Blood Lust and Love
Chapter 11

DarkBeauty357

The days dragged on slowly and they only seemed to get worse. Jade would stay to herself in her room. She wouldn't come out to eat or socialize with anyone. She just wanted to give up on life. She thought about ending it all once or twice, but the only thing holding her to the earth was Seth at this point. Even though she hasn't seen him since she was kidnapped, the thought of him would calm her instantly. That was the power of mates. The only problem was that she couldn't bring herself to get out of bed to visit him. Plus, anytime Jade would sit up she would always feel sick to her stomach to the point where she wanted to throw up. Blaire would make her food throughout the day but Jade never ate any of it.

Jade did throw up once and she almost didn't even make it to the bathroom. She was so lethargic from her lack of self-care that she almost threw up in the hallway. Jade didn't know why she felt like this but she didn't tell anyone. Jade just stayed in her room isolating herself from the cruel cold world.

One the other hand, Peyton was starting to show a little more improvement with his mental health. Thanks to the help of Grace and the pack therapist, Peyton had stopped cutting himself. After a week had passed since Jade returned, Peyton's doctor decided to prescribe him antidepressants to help him function throughout the day. The bond between wolves is a very intricate and complex connection. Not enough words can describe the love between pack members, especially related pack members.

Blaire still felt the raw pain of losing her brother and it hurt very badly, but her mate was always nearby to comfort her.

A week ago, when Jade was found, Alec had a talk with Charlie and Blaire. He talking about his past with Leah. He talked about how he used to be blind and how badly he treated Leah. He didn't talk to Jade and Peyton yet because he wanted to talk to them separately.

Alec woke up early in the morning to go visit Remmy. His recovery was coming along quickly. Rem had a couple of broken ribs but he should be healed within the next two weeks. Grace has been taking good care of him and practicality treating him like a baby. Rem didn't complain at all since Grace waited on him hand and foot.

When Alec pulled up at Rem's house, he found Rem laying down on the couch. Rem was shirtless and he had gauze wrapped around his torso. When Alec walked in Rem tried to sit up to be a little more proper but Alec raised his hand. Rem stopped moving and laid back down. Due to all the movement, Rem had a series of coughs. Grace heard him and rushed into the living room.

"Didn't I tell you to stop moving! You would heal a lot sooner if you stop pushing yourself so much." Grace scowled at his noncompliant behavior.

Rem smirked, "So bossy."

"You're very brave to say that because I could make you even more crippled right now," Grace said even though she would never hurt anyone. She couldn't even hurt a fly if her life depended on it. Her relationship with Rem is comical to watch.

"You promise?" Rem raised an eyebrow.

Grace just scoffed and handed Rem a glass of water and a pain pill. Then she left Alec and Rem alone to talk.

After Rem took his medication, he spoke, "At the meeting yesterday, did you tell them that vampires might be apart of this?"

Alec nodded, "How are you doing?"

"So the big bad Alpha does care after all."

Alec rolled his eyes at Rem's remark.

"I'm doing better. I should be able to return soon. I hate vampires." Rem scowled in disgust just thinking about those vile creatures.

"Don't worry. If I see any vampire around our territory, we'll through it in the dungeon. Torturing the vampire should be fun. At least, until we get information about Crow's plans then we'll kill it."

"I want to be apart of that," Rem says.

Alec nodded, "Gladly."

Alec and Rem talked some more about training and preparations. After their talk, Alec walked outside to replace Dash in the yard.

Dash was old but still alive because Leah put special herbs into his food that was only meant for pets.

Dash was just staring at Alec, then he slowly approached him. The old buck wasn't as afraid of Alec anymore but his instincts still told him to run. However, Dash overpowered that instinctual fear because Alec never put Dash in harm's way. In a way, he trusted and even came to show affection towards Alec.

When Dash was in arm's length, Alec reached out his hand to softly pet the deer. "At least you aren't against me," Alec said.

Alec looked at his car in Remmy's driveway then back at Dash. Alec decided to walk home with Dash and get his car later. He wanted to spend time with the only one who hadn't turned his back on him.

Alec tossed his arm around Dash, "Come on buddy. There's good food at home."

Leah woke up an hour ago from another nightmare. The same repeating nightmares of replaceing her son dead on the ground often invaded her sleep. Every time she would wake up, she would often be in a bad mood and long for the touch of her mate, but then reality would soon set in. Then she would come to the conclusion every day that Alec was to blame.

Kai's funeral was tomorrow and Leah just had to see him before tomorrow. She wasn't mentally prepared for tomorrow, and she was still was in denial when the facts were so clearly in front of her face.

It was the first time that Leah left the house since Kai died, and she was on her way to the funeral home, which was behind the pack clinic.

Leah's walk to the funeral home was quick, but he was anxious and anxiety-ridden. One of the good things though was that no one was out walking around in the pack. Everything was so quiet.

Leah's feet sunk through the snow as she stopped and stared at the funeral home. She hugged herself tightly before she could knock on the door. This was the last time she was able to see Kai alone before the funeral. It had been around two weeks since Kai was killed and he was already prepared for tomorrow.

Leah walked up to the door and sighed. She made a low knocking sound against the wooden door and she almost wasn't sure if anyone heard it. Leah was about to knock again but the door opened. So someone did hear after all. Leah put down the hood on her head and looked at the Jasper, who was in charge of the funeral home.

"Luna. Welcome." Jasper says and he put his head down and stepped to the side, holding the door open for Leah to walk in.

Her lips shook as she looked on the metal table. A small light cast down on Kai's body. Kai was the only body in this room because he has been the only death in a while.

Kai's dead body was pale but the makeup had made him look a little more lively. The wound on Kai's chest had been cleaned, closed, and covered. The blood that was once on his body was all gone, and the pain on his face had vanished. He was in peace now. Kai's hair was just brushed, and he wore a nice suit. It was easy to say that he was handled with such care by Jasper that a human would probably think he's an angel.

"Can I have a moment alone?" Leah asked Jasper.

Jasper nodded his head and walked out, shutting the door behind him. Jasper lit a cigarette and sat down on the patio, resting his head against the outside wall.

With every step Leah took to Kai, she had to repeat to herself that everything was going to be okay. She looked at Kai's soft eyelashes that graced his face. Leah recalled all the days she cared for him. She regretted her decision as a mother. All the times she scolded him for his bad behavior and had to rightfully punish him. She wishes she could take that all back. Leah just wanted to hold her baby one last time and hear his laugh.

"I love you." Tears rolled down her face. Leah wiped them off and squeezed her eyes together. "It seems like it was just yesterday when you were in my arms. I miss it badly. I miss you."

"I remember when you found that cat and Daddy wouldn't let you keep him, so you peed in his shoes instead and you squeezed out a whole bottle of shampoo in his desk drawer." Leah laughed out bitterly.

"Isn't it crazy that I want you here so badly that I wouldn't even care if it was to scold you one last time because then at least I would get to hug you at the end. Nothing feels the same without you and it never will." Leah dropped to her knees beside the table Kai laid on. She grabbed Kai's hand and started to Kai even more.

"Nothing compares to the pain of a mother who has lost her child. I should have been there for you. I should have done better as a mother. I failed you!" She yelled the last sentence and her voice cracked.

Leah was overwhelmed with a sudden feeling of anger and guilt. Leah left go of Kai's hand and screamed at the ground, hitting the floor over and over again.

She finally stopped, "And I'm sorry." She whispered. "I'm so sorry." Tears steadily poured down her face.

"Why does it have to be this way!" Leah felt more anger. She never liked to kill anyone, but put her in the same room as Crow and see what happens. "Please, I'll do anything for you to come back. Please bring him back. I can't live like this." She begged the moon goddess. Leah was spitting out things she could do to change herself and promises to the moon goddess in exchange for her son.

But that wasn't enough.

"I just wish we could have hot chocolate one last time."

A light ghostly hand appeared in front of Leah. Charlie had finally come. Charlie was the ghost boy that always visited Leah. Leah's son Charlie was also named after the little ghost.

"Leah are you okay?" Charlie asked.

Leah just nodded her head, "I missed you."

"I miss you too. If I could hug you right now I would. You know I would." Charlie says. Since Charlie is a ghost, he isn't able to pick things up or move objects. Some ghosts are able to do so, but they have to practice. Charlie has tried practicing a lot but he only did it once. Ever since then he wasn't been able to do it again.

"I know Charlie, I know."

Later that night, Rem had disobeyed Grace's orders and walked to Alec's house. Even though he was physically hurt, Rem felt like he could still run a marathon.

The reason why Rem sneaked out of the house was that for a split second Rem could feel Alec's emotions through the pack bond before it was shut off. Alec had accidentally let his emotions slip through. Rem in his weakened condition was the only one that hadn't blocked the pack link, so he was the only one that felt Alec's pain.

It was the middle of night and Rem couldn't shift so he was wobbling through the woods. "Grace is going to kill my ass," Rem muttered as he clutched his wound. He shouldn't have left the house but after he heard about how Alec snapped about a week ago, Rem was worried about Alec. They've been best friends for years and a little wound wasn't going to get in his way of making sure Alec was okay.

Luckily when Rem arrived at Alec's house his wounds didn't open. Instead of knocking Rem walked in the house. Everyone else was sleeping except for Alec. Alec was laying on the couch knocking back bottles of vodka. Alec stared straight at the television that was off and he tipped up the vodka.

Alec's back was faced toward Rem, but Alec knew he was there. "What are you doing here?" Alec asked.

Rem walked into the living room where huge vodka bottles were scattered everywhere. "I'm here to make sure you don't do anything stupid."

"I don't need a babysitter," Alec spoke.

Rem placed his hand on Alec's shoulder. "No, but you need a friend." Rem said.

Alec laughed, "I need my mate back." Alec took another drink of vodka.

"She'll come around. You know that. You both have just been through a lot." Rem replied.

Alec said nothing.

"You guys have been through way too much to give it up now. Think back to the beginning of your relationship to now. I know you guys will make it through this." Rem spoke.

"What if she never forgives me."

"She will. Leah is stronger than anyone I know. She just needs time and so do you."

"We don't have time right now. Crow. I'll kill him myself."

"I have no doubt about that," Rem says.

"Aren't you scared?" Alec says.

"What do you mean?" Rem asked.

"You have a lot more to lose now. Grace. She is your family now. I remember when the first war we had with Crow. You were so ruthless." Alec looked up. His eyes were glazed. "I'm sure it's crossed your mind that she or you may not make it out of this alive," Alec said.

"Of course it has. You have a lot to fight for too. If anything I think it makes us stronger." Rem said.

Alec looked at Rem with an intense stare, "I'll give you one chance to leave. To leave with Grace and Ava. To be safe. You have wanted happiness for a long time and now you finally have a mate. I don't want you to be unhappy because of me." Alec says.

Rem scoffed, "Do you really think I'm going to leave you behind. Clearly, you have mistaken. I'm with you to the end brother. No matter how badly this ends. I am loyal to you and this pack."

Alec laughed, "You know you said that when we first started. I actually remember it being something like this."

Rem painfully smiled recalling the memories, "Exactly like this. Except then we were both just teenagers. Now we are going to finish this."

"You know this will end badly," Alec says.

"I'd rather die with you in my corner. I'm honored that I've had the opportunity to fight by your side for so long."

Alec nodded his head, "Ride or Die." Alec tossed Rem the bottle.

Rem tipped up the bottle and chugged it, "Ride or die. Till the end."

The danger of this war really sunk it with them this time. The possibility of one of them dying along with a large number of members in the pack. However, at this moment they were almost like the same teenagers preparing for war. Only this time, they were adults and more monstrous together than anyone could imagine.

Rem and Alec stayed up until two in the morning talking about their troubles just like the old days. Back when it was just the two of them against the world. The only person, other than Leah, that truly knew Alec was Remmy.

Out in the middle of the night, another creature lurked in the shadows. A vampire had just crossed the borders. He was now on the Knine territory.

Seth knew that this was dangerous, especially during the crisis that was going on in this pack. It was more like a suicide mission, but he had to see her. He had to see Jade and make sure that she was okay. For the last past week, Jade hasn't been showing up to their meeting spot. Seth knew that Jade has been found but it concerned him that he hasn't seen her yet. He just wanted to make sure she was okay.

Seth had been driving himself crazy that he was making rash decisions to see Jade. He wasn't thinking clearly and he just wanted to hold Jade in his arms. He would have to be careful not to get caught.

This was a terrible idea. To start with Seth had no idea where to look so he was just aimlessly walking in the pack. It wasn't long until he was caught by wolves.

A big wolf, Liam, tackled Seth to the ground and started biting him right away. Seth kicked the wolf off of him. He stood up and looked around, he was surrounded by snarling wolves. One wolf charged at him and latched on to his arm, pulling him to the ground. The wolf pounced on Seth and snapped at his face. Seth had to block the wolf from biting his face off. When he finally got the chance Seth tossed this wolf off of him.

Seth was then charged by all the wolves. They piled on him and attacked him. Needless to say, his brand new suit was ruined.

Seth didn't fight back to his fullest because he realized that these people were in Jade's pack. They were family to Jade. If he hurt them then he would hurt Jade. They only thing that he could do was defend himself by kicking them away from him. More wolves have reported to were Seth was. Previously, it was ordered by Alec that any vampire would be put in the pack cells to be tortured for information on Crow, then they would be executed.

The guards that found Seth already reported to the Alpha and Beta and they agreed to meet at the cells. The only thing was that they just had to catch Seth first.

A man appeared, "The Beta said to capture him and toss him in the jail cells."

Surprising to the wolves, Seth put his hands up in the air, "I surrender."

The wolves stopped charging him and looked dumbfounded. A man stepped forward to handcuff Seth, and they started walking to the cells.

It wasn't that Seth was too weak to fight back, he was just getting pissed that he couldn't fight them because he didn't want to hurt Jade's pack. He also knew that rumors would fly around the pack and hopefully Jade would come to help.

What Seth didn't know was that he was going to be tortured for information. Then he was going to be discarded like paper in a couple of days. Even though Seth and Jade haven't completed the mating bond, Jade should still feel slight emotions, just not as strongly, but Jade was too emotionally numb to feel his pain. She was too numb to feel anyone's pain but her own.

~🖤~