After ensuring that two rogues were dead, the large brown wolf transformed into his human form and returned to check on the female that was being beaten when he arrived.
She was not moving, and her chest rose and fell in small choppy movements. Those were not good signs.
He stood above Marcy and observed her wretched state.
Her left arm had an open fracture, and her right leg was bent at an unusual angle. Her short black hair was wet from the blood, and her face was swollen to the point where she was unrecognizable, but her scent told him it was her. Marcy. A female he identified as his sister.
Ignoring the young girl crying next to Marcy, James squatted and listened to Marcy's heartbeat, which was getting fainter by the second.
She coughed which caused blood to ooze down her cheeks.
James frowned when he realized that Marcy didn't have a wolf, and without her wolf, those injuries and blood loss were deadly.
"George?" She called weakly.
He wanted to say that he was not George, but the spark in her unfocused eyes told him he shouldn't correct her.
"I knew you will come for me," she said, her busted lips lifted into an ugly smile that revealed her bloodied teeth.
"Don't talk," James said. "Let me find a doctor." Maddox mentioned that pack doctors were somewhere nearby.
"Don't," she said, and her right hand landed on his forearm. "I know I don't have much time…" She could feel her body shutting down. "It's just… I'm glad you are here. If there is a next time, I… won't reject you... I'm cold…"
She exhaled, and her hand that rested on James' forearm fell.
"Waaaah!" Jane cried as her wolf senses told her that the female on the ground was gone.
Jane crawled to reach Marcy. She held Marcy's hand and patted it, hoping that it might bring her Kim back.
James was still for a few long moments, and then he reached to close Marcy's eyes that stared through him.
That was the female who had the identity of his sister, the princess of the Red Moon pack. She was always prideful, with perfect clothes and makeup and not a single hair out of place, yet she wore simple clothes, no makeup, and her body was beaten to the point of being deformed; it didn't match the image Marcy had before.
After she left the Dark Howlers pack, James didn't think he will ever see her again.
When he analyzed the situation, James decided to come here and ensure that Marcy won't be recognized; that Alpha Edward won't find out about her being here. James didn't expect to find her, only to witness her last moments.
She thought he was George. Was Marcy regretting her rejection of George as her mate? It sounded like it. Should he tell George about this? Would it serve any purpose?
James never thought much about mates, he was too young, and it was too early, but now that he found Cornelia, he couldn't imagine what propelled Marcy to reject George. Was it the promise of being Damon's Luna? Or the pressure Alpha Edward put on Marcy? Or was it something else? James will never get answers to those questions.
He stared at Marcy, unsure how he felt about the current situation.
Three wolves emerged from the bushes, and they transformed into Beta Oliver, Kai, and Tony. All three looked at the scene of two dismantled bodies on the side, a battered body of a female, James, and sobbing Jane.
"What's the situation?" James asked.
Oliver responded, "Rogues are pushed back, but some are still hiding. Alpha Maddox is leading our warriors in combing the perimeter." He spoke to Jane. "It is still not safe. You should be in the shelter. Let me take you."
Jane gripped Marcy's hand firmly and raised her gaze to reveal that her left eye was swollen and closed from the punch she received, and her left cheek was also bigger than the right one.
Oliver knew Jane was silently asking about the female who was on the ground. Kim Dorsey. Oliver knew every person they had in the shelter because he was managing their files.
"Kim is gone, Jane." Seeing that Jane didn't move, Oliver urged her, "In this situation, we need to worry about the living. Come. I will notify warriors that no one touches her body, but I want you to be safe. Kim would like it that way."
At these words, Jane stood up in slow motion and followed Oliver. She remembered that Kim told her to run, and she didn't. Would anything change if Jane moved at that time? Jane was not sure, and she will never find out.
Oliver would ask Jane why she was not in the underground shelter. The entrance was only about fifty feet away, and everyone staying here should know the passcode to get in. But he could see that Jane was a mess, and this was not the time for conversation.
Damon stood in the small clearing with his eyes closed while sensing the surroundings.
"Should we chase after them?" Maya asked. They were following a group of three rogues that disappeared without a trace.
Damon would go after them, but the rogues knew the terrain, and if it's just the three of them, it would be fine, but what if they were racing toward a bigger group of rogues? A trap?
Damon lost count of how many rogues he fought, and he killed a few, but most of them would just provoke them and run, and Damon was tired of running without understanding what was happening.
At first, he thought that this was rogues' tactic to split up the forces so they could tackle them as small groups, but this was dragging for a while, and they were already separated from the rest, and it didn't make sense to continue this silly chase.
"Three of them are at two o'clock, about a hundred feet away," Damon said while wondering what was off.
The ability to sense surroundings was something that every Alpha had. They would release a small dose of their aura and feel as it enveloped the living and non-living things it reached. The more one would use, the better he could distinguish the size and type of an object, and some could even identify facial features.
Damon used his aura often, but instead of seeing the details, he could sense three living presences, but it was vague, almost like someone was interfering with his ability.
"Are they running?" Caden asked.
"No. Waiting." Damon responded.
Keith, Maya, Caden, and Caleb exchanged confused glances. This was getting more and more bizarre by the minute, and none of them liked it.
"Are they waiting for us?" Caleb asked with a frown.
"They are definitely leading us somewhere," Caden said.
Maya had another idea. "Or away from somewhere."
Damon grumbled something under his breath. Did Maddox hide some treasure, and rogues came to snatch it? Or is it a secret weapon? A magic scroll?
Even if Maddox had a cave filled with gold, Damon's concern was only about one thing. He mind-linked Talia, 'Kitten? How is the situation there?'
