The Summer Moon
Chapter 31 -

Tyrese "Tyrese!"

“Ty!”

"Help!"

Voices began filling my head to the point it was overwhelming as I opened my mind link up again. I shut my eyes tightly trying to focus and sort through them all when finally I understood what was going on as Jesse's voice ran clear through. "Tyrese there's a rogue here, get down here now!" My heart began to race, there couldn't be a rogue here, at Emily's party. How did they get this far from the border? This can't be happening. Not now. Not with Malia here. My wolf was howling and rising to the surface. I had to protect my pack, I had to protect my mate. I jumped from the bed and pulled my jeans on. There was no time to properly dress, there was no time for anything. But as Malia rose from the bed, I leapt towards her, pinning her hips to the bed as I kneeled in front of her. She couldn't come. She didn't know what was going on. She couldn't replace out like this.

"Malia please, please stay right here," I pleaded with her, holding her onto the edge of the bed. I prayed she would listen to me, but I didn't have time to stay. I gently pressed my lips to her forehead, lingering only for a moment before I headed downstairs. I shut the door behind me, praying one more time that she would just stay where she was and that she wouldn't hear what was about to happen outside.

I bolted down the stairs and out the back door, mind linking my pack that there was an attack. I advised the pack to seek shelter and requested that all available warriors head into the forest to protect our borders. Several pack members answered my calls, telling me where they were headed, and I was grateful. Most people had dispersed from the party, getting home to safety. Those who were capable fighters had already gone into the woods to prepare for battle. As I ran out onto the back landing I saw Emily and a couple of her friends huddled against the walls. They were still young and not prepared to fight, but I knew Emily would never leave her brother's side. Jesse was in his wolf form fighting with a rogue on the ground. The rogue was strong as he flipped Jesse over and they crashed onto the ground together.

The next few seconds felt like they lasted a lifetime. I ran forward towards Jesse and the rogue when I heard the most horrible sound.

"Ty!" Malia's scream echoed through the air around me and I felt my body jolt to a halt and a chill ran down my spine. I turned, only for a second, to see her stepping through the door frame in only my t-shirt, her eyes going wide as they landed on the large wolves wrestling just a few feet off the patio.

I heard Jesse's howl next and my gaze shifted quickly back towards him. I watched as the blood began to stain the pale fur of Jesse's paw. The rogue's claws had clearly caught him and left a deep scratch. He needed my help. My wolf was coming forwards and I had to push Malia out of my mind as I ran towards the fight. I jumped into the air, feeling my bones crack and shifted into my wolf. I threw the rogue wolf off of Jesse's body and sunk my teeth into his neck. I twisted my jaw quickly, feeling his neck snap, and watched as the rogue wolf dropped to the ground lifeless.

Jesse nodded his head to thank me. He sat near the edge of the patio nursing his now injured paw. Emily had rushed to his side. "Jesse!" She called as he shifted back into his human form. He pulled on a pair of shorts quickly to cover himself, then collapsed onto the ground. He clutched his bleeding arm against his chest, gritting his teeth with pain. "Everyone else had already gone to the woods to fight. I stayed back to warn you. This rogue came out of nowhere, Ty," Jesse muttered through his clenched jaw, and I nodded my head.

I couldn't bare to lift my gaze, to meet what I knew I would see, but I had to. So I looked up to the patio and my eyes met hers. Malia's entire body was trembling, her face watching me in pure terror. Tears were flowing freely down her cheeks as two of Emily's friends were wrapping their arms around her on either side.

"D-don't touch me," I heard her say over and over again as she squirmed away from them. I felt like someone was stabbing me over and over again with each tear that dripped down her face. I have to fix this, I have to comfort her, I have to hold her. My mind was racing, but I was interrupted when the sounds of wolves howling came from the woods.

"Tyrese the wolves are attacking at the western border, get here now!" One of the warriors mind linked me. Our pack needs us. Our mate needs us. My mind was torn.

"We have her Ty, go" One of the girls holding Malia mind-linked me. I looked over to her and recognized her as one of the newly shifted wolves that had been at the training centre this week. She'd been a friend of Emily's for a while, I knew her, I could trust her.

"If anything happens to her," I growled back. There were rogues out here tonight. Malia needed to stay inside. She needed to be protected at all costs.

The girl nodded her head and I took off into the woods towards my howling pack members. My feet pounded across the ground. I don't think I'd ever run this fast before. My mind was clouded though, I couldn't stay focused. All I could think about was Malia. Visions of her terrified face clouded my mind, the sound of her screaming my name before I shifted echoed through the air.

She hates us.

I kept running until I entered the open field where rogues had begun to attack. Several of my warriors were doing their best to hold them off at the boundary. But the rogues just kept lunging forwards, viciously attacking one after another. We should have told her.

I leapt into the battle, lunging at the wolves. I tore at their flesh one by one, taking out as many as I could. I watched as my warriors fought around me with the same aggression. We would stand our ground, our pack would not fall easily. She deserved to know.

I couldn't tell her though. She wouldn't have understood if I told her too early. She needed to love us first.

Another wolf lunged at me, snarling. He attempted to bite at my neck as he landed on top of me, but I threw him off and returned the lunge. I snapped his neck just as I had snapped the first, then turned my attention back to the others. I noticed the rogues beginning to retreat back into the forest, away from my territory, as more and more of my warriors gathered in the woods. I breathed a sigh of relief, Malia's face coming to my mind once more. We waited too long.

I was going to tell her tonight, but we had to go to this stupid party. I was going to take her up to the caves that overlook the town and tell her there. I would have told her everything. She would've thought it was so beautiful and romantic. I would've shown her my wolf if she wanted to see it, everything would have been okay. She would have understood. She wouldn't have been afraid. She wouldn't have just watched me kill.

I felt a sudden sting in my side as my body was pushed to the ground. I skidded across the grass whimpering as a rogue landed on top of me. He was bearing his teeth, lashing at my neck and I used all my strength to push him off. I tried to push him up, but my side was burning and my body felt weak. I was gasping for air, suddenly feeling unable to breathe.

Just as the rogue was about to make another lunge at me, two of my warriors intercepted and killed him in one swift tear. The warrior's eyes met mine and I nodded my head, then let myself fall back to the ground. My pack wolves howled around me, signifying the retreat of the rogue wolves. The fight was over now.

She's going to leave us.