Chapter Twenty
Parker lifted Blake’s body off his and tried to come to grips with what he was seeing. His baby brother lay in his arms, his eyes wide with the surprise of death and blood covering his chest. Blake had taken a bullet meant for him, yet Parker didn’t understand why.
Why.
Avery and Brandon would still have each other if Parker had died. Blake hadn’t yet found his mate or mates. Damn it. His brother should still be there. He was supposed to fight by his side and make stupid jokes and help Parker clean up the mess. He’d wanted to watch Blake grow up into the man he was destined to become and eventually find his mate. Parker had thought he’d have Blake by his side when Isabelle found her mate so the two of them could be the typical big brothers and kick the man’s ass if he did anything wrong or got too close.
He’d thought he’d have countless days with his little brother.
Blake should not be bleeding by his side, his eyes vacant as death took his due without recourse.
This was not his fate.
The moon goddess had lied.
She’d taken everything.
And Parker didn’t know what to do.
Walker came forward at that instant and pushed the others out of the way to help Max. Avery ran her hands over Parker’s face and down to Blake, tears streaming down her cheeks. Brandon stood behind him, shooting anything that came too close that didn’t smell of Pack.
Yet Parker needed to get his head out of his ass and onto his family. His brother would not die in vain. Max would not lay bleeding in vain.
The prophecy whispered through his mind again, and he knew it was the moon goddess who spoke. The moon goddess who couldn’t save his baby brother.
“A wolf of three Packs can break their will or unite them all.
“Once united, the Packs will reveal…
“If broken, the Packs will fall…”
“The wards,” he gritted out, his hands covered in his and Blake’s blood. “The wards.”
Avery looked at him with confusion in her gaze as she tried to wipe the blood from his face. It didn’t do much good since she had just as much blood on her hands. “What are you talking about?”
“My ancestor made the first wards. The witches were the ones to strengthen it. Maybe…maybe the goddess is saying it’s me who will remake the wards.” As soon as he said the words, he knew what he’d said was true.
Only, how?
He looked down at the blood on his hands that mixed with his brother’s and knew the answer. “Blake and I are of the first hunter. It’s our blood. His sacrifice.” He choked out the words before slamming his hand to the ground. His brother’s blood already seeped into the soil, and Parker used his free hand to claw at his own arm, making more blood pool into the grass and dirt.
“My blood,” Parker growled out to the moon goddess. “Our sacrifice. His sacrifice. Take it and help us, damn it!” He knew it wasn’t the right thing to say, wasn’t as ritualistic as what the moon goddess might have liked, but his brother had died in his arms, and he couldn’t think of anything else to say.
Avery looked at him with wide eyes before placing her hands on his. “Our blood. The blood of your mate.”
Brandon did the same. “All of us. All of our life force. Take it. Protect our people.”
“Unite us,” Parker continued. “Save our Packs.”
Thank you.
The moon goddess’s words brushed over him as the wards slammed into place. Far more powerful than he’d ever felt them, they were like a bubble over the den area, thrusting deep into the earth and extending out to the surrounding roads and trees, creating the haven that had once been safe for all wolves. Parker let out a scream as power surged through him and into the wards, as if the moon goddess hadn’t been able to do anything without this one moment.
He felt her power and grace create the wards, forming bonds within bonds as the den was once again not only hidden from view but also safe from those who would attack it.
Then the unbelievable happened.
The wards shot out, a wall of blazing hot magic going in all directions. Avery leaned into him and Brandon as the wards’ power rushed forward, yet the immense heat didn’t hurt them. Instead, it pushed every single one of their enemies away, a wall of fire and ice, protecting those it hadn’t been able to fully protect for too long.
In the end, the Talons stood on the battlefield, their bodies shaking from the new power sliding over their bodies. It was as if the wards had rejuvenated them. Max gasped below them as he opened his eyes, pain-bright, but Walker forced the wolf to go back to sleep to Heal.
Avery held Parker close, Blake’s body still in his arms, and Brandon stood behind them still, protecting them from an enemy that seemed to have been knocked back by the moon goddess herself.
“You did it,” Avery said, her voice raw.
“We did it,” Brandon countered.
“But at what cost?” Parker asked, his throat aching. He held Blake to him as his mates comforted him. If he hadn’t had Avery and Brandon by his side, he wasn’t sure what he would have done.
The others moved around them, trying to understand what had happened as they took care of their wounded and dead.
But Parker stayed where he was, knowing it wouldn’t be long before who he waited for appeared.
Because they would come. They would see.
The Redwoods arrived not long after, bringing Parker and Blake’s parents with them. Lexi, Parker’s mother, screamed, her body shaking as she ran toward them. North blinked at them, falling to his knees as he fully caught sight of the scene. It was his twin brother, Maddox, who lifted him up and helped him to where Avery, Brandon, and Parker kneeled, and Blake lay.
His family had come for their sons.
The battle had been won. The war, Parker knew, might end soon. The mastermind behind it all lay dead, and the world had seen what he’d done. The wards were back in place, stronger than ever.
But his brother was dead.
Countless had died.
Parker looked around at the bloodstained battleground, remembering the first battle he’d seen and the fire that had consumed so many. They had won that war, and Parker knew they would win this one. There was no other choice.
But no matter what he did in the future, he would not forget this day. His mates would not forget this day. The sacrifices that had been made on the battlefield would be forever remembered and honored.
His mates helped him stand as the others took Blake’s body, and Parker wrapped himself around Avery and Brandon. Avery kissed his jaw, while Brandon kissed his temple.
Parker might have lost a part of himself in the battle, but in the arms of his mates, he found something else. He found his reason to fight, his reason to live. Blake wouldn’t have wanted him to break down and hide. He hadn’t sacrificed himself for Parker to do so. And for that, Parker would live.
But he would remember.
Always.