Dawn

29

It was just past midnight by the time we'd cleaned up all of the Shifter fatalities— only a few wolves had lost their battles. The guy who had flirted with me when I was looking around the pack village was among them. Despite his previous actions, I mourned greatly for him and several others who lay motionless. I felt connected to them on a deep, familial level, and the sight of their unseeing eyes made me physically ill. Most of them were male warriors, but a female warrior was also included in the list of fatalities. Quiet tears flowed down my already tear-stained face as I watched her teenage daughter and mate cling onto her limp body, sobbing.

"Dawn," Mum called from behind me.

"Hm?" I made my way over to her, tearing my eyes away from the mourning pack members.

"Hayden's asking for you upstairs. He says he's fine and won't let the Pack Doctor examine him."

I nodded and brushed past her, heading upstairs to deal with my mate, when her hand caught my arm and pulled me to a halt. "But first, your grandmother is here. She needs to speak to you. With Sydney."

My eyes widened in surprise before flitting over to my younger sister, who was sitting on Dad's lap. Ryan sat close to them, his sorrowful eyes glued to her, but she never met his gaze. I sighed at the sight. My family, along with Ryan, had taken refuge in the Alpha house during the remainder of the battle— Harvey had ordered it, for which I was grateful.

"Where's Grandma?" I questioned, searching for her in the gaze of people in the soft lamplight.

"Inside the Alpha house, in the study. Harvey let her use it," she nodded in that direction softly. With an unreadable expression, she held my gaze for a few seconds. "She brought that box with her."

My eyes widened before I frowned in confusion. "But wh—"

Mum cut me off, "Go get your sister."

Hesitantly, I turned away from my mum and quickly crossed the clearing to where Sydney was, offering out my hand. "Come on, Sid. Grandma wants to see us."

"Grandma?" Sid questioned, jumping from my dad's lap with excitement glinting in her eyes. "Grandma's here?"

"Yeah," I smiled. "You can finally meet her." Sid happily took my hand and I led her into the Alpha house, relaxing into the comforting glow of the familiar home. My home. We walked past the living room and down the hallway to the study, where the door was ajar and the lit lamp was visible.

"Grandma?" I asked as I pushed open the door, and two arms suddenly came out of nowhere and wrapped me in a sweet apple-scented hug.

"Dawn," she murmured happily— almost in relief.

"Hi Grandma," I replied quietly, releasing Sid hand to squeeze her back. When she pulled away, I noticed that she no longer wore that old key around her neck. It sparked a lot of questions in my mind— questions that I didn't speak.

"Sid," I started, pulling my little sister out from hiding behind me. She kept her eyes glued to the floor, a shy smile on her lips. "Meet Grandma."

Grandma lowered herself so she was almost Sid's height and held out her arms. "Oh, Sydney. You are so pretty. I'm so happy to be finally meeting you." She pulled Sid into a bear hug and held her for a while. Grandma's eyes squeezed shut and I knew she was overjoyed.

"Right," Grandma stood up, straightening herself out and wiping away a stray tear. She then took Sid's small hand in her own and smiled. "There's a reason I wanted both of you to come and see me."

"What is it?" I asked as I took a seat on an armchair, opposite where Sid snuggled up on Grandma's lap. The box sat on the table beside them.

"I know about what happened with Hayden today," she started. "I know that he was—" she peered down at Sid's innocent face, "—sleeping because of what happened to his neck. And I know who did it. Arcas."