Blood (Book Three of the Dark Lycans Series)

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Mistakes

My eyes snap open and I sit up with a jerk. A bright light blinds me for several moments.

I blink rapidly and my eyes slowly adjust. I look around at my surroundings, starting to panic.

Where are we? I ask Ira.

Somewhere on the territory, the East side I think, she says.

You think? I growl angrily.

Yeah, I've never seen this part of the territory during the day so cut me some slack! She growls back.

I sigh in frustration, ending our argument. My eyes flit around and a sense of dread settles in the pit of my stomach.

I am surrounded by tall aspens, and dead bodies. The grass is stained with blood and red claw marks cover the white tree trunks.

I realize I am still in my wolf form, my striped black fur dripping with blood. My ears flatten against my head, shame sweeping over me as I realize the bodies belong to my prisoners. Most of them are my own pack members that were awaiting punishment. Not a single one of them deserved one so harsh as the torturing death I brought them.

I feel eyes on me and spot a dark silver wolf crouching a few yards away. His ears are pricked up and his ice blue eyes are vigilant.

His gaze sweeps over the trees, watching intently. I let out a small sigh and walk over to him, my head hung low.

I curl up against his side, resting my head on my paws.

What happened? I ask quietly.

After Ira took over, you ordered the guards to release all of the prisoners into the forest. I wanted to stop you but I didn't want to hurt you, so I settled with making sure no one saw you like that. I also wanted to be sure you didn't hurt yourself, he tells me.

I stare at the ground, my nose wrinkling in disgust at myself.

I gave up control, I admit, making Xavier turn to look at me.

When my gaze meets his, I am shocked to see sympathy in his eyes.

I know what it's like to lose family. When my brother died I went on an even bigger killing spree, he says and my eyes widen.

He never talks about his brother, and I don't push him because I can feel that it hurts him to speak of it. I stay quiet because I'm afraid that if I say anything he will shut down.

His mate had been kidnapped, and he was looking for her. She was taken by a nearby pack, and when he found out, he tried to get her back but it was a trap. He refused to let me help him get her back, and they ended up killing him and his mate, there was nothing I could, he tells me, his voice cracking a little.

I let my Lycan take over, I killed the entire pack, over 150 wolves. The men, women, and children. He bows his head and I bury my muzzle into his furry neck.

Looks like we've both made mistakes.

**********

"Raven! Are you alright?" Hailey asks, rushing towards me as Xavier and I walk into the clearing. She looks over my bloodstained skin with wide eyes. I sigh in relief when I notice that the clearing is empty otherwise.

"I'm fine, can you ask Derek and Jace to clean up the East side of the territory? Don't tell anyone else," I mutter and she quickly nods.

"Of course."

"How is she? Is Shade back yet?" I ask. Hailey's face falls and she gives me a sympathetic look.

"No, not yet. Venatrix is a psycho, she keeps howling for Ira to come and fight her. You will have to be careful around her, with the things she is saying, Ira will do everything she can to take over so that she can kill her," Hailey advises.