2. Eight

Me, Sebastian, and Dan (the pack member who had barged into the meeting room) left the room as soon as we overcame the shock of someone interrupting the meeting. We had left Eva sitting in the armchair because she wouldn't be able to run during her pregnancy. After so many miscarriages and considering her age, it was the responsible choice.

The three of us bound down the stairs, into the foyer, and burst through the front door of the pack house. Before I could say anything, Dan shifted into his brown wolf and sprinted in the direction of the forest. Sebastian gave me an apologetic wolf, shifted into his massive white wolf, and in the same direction that Dan had run.

I huffed angrily. Couldn't have Dan said that shifting was required?! I wouldn't have taken the trouble of running down the stairs then.

If I had any more doubt that it was Samantha, it was cleared after I saw a huge black wolf close to her. I recognized the wolf as Aiden and a smile graced my face.

I hadn't seen both of them in quite some time, especially since I had come to know about Natalie being pregnant with Harper's child. I had hidden this fact from them because of many reasons. And now, after attending this morning’s pack meeting, they must have come to know about it. I had no idea what they were feeling and they couldn't exactly talk because of being in their wolf forms.

I didn't know what to do, or how to act and I hated it. This was my best friend and her boyfriend, who happened to be a very good friend of mine too. I should feel comfortable with them and not the way I was feeling now. It wasn't their fault and nor it was mine. The situation was indeed fucked up, in more ways than one.

Both wolves circled me, one on either side. I had no idea what they were doing and I held my breath. I knew they would never hurt me but it still set me on edge.

The next second, Aiden's huge wolf sat down and Samantha's wolf prodded me toward him. I was confused for a second but then it slowly registered with me. They wanted me to get on Aiden's back. They wanted to take me somewhere, preferably to the place Dan and Sebastian had run off to. As if sending my question, Samantha just nodded and nudged me again with her muzzle towards Aiden.

I grasped Aiden's black fur and pulled myself into him. He huffed and I didn't bother hiding my giggle. I felt his whole body move underneath me and I relished the feeling. I had only ridden on the back of a wolf twice or thrice but I could never forget how much exhilarating each experience was. 

My gaze moved onto my hands which were holding Aiden's black fur and my eyes suddenly flashed to the other times I had ridden on the back of a wolf. Harper's Wolf. Harper's white wolf and suddenly my mood plummeted.

Before I could continue my depressing train of thoughts, Aiden took off in the direction where Dan and Sebastian had run off. I looked back to see Samantha catching up with Aiden and a smile graced my face at the rush of wind against my face.

In a few minutes, we were riding through the woods. Up ahead, I could see a huge crowd gathered, facing away from us. This was it. Beyond the crowd was the thing that had been so horrifying to Dan. I gulped nervously.

The crowd slowly parted to make way for their future beta, even though he was still in wolf form, his pack mates must still recognize him, seeing that he had been shifting in front of them for so long.

The air around smelt of death and the murmurs and distressed voices of pack members made me mentally ready that whatever it was, it was something bad.

Well, the future beta and the Luna! I reluctantly added. I didn't ponder much on the fact that the pack meeting held today could very much change the outlook of the pack members on me and I found that I didn't care about it. At least, not yet.

The crowd parted and I saw Sebastian's tense back and I immediately knew something very bad had happened. He looked shaken and his fists were clenched by his sides.

When I could finally see the center of attraction, I gasped. The scene was so revolting that I wondered who, in their right mind could have done such a thing.

I felt whimpers coming from behind me and noticed that Samantha's wolf was now curled up beside Aiden's, her nozzle underneath his.  

It looked like the person was beheaded at the same time he was undergoing shifting from his wolf form, which caused his entire body to freeze up to that moment. His body was morphing and his bones must have been rearranged to look like a human. 

His hollow eyes looked at nothing in particular and his face portrayed the shortening of his nozzle. Like his face, his body had too, frozen mid-shift. Bones protruded in unnatural angles and the fur must have been receding.

The head and the body were set on different spikes, with blood all over the surface. It was a recent act too, because blood from the head kept sliding down.

On closer inspection, a note was posted on the dead wolf's body.

Hello Daddy!

The note meant nothing to me and I didn't have the strength to decipher it. All my focus was captured by the scene. The scene was so gruesome and horrifying that I felt bile rise in my throat.

Just then a wail rose in the air and my head whipped to check the source of the agonizing sound. A young woman, in her early twenties, stumbled out of the groups. Tears streamed down her cheeks and she walked in a daze towards the macabre corpse on spikes. 

I didn't know what was happening but by the looks of it, everyone else did. The woman stumbled and sat down in front of the spikes and cried in her hands. "Elijah", she screamed into the air and it was then that I understood that they were mates.

An agonizing pain wracked my heart and I knew I was feeling a sliver of what this girl was going through. Nonetheless, it was enough to bring tears to my eyes. 

Suddenly, I was engulfed in a pair of arms, and sparks and tingles shot through my body. I didn't need to open my eyes to know whose body was stopping me from viewing the horrific and heartbreaking scene.

Harper's hands pulled me flush against his body and my head rested on his bare chest, his heart thudding in rhythm. I put my arms around his torso, desperate for the comfort my mate provided me.

I knew that it was wrong and that there were a lot of things going on between us right then. We needed to solve them before getting close to each other and drawing comfort from each other's presence.

All rational flew out the window when my body connected with his and suddenly any thoughts of going away seemed terrifying.