Chapter 4: The Coward And The Cost

"What took you so long?" Elaine purred from where she lay on his bed. He fought an eye roll and ran a hand through his hair instead.

"Nothing."

"Where's that filthy bitch?" she asked, batting her lashes. "I really need a foot massage."

"Don't call her that," he couldn't help but say quietly.

Elaine reeled, taken aback by his words. Even he was surprised by them. The wolf inside him was getting anxious. It felt like his sharp claws were scratching at his insides and making him feel bad. Ever since he gave Sara that money, he had the taste of a coward in his mouth.

"What?" she scoffed. "You're, like, defending her?"

"I'll give you a massage instead," he said, moving to the edge of the bed to divert her attention. Apart from the fact that she had left to find a doctor to get rid of the baby, he knew he couldn't bear to face her if she came into the room. "Don't want her… filth touching you."

"Of course," replied Elaine with a smile.

He grabbed her foot, but his mind was miles away. He was picturing Sara's face—the way her eyes had turned glassy and hollow when he told her to kill the only thing that tied them together. Was he doing the right thing for the pack, or was he just a monster?

"Ow! Killian, you're pressing too hard," Elaine whined, pulling her foot away. "You're not even paying attention to me. What is wrong with you today? You've been acting so weird."

"I'm just stressed about the pack, Elaine. Drop it."

"Well, I don't like it. My father expects—"

The door to his room didn't just open; it was nearly taken off its hinges. His father, Alpha Blackwood, stormed in, his face looking extremely furious. For a second, Killian thought maybe he had found out about her.

"We are under attack," he roared.

Killian stood up instantly, his muscles locking into a combat stance. "What? It's the middle of the day. What do you mean?"

"Our estate is under attack by rogue wolves," he growled, already turning to head back into the hall. "They've breached the North residential perimeter."

Killian felt a surge of adrenaline, but also a chilling confusion. Their 200-acre estate was designed to be a place for wolves who were a part of their pack. To the humans in the nearby town, this was just an exclusive, high-end residential area where houses were impossible to buy. To them, it was a home.

"How did they get past the sensors?" he asked, grabbing his jacket and following him.

"Infiltration," his father spat. "They've been attacking the residential side for the last twenty minutes. They're carving a path straight to the pack house."

They hurried out onto the grounds, immediately shifting. The grass was gone, replaced by the copper tang of blood and the scorched-earth smell of fire. Screams echoed from all around.

Sara.

The realization hit him so fast. Sara wasn't in the pack house; where he had told her to go to get rid of the baby was far from here. That meant she was caught in the middle of whatever was going on. Fear pricked his heart immediately.

"Killian! Where are you going?" Elaine screamed from the balcony. "You're supposed to stay here and protect me!"

He didn't even look back. His heart was thumping a frantic rhythm against his chest. If she was at the clinic on the edge of the estate, she was right in the line of fire. He reached out through the pack link, trying to find her, but there was nothing except the chaos and the dying whimpers of warriors.

They kept fighting back as best as they could, but these rogues were so organized. He wondered who had sent them and why they had targeted them now of all times. The last attack had been several years ago and since they had tightened their security, there had been no successful attempt.

The screaming finally stopped several hours later, but the silence was much worse. They had managed to avert the crisis, but the people they lost were too many.

The sun came up over the broken grounds. There was trash and wood everywhere. The smell of death was so strong he could almost taste it. They had put the dead bodies in the field near the clinic. They were all covered in white sheets.

His father was talking to the Beta about fixing the house, but Killian didn't hear a word. He felt like a ghost walking through a graveyard. His wolf was quiet and scared deep inside him.

He walked slowly down the line of bodies. Each face he saw was not hers. He told himself she was just hiding. He told himself she ran away before the attack started. She was too strong to die like this.

Then, he stopped.

At the end of the line, there was a pile of things found in the ruins of the clinic. There were shoes and torn clothes. On top of the burnt wood, he saw a dress. It was an old, cheap dress, but it was the same one she wore yesterday morning when she took the test.

The cloth was not soft anymore. It was hard and stiff because it was soaked in dark, dry blood.

He fell to his knees in the dirt. His hands shook as he touched the edge of the dress. The mate bond in his chest beat hard one last time. Then, it went totally quiet.

His heart didn't just break. It smashed into a million pieces.

Sara was gone. And he was the one who sent her to her death.