2. Thirty- six

~ Harper’s POV ~

I checked out my red polo shirt, paired with black jeans and black combat boots. I had dressed somewhat similarly to Aiden's birthday party, which felt like a really long time ago.

So much has changed since then. I had dressed up that day, as cringe-worthy as those sounds, for Zara because I knew exactly how I needed to dress up to turn her on. I loved how she made moony eyes at me whenever I was dressed up like this but her favorite color on me was black. 

Now, I was getting dressed up for the celebratory party for my sister's birth. I honestly never thought I would be a big brother ever, and I was sure neither did my parents. Katelyn was a miracle bestowed upon us by the moon goddess and I was forever thankful to her for that.

Then, I was madly in love with Zara. At least, that hasn't changed yet and I didn't think it could ever change. She was with me then but she wasn't with me now. 

Now I had a very pregnant baby mama, a newly mated best friend and beta couple, an amazing baby sister, and a somewhat lost wolf.

I took a deep breath to get rid of my thoughts. They have been depressing me more and more now. 

I sighed at my reflection in the mirror, turned around, and walked out of my room. Katelyn was with our parents right now so I didn't have to worry about getting her dressed up for the party. My mom has been eager to be with her since she was back from the hospital a few hours ago.

I walked down the stairs and out of the pack house to enter the pack grounds, where I usually had warrior’s practice. Right now, the whole ground was decorated in simple white colors to thank the moon goddess for the gift that was Katelyn.

The whole pack was gathered to celebrate and enjoy with each other. This was a welcome distraction from the all-time panic state amongst the pack because of the rogues.

Everyone smiled and greeted me as I walked past them and I politely replied to them. I made my way to the drinks table to keep my hands occupied and after choosing a light alcoholic drink, I set out to find my friends.

I found Aiden and Samantha in the corner of the playground talking and sharing a private moment. I didn't want to interrupt them so I turned my back around to come face to face with Natalie.

Nat was dressed in a yellow flowy dress but even that couldn't hide her pregnant belly. She had a soft smile on her face when she met my eyes. "I want to have what they have," she stated, pointedly looking at my best friend and his mate behind my mate.

I turned my head slightly to look at them and turned my gaze back to her. "Who doesn't?"

"True. I bet you miss your mate." She inquired.

"Every minute of every day," I confessed and watched as the pack members applauded at the entry of my parents.

"God knows I miss my friend." She whispered; her words lost in the clapping of more than a hundred people.

My gaze fixated on my parents who slowly got up on the stage. Katelyn was in my mother's arms and was dressed in a cute white frock with a white hairband.

"Hello everyone! Thank you for joining my family and me in celebrating the birth of our beautiful daughter, who we named Katelyn Rose Cain." My father's voice boomed and everyone howled and clapped in appreciation and congratulations. "I won't keep you long with me. I want you all to mingle tonight and thank the goddess for the miracle in our arms."

With that, they slowly climbed down the stage and pack members surrounded them to personally congratulate the alpha couple. I held back and watched as Dad handed Katelyn over to mom to shake hands with one of the oldest members of the pack.

It was fine one second and the next it was all chaos. Wolves of all sizes and colors bounded out from the woods. Panic surged in the crowd as everyone realized that the rogues were attacking us. 

Many of our warriors had shifted and had started battling the rogues already. It took me a moment to regain my senses and I turned to my right to look at Natalie who was still in shock with everything that was happening.

Without a word, I grabbed her hand and screamed at her, "Come with me!" 

People were screaming and I frantically moved my gaze around to the spot where I had last seen my mom and Katelyn. My mom was still pretty much injured and wouldn't be able to fight back if someone attacked her.

"Do you trust me?" I screamed at Natalie who looked like a deer caught in headlights. She wordlessly nodded and I tugged her arm in the direction of the safe house, hoping to find mom and Katelyn on the way.

Warriors were trying to fight off the rogues but it was clear that we were outnumbered. I saw a rogue coming at me from the corner of my eyes and I put Natalie behind me to save her from the harsh impact of a fully frown wolf.

Out of nowhere, a huge white wolf crashed into the rogue and tore off a huge part of its neck. Dad! The rogue died instantly and the wolf's eyes met mine.

Find your mom and sister!

Dad mind linked me and I nodded before he killed another rogue that was going to attack and bite his leg.

Me and Natalie ran in the direction of the safehouse, which was a few meters away from the pack house. Everyone who couldn't fight in the pack, older wolves, children, and pregnant women knew where the safe house was and followed the protocol of reaching there.

I helped Natalie ward off rogues and we made it to the safe house in a few minutes. The entry of the house was only privy to pack members and I watched Natalie's back as she entered the passcode. The door buzzed open and she entered with me right behind her.

The safe house looked like a shelter for a nuclear attack and was capable of holding several hundred people at once. I gazed around at all of the people wondering and checking to see if my mom and sister had made it before me. 

I found my mom sitting in the back, huddled with the pregnant and indisposed women of the pack. A bleeding woman lay at her feet and she was trying her best to make sure that this woman had a safe journey heaven-ward to the mood goddess. I spotted Katelyn in the arms of the pack omega and breathed a sigh of relief when I found out both of them were safe.

I gestured for Natalie to come and sit beside my mom while I checked up on Katelyn who was bawling her eyes out. I quickly took her from the Omega's arms and hugged her tightly. I smiled gently at the old woman and thanked her quietly. The familiarity of my scent considerably calmed Katelyn down and I handed her back to the Omega.

I moved my eyes around and spotted a lot of injured lack members and it pained me to see them hurt and bleeding. I knew I couldn't stay with them right now, so I quickly got out of the safe house from another exit, which would lead me to the back of the pack house.

I ran and changed into my white wolf and joined the raging battle that was still going on in the pack grounds. It was a blood bath, there was no easy way to describe it.

There was blood everywhere and several dead wolves lay, their bodies mangled beyond repair.

I attacked a huge bronze wolf who was going to attack Aiden's brown wolf from behind. He turned around just in time which took me by surprise. He snapped his snout in my face and I prevented being bitten by crashing into his body. He growled at my face and I lunged at his leg, biting away a huge piece of muscle. The wolf whimpered and staggered on his feet. I growled again and jumped at him. I bit his neck and applied enough pressure to subdue him. He fell to the ground and I huffed in disgust as I noticed my white fur coated in blood.

I tackled a few rogue wolves and helped my pack warriors to overpower the rogues which were dwindling by the second. By the look of it, we were winning this battle. As far I could see, there were more of us standing and fighting than there were rogues.

Suddenly, a wolf howled somewhere in the woods and the rogues started retreating. Did this mean that whoever was the rogue leader had stayed back while he sent his minions to fight his own battles? Coward!

I growled as I saw the rogues running away into the woods, with their tails tucked in between their legs.

I looked at my father making his way to me, still in his wolf form. I walked towards him, my adrenaline high wearing off. I was already dreading about doing the casualty count.

These rogues had caught us by surprise when they ambushed us at a celebration. Did they know there was going to be a party which would ensure the presence of everyone at the same place or was this attack just a coincidence?

I looked around at the bodies around me and then at my father. His wolf looked tired and in pain because of all the lives we had lost today. Our eyes met and I bowed at him to show how sorry I was.

Dad's gaze softened and before he could take another step towards me, an arrow flew from the woods and lodged deep into my father's neck. Blood sprayed like a fountain and I watched in shock as the white wolf fell to the ground in front of me, blood gushing from his neck.