Rising Within

Piece by Piece

Elias

I was ready to pull my hair out. I knew there was nothing I could do here and the beeping and shouting while they tried to stabilize my brothers was driving me insane.

I saw them. Their bodies in a mangled mess, barely recognisable.

I knew there was s**t that I didn’t know, but I wasn’t sure if I wanted to know. I could see Doctor Trevor in a panic as he rushed to his phone, his fingers punching on the glass before he lifted it to his ear.

“I need you to get to Alpha Anthony’s now!” He didn’t hide the urgency in his voice, and I felt a cold shiver swim through my body.

“She what… How did she get there? Don’t you dare say a word to her, we must do this together after we get everything under control here.” His voice elevated at the news he was receiving.

“Be safe, I’ll see you soon,” and with a huff he hung up his end to run back to his beeping machines.

I didn’t mean to eavesdrop, but my sensitive hearing didn’t leave room for anything else. I guessed it would be his wife, Doctor Alana he was talking to. As much as they were an integral part of our pack, I knew very little about their life…except that they had a daughter a little younger than me that I hadn't met and that they were so fascinated with werewolves that they were committed to keeping our secrets safe. The envy I felt for the simple human life faded from my mind as it seemed Doctor Trevor had his own hiccups to deal with.

Looking around my lounge room, I could see that every inch of it was used. There was nowhere to sit. The black leather couches were pushed up against the crisp white walls to make room for the beds and medical supplies. The air wreaked of tainted blood.

Doctors Trevor and Alana were shared between the Black Stone pack, the Forrest River pack and our pack. The three pack lands wrapped around the outskirts of the city and, because we were all so closely put, we maintained strong allies, and even friendships. The Devils Elbow Pack was on the other side of the city. Unlike our loyalty to keeping peace, they were always looking to expand their pack and resources at any cost. Alpha Jonas had a dark past, one I wasn’t completely privy to just yet. Although Dean and Ari were older than me, I was being prepared to take over our pack because my brothers were from my Mum’s first warrior mate who died in the Great Battle. It just turned out that she found a second chance mate and could continue her family with Dad.

I wondered what kind of life the Moon Goddess had in stall for me. How would I bring Dionne into this unfamiliar world? Would she accept me knowing what I am, a man yet a beast? I didn't want to think about it now, but somehow I would need to explain everything. I just hoped she'd understand!

Shouting pulled me from my thoughts, and I launched myself off the only vacant piece of wall that I never remembered leaning against.

“Chase, we need to cauterize the wound…it’s not healing, he’s lost too much blood!” Dr Trevor called the resident pack doctor over from Ari.

In the time it took Doctor Chase to come over, Dean’s body began to violently convulse. Mum and dad were holding him down. Doctor Trevor was now syringing something into Dean’s heart. Mum’s sobs began to drown out all the beeping and dad’s growls shook the room. Lia was hysterical, shouting gibberish. All of the sounds in the room beat down on me. One by one they attempted to suffocate me, pull me into their chaos but I shook free, striding over to Liar to take her into a firm bear hug. She began to heave into a full body shock, her mouth gaping open unable to take in a breath and her body rigid and heavy like a stone statue. I didn’t know what to do.

“Lia, listen… we have to be strong..." I tried to sooth her with my words, rubbing firm strokes on her back, but her condition didn’t change.

The wheezing noise she began to make, raised a primal fear in me and, without thinking, I slapped her, hard, across her face. She looked up at me confused, as if she had awoken from a deep sleep and sucked in a gasping breath. Tears pooled at the corners of her eyes as she looked at me. I snatched her into my arms again, cradling her head. We looked in each other’s eyes and silently acknowledged our brother's fate as we heard the last pulsing charge of the defibrillator before it touched Dean.

“Alpha, Luna, I’m so sorry,” Trevor and Chase moved over to Mum and Dad, taking them both in a hug.

After they parted, Mum collapsed onto Dean’s body and Dad comforted her from behind. I took Lia’s hand and walked her over to our brother to mourn him. We were barely there before the door burst open, and Doctor Alana came in, just in time to see Ari’s body begin its convulsions. The doctors all rushed to his aid, and we all followed in tow, peeled from one nightmare that bled into another. Ari’s body was turning blue, his hands twisted and jolted. Before any intervention could be attempted, everything just stopped. His lifeless body lay there, a trickle of blood seeping from his mouth. I pushed the Doctors out of the way, and threw myself at him, my fists pounding his chest, threatening him to wake. His body bounced. I was no longer in control. The beast in me compiled all my rage and ate at me from the inside. I felt sick. I felt hungry to make someone pay. But my attempt to bring him back, was futile. Both of my brothers were gone. What the f**k happened out there? Why couldn’t they heal?

I felt Dad pulling me gently away, his giant hands taking mine and pulling me fast to him. I was burning from the heat that radiated from him, his anger at the loss of his boys consumed me. It twisted and fused with mine, taunting my wolf to take over and take charge. We stood there in a heaving embrace spinning in our thoughts. I barely felt the tenderness of Mum and Lia as they joined us in a family embrace.

“Son, we will make them pay. We will rip them apart piece by piece, for what they have done to us. There will be no mercy! There will be no redemption! We call the f***en council and tell them… we're going to war!”