Watch The Dark
II: twenty

Fang's packhouse was dark, cold, and gloomy. Had Tana not had her wolf senses guiding her, she would have certainly gotten lost and possibly killed. The guards that lined the hallways were not the best trained and certainly were no match for Tana and Mika. They did, however, put up one hell of a fight that left both girls wounded and exhausted.

"Where are we even supposed to be headed? I can't smell a thing in here," Mika hissed, examining the open doors that led nowhere. They had been walking around for what felt like hours and had found nothing. There wasn't a single scent that could lead them to Fang, not a single guard who would give up his location.

Eventually, they stumbled out of an exit, both squinting and shielding their eyes as the setting sun struck their eyes. The clearing was empty and quiet, which set Tana's wolf on edge almost immediately. Not a single person was around. No scents lingered, no sounds filled her ears. She and Mika exchanged a look of unease as they took a few tentative steps forward. Tana's wolf emitted a low growl, clearly sensing something that Tana wasn't.

Suddenly, Mika let out a yelp and stumbled back, clutching her neck as she let out a snarl. She screwed her eyes shut and yanked a tiny syringe out of her neck, throwing it to the ground as she began to sway back and forth.

"Mika? Mika, are you okay? Hey, listen to me," Tana fussed, holding her friend by the shoulders as her eyelids began to flutter.

"I really don't feel so good. I think I just need to-" Mika cut off as she slipped out of Tana's hands and collapsed to the ground. Tana dropped down and checked her pulse, making sure she was still alive. It was slow, but it was there.

Tana let out a low growl and focused her hearing as she tried to pick up on any other sound around them. Her wolf bristled but didn't give any indication that she knew what was going on.

"You aren't easy to track down, Star Child."

Tana whipped around and caught the glare of Fang from across the clearing. Clad in all black, the man had a devilish grin on his face, like he had planned this all out in advance. He could just be bluffing but Tana wasn't going to take that chance.

"I love a good chase as much as the next man, but I've grown quite tired of your games. I don't know how you got the better of my brother and my guards but you will not get away with this. Return my daughter to me and surrender yourself," he snarled, his fists clenched at his sides. His eyes were darkening as his wolf surfaced, ready to take control at the drop of a hat.

"Drop dead," Tana spat. Fang tipped his head back and let out a laugh at that before gesturing something forward. Tana froze when the scent of her son filled her nose and coaxed her wolf out, angry and ready to attack.

A man whose eyes were red from the mind control stepped beside Fang with Icarus in his arms. Icarus was whimpering and pushing at his chest and immediately began to struggle when he caught sight of Tana.

"I'm tired of playing, Tana. You've lost. Surrender now and give me my daughter," he repeated in the same sharp, menacing tone. Tana slowly rose to her feet and kept her gaze on Icarus, whose whimpers grew louder with every step she took.

When she stood a few feet away from Fang, he chuckled lightly and clicked his tongue.

"See? Was that so hard?"

Just as Tana opened her mouth to reply, a deafening growl shook the area as a silver wolf charged at the man who held Icarus. The baby fell to the ground and began to cry, but was otherwise not hurt as the wolf began to rip into the man. It was only when it rose its head that Tana realized who it was. The gruesome, large scar made it obvious.

Mara had come to help her.

Tana didn't have time to wonder how the woman had escaped as Fang lurched towards her and swung one of his fists into her jaw, effectively knocking her back so that he could grab her arm and wrench her into his chest.

She let out a snarl and slammed her head as hard as she could into his, freeing herself from his grasp before using the arm he had grabbed to elbow him in the throat.

It was long before he shifted, his large wolf baring menacing fangs in her face as making her back away slowly. Mara had pulled Icarus towards Mika's still body and was circling them, protecting them.

Tana shifted a minute too late. By the time she was in her wolf form Fang had sunk his teeth into her scruff and wrenching her down despite her claws tearing into his fur. Her blood trickled down from his fangs as he lunged for her throat.

Tana rolled away at the last second and grabbed his paw, biting down as hard as she could and tossing her head back and forth until he let out a howl of pain and ripped himself away.

She took that opportunity to jump onto his back and tear into the back of his neck, throwing him down with her teeth hovering over his neck. He panted slowly and kicked her off, eliciting a whimper from her as she stumbled back and was charged at not even a minute later. His claws sliced at her sensitive belly and spilled blood in the dirt.

As she watched him pin her, a satisfied glint in his eyes, Tana heard something in the back of her head. It sounded like Declan. It sounded like he was right there with her.

And as though she had simply manifested it, her mate let out a roar and slammed into Fang to knock him off of Tana. Declan's wolf was just as large as Fang's, which evened the odds for them both. She watched her mate go head to head with the other alpha as she crept away to tend to her pup, who was screaming his lungs out with Mara and Mika.

"This is not how it is supposed to go! You stupid bitch! You've stolen everything from me. I've tried to keep these wolves safe and in line and you've ruined it," Fang yelled, his now human form dripping with blood as he staggered away from Declan, who had also shifted back.

As Declan stepped forward and Fang stumbled onto the shredded remains of her clothes, Tana felt her heart stop. She could barely register what was happening as Fang grabbed one of the syringes that had been in her pocket and plunged it into Declan's leg, causing a roar to emit from him as he dropped to his knees, his once shining eyes dissolving into a horrible blood red.

"That's right. Bow to me, alpha," Fang snarled, standing over her mate with a deranged yet victorious grin on his face. Declan panted with effort as he seemingly tried to fight off the control, but it didn't look like he was winning. Behind her, Mika stirred and groaned as Icarus crawled to her.

Tana couldn't wait. She needed to act before her family got hurt. More hurt than it already was.

Fuelled by anger and resentment, Tana flew towards Fang at a speed she had never used before and brought him to the ground, sinking her teeth into his neck until she felt her saliva run down his neck.

With every bit of energy left inside of her, Tana willed whatever magic was in her body to come forward and move to Fang. She could feel her eyes glow gold and watched as Fang's eyes had every ounce of colour sucked out of them.

She shifted back, her body shaking with effort as she stared down at him.

"Bow," she snarled, effectively drawing him to his knees before her.

"You will pay for what you've done. You'll remain in solitude, far from any other wolf, and live out your days as the filthy, pathetic mutt you are," she spat. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Declan come to his senses, glancing around in confusion.

Tana turned around to look at a now shifted Mara and Mika, who dipped their heads respectively to her.

"These women will take you to a cell until we decide what to do with you. You will not fight them. You will comply and not run," she continued. He feebly nodded his head and only stumbled slightly when Mika and Mara took hold of him, dragging him away as the gold hue flickered out of her eyes and left her feeling dizzy and disoriented.

The first thing she did was run to Icarus and pull him into her arms. She barely noticed the tears that were flowing down her face as she rocked him slowly, her body shaking with every bit of fear she had held back.

She felt Declan wrap his arms around her as well, pressing a soft kiss to her mark that sent a cool, calm feeling washing over her.

"You're safe. It's all okay. It's over," he whispered. It sounded like he was trying to reassure himself, too.

***

In all honesty, Tana couldn't remember how she ended up in the South Bay infirmary with baggy clothes and a wicked headache.

Declan's scent was strong, so she knew he had been in there quite a lot. She lifted her head and glanced around groggily before pulling herself up and swinging her feet over the side of the bed so that she could walk to the door.

"I know you're not trying to run off now, doll," Bea's comforting voice drifted from a door at the side of the room, revealing her friend to be standing with her arms crossed as she stared at Tana. She had a large bruise on her cheek and a cut above her eyebrow, but otherwise looked okay.

Tana moved as fast as she could and hugged her, earning a laugh from the hybrid as she hugged her back.

"I've never been more proud of you. I know Lumina is, too," Bea whispered, bringing more unwarranted tears to Tana's eyes.

"I felt...I felt something break when I woke up. How many people died?" Tana asked weakly. Bea grew solemn and turned away with a sigh.

"The fighting stopped right when you took control of Fang. But..the Dark Wolves lost almost half of the wolves who were sent to fight. It wasn't many in terms of how large the pack is, but it made a serious dent. South Bay lost less and the Blood Wolves lost far more than both of us combined. Sincere got a little banged up but she's okay now. Declan's been running himself mad. You've been out for almost 2 days," Bea said. Tana frowned at that.

"Controlling Fang took a lot out of you. Your body and your wolf needed time to rest and heal. One second," Bea said, grunting in annoyance as she swung the door open, revealing Mika, Jade, and a very disheveled Wynona in the doorway.

"Thank you so much!" The delta cried, squeezing Tana tightly as she ran over to her. She could feel her tears against her shoulder and rubbed Wynona's back lightly, unsure how to comfort her and confused as to why she was thanking her.

"You saved Noah. I can't thank you enough," she whispered, laughing when Jade came and hugged them both as well.

"Declan's been worrying himself into a frenzy. You should probably go see him. Last I saw he was in his room, passed out with Sincere and Icarus," Mika piped in. Jade and Wynona released her and nodded with a smile.

Bea walked with her down the hall to the room she and Declan had been sharing. Sure enough, he was splayed out on the bed with Sincere tucked under one arm and Icarus asleep half on his chest. Tana felt her heart flutter at the sight.

Bea dipped her head before leaving Tana alone in the room. Almost right as Tana shut the door behind her, Declan's eyes flew open. He twitched slightly as if he were ready to lunge for her, but then carefully thought it out and detangled himself from the pups before dragging himself towards her and pulling her against his chest, his nose buried in her hair as he let out a relieved sigh.

"I've never been more in love with you than I am right now," he said softly. Tana smiled into his chest.

"That's unfortunate. I actually find you repulsive now," she replied. He growled playfully at that.

"Yay! Mommy is awake!" Sincere squealed as she jumped off of the bed and wrapped her arms around Tana's legs.

As she stood there with her family, not a worry in her mind, Tana finally felt at peace.

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