“You need to tell your brother Casey.” Amanda chastised.

I nodded, trying not to roll my eyes at her. “I know. I just don’t know how to tell him. He’ll want to know everything.” I didn’t need Amanda telling me that I needed to tell everyone to expect a baby in a few months. It’s not like they wouldn’t notice a bump growing.

She sighed, “He still deserves to know. Plus, he can help you break the ice with Grayson on the subject.”

“You’re right, but that doesn’t make this any easier.” I was nervous.

“Just man up and do it.” Amanda got up and left me alone in the living room. I could hear Matt waking up from his nap on the baby monitor.

“Connor!” I yelled. This was my opportunity to tell him about my pregnancy. I didn’t want him strong arming it out of Brian. That would be an even more awkward talk.

“What?” He said walking into the living room.

“I need to talk to you.”

He looked fearful for a minute, “What?”

I shrugged, “How about we go for a walk and we’ll talk.”

He sighed, “So there are no witnesses.”

I nodded. “Yep.” I popped the ‘p’.

He conceded, “Fine. Grab your jacket.”

I grabbed a jacket from the closet and put on a scarf. What little of a belly I had, I still wanted to hide it. It just looked like I’d been hitting the junk food a little hard lately.

Connor went outside while I was grabbing my jacket, then I had to grab a beanie, gloves, and boots. If Brian caught me outside without proper attire, he’d have my ass. By the time I was ready to brave the great outdoors; he was at the tree line, just standing there.

Connor was standing there, eyes closed. It looked like he was meditating. My brother’s a freak. “What are you doing?” I managed to not laugh at him.

“Listening. I’m going out here with you, just making sure I don’t have any unexpected visitors.”

I nodded once. “Oh.”

He opened his eyes and looked at me. “Ready?”

I nodded. He held out his hand. “Let’s go.”

“You don’t have to hold my hand.”

He shrugged. “It dropped a bit below freezing last night. I don’t want you slipping on ice.”

I threw him a dirty look. “I’m not going to slip on anything.”

To prove my point, I walked into the trees, stepping over a decent sized log. “See” I said immaturely “I’m – woah.”

Connor’s hand shot to my arm to stabilize me before I fell right on my ass. “You’re what?” He said amused. I just huffed. “Now give me your hand.”

“Fine.” I muttered and put my gloved hand in his.

Connor led me into the trees. I had no idea where he was going. I just followed him, stepping where he’d step. He always scanned the area, looking for any potential threats. He’d always been a bit of a worry wart. I doubt there were any wild animals in here that he couldn’t handle.

After quite a bit of walking, I unbuttoned the jacket a little with my free hand. All this walking had me warm now. Plus I was freaking out. Telling Connor that he was going to be an uncle was absolutely nerve wracking.

During the walk I normally would’ve come up with something to say to break the silence, but I was in my head, preparing a script. I just needed to say it.

He stopped at a clearing. It was a little creek. There was even a mini waterfall that couldn’t be more than four feet tall. It was absolutely beautiful. There was even a little bit of frost building up at the top of the fall.

There were two parallel logs with a small, ash filled fire pit.

Connor let go of my hand and walked to the logs. “So.” He crouched down next to the pit. “What did you want to talk to me about?”

I slowly walked to him. “There are a lot of things, but I only want to talk about one right now.”

“Which is?” He threw some small charred pieces into the flowing water. 

I took in a big nervous breath and held it for a minute.

“You must be really worked up.” He teased. “Just say what you brought me out here to say.” He stopped messing with the pit and looked me right in the eyes.

I let out the breath. “You’re going to be an uncle.” I said it slowly and clearly. He wouldn’t be able to misinterpret what I had said.

His teasing smile slowly disappeared as he processed what I told him. “What do you mean I’m going to be an uncle?” He was shocked.

“I’m pregnant.”

He groaned and hung his head. “Whose is it?” I knew he was dreading the answer. His voice was low, defeated.

“Grayson’s.” My voice was no louder than a whisper. “But he has a girlfriend, so that throws a wrench in there.”

Connor shook his head, “You slept with Grayson while he has a girlfriend?”

“No… Well yea, but he never told me about her. Not until you made me meet her.”

He groaned, looking away from me. “Well he didn’t have a girlfriend until we came back.”

Now it was my turn to be shocked. I slowly sat on one of the logs. “Why would he get a girlfriend after he’d been with me?” That made this whole girlfriend situation so much worse. That information brought tears to my eyes.

Connor pivoted so he faced me. “That’s my fault.”

“How can Grayson getting a girlfriend be your fault?”

Connor looked ashamed. “I ordered him to take her as a girlfriend.”

I pushed Connor away from me in a spark of rage. He landed right on his ass. “What do you mean you ordered him?”

Connor stood up. “I didn’t want you with him. You can have a normal life, away from all werewolves now.”

“Why should I be free of werewolves now? All I have is this pack. You’ve made sure of that.”

He nodded, “That was before we joined Finn’s regime.”

“And what?” I couldn’t believe this. “Being in his jumbo pack changes everything?”

He nodded, “Yes. Trevor was bat shit crazy before I met him. Everything he taught us was wrong.” I shook my head. Connor can’t just flip the script on me. “The whole virginity thing was wrong. I could’ve let you stay with our grandparents. You could’ve had a normal life.”

“That doesn’t change what’s happening now.” I yelled at him. “I’m having Grayson’s baby Connor. I’m always going to be a part of this pack now.”

He nodded, “I thought you would have done anything to get away from us. Grayson acting like a dick was just the means of giving you an out.”

I rolled my eyes. I was so mad at him. “Why would you do this to me?!”

“I love you.” Hurt flashed in Connor’s eyes. “I thought it was best for you.”

“I love you too, but you don’t get to decide that anymore Connor. I’m too old for you to be making those kinds of decisions for me.”

How could my brother mess everything up so badly? He thought he knew what was best for my love life when he didn’t even have one.

I heard branches snap, but I didn’t look over. It was probably just some of the pack, who had been close enough to hear my yelling.

“Casey.” Connor’s voice was low.

“What?” I asked snippily.

“I need you to run.” He said calmly.

I rolled my eyes and looked at him. “And why would I need to run?”

He yanked me up and pulled me behind him. “I don’t have time to argue with you.”

There were at least seven wolves I didn’t recognize.

“Who are they?” Connor didn’t seem worried, so I wasn’t either.

“Rogues.” The ones Stephan warned me about? I never told Connor about meeting up with Stephan, or his warning for me. “Run the other way. I won’t let them catch you.”

I turned to look behind us. There were five more werewolves. “That’s going to be a problem.” They all looked very menacing.

He glanced over his shoulder. “Shit.” Connor’s eyes were completely amber now. “Are you powers still down?”

I nodded. “I don’t have enough juice for this.”

“Fuck.” He lifted his pant leg, unsheathing a dagger strapped to his ankle. He didn’t look away from the wolves. “Don’t let them bite you.”

“How do I do that?”

Connor sighed. “Stay away from their teeth.” Now I was worried. Connor kept glancing at the wolves surrounding us.

Then a wolf charged us. Connor nudged me behind him. As long as the wolves didn’t go up behind me, Connor would be able to defend me. Hopefully they weren’t that smart.

The blade of Connor’s dagger sliced through the wolf’s throat like a warm knife through butter. The wolf bled out without as much as a growl from his pack members.

They were going to play with us before they killed us. I was going to lose my brother, my unborn child and my life today. There was no one to help us.

This time two wolves charged at Connor. They came at Connor from two different sides. Connor barely dodged the teeth of one before barely escaping the other one’s jaws. When they landed, they both turned and charged again without pausing.

The other wolves didn’t make any sounds. They weren’t even growling at us.

Connor killed the two wolves when they charged him again. He was barely pulling the dagger from the last wolf when they all started coming at Connor. I was watching Connor in complete and utter horror. There was nothing I could do to help my brother but stay out of his way.

If I had just left Monica alone that night in the cages, my powers would be working and I would be able to stop this.

One of the wolves clamped down its mouth on Connor’s calf.

When Connor let a small cry, I started forward on instinct. He was hurt. He needed help and I was the only one around. Then it felt like a boulder barreled into the side of my knee, knocking me down. My knee popped, exploding in pain.

I cried out when the pain registered. It felt like my knee had been broken. A wolf then stood over me, like a wild animal over a kill. When its snout was close enough, I clenched my fist and swung my fist like at hammer at its face. I felt its eye give a little under my fist. I don’t care how tough werewolves are, you hurt their eyes, and they’re going to back off a bit.

I had room to prop myself up on my elbow and grab onto my knee. Then I noticed I couldn’t hear them fighting anymore. I looked in Connor’s direction. There wasn’t any fighting anymore.

There were wolves licking their paws and some limping away. My brother was on the ground with his back towards me. Not moving.

This couldn’t be happening. I shook my head, “Connor!” He didn’t respond. He didn’t even move. “Connor!” I yelled this time. There was no response.  I couldn’t even see his back move from breathing. “Don’t be dead Connor!” I cried. I didn’t try to stand up. I knew I wouldn’t be able to walk on my knee. So I crawled to him.

I obviously wasn’t a threat, so the wolves just watched me. Those sick bastards probably thought it was really amusing watching me crawl to my brother with tears running down my cheeks.

It felt like it took me hours to get to Connor. By the time I got to him, my arms were so tired. I was so worn out.

I pulled my glove off my hand with my teeth and put my hand on his neck for a pulse. It was wet, sticky, and warm, but there was no pulse.

“You shouldn’t stick your fingers in his neck love.” A deep voice said behind me.

I looked over. It was a naked man I’ve never seen before. He was a rogue who had changed to his human form.

“You son of a bitch!” I yelled and threw whatever rocks I could get a hold of.

He caught one and threw it back at me. “You shouldn’t cast stones little girl.”

The stone hit my cheekbone. It stung. I was pretty sure it broke my skin.

He came closer, but stayed out of my reach. “We’re going to take you with us and unless you want more of your guys to end up like this, I suggest that you cooperate.”

“And how do you expect me to move? You fuckers broke my knee.” I spat angrily.

“It’ll heal quickly enough.” He commented as he looked over my brother.

“I’m not like you. I’m human.”

His brows rose in surprise. “She didn’t tell us that. Though that explains why you didn’t help him.” He looked pointedly at my brother’s body. “He was your brother right?”

He said was. Denial flashed through my mind. My brother couldn’t be dead. He’s an alpha. They’re so strong. I pushed everything to the back of my mind. Thinking about Connor being dead wouldn’t help us. “Who wants me dead?”

He smirked. “Well I can’t tell you that now. What if you manage to escape?”

“You’re not going to kill me?”

He smiled and shook his head. “Nope. We’re taking you alive.”

He came closer to me. I reached over my brother and grabbed his dagger. It was resting in a pool of Connor’s blood.

The man smiled at me. “You’re not going to shed a tear for your brother? You’ll just steal his dagger?”

“I’m not stealing his dagger.” I groaned as I laid flat on my back. My knee was throbbing. My heart was breaking. I just wanted to sleep. If they killed me, at least it’d be quick. It wouldn’t be quick if they delivered me to whoever they captured me for.

The man stood over me. It was a disgusting sight. I didn’t want to see this naked man hanging over me, so I rolled to my side.

“Now give me the dagger before you hurt yourself.”

I shook my head, “It’s my dagger. He would’ve wanted me to have it.”

The man lean down and grabbed my jaw, forcing me to sit up and look at him. He was using painful force to grab my cheeks with one hand. “Listen here little girl. I’m trying to be nice. That can all change very quickly.”

I summoned what little bravery I had. “Screw you.”

I tried to stab him, but he grabbed my wrist. “You’re human and you think you can stab me?”

I glared at him wishing I could set him on fire. I settled for my next best option. I just hoped it would work. I tested my strength by slightly letting the dagger go. It stayed still.

The fact that I had the dagger with my mind made me smile. The dagger zoomed from my hand and settled in that bastard’s skull.

He fell to his knees, hands rushing to his face. I made the dagger come towards me. I grabbed it from the air, then stabbed him right in the chest. When he fell onto his back, I kept stabbing him. I stabbed him for my knee. I stabbed him for my baby. But most of all, I stabbed him for my brother.

He stopped moving all together.

I took Connor’s dagger out of the intruder’s body and sat there, looking at the man I just killed. Then I looked around. The rogue pack was looking at the dead body.

The shock told me that the man now on the ground next to my brother had been the one in charge. He had been the rogue’s alpha. I knew they were all going to attack me any second now.

When one started to charge me, I closed my eyes and braced for it. I wasn’t going to survive. The guys would find me dead with my brother.  Amanda and Brian would be the only ones who knew about the baby.

A gun blast echoed through the area. I looked over and saw Stephan holding a pistol. He took aim at the other wolves and shot. I covered my ears and laid flat. It’s not like I could run for cover or anything. I stared at the back of my brother’s head.

When the invading wolves started retreating, the werewolves I recognized came through the trees looking absolutely vicious.

Everything was already ruined.

My brother was murdered.

I didn’t know if the baby could have survived my fall.

They were too late.