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As I follow her gaze to Andrei, his expression turns understanding, his eyes darting past me. He stands, and I look over Rose's shoulder, revealing the empty space where Vince had been. My heart drops into my stomach.
“Where's Vince?” I demand, my voice echoing ominously through the eerie quiet.
Andrei stammers, pointing to an empty spot, his eyes wide with panic. “He's… he was… He was right there.” I look out where he is pointing.
“Wait… No! Malik!” His voice breaks on the last word, and my blood runs cold.
The sight that greets us makes my heart seize. Malik, the man who helped raise me and Vince, and has always been my rock, lies crumbled on the ground. His body is still, too still. There's no sign of Vince, only the broken, bloody body of the man who has always treated us like his sons.
Andrei stumbles off the veranda, running over to him and falling to his knees beside Malik's lifeless form. His hands shake as he gently lifts Malik's head onto his lap, a sight that sends waves of despair washing over us. The silence that follows is deafening, interrupted only by Casey's whimpering and the heavy sound of our collective heartbreak.
“Malik…” Andrei's voice chokes on the name. The lines on his face deepen, etching a map of despair and anguish that no Alpha should bear. I watch as the man who’s always been our stronghold, an Alpha, crumbles under the weight of his loss, his body convulsing with silent sobs.
A howl pierces the silence, a mournful sound that ripples through the pack. One by one, the others join in, their voices intertwining into a symphony of loss and pain at losing their own. I see figures rush out of their homes, staggering over to Malik and Andrei.
Rose chokes as she peers over at her father and Sage hands me Casey. I grab the throw off the rocking chair on the porch, pulling it over my lap. I take her. “Is Uncle Malik okay?” she asks, and Rose sobs while all I can think is about his mate and children. Heidi definitely would have felt his loss by now. But she isn't here. I just hope Lia is with her to help hold her together.
I clench my fists, my nails digging into my palms. Vince’s escape comes at a terrible price, the cost paid in Malik’s life. The sight of Andrei hunched over Malik's body, the sound of the pack howling their anguish, and the reality of the devastation wrought by my brother… it all collides in a wave of sadness and rage.
The night has bled into a horrendous nightmare, leaving us all reeling. But as the darkness gives way to the promise of a new dawn, we're left with the harsh realization that, amidst our joy for Rose's recovery, we've suffered a loss that has shattered the pack. Before she can see me, she looks pale in the dawn's early light, her eyes brimming with unshed tears.
She stares vacantly at the wall of the house, her guilt evident through the bond I now share with her. She thinks this is her fault, but I know it's Vince.
The fact he killed Malik worsens it because the man loved us; he loved us like the sons he never had, took us in when we had no one. Vince betrayed him, betrayed everyone. “He's gone, isn't he, Daddy? Uncle Malik is gone; it hurts my chest. Why does it hurt as it did with Mommy?” Casey cries, and Rose's lip quivers when Casey tucks her face in my neck.
I tuck her closer to me before opening my other arm to Rose. She stares at me for a second, and the next, she crashes against me. I kiss her hair, tugging Rose closer and also using her body to shield Casey from my nudity. Glancing out at the pack, they all sit on the cold grass surrounding Andrei and Sage, hugging her mate while he mourns for his friend, their pack member.
Vince will pay. For Rose, for Malik, for our pack, he will pay, only this time I'll make sure he stays dead.
ChapterForty-Four
Eziah
Dominic's words replay in my head, “It's time to call on your mother.” Yet, the thought of calling on her brings anxiety. For the most part of the last four years, I've evaded her, our relationship strained.
Hearing a knock on the door, I glance up from staring at my phone to see Marabella pop her head in the bedroom door. “How is she?” Marabella asks, peeking at Temperance. I glance at her; she is still passed out and hasn't woken up since whatever the Octavian shadows did to her. She’s out cold, yet her eyes move rapidly beneath her eyelids.
“I'm not sure; the bond feels weird, numb almost,” I admit. Marabella nods and steps into the room. Closing the door a little, she points to the phone in my hand. “Are you about to call Mom?” she asks, and I sigh heavily.
“We need answers, and Mom is probably the only one that will have them.” I brush my fingers through my hair and move over on the bed to lean against the headboard. Marabella takes a seat at my feet, peering over at Temperance strangely.
“What?” I ask her, tugging the blanket up over my mate to cover her more. She shakes her head, “Nothing, I just find it odd that she accesses the shadow realm, it’s kind of creepy. You'd understand if you'd ever been there,” she tells me, lifting her hand to touch her. I grip her wrist, eyeing her. “What are you doing?”
I worry seeing the bizarre look on her face. “I can't hurt her, she is the shadows, Eziah, much like I am, but she's also light, like you.” I let her go. “You want to see if she is immune to you?” I ask her. She chews her lip nervously, yet I can see her curiosity.
“Go on then,” I tell her, dropping my hand on Temperance’s shoulder just on the off chance she isn't. Marabella touches her, and I can see the shadows slivering like veins beneath her skin. Her magic morphs as it tries to taint Temperance, but nothing happens, nothing whatsoever.
“Is your curiosity satiated now?” I ask her, and she chuckles.
“Sorry, it's not every day I find someone besides family that is immune to me,” she answers. I nod and look back down at the phone in my hand. Marabella watches me for a few moments before she goes to leave, but then she stops suddenly. Her eyes widen as she steps away from Temperance and me, looking towards the door in dread, then turning back to me with a guilty expression on her face. “What?”
“Eziah, I think it may not be necessary for you to call Mom…” As soon as those words escape Marabella's mouth, another knock sounds at the door downstairs, and my heart skips a beat in dread or excitement—I can't tell which one.
Marabella looks at me guiltily and chews her lip, “I already did… and that will be her,” she falls quiet, and I sigh.
“Of course, you did.” I roll my eyes. I stand up from the bed, phone in hand, as Marabella walks out of my bedroom. She looks back at me with an apologetic expression before disappearing down the hallway.
I take a deep breath, trying to calm my nerves. My mom's arrival was unexpected, but not entirely surprising. After all that happened recently, she probably heard about it through the supernatural grapevine, which means she most likely knows I've also been avoiding her and drove straight past home without dropping in.
