The Human |✔|

Victoria's pov

All our hearts were in our throats as we entered Caleb's room. Ashley was the first to speak as she took slow steps towards his bed.

"Caleb? "

A grunt came from him, and I knew I could speak for everyone when I say that that was the best grunt I've ever heard in my lifetime. She was in tears again as she ran the rest of the way towards his bed and jumped on him, cradling his head in her bossom as she cried.

"I thought I lost you" She sobbed in his hair. He winced slightly, but he didn't hesitate to return her hug, though he was weak.

"I'd never leave you baby. Even if I have to fight with death himself" His voice was soft and croaky, but the confidence made it loud enough for us to hear.

"But I-I felt the bond break"

"It didn't sweetheart" He pulled her back and wiped her tears with his shaky thumbs. "You actually anchored me back here. I'm sorry you had to go through that. I'm so sorry."

Her cries got heavier and he managed well enough to sit up and hugged her as tight as he could. We all watched the beautiful moment in awe, our hearts silently rejoicing that we hadn't lost such a wonderful soul from our lives.

His parents were next to embrace him, though Ashley never left the bed. His wounds were still fresh and I could see that all the squeezing hurt, but he didn't mind.

"I thought I'd have to raise you and kill you again for leaving us" I mumbled to him when it was my turn to hug him.

Unruly tears trickled down my face as I held him. I realised that I did indeed love him dearly and was scared to death about losing him.

"I really do love you Caleb" I added softly, trying my best not to hurt his wounds too much.

"I love you too Tori"

I flashed him a teary smiled then backed away so Lincoln could have his moment also. The poor guy looked scared to hell as he hugged him with glossy eyes. I could see that his relief was overflowing, since he didn't actually lose two brothers in one day.

"I hate to disturb you guys, but he's still low on blood" Nurse Tara said softly. I checked the heart monitor, and indeed, his heartbeat was a bit unusual.

I quickly checked his pulse too, realising it was a bit faint too. I quickly jumped into action, helping Tara set up the machines to transfer the blood. I noticed that it wasn't enough and my thoughts came out loud.

"We're gonna need a donor "

"I'll do it" Luka said immediately, pulling up his sleeves and sitting in the chair beside Caleb's bed.

"Okay I'll just need to run a blood test to see if it's pure and we'll -"

"Doctor Deslandes" He cut me off with a sly smirk. "My blood is fine. Now save my best friend "

I shook my head at him and strapped him up, silently beaming with pride for the man I love.

"Um, Luna. I got this, you can go and rest. It's been a long day for you guys" A grateful smile took over my lips as I nodded slightly at Tara.

"You're right. Thanks" I then turned to the rest of the people in the room and announced what I'm sure Tara was afraid to ask them. "If you guys could wait outside please, you'll be allowed back inside when he's alright."

All, except Luka and Ashley nodded and headed to the door. I didn't bother to trouble Ashley. She just thought she lost the love of her life after all.

Once they were all out, I too joined them in the hallway. I noticed that Lincoln had gone to the far end of the hallway, staring out a window. I walked slowly towards him and wrapped my arms around his torso once I reached him.

He needed a hug.

"You don't show it, but you suffered the most today" I uttered softly. He chuckled lightly and shook his head.

"Actually, Ashley suffered mostly"

"I guess you could say so, but you're only like an inch behind. You can tell me how you feel Lincoln, you're always there for me, so let me be there for you"

He sighed, then sat with his back against the wall. I sat opposite from him since the hallway was slightly narrow.

"I always knew Sam was a lost cause, but it didn't hit home until I saw him today. The light was completely gone from his eyes, and he just looked.... lost" His ran his hand through his hair and blinked rapidly, holding back his tears.

"Growing up he was always so good to us. All of us. I guess that's why when he was banished, I felt obligated to take over. His mate was stolen by rogues. But not just any rogues, those rogues were impossible to find.

"His mate was adventurous, like Ella, but it too brought her doom. Sam was doing rounds when she wondered off, so he saw when they took her. He chased them for days upon days, but he couldn't get her back"

That was awful. This pack lost so many people. Emma said Sam was Luka's Gamma back when he just took over, so the pack would've already been attached to her.

"After that he went crazy. He thought they'd kill her, but they didn't, instead, they remarked her and Sam felt everything. "

I suddenly felt bad for him. No wonder he was crazy.

"At first, we understood his behaviour, but it only got worse. Then he started.." His jaw clenched and he looked irritated. It was as if repeating what his brother did brought him pain.

"I know" I said quietly, putting him out of his misery. "Emma kinda summed it up for me" He nodded slowly and stared at the floor with a hard expression on his face.

"Some pack members wanted us to kill him, since he committed an unspeakable crime, hurt or not. But we couldn't do it, so we chained him to silver for three days without food or water then banished him. We thought he'd be gone, but he still lingered, still messing with females. That's when I knew that my brother was no longer the same. I accepted it after a while, but I knew that's just how it had to be.

"I did infact try and help him. I tried to get him professional help, but it never worked out. Then, I used my tech skills to find perfect places or packs he could stay at, but he was just stubborn and acted obnoxious to me. So I gave up on him"

He met my eyes and I noticed that they were glazed over. Poor Lincoln. He had to relive all of this after just having a hell of a day.

"Then when I heard he was here today, I thought that I- " he carried his bottom lip between his lips and looked away. "I thought that I could save him you know? Since Stella had been keeping him somewhat sane; but when he attacked Caleb, I lost it. I couldn't just sit there and watch him kill him, and since I knew Luka would've killed him anyways, I -I "

"You did it yourself " I ended for him since I knew he couldn't say it .

"Wow" A humourless laugh rumbled from his chest as he laid his head against the wall and stared at the ceiling. "I killed my own brother. Wait till mom and dad hears about this" He mumbled mostly to himself, but he knew I heard since he added, "They moved to a new pack after everything went down"

With a sigh, I got up and hugged him once again. He was a strong one, but everyone needed someone.

"I couldn't lose the two of them" His words were smothered in my shoulder, but they were clear as day. I knew what he meant, but I didn't respond, I just held him a little tighter.

Deep down I was more than happy that Caleb was okay, not for the pack alone, or even me, but for Lincoln. His love for all of us went deeper than any of us could even imagine.

And by some miracle, Caleb was okay. And that was what I'm sure we were both thinking for the rest of the day.

***

After our talk, I decided that Lincoln needed a little cheering up.

I ensured Caleb was okay and ready to be discharged, due to his fast healing and Luka's strong blood. I finished up anymore paperwork or cleaning up, then Lincoln and I went into town for ice-cream.

It was a little out of scene, but after the day we've had, we needed it. I originally offered for anyone else to come, but they all just wanted to go home, which I totally understood.

"Yeah, this guy walked straight up to me, looked me dead in the eye and said, 'That's the ugliest sweater I've ever seen' and then just walked away" I laughed with a scoff as I remembered the day.

I was currently telling Lincoln about my most embarrassing moments as a teen. He laughed extra loud at my impression of the guy's voice.

It was nice that we could bounce back to normal so quickly.

"Then everyone was staring and I was completely petrified, until someone across the room yelled, 'I think it's a lovely sweater! '"

His laughed bellowed through the car once again as we pulled into the driveway. We were finally home.

I had already called home and was pleased to hear that Caleb was settled in and resting, Ashley's stress level had gone down and even Emma was feeling better after she talked with Luka.

So the look on everybody's face when we entered the house had surprised me out of proportion. Luka and Emma looked torn, Chris was pacing, and by the looks of it, Ashley's stress level was up again.

We entered the living room slowly with confused looks on our faces. Their heads snapped to us, and the sight of us just made them look sadder.

Luka slowly got up and took a few steps towards us. He looked at us, then directed his gaze to the floor with a sigh. I was about to ask what's wrong, but his words stunned me into silence.

"Stella's gone"