Aria POV
I take her from him, falling to the ground and I hug her close. My tears are not stopping as I squeeze her limp body close to me. My baby sister was dead, her life snuffed out. We failed to protect her, I failed. But her scent was still there, and she didn't feel cold, not like the dead did. She didn't feel alive either, but why is her scent still here? It should have faded.
"Abel," Reid said, patting him on the back. My father nodded but didn't take his eyes from Lily in my arms. He looked tortured. He loved Lily, that's why he spent years keeping Kade alive. He felt guilty for what happened to her and promised he would find out the answer we had spent years searching for to fix Lily. Fix what he believed he broke.
Lily loved him too, thought of him as her grandfather, loved and cherished him and now she was dead. Why was her scent here still for some reason that was really getting to me, was it just my mind playing tricks on me, making me believe I could smell her even though she was dead?
I didn't get to ponder for long when all hell broke loose and rogues started appearing from every direction. They had us trapped as they circled around the entire pack house. My pack standing ready, we were willing to fight to the death. I would give my last breath for my kids. My father growling loudly as the rogues circling us move apart and the devil himself walks toward us with a grin from ear to ear.
His dead eyes sparkling in the moonlight and he walked confidently like he had already won. Pure anger burning so hot I struggled to let it take over as his smug face stood just on the edge of the Pack house perimeter. We were outnumbered majorly. At least ten wolves to one. We knew the war was going to be big, but how did he find this many rogues and what did he promise them, for them to obey.
"Abel, so good to see you, I was hoping you would be here to witness her death. Such a shame I really thought the mutation worked. I liked Lily," He said, his fangs shining from behind his lips as he smiled slyly, a taunting smile. He knew this was a grief I would struggle to bear.
"Now where is that son of mine?" He asks and I realise he doesn't know that by killing Lily he killed his own son.
"Dead, like the rest of the Pack" Reid growled, stepping forward, his entire body vibrating in rage and I could tell he was on the verge of shifting. That Ryder was just beneath the surface waiting to be set free.
"Dead? That's impossible, that makes no sense." He said, shaking his head and I could see the hurt in him. This monster actually cared for the son he abandoned to that ruthless Alpha. I chuckle and his eyes snap to mine.
"Something funny Aria?" He says, cocking his head toward me, his eyes burning with anger.
"Yes, I figured it out," I tell him, walking toward him.
"Figured what out?" He asks.
"You were trying to make her a pure Hybrid, what you didn't realise is, if a pure Hybrid falls their entire pack falls including who they are mated to. My life force is tied to my pack and my mate. You killed your own son for what? Revenge?"
"No, this started with your father the day he took her from me, my jasmine was an innocent little thing and he killed her, I found her bleeding body next to the creek, her throat ripped out. After that day I started hunting your kind, until I eventually became one. Becoming the monster I sought to destroy when I realised being human was weak, I never thought I would find a mate though, mysterious how this moon goddess of your works."
"I told you I never killed her Kade, it was your own stupidity that killed her, letting a child her age wander through the woods alone. Woods that were full of different beasts" My father tells him.
"Yes, and that beast was you, I saw you" Kade bellowed.
"No, you saw me trying to heal her. I wasn't the one that killed her. A bloody panther did that. I would never dare to hurt a child. I am not a monster like you" My father screamed back at him.
Kade glared at him before turning back to me.
"I never hurt Lily, I fixed her. I turned Layla into a pure hybrid, her wolf"
"Fixed her, how can you say that when you killed your own son, your research was floored, the bond killed him because you know nothing of our kind. Your crazy experiments, nothing good would ever come of them. Your mutations altered her DNA she was Lycan and Lycan bonds are different"
"Layla, I turned into a pure hybrid, her wolf, Not Lily. I severed that bond the day she shifted and made sure their bond couldn't be tied. The perfect predator"
"Severed their bond, that's what you think?" I ask, walking to the centre. I could feel my pack members on edge, ready to fight if they make a move, feel Reid getting closer to me, ready to pull me back and away from the danger.
"You never severed their bond; it was weakened but still there."
Kade's eyes dart to Lily's dead body lying on the ground near the pack house. He goes to say something else, but I lunge at him, the entire pack moving like a muscle flexing as they feel me attack, they jump instantly into the action not even hesitating and a bloodbath ensues. They may have the numbers, but we have trained together, grown up together and know each other's moves, weaknesses.
The entire pack fights as they start shifting into their wolves, moving like a synchronised dance. I swipe my claws across his chest, and he jumps out of the way just in time before I could reach his heart. His foot connected with my face in the same move, knocking me backwards. Before he could land another blow, Ryder jumps in his way, ripping Kade's arm nearly off and throwing him. My father running full force at him and I don't have time to see what happens as wolves attack us.
Ryder's pain floods into me through the bond as he blocks a rogue that lunged at my throat, sinking its teeth into his side. He stumbles back but doesn't move from in front of me, taking the brunt of two wolves as they collide with him.
"Stop protecting me" I yell to him as I fight off another. He ignores me and I see that most of my pack are fighting next to the guest house where my kids are and circling around us, keeping them from me. It annoys me, but it's in their genes and they can't help but to protect their Luna queen. I lunge at a wolf as he goes to attack Ryder, my legs wrapping around its torso in a death grip as I sink my teeth into his neck. His blood spurting on my face and filling my mouth, giving me the strength I need.
We were outnumbered and I could feel my pack growing tired the longer we fought. They just kept coming, though as soon as we thought we were getting somewhere more came from the tree lines, from the town. They were going to win and my eyes darted to the guest house. I need to get them out.
"Get the kids out," Reid screams, and I take off running. I was about twenty metres away, and saw a straight line leading to the guesthouse door. I was so close; I was nearly to my babies when I felt it. Pain radiating up my side as I am tackled, the force knocking me unconscious for a second, before I crawl to my feet. Looking up, I see Kade, my eyes darting to my father. I could see his body crumbled on the ground near a tree. Kade drops something next to me and I scream when I see it's my father's severed head.