Chapter Fifty-Eight

Roan

Roan tried relentlessly to reach out to Sullen, his body healing from the battle Jacob and the rogues had given him. He felt she was close, but he couldn’t get up just yet.

His dad raced over and examined him closely. “You’ll be fine. You’re healing,” he mumbled.

Roan watched pain travel over his father’s face. “He’s dead?” Roan asked.

He nodded. “Sullen ended him.”

Roan could only imagine the pain his father was feeling. Roan didn’t have any children, but he could only imagine the pain he was going through now that one had passed away. That heartache of losing part of yourself.

Roan touched his father’s hand. “I had no idea...”

“We’ll talk about it once you’re better,” he mumbled. “Sullen needs you.”

Roan craned his neck to follow his father’s line of sight. Sullen was lying on her stomach underneath a giant oak, her hand outstretched toward him.

The jolt of adrenaline his wolf pulled out of his ass surprised him. Roan crawled to his feet against his father’s wishes, and began to walk to Sullen.

She was breathing, but exhausted from the fight. Roan fought back tears of joy.

She was okay. His mate had made it.

He glanced a few inches away to where Ridge’s lifeless body sat. Part of Roan felt bad for him, and the other part was glad it was over with. He’d hated to see so much rage in his eyes.

With weak legs, Roan picked Sullen up in his arms and scanned the area. There were wolves helping the injured, and some fatalities around the field. He marched toward the middle, and stopped. “Search the surrounding areas to make sure that there aren’t any injured wolves. Grab anyone in need of the infirmary, and I’ll call a meeting soon.”

He passed the wolves, trying not to meet their gazes since some were hanging on for dear life, and others looked pissed from the fight. It seemed like an hour walk toward the pack house. Sullen stirred periodically, mumbling and jerking in his arms.

The pack land was damn near vacant, only a few wolves bringing in the injured to the infirmary, when they made it back.

Roan carried Sullen up the stairs toward their room, and sat her down on their bed. Roan walked toward the shower, and slipped inside. Pressing his palms against the wall, he let the hot water soak his skin, and wash away the blood and dirt from his body.

Roan felt numb to the fact his brother hurt so many of his wolves, and wanted power so badly he didn’t care how he obtained it.

On the other hand, he felt relieved that it was finished.

The shower door opened, and Sullen stepped inside with him. Roan turned to check on her but she buried her head into his shoulder and hugged him tight.

Her breathing against his chest warmed him from the inside out. Roan stroked his fingers over her hair, and held her there. Loving the way she felt in his arms. “Is it over?” she asked softly.

“I think so. Are you okay? How do you feel?”

“Fine, considering,” she whispered. “How many are injured?”

“Shh,” he whispered, shaking his head. “We’re not going to worry about that right now. We’ll look at the damages later. Right now I want to make sure you’re really okay.”

Sullen pulled away and glanced down at her body. “I’m fine. I’ve healed, just still a little exhausted.”

“No,” he whispered. “I mean up here,” he said, pointing toward her head.

“Are you okay here. Have you ever killed someone before?”

Sullen’s face turned ashen white, and she whispered, “No.”

Roan ran his fingertips against her bottom lip, and down her neck to her shoulder. “You were defending yourself,” he said. “I know it’s hard. It was hard for me the first time. Believe it or not it was when our packs fought that I killed my first wolf. It felt wrong to kill another wolf.”

Sullen nodded. “Like a betrayal to our kind,” she said. “I get it. It felt really strange for me because it was Duke—Ridge, and I knew him. I cared about him once in my life.”

“I understand. I hated fighting with my brother, too. For different reasons, but it’s all the same. That feeling we have, the one that makes us guilty is what keeps us human. It’s what differentiates us from our beast. We are our beast to a point, but there is a human side that trumps over the beast. It just means you are normal.”

Sullen nodded. “Will the feeling go away?”

“Eventually, but not fully. You may go months without it, and then it hits you, but it’ll fade.”

Roan turned Sullen around and massaged his hands into her hair, working out the dirt, and shampooing and conditioning until it was cleaned. They washed each other carefully, and didn’t let go of one another until the water turned cold.

Roan and Sullen dressed slowly, and found themselves downstairs in the midst of the storm. Sullen’s mother raced toward her and pulled her into a hug.

Roan felt the tension in the room from the fight. Some wolves were pacing and others silently weeping from the loss of someone close.

Sullen’s Dad stood in the doorway to the hallway staring at Mrs. Andrews, and Roan realized that was another battle they had to face. Mrs. Andrews mate was back, and she was promised to his father.

He slid his palm down his face and cleared his throat. “I know some of us are hurting, and angry, but this is over with. Ridge, as you all know, is dead and Sullen killed him. I see we’re missing some faces. One being Jacob, who betrayed me. He was the mole, and that hurts me worse than Ridge’s betrayal. I trusted Jacob.”

“What about the rogues that got away!” Liam yelled from the back. “What are we going to do about them? I say we track them down and kill them all!”

Other wolves joined in on his banter, but Roan shook his head. “We fight to protect our land. Protect each other. Our pups and shewolves. We don’t fight to be spiteful. They retreated, and if they come back, that is when we hurt them. I’m not sending what wolves I have left out to kill them. It’s pointless.”

Liam folded his arms over his chest, but nodded.

Roan needed to speak to him about becoming his Beta, but truth be told, he wanted to spend the night not thinking about anything. “Whoever is in charge of dinner, get it ready. We’re going to have another bonfire tonight and the pack is going to spend time together. We need to relax. We have preparing to do tomorrow. I need to find replacements for the ones that are missing, and their roles in the pack. Can someone tally that up for me, and get it to me in the AM?”

One of the shewolves ran to get a pen, while Roan stared at the pack. “Go get showers and get cleaned up. We’ll eat and then we’ll meet out back at sunset.”

Roan knew the battle was finished, but there were still decisions to be made in the pack, a potential wedding and the promise of forever with Sullen.