Chapter 295 - Seeking Their Alpha

Lucas felt nauseous when he finally came to, and there was a jarring, splitting pain in his head and his chest. It took him several moments to even recall what had occurred, he was so blinded by the pain. He looked around at the dark, empty forest and gradually rose to his feet. His four feet. He was still in wolf form.

He shook his head as if trying to shake off the pain, groaning as he did, and then shifted back into human form. It was the fucking vampire. The vampire felt like a wrecking ball when he slammed into him. But he was already healing—that was part of the pain. He recognized the way the blood rushed to those areas and worked at repairing the damage. Tissues were being threaded back together like torn fabric, ribs had already started to snap back into place.

"Dammit," he hissed, reaching up to feel the flesh over his ribs.

How long had he been out? Where had the undead creature gone? Had Graeme found August?

The silence around him revealed nothing. The forest was keeping its secrets at the moment.

He had a flash of Zoe—of hearing her agree to give herself to the creature as long as Lucas would be spared. What the fuck was she thinking? Did she have any idea how unworthy he was of being saved? Did she have any fucking clue? He had so much atoning to do for the past, and now this. And now her… acting like some kind of hero.

He rose to his feet and stumbled around before coming upon a tree trunk where he braced himself, wincing at the bright flares of pain that were erupting throughout his body. Why couldn't the healing hurry the fuck up? He groaned and slammed his fist against the tree, angry at how hopeless he felt in this moment. How hopeless and worthless and alone. He had failed. So many times, he had failed.

He yelled, continuing to slam his fist against the sharp bite of the bark until his knuckles became raw, and then he found himself hugging the tree desperately, hanging onto its steady, rooted assurance as actually tears slipped free. Tears. He was crying. It had been so long, he almost didn't even recognize the wetness on his cheeks. But when he did, he gritted his teeth and shoved it all back where it belonged once again—behind a wall inside him somewhere. Where he didn't have to focus on it.

He heard paws racing his way, and he quickly wiped the tears away with the back of his bloodied hand as he growled a threat. With the pain that was consuming his senses, he couldn't register who it was that was approaching, so the growl was precautionary. If it were an enemy, perhaps they would slow their advance.

Sam sprinted to his side, shifting mid-stride. "What happened?" the Beta asked, realizing the condition Lucas was currently in. He was healing, and he was in pain.

"Fucking vampire," Lucas spit, hunching over slightly as he wrapped an arm around his throbbing ribcage.

"Are you okay?" Sam asked, eyes narrowing on the dried blood on Lucas' face. He had apparently been coughing up blood.

"Yes," Lucas growled, angry that the attention was on him rather than the intruders.

"I suppose you don't know where Graeme is?" Sam sighed.

"He still hasn't returned?" Lucas glanced up, meeting the Beta's eyes now. That wasn't a good sign.

Sam shook his head.

"I was chasing the lycans. I left him. He was still following August's scent," Lucas recalled.

"Well I can't scent her obviously, but I followed him to a tree. There are claw marks on it. He shredded the trunk like he was trying to… I don't know… pass through it. Her scent trail must have ended there," Sam said, eyebrows threaded together in confusion.

"His scent ended there?" Lucas asked.

"Yeah. I don't get it," Sam replied.

"It's a portal then," Lucas said definitely, like it was obvious.

"A portal?" Sam repeated.

"Yeah, haven't you heard any of the Samhain lore about faeries and shit?" Lucas asked, still cradling his ribs.

"But it's… lore," Sam stressed the last word.

"And that makes it untrue?" Lucas scoffed, rebuking Sam's disbelief.

"Okay, so there are faerie portals on Samhain. Let's just say that's even possible," Sam growled at the sarcasm, "how do we find them, then?"

Lucas thought carefully, searching his memory. "Unless we can follow into the portal, I don't know. The lore says they disappear into some kind of fae land not to be seen again until the next Samhain," he mumbled.

Sam groaned. "Right, let's rely on the lore then. That's super helpful."

Lucas rolled his eyes.

"Fuck," Sam spit. "You said you were following lycans? I don't scent them."

"They hid their scents. I was following the sound as they ran. They didn't seem to want to attack or engage. It was the vampire who finally got me. I must have gotten too close."

Sam looked around, marking the map in his mind as to where they were. They weren't far away from the Hallowell house. He sighed. It was no help in establishing an idea about where Graeme might be.

"I'm going to find the perimeter guards to have them on alert, and them I'm just going to search until I find Graeme's scent I guess. Greta is back at the pack house if they return. I don't know what else to do other than that." He gritted his teeth in frustration. "Will you be okay?" His eyes returned to Lucas who was pale and sweating. It would likely take some time before he was able to run again in wolf or human form.

"Yes," Lucas hissed, annoyed at the question. "I'll return soon."

Sam nodded and shifted into his wolf form before darting off in the direction of the perimeter where the guards would be running. They had something to answer for tonight as well.. Lucas slumped against the trunk, cursing under his breath at not being of any help.