Parallels

Chapter Twenty-Two: The Hall's Been Rented

"I volunteer to stay behind... you guys deserve a life...," I say, hating how the words sound, but I know that it's the right thing to do... and Isaac?"

"Yeah?" he asks, and I can see his lip tremble, and I know that's he's going to start bawling... oh gods this isn't going to be good...

"Whoa, you okay, man?" Peter asks, giving Isaac a warm and comforting smile.

"No, not really, I wish I was but not really... I just got outed, I'm being treated like a freak... I'm a good person, I swear, I'm not just a- a- a-"

"Plaything?" Tony offers up, and I want to smack him for being so insensitive, but before I can do anything, Isaac nods, tears sliding down his face, Alaina at his side, hugging him close.

"What the hell are you talking about, Isaac? That's never going to happen, and you know it! And I'm not going to let them treat you like that..."

"Thanks, Theo... promise?"

"Of course I promise, Isaac, you're my brother, for freak's sake... I'm not leaving you behind... I'll stay, I'm the cause of all of this... they only need one of us, let me stay..."

"You're not staying, Theo, you're going...." a voice says from behind me, and I look up to see Mister Latenna staring me right in the eyes, and he's smiling sadly, almost wistfully. "I'll stay... they can have me. Take care of them for me, will you, Theo?" he asks.

"Does- does Lillian know?" I ask, hating the tremble in my voice.

"She does, we planned for this sort of thing forever ago... I volunteer as tribute!" he says shouting out the last bit, and the guard whips around, eyes laser-focused on him.

"Dad! No!" both Peter and Julie shout, but before they can run to their father like they want to, Mrs. Latenna grabs them both, tears in her eyes, and her whispered "Goodbye, Sebastian" gets everyone's attention as her mate is dragged away from all of us, tail between his legs, and then the three wolves all crumble into a sobbing heap that makes even the remaining soldiers around us tear up.

As for me, I'm down and next to them, my arms reaching out as far as I can to wrap them all in a hug, all of our tears staining my fur.

"It's going to be- it's- it's," I try to start to say, but my tripping over my tongue as well as the echoing gunshot that rings throughout the area stops all of us in our tracks, all of us knowing full well what just happened.

Never mind, no it's not full stop hold up whoa there foxy... holy flying fuck!

Is that what I think it is?

No, scratch that, I know it is... holy shit holy shit holy shit... and another one bites the dust, dun dun dun... another one bites the dust-

What the fucking hell is wrong with me? Someone just fucking died and here I am getting lost in space... and the space inside my head...

Okay, deep breath, hug them and keep your claws sheathed, you don't need to draw more blood than's already just been drawn.

"Wh- what now?" I hear Peter sob, his words muffled as he cries into Chase's neck. "What now?"

"We deal with this rationally, Peter," Chase whispers back, giving Peter's ears a lick. "We're going to get through this together, you know that, right?"

"Really?" I hear Peter say, his face still buried in Chase's ruff, and I see Mrs. Latenna shake, and all I can try to do is keep them all wrapped in a hug and try to keep my eyes from getting misty, because that won't help anything. Conceal, don't feel, don't let it show...