," he swallowed thickly, looking at me darkly. "Some college girl from the village."
My eyes flickered back to the dining room, eying the mass of blonde hair that I'd spotted earlier. Ice trickled through my body.
"Everybody's gone." I murmured horrified, glancing around the ruined house once more. Collin shook his head.
"I don't think so."
"What do you mean?" I asked giving him a confused look. He rested his chin on his arms.
"If they'd wanted to kill everyone, they would've just done it here. There'd be blood everywhe-" he stopped short, eying my shirt.
"It's not mine." I murmured, my throat closing slightly. Collin leaned in, sniffing lightly before leaning back again, nodding like he understood. I shot him an angry look, which he responded to with a confused one.
"What?"
"Don't you know whose this is?"
"Yeah? So?" he demanded, knitting his eyebrows together. Realization dawned on his face seconds later. "No, no, no, Kitty, you don't understand," he explained, shaking his head furiously. "Like I said, if Adam was dead, he'd be here, not missing."
"So what's this all about?"
"Whoever it was that came for us, one of the Children came with them."
"Eli?"
"The girl."
"Bitch…" I muttered bitterly, Collin nodding in agreement.
"She looked like she was going for your room, so when Embry took her out Adam threw his blood all over you and snapped that little breastbone of yours."
"Why the Hell would he-…."
Collin smirked as I realized what had happened. Adam wasn't attacking me, he was saving my life. The abnormally slow heartbeat, the mass of blood. Any leech would've seen me and assumed I was dead or dying, far beyond saving. They'd wanted me to stay behind when they were taken.
"We have to go after them." I stated quietly, sitting Indian style.
"Are you insane? There is no 'we'." Collin shot.
"There's always been a 'we', Collin, that's the reason I was left behind! So they had someone to come back for them!"
"I'm going, you're staying."
"Not a chance. I'm coming with you."
"You were left behind for a chance to get away!"
"Get away to where?" I demanded, shooting to my feet. Collin stood, wincing as he stretched his shoulder.
"You gotta leave, kid," he sighed, looking me dead in the eye. "That was the plan all along."
"What?"
"Nothing…forget it alright?" Collin grabbed my shoulder with one hand and cupped my face with the other. "Listen to me. The only reason we've done what we've done is so you have a chance to get out. Leave the country. Leave the continent. Get on the next experimental spaceship to Mars. Just please, leave."
"Would you leave if it was me out there?" I challenged quietly, matching his gaze. Collin sighed and shook his head slowly. "Exactly."
"Arbor you're insane. I have no plan, I have no back up and I have no way to fight off an army of leeches on my own. You're insane to follow me."
"You're insane to think I'd stay behind." I shrugged. Collin groaned and pulled away from me, running his hands over his face before leaning against the wall and crossing his arms.
"So what, we just go after them with no strategy?"
"When have we ever had a strategy?"
"EVERYTIME WE-"
"When have we ever had a strategy that worked?"
Collin shot me a dirty look, but he knew he was defeated. If we'd made it this far without ever having a quality battle plan, we could go a little farther. Our family was worth it.
"Embry's gonna kill me when he sees that I've let you come."
"Good, you still think they're alive. Partner in crime, check. Great battle spirit, check."
"Battle plan, not check…." Collin grumbled shoving away from the wall. He looked at me and ran a hand through his hair again. "You really up for this?"
"Is that even a valid question?"
"You're willing to throw away what little life you have left and spend it playing Hide-N-Seek across Washington and possibly Canada?"
"I don't know what you're talking about. My life is what we're going to rescue right now."
With those final words, Collin shook his head and crawled out of the shattered window into our tattered front yard. I kept my eyes on the line of trees as he exploded from his skin, the shorts being left in tatters all around him as he did so. I was ready. Anything and anybody that was involved with hurting and taking my family was sure in for one Hell of a surprise.
Collin nudged me with his nose lightly, whimpering once more.
"I'm fine. I promise." I assured him, crawling onto his back. I positioned myself between his shoulder blades, holding onto his fur gently. "Let's go."
