Wolf's Pack (Wolves Next Door #3) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,188

Vic snarled. "So did Seth. Damon's dead."

"Karen's dead too," I told him.

Lane's eyes jumped over to me. "You ok, bunny?"

That was the wrong thing to say. All this stress. All of the anxiety, insanity, and fear poured out of my mouth in a single, overly-harsh sentence. "Don't you ever fucking leave me alone like that again, Lane! You hear me?"

And he smiled. "I was just around the corner cleaning up," he promised as he pushed between the crowd to wrap his arms around me. "I'm fine, Elena. You're fine. One of our foxes is hurt, though."

"Right." So I pointed at the door. "Across the street, there's a walkway between those two houses, and the community center is on the other side." I paused to glance back, not surprised at all to see Evelyn standing in the hallway, listening. "Can you hold down the clinic for a few minutes?"

"Damon's dead?" she asked.

Vic nodded. "I saw it with my own eyes. I'm sorry."

The girl sighed, her entire body relaxing. "No, that's a good thing. Go. I'll keep an eye on the converts. Just..." She lifted her hand, paused, then let it fall. "Derek needs formula, and I didn't bring any."

"We'll get you some," I assured her. "Diapers too, I'm assuming?"

She nodded. "I didn't bring anything. I just had him, and you all were there, and I knew this was our chance, so we ran."

"We'll take care of you," I promised, "but right now, we need to get this girl to the doctor and make sure the rest of the pack is all in one piece. Just a bit longer."

"I'm fine, Alpha," Evelyn promised. "Go. I can guard the five of us."

So I waved Vic, the foxes, and Lane back the way they'd come. Sampson, however, didn't follow. "I'll keep an eye on the kids, and clear away the glass," he promised.

Thankfully, it wasn't far. Unfortunately, the sounds of fighting were still loud enough to prove that while the fight had died down, it wasn't yet over. Lane shifted. Sheridan and Ridley shifted. I was once again dressed and not looking to strip, so I walked with Vic, making sure they all knew where we were going.

Ok, Lane could've shown them, but if both Damon and Karen were dead, letting everyone know would end this, right? I wasn't sure how, or what I was supposed to do, but since I was the only Alpha here, I had a feeling I needed to be there. The group of us came out at the side of the large community center, right beside those same doors Gabby had used as her entrance for her quinceañera. We hurried, trying to avoid being seen by the groups still scuffling around the front, when a voice called out.

"Hidden Forest!" That was Seth.

My feet froze and my head turned to the sound. Lane shifted, waved Vic and the girls inside, then caught my arm, tugging me toward where my other mate's voice had come from. We hurried, jogging up the length of the building just in time to see Seth, Jax, and Scott walk into the grassy area around the community center. The area was filled with bodies of wolves - both alive and dead - that no longer looked like the beautiful retreat it had been designed to be.

Then Seth yelled again. "Hidden Forest pack! Wolf's Run! Cease fighting! Damon is dead, and I have claimed the position of Pack Alpha. I order you all to stand down."

Growls faded. The snarling stopped. My eyes jumped across the lawn to see that groups were all separating to turn and see what was going on. Seth just kept walking closer.

The man was covered in blood and clearly injured. I pressed a hand to my lips to keep from making a sound, but I wanted to run to him. I knew I couldn't, yet the urge was still there. I could see the gash across the side of his neck and shoulder. It still bled. Across his mouth, chin, and trickling down his chest was more, but that didn't seem to be his. Bites covered his body, dark marks that would become bruises stood out on his skin, and blood had dried in places, making it clear that not all of his injuries were fresh.

Yet my mate walked proudly, completely exposed, straight into the center of that. The pair of bears paced him like bodyguards. That, more than anything else, kept me from panicking, because Seth was not supposed to be the