Pack Ties, Blood Lies

Chapter 33 - Blame

Eerie silence followed Jack's revelation, even Holly couldn't seem to form a response.

Perry watched me quietly. A sadness in his eyes that made them seem hollow.

I searched his face. Trying to find something I recognised, but there was nothing.

"Come say hi to daddy." Perry's words were soft. A longing in them that might have pulled at my heart in another life.

But not now.

The man before me was a stranger. A stranger that had hurt someone I care about deeply. The only emotion I could find for him was anger.

I clenched my fists tightly, feeling the sharp kiss of my nails cutting half moons into my palms. The hit of pain cleared some of the fog in my brain and I stepped closer to the cell. Aware of Jack hovering protectively behind me.

"I don't know you." I caught his slight wince as the words left my lips. "You are just a disgusting piece of shit that has hurt someone I care about."

His bark of laughter held little humour. "I hurt someone that you care about? No, Charlotte... I claimed my very long-awaited revenge." His eyes glinted with a hard anger as he cradled the arm I broke. "Julian stole my life from me. He stole the only woman I ever loved... He stole my chance become a father, because his own woman is barren."

I growled. A short, sharp warning noise that filled the small space.

I could accept everything he had to say about Julian. He had every right to his anger.

But Hazel was innocent.

"Do not presume to speak to me as though I am an ignorant child. I may have been a pup when you 'died', but I am one no longer. I don't care about the past. You robbed yourself a chance to be pitied when you shot our Luna." I spat, angrily turning my back on the pathetic creature who raised me for my first five years.

I knew that there was more to this. Two bodies had been found in the house on that night. Burnt beyond recognition, they lay in my parent's bed. The raid had claimed countless lives. It was only with the grace of the goddess I had managed to escape. Found unconscious from smoke inhalation in my closet.

How and why this man still lived, I did not know and couldn't find it in my heart to care. His actions tonight would forever eclipse all else.

"When the time comes, kill him slowly." I muttered as I stalked past the quiet forms of the people I now consider family.

I had wasted enough time. I had all the answers I cared about. Now I needed to see Hazel.

The twisting in my gut seemed to increase the closer I got to the medical wing.

The stinging aroma of disinfectant hit well before I got there. Increasing in intensity with every hurried step I took. The faster my feet moved the longer it seemed to get there, all the while tormented by the pungent scent.

Guilt mixed with fear as a hard lump in my throat. Even breathing felt like a chore as I struggled to heave air into my tightening chest.

Hazel is a wolf. Full wolf. She will heal and everything will be ok.

The image of her shocked face seemed to be frozen in my mind and I repeated my mantra.

She's a wolf. She will heal. Everything will be ok.

Then I saw the hazmat suit.

The lead doctor peered at me through the slightly clouded visor of his suit. His sorrow was clear, even through the blurry lens. He clutched a small tray in gloved hands, blood still wet against the plastic of his protective clothing.

The protective clothing that could mean only one thing... silver.

I felt my feet moving, pulling me deeper into the commotion of people. Numbly aware that I was being spoken to. That hands were trying to still me.

I pushed through, almost without intent. Finally arriving at the crisp white bedsheet covering a long, still lump.

A silence descended on the room until finally a sob erupted from a nearby nurse. I looked into the eyes of the people crowded around. Tearstained faces bleak with shock and anger.

I felt like I was falling. Like the ground had opened up beneath me to swallow me whole. My heart ached with pain like none I had ever felt before as I numbly shook my head, scattered thoughts registering that Julian was missing from the huddled grievers.

A pale doctor released a colleague he had been comforting to stride angrily towards me. "This is your fault."

His canines gleamed in the bright white lighting as he spoke. "You are a little girl. Undeserving of ranked status. How could you have been so stupid?"

Pack gossip mill was clearly no less on point than usual. Everyone already knew what had happened.

That it was my fault.

Hazel was... gone.

And angry mutter started amongst the crowd, and I couldn't blame them for their derision. Their anger and hatred were well placed.

Voices were getting louder, and I stepped back, only to collide with yet another furious person.

Someone grabbed my arm and shook me. "Are you even listening to us?" she wailed. Her anguish joining my own and cutting ever deeper.

A tear slipped down my cheek as they crowded me, pushing and growling, obscuring the white shape on the bed as they came between us.

I didn't even try to defend myself as a stinging slap landed on my cheek, didn't try to work out who had delivered it.

Suddenly, a growl ripped through the room. The unmistakable voice of our Alpha demanding silence.

The crowd parted and his pale face floated into view. Dark brows drawn together in an angry scowl. "I know that you are all angry. As am I... Furious. Incensed. Sick with shock."

He ran a hand over his weary face. "But this mess is my fault, not Charlie's. She may had let the intruder in. But he was here to hurt me."

A quiet sniffle was the only sound as the Alpha made his way to the bedside. Face grey with grief and remorse. He glanced around the room, resting a hand lightly on the sheet. "You forgave me before for my past transgressions, but that was before you really felt the sting of any consequence. Now, with this loss, I can understand if feelings have changed."

I felt myself move to his side. Still numb with shock and grief. "Now isn't the time or place for this. Let her rest peacefully without harsh words being traded over her body." My words shook with emotion as they left my lips. Ending in a strangled whisper with the unworthy description, 'body'.

She was light. She was joy and light and a pure soul.

She was more of a mother to me in the short time we had been properly acquainted, than I had ever hoped to find. The true leader of our Pack, keeping Julian in line and level-headed, giving him advice from the safety of his shadow.

And she was gone.

Surprise flitted across Julian's face, and he shook his head quickly. "Charlie... No one told you? This isn't Hazel."