Chapter 34

Sienna’s POV

Asher was on top of the two men holding me, ripping them away so quickly that I fell straight to the ground, scrambling to get the cloth out of my mouth.

I wanted to sob. Deep, heaving, thankful sobs.

There wasn’t time to do that, though, so instead, I jumped the man that was leading us down the path, shoving him to the ground as Asher beat the other two senseless.

I might have been weaker than normal, but my anger drove my adrenaline high, my legs wrapping around the mans neck until he fell still, unconscious.

Not dead.

Julian might be a monster, but I would never stoop to his level.

“Asher,” I choked out, stumbling towards him as soon as the two men were still on the ground, blood trickling from their faces.

“What the hell happened?” Asher breathed, scooping me into his arms and holding me tight.

“The fire,” I whimpered, nuzzling into his shoulder. “They grabbed me in the smoke.”

I glanced back over his shoulder, the smoke now filling the sky, a massive dark cloud over the entire pack.

“It’s not getting any better,” I said on the verge of a sob, stepping back to observe the devastation from afar.

“I’m sure Simon called in help from outside the pack,” Asher murmured, swiping a loose strand of hair behind my ear. “Lucius will come.”

“The shops, the owners.” Tears started welling in my eyes, the thought of all the aftermath suddenly weighing down on me.

“Sienna…” Asher winced, and fear shot through me. “There are bodies in the square.”

“Who?” I croaked.

“It was hard to tell. I know one was a shop owner, maybe both of them. One was stabbed. I don’t know if there are more.”

I couldn’t stop the sob that got out. It burst from me, and then they just wouldn’t stop.

I was absolutely no help in this. My lungs burned, the sobs setting off a rough bout of coughing.

“We need to get you home, let the ash clear out of your system.” Before I could protest, Asher lifted me in his arms.

“I can’t just leave the fire raging,” I squirmed in his grasp, my eyes on the smoke and flash of the flames.

“Help is on the way. I promise it is. The best thing you can do is keep yourself safe, and we’ll assess the damage when it’s over.”

When it’s over.

When the buildings are ash, and more bodies are left to find.

“People are dying!” I fought his grip again, my efforts fruitless. He was not letting me go.

“And you could too, if you try to go back in there.”

Asher led us up the path, taking the long route back to the Alpha house. Smoke lingered in the air here, though it wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it had been in the heart of the square.

“All we can do is wait for troops from other packs to come.” Asher slipped inside, locking the door behind us, the smell of smoke mostly muted once we were inside.

My lungs gobbled up the fresh air, desperate for something clean.

Another fit of coughs started as Asher put me in my feet, my body aching to the bone. I braced myself on the dining room table, so exhausted I could hardly keep my eyes open.

“This will only make me look worse,” I whispered, collapsing into one of the chairs. “More for Mia to judge me on.”

“Let’s not think about that right now. Take a nice bath, let yourself recover.”

“Are you leaving?” It sounded like he was going back out, ever the hero.

“I’m going to the square,” he said firmly, his tone indicating he wasn’t going to accept any kind of argument about it.

“And I can’t?” I growled, trying to stand up but realizing my legs would fail me.

“No.” That was it. That was all he said, and I knew I couldn’t fight it.

He gave me a serious look, concern plastered in his eyes. “What you can do is take a bath and rest. We need our leader alive and well.”

Our leader.

I barely felt like a leader at all.

“Fine,” I croaked, my body welcoming a hot bath. It would definitely help my throat.

Except I was going to be wondering, worrying, about everything going on down there.

“I promise I’ll be back,” Asher said softly. “Lock the doors behind you.”

That was exactly what I did, watching through the front window as he jogged back to the devastation in the main square.

Hours later, after I’d taken a long bath and sat down at the front window on the couch, I snapped awake, noticing the sky was painted a sickly orange as night began to fall.

Not a pretty one. A very bad one.

The smoke had stopped, having dispersed a whole lot, and I wondered how many bodies were down there in the square.

I imagined the shops as piles of ash, and my heart ached. Nightwind would feel this loss at its very core.

My eyes darted to Asher and Lucius as they approached the house, both covered in soot, scrapes and bruises across their toned bodies.

I scrambled up, yanking the front door open to greet them. They both looked exhausted, settling into the chairs at the dining room table.

“Tell me.” I couldn’t wait any longer. I needed to know what happened.

“Oh Sienna, I’m so sorry,” Lucius whispered, and I was shocked to see tears brimming in his eyes. “I promise we’ll figure this out — I’ll help however I can.”

Fear bit at me, because Lucius was strong, and if he was this wrecked, then it had to be bad.

Asher stepped in, his words filled with melancholy. “Four structures demolished from the fire. Five casualties.”

“Five?” I squeaked.

“Two of the shop owners that I mentioned to you earlier, and three others, all those with stab wounds.” Asher could hardly meet my gaze, just as disappointed and shattered about this as I was.

“Stabbed.” I whispered the word in shock, not wanting to believe it. “By the men who tried to take me.”

Lucius looked up at me, anger flaring in his eyes. “And we all damn well know who sent those men.” He shook his head, rubbing his thumbs at the bridge of his nose.

“Julian,” I answered for him, my voice still extremely hoarse.

Lucius let out an exhausted sigh. “I think it’s time we submit a formal complaint about this.”

“We have no proof it was him,” I said sadly, knowing the Elder’s would require that. An empty threat would go right over their heads, laughable.

“Then we set him up.” Asher cut in, his eyes blazing with fury, too. “We know he did it.”

“Set him up how?” I raised my brows.

A small smile twitched at the edge of Lucius lips. “We bait him into admittance. Give him something he absolutely cannot resist.”

“I assume I’m the bait.” I couldn’t help but sigh, acid rising in my throat at the thought of seeing Julian again.

“For the last time,” Lucius said gently. “Because after this, there will be no more Julian left to torment you.”