Warmth ✔

Chapter 47

The syringe comes closer to my body. I close my eyes, waiting for the prick that will end my life.

"Joshua, stop!"

At the voice, I open my eyes. Joshua turns around to see his father striding towards him.

"What are you doing, son?" Uncle asks. "Are you going to kill your own cousin, your own blood? You need to realise that what you're doing is wrong."

"Dad, this is for the best."

"No, it's not. When did you become a killer?"

"I'm not a killer yet but I will become one soon." Joshua turns back to me.

"You can't go any further," I hear Benjamin say to uncle. My eyes are on the syringe. Before Joshua can stab my heart, I hear a thud sound. Both Joshua and I turn our gazes towards the source of the sound. We see Benjamin lying unconscious a few feet away from us. Uncle must've threw him away when he tried to stop him. Uncle strides towards us.

"Dad, don't try to stop me," Joshua says. Before he can turn around to attack me, I kick at his hand. He looses his grip on the syringe and it falls a few feet away from him. Both uncle and Joshua make a lunge for the syringe. Uncle gets hold of the syringe first. But Joshua tries to snatch the syringe.

While I try to break the ties on my hands and legs, I hear uncle and Joshua tussling. As soon as I'm able to free myself, I hear Joshua's agonising scream.

My sight goes to him and I see him and uncle stand as statues. Uncle has a grip on the syringe but the syringe is stabbed at Joshua's heart. Uncle is left shocked.

Joshua starts falling. Before Joshua can come in contact with the ground, uncle comes to his senses and catches Joshua. He carefully lays him on the ground. He takes out the empty syringe.

"What did I do?" Uncle cries out.

"You did the right thing," Joshua croaks before closing his eyes.

"No! Son, open your eyes!" Uncle pleads with his son as he shakes him.

I put a hand on Uncle's shoulder, "He's gone."

"Is there nothing we can do to save him?" Uncle asks with tear-filled eyes.

I shake my head.

He breaks down and cries on his son's chest.

*

I inject Benjamin with the tranquilizer so that he can't escape when I carry him to my pack. Uncle and I turn into our werewolf form. Uncle carries Joshua on his back while I carry Benjamin. Both of us head towards our pack.

When we enter our pack's boundary, I head straight to the pack house while Uncle heads home.

When I reach the pack house, I mind-link Darius to open the front door. He does the same and I enter with Benjamin. I lay Benjamin on the floor. When I turn into my human form, I go to my room, wear my clothes and return to the living room. Matt and Darius are confused.

I put Benjamin on the couch and secure his hands and legs with the ties he used on me.

I dial Alarick's phone number.

"Hey, is everything alright?" He asks.

"I need you to come to the pack house, take Benjamin with you and put him in prison," I say.

"Wait, what is Benjamin doing with you? Why do you want me to put him in prison? What is going on?"

"We'll have this talk later, okay?"

"Okay."

"What is going on?" Matt asks once I hang up.

"I'll tell you everything but right now, I need to be somewhere else. Keep a watch on Benjamin. Don't let him escape," I reply as I leave the pack house and walk towards my home.

It's the middle of the night so when I knock at the front door, mom is surprised to see me. "What are you doing here at this hour?"

I take her inside the house and tell her in brief all that had happened in the past few hours. She gasps when I inform her that Joshua is dead.

"When dad died, uncle and aunt were our support system. And now, it's our turn to be their's. Let's take care of them the same way they took care of us," I tell mom.

Mom goes to Christina's room to get her. After mom leaves my sister with the neighbours, mom and I head to uncle's house.

When we get inside uncle's house, we find him and aunt beside Joshua, crying their hearts out. The scene in front of me is so overwhelming that I have to cover my mouth to stop myself from breaking down. It's almost as if I can feel their pain.

Mom quickly goes to uncle and aunt and embraces them. She, too, is trying not to cry just so that she can comfort them.

This is what I was worried about. This is what I was dreading. I didn't want uncle and aunt to suffer. If Joshua would've listened to me then his fate would've been different. He would've been alive. His parents would not be crying for him. I wish I could lessen their pain.