Blood Lust and Love
Chapter 23

DarkBeauty357

Not long after Rem was killed, Alec sensed it immediately through the bond. He knew when he felt the sudden explosion of pain. It was faint and not enough to cripple Alec physically, but emotionally Alec had lost his best friend. One of the only people in the world that knew him best other than Leah. He had lost his best friend, his right-hand man, and his brother all in one night. He knew Rem was gone for good when he tried reaching out to Rem and his energy was no longer there.

Alec kept his wolf at bay around the other wolves because he didn't want to show his weaknesses to them. Most of them were sleeping anyway as he stood guard and watched over all of them throughout the night.

Still, in wolf form, Alec sat up staring at the fire not moving a muscle. He was in deep concentration, yet he was still alert as his ears were perked. He felt this anger brewing out in his chest and it multiplied and thrived by every second. Alec couldn't contain himself as the delightful thoughts peeked into his mind of all the fun activities he had planned for Crow. Alec couldn't wait to get his hands on the monster, his bloodthirsty temperament was practically oozing out of him.

It was so strong, that Alec's anger woke all the wolves up around him. The anger that radiated off of Alec almost made the other wolves cower down, but they knew that Alec's anger wasn't directed toward them so they weren't afraid.

Since everyone was up, Alec decided to move out. It was early in the morning but it was still dark outside when they began.

Alec was upfront leading his wolves home. His thundering paws seemed to fade against the background as Alec's silent howls of pain echoed in his mind. His wolf whimpering at the loss of a pack member was only natural, but right now, Alec wanted to crumble away. Alec's wolf continued to run and push through the physical pain, but he still couldn't seem to get the thoughts of his fallen friend out of his mind.

Alec was going to miss Rem dearly and all the times they had together. It seemed like just the other day when they were both running around as small children getting into all sorts of trouble that their parents had to bail them out of. All the memories that they made with each other was all that Alec has left now.

Alec and the group had a long way to go before they reached home, and they couldn't stop now. No matter what. Alec personally wanted to charge back to the grounds and replace where Crow was camping out so he could rip him to shreds right now, but Alec knew that would be a suicide mission because he had no idea where they were and what tricks they had up their sleeves since Crow never played fairly. For all Alec knew, Crow could have snipers aligned at any moment, and using weapons like that was disgraceful to the traditional way werewolves fought.

Running was the only thing that kept Alec's inner beast from raging out and killing everything within miles from him. It was a good form of exercise that seemed to never fail at occupying a wolf from his destructiveness. That's why Alec took out a lot of hobbies when Leah died. It also helped that they didn't fully mate as to why Alec didn't go insane. Most wolves would have gone feral after their mate died, but certain things can help lessen the pain.

Females have a better rate at surviving than males if their mate dies. Although, Alphas have it worse. They suffer more than if a Luna was to lose her mate. It's not uncommon for a male to survive the pain after the death of a mate, but it is rare for them to live long after that. It just depends on how mentally strong the person is before the death of their significant other.

Certain things can help with coping, like keeping busy or taking part in multiple activities. Even sentiment things can help like pictures or looking at the faces of loved ones like children. It is uncommon to replace another lover but not rare. However, most are not lucky at replaceing a second chance at happiness.

Crow lost his mate long ago in an accident that involved Alec's parents, which is why he went crazy and is targeting the Knine pack. After that, he has always blamed them for his pain and suffering. The only thing keeping Crow going anymore was the thought of vengeance. Even if it meant taking it out on innocent people. Crow didn't care if his mate use to be friends with Alec's parents or not. The way he saw it was that they were with his mate on the day that she died. Crow hated how Alec's parents survived the car accident that day and she didn't, so he decided he was going to kill them. Then Crow was going to make their children suffer and everyone they ever knew.

The sun was rising and a light frost covers the ground. It was cold outside and the window was still open in the room where Peyton and Isaac were both sleeping. It was when a cold breeze swept through the room that Peyton awoke. He glances at Isaac and his expression became more gloomy because he wasn't awake yet. He got up and walked over to the window to shut it. The room was so cold that it almost made Peyton shiver since he was wearing a short-sleeved shirt. Peyton remembered how hot it was in the room yesterday and was glad it wasn't like that anymore.

He peered outside at the grass that looked like diamonds were embezzled onto them. It was probably going to snow soon. Most of the trees were bare and had snow falling off the limbs. Smiling, Peyton looked at some of the melted snowmen that some kids built. It reminded him of the days where his siblings would have massive snowball fights with their parents. Peyton could almost smell the hot chocolate in the background. He almost started salivating at the thought of hot chocolate with tiny marshmallows and sprinkles. All cozy and warm, in a blanket, in the living with a new coffee table since they broke the last one for the twentieth time. His whole family together watching a good Christmas movie that his mother roped them all into by force. Peyton didn't mind those movies but Alec hated them, which is why it was so much more fun for Leah to make everyone be together.

To absorbed in his thoughts, Peyton never realized that Isaac was starting to wake up. Unfortunately, Peyton wasn't blessed in the hearing department like his father was. Peyton still had impressive hearing over the rest of the pack members, but Alec had the best hearing amongst all the werewolf shifters.

Isaac's eyes traveled toward Peyton, who was still looking out the window. "Peyton," Isaac said once he was confident in his voice.

Peyton froze in his tracks. It seems like forever since he has heard that voice. A little feeling overcame Peyton. It startled and scared him because for the first time he realized something. He was falling in love.

Honestly, Peyton didn't like the feeling one bit. It wasn't the fact that Isaac was a male because he knew his aunt was a lesbian. Peyton had nothing against same-sex couples, but this was different. How could he fall for someone who bullied his brother? It kind of felt like he was betraying Kai. Peyton wondered what Kai would think of him.

Peyton watched Isaac stare back at him. They both had so much they wanted to say to each other, but Peyton grew fearful. It was like the room was closing in on him and he couldn't breathe. Peyton held his hands up in surrender and clutched his chest. Isaac's eyebrows raised in sadness and confusion. Isaac saw this look once before and he knew then he was going to be rejected.

Isaac watched Peyton leave the room in a hurry with sadness in his eyes. He didn't want to feel alone but the coldness welcomed him again with warm hands. His throat burned as he laid in the hospital bed still watching the closed door that Peyton went through.

Seth had returned from his visit with his father, and he brought good news with him. It didn't come as much of a shock to his father when he learned that Seth was fated to be a werewolf. Seth's father was different than most vampire elders that were in charge of clans. He was more caring and loving towards his people and humans in general. There were two things that Seth's father hated the most; demonic petty werewolves with sticks up their asses like Crow and stragglers. Stragglers were the equivalent of rogue werewolves and they didn't care about anything around them.

Jade and Rose waited for Seth to be escorted to them by the pack's guardsmen. Jade's whole face lit up like the Fourth of July when she saw him, and a handsome smile graced Seth's face.

Jade ran up to Seth and engulfed him in the biggest hug ever. "I missed you so much!" Jade squeezed him as hard as she could but he still seemed unfazed.

"I missed you more." Seth gave Jade a forehead kiss and the interlocked hands to walk back to the house.

Seth looked over at Rose and they exchanged a short nod at one another.

"Thank you," Seth told Rose.

"It was truly a pleasure." Rose was referring to guarding Jade.

They didn't notice at the time but the guardsmen that followed them back to the house were grossed out at Jade and Seth's relationship. The guardsmen grew disgusted as they watched Jade and Seth exchange kisses.

"I have good news. Where's your father?" Seth asked.

"He is away and will be back soon in a couple of days. Why?"

"I visited my father. He agreed to help with his clan after I explained what happened to my beloved. When my father and I combine forces with your pack, that should make us unstoppable."

Jade looked away from Seth and toward the ground, "I sure hope so." She whispered.

Seth slipped his arms around her waist, "You have nothing to fear. I will be here for you. We all will."

That was the only thing the guardsmen, behind them, agreed with.

Meanwhile, training for the third group just finished so that meant Blaire and Liam were done for the day. Liam finished up cleaning the training grounds for the next group with the help of Blaire and Damon. The entire time Damon kept glaring at Liam. Liam would chuckle nervously and rub his neck as he waved at Damon. Blaire would roll her eyes at how childish they were acting.

"Uncle Damy," Blaire called out as she walked towards the two men who were bickering about something. Wanting to embarrass Damon and feeling pretty accomplished when she saw him cringe at the old nickname, Blaire walked up and listened to what they were saying.

"So let me get this straight. You stopped Mason from harming Blaire then you take advantage of her?"

"No, I swear it wasn't like that." Liam was again getting nervous because even though Blaire made Damon agree to not tell Alec what he saw, every bone in Damon's body was telling him to report back to Alec. "She's my mate. I swear on the Moon Goddess Sycamore."

"And he didn't kiss me, I kissed him. I asked him for one kiss only that night."

"One kiss huh? Is that what happened when I found you two?" Damon sneered as he kept glaring at Liam.

"I'm almost eighteen. It's less than two months away. Liam is my mate anyway so I don't understand the problem."

"The problem is Liam is lying because you can't replace a mate until you turn eighteen. He is just a man trying to take advantage of a seventeen-year-old girl by claiming that he feels some bond towards you, and you're naive enough to believe him!" Damon yelled.

"No, it's not like that!" Liam exclaimed. He felt bile starting to rise and his palms turned sweaty. He was getting more nervous by the minute and he didn't like being accused of this. Liam didn't like being made out to be the bad guy.

Damon grabbed Liam by the shirt and pulled him closer. Damon growled, "If you say that one more time. I'll kill you myself so Alec doesn't have to." Damon pushed Liam back. "It pisses me off that you would actually try and tell a seventeen-year-old that she's your mate. I thought you were different than your brother but turns out the apple doesn't fall far from the tree. You're a pedophile just like him!" Damon yelled.

"Wait what?" Blaire asked confused.

"You didn't know? Liam's brother got executed a long time ago because he was caught messing around with human children. Turns out Liam is sick in the head just like him."

Liam couldn't control his nausea anymore and he turned away from them as the contents in his stomach were emptied.

Blaire glared at Damon, "What the hell is wrong with you?" She shoved Damon away from Liam. "He isn't taking advantage of me. I can feel the bond. I don't know how or why I felt it. So this morning I talked to mom about it. She told me that her grandmother said in times of war and traumatizing events, it has been known that wolves can replace their mates at a young age. It starts as the same physical pull and sparks, but it fully strengthens when you reach the age of eighteen. If you don't believe me then ask my mom. Some wolves don't even realize why they feel a pull towards someone during times like this. So I asked my mom to make sure and we did. If anything I took advantage of Liam's soft side."

"So you're telling me that now your mom knows and you're leaving your dad in the dark about this?" Damon scoffed and shook his head.

"Can you blame me for that? Look at how you are reacting."

"Man, what is up with this family and secrets," Damon mumbled under his breath. Damon was still so mad he couldn't even think straight, so he walked away for the time being to clear his mind.

Liam was dry heaving as he leaned on a tree for support. Blaire couldn't help but feel guilty. She didn't know anything about his brother and she did pressure him into all of their acts. She slowly walked up to him and started to rub his back. "I am..." Blaire started but couldn't finish as more vomit spewed out of Liam's month.

Blaire grimaced and continued to rub his back until he was completely done. After Liam calmed down and was able to catch his breath again, Blaire hugged him but Liam never did wrap his arms around her. He was too afraid too. Liam was too confused with these emotions and the pull he was feeling. Liam wanted to touch, kiss, and hold her like any normal mate would want to, but he couldn't. Not yet.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know about your brother. I never meant to put you into this situation. I'm really sorry."

"It's okay..." Liam cast his gaze down to the ground. "I um, I need to go," Liam said and quickly walked away before Blaire could say anything else.

~🖤~