Prologue Pt2

She nodded slightly and forced a smile, attempting to show her mate that she could be strong for him even now. “I love you.”All around them there were the sounds of werewolves trying to shift and death howls mingled with howls of mourning for fallen brothers and sisters as well as the cries of humans as they were mauled by enraged wolves.

The sounds that rang out above all the rest, though they were the quietest of all the sounds that filled the small area, were the sounds of the death cries of the young. They were the slowest and the weakest of them all, many of them had not yet had their first change, some that were only wolf by blood but not ability.

They were also the most precious and loved of all the tribe. They were the future and they meant everything to each and every tribe member. Wolves that could have easily run and survived were staying to fight and laying down their lives to save the children.

Marcus turned his face away as Allan took a step forward and swiftly opened his mother’s throat with that silver blade of his. He could not stand to see the anguish on his father’s face at that moment so he spoke to his brothers and sisters instead.

“You move stealthily. Gather whomever you can find that still lives. Do not engage the enemy; just rescue all that you can. Take them to the campgrounds at Hobbs. Split up, don’t work as a pack, and take different routes. We’ll meet up there in three days. Then we’ll head west.”

His eyes lingered on one of the younger wolves. “Jacob, I know you’re worried about her. Your only task is to find her and get her to Hobbs. Don’t worry about anything else. Save anyone that you can but don’t take chances no matter how much that hurts. Understood?”

Jacob nodded his head. “I understand.” He hesitated for a moment before stepping forward and gripping Marcus’ forearm near the elbow. “I’m sorry for your loss, Marcus. Lee and Ann were great and honorable Alphas.”

Marcus was unable to form words at that particular moment. He merely gripped Jacob’s forearm in return and gave a short, quick nod of his head. “Go now. I need to be here for this.” He whispered and then turned, releasing Jacob to watch as his father knelt there before his mate, watching the life bleed out of her.

Marcus couldn’t be sure if Allan was showing a small glimmer of humanity by allowing Lee to crawl forward and hold his wife’s hands, or if he somehow thought that by doing so he was being even crueler. Marcus had to smile at that.

He knew that regardless of whether Allan was trying to inflict even further cruelty on their father and mother that he was actually granting the two of them one final kindness but only a mated wolf would know that small fact. It was not a thing that was spoken of amongst their kind. Some things were just meant to be found out through doing rather than telling.

Allan had never mated so there could be no way that he would know how much it meant to touch a mate, especially in those last moments. Marcus watched as the life faded away from his mother and silently tears slid down his cheeks as his father’s body slowly went limp as well while he held her close against his chest.

The cheer of glee that went up from Allan and his men made Marcus’ blood run cold. He turned from his hiding spot and disappeared into the woods as silently as a shadow. It was easy to escape humans when they thought they had already won the fight. They became cocky and self-important, thinking that they were the top of the food chain. Marcus hadn’t walked far when he heard a faint whimpering from within a half-rotten old tree stump.