Deception

Chapter 2

I watched in slow motion as the bullet hit his back, instantly knocking the life out of him as he fell to the ground, his face contorted in pain before his eyes closed and he finally became at peace. I couldn't scream, I couldn't do anything but watch as he lay there on the ground, unmoving.

My legs finally broke free of my statue like state and I ran over to him, checking his pulse even though it was no use. I knew he was dead.

My heart cracked into pieces, dropping out of my body and gathering into a pile of ashes on the floor. A solid block of ice took its place.

My soul... Well it didn't exist any more. It was almost like it never had, with the emptiness I felt. I only had 15 years to live now. Once your mate was gone, it took many years for your soul and wolf to accept it, in a constant state of denial and shock until then. Then, you simply died, joining them in death.

I screamed then. A scream of terror, pain, loss. Heartbreak. It was all I felt. Why Cody?

I cradled his head in my lap as the pack made their way over, feeling my mindset and soul shift in a dangerous direction.

I was no longer the innocent naive wolf I once was, and I never would be her again. But I at least had a purpose; to kill the hunter who had murdered Cody and left me with a death sentence.

****

I woke up screaming, drenched in sweat and tears, blood on my hands from where I had dug my nails in to my hands too tightly, reopening the wounds from previous sleepless nights. Cale was instantly up, cradling me, holding me in his comforting embrace once again. He had learned to say nothing and simply embrace me in the many nights I had suffered under the dream, or rather flashback.

No matter how cold hearted and closed off I was when awake, I couldn't escape the memories and nightmares sleep brought. It was the effects of seeing your mate, your one true love die in front of you.

I was enraged as I thought of the hunter that had killed Cody, the one who had had no regard for anything, simply the feel of a kill and the ability to boast to the rest of his hunter friends later. Yes, he hadn't killed me, but he had effectively given me a death sentence and caused years of pain. I had ended him not long after Cody died, becomng my focus point as I sought him out and hunted him, subjecting him to the same griefI went through.

But afterwards I felt empty, shadowed by the pain, with none of my pack helping as they grieved almost as much as I did. So I turned to protecting the pack, seeking out rogues and hunters in order to make sure no one suffered the same fate. Most we killed, unless we could convince the rogues to turn their lives around and join a pack. We didn't kill innocent lives; we weren't that far gone. We had saved hundreds of other Wolves and their mates through our actions.

Sometimes though, I lost it and killed an innocent couple.

Those were the times the flashbacks came back full force, almost reminding me of what it felt like to suffer a loss so great. As if I needed reminding.

Why did I have to punished for this? What had Cody and I done that we had to be punished in this way? Before Cody had been killed, we were an honest, innocent couple, following the laws and protecting Wolfkind like many other Lore Alphas and Lunas before us. Yet I was the one to suffer, while he was in peace. To some he was in the afterlife, though I didn't believe that myself, probably with any Luna he wanted.

He used to be a player, before I came along. At first I was a bit cautious, but as ever, fell in love with my 'prince'. The same old love story, different circumstances.

The rest of the pack had also moved on from Cody's death, accepting me as the new leader and not pushing me out in favour of a new Alpha. Kallie had four children now. Her firsts were two girls, twins, her others a boy and girl a few years apart. I sometimes babysat them as they were close to both Oscar and Lira, being of similar ages.