Clay

We took Headmaster Ohkamkha to the infirmary, where I spotted Motherbear, who had come to help the injured.

"Mother?"

The old bear looked over and froze at the sight of Mrs. Payatt, "Dawn?"

"Great Grandma!" the young boy from the basement yelled as he rushed to Motherbear, throwing his arms around her waist as he cried, "He killed my mom and dad!"

Tears dripped down her aged face as she held her family close; when I spotted Rain, I motioned for him to come over.

"Rain, I want you to meet my mate, Eve. Little Bird, this is Rain; his sleuth helped us contact our pack and gave us a place to stay," I explained. It is thanks to his laptop that I was able to see you in that video posted on YouTube."

Eve smiled warmly at Rain, "It's nice to meet you, and thank you for helping us."

Rain nodded, "It's no problem; I'm just glad I could help."

As we stood there, I couldn't help but feel grateful for the support we had received from the other Guardians and supernatural beings. We were all in this together, and it showed that we could put our differences aside to fight a common enemy.

"We need to keep moving," I said, looking around at the injured and shaken Guardians, "We can't stay here for too long; we need to regroup and devise a plan."

"Agreed," Alpha Denton stated with a nod, "But first, we need to make sure everyone is accounted for and safe."

With that, we split into groups to search the rest of the building. We were almost to the top floor when a loud feline growl echoed through the hallway. I stopped in my tracks,

"It's Miss Tocho," Eve gasped as our Assistant Headmistress lifted her crossbow with the poison-tipped arrow in our direction.

Miss Tocho was standing at the end of the hallway with her eyes blazing and her claws bared. Eve and I stepped back in shock as Miss Tocho slowly began to advance on us, like a predator stalking its prey.

"Ah, just who I was looking for," Miss Tocho growled.

"We heard about what happened to your family. I'm terribly sorry..." I started to say, but Miss Tocho cut me off.

"Ha, sorry? You are sorry!!!" she yells as she points the crossbow in my direction.

"Clay!" Eve whimpered to me telepathically as a surge of her fear pulsed through our bond.

"I'm sick and tired of hearing I'm sorry!! Sorry isn't going to knock the damn wolves off their high horses or bring my dead family back!!" Miss Tocho  growled, "I could kill you both, and the world would see me as a hero."

With an evil feline grin, she turned the crossbow towards Eve, but before she could pull the trigger, a shout echoed from behind her, "Mom! Stop!" We all looked past Miss Tocho to see Kelly Tocho standing there, holding her hands up in a calming gesture.

"Kelly?" Miss Tocho growled as she slowly lowered her crossbow.

"It's me, Mom," Kelly said in a soft voice, "Please don't do this. This isn't the way to honor the memory of Jimmy. He was my own twin brother, but I know that not all of the wolves should pay for what only one of them has done."

Miss Tocho hesitated for a moment before lowering the crossbow. She turned around to face her daughter, her eyes filled with pain.

"I will never forgive Elder Okhamka for sentencing Jimmy to die, Kelly," Miss Tocho said as tears began to stream down her cheeks.

Kelly walked towards her mother and wrapped her arms around her in a tight embrace, "I know, Mom. But we can't let our pain and anger consume us. We have to find a way to move on and positively honor his legacy."

Miss Tocho buried her face in Kelly's shoulder as they stood there, holding onto each other.

It was a tense moment, but Kelly's intervention had diffused the situation. Miss Tocho was still grieving, and I could sympathize with her pain. Losing loved ones was never easy, especially in such violent and senseless ways. We needed to find a way to stop the war before more innocent lives were lost.

As Kelly and her mother embraced, I couldn't help but feel relieved. Miss Tocho had been ready to take out her anger on me and Eve, but thankfully, Kelly had been able to calm her down. It was clear that the loss of her son had taken a toll on her, but I knew that with time and support, she would be able to find a way to heal.

"We should keep moving," I said, breaking the silence. "We need to make sure everyone is safe and accounted for."

Eve nodded in agreement, so we left Kelly and her mother where they were. I laced my fingers through Eve's before placing a soft kiss on her knuckles. She was already thin, but now I could see her ribs and spine; I clenched my fists as I thought about what I would do to Father Lucas the next time I saw him…

I couldn't help the low growl as I looked around at all the poor students and teachers with arrows in their heads. They all came here expecting to be safe, but it was nothing but a failure… Where would we be safe?

Great Spirits Above, if you are hearing me, please help guide us through these dark times; I prayed as we wandered through the halls.

After helping with what we could, we decided to head towards the cafeteria, hoping there would be some food. When we got there, we found all of our friends sitting together at a table; Asher looked up as we approached.

"Hey guys, it's about time you joined us," he said as he rose from his seat to give Eve a hug, "I'm glad we made it in time, sister; I'm sorry it took so long for us to return. After you were taken, we came back to see the place looking like a war zone. Shawn told us what happened, but we had no clue where you were, so we went in search of a phone to call Dad and ran into a sleuth of bears… well you met Rain; he and his grandmother were the ones who helped us out."

"I did meet Rain; he seems like a nice guy," says Eve, and don't beat yourself up about it; the fact that you came back and saved not just me but many others is remarkable."

Asher smiled as tears streamed down his face, then pulled Eve in for another hug. It was times like these that I was grateful for the friends that I had.

With that said… I took a peek over at Shawn, who was chatting with freakin Gray of all people… but now wasn't the time for a cock fight; it was time to let bygones be bygones…

I walked over to where Shawn sat, and he looked up as I approached. He swallowed hard as his face grew white, but he stood from the bench and then dropped to his knees in submission.

"I am terribly sorry for what I did to Eve and you. I was petty and jealous. Would you ever be able to forgive me?" He said as he looked down at the floor.

I crossed my arms as I looked down at my old friend, then turned to my mate, who was standing right next to me.

"What do you think, mate? Should we forgive him?"

Eve nodded as she stepped forward and placed her hand on Shawn's head, who was startled by the sudden touch.

"I forgive you, Shawn, but if you ever do something like that again, I will tell my father," she explained before removing her hand.

Shawn looked up with a smile on his face as he looked from me to Eve, "Thank you for forgiving me," he said as he rose to his feet, then held out his hand for a fist bump.

I returned his fistbump, then pulled him in for a slap on the back, "It's good to have you back in the group, my friend. Have you been properly introduced to our new friends?" I asked.

"Yes, I have; I can't believe both Asher and Shelby found their mates; I'm totally jealous!! But I'm happy for you guys." Shawn said as he looked from Shelby to Asher with a smile as he returned to the bench.

I wrapped my arm around Eve's waist as we wandered over to the bar full of food. I was hungry, but Eve has had nothing but dog food for the last week; I really wanted to kill that bastard!

After returning to the table with Eve, I noticed two familiar twin faces; I hadn't seen them since we raided the school.

"Hey brother and sister-n-law!!" yelled Cole when he spotted us. He waved like a moron as we made our way over.

"I didn't know your brothers were here," stated Eve as she slipped onto the bench next to Waverly.

"I knew they were here, Little Bird; it totally slipped my mind."

"It's okay, it's been very chaotic," she replied as she picked at her spaghetti.

"I love you, Little Bird," I said as I pressed a kiss to the top of her precious head.

The corner of her mouth quirked in a smile as she leaned against my arm…"I love you too, Fuzzy Butt."

Flint plopped down next to me on the bench as I took a bite of my spaghetti as Cole talked with Asher and Shawn.

"How are you holding up, little brother?" he asked as he leaned back against the table.

"I'm not really sure, to be honest, but I have my mate, my friends, my family, and my pack here; it helps some… but I'm sure it will all catch up to me eventually."

Flint patted me on the shoulder, then the asshole decided to steal one of my meatballs… freakin bastard!

He just smirked as he said, "Just hang in there, little brother. After you are done eating, the Alpha wants us all to get some rest. In the morning, the leaders want us all to meet in the dining hall for a meeting."

I gave him a nod as I chewed my food, then said, "Alright, got it, and thank you for coming to help."

Flint scoffed as he rose to his feet, "I couldn't stay home while my little brother and my pack mates were in trouble. Now go get some rest; your mate looks like she is about to pass out."

I flinched as I turned to find my mate nodding off with her head in her hand… Damn it!... Sigh…

I jumped to my feet before she face-planted into the table, then lifted her into my arms. She felt like nothing but skin and bones as I held her close.

"I don't want to go to sleep." she whimpered as she tried to pull away.

"Shhh, baby, I won't leave you; I will stay next to you the whole night," I stated softly as we headed toward my room.

"Will they let us?" she mumbled as she looked up at me with those green eyes of hers.

"I don't really give a flying shit, to be honest. Nothing in this damn world could separate you from me for a little while." I growled under my breath as I carried her up the grandmaster staircase.

Eve just smiled as she wrapped her arms around my neck before she snuggled into the curve of my neck. I shivered as gooseflesh peppered my skin when her nose tickled the sensitive skin.

I placed a light kiss on her cheek as I sent a telepathic thought to my Alpha.

"Hey, Alpha, it's Branham. Is it okay if I take Eve to my room for the night? There is no way in hell that I can leave her alone tonight."

"Sigh… I guess it should be alright. Everyone who has met their mates is doing the same thing; just keep it PG, please," Alpha Denton replied, "How is she doing, by the way?"

"From what I can feel through our bond and from my medical knowledge, she is very malnourished and dehydrated. She already suffered greatly from all the shit she has been through; now I fear it will be worse."

"Sigh," I could just picture him running his hands over his tired face as the weight on his shoulders pulled him to the ground, "Alright…sigh… well, I might need to look into some counseling for the whole tribe once we return… you guys go and get some rest. Did you brothers manage to relay the message about the meeting in the morning?"

"Yes, they did; we will be in the dining hall in the morning after breakfast," I replied as I opened the door to my room.

"Alright then, have a good night."

"You too, sir."

Once Alpha Denton disconnected, I looked around the room, noticing that the room was completely empty, before sitting down with Eve on my bed, then laid us down with her never leaving my arms.

Just as I was dozing off, the door opened, and I sensed that Asher and Waverly had entered the room; I smiled as I fell into a restless sleep with my mate in my arms where she belonged.