Watch The Dark
eight

The day Alec died, Tana had just turned 14. Talon had taken the two of them out into the woods, just at the border of rogue territory. Talon had told her that they were going to train. After all, Alec had once been Talon's best fighter. Until Tana came along.

Instead, he had one of his warriors hold Tana's arms behind her back while Talon sliced up Alec's skin, laughing every time Alec screamed. He had left flaps of skin hanging off of Alec's body while Tana cried for him to stop. Finally, he had plunged his knife into Alec's abdomen. He had left Alec to bleed out in the woods. There was no way he could have survived that.

Yet, now she was being told that her older brother was alive. That he was a warrior with the Dark Wolves. That somehow he had survived that horrific event and made it to a better place. She would have thought it was some sick manipulation tactic had it not been for Tuk's guilty look and the lack of emotion when Alec was mentioned. Tuk had always been incredibly sensitive, so for him to be so collected immediately rose red flags in Tana's mind.

As she sat at the edge of the sunny meadow, hyper-aware of all the gazes fixed on her and the whispers being exchanged behind her, she had no intention of running. She just sat there and stared at the trees, fighting back the tears that threatened to fall from her eyes. She hadn't cried since she was 14. She intended to keep it that way for as long as possible. She was in an unfamiliar place. Any sign of weakness could get her killed. After all, wolves were only loyal to their alphas for so long.

"I didn't know how to tell you. I...I don't think I could have told you. I'm sorry," Tuk said quietly, coming up behind her and sitting next to her, wrapping his arms around his legs loosely as he looked at her.

"Why didn't I smell him? How come I didn't notice that he was here? I barely noticed that you were here. Is there something wrong with me?" She asked, her voice raspier than she intended it to be.

"We've been here a while, Tana. There's nothing wrong with you. We just have different scents now. Plus, you found your mate. Your wolf was probably so excited that she barely gave me a second thought. And Alec has been here six years, Tana. He's changed, but he's still our big brother," said Tuk, placing a comforting hand on her arm that she just shrugged off.

"Tuk, you know I can't stay here. I can't have more blood on my hands. I don't think I could handle it. You need to help me get out of here," she said, but he refused to look at her.

"Remember when Devon used to say that you deserved to be happy? He was right, you know. I think that this place is safe. You'll be protected here. Do you think you could maybe try? For me? And Sincere? Hell, even Declan. I haven't met my mate but you know what it was like for mom when dad went on those trips. It was agony. I don't want to guilt you into it, but he'd be broken. And he needs to run a pack," Tuk said.

Tana had to admit to herself that he had a point. She would be single handedly ruining the second largest and most powerful pack in the area if she left. And perhaps she could be safe there. But she would need to keep Sincere and Tuk close to make sure nothing happened to them. And Alec, too, it seemed.

"Come, let me introduce you to some of my friends. They're nice wolves and if they could accept me, they'll accept you too," Tuk offered her his hand as he got up, a bright grin on his face. Tana hadn't seen him smile like that since he was a child.

Although Tana wasn't sure how he could trust her so quickly again, she gave him a faint smile and took his hand, allowing him to drag her through the pack house, expertly avoiding the warriors floor, and up to where the guards apparently hung out when they were on break.

There were two young men and one young woman in the room, all of them joking around and laughing with each other until Tana and Tuk walked in.

"Hey guys. This is my twin sister, Tana," Tuk said. One of the males beamed and shot to his feet, holding out his hand to her. He had black hair and blue eyes that almost seemed to pierce into her soul.

"Reggie, pleased to meet you. Tuk, you never told us that your sister was so beautiful," the male said, causing Tana to giggle and pull her hand away.

"Down, boy. Sorry about him. Reggie is a bit of a...slut. He's a slut. I'm Kingsley, nice to meet you," a girl with platinum blonde hair and green eyes that was only about an inch taller than Tana said, shaking her hand as well.

"That over there is Emery. He just found his mate and they sext constantly so don't be offended if it looks like he's ignoring you," Kingsley introduced, gesturing to the dark-skinned boy with black hair who was beaming at his phone on the couch. He didn't seem to notice Kingsley talking about him at all.

"Wow, you're making us out to be real perverts, King. That's not nice. You're not any better. I've seen you checking Declan's ass out," Reggie snorted. Involuntarily, she felt a flash of anger course through her at the comment. It seemed her wolf didn't like it when others checked her mate out.

They all sat down on the couches, Tana remaining close to Tuk while the other three took the other couch and took Emery's phone so that he would engage in the conversation.

"Assholes. Hi Tana, nice to meet you, Reggie give me my phone back before I smash your head into the dirt again," Emery growled, grabbing for his phone and snarling when Reggie held it out of his reach.

"Reggie is kind of a dick but he's hilarious. He's a lot of fun to hang out with," Tuk explained, sticking his tongue out at Reggie when the other male flipped him off.

"So what rank are you gonna be, Tana? I'm assuming you just got here so you'll probably get to start working right away. There's a lot of guard positions available," Kingsley said, gesturing around the room to exaggerate the emptiness.

"That's kind of the thing..." Tuk began, but was cut off by someone clearing their throat in the doorway.

"She won't be working until she stops trying to run away," Declan, who shot her an irritated glare, huffed. The guards straightened up immediately, their heads lowered slightly out of respect for their alpha.

"Alpha Declan, to what do we owe the pleasure of this visit?" Kingsley asked, quickly brushing off her clothes with red tinting her cheeks. Reggie snickered you himself and Kingsley elbowed him in the gut.

"Well, I heard that my mate was making friends and decided to come see for myself. She's a prickly one, hm?" Declan inquired, a mocking grin on his face as he regarded Tana.

"Mate? Oh my goddess! I had no idea! I'm so sorry, Luna," Kingsley yelped, bowing her head again.

"I'm not your Luna. You're fine, Kingsley," Tana huffed, resisting the urge to growl at Declan. She looked a bit confused but she didn't say anything.

"I hate to interrupt, but I do need to steal Tana for a bit. You don't mind, do you?" Declan drawled in a tone so similar to Talon that it made Tana flinch. All of them smiled and shook their heads, even Tuk.

Drawing in a sharp breath, Tana got up and followed Declan out of the room. He didn't talk to her as he led her through the halls and outside, rounding around the house towards a ratty old barn with chains crossed over the doors, held together by a thick lock.

Declan unlocked it with a key Tana hadn't known he had and held the door open for her, gesturing for her to step into the hay that covered the ground as he followed slowly and closed the door behind the both of them, turning on a small lamp in the middle of the room to reveal a sleek, spotted cat and at least five kittens with wildly different colours nestled in beside her. Once Declan crouched down the cat rubbed her head against his hand and purred, not at all bothered when her kittens got up to greet him.

"Hm. So...what is this? You harvest cats?" Tana asked, frowning when one of the kittens stumbled over to her and nuzzled against her hand.

Declan let out a laugh and shook his head.

"No. Cassie is my pet. She gave birth about a month and a half ago. They're cute, yeah?" He said, gesturing to the kittens before her. She shrugged. The Blood Wolves saw no functional purpose for pets. Cats were often eaten if they were unfortunate enough to wander into the territory. However, Tana couldn't deny how cute they were.

"Why do you trap her in here? She can't get any food," Tana said, eyeing a kitten that was solid grey and was significantly smaller than the others. It had a small notch in its ear, probably from playing too rough. She assumed it was the runt and carefully picked it up.

"I bring her food and water and she can come and go as she pleases through the back. I just lock it so that the pups won't try to come in here and bother her and her babies," he explained, smiling when he saw Tana examining the runt carefully. "You can have that one if you want. We can bring it inside the house in about two weeks when it can be without its mom.

"Hmm, okay. A friend who can't talk. I like that," said Tana, wincing when the kitten began to purr. She put it down and let it go back to its siblings, who were all settling back down with their mom.

"Why did you bring me here?" She asked, sitting down in the hay, finally meeting his gaze. His eyes were like pieces of marble the way they shone. Haunted, but beautiful. Perhaps Tana wasn't the only one with demons.

"The cats usually help me calm down. You were upset and I didn't know how to help you so I wanted to bring you here so that you could relax," Declan explained. Gone was that tough alpha exterior, all that remained was him. Tana liked this version of him much better, which terrified her.

"I wasn't just a warrior for the Blood Wolves," Tana said suddenly, earning a confused look from Declan. She scoffed and shook her head, scratching the back of her neck nervously. Maybe she shouldn't tell him. She had figured that since he had allowed her to see him so vulnerable, she owed him the same thing.

"I-I was supposed to be a scout. It's what my parents were. But when I was 13 Talon...he had made some deal with my parents before. When they arrived, I guess. He wanted their only daughter. He wanted them to watch as he turned her into something unrecognizable. He made me his...his slave, essentially. I was at his beck and call. For anything, if you know what I mean," she took a shaky breath. He didn't look disgusted, or sympathetic. He looked angry. Angrier than Tana had ever seen him.

"I was bred to be a scout and I became a warrior. A murderer," she whispered, unable to hold his gaze any longer. "I just wanted you to know the gist of it before someone else told you that I was his whore. I was, but it wasn't by choice," she said slowly, to which he nodded slowly, clearly staying quiet so that he could fight his wolf back down.

"And he's who you're running from. Why you keep trying to get away. You don't want him to find you," he said, to which she nodded.

"I'll kill him. I'll kill the bastard," he hissed, clenching his fists.

"Don't you think I've tried? He's untouchable. Just when you think you have the upper hand, he slams you back down. He has more power than anyone could imagine and he's not going to stop until I go back to him. I don't want your wolves to get hurt," she explained.

"My wolves are stronger than you think. Talon may have a few hundred wolves on us, but we have allies. My wolves have trained their entire lives. They have morals, which is more than Talon's wolves have. It makes them better wolves. They can protect you," Declan said.

"I'm not worth it," she said, which caused him to growl and move closer, forcing her to look at him.

"You're worth all of it, Tana. Don't doubt that for one second."

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