Caught in Between

-35-

Liliana scolded me. I could feel her presence inside my conscience, projecting her disappointment on me. It's not like I didn't heed her words of advice, but at the same time, my patience was running thinner than a strand of hair.

I guessed I could understand the picture painted of me: "the Vampire Queen started the war", but in truth, I did not care. The war could've started without me instigating it one way or another. The longer we waited, the more horrible things the werewolves would've done to our people. And with Zach killing Debby, it sent me over the edge.

With my emotions spiraling out of control, my strength multiplied as I cut down the other werewolves surrounding us.

Zach managed to escape, to alert the rest of the werewolves that the war had begun. Georgia and Josh had appeared to assist, but Kaleb told her to inform our council and Josh to get back to the blood donation centers.

"What were you thinking?" Keith asked me as he fought by my side.

"I wasn't. I wasn't thinking at all," I responded as I used my sharp claws to stab the neck of a werewolf who had sprinted up on us. My nails sunk in deep until I could feel his bones, wrapping my fingers around his trachea and snapping it in half. I pulled my hand out and watched the werewolf's body fall limp against the ground.

The rest of the werewolves retreated and the Korren brothers, Jen and I were left alone. Usually, Jen would have a comment to make, but she kept quiet. Kaleb didn't seem against what I did, but Keith was completely flustered.

Keith stepped toward me, grabbed my wrist and held my bloody hand up. He glared at me as the blood dripped down onto his hand. "What you did, was not right. We were not prepared to induce a war!" He shoved my hand away and turned his body around to storm off.

"That's all you talk about, Keith! Prepare this, prepare that..we have been preparing for years! There is no amount of preparation that you can do to be fully ready for this, why are you so obsessed?!" I shouted back, annoyed by his small tantrum he was throwing.

"Because! I will not watch my people die! I don't want to be responsible for their blood on my hands! This war.. this war will create so many casualties." His expression evolved into sorrow. His eyes darted away from mine and I sighed, stepping forward and reaching out for his hand, but he declined.

"Keith, I—" I wanted to apologize as I could see how sad he felt. But he didn't allow me to get anymore words out.

"What's done is done. The war has begun and all we can do is move forward and come up with ways we can reduce the amount of casualties," Keith stated before he walked back inside the cabin.

I turned to Jen who stood there with her back toward us, her arms crossed over her waist as she stared at the ground. "Jen?" I called out to her, seeing if she had anything to say. But instead, she dropped her arms and followed Keith.

I felt alone. I felt like I had betrayed everyone.

I was scared and Kaleb saw. He pulled me into a gentle embrace and I nestled my head into the crook of his shoulder. I didn't want to apologize. I couldn't apologize. Keith was right; what's done is done and there was nothing I could've done to take back everything.

"For all it's worth," Kaleb slowly spoke before pulling away to meet my gaze, "what you did, don't feel bad for it. You weren't completely in the wrong. I believe in you. As my mate and the Vampire Queen."

His words touched me. A pitiful smile formed on my lips before he hugged me again. His strong arms comforted me, it was a place where I could be okay with feeling scared.

"Now, let's go inside, get some rest and discuss our plans," Kaleb said and I nodded my head in agreement. He held my hand as we both entered the cabin.