Something Unexpected

Chapter 22

Cody P.O.V

When Noah and the rest of our pack leaped to action so did the rogues. A part of me was sad because some of the rogues in this fight were wolves I had known for years and even at a time, wolves I had grown to be friends with. I just have to continue to remind myself they are fighting on the wrong side and I am fighting to protect my mate and pack. I take down as many rogues as I can. I start to feel the hairs on my neck stand. I start to look around trying to figure out why, and in the corner of my eye I see something move in the distance in the treeline going towards the rogue camp. I start to run over to see who it is. As I get closer the scent hits me like a bus. Erin. She pokes her head around the tree and her eyes go wide when she sees me. She turns and runs in the other direction, and I chase her down. As we run deeper into the forest Erin suddenly stops and turns around to face me as her identical dirty blonde hair flows through the slight breeze. I look around and see a pair of shorts as the base of the tree. I jog over and shift back into my human form slipping on the pair of shorts and face Erin.

"Erin.." I say, but comes out more as a whisper.

"Cody," she says coldly.

"Why? I thought you were dead all these years"

"It's not like you were greatly affected by it," she says with a glare.

"How could you say that! I was sad that my big sister left out of the blue one day. The same sister that would take me out for ice cream, help me with homework, play at the park with me. Our mother was miserable without you too!" I huff out with tears brimming my eyes. Looking at her I could see a pained expression that quickly turned back to her poker face.

"You wouldn't understand," she says, breaking eye contact.

"Try me," I say.

"You wouldn't understand the pain of not being wanted by your mate, you know why! BECAUSE YOU HAVE ONE THAT WANTED YOU" she yells tears now filling her eyes.

"The hell I don't! You're right I may not know what it feels like to not be wanted by my mate, but I know how miserable it is for someone who loses their mate. When mom died, our father snapped. He changed... changed into a bitter, hateful man. I ended up becoming his personal punching bag. HIS PUNCHING BAG ERIN! Every day one beating after the other! When the opportunity came for me to spy on packs, I took it because it meant I didn't have to be around him! So don't tell me I don't know what it's like. I see the way it changes people!" I yell out now with tears streaming down my face.

"I - I didn't know that he beat you.. Cody I swear" Erin says with wide eyes.

"It doesn't matter now, I have a home. A family. A pack that welcomed me. My Luna did everything she could to help me. I now know that's a real family" I say looking at Erin. She looks back at me and I see a small smile appear on her face. A confused look appears on my face which she notices.

"Cody, I'm glad you found a home and are doing well," she says with a small smile.

"I've spent years trying to make people feel the same pain I did. I wanted revenge. But my life is so meaningless now. So I will continue what I have been doing" She says

"Erin, what do you mean? You can live your life differently now!" I question her. She shakes her head.

"I can't, there has been too much damage done," Erin says before shifting into her blonde wolf.

I see her start to run at me and I quickly shift dodging her jaw. I don't want to hurt her, but she is giving me no other choice. Running at me she swipes her paw at me causing me to yelp as the nail scratches my side drawing blood. We go back and forth snapping at each other. I finally get the opportunity to pin her down. Before she could attack back I put my jaws to her neck. Her eyes go wide for a second then look calm. She shifts back into her human form and looks into my eyes as my jaws begin to snap her neck. As she took her last breath she looked up at me with a single tear gliding across her cheek.