Q'wati saw the Quileute people grow more divided and he began to worry. When he spoke to the Great Alpha Male and Female, they told him that their children were not ready to return home. So, desperately, Q'wati made the Cold Ones. He created them, so that the Alphas would return home and learn to fight together to protect their people, but Bayaq – also known as Raven – meddled with Q'wati's plan. Bayaq took the Cold Ones and gave them their desire for Quileute blood.
Jacob was tired. He was tired and sore and irritable, but he wasn't going to give up. Somewhere on his lands an ally was defeated and needed help. It might've been his Alpha side coming out, but he wouldn't give up until they found Asha.
Jake needed to rest. He needed to trust that his Beta and his Alpha Female could handle this. Leah's thoughts broke through the mental link, but the Alpha pushed them aside. He wouldn't tolerate any talk about him giving up. He made a promise and dammit he was going to follow through.
Kato stared into the fire; his sad eyes didn't see his pack mates as they tried to comfort him. Their words floated in the air not fully reaching Kato's ears. He was too empty to comprehend anything besides the dull ache that was forming in his chest. The wolf bent over slightly as if he was trying to get closer to the fire. If the pack wasn't there, he would've thrown himself into the burning embers to end the pain.
How could he have lost his wife and son in one day? His pack mates assured him that the two were alive but they were only denying the truth. Couldn't they feel the emptiness in the pack link? Couldn't they feel the gaping hole in the place where Aden's presence was supposed to be?
Kato cringed as guilt stabbed him in the gut. When he saw that vampire chase Aden, he should've run after them. He should've been there because then Aden would still be alive.
"Kato," the wolf looked up to see Dilwyn. "Do not blame yourself. There was nothing we could do, brother."
"There was everything we could have done!" Kato cried grabbing the attention of the pack. "If some of us had just gone to find Aden, she would still be–"
Suddenly, Kato lurched forward as if he was punched in the gut. He began to tremble violently and Dilwyn nervously backed away. The younger wolf looked helplessly towards the Alpha as Kato dropped to his knees. Kato's left hand held onto his stomach tightly while his right hand covered his eyes. He looked ready to faint, but the Alpha's presence washed over him calming his tremors.
"Someone get him water and a sleeping bag." Asha's voice was calm, but it didn't lack the power of an Alpha Command. She focused on the injured wolf, and the pack scrambled to find the supplies she needed. "Kato," she whispered, "you're going to be alright."
"What's happening?" Kato mumbled as his vision blurred.
"You lost your mate. This is how your body reacts. It'll get better eventually." Asha rubbed soothing circles onto her pack mates back.
"Aden shouldn't have died." Kato whispered suddenly feeling the truth behind his words. "If I was there, it would have ended differently." Asha's hand stopped moving on Kato's back, and he began to wonder whether or not he upset his alpha.
"If you had went, both of you would have died." Asha muttered quietly. Her words seemed to place a large amount of weight on Kato.
"Perhaps," he agreed. "But there was always the chance that I could have saved her."
"Trust the decisions your Alpha makes."
Kato stayed quiet but after a while he replied, "I trust you sister."
Asha smiled. "I trust you as well, brother."
The two wolves sat in silence until Antaeus approached them with a cup of water and a sleeping mat. He kept his eyes low when handing them their items.
"Get better, brother." Antaeus was unusually quiet compared to how loud he usually acted.
"Thank you, brother." Kato replied.
Kato's hand shook as he took the cup out of his brother-in-law's hand. Asha smiled and nodded to Antaeus and the massive wolf slowly retreated. They waited until Antaeus couldn't hear them before continuing their conversation.
"Are we still headed towards Quileute land?" Kato's question surprised Asha and she froze as she remembered her and Jacob's fight.
"I do not know." Asha moved a half a step away from Kato. "The Alpha and I are not exactly on speaking terms right now."
"Did you guys have an argument?" Kato asked trying to keep his thoughts from wandering towards Aden. "It will be best for both packs if you apologize to the La Push Alpha."
"I will. I just need time."
"Asha," Kato's voice sounded tired and the Alpha Female nervously placed her on his shoulder to try and will his pain away. "I think it will be best for everyone if you apologize; we need to get to La Push. We will be safer on tribal ground."
Asha grunted in response and Kato frowned.
"Bali is probably waiting for us there. If you will not do it to mend the bond between our packs, do it for Bali." Kato rose the cup to his lips struggling to drink without spilling the water. When his Alpha remained silent, he spoke again. "Do it for Aden."
Asha closed her eyes, but moved closer to Kato. When she reopened her eyes, Kato was watching her closely. She nodded her head in consent.
"I trust you, brother."
"I trust you, sister." Kato's voice was filled with gratitude and it managed to fill Asha with hope.
She would do this for Kato and Bali and Aden. She would do this for her pack.
Collin and Brady walked up the beach ignoring the looks they got from the local girls. They were too busy worrying about the latest pack gossip to even notice which girls were checking them out and which girls weren't. Both of them needed to stay up-to-date since none of the older pack members wanted to share information, so the two wolves were left to catch up on all the latest things on their own.
"So that's why Jen is mad at Paul." Collin finished up his story with an enthusiastic head nod. "Who knew that he was cheating on Jen with her twin sister?"
"Harsh," Brady shook his head sadly. "Paul is too emotionally wounded from the abuse his father gave him to dedicate himself to one woman."
Collin paused to think about this new theory, but nodded his head anyways. "It's how he copes with it."
Brady stopped to watch two girls jog by in bikinis before continuing the conversation. "You won't believe what Leah dreamed about last night." Collin turned to face Brady enthusiastically, but Brady frowned. "You can't tell anyone about this OK?"
"My lips are sealed." Collin zipped his lips shut and threw the imaginary key.
"Good," Brady threw a dramatic look over his shoulder and leaned towards Collin. "You know how Leah sometimes have dreams about Sam?"
"Who doesn't know that?" Collin rolled his eyes. "This better not be your gossip story, Brady. Jesus Christmas you would think that you would have a good story every now and then!"
"It's not my story, Collin, would you let me finish? Anyways, Paul was phasing for patrol when he found her sleeping in wolf form. He thought it would be funny to go into her dream, but when he did, he saw particularly graphic dream and our alpha, Jake."
"Holy shit!" Collin bit his lip nervously and lowered his voice. "How did you hear this?"
"I overheard Paul and Jared talking about it when they thought I was in the bathroom." Brady shrugged nonchalantly and Collin frowned.
"Whatever, I got a better dream to gossip about." Collin folded his arms across his chest defensively.
"Nothing can beat my story!" Brady whispered harshly as another group of girls walked by. "So save your story for tomorrow because that redhead was definitely checking me out."
Collin waved his hand dismissively. "What if I told you that besides Jacob and Seth, we would be the only people who knew this lovely piece of information?"
"I'm listening."
"Jacob talked to Asha in a dream again and she's going to be here tomorrow afternoon about an hour after school ends that's why they changed tomorrows patrol schedule so only he and Seth were patrolling; it had nothing to do with the bonfire. They wanted it to be a surprise."
Collin smiled at Brady's expression. There was no way that Brady could think of piece of gossip better than Collin's story. The two boys stared at each other before Brady frowned.
"Whatever," Collin grinned at his friend's one-worded response. "I'm gonna go talk to that redhead. She's more interesting than your gossip."
Brady began to walk away heading over to the girls. He was going to ignore Collin's laughter and focus on that redhead. Besides, Collin didn't need to know that Bali told Brady that Asha has a major crush on Jacob, or that Asha's sister Neima was kidnapped by a former lover. No, Collin really didn't need to know that.
"Hey gorgeous," Brady focused on the redhead immediately noticing the blush that stood out on her pale skin. "Are you doing anything tonight because I might have a date with a beautiful girl in a pink bikini this evening if she's interested? We might even go to a bonfire tomorrow night."
The excited giggle she gave made Brady's ego grow ten times bigger. Oh, Brady was on a roll today.