Chapter 117

(Trigger warning: mention of blood)

*Maya* *POV*


A group of frantic voices is echoing outside of my window when I am getting dressed a few mornings after the Alpha meeting. I take a minute to glance outside and find my mates have an intense conversation with a few of our guards. I furrow my brow and make my way downstairs to find Danny and Isaiah playing with toys on the floor in the living room.

“Hey. What’s going on?” I ask her as I pass.

“Someone along the east side of the border was hurt. They think they were attacked.” She says.

My heart skips into a panic as my mind instantly goes through the possible attackers. I could only think of two.

“Okay, I’ll be right back,” I say to her before heading toward the front door.

I pull the door hard and rush over to the area of the yard I saw my guys talking.

“What’s going on?” I call out as I get closer to them.

Noah sighs. “One of our patrols was attacked early this morning. The others went looking for him when he hadn’t checked in.”

“How bad is her hurt?” I ask looking to the two pack members standing nearby.

“He lost a lot of blood Alpha, and he has cuts all over his body. The doctors are not sure what may have caused the injuries.” They explain.

“Will he live?” I ask.

Everyone falls silent and a tightness forms around my heart. He was pack, my pack and he was going to die. This was on me. I was his Alpha and he trusted me.

“Hey. Maya, don’t you dare blame yourself for this.” Tommy says stepping toward me and taking my face in his hands. “He was protecting his pack, and he does not blame anyone for doing his job, so you can't blame yourself either.”

“He’s right love. All of the pack members involved in patrol volunteer knowing the risks. They are proud to put their lives on the line to protect the pack.” Eli adds.

I nod but it still hurts me so deeply.

“What’s his name? Who is his family?” I ask trying to catch my breath.

“His name was John. He was unmated Alpha.” They say and I let out a breath of relief.

I was hurting that he wouldn’t make it, but it would have hurt even more having to deliver such news to his mate. The death of a mate is supposed a extremely painful experience, and many didn't survive it.

“I want to see him. He should have someone there and I’m his Alpha.” I say firmly giving each of my mates a look warning them not to fight me on this.

They all nod reluctantly. They want to keep me from feeling more guilty by this, but I needed to do this. He didn’t have a mate to sit by his bedside, it was the least I could do.

“Yes, Alpha.” The two guards say lowering their heads to me.

I hated that they felt they needed to bow their heads to me like that, but no objections I gave so far have kept the pack from not doing it. So I gave up on that fight. At least being by the bedside of a fallen pack member was something I wouldn't be fought on. This war was going to cause a lot of casualties much to my horror, but I planned to be beside every fallen member of my pack.

“Have you connect the pack through the blood ceremony?” Tommy asks as we follow behind the guards.

“No. Not the ceremony. I wanted to wait for things to be more stable, but that won't be happening any time soon.” I say and he takes my hand in his giving it a gentle squeeze.

“It may help the pack feel stronger if they are connected to you like that, but you will feel the loss more deeply. It may be too much for you.” He warns.

“Maybe but I don’t care about that. If I can give my pack and an upper hand in this fight I want to do it.” I say with determination.

I honestly hadn’t thought about it much because we seemed to be working well as a pack without that kind of connection, but Tommy was right.

“Okay, we should do it as soon as possible then. You need to get back to your own pack soon. If this attack isn’t because of the Blood Demons, the next one might be. I need to be able to sense if my pack members are in danger.” I was determined to do this more than ever.

I didn’t care if I could feel the pain of every fallen pack member. They needed my connection and I would give anything and everything if I can.

****

When we finally reached the pack hospital I stepped out front of my group and approached the doctor closest to me.

“How is John?” I ask her immediately.

“Alpha.” She says lowering her head and I take in a quick calming breath.

“He is very weak. There was a lot of blood loss. I’m sorry he was found too late, there wasn’t much we could do but make him comfortable.” She explains leading me to his room.

My mates follow close behind me but I hold out a hand in front of them. “I need to go in alone. I don’t want to stress him out with too many people around him.”

They nodded in agreement and stepped back claiming a few seats lined up along the nearest wall.

I open the door slowly and walk in as silently as possible. When my eyes fall onto my pack member my heart constricts in such a painful way that it takes everything in me not to drop right there and cry out in sorrow. He looked so hurt that it broke my heart. Who could have done this?

“Alpha…” My eyes snap up to his and he offers me a wary smile.

Now that I see him he looks familiar. I felt terrible not being able to personally meet all of my pack yet but I was happy to at least recognize him.

“Yes. How are you John? Are you in a lot of pain?” I ask him.

“No Alpha. I’m not in pain.” He responds, his voice weak.

I sit down beside him and gently take his hand.

“Do you know who did this?” I ask him.

“I didn’t see their face. It was dark and they came out of nowhere and made no sound. I was suddenly…” He starts to cough and I stand to search for some water, but his hold on my hand tightened. “I smelled blood, and it was not my own.”

As those last words fall from his lips his body convulses making his body shake violently. I start to panic, dropping his hand. I run for the door and yell for the doctor. I step aside as several nurses and the doctor rush inside and try to get a handle on the situation, yelling for them to try and save him. Blood starts to fall down the sides of his mouth and I watch in horror as his body puts up its last fight. In the end, it isn't enough and after one last intense body spasms, his body falls to bed limp and unmoving.

"Time of death. 9:30 AM." The doctor says stepping away from him. A nurse steps up and pulls the sheet that had been covering him and pulls it all the way up to cover his face.

"I'm sorry Alpha." The doctor says.

"You did everything you could. Thank you." Is say taking her hand and squeezing it as reassurance.

There wasn't much more the doctor could have done. Our packmate was gone, and if the person who attacked John smelled of blood...it meant that the Blood Demons had made their first move against us. There was no more time to prepare. They are coming for us.