The Black Rose Pack

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

At first, I didn’t run, I didn’t scream. I didn’t do anything. The harsh reality hasn't yet sunk in. The fact my brother and father, the two people I looked up to most, were gone. To me, at that moment, I was blind. I didn’t see their bodies, all white and stiff; I saw them laughing when I tripped down the stairs, when we waited for Serena to be born, and the river we cried when Mum died. They were alive and they were waiting for me at home. They weren’t cold, grey-skinned and lifeless in the middle of the woods.

I started to cautiously walk towards Phoenix and Dad, as if they were animals that startled easily. When I reached them, I sat down next to Phoenix and started to shake him. “Hey, Phoenix, you idiot. Time to wake up. Come on! Bertha has made brownies, and they’re just out the oven...” I moved to over to Dad and tugged in his arm. It fell out of my hands and hit the ground with a loud thump.

But, as everything - the blood, their limp bodies, the way everything was eerily silent - sunk in, I felt overwhelmed, and tears seemed to just flow down my cheeks and mix in with my father's blood.

“No, no, no, no...” I repeated over and over again, moving from one body to the other, checking for a pulse or sign of life - but nothing.

Then that was how they found me; holding Phoenix's head to my chest, rocking back and forth and staring straight ahead of me. The cool air of the evening not affecting me.

I didn't care who they were, I just wanted Dad and Phoenix back. I didn't even think about Serena and how I was meant to tell her that - that they were dead.

And it seemed to keep sinking in. The nagging feeling in the back of my mind was telling me that something was wrong, that it shouldn’t be like this, but I all but ignored it and just sat there in silence.

Until I burst into tears, letting all my anger, frustration, sadness - everything - out, sobbing until my stomach hurt, screaming until my throat was raw. I just let it all out into the open, because I couldn’t bare the weight of it anymore. I clutched Phoenix’s shirt, afraid of being ripped away from him and into the reality of it: they were gone.

I could feel a presence behind me, and looked over my shoulder at one of my fathers warriors, Loren. He fell to his knees beside me, wrapping a comforting arm around me, and I fell into him, crying harder.

“Shh, Olivia. We need to leave right now,” he whispered into my hair, and I quietened down to listen. “There are still guards from the Royal Palace searching the field for survivors, and they plan on killing every single one of them. I want you to get on my back, and we'll go back to the pack house to warn everyone. Okay?” I cast a quick look up into his saddened blue eyes, and nodded, pulling away so he could shift into his large mottled grey wolf.

Once finished, I turned around and cautiously sat on his back, grabbing handfuls of his fur in order to steady myself. As soon as Loren knew I was steady, he started to run onto the dirt road and towards the house. His loud footfalls seemed to echo and every stride seem like forever, the road became like the infinite mirror effect. When the house was finally in sight, I let go of some the tension and terror that I had since I found Dad and Phoenix. With the house in sight, it meant that I was so close to home again, so close to my family again.

Suddenly, I felt Loren’s loping gait stop and his wolf body lower to the ground. The unexpected halt made me lose my balance and I collapsed onto his neck. The fear that I thought was gone came back as I heard loud footfalls and voices. "The Royal soldiers," Loren growled softly, shifting his weight so I could regain my balance again. “I’m going to make a run for it, okay Olivia? You must get to the house. No matter what happens, get to the house and tell everyone to get out and run. If they don’t believe you, tell them about your dad and Phoenix.”