Chapter 1

Four large black paws hit the dirt hard and fast, an urgency like never before, tiny plumes of dust exploding out under each step of the large body. Running as fast as his bulky yet streamlined body can possibly handle, his well built and highly conditioned muscles burning with the strain, but he doesn’t even feel it, he only wills himself to move faster.

Even though his footsteps are loud and in any other circumstance he would be easily found, they are nothing compared to the cacophony of sounds filling the night air.

Surrounding him are screams of anguish, cries for help and the unmistakable sounds of fighting and blood shed.

The rest of the forest is surprisingly quiet, as if the forest creatures have disappeared from the scene. Removing themselves from the harrowing scene. Knowing what dangers lie throughout. Even the safety of the trees is not far enough from this brutal battle.

The usual tranquil setting is now anything but.

Jaxson diverts a little from his straight line, his paw swiping down hard, his claws extended, taking the life of one of the enemy as he passes, but it is all seeming rather pointless at this time and all he can do is come to the conclusion that all is lost.

'Stand down'

He pleads desperately through the link to his men.

'We can’t alpha, we can’t allow them to take us, we can’t just roll over without a fight'

'You have fought, I have fought, but the battle is endless, we are in a losing position'

'We can do it'

The reply comes through but even though the words are strong, the voice sounds less than convinced, they were taken by surprise in the period of transition and mourning. Maybe they were never prepared for such an onslaught, but this was the worst moment in the packs history and obviously the best time for others to strike.

Even though it hurts to say it, somethings are more important than him retaining control.

'There will be less causalities this way, lives need to be preserved'

Jaxson doesn’t want the pack that he has been the alpha of for barely two days to be taken, he doesn’t want his birth pack, his home and everything he has ever worked toward to be handed to someone else, his family legacy lost by his own hands so quickly after gaining it. But there is no way that he wants everyone to die for a lost cause. He has to face the reality that they are defeated. Their lives much more important than his power.

Any blood from this point will be on his hands and that is a price he cannot stand to pay.

The night air is cool and wraps around his warm body, chilling him to the core. He is not even sure when it got so dark, this whole process has been such a blur. Day turned to night somewhere in the middle. Hours have passed unknowingly. They have been the slowest yet simultaneously the fastest hours of his life.

Jaxson feels like he has been running for an eternity yet he feels like he has moved nowhere. He never believed that the Autumn pack was so large before, but how has it taken so long to move across it?

Jax takes a deep breath in, centering himself. His large, black alpha wolf is proud and it's the last thing on earth he wants to say, but he cannot let anyone else die for him.

'I command you to stand down, all of you, the battle is lost. I will not allow another to get killed or even injured for my sake…'

The large black wolf stumbles for a moment as he struggles with the enormity of his words, the meaning crashing down on him.

'...I'm so proud of all of you for your valiant effort in defending the pack. It has been a privilege to serve as your alpha, no matter how short the time has been. Just know that I appreciate the way you all came through for me. I know my parents would’ve been proud as well…'

Jax swerves and hits a tree with his loss of concentration. This week has been too much, it is hard to see a time when he can turn this all around.

'...I will see you all again. I am not sure when, but just know that I will never give up'

Jaxson doesn’t know if he will ever be able to fulfil his promise, but he had to make it for himself as much as he had to make it for them.

The telltale signs of surrender sound around him and somehow that is louder than the sounds of war, which seems impossible, the sound echoes in his ears making him lose his footing, his wolf is grieving as much as he is.

'Torin?'

Jax doesn’t let the little set back stop him in his current task, focusing completely on the run. He knows the link will soon be lost as the pack bows to the new alpha and he loses his title and his position within the pack. Jax is working to a time limit now more than ever.

'Please Torin, a single word, even a sound is enough, I just need something'

But it doesn’t matter how hard he pleads, Torin gives him nothing back, there is just static like trying to link but reaching a roadblock each time and Jax is too scared to accept what that might mean.

He feels it in his heart, yet he is still neck deep in denial. His speed recovers once again as there is still a task for his wolf to focus on and his pace hardly differs as he feels the bonds of the pack being pulled away from him one by one, each one hurts more than the last. This is the most hostile and most underhanded way to take a pack.

Jaxson still hasn’t even seen the aggressors to know what pack they are from and why they are doing this, he can only put it down to opportunity. They chose to strike at the weakest moment to guarantee success, but it never should have involved the entire pack. It should have just been an alpha battle, he should’ve been approached and then win or lose. It would’ve been on him. But Jax never got that chance. He lived where so many others die and that is such a burden to bear.

As it stands he wasn’t even in the pack when they were attacked, he was organizing the last minute things for the ex-alpha couple and ex-beta couples funerals. Now, instead of giving them the send off they deserved, somehow he has lost their whole legacy in the first few days. His parents may have been proud of the pack for their efforts, but Jaxson can’t help but feel that his parents would feel disappointed by his own efforts.

The large black wolf takes a deep intake of air, his heart is breaking into a million pieces, but he needs to keep moving, he needs to push through.

'Alaska?'

This time he can feel it get through, the connection is weak but he isn’t sure whether it is because she is weak or his ties to the pack are all but gone. He doesn’t receive a reply and can only prod again.

'Alaska, please'

'I…I…I… can’t, I can’t Jax, I just can't'

Her voice hits him sharply in the chest, he has never heard her sound like that, even remotely close to that. If he didn't know who he was linking he would believe that he had the wrong person, he can't recognize that tone, that defeat. This is the girl whom he has grown up with, the one that is mated to his best friend, the one who is an endless pool of positivity, of love, of happiness. It has been the three of them for as long as he can remember.

Her voice is worse than a thousand knives to the heart and he struggles to go on. The last ties to the pack are taken and he hears the howls of victory of the new hierarchy, but all he can concentrate on is putting one foot in front of the other, willing himself to stay upright.

His wolf feels weaker than ever before, he has lost his purpose, but still Jax continues on. The night starts to quiet down and all he can hear is his own paws hitting the ground. They ring in his ears, deafenly loud yet frustratingly slow. He feels hollow and broken, but still he pushes on. He smells the blood. At first it is subtle, but each step he takes it gets substantially stronger until he feels like he is surrounded by it, yet he still can’t see the thing he is afraid to see.

The scent of blood is so thick it is near choking, he runs past the bodies of the fallen enemy without sparing them a single glance. He grieves the loss of his own pack members but doesn't stop. Each step is getting a little heavier and the scent which is so strong and so familiar blurs his eyes, it threatens to asphyxiate him, it permeates his lungs, poisoning him from the inside out.

His front leg, which has always been so strong and powerful, bends as it gives out, the black fur of his chest skids across the dirt, but he doesn’t even make a move to save himself, to stop the damage which is sure to result, his large blue eyes are just focused on the scene in front of him, it is so all consuming that it is impossible to care about anything else in the world.

One look is enough to take those broken pieces of his heart and squeeze them until they turn to dust.

The arms that once held Alaska tight are now fallen limply to the ground. Even till Torin’s last breath Jaxson knows that Torin would hold Alaska tight, till his last word he would be telling her that everything is going to be alright, that he loves her.

Jaxson chokes back a sob as his glassy eyes land on Alaska, her shoulder-length brown hair is lying across Torin’s chest and it is obscuring Jaxson’s view of her face, but he can see an eye pressed shut and her arms are wrapped tightly around Torin, her tears mix with his blood as well as her own, the thing that gives her away is her trembling bottom lip.

Jax’s mouth opens in shock. He truly believed that they were both dead, he can see the injuries on the both of them and he knows that it isn’t hard for one mate to follow the other into death.