Chapter 17: The Attack


    Chapter 17: The Attack


    "All wolves have been called to the great hall, immediately" He drops his hand from my jaw and jumps


    to his feet, all naked glory of him and I avert my eyes, suddenly aware of this fact and instantly shy. He


    has your typical alpha package going on and it''s not exactly easy not to look at. Generally, the males


    have something to be proud of and Colton is no exception. My face reddens, heat rising up my cheeks,


    and I huddle myself up, still recovering from this shitstorm we just put ourselves through and now


    blushing to my core because I ogled himpletely starkers and realized he''s well endowed.


    I wait for him to leave, hoping to pull myself together with a little headspace and try not to also check


    out his ass, but he pauses when he sees I make no effort to follow.


    "That means you too…. my goal''s to have you initiated into this pack, Lorey. No matter what it takes.


    My father can''t keep denying us if you''re epted. We need to have a n…. steps to being together.


    I don''t want to keep going through the emptiness of thest weeks and denying this between us. What I


    said in the forest; I was wrong." He shrugs as if he''s reciting some nd nothing of speeches and not


    literally altering everything I thought was happening in thest weeks of agonizing life.


    My eyes dart to him, shocked, yet not. Deep down I guess I knew this was his motive and his feelings


    on where we should end up. I''m just not so sure anymore. The words I said in anger still ring true and


    my heart is telling me that a bond should be stronger than his father''smand. Can''t shift that


    disappointment in him, because I feel like he was too quick to give me up.


    I''m a whirlwind of emotions and so much has happened in thest twelve hours that I need some time


    to let my brain catch up. I''ve been through trauma, changes, a whirlwind, and I need to process it all. I


    can''t tell which way is up, and I''m no longer in control of a single tiny thing in my own life. Not even


    where I''ll sleep tonight, let alone live tomorrow.


    "Come. Please. You can''t say here in this mess, and we need to get you some clothes." He stretches


    his hand to me extending his palm outwards and I brush it away.


    "Why can''t you let me leave to figure this out of my own. This is thest ce on earth I want to be."


    Tears begin to fall as self-pity hits hard and I guess it''s because I''m physically and mentally exhausted


    too. This is not how I thought my life would go and from the day I turned, it''s been hell and heartache


    all rolled into one.


    He exhales heavily, frustrated with me, and yanks me to my feet with a forceful lunge at my arms


    instead. Pulling me up despite my refusal. Taking charge and not in the mood for arguments.


    "Listen to me. I need you toply for a little while and we''ll figure this out, together. I don''t want you


    to go. When this settles I''ll go to the orphanage and pack up all your stuff, and we can talk out where


    we go from there; but right now, I need you toe with me and do as I say." He has that edge to his


    voice I usually hear when he''s leading his pack around. It''s the don''t argue with me,manding tone,


    of Prince. Santo.


    What else can I do. I''m technically a prisoner here, with nowhere else to go. I''m on my feet, with a


    persistent pain in my ass bossing me around, in a house full of people who hate me. I literally only have


    him on my side to depend on, and only because the fates forced it. I have nowhere else, and if I''m


    being honest with myself, everything is too messy, my gifts too new, and my mental state a little too on


    the fragile side to be thinking about going anywhere alone. So, I nod reluctantly.


    "Come on then. Stay close to me." Colton turns and leads the way, sensing I don''t want or need him


    touching me and I do as he says. Staying right behind him, clutching my covering and wait while he


    grabs one, wrapping it on like a toga, and heads towards the door. If Carmen saw us now, naked with


    ripped bed sheets to cover our modesty, she would only assume the worst and I can''t imagine that


    going down well at all. Shuddering at the possibility she might see us.


    Within seconds we''re in the hall, moving along the wide passage in semi darkness, due to all the


    boarded up windows andck of lighting and he leads onwards, following some turns and a flight of


    stairs until we get to the floor below. I was put on the top floor in the far end of the house, away from


    everyone, and now we seem to be on the third floor, in a brighter corridor with doors all bearing names,


    and keypads on each.


    Colton stops me with an arm, pushes me back around the corner we rounded and hushes me with a


    finger to my lips as two Santo pack members appear from a door opening, both walk out and head


    away from us,pletely unaware of our presence. He makes us wait a second before leading the


    way again, halfway down the hall to the third door on the right and turns, using his hand on the pad,


    scanning his palm as it clicks open. His name''s on the door, so I guess this is his room.


    "Why are we hiding if you''re taking me downstairs anyway?" I ask tantly,posing myself since


    leaving that room and he slides an arm around me and shuffles me into the darkened space, pulling me


    in and closing the door behind us with ast outwards check of the hall. He walks off across the


    bedroom, towards a set of wooden doors in front of me, sliding them open to reveal wardrobes, and


    starts pulling out clothes in multiples of two. It''s dull in here thanks to boarded windows but light is


    shining through the cracks brightly now, illuminating enough, telling me daylight hase.


    I follow him, taking in the almost Scandinavian, Ikea style, and minimalism of his room. He likes space,


    and neatness, with very few items cluttering it up. Neutral tones, light woods, nts and lots of floor,


    and open calmness. It''s clean and airy and almost obsessively organized.


    "Carmen just needs to know I brought you in here and she''ll go nuclear. It''s best if I appear downstairs


    with you, where she''s contained, because frankly, my ears, and my head, can''t handle her gifts right


    now. She still thinks we have a future, and I need to talk to her about that." He carries on focusing on


    clothes, his tone level as though he hasn''t just caused me pain with careless words.


    It quietens me and that distant heartache and pang of jealousy finds its way back home to my stomach.


    In all this mess I was starting to wonder if our bond has been dented and if I was starting to feel


    differently about him. I guess I''m not that lucky, as my heart still seems very attached, despite


    everything. I''m mad at him, disappointed in him, but yet, I still yearn and love him. My soul still wants


    and needs him.


    We dress quickly, although his clothes are baggy on me, and ill-fitting, but it''s better than showing up in


    a rag and a smile. Following him close to his heel, leaving his room, we make our way down another


    two flights of sweeping staircase and two other levels before we end up back where I caused such a


    scene hours ago. That sweeping final stair to the main entrance which is now immactely calm.


    It''s a lot cleaner and tidier now the debris is gone, and the front door closed, with the addition of several


    new heavy-duty locking mechanisms in ce. The boarded ss panels are screwed on with braces


    over them for now, hinting that the threat of another attack is on Juan''s mind.


    N?vel(D)rama.Org''s content.


    Colton takes my hand in his unexpectedly, sliding strong fingers into mine and leads the way across the


    vast marble floor into a small corridor that runs away from the bathroom he put me in earlier. I don''t


    reject his touch, needing it now I''m on aedown of what happened upstairs. Once again vulnerable


    and out of my depth and clinging to him to take charge while in his domain. Drawing from his strength


    and ability to swagger through the worst kind of chaos.


    We walk down the dark almost ustrophobic space, with voices, noises, lots of movement cascading


    our way, and follow two Santos we catch up with inside the most crowded room I''ve ever seen. It''s hard


    to tell how big it would be empty, for it''s packed solid with adult Santo wolves, mostly male, from all


    over, even the ones who don''t reside in the pack house. Easily over a hundred or so, and they''re all


    squeezed in, fighting for breathing space as we join right at the back, unseen.


    There are several elders and the Shaman, right down at the front, standing on a low podium facing


    back at us all. Men I have never seen before in my life, standing behind them, and I guess these are


    the older generation of retired elders,ing out in our time of need. Mostly men in here as is the way


    when dealing with important matters, or femmes who have no children and are better suited to battle,


    as all of those who are not are home minding their little ones. Juan Santo is right in the center and he


    seems to be waiting for everyone to quiet before he starts. The overwhelming seriousness of this


    cascades around the room, thickening the atmosphere with a heady tension.


    Colton pulls me in front of him, cing me right at his chest so he''s up against my back,cing his


    fingers into both of my hands from behind as they hang by my sides in the darkest of our shadows. He


    rests his chin against the back of my head, bringing his body to fit snugly into mine, so we are


    completely joined without it being obvious to those around us. It looks like two people standing close


    due to the crushingck of space as our hands are concealed in darkness. He''s a good head taller than


    me, so it''s a natural position, and I nce around to see if anyone is staring, but they''re all too focused


    on their alpha king.


    "Quiet now" A voice from the front rows hushes the uneasy mumbling and scraping in the room and


    everyone stops talking, the atmosphere somehow heavier with the forced hush. Juan steps forward,


    although I can barely see him over the people in front of me and have to stand on my tip toes to get a


    proper view between heads. There''s a moment of pause as he looks around us all, his eyes catching


    his son across the crowds and I can''t miss the fleeting surge of anger as he realizes I''m right in front of


    him.


    I nce away, instantly scalded,nding back down on t feet, wounded by the prating re and


    scan the room instead to see if Carmen is anywhere close by. I can''t see her thankfully, which means


    she probably can''t see us, and try to sink down further to better conceal myself behind the Santo in


    front of me. Colton squeezes my hands and holds me closer, somehow letting me know that I should


    ignore it.


    Be still. You''re safe with me. Hees through gently, caressing my mind with a tender tone and I


    exhale dejectedly.


    For now, maybe. While they''re all distracted with Vampire attacks and end of world foreboding, but my


    gut says it''s temporary. I can feel the hatred lingering in the air from Juan''s vicious frown and it


    unsettles me in every kind of way.


    "You all know why we are here…" Juan begins and it''s the final push needed to bring a total hush to the


    room as allpletely still, not even the shuffle of moving bodies, and fall deathly silent. It tugs my


    attention back to him and I peek around the side of the male in front of me to catch sight of him again.


    "We were attacked by a long-forgotten enemy, and quite frankly, we didn''t see iting and were not


    prepared. Despite the rumbling of recent months, we didn''t honestly expect them to rise and attack in


    this way and we failed our people. We lost fifty-three of our kind, on the dark side of the mountain,


    tonight. Forty-seven lost in the battle and six bonded who perished when their mates heart took itsst


    beat."


    My heart aches as he says it, visualizing so many of the faces I know went down in that attack. Unlike


    anyone else in this room, I''m probably the only one who not only knew their names, but what every


    single one of them looked like, who they were as people, and their ages not only when they died, but


    when they were first dumped in that hellhole without their loved ones. Memories with all of them, even if


    they were not close to me. To these wolves, they''re just numbers to measure their failures against.


    I close my eyes as the tears begin to fall silently down my cheeks, warm unwee rivulets of


    remembrance. The pain returning once more, and I can''t stop myself. My heart filling up and straining


    to contain it as my mind is swamped with images I don''t want to relive, and I shudder as I push them


    away, inhaling heavily as my shoulders start to tremble with the effort of not falling apart. The horrors of


    how Ist saw them all, trying so hard to invade my brain and cut me down all over again.


    I nestle back into Colton as his armes up around my body and across my neck as he cuddles me.


    Hisfort, because he can feel my pain, my body trembling as I cry, squeezing my eyes shut to gain


    control. His touch is what I need more than anything and I stay here in the darkness of my own doing,


    listening and silently weeping while held tight in hisforting embrace.


    "We think it was a test, for this device we found in the orphanage." Juan carries on and my eyes rip


    open at his words, shoving my despair aside as I squirm, wriggling out of Colton''s hug to see what


    everyone is craning necks to look at. Catching a gap as ones on front move sideways to look where I


    am.


    He holds up a small perfectly square ck box, an antenna sticking up at the top but apleteck of


    buttons and dials of any sort, that looks harmless. Small andpact, no more than a tissue box in


    size, with another wire sticking out from the rear about a foot long and doesn''t seem to attach to


    anything to power it. It doesn''t look real, more like something a child could make with card and glue


    and some ck paint and I blink at it, stupefied, ring furiously, and hating that something so


    insignificant, destroyed my life.


    "They chose our weakest and our most secluded and walked right in, depositing this in the center of


    the first-floor kitchen. We think they wanted to test its effectiveness and still have a fighting chance


    should it fail. It didn''t…. we''ve only one survivor left from the home and only because of the fast actions


    of our pack. We managed to take down many of their kind, but a few escaped and will be reporting on


    their sess for sure."


    There''s a murmur and uneasiness as people nce around at one another in scared question, and I


    catch the whisper of my name on the hushes wave of sound. The mix of both relief that my survival


    ensured their own Santo alpha, but also the bitter ones, calling me a reject and querying how I was the


    one who managed to live.


    I catch the low, body vibrating, internal growl from Colton as his protective instinct kicks in at hearing


    my name and a couple of nearby Santos nce this way, eyes widening in surprise and they instantly


    stare down at their feet, turning meekly submissive in a sh. Faces darkening with fear and shame at


    being caught by him of all people. Realizing he''s right here, among them, and not down there with his


    immediate family. I turn away to block them out and stare down at the front instead, mentally nking


    them all, because this has always been my life and I''m not that bothered by their remarks.


    I catch sight of his grandmother in the shadows when they settle down, a woman who barely shows


    face but is lingering nearby. Unsurprisingly, there''s no sign of Luna Santo, Colton''s mother. She''s been


    absent from view since the wars and rumor has it, she locks herself up in her room on the main floor


    upstairs and never leaves. No one has seen her in years, and if it weren''t for Colton''s memories of her


    in my head, I wouldn''t even remember what she looked like.


    Some say she was scarred horribly by the battles, both mentally, and physically, and is too ashamed to


    come out and face her people. Meeting one of the few things in the world which can leave unheble


    damage on a wolf, and her mental state has crumbled with the trauma. Only I now know from being


    inside his head there''s some truth to the stories, and there''s only a vague blurry visual of Colton being


    told she''s cared for, away from the mountain, because the war broke her.


    Those around us turn silent as Juan breaks through the thick atmosphere once again, drawing me


    away from my train of thought and disrupting my searching of the past for answers to herck of


    appearance.


    "Testing weapons can only mean we''re heading for a war with an enemy we thought we long ago


    vanquished. They''re working on a strategy, and this is just the beginning. There have been stories,


    rumors, but nothing concrete for many months, although this is now our proof. Civilization as we know it


    is about to change drastically. We must protect the packs and join with those from othernds, prepare


    for what ising. We must unite and finally be ruled by one leader, one voice, to work as one, under


    my guidance as alpha, if we are to survive a second war like thest."


    I shiver as his words begin to hit home, my brain scrambling to fathom something as huge an


    undertaking as that. We''re a dozen packs in one state, but worldwide there are thousands, hundreds of


    thousands, and most still do not live in peace with the others of their kind. Rivalries exist, and some are


    still at war with one another, even now with the history of the wars behind us. Amon enemy may


    change that, but there''s a lot to do before that can happen.


    Packs are destined to want to rule over one another, fight for dominance, forge the hierarchy, and our


    mountain is not normal when ites to living in close proximity. It was a necessity, as we recovered


    from the war of before, our people shattered by loss, so we were more pliable in epting another


    pack as our leader. Most of our own alphas never came back to dispute the im to rule us.


    Santo''s idea, that he will be the only leader and unite us all seems ridiculous, given the vast


    amount of us in this world he will need to unite. I''m sure there are other pack leaders out there who


    believe themselves far superior to him. Other dominants with way more ability, and gifts, and it''s not in


    an alphas nature to yield without a fight.


    I shiver, my body trembling with all that is dawning on me, how terrifying our future now looks and


    Colton firms his hold on me, reassuring me as best he can. Trying to keep me calm and be that rock I


    never knew I needed before I found his touch. I exhale heavily, submerging myself in his body heat and


    try to bring myself peace.


    "We need to put measures in ce to protect our mountain from another attack; effective immediately.


    Allocations of groups, with leaders, will be assigned to those who haven''t already had so. We are the


    reigning pack in Radstone, and they''ll all be looking to us now, to lead, and protect them. Training will


    begin at first light for all old enough to fight, so all of you eat. Sleep. We''ve already sent small details to


    walk the perimeters and each of the viges has been ordered to do the same. We''ll have guards


    outside at every hour, keeping watch, and we''ll revise a system to improve on all of this, set up drills


    with how to react should an rm be raised. Thising few weeks, we''ll be moving all surrounding


    packs into the south side of the mountain, here among our people, for their own safety. We have much


    to do, there will be upheaval, and chaos, but we must keep our heads. This was a first offensive, and


    we do not know when they intend to return."


    The silence bes unbearable when hisst words fall in the air around us, and the gravity of our


    situation sits heavy on us all. Some of these men and women are survivors from the first war against


    the vampires and already paid their dues, but most of us were just children, or young enough to stay


    behind. We lost so many, and although or numbers have recouped over the years, we''re not living in


    readiness for a fight. We''ve had rtive peace for years, and I have no idea how the hell we''re going to


    get through this.


    Bringing us all to one ce to live in each other''s pockets, here in the Santond is going to be


    madness. We''re spread far around the skirts of the mountains and high in number. There are not


    enough homes to amodate bringing us all together at this one shaded side, under theirmand


    and watchful eye. Not to mention the children, their schools, and their animals on the outer farms. This


    is insanity.


    I feel sick to my stomach, knowing that everything I knew before, my idea of empty living, was in fact


    the best years of my sad existence. Now we''re dawning on a new age, and I''m wishing with all my


    heart that I could back to being that unworthy reject, in a house full of unwanteds, in the shadowy side


    of our peaceful mountain.


    If I could back I would. I would neverin again, never crave a different life, because what we


    haveing, couldn''t be any worse.