This cell. It was dark, cold, and silent. The light of the torch was starting to grow dim as was her hope. Tears streamed down her face, as sat there curled in a ball in the dark corner. Her eyes lingered on the bloody werewolf teeth on the floor. She glanced over at her bed, the sheets were torn. This cell. It once belonged to Alejandro. Once upon a time, he too was trapped here by Lycan. His best friend, his so-called brother. To think, Lycan would rip out the teeth of his best friend in order to control him. No, it wasn’t about control. It was about silence. This was all a means to silence him but why?

“Nightshade,” Raven wiped the tears from her eyes. “Lycan did this to him in order to save his pack. No, not his pack, himself, what did you do? Lycan did something horrible. So horrible, the truth would be the fall of Nightshade. Alejandro knew so you silenced him. That’s why you imprisoned him here isn’t it?” This cell, the answer had to be somewhere inside this. She turned around and saw claw marks on the wall.

“Alejandro,” Raven ran her fingers across the marks. “What did he do to you?” She pressed her forehead against the stone wall. The amount of tears he must have cried here being trapped like an animal. Betrayed by his best friend. She closed her eyes. “Please, show me, show me what he did, tell me the secret Lycan’s trying to bury.” She was able to travel through time and see the past on the beach. Part of her hoped it would work here too but how? The moon was her guide the first time. Inside this dungeon, there was no moon, no light to guide her. So, how could she trigger it on her own?

“I can’t,” Raven fell to her knees. “There’s no point in,” The wall, there were letters carved into the stone. It was the same message she saw at the beach, in the exact same handwriting. “Never forget,” She read aloud. He was there at the beach that night. Alejandro was the one burning down the tent. He was the one who wrote the message. Her navy blue eyes followed the message and a few inches down was a name written in crimson. “Jaycee,”

The second she spoke her name, she was struck by flashes. Images of her, the crimson haired girl, their princess, the twin’s mother, Alejandro’s first. Raven held her forehead as the images kept flickering in her head. Her on the beach, her fighting in the war, the night Alejandro slept with her, the promise all of it rushing back to her. Until Raven’s eyes changed to that of a full moon, the prison cell around her changed to that of a ballroom.

“The Lunar Ball,” Raven placed her hands on her body. She turned around. Once she did. She saw her pass through her body. She was wearing a solid black dress. She wore a gold choker with a rose emblem on it. On her wrist was the bracelet Alejandro made for her. Her black high heels clacked against the ballroom floor. She was heading toward the balcony outside. Through the glass door was-. The short red hair, those dark green eyes.

“Alejandro,” Raven smiled. He was standing outside looking out at the moon. He was dressed in a black tuxedo and dress shoes. In his hand, he was holding his black tie. In his eyes there was a hint of sadness.

“So, tell me,” The woman crossed her arms, leaning against the doorway. “How is it that the hottest werewolf in the ballroom isn’t out dancing with some hot girl? She walked over to the balcony and rested her arms against it. “You do realize, you’re supposed to hooking up with girls right? That’s kind of the point of the Lunar Ball.”

“I know,” Alejandro replied, the wind blowing through his hair. “I just don’t feel like dancing besides, it wouldn’t be fair. Not when, the only girl I want to dance with is you.” He glanced over at her, she blushed,

“I see so this is my fault,” She flashed him a cute smile. “Look, I’m here with Lycan. But to be honest, I came to find you because there’s something we need to talk about. ” She shut her eyes and let out a sigh. “Lycan wants to marry me and ugh, I told him to wait. The reason I did is because,” She placed her hand on his forearm. “I wanted to make sure, you’d be okay with it.”

“I already gave him my blessing,” Alejandro’s eyes lingered on the moon. “He’s a Prince, he can give you a life that I can’t. So, it’s only natural that you’d want him. I’m not mad, I’m not hurt, I’m totally fine with it. I’ll be rooting for you guys at the wedding.” He started to walk away from her but as he was leaving he wiped a tear from his eye. “I should go, the twins, I need to put them to bed, it’s getting late.”

“I’ll go with you,” She offered. “This ball’s kind of lame anyway. Besides, I’ve been dying to get out of this dress. Whoever thought of putting a werewolf in a dress is a horrible person. Shall we?” He nodded, she took his hand and they left the ballroom together. They arrived at a cabin, the lights were on. “They must have been up waiting for us to get home, honestly,” She laughed. “Those boys,”

“Look,” Alejandro pointed at the window of the cabin. The teenage Jay’s dark amber eyes peeking through the curtain like he was spying on them. His brother Jayson appeared in the window hitting him with a couch pillow. Jay kept trying to push him so he could watch them. The two of them laughed slightly.

“Those are my cousins alright.” Jaycee glanced down at the ground. “You know, it’s a shame, you didn’t even get one dance at the Lunar Ball.” She turned to face him. “Did any girl at least try to ask you?”

“A few but,” Alejandro let out a sigh. “I turned them down. It’s just I know where my feelings lie. I know the person I want, and my heart knows that. So it’s hard to let anyone else try to take that spot. Someone has reservations for it and I’m not ready to cancel those reservations just yet.” His lips formed a smile when he looked at her. “I like the dress, by the way,”

“You said that already,” Jaycee laughed. “You helped me get ready for the ball, remember?” He nodded. He started to walk up the steps to the patio. She stood there for a moment as if she were lost in thought. Once his hand reached the door knob, she spoke. “Alejandro, would you like to dance with me?” He released the door knob.

“I’d like that a lot actually,” Alejandro confessed. “But there’s no music, what would we dance to?” He walked over to her. She put her hand in his and he brought her to his chest. Before he realized they were slow dancing together. “I guess we don’t need music,” He held her closer. His cheeks formed a slight blush when Jay held up a sign reading; “Kiss Her.” He was tackled by Jayson and forced away from the window.

As they were dancing in the forest together, Raven could feel the tension rising between them. Those feelings they felt for each other. They were still there, even after she chose to be with Lycan. Alejnadro’s heart didn’t stop loving her, it didn’t know how. She watched as his lips got closer and closer to hers. Until they were almost touching.

“Alejandro, we can’t,” Jaycee turned away. “I should go inside. Lord Grimm is going to stop by to view our training progress. He wants to see how strong we’ve gotten. It got me thinking, it’s been awhile since we’ve sparred in private. I could use more practice with my ability so if you’d like, we could.”

“We’ll sneak off first thing in the morning.” Alejandro offered. “You should get some rest, besides, don’t forget, Jay and Jayson’s test is this evening. We need to get them ready as soon as training’s over. Jay’s a little worried so you might want to,”

“Don’t worry,” Jaycee smiled. “He’ll get Tracker, I know it. He’s just worried that he won’t be able to reach the same scores as me. He just needs a little reassurance from his mother. You focus on Jayson, I’ll handle Jay, I always do. Good night,” She walked up the steps. “Oh and Alejandro, would you mind watching them tomorrow night? I have a date with Lycan, I think he wants to pop the question again so, you’re sure right? You don’t mind if Lycan and I get married.”

“I’m sure, don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine.” Alejandro assured her. “Just go, have fun, I’ll watch the heathens.” She walked inside and he let out a sigh. “I just want you to be happy,” He shut his eyes. A teardrop slowly fell from his cheek to the green grass below.

Raven closed her eyes and the light of the blood moon faded presenting a tiny peak of sunlight. She was standing in the middle of a forest, surrounded by trees, birds chirping. There in the trees was Jaycee and Alejandro both with a cup of coffee in their hands.

“Ready,” Alejandro sat his coffee mug on the ground. Jaycee took one last sip of her coffee and set it aside. “Now before we begin let’s agree whoever spills the other person’s coffee must die. Because we have a long day ahead of us and we were up late last night because of the Lunar Ball. So, if you spill my coffee. I have to kill you.” She laughed,

“Agreed,” Jaycee shook his hand. “If you spill my coffee. The entire forest is coming after you with a vengeance. You’ll be having nightmares about trees chasing you with vines and razor sharp teeth with branches for arms. Hundreds and hundreds of trees ready to devour you and turn you into soil for the earth. That is what will happen if you spill my coffee.”

“Jaycee, you scare me,” Alejandro admitted. “The way you use your ability scares me.” He began stretching.

“Then don’t spill my coffee,” Jaycee started stretching her legs. She had her hair tied in a ponytail. She wore a red tank top and pajama pants with flaming skulls on them. “Are you ready for this?” She bit her thumb drawing blood.

“Ready,” Alejandro held up his claws. “You know this is like the twentieth time we’ve done this and yet every time we fight like this. My tail wags, because it’s so much fun fighting you.”

“Oh really, well, I could say the same about you.” Jaycee ran her thumb across a tree. Her red hair changed, becoming a green color. She held her hand out and thorny vines shot out of the ground. Alejandro slashed the vines with his claws only to have his ankle grabbed by a vine. She lifted him into the air with the vine as she was about to slam him down. He cut himself free and charged at her.

A giant tree shot out of the ground began swinging at him with its branches. He dodged the limbs, its body opened becoming a mouth. It tried to eat him. He jumped out of the way landing on all fours. The tree fired its leaves at him using them as blades. He blocked, she appeared from a tree behind him.

“Gotcha,” Jaycee held out her hand, vines shot out trying to grab him. He jumped over her head and landed behind her.

“No, I got you,” Alejandro caught her in a headlock. She elbowed him in the ribs so hard he let go of her. She spun and tried kicking him, he dodged. She created a vine whip and struck him with it leaving a red mark on the back of his shoulder. “Kinky,” He winked at her.

“Shut up, don’t make fun of my ability.” Jaycee kept striking him with the whip. He caught it in his hand, it spiked, drawing blood. He ignored the pain and pulled her to him. When he did, she spun elbowed in the ribs then tried to catch his leg with a sweep. He caught her, lifted her and slammed her down with one hand. While she was down, he held her in place and she started laughing at him. “I guess you win this round.”

“Guess, I do,” Alejandro took his hand off her.

“Al, Jaycee, My father’s here,” Lycan called out. “It’s time for our training session.” Alejandro helped her to her feet and they headed to the Nightshade campsite together. Once the two of them arrived. Lord Grimm locked eyes with Alejandro.

“Before we begin,” Lord Grimm spoke. “I need a word with Alejandro in private.” Alejandro walked with Lord Grimm in the forest. “You and I both know your true rank. You lied to my son but you’re the true Alpha of Nightshade. Though, I don’t need a test to tell me that. You’ve shown it countless times. Lycan was but an orphan when I found him, trained him and took him under my wing. But, I can’t bear a weak son. So, now, I, turn to you.” He leaned against a tree. “Beat my son in the sparring match today and everything that is his will be given to you. He has failed me countless times and by doing so has proven to be an embarrassment to my lineage. In order to fix the damage he’s done to my name. I need to replace him with a son worthy of the title. That person being you.” He stated. “Prince Alejandro has a nice ring to it doesn’t it, it might even be enough to win you the heart of the woman you love most in this world. So, I’d reconsider throwing the fight to spare my son the agony of losing in front of his father. He’s already done that once and once is enough for me.” He walked away.

“If I win,” Alejandro let out a sigh. “I’ll no longer be a slave but at the cost of taking everything from my best friend. But Jaycee, If I do this, if I beat him, she might take me instead of Lycan. I can be the Prince she deserves But Lycan,” He lowered his head. “Could I really do that to him? He’s my brother. Even if his own father doesn’t want him. I still want him as a brother so what am I supposed to do?” He put his hands in his pockets and walked back to the Nightshade campsite.

“Alright, let’s do this,” Jaycee stretched her legs.

“Jaycee, you’ll sit this session out.” Lord Grimm ordered. “I have no interest in seeing a woman fight. You’ll only get in the way of the men.” She growled. “I’m the King, so you’ll do as you’re told.” She walked over to the side lines letting Lycan and Alejandro fight each other. “Son, remember, this is your last chance to prove your worth to me.”

“I know father,” Lycan closed his eyes. “Let’s do this,”

Raven watched as Lycan and Alejandro exchanged blows. Each time Lycan tried to hit Alejandro, he’d block and counter. Lycan dodged his counter punch and lunged at him. Alejandro caught his arm and threw him over his shoulder. Lycan hit the ground and sprung to his feet. He punched Alejandro in the ribs, in the jaw, and the stomach. He caught his fourth punch and struck with a kick to the gut. Lycan bent over only to be hit by an uppercut to the jaw that knocked him on his ass.

“Is that all?” Lycan wiped blood off his lip and charged at Alejandro. He kept punching Alejandro only for his attacks to be blocked. Lycan tried to hook his leg but Alejandro jumped over it and hit him with a dropkick. Lycan crashed to the floor clutching his chest. Alejandro rose to his feet. Lycan got up and tried to tackle him. He caught Lycan by the throat and slammed him down holding him in place.

“Alejandro wins,” Lord Grimm clapped. “A deal’s a deal,” He walked over to Alejandro. “I’m proud of you son.” He patted him on the back.

“I don’t want it,” Alejandro replied. “Lycan is your son, you adopted him, you should accept him for who he-,” Lycan tackled Alejandro to the ground and began punching him in the face.

“You tried to take everything from me,” Lycan punched him again. “Lord Grimm is my father, I’m his son, I’m Prince, me, not you, me. It’s mine, I fought for it, I dedicated my whole life to serving him. He’s my father, mine, you can’t have him, you can’t, you can’t.” He kept striking him over and over again until his knuckles were stained with Alejandro’s blood. “You were my best friend, you were supposed to throw the fight, now because of you, because of you, my father hates me, it’s all your fault, you ruined my life, it was you. Even when we were kids, it was you, it was always you. You son of a-,”

“Lycan, stop,” Jaycee tried to pull him off. “You’re going to kill him.” She kept pulling at his arm but he threw her back. He kept punching Alejandro in the face, drawing more and more blood.

“My life was perfect then you came along and ruined everything.” Lycan punched him again. “I keep trying to rebuild it, trying my best, but it’s not enough. My father will never forgive me for losing to you and it’s your fault. Now you want to take everything from me, I won’t allow it, you’ll have to kill me first. Come on, where’s your will to fight, where is it, where the fuck is it?” He struck Alejandro as hard as he could, making him spit out a tooth.

“I-I’m S-S-Sorry,” Alejandro spoke, his voice faint. Lycan went to hit him again in order to finish him off.

“I said,” Jaycee ran her bleeding thumb across the sand. “Stop it,” The sand gathered around Lycan’s arm stopping him from hitting Alejandro. Lord Grimm walked up and struck her with a back hand knocking her to the floor. The sand released Lycan’s arm and fell to the floor the moment she was hit by their king.

“You dare use your abilities on another werewolf, my son no less,” Lord Grimm glared at her. “You know that’s forbidden, I should have you killed for treason.” He flashed his claws, just as he was about to cut her. Alejandro got in the way, his claws slashing his chest. “Alejandro, what is the meaning of this, you know the-,” Alejandro fell down, losing consciousness from blood loss. He growled. “You’re lucky,” He put away his claws as Jayce tried to doctor his wounds. “He saved your life this time.” Lord Grimm walked away.

Raven slowly closed her eyes. Once she opened them, she was inside a cabin. Alejandro was lying on the couch, his chest covered in bandages. His face had slight bruising from Lycan but it was healing quickly. He had an ice pack pressed against his jaw being held by Jaycee. She was wearing black dress and high heels.

The coffee table had test papers on it. One had Jay’s name on it and it showed him scoring as Tracker. The other had Jayson’s name on it and showed him scoring as Hunter. Both of the twins were asleep on the living room floor wrapped up in blankets.

“Are you sure you don’t want me to stay?” Jaycee asked. “It’s just you got beat up pretty bad and I know I have a date with Lycan but I could cancel it. I could stay here and look after you, I’ll say something came up. It’s just, you did part of it for me and I’d feel bad if-,”

“Go, enjoy your date with Lycan.” Alejandro took the ice pack from her. “I’ve taken worse beatings than this.” He leaned forward. “And please, don’t be mad at Lycan. He’s not wrong, I did ruin his life. If I hadn’t beaten him that day, his father wouldn’t be so disappointed in him. I know the alternative was my death, So he’s putting up with this because I exist. So, he’s right to be angry with me. What he did, I deserved it. But regardless,” He glanced over at her. “It’s between us so don’t let anything that happened during the training session influence your decision to marry Lycan. He’s a great guy, he’s just been through a lot.”

“I won’t,” Jaycee agreed. “My decision will be based on what I want and what I feel and nothing else.” She added. “You’re sure you’re okay with me going on this date? I could stay, I don’t mind, I just hate leaving you unattended. You’re wounded.”

“I’m fine,” Alejandro replied. “The twins are asleep, I can rest and by the time I wake up you’ll be back. So go enjoy your date.” She kissed his cheek.

“You’re the best,” Jaycee walked out of the cabin.

“She’ll probably scold me for this but,” Alejandro began taking off the bandages over his chest. He opened up the medical kit and took out some stitches. He began to stitch his wounds shut by himself. Raven turned her head. She couldn’t believe he would do something like that to himself. Once he was finished, his canines bit the string and he reapplied bandages. “See, I don’t need a medic, I’m my own medic.” He cleaned the medical supplies and walked over to the kitchen table. There was a cake placed on it that read congrats. It was half eaten. He placed it on the kitchen counter. “Now comes the big one,” He walked over to Jay who was snoring sound asleep on the floor. “Let’s get you to your bed,” Alejandro went to pick Jay up off the floor. Before he could Jayson tugged at his pant leg.

“No dad, you’re hurt, I got this one.” Jayson let out a yawn. “Sometimes, it’s better to let the other man of the house do things too. Let’s go, bro, let’s get you to bed.” He carried Jay in his arms and placed him on his bed in their room. “Goodnight, dad,” Jayson shut the bedroom door.

“I forget, they’re older, sometimes.” Alejandro turned all the lights off and went back over to the couch to rest. While he was resting, Raven took a tour of the living room. The walls had family pictures. Small tables were also covered in photos of their happy family. Jaycee was in all of them, also in every photo. Alejandro was smiling. The wolf who showed no emotion was smiling in every photo.

“You might not have gotten the girl,” Raven smiled. “But you got the family. You’ve always dreamed of,” The door to the cabin opened. It was dark out, a shadow walked up to Alejandro and shook him. He sprung forward and took out his claws.

“Alejandro, it’s me,” Jaycee sat on the couch beside him. “I messed up, really, really, bad, I chose not to marry Lycan. Not only that, I got so angry at him. I said some things that I shouldn’t have said. Now Lycan’s angry and-,”

“Jaycee, calm down and stop crying. Just tell me what happened.” Alejandro ran his finger through her hair. “We can fix this, I’ll talk to him. He’s my brother, he’ll listen to me just tell me what you said to him.”

“He asked me to marry him,” Jaycee took a deep breath. “I told him, I couldn’t because I couldn’t marry someone who never spends time with Jay or Jayson. Loving me is great, it’s fine, but he’s not there for them. Then, I can’t knowingly marry him. So, I turned him down, he got upset and said if I didn’t marry him, he was going to kill the twins. I know he’s threatened them before, he’s always using them against me. This time, I got sick of it, I got angry, I took a silver fork and stabbed him in the hand. I broke up with him and I said a lot of things I shouldn’t have, I went too far, I’ve never seen him this pissed.”

“Oh god, you stabbed him with a fork.” Alejandro rubbed his forehead. “He’s Lord Grimm’s son, you can’t do that. What else did you say?” She forced a swallow. “Jaycee, this isn’t looking good, the fact you attacked him is bad enough. I might be able to save you. I just need to know everything. So please just tell me everything.”

“I told him that he changed,” Jaycee added. “I told him that once upon a time I could see myself loving him. But Lord Grimm’s influence has changed him so much, he’s not the Lycan I remember. I kept trying to salvage him and bring that Lycan back. Because he’s the Prince we need. That’s why I put up with his shit for so long. I let him hit me, threaten the twins, and I just kept trying to fix him. But he can’t be fixed, he’s ruining us. I told him that he’s going to be the death of Nightshade. That if anyone is to blame for the fall of all the work we put into this, it’s him, he’s the reason we lose the war. It’s him, he’s become the problem and I told him, I refused to sit by and watch everything we built crumble. I told him as far as I was concerned Nightshade is already dead and I walked out on him. But then, he said,” She gulped. “Nightshade isn’t dead but I soon would be, he wants to kill me Alejandro. What am I supposed to do?” She started crying on his shoulder. “I messed up so bad, I’m really sorry, I was just angry and now he’s on his way to tell his father what I did. He wants to kill me for treason.”

“Listen to me,” Alejandro ran his fingers through her hair. “You need to run, if Lycan doesn’t kill you. Lord Grimm will, we need to pack your things. There’s not much time, he’ll be at the castle soon if Lord Grimm hears of this. He’ll send an army because he’ll know I’ll fight. I will hold them off as long as I can but you need to run. Wait, outside, I’ll pack for you.” He scrambled around the house with a backpack filling it with her clothes.

“What’s happening?” Jayson came out of his room rubbing his eyes.

“It’s nothing, sweetie, go back to bed.” Jaycee tried to push him back in his bedroom but he saw the backpack.

“You’re leaving us,” Jayson’s eyes started to tear up. “No, you can’t do this, you can’t do this. You’re our mother, you can’t just leave us. No, I lost one mother, I won’t lose a second. You’re not leaving.” He tried to steal the bag from Alejandro but it held it over his head. “Give it here, why are you helping her dad, why?”

“Jayson,” Jaycee tried to hug him but he pushed her back.

“Forget it, you want to leave, just leave.” Jayson wiped the tears from his eyes. “Don’t worry, I’ll clean up your mess. I always do, I’ll be the one to tell my brother that you left. I’ll be the one who has to stand there while he cries wondering why our mother just left us again. So go and destroy our family, that’s what you’re good at.” He sat on the couch.

“Jayson,” Jaycee went to counsel him.

“There’s no time for that,” Alejandro walked her out of the cabin. He held out the backpack. “Go, Lord Grimm and his army will be here soon.” Jaycee stood there in silence, her eyes on the bag. “Go, please, it’s your best chance.”

“I can’t do this,” Jaycee closed her eyes. “I can’t leave them, I’ll pack Jay and Jayson’s things real quick and we’ll leave together. They’re my responsibility, it’s not right to-,” She tried to reach for the door knob but he stopped her.

“There’s not enough time,” Alejandro held her close. “Please go, I can’t lose you, I’ll look after Jay and Jayson for you. But please I’m begging you to run away. Leave Nightshade and never come back. Please go, while I still have the strength to let you go.” His hands were shaking as held her. Slowly but surely he was releasing her from his embrace. “Go,” He held out the backpack to her.

“Alejandro, I-,” Jaycee lowered her head. “Just remember,” Her eyes began to build tears. “Jay likes to be kissed on the forehead before bed. He likes to listen to lots of music but it can’t be too loud or it’ll give him a headache. His favorite snack is beef jerky so be sure to buy plenty. Jayson will try to steal it from him. Jayson responds to sadness with anger, he doesn’t like to talk about his feelings. Instead he likes breaking things. So, if he’s sad just give him a wall to punch and he’ll feel better. As for Jay, he’ll cry a lot. So be sure to check on him.”

“I know,” Alejandro brushed her hair back. “I’ll look after them, I’ll protect those kids with my life, I promise. She hugged him as tears fled her eyes. “Now go,” He handed her the bag. She started to take it from him. “Jaycee, I just want you to know that I-,” She pressed her lips against his as tears fled both their eyes. The kiss only lasted for a short while but for Alejandro it must’ve stayed with him forever. After this moment, he’d never see her again, His lips would never feel hers again perhaps that’s why he fought to savor it.

“Please don’t say it,” Jaycee wiped tears from her eyes. “It’ll only make what I have to do that much harder.” She dried up her tears. “Thank you, Alejandro, for everything.” She took the backpack and disappeared into the forest.

Soon after, a dark shadow came out from behind the cabin. The long brunette hair, the dark russet eyes. The smirk on his face. “She’s fleeing the pack,” Lycan spoke. “You know the rules,” He snapped his fingers. Hundreds of werewolves appeared behind him. Lord Grimm came out of the cabin holding Jayson by the arm.

“Let go of me,” Jayson tried to fight but he was thrown to the ground. He grabbed Jayson by the hair on his head and forced his face down onto the wooden patio. Lord Grimm held his sharp claws to his throat.

“Kill her,” Lycan ordered. The werewolf army rushed into the forest after Jaycee. Alejandro went to rush in to help but he stopped himself when Lord Grimm’s claws got closer to Jayson’s throat. If he tried to help her, Jayson would die.

“Lycan please, don’t do this,” Alejandro watched as werewolves kept rushing into the forest after her. He could wolves whimpering in pain as she was fighting them. He could see vines reaching into the sky holding up werewolf bodies and ripping them apart. She was in the forest surrounded fighting an army of werewolves by herself. The wolves wouldn’t stop, they kept rushing in trying to overwhelm her. “Lycan, please,” He dropped to his knees, bowing before Lycan’s feet. “I’m begging you, please stop this.”

“Restrain him,” Lycan ordered. Two werewolves grabbed Alejandro’s arms and pinned him down. He wasn’t even bothering to fight with them for if he tried, Jayson would die. Lord Grimm’s claws were still at his throat even as he fought to get to his feet.

“Lycan, please,” Alejandro’s eyes started to fill with tears. “I love her.”

“That’s why I have to kill her,” Lycan flashed his claws and walked into the forest after her. The vines stopped, the forest grew cold as birds fled from the trees cloaking the moon as it casted its light over them. It was silent, in that silence. Alejandro’s eyes filled with tears. His head was bowed as the tears kept falling.

Raven saw flashes of Jaycee. She could see her kissing him on the cheek, her fighting to protect him, her encouraging him to be stronger. The night they spent together, the dance they shared in the forest. Each memory formed a beautiful picture of the woman he loved. In one fell swoop the picture was shattered leaving shards of broken glass everywhere. Each tiny piece was a piece of Alejandro’s heart so broken, he couldn’t even begin to repair it. He just sat there with tears in his eyes, unable to move like he was frozen in place.

Lycan came out of the woods. His claws stained by Jaycee’s blood. Alejandro just sat there, tears still streaming down his face. The werewolf guards were clearing out and Lord Grimm was still there holding Jayson down in case he tried anything.

“Here,” Lycan threw him a bracelet, it was covered in blood. The bracelet had black beads and had a clover in the center. It was hers, Alejndro made that for her. “I thought you might want that back, turns out,” He smirked. “It wasn’t so lucky after all.” He started to walk away but stopped himself. “Hopefully now, you’ll start to realize you’re nothing without me. I made you brother, it was by my gratitude you still live. Remember, when we met you were nothing but a servant begging for scraps.” Lycan kneeled before Alejandro. “No woman was going to come in between our friendship. You should be flattered, I did this for you.” He rose to his feet. Lord Grimm released Jayson and the two of them left.

“Mom, no,” Jayson rushed to the forest but stopped himself. He dropped to his knees and the tears started to fall. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry,” He repeated the words as he cried. Jay opened the door to the cabin.

“Is everything-,”

“Just go back to bed Jay,” Jayson wiped the tears from his eyes. “Everything’s fine,” He walked back into the cabin with Jay. The door shut, Alejandro was on his knees as tears fled his eyes. His eyes burned red from the tears.

“Alejandro,” Raven walked over to him. He was on his knees, tears still leaving eyes. Pieces of his heart scattered on the floor. But he had no desire to pick them up or rebuild. He just wanted to sit there and stare at the pieces. So broken, destroyed, Raven knew no matter how hard he tried to fix it nothing ever could. Jaycee was dead and nothing could bring her back. This is why he chooses to be silent, this is why he doesn’t feel emotion. For Alejandro, time had stopped at this moment. For him to mend the wounds and pick up the pieces would mean forgetting the woman he loved. He wouldn’t be able to feel it but Raven couldn’t bring herself to stand there and do nothing but watch as tears fled his eyes. She wrapped her arms around him, embracing him as his tears fell to the grass below.

“It’s okay Al, it’s okay, I know why you’re hurting. I know why you chose not to speak. I understand, but I promise, what Lycan did to you will not go unpunished. He will pay for this, I just don’t know how yet but he will pay.” Raven closed her eyes as a tear fled her eye. She found herself standing in front of the cabin. Jay and Jayson were outside while Alejandro was still in the same spot, broken. The cabin was in flames being burned to the ground. Jayson was holding a gas can in his hand.

“Dad, do something, dad, he’s burning down our home.” Jay kept shaking him. “Mom’s pictures are in there. Dad, Dad, why aren’t you doing anything?” He rushed over to his brother punching him in the face. “Why’d you do it?” He kept punching Jayson’s arm. “Why, mom’s things are in there. All of mom’s things, you’re burning them why brother, why?”

“The vampires killed her Jay, there’s no bringing her back.” Jayson set the gas can down. “She’s gone, bro, she’s gone, this is the only way we’re going to be able to move on from this. We have to forget otherwise, we’ll be trapped in the past forever. I don’t want that, I’m done being sad, I’m done being angry, I’m ready to move on from this. I can’t sit here and watch as you and dad cry over mom, she’s dead okay, dead. This is the only way.” Jay clung to his brother and started crying as the flames destroyed their home.

“Jay doesn’t know,” Raven gasped. They lied to him. He doesn’t know Lycan killed their mother. Of course, if Jay knew, he’d kill Lycan. That’s why they covered it up and blamed it on the vampires. That’s why Lycan never spoke of Jaycee for if the truth of her death ever got out. It would destroy Nightshade and Lycan’s reputation along with it. Jaycee’s right, Nightshade is dead. What remains is just the ashes. Her eyes opened and she was back in her prison cell. She reached toward the brick that was underneath Jaycee’s name. It was loose.she took it out and there was a folded picture hidden behind it.

She opened the picture. It was a photo of Alejandro and Jaycee dressed for the Lunar Ball. He was holding her to his side as Jay held up a sign that read: “Kiss Her!” The two of them were smiling together. The picture had bloody fingerprints as if it had been held time and time again. She flipped it over, it read, forgive me. This cell, that’s why he ended up here. He was fighting for her even after she died. He never stopped fighting Lycan. He left Lycan no choice, he had to break him in order to maintain…Nightshade.

“Lycan, I understand you now,” Raven set the picture on the bed. “Nightshade, your most prized accomplishment. You’d do anything to keep it from crumbling. It was never about teamwork or strengthening our military. It was never about brotherhood, it was about you. It was always about you trying to step out of your father’s shadow. So desperate to do so, you’d destroy a family. But, you didn’t expect Alejandro to fight for what you destroyed. You didn’t expect him to challenge you in her name. You thought it’d weaken him, make him submit. Instead, he fought you until he couldn’t fight you anymore. It was here you broke him all for your precious Nightshade. The problem was, he fought you alone. He took that burden on himself. But this time,” She balled her hand into a tight fist. “He’s not fighting you alone.”