**** TRIGGER WARNING: MISCARRIAGE ****

Neah

“Everyone needs to stay fucking still!” Dane roars as I look over at Mallory.

Eric is desperately trying to stop her from bleeding as he slams his hands against her stomach. Damien cups her face, forcing her to look at him rather than down at Eric and talks to her, trying to keep her calm. From here, I can see her body trembling, blood already pooling around her. Dane grabs hold of my face and turns it to his. “You need to get them under control. You can’t help Mallory otherwise.”

‘He’s right. We have to do this.’ Nyx mutters

‘I’m not sure I’m ready.’ I whisper back

‘You’ve got this. Just like we practised.’

I take a deep breath, letting my lungs fill to capacity as I tune into my Alpha abilities. I only needed this lot to listen, not the others in the pack and definitely not Damien as he tries to help Mallory.

Homing in on the connections to every Lycan in front of me. “Everyone, face down on the ground, now!”

Everyone drops and Nyx is bouncing around in pure happiness that I was gaining more and more control.

Only two men were left not listening. Abraxas and another male Lycan who was still on his knees. They were fighting. And I see what they are fighting over, a gun. It hadn’t been Abaraxas that shot Mallory, it had been the dickhead he was fighting with and Abraxas had already managed to get a few punches in.

Moving forward, I step between the face down Lycans. They were silent, including the kids while their hearts ran rampant in their chests. Not a single soul was trying to defend the bastard that had shot Mallory.

Abraxas manages to free the gun and points it directly at the shooter’s head. “She is pregnant, you dumb fuck!”

‘A pup won’t survive that.’ Nyx mutters

Anger floods through me and I see Brax’s finger twitching on the trigger. I had let him kill whoever was a threat up until this point. But he does not get to kill this asshole.

“Stop!”

Abraxas shifts his hazel eyes to me in confusion. “He is a threat! He shot Mallory!”

“She’s a Lycan Alpha, not a Wolf Alpha. And you are a dirty fucking Hunter. A disgrace to your own kind.” The shooter sneers like he somehow thought I was on his side

“You’re right. I am the Lycan Alpha. But you didn’t obey my order. And the one you shot was a Lycan. You won’t get a chance to try that again.” The shooter slowly turns to face me. His piercing green eyes stare into mine with disgust. “You’re going…”

“Who do you think let the Hunter in?!” There is a darkness to my voice. But unlike the other times, it brings a level of comfort. Nyx was standing with me and not against me.

“Trai….” He doesn’t get a chance to finish his sentence as my claws sink into his chest.

His lips part and he lets out a breathy gasp. Shock and surprise linger on his face as his eyes drift down to the prating wound. “You…you can partially shift.”

His words are barely a whisper as my claws sink deeper, slicing holes into his lungs. A gargled sound rises up through his throat as he no longer gets the oxygen he needs. Blood appears in the corner of his mouth, slowly making its way down over his chin.

Immense satisfaction floods through me as I watch the life drain from him which is quickly washed away and replaced with guilt.

‘You are just punishing a crime.’ Nyx murmurs. ‘He deserved this. He hurt Mallory. It doesn’t mean anything else and you know it’s the right thing to do. There would be too many put in danger if you allowed him to live. And we need them to know you don’t mess around!’

The guy’s knees buckle, forcing my claws up through his chest and into his heart. His eyes bulge from his head as he realises this was the end for him.

“It should have been you.” He mutters with a final breath. Retracting my claws from his chest, he drops to the ground, dead before he even hits it.

I pause for a moment to look at my blood covered claws. It had felt so good to end someone who deserved it. Good and right, but guilt still sat heavily in my chest.

Turning around, I see all the Lycans

still face down on the ground. Dane is watching me, his lips curved up into a smile. My eyes move to Mallory. But she had been moved. I needed to go and see her. The bullet had been meant for me not her and now she might have lost a pup because of it.

“Get rid of the body.” I tell Abraxas

“Are you going to kill any others?” He asks amused.

“I don’t know, do you want to join him?” Nyx bursts into laughter at my sarcastic response