THE NORD BROTHERS

CHAPTER 19

Logan's POV. 

His nostrils flared. The air was filled with stench of gun powder and tart tinge of silver. Luckily no one was hurt or he would serve the heads of Hunters for dinner. Their stench was prominent, the same as the bullet hole they left in a nearby tree trunk. 

"They even bothered to leave a message." Caleb commented while prodding the silver bullet from the small hole in the oak. Those bastards didn't have to bother with being straightforward. Both brothers knew what they were after. And unfortunately so did the pack members. 

A month had passed but Mariana was still a rogue. The pack was growing testy. Rogue meant danger and hail of silver bullets...

This incident would only drive them further into believing that she should be eliminated.

"Intensify the patrols. You'll report everything straight to me, doesn't matter how small." Logan barked orders to his men. The group of enforcers nodded and instantly split up to investigate further signs of intrusion. 

It was then a small figure appeared in distance, stumbling as it went. "Mariana! Natalie! They're...Oh God!" Gwen yelled, waving Caleb's phone in the air like national flag. 

Logan's eyes narrowed as he watched his younger sister barrel down the small hill, topple, and then set off running again. "What happened?" He demanded, dark feeling growing in the pit of his stomach. 

"This is bad! Mariana went into labor!" 

"She WHAT!?" Both brothers yelled in unison. Caleb almost fell over from where he was crunching near the tree. 

"No, I mean, Natalie went into labor!" Gwen corrected herself in between heaving breaths. "A-and hunters!" 

Logan grabbed his younger sister by the shoulders, his expression stern and voice booming. "Where the fuck are they!?" 

It took another minute for them to learn the address from their panicking sibling. He almost had to shake the answers from her before they could get going. In record speed Caleb and Logan had assembled a group of enforcers and gotten into the car, road traffic regulations be screwed. Their Beta Max was little help at this point. Hearing names Natalie, Hunters and labor in the same sentence almost made him blow the gasket. 

Usually chill, rational Beta had turned into a shivering, angry wolf male with no sense of direction or what to do. Caleb had to load him into the back seat before he ran off ready for war in the wrong direction. 

Another fifteen minutes and Tokyo Drift worthy moves later three cars screeched to halt in front of the warehouse. Metallic stench filled the air. Logan was first to bust through the doorway, a part of him expecting to see the wort case scenario. The thought of his mate dead, laying in pool of her blood made him feel things he would other way claim to be impossible. The grief would be too great to bear, to live with. 

But the sight he saw once he entered the building was hardly what he had imagined. 

Red stained the walls. Various body parts were littered across the flooring. Somebody that used to look human was laying on the ground, whimpering quietly while holding his guts from spilling out. Half of his face was particularly gone, nothing but a hollow hole present in place where eye should be. 

Logan had seen and done plenty horrors in his life. But this looked like something straight from a movie. Caleb was frozen by his side, his eyes fixed on a single finger that he almost stepped on. 

"Nat!" Max burst into the warehouse, his attention instantly drawn towards the blonde woman in the corner. She looked to be in a bad shape. Blood stained her clothes and the contractions were happening far more frequently. Her eyes were wide with terror and fixed on a dark corner of the room. 

The shadows shifted, revealing a glint of two wild orange eyes. The creature moved, its thick black fur raising at the scruff. Thick blood dribbled down its parted mouth, a chunk of flesh hanging from between rows of razor sharp teeth. 

"Let your mate out of here." Logan ordered, his attention never straying from the massive black wolf - his mate. Or at least what was left from her. The rogue's eyes were crazed by blood lust. It didn't recognize anyone. It was the darnest luck she hadn't attacked Natalie. That thing is not my mate. He felt sharp pain through his chest. They were too late. 

"Mariana..." Caleb whispered her name, but the reaction they got was a low growl of a beast. 

"Hurry!" Logan yelled, setting the shocked enforcers into action. Max and two more men helped Natalie while others lined behind the two Alphas. 

The wolf paced, snarling, paying no heed to to the dead body of a hunter underneath its paws. 

"Rogue," Logan stepped closer, "This is your last warning." 

Damn it! Mariana!

The leader in him knew that this was far beyond something that could be salved with talking. And yet the idea of killing his own mate to protect his pack was more than he could bear. Logan felt Caleb's eyes on him, warning him. 

"Logan, it's still Mariana." 

As if I don't know that. 

His jaw clenched. "Submit." 

The rogue gave no signs of understanding a single word. Her figure hunched, but not because she was showing obedience. No. It was to attack. 

Seconds later she pounced. Her massive wolf form crashed into Logan, sending the two onto the ground. He grunted with the sudden weight. Her claws dug into his chest and jaws snapped right in front of his face. Only his arms that gripped her fur kept her from ripping into him. 

Don't make me do this!

Logan grit his teeth, his wolf raging. Sound of clothes ripping could be heard in background before another, dark brown wolf crashed into her. Caleb had shifted, his bigger body easily taking her off of his brother. Both wolves rolled onto the floor in mass of fur. 

Her claws left scratch marks on his chest as she took the tumble. The subtle sting fueled his rampaging wolf. The bones shifted underneath his skin, breaking and forming into something new. Silvery grey fur coated his skin. Logan's eyes shone bright blue. His grey wolf form matched the height of Caleb's and exceeded hers. 

Both brothers circled her. The raven black wolf bared its teeth, wild eyes darting from one Alpha brother to the other. Their only hope was that she wasn't lost enough to force their hand, that a part of her would realize that she couldn't win against two male wolves. 

But alas, that hope was diminished and turned to ash. 

She lunged straight for Logan's throat. 

Time slowed. Logan watched the creature he once called mate kick off the ground and open its mouth. His eyes closed. He pictured Mariana's smile, her sweet scent....their date by the lake and how her lips felt like Heaven....All of it was gone. 

His eyes snapped open. 

Both wolves clashed mid air. His massive body easily overpowered hers. Logan's sturdy legs pinned her body to the concrete floor, claws digging into her ribs. There was only one way to stop her. 

Forgive me. 

His jaws parted and clamped down on her throat. Sparks exploded. Warm blood filled him mouth. A pained howl of sorrow filled the warehouse.

 And then...her body went limp.