Chapter 8

I stood at the door, frozen. The warrior was right. I didn't want to see the scene in front of me. Parker was on the floor holding an unconscious Tessa in his arms. He had pulled a blanket down on top of her, but there was blood everywhere. There was blood all over Parker, Tessa, her bed, and her floor. It was everywhere. My wolf howled in my head, and before I knew what was happening, I was walking further into the room. My eyes were black. My wolf was in charge. He had taken over. And as soon as I got close enough to Tessa, Parker backed away. He knew that he wasn't a threat to my wolf because he was mated. But he didn't want to be near my wolf right now. "She's been stabbed twice in the stomach. And there are other injuries." Parker mutteret. And I sat there quietly trying to regain control. I shook my head until I was able to push my wolf back, and I was staring down at my mate. "What other injuries?" I demanded. But Parker didn't answer me. So I snapped my head up at him. " WHAT OTHER INJURY?" I screamed using my Alpha voice at him. He fell to his knees in pain. "She was raped." He finally spluttered out while he was in pain. And I looked down and realized that's why he covered her with the blanket. I lifted the blanket, but there was so much blood that I just dropped it again. I picked her up with the blanket wrapped around her, and I carried her down the three flights of stairs and out the front door, where Cade, Carte, and Aria were. Aria started shaking and crying immediately when she saw Tes, and no one was game enough to come near me. They knew bettthanhen to come near me. The ambulance was already outside. They never had a chance to go inside, and I put her on the stretcher, and they headed for the hospital immediately. Dr. Missy was waiting for us when we got there and raced Tessa straight to a trauma room. But the nurse told me that I had to wait outside, and I let out a hug,e terrifying growl that shook the building. "It's alright. He can come in. But please, see Alpha, stand to the side. Let us save her." Dr. Missy says. So I stayed to the side while they were working on her. They were assessing her injuries. They needed to stop the bleeding, and Dr. Missy saw the needle mark on Tessa's arm. "Wolfsbane." Dr. Missy says, looking at me. "I know. I could smell it as soon as I got there." I tell her through gritted teeth. 'Was it the same men?' Missy's mind linked me. 'Yes. She called me without them knowing. She used his name.' I snarled. "Alright. With this amount of wolfsbane in her system, she's not going to heal. We need to take her to surgery. Right now." Dr. Missy announced to the other nurses and doctors in the room. "How long?" I asked. "I don't know. I'll mind link you and keep you updated. I promise." Dr. Missy says as they wheel Tessa out of the room and down the hallway. And I was left in the empty trauma room. Bloody gauges and equipment were left all over the floor. I walked out to the hallway, and Cade, Carter, Ari, and Parker were all there. They all wanted to know what was going on. "She has wolfsbane in her system. She's not healing, so they have to take her to surgery." I tell them while still looking down the hall in the direction that they took Tessa. But then I turned to Parker with a stone-cold look. " Where are they?" I demanded. "They weren't as fast as they thought they were. They're in the dungeon." Parker says. "All three of them?" I asked. And he nodded his head. So I stormed out of the building, and when I slammed open the doors, the glass shattered as they hit the walls outside the building. I ran back to the packhouse in human form and threw open the front door with so much power that it came off the hinges, and I headed straight to the basement door. I ran down the stairs and through the dungeon until I got to the back of the dungeon, which is where the cells are that had no beds, no light, no nothing. Those cells were kept for the worst offenders. They were in separate ccellsand I saw Mason in his cell. I recognized him straight away, nd I grabbed the key and unlocked the cell and walked inside, and locked the door behind me. I put the key in my pocket so that no one else could come inside the cell because I knew that my Beta and Gamma were running after me. "Oh look. The big bad Alpha." The cocky little pick said with a smirk on his face. In less than a second, I had crossed the cell and was holding him against the wall by his throat, and his feet were dangling off the ground. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn't rip your head off, right now?" I asked. "Because I have information that you want." He gasped out. "Keep talking," I say. "I can't breathe." He says. So, I let go of his throat, and he dropped to the ground. "What information?" I demand. "Well, first of all. My friends and I would like better accommodations." He says. And I kicked him in the ribs and felt several of them break when I did that. He lifted about two feet off the ground from the power of my kick and then landed back where he started. "This isn't a negotiation. You're going to tell me what you know, or I will kill you." I demand. "Don't you want to know who let us on the pack grounds?" He asked. "You're saying that I have a mole. Who is it?" I asked. "I'm not giving up the one thing right now that is keeping me alive," Mason said. And I heard Cade and Carter behind me. "Maybe Tessa knows. He might have said something to her before or during the attack. When she wakes up, she could tell us." Cade suggested, and Mason's eyes grew wider. "Oh. Did you think she was dead? No. But if she does die, then so do you. Very, very slowly. I will drag your death out for weeks and weeks. You will not sleep, you will not eat, you will be praying for death by the time I am done with you...Hell, you raped and stabbed my mate. That's how you're gonna die anyway." I saw I was standing over his body. I grabbed him by the shirt and forced him to his feet, and punched him right in the broken ribs and then across the face, and broke his nose. Then I punched him again and again and again across the face until I lost track and he was barely conscious. I then dropped his body and grabbed a bucket of water from the side of the room and poured it over his head. And his eyes jolted awake with the cold water. I then let myself out of the cell and locked it again. I looked at the guards on duty. " If any of these three try to go to sleep, use that fire hose to keep them awake. They aren't supposed to sleep. No food either. Not until I say so." I commanded. "Yes, sir." One of the warriors said like he was very happy to carry out those orders. Cade and Carter were standing there, leaning against the wall. They didn't look the least bit fazed by what I just did. And they followed me upstairs. I went to my office, and they followed me while I picked up the phone and dialed a number. "Alpha Matthias. I'm so glad you're awake." I said it very condescendingly. "Who is this?" He asked. "Alpha Tyler Lowe. I'm sure you remember me. Tessa Braxton's mate." I gritted my teeth. "I remember. What do you want?" He asked, sounding exasperated. "Three of your warriors were found on my land tonight. Ifactce, those same three warriors attacked my Luna. As you know, that is an act of war. Do you think you're pack can stand up to my pack? You see, in my pack, men and women fight. Which means, your pack is bigger, but I have more fighters. Who do you think would win that?" I asked, sounding very condescending, of him. "What is it that you want?" He asked, suddenly sounding nervous. "I just told you. Your pack has just initiated war. I was just calling as a courtesy to let you know that it's begun. We no longer have an alliance. We are at war. And you will lose. Once I take care of your three warriors, you'd better be watching your back. And who knows, I might take care of these warriors tomorrow or in three weeks. It's been a pleasure doing business with you. And I look forward to ripping your fucking head off." I said as calmly as I could before I hung up the phone. "So, we are going to war?" Carter asked. "What they did is an act of war. If we don't retaliate, then it makes us look weak. Anyone will think that they can walk in here and rape and stab our women whenever the fuck they feel like it. And that's not happening. Not on my watch." I declare. "We need to find out who the mole is," Cade says. "Well, that's the questionn't it? Who the hell would have let those assholes in here? Who hates Tessa that much?" I asked. "Only one person I can think of," Carter says, "Yeah. The same person comes to my mind." Cade says. And I had to think about it for a minute. "You don't mean Rachel. She's not capable of something like this. She's upset about us not getting married. But she wouldn't go to these lengths." I insist. "Are you sure? You need to be 100% sure on this. After all, hardly anyone in the pack has met Tessa yet. They haven't had the chance to get to hate her yet. Most people are happy that she's here without even meeting her because they didn't want Rachel to be our Luna." Cade explained. "It wasn't Rachel. I know her. She wouldn't go this low just to be Luna." I insisted. And I didn't miss the look that they gave each other either. They didn't believe me, and I knew that they were going to stick with the Rachel theory. "You're dismissed," I said very formally to my Beta and Gamma. I never spoke to them formally like that. But they knew that I wasn't in the mood to argue, and it meant that the conversation was over. I wasn't talking to anyone else. I sat behind my desk and I turned on he computer. I started looking at Google Maps of the Blood River Territory. I wasn't lying about going to war with them. These warriors started it. And now their Alpha was going to have to try and finish it. I looked at their entire territory, and I looked at which way would be easier to get into the territory. But now that I've given him the warning, he is going to increase his patrols. I couldn't attack right now. I need to think with a level head here. I need to let him think that it was a hollow threat. That I was bluffing. We needed to wait. That was fine. ItThereas more time for us to plan. And I was going to plan the shit out of this. 'Alpha. It's Missy.' She said through the mind link. 'How is she? It's been hours.' I say. She's out of surgery. You need to be here.' Missy says. So without delay, I was out of my chair, I grabbed a shirt on my way out, and ran to a car out front and tore out of the driveway. When I got to the hospital, they were repairing the glass in the front doors that I had smashed earlier, and I went to the second floor where Dr. Missy was waiting for me. "How is she?" I asked. "She lost a lot of blood and had some internal injuries. I need you to be prepared. She flatlined on the operating table. We were able to bring her back, but she needed five bags of blood. That was the extent of the damage. I need to repair a couple of organs. But luckily, they weren't damaged enough that we had to remove them." Dr. Missy explained. "Is she going to live?" I asked, pinching the bridge of my nose, getting frustrated. "I'm optimistic. But the next 24 hours will give us a better picture of how things are going to go. She's on IVs again to get the wolfsbane out of her system. Luckily, there wasn't as much this time. We have her hooked up to a blood bag now, trying to restock her body with what she lost. She's stable for now, but still unconscious. And I don't know how long she will stay like that." Dr. Missy says. "Are you saying that she might never wake up?" I asked. "I don't know." She says. So I try to hold back the tears, no one can see the Alpha cry, and I walk into Tessa's room and see all the machines she's hooked up to. My breath caught in my throat for a second, but I walked over to her and sat next to her bed, and held her hand. "Come on, baby. You've been through worse than this. You can't let those bastards beat you now. Not after you just got away from them. You need to fight. I know that you can. You're the strongest person I know. You can beat this. You can beat them." I say to him, softly kissing her hand. But I got nothing from her. My phone started ringing, so I pulled it out of my pocket, but I didn't recognize the number. Yes." I answered curiously. "Alpha Tyler. This is Tobias. I am the head warrior at the Blood River pack. We met at the party." He says. "I remember you. You're the one who trained Tessa. What do you want?" I asked. "Matthias is using Rogues to do his dirty work," Tobias told me. "What?" I asked, confused. "He's using Rogues to do his dirty work. They are hitting you before you have a chance to hit them. They are attacking you tomorrow at sunrise. They're coming in from the East. You need to be ready." Tobias explained. "Why should I trust you?" I asked. "Because I don't want Tessa to get hurt. She's like a little sister to me." He says. "This whole thing started because Tessa is unconscious in a hospital bed right now. I don't even know if she's going to wake up." I stated. "Tell me what the fuck happened." He said through gritted teeth. So I explained to him about Mason, Levi, and Lochie. " Alright. You'll notice that there will be three wolves coming with the Rogues, but we aren't going to smell like Rogues. As soon as we get to your border, we will fight by your side. Myself, Ethan, a nd Wyatt. Once I tell them about this, they will be on your side. Not Matthias'." Tobias says.ƒrēewebnoѵёl.cσm "You're sure about that?" I asked. "Positive. Get your men ready. Sunrise tomorrow. And tell them not to attack us." Tobias says. "Alright. I'm going on blind faith here with you. Don't make me regret it. Because I will kill you." I say. "I know. But you won't have to. We're with you. Absolutely." Tobias says. Once I got off the phone, I looked at Tessa, and I leaned down and kissed her on the forehead, and I needed to leave her again. But I posted four guards outside her room. And I tell them that no matter what they hear in the morning, they aren't to leave her room. They are not to join the battle. I called an emergency pack meeting, which meant everyone was to drop what they were doing, and they all headed to the meeting hall. I explained about the Rogue attack, and we were getting the women and children into the shelter tonight. They are spending the night there. It won't be comfortable, but it will keep them alive. And I start strategizing with my warriors. Everyone fights. Men and women. We devise a plan to wait for this attack. They think that their surprising us. We were going to surprise them. And we were going to kill them all. And then send a message back to the Blood River Pack. I just didn't know what that message was yet. I went back to the hospital at about midnight and sat with Tessa, talking to her. Pleading with her to wake up. But there was no sign that she was going to. I didn't know what to do anymore. I was so scared that she wasn't going to come back to me. And that fear turned into anger, which then turned into blind rage. So when I got the mind link at 4 am that we needed to get into position, I kissed her on the forehead again, and I left the hospital and headed to the Eastern side of the border. We had the normal patrol just wandering around as usual while everyone else was hidden. We stayed hidden and controlled our breathing and heartbeats so that they couldn't hear it. And eventually, we saw them coming into view as the sun was rising. A rough count of about 300 of them. Honestly, I thought that was a joke. But I saw three wolves that were bigger than the rest. That was Tobias, Ethan, and Wyatt. It had to be. Packs k wolves were always bigger. And they were bigger. The rogues were stalking towards the border, trying to be quiet so as not to alert the patrol, and everyone was just waiting for my signal to attack. A few feet closer. A few feet closer. A few feet closer.