Tarva had left Dean behind at the park in a whirlwind of confusion. As fast as her body would carry her she ran back home. Her blood pumped viciously through her body as the animal wanted to rip away at her skin. All her senses were on high alert. Seth had said that the traps were back. Their forest was no longer safe.
"I got here as fast as I could!" She said in between gasps of breaths. Her body was dripping in sweat even through the crisp air.
Roman and Seth looked up from the metal trap that was by their feet. "Don't worry, we've been searching the entirety of the forest. We've already gotten six but there's probably a dozen more." Roman said. He stuck a large rock between the set of metal teeth, careful to pull his hands away before the trap clamped down on them. Seth took out the few tools he had to pull the stake from the ground and dismantle the trap once and for all.
Tarva looked around and sniffed. There was a familiar scent in the air but it wasn't one should could grasp fully. "Where's Maddie? And Celeste? Are they ok?"
Seth stopped working as his entire body tensed. "Seth..." Tarva asked. "What's wrong?"
Roman cleared his throat. "We think that...Maddie's family is behind all this. We think they came back."
"What?! You think that they would kill their own son?!"
"They don't see him as their son anymore! They see him as a monster! He's not a monster!" Seth shouted. Clearly seeing his mate's life in danger was putting him on edge. Tarva wrapped her arms around her brother and held him tightly.
"You're right, Seth. He isn't a monster. He's one of us. We'll all protect him from the hunters." She smoothed his hair down and kissed at his temple hoping to instill a sense of calmness in him.
Roman rubbed her shoulder gently. "It's been awhile since an attack. They don't know that we aren't responsible for what happened to Maddie. They just want to target all of us. Seth, why don't you go inside and check on him. Tarva can help me with the rest of the traps."
Tarva nodded at her brother encouragingly. Seth's brown eyes traveled from his Alpha to his sister then he nodded, dropping his tools and retreating back to the house.
"Celeste was watching over Maddie, making sure his temper doesn't go haywire."
"He's a ticking fucking time bomb. I'm surprised he didn't go crazy and run after them. Well i guess he might still feel something for them. It is his family after all." Tarva replied.
"We can't be certain that it's them but the scent is familiar. Ever since Maddie was changed they disowned him. Saw him as another one they had to kill."
"Please they disowned him ever since they found out he was gay." Tarva let out a strained chuckle and tossed the trap into the trash bag behind Roman.
"True." Roman smirked and stood up. "There should be a few more around here. Let's try and get as much as we can before dark. We don't want to get caught in any of these."
"That bear trap would be enough to snap your foot off at the ankle. I don't think any of us need-"
A high pierced shriek filled the forest at that point. Romana and Tarva whirled around, their ears poking from their heads and flicking back and forth.
"That was Celeste!" Roman screamed. He ran towards the beginnings of the forest and Tarva followed close behind.
"Roman! Be careful!" She tried to get him to listen but he was blinded by his need to protect.
"Celeste! Celeste where are you?!" He cried out.
"Roman! You best get me out of this damn thing right now!" Roman and Tarva looked up and saw Celeste caught in rope, turned upside down with her arms dangling down.
Roman quickly went to work following the rope back to the tree that held it. He took out his knife and cut at the rope. "Get ready to catch her Tarva!"
Tarva stood beneath Celeste with her arms outstretched trying to determine where exactly she would fall. But she misjudged her placement and Celeste fell down, landing square on her ass.
"Ouch! You fucking idiot! Don't you know how to do anything!?" she growled. Tarva glared at Celeste, wishing she was still strung up in the tree so she could use her as a punching bag.
"I'm sorry, princess! I tried to catch you but the gravity of your fat ass must've pulled you down too fast!"
Roman stepped between them. "Don't!" He growled loudly. Both girls quickly shut up. "Tarva, that's no way to talk to your Alpha female. You're her beta. You treat her with respect."
"I'm only beta by default, Ro. There aren't any other girls in the pack. Besides she can get my respect when she starts giving me respect." She said before storming off towards the house.
The Alpha sighed and stared down at his mate. "Really, Celeste?"
"She didn't fucking catch me! She didn't even seem worried that I was up there! She's out to get me, I know it Roman." Celeste rubbed her sore ass and looked back at the tree. "I didn't think they would put them right at the beginning of the forest. I should have known."
"It's fine. Maybe we should take a break. let everyone recollect themselves. We're all on edge. I'll throw this stuff out and meet you back at the house." Roman said.
Celeste nodded and kissed him quickly before parting. Roman tossed the bag into the trashcan on the front lawn then went inside. Seth and Tarva were on either side of Maddie who had seemed to not have spoken a word since he found the trap.
"I know it's scary but we're going to do everything we can to get rid of them all." Roman said to Maddie in particular but for everyone to hear.
"What's the point? They're just going to put more until they kill us all." Maddie said finally.
"Don't say that!" Seth gripped his hand harshly. "Don't say that. They're just humans. We're stronger than them."
"I'm a human too, Seth! I'm still one of them!"
"You're a wolf too. Which means you're still one of us. We've been better family to you then they ever were!" Tarva added.
"If it weren't for your kind I wouldn't even be in this situation." Maddie hissed. He pushed himself off the couch and stormed upstairs, the sound of the door slamming echoing throughout the house. Seth seemed to be on the verge of tears. His eyes were starting to water but he blinked them all back, refusing to shed a single one.
"He doesn't mean that, Sethie." Tarva said trying once again to comfort her brother.
"Yeah he does. He hates what happened to him. He doesn't even want to be here." Celeste said. "But what the hell is he gonna do? Go back to them people who wanna kill him? He don't belong nowhere."
"He belongs with us. End of story. Stop talking about it."Roman's final word ended the conversation all together. Seth left the living room presumably to join Maddie. Tarva still wanted to comfort him but it was best to leave Seth alone for now. Eventually he would come to her. Everyone had their own person to go to except Tarva. The only person she could turn to was probably at his apartment now wondering what the hell was so important that she had to run away from him. She couldn't tell Dean about any of this. She didn't want a repeat of what happened 5 years ago.