William took a moment to look around the room, at the shredded bodies of his friends and Shape shifters he didn't know. He noted that only he and Aceso were standing.

He bolted back the way he had come. His leg felt heavy and sluggish, causing him to hobble just a little bit. He frantically scanned the room and his eyes swept over the form of black fur that he was looking for. He charged over to Charles and knelt down next to him. Amanda's form of black fur with silver stripes was cradled with him. She was shivering and whimpering softly with her eyes tightly shut.

William gently unwrapped Charles arms from around Amanda and she screamed burrowing deeper into the warm fur of Charles.

"Amanda? Amanda! It's me! It's William."

It took her a moment to slowly, painfully open her eyes. When she finally looked up into William's golden eyes, she left into his arm, clutching at him, like a terrified child.

William was at a loss and held her in his arms for long moments. He could smell the sweat and grime and saw dust and splinters that had dusted her fur coat.

"Are you alright? Are you hurt, Amanda?" Aceso asked quietly from around William's shoulder.

Amanda didn't answer but tried to burrow deeper into William's fur.

"Amanda, you are young, but not that young. Death is something you will have to learn to live with," Aceso was saying. "Look at me, girl."

Amanda refused to open her eyes which she held tight as she clutched tighter to William's fur.

"Look at me, girl!" Aceso ripped the girl away from William and stood her up on her own two feet. "There will be time for grieving, and time to heal. But the battle is not over and it is not the time for this now. You are part of my pack and I need you to be strong. There are other's here that may yet live and they need us, now. Do you understand?"

Amanda hadn't shed a tear up to that moment. At Aceso's words a few tears dropped form her eyes, but she nodded as she let Aceso lead her away from William.

"Did anyone catch the license plate on that mac truck?"

William whipped around and saw Nicolas start to slowly get to his feet. William rushed forward and gripped the Shape shifter's arm, helping the Scout to his feet.

You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

"Nic, are you ok? What happened to you, how?" Nicolas had blood oozing from several bullet holes, but nothing that looked life threatening. Willaim checked over the smaller werewolf for any other wounds that he may have missed.

"I don't know Setford. I was standing there one minute then the bullets started flying and something knocked me to the ground and protected me…" He turned around and saw who he was talking about.

William stared at the long brown hair, hair, not fur, and the bloody, broken body of Katherine. He knelt down and caressed her arm, already feeling the cold of her skin. Seeing her in her human form, feeling her rapidly cooling skin, not seeing her breathing. It just couldn't be real.

"Katherine… Katherine, you big boobed... idiot… bimbo! I never asked you to do that. I never wanted… Why?" Nicolas was kneeling next to William shaking his head, trying to keep the tears from falling.

William knew there wasn't anything that could be done for her, not anymore. He stood silently, gripping Nicolas' shoulder as he stumbled forward not knowing or caring where he was going. He just knew that he needed to get away, away from here, away from everyone.

"WILLIAM! MOVE, NOW!!"

The scream from across the room cut through whatever grief he was feeling and he bolted forward on pure instinct. He dove through a doorway as a massive explosion erupted around him. He covered his head and ears with his claws as he cried out against the sudden cacophony around him. He didn't know where he was, but the heat that washed over him was enough to singe his fur.

The sound dissipated slowly and the rumbling of the building around him finally subsided. When he felt able enough he lifted his head to look around himself. At first he thought he might still have his eyes closed, the darkness around him was so perfect. But moments later angry red runner lights lit up a few feet from him, showing him that he was in a stairwell.

He looked over the railing to see nothing below him but a pile of rubble. The doorway he threw himself through was completed blocked by rubble and debris. Even looking up, the stairway was not exactly intact. There were large sections of stairwell missing entirely, sections that even his Enforcer strength might have trouble jumping over.

Having no way to get back to the rest of his pack, and only one real direction to go, he took a deep breath. Whoever was responsible for this, they were about to have a very bad day. He set his jaw, and leapt at the wall, gripping with his claws as he jumped off the wall into the air starting the treacherous climb up to the next story of the Tower

* * * * *

Kenneth slammed his fist through the monitor with a howl of rage. He ripped what was left of the monitor off its base and threw it across the room. That was his last greatest trap he had left and he had managed to kill a lot of the remaining werewolves but not all! Where the hell was Brian?! Where the hell was anybody?! This was nonsense and impossible! He knew that no other vampire had to suffer this kind of werewolf incursion into their own dens. And yet the gods had cursed him with this plight. He was the only vampire alive that had the guts to deal with the wolves on their own ground, and now he was being tested again to deal with them on his. He would show them; he would show them all!

"My mate, it's time we consider all our options."

Nova's voice cut through his blind rage like a ray of pure moonlight through a cloudy night sky.

If you find any errors ( broken links, non-standard content, etc.. ), Please let us know < report chapter > so we can fix it as soon as possible.