Once Upon A Fae

Chapter 19

"Cowards die many times before their death, the valiant never taste of death but once". William Shakespeare

Chapter 19

Rafe had grabbed the younger pups and ran as fast as he could to the barracks. Eric and Mike had lagged behind, not able to keep up. But as he turned he could see them sprinting towards him. Holding a crying Jaden tightly in his arms, he burst through the doors while screaming for help in between each panting breath.

"Luch!"

He searched the kitchen and dining hall frantically. The Warriors and Trainees had all stood at his dramatic entrance and now we're looking around for signs of danger. Rafe ignored their queries. They couldn't help Lincoln or Faith. Only Luch would stand against the commander.

Luch came rushing towards him, signs of worry on his face. Grabbing the screaming toddler he began to quickly examine him.

"What's going on Rafael? What's wrong with Jaden?"

Trying to catch his breath he jumped when the doors once again slammed open. Eric and Mike fell into the hall. They too were out of breath, clinging to each other with tears rolling down red faces. Turning back to Luch he took one more unsteady breath.

"The commander attacked Faith" a sob broke from his chest as he began to shake with fear for those he had come to call his family. "Jamie, Linc , Alex ...they all need you."

Pushing Jaden back into Rafe's arms, Luch ran for the door.

"Keep the young ones here Rafe. Protect them. I will help the rest."

As Luch ran for the main house he was passed by multiple warriors. Visions of what could be happening to his delicate sister and the pups ran through his head making his breathing choppy and his pace erratic.

He slowed as he approached the house. The Warriors ringed the doorway, staring in shock at the scene within.

Pushing through the males Luch took in the sight before him. Blood was everywhere. Splattered over the walls and counters. Pooling on the floor under still bodies.

"No,no,no". Luch whispered as tears flooded his eyes as he stared at his sisters body.

Running towards her he ignored the large wolf tearing into the male beneath him concentrating only on his sister and the bodies of the young that had been flung around the room like trash.

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Dmitri began to feel restless as he turned down the road that led to the compound. Something was off. A knot of dread settled in the pit of his stomach as he sped towards the main house. With every mile the feeling grew until Dmitri was in a full blown panic as he pulled up to the house. Slamming on the brakes, he threw the vehicle into park and rushed towards the door.

Horror filled Dmitri. Jamie lay unconscious next to a small kitten as Faith sat sobbing over a bleeding Lincoln. His commander, the man up until this moment, Dmitri would have trusted with his life, grabbed Faith roughly by the neck pulling her from the floor.

Red covered Dmitri's vision as an immense growl grew in his chest. Loosing all control , Dmitri jumped at the male knocking him to the ground. Razor sharp teeth and claws dug into the delicate flesh of the shocked commander as Dmitri ripped muscle from bone.

Cameron's pathetic attempts at defending himself just angered Dmitri more. Not allowing the male a moment to shift, Dmitri slashed his claws through the unprotected flesh below his rib cage. Pushing up through the viscera, muscles, and tissues he wrapped his fur covered hand over Cameron's fluttering heart. 

"You are going to do this over a some little sub slave Dmitri? After all these years of loyalty?" Cameron choked out.

Dmitri stared into the eyes of the male he had followed for almost a century.  The male he had called brother.  Shaking his head in disgust he slowly tightened his fist. 

"She's my mate!"

Cameron's eyes widened in fear as he felt Dmitri's hand begin to constrict his frantically beating heart.  Gasping breaths left his mouth as he felt each claw slowly puncturing the delicate muscle.  His body worked frantically to heal the damage being wrought, but it was to no avail. 

Dmitri had more important things to do than to watch Cameron die.  With one last look into his former commander's eyes he ripped the sluggishly beating organ from his chest and tossed it across the room before turning to his mate.

Calming his beast Dmitri tenderly pulled his shaken female into his arms, Pushing his face into her neck. With each shaking breath he inhaled her sweet scent calming the beast within even more. He gently ran his bloody claws over her trembling form thankful that Faith had been no more than bruised.

As Dmitri's breath evened out and his beast began to subside, Faith gently pushed him back and turned towards her brother.

"Luch...?" Faith's voice broke as her brother shook his head. "No" Faith sobbed.

They were too late. Lincoln could not be saved. His mortal form was too weak, his injuries too severe for Luch to be of any help to the young shifter.

Luch turned to Jamie and slowly turned the small pup over. The right side of his forehead was caved in from the force of hitting the wall. His small body broken. Blood dripped from his ears and nose with each weak breath.

Tears pooled in Luch's eyes. Wishing his mother was next to him, he gently straightened each limb. This healing would be excruciating for the little one. Luch was unsure if he could even heal the pup, let alone if he could survive the pain that would come with the healing. Turning to his sister he knew that they had only one option.

"Sister, your young needs you. He needs your strength to make it through the healing."

Dmitri would not leave Faith's side so as she positioned herself with Jamie's head resting on her lap, Dmitri sat with his arms tightly around Faith and one strong hand resting on his pup's head.

Luch covered Jamie's broken body with his own and closed his eyes. Blocking out the gasps and low rumbles of conversation coming from the Warriors he slowly began his work. With the resetting of each fragile bone Faith would cry out in pain as it began to knit back together.

Bone by bone, each audibly snapping into place, tear by tear, carefully sealing the internally bleeding wounds, Luch progressed slowly through the body. When he reached the pup's head wound Luch trembled at the enormity of damage. Pieces of Jamie's skull pierced delicate brain tissue as blood and fluid continued to drip from his ears. Taking a deep breath he slowly began to remove the skull fragments and piece them back together.

Faith let out a piercing scream as she absorbed the intense pain from Jamie's body into her own. If it wasn't for Dmitri holding her up she would have collapsed. Clutching tightly to his arms the pain lessened as he let out a low moan of pain.

With each of Luch's delicate maneuverings, Faith would absorb the pain and then share it with Dmitri making it bearable for all of them. 
Soon she could open her eyes.  Looking down she noticed Alex, in kitten form, was nestled into her leg watching as Luch finished the last of his healing.  The blue glow that surrounded them began to dim as Luch collapsed to the ground panting in exhaustion.

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