The Warrior

They Were Mates

~~~~~1 YEAR AGO~~~~~

"Are you sure you're ready?" Ann asked me. It had been one week since I woke up. My face and eyes were completely healed now. "We can postpone this for one more week." I felt the uncertainty in her voice.

"Don't worry Ann. I will be fine and you and the babies will be fine. You have Doc and Greta here and Stefan and I will only be gone for a few days."

"Do you have to go?" She asked sadly. I knew this was hard for a new mom, especially a mom of triplets, but it had to be done.

"Baby, we need to go pay our respects to those who lost their lives for us. We need to check up on the packs that came to help us even when they didn't have too." She nodded sadly and the reached up and lightly kissed me. "I'll be back. I promise." Kissing her one last time I made my way out of the house and to the car where a driver and guard waited as well as Stefan.

"Is she okay?" He asked as I climbed in the back with him. The guard and driver sat upfront quietly talking to each other. As soon as I shut the door the car rumbled to life and off we went.

"She will be. She knows this has to be done. The closest pack is less than an hour away so let's talk." Stefan's face turned pale.

"Okay, we will hit Armstrong pack first. We will meet and visit with him and then he will guide us to all the houses of the fallen warriors. After that-"

"No, not about that." I interrupted. "About Don. You've been avoiding this topic all week long. I want to know what happened. No, I need to know what happened. Is he truly dead? The only thing Doc has told me this week was that there's no body. Stefan I need closure. I need to know the threat to my babies and mate, to you, is gone." This made Stefan sigh.

"Don is dead. Isn't that enough to know?"

"Normally it would be but the fact that Doc won't tell me what happened to end the fight and you're acting suspicious and may I say, guilty of something. I don't know why but it makes me feel anxious. We tell each other everything and suddenly I wake up from being unconscious for a few days and my best friend doesn't want to look me in the eyes. So you tell me, would it be enough for you?" I asked. The two men upfront lowered their voices but kept their own conversation going.

"No, it wouldn't." He sighed and looked out the window. "It happened so fast. I wasn't in control and that scared me." His voice was quiet, a mere whisper. "What if it happened again? To someone I love? What if Annie couldn't forgive me for killing the only father we ever knew, even though he was trash. So many questions and no answers. I was terrified of myself. For the first time in my life I felt free from him, like I no longer had this huge expectation on me and I was so happy and then I was ashamed for being happy at the expense of the horrendous act I had just committed."

"Stefan, what happened?" He refused to look at me. It took a few minutes but slowly he began again.

"One moment Don was there threatening your life, threatening Annie and the babies' lives, and I was so scared. I knew one wrong move and he could easily kill you. I could lose everyone I ever cared about if I didn't do the right thing and the more I thought about it all the more angry I grew. I wasn't just angry with Don, but with myself for not being strong enough, for never being enough for him or for myself. That anger grew so quickly I began to see red. I wanted blood. I wanted to rip him to pieces until there was nothing left and exactly that happened." Finally he turned towards me. Tears and fear sat in his eyes. "It's like I had no control. Don suddenly screamed out in pain and then literally exploded right in front of me. That's not even the worst part. In anger I shifted and ran throughout the land looking for his men and doing the same thing to every single one of them I found. There was no mercy, there were no questions, I killed without hesitation."