Chapter 15: I’m Sorry

The first thing Adeline noticed, was the girl. The girl lay on the ground, whimpering in pain. Curled up on her side, she clutched the side of her face with a pale, bony hand. Everything around her was a dance of blood, rage, and murderous intent. A thick, dark liquid began to escape through the she-wolf's fingers, painting her face and neck crimson.

Adeline stepped back as her stomach crawled up into her throat. The wound on Zoë's face wasn't the only place donating blood. Already, angry tears in her once beautiful dress were revealing wounds deep enough to expose the bone. The stunning dress that Zoë had worn to the party, was a canvas of dark, oozing stains, tears and rips, and shed blood.

Suddenly, a large male suddenly appeared beside the injured she-wolf. Adeline watched with blurry eyes as he fell to his knees, and braced his body over his daughter's, shielding her from the rabid wolf. Shielding her from Adeline.

"Zoë," The Enforcer ordered. "Zoë, look at me." Cradling the side of his daughter's face, Keith's body trembled with the need to attack and kill the wolf who had hurt his child.

Eyelids painted in red, fluttered open, revealing unfocused, wild eyes. Letting out a breath, Keith brushed back some hair that was glued down to her face and neck.

Adeline, trembling with tears and pain, looked away from the two people she had hurt most. Sure, she hadn't attacked Keith physically, but she might've as well as gutted him. Sometimes, mental pain could trump physical.

A chilling roar sounded, shaking the floor and the walls. The sound, so untamed, so wild, made the hair on her arms stand on end.

The Beast lunged at a lanky Subordinate that had just bit into her side, but the wolf was expecting the Beast's move. Dropping to his stomach, the Subordinate used his size and speed to dart out of the path of the wolf's dripping canines. Filled with fury and murder, the Beast was a freight train. Freight trains could move fast and be deadly, but it couldn't use tactics and change directions like a roller coaster.

Swarmed by a hive of snarling killer bees, the Beast was severely outnumbered, but it kept attacking. Wolves bit into its legs and side, but it didn't seem to slow or even affect it. Lurching at a lean, black she-wolf, the Beast snapped its jaws closed, capturing the she-wolf's tail between bloodied teeth. A sharp yelp rose up above the constant snarls and growls that surrounded the monster. Adeline could've sworn the Beast grinned.

Adeline tore her eyes away from the bloody scene unfolding before her. Tears were now streaming down her cheeks and her breaths came out in hiccups, but that wasn't the worst of it. Sinking down to her knees, Adeline folded in on herself, her hands cupped over her ears in an attempt to shut out all of the noises.

"It's just a dream." Adeline sobbed as demonized screams slip through her fingers. Even though her eyes were shut, she could still see what was happening around her.

"IT'S JUST A DREAM!" She screamed as a wolf with glowing blue eyes stepped over a pile of dead corpses. The wolf, watching Adeline with unwavering eyes, lifted its upper lip at her, exposing canines and teeth stained with blood. Adeline squeezed her closed eyes tighter, but it didn't help; she could still see the Beast stalking towards her.

"St... St... Stop." Adeline pleaded. "P... Please stop."

It's just a dream.

Adeline trembled as the bloody scene of her fifteenth birthday faded into empty blackness, but to her horror, the Beast continued to stalk her.

"Did you really think you could escape me?" A voice asked. Adeline let out a curse as the voice made her eardrums vibrate. The voice wasn't one she recognized, but it had an underlying tone she was more than familiar with. The voice radiated power and demanded submission -- very much like her own parents.

"Did you really think you could run from me?" The voice boomed, causing Adeline to let out a whimper from the intensity of the sound. Even in the dream world, Adeline's ears were still sensitive to sound.

"What do... do you want?" Adeline choked out through her tears. The Beast crept closer, the blood on its muzzle, face, and body becoming more vibrant. It was so close, had Adeline been awake, she would've smelled the metallic scent.

Adeline's eyes flew open. Darkness met her senses, and for a moment, Adeline was about to start screaming, but the familiar surroundings stopped her. For a moment, she just laid there, listening to her own ragged breathing and the occasional rumble of thunder. Adeline didn't want to move in fear of breaking down crying or collapsing on the floor.

"It was just a dream." She told herself. "It was just a dream."

With each movement of her mouth, the paths of tears were located. Wiping at her wet eyes with the back of her hand, Adeline willed the moisture to disappear, but instead, they began to race down her cheeks. The dream was still so fresh as if it actually had happened.

The voice still lingered in her mind, the cold, demanding voice that radiated power.

Death.

It had said death.

Adeline wasn't dumb. She knew what the voice was hinting too.

It meant: her death.

Sitting up in her bed, Adeline covered her mouth to hold in the sobs, to conceal the sound. The last thing she wanted was for her parents to hear her, and to come in to check on her; they would ask questions, and Adeline doubted that she would be able to reassure them that she was fine.

She wasn't fine. The dream was the final straw.

"I can't do this anymore."

Flinging back the covers, Adeline's eyes stung and grew blurry as she walked across the cold floor towards the door. With a ramrod straight back, she didn't allow herself to look back at the room that she had grown up in, and would die in.

????

Adeline watched as the liquid swirled around the bottom of the vial. So little was needed to end it all, but she didn't want to run the chance of waking up again. She wanted the hundred percent chance of death, and Silver was the way to go. Silver would be her way out of this horrible world.

She wasn't even nervous.

"I'm sorry," Adeline whispered, her voice was emotionless and cold, but on the inside, she was on the verge of being hysterical. She didn't even know who she was apologizing to, was it her parents? Her pack? Those she had hurt?

Don't do it. A soft, quiet voice said in the back of her mind. Think about your parents. How will they feel when they see you in the morning? How will they feel when they see their only pup laying on the ground, lifeless?

Adeline didn't even think about that. She hadn't even thought about how her Pack would react with the news of her death. Would they even be sad? Would they miss her, even a little?

Surely not. Adeline thought, pushing back the tiny part of her that was against what she was about to do, she picked up the second vial of Silver. Eyes glowing with unshed tears, she bit her bottom lip to keep the sobs in.

This is it.

"Please forgive me." She said.

I won't let others get hurt because of me anymore.

????

"Dillon," A woman with thick brown hair said. "This is your daughter."

The large male stared down at the infant with eyes widened in awe. Alexandra gently pulled the babe away from her bare breasts, presenting the pup to its father.

Wrapped in a pink blanket decorated with tiny little wolves, the seconds' old pup opened a toothless mouth and let out a great wail. The newborn wasn't happy about being pulled away from the breast of her mother.

"Oh hush it now, little one." Alexandra scolded, but a gentle smile played on her dry lips.

Allowing the baby to latch back onto a nipple, Alexandra frowned.

"What is the matter?" She asked. Dillon shook his head, his eyes still trained on the little pup. His pup.

"You can hold her." The Luna laughed. "She can't even bite."

Approaching the two most important things in his life, Dillon knelt down besides the bed and gazed at his suckling daughter. She was a tiny thing, even for a human, but she couldn't have been more perfect in his eyes. Already, he could see some of his mate, and himself in the little pup.

"She's so beautiful." He murmured. Alexandra began to pull herself up into a sitting position but winced at the pain.

"Careful." Dillon cautioned his mate. "You have just given birth."

Alexandra gave him a dry look. "I'm fine."

Pulling the sleepy babe from her breast, the Luna lifted her arms towards Dillon in an effort to get him to hold their daughter.

Tears welled up in Alexandra's eyes as her stoic, deadly mate gently pulled their pup into his muscular arms.

"Support her neck," Alexandra said, watching her mate with soft eyes.

Cradling the babe into his chest, Dillon moved his hand under her head to support her neck and moved his other under her bottom. Lifting his arms ever so slightly, moisture came to the Alpha's eyes as he gazed down at his perfect little girl.

"Hello there," Dillon cooed as the baby's eyes opened slowly, revealing newborn blue eyes. He wondered what her permanent eye color would be, would she have her mother's beautiful chocolate brown, or would she have his icy blue?

The babe's little face began to go red, her mouth opening in a silent cry, but before a wail could escape, her nose twitched, taking in his scent. Her mouth closed, and her large, doe eyes blinked up at him. She already recognized him has her father.

"Hello my pumpkin, my Adeline."

????

"Remember Adeline," Dillon said, kneeling down in front of his ten-year-old daughter. "You do not run from a predator, okay?"

"Even if I'm scared?" Adeline asked, her pale blue eyes glittering in the sun.

Dillon nodded. "Even if you're scared."

It was Adeline's first time ever seeing her father's wolf. Dillon didn't allow pups to be around wolves in their wolf form until they were ten because when a wolf reacts to seeing it's pup in its true form for the first time, the wolf usually got very happy and would want to play. Dillon couldn't have large wolves meeting with their toddlers for the first time because the toddlers would get knocked over or injured on accident.

Stepping back, Dillon watched for any signs of unease or nervousness in his daughter, but to his astonishment, Adeline was practically bouncing with excitement. She had been bothering him about meeting his wolf since she was six, and now, the time had come. Dillon understood her need to meet his wolf; meeting your parent wolf was a silent acceptance into the pack. It took away the title of pup, and made you an actual member.

Dillon's wolf was more than ready to meet his daughter in his natural skin. Letting the beast come into control, Dillon's body shook for a second before his human skin was replaced by fur. It was one of the quickest shifts he had ever done.

Adeline gasped as a large, shaggy wolf took the place of her father. She should've been shaking in fear and running away, but like most wolf pups, a primal part of her recognized the beast as her father, as her protector.

Sinking down to her knees, she bared her soft neck in submission, telling the wolf that she respected his authority over her as daughter, and pack member.

Dillon's wolf let out a rumble as he approached. Tipping his nose up into the air, the wolf's nostrils flared as he took in the scent of his pup. Adeline's scent was a mixture of his, and his Luna's. In human form, Dillon could identify his daughter by scent, but in wolf form, he could sense so much more. In wolf form, he could scent emotion changes, and, if strong enough, he could sense future changes in mood, oncoming illnesses, and even body temperature. As he got closer, he could sense that she was cold.

Pressing his forehead against her own, the wolf gently licked the tip of her nose. Adeline let out a giggle.

Rocking back on her heels, she wrapped her arms around her father's thick neck, gripped his rough fur in her fists, and hugged him. The wolf practically purred with happiness. Physical contact was very important to the health of a wolf, even simple pats on the back or high fives were essential.

Pulling back, Adeline grinned at him with a missing front left tooth.

"I love you, papa." She smiled.

????

Adeline trembled as her eyes slowly began to drop. Her muscles were lead, her head swam, and her ears rang. The inferno was beginning to die down, just as she'd predicted. The violent burning of Silver had spread throughout her body, and had chosen her chest as its highest pain point to reach. During its peak, Adeline had to bite her lip so hard just to keep the screams in, that it bled.

Memories continued to plague her mind- birthdays, births, parties, pack gatherings, even ceremonies of the passed; but the worst memories came after all of the fire and pain had died down. The little moments that had been forgotten long ago, presented themselves. They reminded her of the life she had lost two years ago, and the lives she was leaving behind.

For a moment, she felt guilty about leaving her parents childless, and her pack heirless, but she reminded herself that they were better off without her.

As her eyelids slipped closed, and her breathing became shallower and shallower, Adeline thought briefly about the man she was leaving behind. Whoever he was, she was doing him a favor.

Fighting her heavy eyes, Adeline turned her head to the right. The two empty vials were directly in her eyesight, and just as her eyes slipped closed, one of the Silver vials read something else.

Wolfsbane.