Watch The Dark

Tana didn't have the energy to fight. Not even for Declan. Not for Tuk. Not even for Alec. Soon, they would all be gone. There was no point. None at all.

It was a blur as she was strapped to a table and pricked with a needle that connected to a thin tube. It looked like they were taking her blood, but she couldn't imagine why. She didn't care why, either. She would be dead soon anyway.

Her brain felt fuzzy. Her eyes, too. She decided to just close her eyes. Maybe she would get to see Lumina and Marie again when she was done. She could be at peace.

"How come we have to go, mommy? I want to play with Jade,"

"This is Marie. She's your new cousin,"

"You have to go with him. Do what he says."

"This is Sincere. I need you to promise you'll protect her, Tana. Please."

"Just protect her."

"Just keep her safe."

"Keep them safe."

"Please."

But Alec hadn't asked her to protect anyone.

He had told her to live. He wanted her to protect herself.

And as she lay on that table, watching vials upon vials being filled with her blood, she realized that she didn't need to fight to protect anyone. She needed to fight to protect herself. If she didn't, she would be letting down Alec. She would be letting down her protector.

"Don't worry, Tana. We'll have fun after we finish with this," Talon said. His voice made her feel sick. It made her skin crawl.

She tried to ignore him and look around for any way to escape. Her wolf had retreated into the back of her mind, overwhelmed with grief. She had left Tana to fend for herself as if she wasn't grieving as well.

The restraints weren’t made of silver which meant she could get out of them at any given moment. However, Talon probably assumed that she was too stricken with grief to try and escape.

“Alpha, our warriors are losing out there. Alpha Declan and Alpha Lennox are leading warriors now. We’re outnumbered,” one of Talon’s warriors said. Talon let out a loud growl before ripping the needle from Tana’s arm, a small trickle dripping down her arm and stopping.

“Get the blood to Alpha Fang’s pack. Make sure no one follows you. Have someone else take the containers of wolfsbane as well. None of it can be destroyed, do you understand?” Talon snapped. The warrior nodded quickly and picked up the container that held the vials of her blood before rushing out of the room. Since werewolves could replenish blood much faster than humans, Tana’s dizziness began to ease up to the point where she could clearly make out Talons face without any blurry lines going through it.

“We should go, hm?” Talon prompted.

“No.”

He froze and then turned to look at her, a malicious grin on his face.

“What did you just say to me?”

Mustering up as much strength as she could, she tore through the leather straps that held her wrists and ankles. She then leaped off of the table and stood behind it to put distance between them. Talon laughed at this.

“You really think that you can beat me?” He shook his head with disbelief. “You never were very clever, were you?”

He lunged for her over the table; a sloppy and ineffective move that probably did more damage to him than to Tana. She used that time and grabbed his head to smash into the metal of the table before pacing back again. He growled as he stood up, rolling out his neck.

He moved forward and swung rapidly, just as he had when he was teaching Tana to fight. But she was smaller and faster than he was which put her at an advantage. She dodged his blows by crouching down and aiming a sharp kick into his shin, eliciting a yelp from him.

“You fucking bitch. I should have killed you with that bastard of a brother of yours,” Talon growled, grabbing her wrist to slam her into the door. She groaned at the pain that erupted from the back of her skull, but brought her knee up and aimed for Talon’s crotch. He stumbled back, cupping his jewels, which gave Tana enough time to throw the door open and make a mad dash for the exit.

The warrior had said the Blood Wolves were losing, which meant it would be safer for her to go outside. She could find someone to help her.

“I’ve had enough of your bullshit, Tana! I swear to Aurora I’ll rip your fucking throat out!” Talon roared behind her. This was the monster who had killed her brother in front of her. She needed to escape him. For Alec. For herself.

She threw the front doors open and staggered into the clearing, only for Talon to jump on her and knock her down into the dirt. They rolled for a moment but he overpowered her and pinned her to the ground.

“You’ll never find someone who will love you like I do,” Talon spat, growling as she struggled. In his passion, he had forgotten to pin her legs.

A fatal mistake on his part.

His face was close to hers, so she slammed her head into his to get him off balance. Then she curled her legs up and gave a powerful kick to his abdomen to throw him off of her and onto his back about a foot away.

She could smell Declan. But she couldn’t take her eyes off of Talon.

“Whoo! Kick his ass girl!” She heard Devon yell. To her right, her friend was pumping his fist in the air while the dead bodies of three Blood Wolves lay at his feet. She rolled her eyes at him.

Talon staggered to his feet with a growl, facing her once again.

“You’re nothing. You couldn’t even save Alec, remember?” Talon taunted.

“Shut up,” she spat back, only widening his grin.

“You let Tuk take so many beatings. You let Lumina and her pup die. You killed thousands of innocent wolves here today with your antics,” Talon continued. Tana snarled and gripped her head in her hands, screwing her eyes shut as if she could block him out.

“Shut up!” She screamed, but Talon didn’t stop.

“You drove your parents mad. They left because of you. You dragged everyone into this mess because you’re selfish. You couldn’t protect any of them. You just let them die,” Talon snarled.

“I said shut up!” She yelled, finally allowing her eyes to fly open and look at him. But what she looked at wasn’t what she was expecting.

He looked shocked. Scared, even. Though she didn’t know why. He hadn’t been scared a moment ago.

“You’re an abomination,” he breathed, his nails extending into claws while his teeth turned into fangs.

“But you know what’s worse? You were betrayed by your own mate,” Talon said, which made her freeze.

“He was the one who brought Alec in the first place. Didn’t even try to stop us when we dragged him away. I heard he’s quite the player as well. He hasn’t been telling you the truth either, Tana. Now how is that better than me?” Talon drawled. Tana moved forward and slammed her fist into his cheek, dodging the returning blow but getting kicked in the gut when she tried to attack again.

“I have nothing to lose, Tana. Why would I lie?” He said.

“You’re a sick bastard, that’s why. Now get the fuck off of my mate,” a familiar, comforting voice filled her ears. She managed to twist her head back ever so slightly to see him, and nearly cried when she did.

She met his eyes for the first time in what felt like forever, and he smiled at her. A sad, remorseful smile that made her heart ache.

“You’re here,” she breathed.

“I’m here.”

“You’re too late,” spat Talon, slamming her head into the dirt once again.

This time, she didn’t have the strength to hold on. She just let herself get enveloped by the darkness.