Anger of the Devil

8. Shield me from the pain

Lena had not entirely understood what was happening as she was carried away from the stage. She could feel the eyes on her, but she didn’t have the energy to actually look up. The only thing she knew for certainty was that she was escorted by Jake, Lucas, and Jess. Jake was supporting her as they walked and after what felt like an eternity, Lena finally found a place to sit. She was still a bit queasy as she sat down. 

    “Jake, I’m fine, you can let go.”

Jake loosened the tight grip on Lena, but he didn’t totally let go.

    “You just collapsed because you touched your brother, you’re paler than a ghost, and you were out for more than ten minutes. You are not fine, Lena.”

Jake’s voice was stern and powerful, but what Lena could mostly hear was the fear in it.

    “Okay, I’m not fine, but I’m well enough to sit down without support. Besides, I’m just going to sit here for a while before I go to the hospital and…”

    “No.”

Lena turned to look at Lucas who was looking at her with fiery eyes.

    “What do you mean ‘no’? Luke, Cody just fell to the ground, and…”

    “... and all of the best doctors and nurses are making sure he’s alright. What the hell can you do about it?”

Lena’s eyes got wider as she stared in disbelief because of her brother’s tone and choice of words. 

    “Excuse me? I’m her sister, and…”

    “You’re my sister too! How do you think I feel right now? My brother just collapsed, screaming in pain, and my sister has so little care for herself that she keeps on pushing herself to the limit. Sit down and relax, ‘cause I f*****g need you to live too! You don’t have a patent on caring for your siblings!”

Everything got silent as Lena just looked with a shocked expression at a clearly upset Lucas. Jake was looking at the ground with furrowed eyebrows whereas Jess was tripping a bit on the spot. It was Jess’ awkwardness that finally broke the silence. 

    “I mean… Lena probably needs to go to the hospital either way, so…”

Lucas shot Jess a hard glare as he responded. 

    “Are you on her side now?”

Lena slowly turned her head to look at Jess who gave Lucas a pointed look. 

    “On my side now? What, is this something that you guys have talked about behind my back? Are you not on my side?”

Jess closed her eyes as she sighed deeply. 

    “Look, I’m not not on your side. It’s just… Girl, you’re spiralling. And listen, I get it. Life has not been kind to you, and your circumstances have been s**t to say it mildly. But dude’s got a point here. You are effectively leading the biggest pack in the country, there are people who need you, and I don’t mean need you as in running around to please them. People just need you to live right now.”

Lucas nodded as he looked back at Lena. 

    “Exactly!”

Lena frowned a bit as she too redirected her focus to Lucas. 

    “That’s not what you said though.”

Jess started bobbing her head from one side to the other as she spoke once more. 

    “No, it wasn’t. What Luke said was that he is worried about you. That he needs you to take care of yourself. I just added my more objective opinion to it. In fact, you could be mad at me for putting pressure on you. You can’t blame Luke for loving you.”

Lena’s frown turned to a sad face as she kept her eyes on her brother. She wanted to scream at them that she had every right, that Cody was the one who was in real danger, and that she couldn’t lose anymore people - but she didn’t. They had a point and she needed to accept that. 

    “I’m sorry, Luke. I didn't think, I just acted. I have… no, we have lost a lot. I don’t want to look away from either of you, ‘cause I’m certain that you’ll both disappear if I do. But I understand that I’m not alone in that.”

Lucas was breathing hard with frustration, but Lena could tell that his resolve started to evaporate. Suddenly, he jumped forward and almost attacked Lena as he engulfed her in a hug. She could feel him shake a bit, and she knew that he was trying not to cry. She firmly hugged him back as she whispered so only he could hear her. 

    “It’s okay… I’ll try to be less reckless for you. I love you so much and I don’t ever want you to feel like I’m one stupid step away from getting truly hurt.”

Lucas didn’t answer except for a nod. She heard him take in a deep breath to calm himself down before he pulled away. 

A sudden crack of a branch made all of them turn their heads. At the edge of some trees stood Nadia looking at them with shy eyes. 

    “I’m sorry, I really wasn’t prying. I was just wondering if I could speak to Lena maybe?”

Lena turned to look at the others again. All of them made faces that suggested the unfortunate timing of the question. Lena huffed a laugh before she turned to look at Nadia again. 

    “Can it wait? I think I need to relax right now.”

Nadia held her breath for a while as the disappointment in her face grew more visible. She then waved her hand to shield the disappointment. 

    “Yeah yeah, of course. Whenever.”

Nadia gave one more awkward wave before she turned to walk away. 

    “Wait…”

Lena looked at Lucas who had stopped Nadia. He took in a deep breath before he crossed his arms.

    “If Lena wants to talk, then you can talk.”

Nadia’s confusion was clear as she answered. 

    “But she just said…”

    “She just said that because she just had to hear me be mad at her for not taking care of herself. It’s just a talk, so… I don’t know, I guess I’m okay with that.”

Lena could see Jess raise an eyebrow as a smirk formed on her lips. 

    “Okay, cool down, hombre. You’re not Alpha of the World.”

Lucas suddenly looked ashamed as he tried to stutter a response.

    “That’s not what I… No, what I meant was…”

    “Yeah yeah yeah, that’s fine. You can try to finish that sentence while we walk back to your pack, Alpha Bigshot. Oh, and what is up with all the interrupting today by the way? You know it's kinda rude...”

Jess kept on speaking as she guided Lucas away. Jake still stood by a tree as he looked at Lena with serious eyes.

    “I should go speak to Nathan about our trip. That is unless you want me to stay?”

His voice indicated that he wanted her to want him to stay, but Lena shook her head. 

    “No, we need to get some information from Dominique Dugrey, and I need my best mediator there when we try to appeal to him. You need to go with Nathan. He may be Alpha Dom's son, but that could also be our misfortune. We need to make sure that all aspects are covered.”

Jake inhaled deeply as he eventually nodded. He then slowly followed Jess and Lucas and soon Lena was alone with Nadia. Lena gave her a curious look before she gestured for Nadia to get closer as she spoke. 

    “So… what did you want with speak to me about?” 

Nadia didn’t say anything until after she had sat down, and even then she still looked thoughtful for a while before she said something. 

    “I have an idea. Actually, I have two, but one of them is kind of out there.”

Lena furrowed her eyebrows heavíly, but she was curious to hear more. 

    “Okay… Let’s start with the simple one then.”

Nadia gave a sarcastic huff as she leaned back a bit. 

    “Simple may be pushing it…”

She then took in a deep breath before she continued. 

    “The Red Cross Crows have control over Cody’s body, yet he still hasn’t let them get in entirely. I thought that maybe we should let them get in…”

Lena held her breath as she remembered what the illusion of Marcello had told her. They want Cody to let them in. If Nadia suggests this then maybe…

    “... but then I gave it some more thought, and we would have no control in that situation. In fact, I think we need to do everything in our power to keep them out.”

Lena exhaled in relief. Okay, I can still trust Nadia. Ish. Lena then leaned back a little as well as she gave Nadia a contemplating look. 

    “Do you have any ideas to do so?”

Nadia started to nod. 

    “Yeah. I got the idea when he collapsed. I have no idea how to protect a person, but Anders taught me how to make a pretty strong shield. I actually managed to shield whatever was possessing Cody from staying in Cody. And then I gave it some more thought and I thought about Logan. I think I could make a shield that would protect Cody’s soul. Maybe. Possibly…”

Lena didn’t say anything for some time as she searched Nadia’s face for anything that could indicate ill intent, yet she couldn’t find anything. 

    “Is it dangerous?”

Lena clenched her jaw tight as she waited for Nadia’s response, but Nadia swiftly shook her head. 

    “No, not dangerous, just not necessarily possible. The only danger is getting our hopes up if we can’t succeed at it.”

Lena nodded slowly as she kept her eyes on Nadia. 

    “Then I say let’s try. Now, what was the other thing?”

Nadia tensed up before she started to fumble with a silver ring on her finger. 

    “Right… so I was speaking to… someone, and we discussed the power of the wolf in you guys. And as I understood it, the wolf isn’t necessarily good, correct?”

Lena paused as she considered Nadia’s words. 

    “It’s not evil either. Our wolf is an animal. Our humanity is what is stopping it from acting like an animal. Also, it differs. Some of us are more human than animal, others are more driven by the power of the wolf. I may personally have blood from an Alpha from my mother’s side and a Beta from my biological father’s side, but I’ve always been more in touch with my human side than the wolf within me.”

    “So Alphas’ have a stronger connection to the wolf.”

Lena scrunched her face as she tried to understand where Nadia was going with this. 

    “Again, I can’t say since I don’t know how every individual feels and thinks, but in theory, yes.”

Nadia fumbled a bit more with her ring before she continued. 

    “What if we appeal to the wolf in Alpha Logan?”

Lena leaned further back as she intently watched Nadia. 

    “What do you mean?”

Nadia took a deep breath as she answered. 

    “Well, marking each other and mating each other is very much tied to the wolf, yet the wolf in itself doesn’t possess humanity. Logan's wolf may not be good as we understand good in human terms, but it is still very much tied and devoted to you. Maybe we can free Logan by letting his inner wolf loose?”

Lena sat silently as she began to understand. She didn’t know if Nadia’s suggestion was brilliant or insane, but she was definitely listening. 

    “And how would you do that?”

Nadia lifted her shoulders. 

    “I have an idea, but we will need to enter the cell block. You have a key, right?”

Lena shook her head. Nadia furrowed her eyebrows in surprise. 

    “But you’re the Luna?”

Lena huffed a sarcastic laugh before she answered. 

    “I am, but I’m also technically, officially, not a part of their pack.”

Nadia’s shoulders fell down as a visual of defeat crossed her face. 

    “Who is in possession of a key then?”

Lena lifted her eyebrows as she considered the question. 

    “Kendrick, Patrick, perhaps Neil, but I wouldn’t expect Neil to lift a finger for me unless it was to kill me. I don’t know if any others have one.”

Nadia nodded. 

    “Okay, Kendrick and Patrick. And who of those two do you think would be most inclined to let you do something incredibly reckless?”

Lena squinted a bit as she tried to decipher Nadia. The word ‘reckless’ vibrated in her head as she remembered what she had said to Lucas only minutes ago. However, she was intrigued. 

    “Patrick probably. Why?”

Nadia swallowed before she answered, the conflict in her eyes shining through. 

    “Because we would have to let Logan out of his cell.”