Evil is not born…

Chapter 9.

How could this happen?

They were weak?

He always said that they were weak. So how could they do this?

Phillip’s head spun as he tried to get a hold of himself.

He kept pleading to the pack bond and then trying to make sense of what was happening.

Over and over again until it made him nauseous.

The sick feeling gripped his stomach and sent him to his knees.

Phillip hadn’t eaten anything since the afternoon before because that’s when him and his dad made the journey across the bridge and hid in the trees until someone ran into them.

Yet, he threw up everything he could.

“Phillip, what happened? I’m coming to you just hold on.” Lucas replied with a deep guttural voice that told Phillip that Lucas had shifted and was racing to him in top speed but that still didn’t comfort him.

“Calm down son,” Kevin said as calm as he could “the bridge is down they can’t get to us. They’re just taunting us. Trying to get us to panic.”

Phillip wanted to agree and believe father but he can’t even look at his father without feeling more bile build up in his throat.

Lucas reached out through the bond again. “Phillip, listen to me. Tell me what happened.”

“A large tree… they found him…A large tree hit him.” Phillip tried to say but the reality of his words making him begin to lose it all over again.

“Alright, breathe. I’m almost there. Just try to calm down until I get there.” Lucas soothed.

Philip’s nodded towards the ground that his eyes stayed glued on and only thought about breathing until he could sense that Lucas had arrived.

“Ok, little one. I’m here.” Lucas said before stopping in his stride and forgetting his calming speech.

“What the hell?” He said instead.

“Hush, you’ll panic the boy. It’s not that bad.” Kevin said through gritted teeth. His breathing was labored from the effort. Lucas, now understood why Phillip was so panicked.

“Kevin, will you take you head out of your ass for one second and look at what I’m looking at. There’s a f*****g tree branch sticking out of your leg!” Lucas said in a calm voice that was strained as he tried to hide the panic in it. As he walked away from Philip, who was now holding himself in a fetus position. And towards the human pincushion.

“I see it, I even see the note those sick bastards left for me.”

Lucas eyebrows furrowed and he moved closer to see what Kevin was talking about because he hadn’t seen any note.

It took for Lucas to get behind Kevin’s body before when he saw it. For a moment he found himself wanting to panic for his old friend. But panicked induced anger drowned out the sympathy.

“I told you to stay off that f*****g island, is that a leg crossed out?” Lucas said as he took in the carving in the tree branch. It was a thin carving making it hard to see unless you were face just the right way.

It looked like it was made from a long sharp nail.

“ hah, yeah. X marks the spot. They want me to know that they didn’t miss.” Kevin said with a labored chuckle.

It took Lucas multiple tries and almost shifting before he could get the large branch out of the ground. He used his strength to snap the extra length off to make it easier to carry Kevin and told Phillip to climb on his back.

With the two of them weighing Lucas down it took longer and his inability to shift. It took Lucas longer to run back to the pack house and get Kevin to get medical attention.

Everything seemed like a lucid dream for Lucas because it took everything for him to keep himself together.

His friend had been struck.

His friend’s life was in danger.

His friend potentially put everyone in danger.

Those thoughts swirled through Lucas’s mind through the whole night so he was barely present when the pack doctors took Kevin and Phillip off his body.

He didn’t even hear the words said in the updates from the surgery.

He hadn’t noticed he was talking to Kevin’s worried mate until he felt her tears wet his shoulder.

The whole night was like this until Lucas just looked at the ceiling and shut everything out.

Soon Lucas was asleep. But even in his sleep he held onto one thought.

The only thing that could potentially save his people.

It was only when Lucas heard the rattling of metal did he wake up.

“Ugh, stupid f*****g button, stupid f*****g bracelet.” Kevin groaned.

“Do you ever shut up? You even talk in your sleep.”

“Ah and how would you know when snore as loud old engine. I’m surprised we can’t hear you through the mate bond. Now listen, can you please pour a glass of water for me. My throat is so dry from you sucking all the moisture out the air in your sleep.” Lucas chuckled slightly before getting up to get the water from that was set on the counter top by his bed.

“So.” Kevin started

“So what?”

“Don’t play dumb, did they take it. The doctors.”

“If you’re talking about your mind, no you seem to have lost that a long time ago. Your attractiveness, you never had it. I don’t know what Sophia is so hung up on. Or your ability to give me grey hairs, no. You’ve unfortunately have gotten better.” Kevin opened his mouth to argue with Lucas but Lucas held up his hand to silence Kevin and continued.

“As for your leg, you should look for yourself. I just woke up how would I know?” He lied. Lucas, checked before even had even looked Kevin in the eye.

Kevin signed deeply. Eventually, he lifted up the blanket, willed himself to look.

And there he saw ten toes, two feet, two legs.

“Oh thank the goddess. I’m already shorter than you naturally. I’d be damned if I had to look up your hairy nose from a wheelchair.”

Lucas laughed fully that time. Happy that his friend was happy. Remembering a time when they always laughed like this.

But that was before the tragic attack on the pack lands, before they lost so many family members, before Lucas had to become the leader of his once mentor and best friend.

Kevin, used to be a magnet for positive energy and love. He’s never been one to back away from a fight but he’s always been one to choose his battles wisely.

That is far from the man who’s now bedridden because of his choices.

“I’m so glad that you are safe and sound, my friend. Despite what I said before, I don’t know what I would do if someone hurt you. I only want what’s best for you and your family.”

“Thank you alpha and I”

“Which is why you all must leave the pack.” Lucas said in his alpha tone, the one that held no bias to any one person and was final.