After that howl ripped deep through the night, I paced back and forth in the cave. The pounding of feet against the forest floor echoed through the forest. The Hounds were coming back; they were coming back to kill me and I had absolutely no way of getting away from them.

The Hound that healed me still sat by the entrance with his ears pinned back and his eyes scanning the forest. I gazed around the cave at anything that I could use for a weapon. He had saved me... but I couldn't allow myself to stay here when the Hounds came back. What would they use me for? Would they be the ones to tear me apart?

My heart raced, and I shook my head. No, I couldn't let this happen. I wouldn't go down without a fight. I needed to get out of here and I needed to get out of here fast. Maybe I could make it back to Ares before his soul left his body. I could put my stone in his back... anything for my mate. I'd give my entire life for him to stay alive, for him to just be happy even if it was just for a moment. He didn't deserve any more hurt.

"Let me out," I said to the wolf. When he didn't respond, my lips quivered. "Let me out!"

Still, he didn't even look my way, just continued to scan the forest for his friends. I grasped a small rock I had found toward the back of the cave and approached him slowly. Goddess, I didn't know why I was afraid of hurting this Hound. Though he had saved me twice... he was part of their vicious group of creatures, he was holding me hostage until they came back for me.

After swallowing hard, I took another step toward him, grasping the rock in both of my hands. His head, Aurora. Go for his head, then sprint out of the cave and don't stop running. Not until you find Ares's body... then we can stop. Then they could kill me, if they found me.

With trembling hands, I lifted the rock over my head and aimed. But if they didn't kill me, I could lead the pack here to get the stone from him for Charolette. She could be saved, but at what cost?

Before I could take it back, I closed my eyes and hurled the rock straight at his head. It hit with a thud, and I could hear bone crack. The noise made me recoil and made my heart clench. I had hurt people before--broken Marcel's finger, killed Hounds with my knife--but this felt so wrong. Something about hurting him... the only Hound that had helped me before, the Hound with the stone like mine... it felt so fucking wrong.

He growled loudly, the sound echoing through the forest, and shook his head from side to side. Blood gushed out of the wound. I hurried out of the cave, yet he followed me, sliding his teeth back into my calf to stop me from moving.

I gazed down at him, trying to pull my leg away but couldn't. He was too strong. My eyes filled with tears. This was so fucking sad. I was so fucking sad. Why did I feel bad for hurting him when... when...

The Hound made eye contact with me for the first time, and my heart stopped. My eyes widened down at the familiar eyes, filling with even more tears. No... no... I didn't believe it. I couldn't believe it. It wasn't true.

He pleaded with me to stop moving. But then a group of howls echoed through the night, and his eyes widened. The Hounds were coming, and this time they were coming for me. He released me almost immediately from his grasp, nudging me in the direction of Mom's pack.

"Wh-what about you?" I asked breathlessly. Tears slid down my cheeks. "You c-can't stay here." I didn't want to lose him, not when I... Stop, Aurora, he's not real. It's not him.

"Go," he said through the mindlink. It was faint, and I barely heard it... but it was there. "Meet again."

I swallowed hard one last time and sprinted toward Ares. My heart told me to stay with him, but my wolf tugged me toward my mate. We needed to see him, dead or alive. So, I ran and I ran and I ran until I could smell the putrid stench of blood.

There was a small trail that started in the center of the forest that led to Mom's pack. Wolves littered the woods, their lifeless bodies covered in claw and bite marks. Fur ripped out. Flesh rotting. Blood pooling by their bellies.

I gazed at each and every one of the men and women, remembering when I used to train with them, when Mom used to let me train. Young men and women, some teenagers, most warriors.

This set-up... the Hounds didn't care who they killed. They killed people who hadn't even been on the battlefield earlier. Houses had their doors wide open. Windows were shattered. Blood splattered against the siding.

My lips quivered. I was a bad luna and a bad alpha. This was all my fault. Every single one of these deaths was on my hands. If I didn't tell Ares to run on Mom's pack... things might've been different. Tony might've not betrayed us. All these people might still be alive.

A tear raced down my cheek, but I quickly pushed it away. I couldn't cry. Ares thought I was strong, so I would be strong. He would be so proud of me.

When the packhouse came into view, I took a deep breath. Stay strong, Aurora. Stay strong. But as soon as I stepped into the backyard, a whimper clawed its way up my throat and out of my mouth. My stomach tightened.

Ares had come here with thirty wolves, and at least half of them were lying in their own pool of blood. And Mom's pack hadn't gotten off much better. The majority of her wolves had been killed, yet I couldn't recognize most of them. With their faces torn to pieces and all the blood, it was hard to recognize anyone.

"Ares," I crooked out. "Ares..."

Nobody answered. The forest was completely silent. It sounded like the whole pack was abandoned. I stared up at the moon and wondered why she had allowed something this horrific to happen. Why had she let her wolves die this way? Why hadn't she gotten involved to help us? Where was she?

I walked through all the bodies, touched each one, tried to sniff out Ares, but I couldn't find him. Nobody felt the same as he did. Nobody looked the same as he did. Nobody had the same sweet scent as he did. Or maybe I just couldn't feel him under the ripped flesh, maybe I just couldn't recognize him with the bones protruding from all the bodies, maybe I couldn't smell him with all this blood getting in the way.

The last person I found, lying dead in the middle of the bodies, was Mom. I doubled over her, tears falling from my eyes. She was still recognizable with her highlighted hair and that scar running down her ear. And... and I felt like the shittiest daughter to ever live.

Though she had made me feel terrible about myself time and time again, I knew that all she wanted was for this pack to survive. She had given me book after book after book to study to become a smarter alpha, had tried to train me to the best of her ability... I really believed that she loved me, but she had gone about it in such a wrong way.

And now I would never see her again.

After closing her dull eyes, I stood up and pressed my lips together. I needed to find my mate. Maybe he was still alive.

A twig cracked in the woods, and I snapped my head toward the direction of the sound. One of my old neighbors' young children--Yara--stared at me from behind a tree. Her eyes widened when she saw me, tears streaming down her face. "Alpha Aurora!" Her little legs moved fast, and when she reached me, she jumped into my arms. "Alpha Aurora, my daddy is missing. I-I can't find anyone."

My heart shattered, and I held her tightly in my arms. "I..." What do I even say to her? "I... don't know where your father is. Let's try to go find any others," I whispered, trying to keep my voice steady. It was a common rule, that Mom implemented years ago, when we were attacked by Hounds to hide the children somewhere safe in the house where Hounds couldn't sniff them out.

There were hiding rooms underground for all of the children, all connected by underground tunnels. I walked in the direction of the packhouse, covering the young girls' eyes as we passed all of the bodies. Then, when we were inside, I walked down the stairs to the basement and started through the tunnels with a torch.

We walked through all the rooms connected, finding no pups inside any of them. My heart was racing as we came toward the last of the rooms. Only three rooms left. If there were no pups... that would mean that they were all dead.

First room... nobody.

Second room... nobody.

I opened the third room and peered into the darkness. Five sets of eyes stared up at me from the corner of the room. I crouched down to their levels. "It's okay," I said, reaching out my arms. "You're safe. Everything is going to be okay."

The pups ran into my arms, clung onto my legs, grasped my fingers as we walked back to the packhouse. I didn't know if everything was going to be okay. I didn't know if we were safe, but I knew that I would try my hardest to keep them safe.

The pups sat on the couch, watching me as I searched the house for all the silver knives I could find. I stuffed them into a backpack, grabbed a pair of car keys from the counter, handed each pup a bag of chips I kept for Ruffles in the pantry, and hurried to put the pups into the car.

I didn't have my phone. Hell, I didn't even think about calling Ares. All I wanted to do was drive as quickly as I could to get the fuck off of that property. It had been haunted with too many bad memories.

The early morning sun was rising just over the horizon when I pulled onto Ares's property. The kids had fallen asleep for a couple hours, but I didn't stop driving. They were slowly awakening, asking me questions about their parents that I couldn't answer.

"This is where we'll be staying from now on," I said, glancing back at them quickly. Ares's warriors were watching the car through the woods, on high alert. I made eye contact with one of them. His eyes widened, and he sprinted toward the packhouse.

All I wanted was to find Ares. All I hoped was that he wasn't dead.

I parked in the driveway and tugged each and every one of the six pups out of the car. They all followed me in a line, each holding another one's hand, like ducklings following their mother. They gazed around the unfamiliar property, and I listened to their little hearts beat extra fast.

Mr. Barrett jogged up to me from his house. "Aurora," he sighed deeply through his nose. "I'm so glad you're safe. Ares is flipping out. He won't listen to anyo--"

My brows furrowed, eyes widening. "Ares is alive?" I asked in disbelief. He nodded his head, and I gave Yara's hand to Mr. Barrett. "Please, watch them for a couple minutes."

He nodded his head. "Of course." He nodded toward the training area. "Ares is getting his warriors ready to go out to hunt."

I hurried toward the training area, following my mate's scent. "Mate. Mate. Mate. Mate." My wolf chanted in my mind, she was moving around restlessly. There was a trail of blood leading me toward the field. Ares's blood. My heart clenched, and I started sprinting. I needed to get to my mate, needed to make sure he was okay.

And when I turned the corner, I saw him standing in the middle of a group of warriors that we hadn't brought with us. Open and untreated wounds covered his bloodied back. "Ares," I whispered ever so softly.

He turned his head, eyes a raging gold. When he saw me, his eyes widened. "Kitten."