Forever Luna

Revenge

noun ~ the action of inflicting harm on someone for wrong suffered at their hands

NOVA

The first step into the bedroom was anticlimactic. Nothing happened other than Phoenix following behind me. I took it as confidence and entered the room more, my eyes scanning the broken door. My mate remained close by, his knuckles ghosting the small of my back wherever I moved.

I stopped by the window, staring down at the corner that was darkened with blood.

So much blood.

Their wolves had been thirsty for it.

I shook my head, my hand coming to my stomach as it tightened. Whether nausea of pregnancy or the thought of what transpired, it made me gag. Forcing myself to exhale, I turned around to gather more information.

Why did they target this family?

Someone had stripped most of the personal belongings from the room. Most of the furniture snapped and destroyed. I actively avoided looking at the wolf-sized shatter in the window and looked lower.

Paw prints in the blood marked the wood. Glass and wood splinters. Even a few tufts of dark fur. I picked them up, inhaling the scent.

It was Calida's wolf.

Although brief; it smelt just like her.

She must've been the first to smash through the window.

It wasn't surprising; the little experience I've had with her; she was keen to flee.

I continued looking down, eyeing Phoenix from the corner of my eye. He was staring into the bloodied corner with a deep frown, his arms crossed. I knew he was always watching me, because the bond hummed with acknowledgement as I stared at him.

But then I spotted something.

Half tucked beneath the splintered chest of drawers, there was a corner of... more wood?

I would've looked over it under any other circumstance. A piece of wood in a destroyed room full of it was nothing special. But this... Dark, mahogany wood, called to me.

I crouched beside the drawers, getting a closer look.

It was... a photo.

Eagerly, I curled my fingers around it and slid it from underneath. Pulling it up to my chest, I rose to my feet. But then the dizziness started, and I swayed on my feet. Inhaling sharply, my mind fell to numbness as the bleary image of a happy couple blurred in my mind.

I wasn't gone long.

The tumbling of my mind took me to another place.

I was standing back in the room, only this time, the blood was stronger. There was only the faintest hint of death, but the fear was so potent.

I stepped inside, my heavy, brown paws padding on the wood. My wolf's eyes scanned the horrific scene before me, noting the crumpled, broken form of a woman on the ground. Blood matted her once light hair, and her bones protruded from her skin.

But there was a paw on top of her, one that weighed down her broken body and crushed it to powder. My gaze moved, following this odd vision as we scanned the wolf before us.

Calida. I breathed.

If that was Calida, then that meant I was...

The sharp pleading cry of a man caught Axel's attention, and the vision shifted to peer down at the wolf in the corner. Blood coated his skin, but it wasn't his. Not yet.