The Moon's Shadow

☾ Chapter Fourty-three

Athena's POV

My head immediately snapped towards Ryker, a pit growing in my stomach. Wiped out? I thought to myself. I reached my hand out, intertwining it with his.

Ryker didn't even move, I don't even think he was breathing. He looked past Jett, like the was miles away, lost in his own head. No doubt he was thinking about his home right now, all the people he hadn't seen his he moved here, and now he would never be able to see again.

"Do you..." Ryker began to whisper, finally coming back to reality, but he couldn't get the words out.

Jett sighed, knowing what he was going to say. "I don't know much, unfortunately."

Ryker lifted his head, staring at our Alpha, a look of pain I've never seen before was dancing in his eyes.

"Then how do you know they were all killed? There could be survivors! They could all be alive!" He stated, his voice rising with each word. His body began to tremble, I moved in a second to wrap my arms around him. There was nothing I could do to take away the pain he was feeling, as horrible as it's been living through decades of pack members being taken away, they were still here.

Jett looked at Ryker, his face filled with sympathy, he saw the same look of pain in Ryker that I did. Though it wasn't common for males to leave their pack once they found their mates, Ryker always had a respect for Jett, he always said there was just something about our pack that screamed 'home'. Part of me wondered if he regretted coming here now, instead of staying with his family.

"We should talk about that another time, Ryker," Jett said, almost delicately.

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Rhea wiping away some tears. Everything that has happened in the past hour seemed like it happened a lifetime ago.

"No, tell me what happened!" Ryker growled back at Jett. His eyes no longer looked sad, they were filled with rage, hatred, and anger. My eyes became glued to his expression, I'd never seen these emotions before from him. It was unnerving to see my sweet and calm mate, in so much agonizing pain. I could feel his pain, my wolf could feel his pain, we had the same emotions coursing through us, but his were amplified at the loss of his pack.

Jett's eye's narrowed at Ryker, his wolf was obviously displeased with the tone he had taken towards him, but he also understood it wasn't personal against him, Ryker would never speak against the Alpha. This was new territory for everyone.

Rooks cleared his throat, glancing at Jett, as if he was asking permission for something. The Alpha closed his eyes, giving a small nod.

"We um," Rooks trailed, looking between Ryker and I, "We received word from the Dawn Creek pack, they um... confirmed that the Maddox attacked your pack."

I held my breath, it felt like time itself had stopped. We all knew things were going to get worse, we knew what Maddox was capable of but it was all happening too fast. It felt like we were just standing around while Maddox went on rampages, first our pack now my mates.

Why aren't we doing anything? Why are we not striking them back? Drugged up wolves or not, if we got enough people together surely we could take them on.

I clenched my jaw, trying to subside my rising anger. Now was not the time to talk about my frustrations, now was a time to make sure my mate was okay.

I glanced towards Ryker, and my heart shattered into a million pieces. He looked utterly defeated, he looked lost.

"Why don't we go back to our room?" I asked, my voice gentle. I didn't think he was strong enough to hear the details, not right now. His pain was way too fresh, it would take some time. I didn't want him to become bitter or hellbent on revenge either, that just wasn't my Ryker.

He seemed to be lost in his own world again, but finally he nodded his head ever so slightly. We stood there for a few more seconds before he finally began to move, his legs were shaking.

I squeezed his hand, in what I hope was a reassuring way, before leading him out of the room, back to our temporary bedroom. I wish so much we had our house, that it hadn't burnt down so we could grieve privately, but now wasn't the time to reminisce on things of the past, not for me anyways.

The minute we entered our bedroom, Ryker fell into a small chair, his body slumped in defeat.

I knelt down beside him, putting my hand on his knee.

"Do you want to talk about it?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

"Why? Why my pack?" He responded, his voice shaking.

"I don't know my love, I wish I did know. I wish I could take away your pain," I whispered, tears welling in my eyes. His body radiated the pain he was feeling. Mourning the thousands of pack members he had now lost.

"I just..." he sighed, wiping away some tears that had escaped, "I just wish I knew why. My pack isn't aggressive, we don't hurt anyone..." he sobbed.

I brought his body into my mine, wrapping my arms around him. I hated seeing him like this, but I knew nothing I said or did would be able to mend his wounds. This would change him forever. It would change anyone forever.

I tried to calm him down, his sobs were slowly growing louder as his entire body shook.

My blood began to boil, I wanted to kill Maddox, rip his throat out for breaking my mate.

I'm going to kill Maddox.