HEY GUYS! I'm soooooooooooooooo sorry I haven't been updating, a hurricane hit my place, so I have no power. :'( I'm at my grandparents as we speak, trying to work as fast as I can! Updating is my first priority... So here you are! READ ON!

Chapter: 26

"POACHER!" Yelled one of the wolves from the crowd, getting in front a wolf to protect her... She must have been his mate, or crush or something...

"Everyone, run to your dens! We'll all be safe there! GO!" Said Winston, his voice booming over all the panic. There was only one other time I'd heard Winston yell that loudly, and that was when he and Tony were stuck in the middle of that stampede after Kate and Garth's wedding was ruined.

Everyone scattered, running towards there dens. I was still standing up on the over watch. Tori still hadn't moved. I could see a pup, looking around in panic, obviously scared out of his mind. I don't even think he was old enough to know what a poacher was...

"Mom! Where are you?!" The pup yelled, in a terrified tone.

I ran down to the pup, picking him up by the scruff of his neck, and running over to a log that had been rotted from the inside out. It was the only safe place I could see.

"Stay here. You'll be safe. After everything's over, and you see other wolves walking around, you can find your mother, ok?" I asked the pup, receiving a nod from him in response.

Before I turned back around to run to Tori, the pup crawled farther back into the log, covering his face with his paws, shaking like he had hypothermia. By the time I could see Tori, the scent of the poacher was dangerously strong. I still couldn't see him, the trees off in the distance could easily hide him from my line of sight.

"Tori come on! We have to go now!" I yelled to her.

She didn't respond. She was still just staring at me, tears pouring down her face. Before I had time to react, the poacher came out of the trees hardly even twenty feet away from Tori.

"There you are..." Said the poacher, aiming his gun at her, still advancing towards her.

I was to late to get her out of there now. I started to run for Tori, hoping he would get scared from seeing me and run off. Problem with my plan was, he didn't see me...

"I won't let you take her from me..." I said to myself.

"Your a pretty one. Such a shame I'm going to kill you. Your pelt it spotless... For now..."

I jumped in front of the rifle pointed at Tori, just as the poacher pulled the trigger... I knew what was coming, and I wasn't afraid... I regretted nothing. As long as Tori lived, I would be happy... Then I heard the bang...

Tori's P.O.V.

I couldn't believe it was really him. All this time I thought he was dead but... He was right in front of us this whole time. Well, for a portion of the time anyway... I don't understand. Why did he have another body? Why didn't he tell me before? Why was I so stubborn?! That's probably why he didn't tell me... Because he knew I wouldn't believe him... I was pulled from my trance when I was hit in the back of the head by something, hearing a loud bang. I shook my head, looking around. To my right, I saw Cole laying on the ground. He must have accidentally kicked me while pushing the gun away from me so I didn't get shot. The poacher was loading another bullet into the gun. He wasn't carrying a back to hold animal pelts... It's like he was just killing for fun...

"COLE!" I screamed.

My Alpha instinct kicked in. I ran over and bit down on the poachers arm, ripping it wide open, making him drop his gun and hold his arm swearing like it was his last day on Earth, which it could have been if he didn't run. Unfortunately he did...

I was so angry at the moment, I couldn't think straight. I wanted to chase after the man that shot at me, but I didn't want to leave Cole... He did push the gun away from me after all. I turned around to hug Cole, but he was still lying on the ground, panting a bit hard, with a small pool of crimson around his chest area. I knew now that he didn't push the gun away from me...

He took a bullet for me...

"C-Cole...!" I screamed, practically falling beside him.

He looked up at me groaning a bit, smiling a little before coughing up a little blood and having his head hit the ground. I picked up his head, pulling a little bit of his chest up with me, trying to keep the blood out of his throat. I started to cry my eyes out.

"N-No... D-Don't cry... Don't c-cry..." He managed to say between the coughs and gurgles of blood.

I wanted to hug him so tight... But I was afraid of squeezing the life out of him... The pack was crowding around us, Humphrey pushing through the crowd, ending up in the front, just not as close as I was. He wasn't crying... Not this time. There was nothing we could do. There was a huge hole in his chest were the gun blasted Cole. Obviously the gun was far more powerful than necessary to kill a wolf... I looked over to wear I was sitting, and saw what looked like a small bullet, a bit crushed from impact. That's what must have hit me in the back of the head, not Cole... The bullet went right through him. He was bleeding out fast. Even if we could stop the blood from pouring out of him, he must have lost to much by now... Eve didn't rush over to help me. She knew... She knew what would happen just as much as I did. I couldn't be optimistic this time... Cole was dying.

"C-Cole...! No! No no no no no! T-This is all my fault!..." I said, the lump in my throat making it difficult to speak clearly.

"N-No... I-It wasn't your f-fault... D-Don't beat y-yourself up like t-that... Y-Your perfect..." Said Cole in a weak tone.

I cried even harder.

"How can you say I'm perfect if your dying because of me?!" I yelled at him, not understanding.

"B-Because... I-I... Love... You..." He said, making me cry even harder, if it was even possible...

He laid his head down, only looking at me with his eyes, holding his paw up for me. I looked at his paw. I knew what he wanted... Before I had time to react, he spoke.

"P-Please... I d-don't want to d-die alone... Don't l-let me d-die alone..." He said, his paw starting to shake, his eyes starting to shut.

I quickly grabbed his paw, holding it tightly with both of mine. His paw was big... It took both of my paws to be able to wrap my paws around it.

"You're not alone... W-We're all here... Y-You don't need to b-be scared..." I said, wishing there was some way to keep him alive...

"I-I'm not s-scared... I-I just don't w-want to d-die a-alone..." He said, coughing up a large amount of blood.

"C-Cole... P-Please... N-Not again...!" I said, nuzzling him.

"T-Tori... I-I'm sorry... I-It's going t-to h-happen... Just r-remember that I-I... I... I love you..."

I squeezed his paw tighter and nodded.

"I-I love you too Cole..." I said in a quiet voice.

He smiled weakly, and closed his eyes...

I watched the slow, stressed rise and fall of his chest...

Up and down...

Up... and down...

Up... and... down...

There was a sigh...

And then there was nothing...

So what did you guys think? Good? Bad? Wolfy? (Wolfy for your information means awesomely amazing, hahaha!) Tell me in a review! I LOVE YOU MY SUNNY PUPPY!