Pennsylvania, present day

The lilting breeze flutters the newly sprung leaves on the trees. Their bright green color matches the scheme of the little forest, everything is that same lovely shade of shamrock. Spring is upon the valley and it is in everything and seen everywhere.

The large lycan steps out of his car. He shuts the door and glances around, fumbling as he shoves his keys into his pocket. His reflection in the car window is a weary sight. He's nervous.

Eugene Cole hasn't slept in over two weeks, and it shows. His thick moustache is overgrown, his brilliant red hair unkempt and messy. The dark circles under his eyes drooping like heavy bags. His face and countenance sagging overall.

The lycan male makes his way forward in fidgety distress. Everything about him screams distress. The big black house is dreary looking in the sweet atmosphere. It seems to suck up the light and happiness surrounding it.

He eases the door open, no need to unlock the entrance as it's been unlocked for decades. No one has been in the house for years. The floorboards creak underneath him.

The lycan sneezes from the collection of dust and debris. Cobwebs cover every surface, the light streaming in from the antique windows display the tiny particles floating in the air.

Cole sidesteps the broken furniture and shattered glass. The mess was left behind by himself, he knows he the reason the place is wreck. He doesn't want to admit it, but even back then he knew that he was destined for disaster.

Once he reaches the back of the old farm house, he stomps out of the backdoor. He needs to be out of that space that only holds bad memories. He's here for one purpose, and he won't be sidetracked.

He walks slowly through the overgrown grass, the wildflowers brushing his trousers as he goes. This is his last chance to redeem himself.

He passes countless trees and bushes. Though he's been away from this place for so long, he still remembers each and every plant. Every different dip in the ground. It's all laid out in Cole's mind like a map.

With that knowledge, it's impossible to not know where he's going.

When he finds the little field, he spots her and sighs. He knew she would be here. Knew she had no chance of hiding from him any longer. She has no fight left in her.

It is him that she blames, and rightfully so. It is all his fault after all. That fateful day had been a huge mistake, a mistake that so many innocents have paid dearly for.

It's all he thinks about everyday, more so after he realized who the Red Alpha really is. The memory hangs in the back of his mind like a creepy painting you can't quite get yourself to look away from. Every single time it comes up he gets shivers, and a dread unlike any other attacks every sense he has.

He nears the cloaked figure hunched low to the ground. Cole's hands remain in his pockets as he reaches her side, he walks carefully as to not jar her with any sudden movements.

Her pale hands stick out from her large sleeves, dark blue veins sickly visible under her skin. Those hands are clasped tightly together as if she were praying over the grave sight.

"I knew you would be here." He rumbles, looking into the distance at the rolling hills of the woods. It's a beautiful day.

She inclines her head, pulling the hood off to reveal her face.

"I knew you would know." She says silently, her eyes still fixed on the gravestone. She doesn't look at him, but his eyes bore into her. He can't look away.

Her face is also covered in the intertwining, dark blue veins. Her coloring is nearly green under her deathly pale skin. The aura of magic is almost non existent as it strains to keep her breathing. She's barley keeping herself alive. The silver in her heart is taking its toll. She's keeping herself alive with magic, but it won't be enough. Her death is just around the counter.

"You're dying, Tea. You can't use your magic forever." He says gruffly, scratching at his chin in thought. The female looks at him with hatred in her yellow eyes. She knows he's right, but she despises the truth.

"I know, I've been waiting." She spits at him, glowering so hard it looks as if it hurts her face. "You're finished too. I heard through the grapevine that you've been kicked off the council. They find out you're the father of the Red Alpha?"

Cole looks at his daughter with a frown. He doesn't know how she knows that, but he supposes it's inevitable.

"Yes, it's true. They would've found me out eventually, so I told them." He admits to her and she narrows her gaze at him. She doesn't seem to believe him.

"Did you also tell them about Ezra?" Tea wonders, and her Father balks down at her.

"I don't think that's any of your business." He insists, suddenly glancing around nervously as if someone might overhear them.

Tea scoffs, shaking her head.

"I'm sure they'll dig it up eventually. They always do. You didn't even wait a decade after I was gone to make another child. Then you don't even have the decency to try and raise him, you slaughtered his mother and stole him away." She says sourly, "Not that I'm surprised. You never cared much for children."

He shakes his head adamantly.

"No one can know about that. If the Guard finds out about what I did to that human female, they'll kill me. The CPO would be shut down. Everything would crumble." Cole says softly, desperately.

Tea scoffs, shaking her head. She rolls her once pretty eyes.

"The CPO has always been corrupt. I don't need to tattle on you, they'll crumble all on their own. It's not too far off. By the end of the year they will be no more."

Eugene Cole's eyes widen at her prophecy, sure that she's lying straight through her teeth, but he can't ignore the sudden upset in his stomach.

"What about Ezra? What happened with him?" She asks, twirling a bright red lock of hair around her fingers as she changes the subject.

"He's mated, he's Gamma to King Veiler. But I know you told him something, you must have." Cole presses, his voice a harsh whisper in the buzzing forest.

Tea glances at him with a sly grin. Her father sighs unhappily, of course she would meddle in all of this. She's always been a trouble maker.

"He's suspicious of me. I think he's onto me, he figured it out somehow."

"But, he hasn't done anything about it?" She guesses, not looking at him. Her eyes are solely trained on the grave at their feet.

"No. He hasn't. But Veiler is looking into things. He requested my records. He's digging deep." He relays, suddenly nervous that someone might hear their conversation and kill him on the spot. He's done horrible things in his life, and he doesn't want anyone to know about them.

"You deserve everything you get, Father. One day you'll understand the pain and what it does to you." The quick whirl of color sparking from her hands fly towards him in a twist.

"It will tear you apart inside."

The explosion of power that rockets Cole across the field is nothing compared to the trickling of soldiers out of the woods. The warriors cloud around Tea in a circle, their thick uniforms sealed tight to hide their faces, their identities. It's practically an army of all different species. Tea lets out a giggle at the sight.

It's all a set up, the whole time they'd been watching her from the tree line and she hadn't even noticed. The Guard has come for her. Finally.

She sags against the protruding gravestone, her laughing gaining in volume as the group closes in around her. She's been waiting for it to end, waiting for the time when she can finally rest. Her time is here.

The laughs became gurgled and sloppy as hands retrained her arms behind her back. The onslaught of noise around her swirl into oblivion.

That last burst of her magic had cost her dearly. Blood runs down her chin as she gazes down at the grave with a grin on her face.

"I'm coming my love." She whispers between fits of laughter. "I'm coming home."

They're the last words the Red Alpha says before she collapses to the ground in peace, her rain of terror ended in the same place it began.

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If you're reading this, I love you:)

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