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Chapter Quote:
"It was about sacrifice and redemption, loss that could have new meaning."
~Calla Tor

Chapter 2

Arya

8 years later…

My kids were growing up so fast. It seemed surreal to me. Only yesterday it felt like I was having Hunter. He was thirteen now, Caleb twelve, Ember ten, and Elsa and Anna nine. Shiloh and Carrie's two kids, Josilyn and Noah, were nine and thirteen respectively. Loren and Melinda's kids, Riley and Gracie, were eleven and twelve. Rigg and Erin had three kids: Dmitri was twelve, Sebastian was six, and Laurel was seven. Frank and Taki only had one child, a daughter named Akira. She was seven and while she wasn't the youngest, her disposition made her the omega of the pack. Dean and Reyna had two boys named Jake and Oliver who were ten and nine. Finally were Sam and Casey who had three kids: Diana who was twelve, Thea who was nine, and Barry who was seven. In total there were eighteen kids and they kept us very busy. Some of the kids, two of mine included, were already in middle school and it was hard to believe that much time had passed.

It was the weekend and we were all getting ready for our hunt. We typically split into two groups, changing them up every week. We made sure everyone could work together. The only exception we made was for Josilyn. She had a heart condition that made her weaker than the rest of us. She had a harder time keeping up with us, and she didn't like killing animals. In reality she just tagged along because we didn't like leaving her by herself.

This time Caleb and Anna were staying behind. Anna had contracted the flu and was horribly ill. Caleb had a project due on Monday so he convinced me to let him stay behind and work on it. He'd known about it for weeks but had procrastinated for most of that time, but I still let him stay. I kissed my children on the head and told them to howl if they needed me. I felt safe leaving them. After the attack on the other half of our pack, Ren and I went out for blood. We found the people who committed the treacherous attack. They were former Keeper children, upset over our ability to maintain switching between human and wolf form. We'd killed them and made sure there were no others. My kids would be safe, I was sure of it.

"All right Caleb, we should be back within an hour two. Make sure Anna takes her medicine. She hates it but she needs to have it. No more procrastinating on that project of yours. Stay down here while you work on it so you can watch your sister. I love you very much," I said, giving him a hug.

"I love you too mom," he replied. I gave my daughter a hug as well, telling her to get some rest. Elsa gave her sister a kiss on the cheek and told her she'd be right back and that they could eat ice cream afterwards. I didn't have the heart to tell them that we didn't have any ice cream in the freezer at the moment.

Ren called for Hunter to hurry. My oldest son came charging down the stairs, jumping over the last five. Caleb high-fived him as I stared disapprovingly at him.

"You're going to break something," I said.

"I'm a Guardian. I heal fast," my son answered with a devilish grin.

"You're going to make a wonderful second," Caleb said.

"What do you mean I'm going to make a 'wonderful second'? I'm going to be the alpha!"

"Are not!"

"Are too!"

"Are not!"

"Boys!" I intervened in exasperation. "Enough. It's still undecided on who is to be alpha."

"But we all know it's going to be me," Hunter said.

"Keep dreaming big brother. It's going to be me," Caleb retorted.

I groaned and urged Hunter to get going. With a final wave goodbye, I left Caleb and Anna and headed down the mountain with my pack. Josilyn was in our group today. I ordered Hunter to keep an eye on her. He didn't mind. He had a crush on her but refused to let anyone but me and his father know. Shiloh and Carrie knew but they kept quiet. I didn't want my son getting the relentless teasing by his siblings about having a crush just yet, and I don't know how Josilyn would handle all the attention. She didn't focus on much else besides school and her new garden that she was starting. The girl loved flowers, something she and I bonded over. I still remember how I always kept flowers in my room to keep Lumine out…

There's a pack of deer about two miles out. By the smell of it, it's a big pack. Loren informed.

Take Elsa and scout ahead. Spot the two weakest links. We have a lot of mouths to feed. I commanded. Loren and my daughter trotted silently off into the woods. Of the pack, they were the stealthiest. Anna was stealthy too and if she had been here, I would've sent her with her sister. I can't count the number of times the twins have snuck downstairs and raided the pantry for midnight snacks. Whenever Hunter, Caleb, or Ember tried, Ren or I always caught them, but not the twins. They were supernaturally stealthy.

The rest of my group and I frolicked in the woods as we made our way towards the deer herd. We'd only gone about a mile from our compound when the first feeling of uneasiness settled into me. Something was wrong but I couldn't place what. I contacted Elsa and Loren. Both of them stated they were fine. I sniffed the air to see if there was an unfamiliar scent that was bothering me, but no, nothing reached me. Finally, I contacted Ren to see if he and his group were okay. He replied they were but that he was getting the same feeling as I was, that something was off. Suddenly terror ripped through me. I stumbled backwards as I heard screaming in my head.

Mom! Dad! Help us! Please!

Caleb…

I tore away from my pack, barking at Melinda to get the pack together and to rendezvous back at the big boulder about two hundred yards from the compound. She thankfully didn't ask questions. As I raced to the compound, Ren met me halfway, falling into stride with me. We leapt over fallen trees, dodged obstacles, and made it back to the compound in record time. I could hear screaming from inside. Ren opened the door and if it hadn't been for the adrenaline coursing through me, I may have fainted. Blood was spattered on the walls, furniture was ripped open, and three men with crossbows were stalking towards someone huddled in the corner. I hadn't bothered to shift forms like my husband so I launched myself at the closest intruder, my jaw clamping down on his neck. He went down before he knew what happened. The other two whirled around, firing arrows at me but I jerked out of the way. Ren had gotten behind them and snapped down on one man's leg. The guy yelled out in pain. While my husband fought his target, I took on the last one. He was by far the strongest of the group. I bared my teeth, growling at him, backing away so that he'd follow me and get away from his friend who was starting to fight back against Ren.

"You're going to die like your daughter, bitch. Screaming for mercy," the guy snarled, pulling out a machete from his scabbard. I shifted into a human and demanded, "Where's my daughter?!"

"Dead. Don't worry. You're going to join her soon." He swung his sword at me. I ducked out of the way and kicked his feet out from underneath him. Ren appeared out of nowhere and bit cleanly through the man's hand that held the weapon. I jumped onto him, pinning him to the ground.

"Where is my daughter you son of a bitch?" I screamed, pulling him up to my face by his shirt. The man only grinned maliciously before popping a pill. When he crunched down on it, the stench of cyanide wafted into my nose. "Coward!"

I let his dead body thud to the floor as I scrambled over to the person huddling in the corner. Bolts from the crossbow were embedded in my unconscious son's body, two in his legs and one in his arm. He'd turned a deathly shade of white but his heart was beating, if only weakly.

"The bolts are laced with wolfsbane. We need to get them out of him," Ren said hurriedly. He pulled our son into his arms. I grabbed the first crossbow bolt, counted to three, and yanked it out of Caleb's arm. With shaking hands, I followed suit with the two in his leg. I made a cut in my arm and put it to my son's mouth, praying that some of my blood would get into his system and start healing him.

"What the- what happened here?" Loren's voice asked shakily. Shiloh stood behind him, ashen.

"A group of men attacked Caleb and Anna," Ren answered. "We don't know where Anna is. We need to find her but we can't leave Caleb. He needs a lot of blood."

"Why don't Shiloh and I go look for her?"

"No. I'll go. She's my daughter. Shiloh, come with me. Loren, help Arya. Like I said, Caleb needs more blood and since you're bigger than all of us…"

"Go. I'll stay here. Before you go, make sure no one comes in this house. I don't want anyone knowing what happened until we know what happened to Anna for sure," I said. The seconds nodded. Ren gave me a kiss, kissed our son on the head, and left the house. Loren sat next to me as I cradled Caleb in my arms. Color was slowly beginning to return to his face but I was losing a lot of strength already.

"Arya, what are you and Ren not telling us?" Loren asked gently.

I bit my lip. "The man right there, the one with the missing hand, he said… he said Anna was d-dead and I don't… I can't believe him. Loren, I can't… How am I going to tell Elsa her sister, her partner in crime, is dead? And this pack can't take another murder. First half of our pack was destroyed and now Anna…" I didn't realize I was crying until Loren pulled me into a hug and I felt his shirt getting wetter.

"Elsa is you. She is strong and she will survive. She won't be the same for a long time, but time heals and she will come back stronger than ever. Just like you did when you lost us. Just like you did when you nearly lost Ren. Just like you did when the Keepers destroyed half our pack," Loren whispered. "And she will have her family. One needs family to survive in our world, and lucky for her, she has thirty family members at her disposal if she needs someone to talk to."

"Mom?" Caleb croaked. I hurriedly pulled away from Loren. Relief surged through me when I saw Caleb's eyes open, if only barely.

"Hi sweetie. You're okay, you're going to be okay. We're going to get you more blood to counteract the wolfsbane in your system," I promised, stroking his head.

"Anna… she-"

"Your dad's out looking for her."

"N-no, he won't find her. She's dead… I saw them… they cut her thr- I got her killed. Mom I got Anna killed!" Caleb cried.

"No, no, no. You didn't get her killed. Those men that attacked you, they are the sole reason why you and Anna got attacked and hurt and-"

Arya… Ren's voice entered my head. His tone was off. While I knew what was coming, I still couldn't contain the sob that escaped me when my husband confirmed Anna was dead. He found her body, burned, at the end of the driveway. I didn't question why the men burned her body. I didn't want to know. I pulled Caleb into a hug, gripping him tightly. I was devastated by Anna and it was going to take me years to get to a semi-normal place again in my life, but I also reminded myself I could've lost two children. I could've lost Caleb as well.

While Caleb cried into my shoulder, I cried into Loren's. At some point, Ren replaced his second and I continued to cry into my husband's shoulder.

"Shiloh are going to announce to the pack what happened. Loren is going to tell Elsa separately. I think it best she's alone when she finds out. Let's get Caleb upstairs so he can rest, okay?" Ren said shakily. I pulled away from him. Through my tears, I saw my husband was barely keeping his composure. I knew he was doing it for my sake and for the pack's but I couldn't comprehend how he was doing it. Ren took Caleb out of my arms. I pushed myself up and followed him upstairs. We helped Caleb into pajamas before letting him fall asleep.

After quietly shutting the door to our son's room, my husband looked at me and said, "I didn't want to show weakness in front of my son…" and with that, Ren broke down.

Seems like the Laroche's just can't catch a break. Review :)