Warriors of Blue moon
Chapter 15 - Part 7, Enemies of Blue moon.

I woke up early and got dressed into my armour to make an early start on the duties. It was my turn to head to the lake house and make sure everything there was running smoothly and to show our gratitude at all the warriors that had come. I was there for two hours, while they were all cleaning their weapons and readying their armour, some were shifting into their wolves in the large green garden at the back of the house training and keeping up their stamina

Once I had done the rounds, I called Florence to meet me for a walk. I wanted to hear everything about her and her mate. I asked her to meet me in the village, I wanted to see Layton as little as possible today in hopes that I could reign in my feelings that had been rushing to the surface since I had come back here. Every time I saw him they just got stronger and stronger and I didn’t want to fall back into the way I used to be when I was younger, waiting and wishing that he would return my feelings.

I jogged over to Florence as I saw her walking so elegantly in her white summer dress as she smiled and waved to passers-by, she was glowing today, and she looked incredibly happy. I smiled just looking at her and how much her life had changed from what it used to be… ”Hey Flo… you look positively beautiful today, as if you’re walking on cloud nine”.

“Oh Lelanna” she gasped as she linked her arm in mine, we strolled toward the trees away from prying eyes and ears ”I’m just so wonderfully happy, ohh, it still feels so surreal, you know, I just can’t believe I have a mate and he’s so handsome and kind and so considerate and not to mention protective, which coming from him I just love!” she gushed, her eyes flashing with giddiness ”When I told him I was coming to meet you, he was sure to remind me to make sure I stayed close to you at all times and not to wander too far, he was so worried about something happening to me with the threat that’s lurking around”.

I chuckled at her bouncy excited attitude, It wouldn’t matter how much I saw Florence, her smile was and would always be infectious and her pretty blue eyes sparkled with so much purity and kindness. Even though she spent years going through so much and came face to face with death, she was so selfless and happy, her entire aura was so bright and warm. I couldn’t be happier that not only had she found her destined mate but that he turned out to be one of the good ones.

"Well, he needn’t worry I wouldn’t let anything happen to you” I reassured her as I rubbed her forearm with my free hand as we smiled at each other “So tell me, what happened last night after me and Layton left?”

“Oh well, we went to the old library at the back of the Palace, I was sure we wouldn’t be disturbed there as hardly anyone goes there… well apart from Layton”

"Layton goes to the library?” I asked in surprise

“Not as much as he used to, but he does when he can, he likes to read the old poetry books we have there, he told me once the old war poems and letters that lovers used to send each other are in there, they’re his favourite”.

I felt rather shocked, I never knew Layton had that side to him and it took me back to the poems I used to read, I used to spend hours reading old war poems and love letters. “Sooo what happened at the library then?”

She giggled and she squeezed my arm tighter with hers ”oh nothing saucy if that’s what your hoping, apart from him kissing my cheek before we went to our own rooms we just talked and got to know each other. I told him all about my childhood and he told me all about his. Apparently, he’s a very skilled archer and at hand to hand combat, he’s also very close with his dad. His mum died when he was just seventeen from an attack. Apparently, He, his father and mother went to the beach one day and when they were travelling back in the car it was dark, they were only twenty miles from their pack gates when they were attacked by rogues. Kye and his dad tried to fight them off and just as they had the upper hand, his dad felt a rush of pain through his body and when they looked back to the car three of the rogues had dragged his mother out of it and killed her. Kye said his dad just flipped! The anger and the pain was so strong that he tore through the rogues as if they weren’t any tougher than paper, but by the time Kye and his dad got to her she was bleeding out, she died when they were taking her back to the pack. Kye says his dad lost it for a while. He was inconsolable. He shut himself off from everyone apart from Kye. So Kye had to take over as Alpha, but as time passed, his dad got better and he says their closer than ever and although he’s not the first Alpha anymore he still tends to the pack and helps Kye. It’s so tragic, but he had so many wonderful things to say about his mother” she spoke softly as if she was really deep into what memories Kye had of his own mother.

I gulped at the thought of something like that happening to my own mother. Luckily losing his mother didn’t change him for the worse. I might not have known him for long, but he did seem nice enough.

“Oh Lelanna” Florence piped up and caught me off guard as she squeezed my arm once again, but this time out of desperation ”I’m so scared... when he told me of how much it hurt his father to lose his own mate, I felt this fear of the same thing happening to Kye. I know I’ve only just met him, but it feels so perfect and all I want is to be with him for the rest of my life. What if something happens to him when the rogues come… what if he’s killed, what if all I have with him is a few days or weeks before he’s taken away from me… what if…”

“Florence!” I cut her off as I turned to face her, unlinking our arms to hold her hand as I looked at her with confidence. ”I will not let anything happen to him, I will make sure I keep my eye on him when we fight… ok… I will do my upmost best to keep him from getting hurt. I know it’s hard but all I want is for when the time comes, you make sure YOU are safe, that you focus on the protocol if we fall…ok?! I asked firmly

She nodded with sadness in her eyes ”ok… I will, I’m just scared”.

I gave her a faint smile as I nodded and pulled her into a hug “I know, we all are”

“You’re scared? Your tough, I didn’t think you’d be scared of anything" she responded as we broke our hug, she took my hands in hers as she held them softly.

“Oh, I am” I scoffed “I’m scared for my family, I’m scared for everyone, and I’m scared about the fact that we don’t actually know much about what we’re facing this time and its rather disturbing” I sighed.

“Hmm, I suppose losing Kye would be like losing Layton to you… or him losing you”.

I furrowed my brow at her statement ”how would that be the same? your mates?”

She chuckled quietly as she let go of my hands and started to walk along the narrow gravel path with the forest trees on one side and the village on the other… luckily the warriors patrolling the boarder path were too busy keeping watch to hear what she said. “Oh Lelanna, I see how you two are around each other” her smile faded as her expression looked saddened ”I’ve also seen his grief”

"Grief…. grief at what?” At first I thought she was thinking of when she nearly died and was terribly Ill how scared and painful it was for Layton to watch… even I remember it as if it was just yesterday. After all he always came to me to talk about it and for comfort.

“Well, the whole time you were gone Lelanna, Layton missed you every day, his guilt would really consume his sometimes and he’d drink to try and forget. He’d talk to me almost every day about how he felt you had taken a piece of his heart with you when you left. He never slept properly at night, and he never stopped loving you. I saw it in him every day, this desperate hope that one day you’d come back, and he’d be able to see you again. He was so lost without you here and since you’ve been back, I can see a spark in him again, a part of the old Layton has come back the happy, playful, and soft Layton”.

I took in what she said. but I felt baffled “Florence?”

“Yes?”

“You said he never stopped loving me?... I mean I know he cares for me. Is that how you meant it?”

She stopped and looked at me and let out an exasperated sigh “No… do you not see it?”

I shook my head

“What is wrong with you two? When will you finally stop being so stubborn and admit how you feel to each other? Lelanna, he’s always been in love with you, ever since we were kids, he was always so protective of you, even when you’d fall over and scrape your knee, he’d always rush over to you and try to make you laugh because he hated to see you cry. He would always light up every time he saw you. I wouldn’t be surprised if half of the reason Layton was friends with Sam for so long was because he wanted to be near you”.

“What” I whispered feeling stunned. “H… how... but… are you sure?... I mean he’s never once said anything to me, he’s always treated me like we were best friends and that was all it ever was”.

She reached out and moved a piece of hair that had fallen out of my ponytail and tucked it behind my ear ”Oh Lelanna... there’s so much...” I grabbed her hand tightly and stopped her as my whole body tensed on alert, I sniffed the air and my eyes widened as I grabbed hold of Florence’s arm and started to run toward the palace. “ROGUES" I shouted to the nearby warriors. They looked to me in surprise, then sniffed the air as they bounded off into the woods.

“ROGUES” Florence squealed as I ran fast, pulling her behind me. I didn’t answer, I just kept running to get her to safety. I could hear the mind link going crazy as everyone was alerted. “But… BUT… it’s just another ploy right to scare us” she panicked, and again I didn’t answer until we got to the Palace doors and pushed her through.

"Get to the basement and get ready to leave through the tunnels, if you hear the horn, run… and take this with you”. I handed her a dagger and one of my swords.

"But… BUT" she repeated in alarm.

“FLORENCE… LISTEN TO ME” I shouted to snap her out of her shock ”If you hear the horn, you run… Promise me you’ll run?”

She nodded in fright as I handed her the weapons, “your mum and dad will be getting everyone else there to safety, but don’t worry, they’ll have some warriors with them. Don’t come back for us.... don’t look back. You know what that horn will mean!”

Tears sprung to her eyes as she glanced around watching the hundreds of warriors and the Alpha’s rush into the forest and I knew she’d realised she wouldn’t see Kye “Lelanna” she croaked while her tears streamed down her face ”it could just be nothing right… they could just be scaring us like before, right?”

I wanted to lie, but I didn’t want her waiting and putting herself in danger. I shook my head in sympathy ”No… I could sense many down there, and their anger, so please get to the basement” I urged her.

She threw her arms around my shoulders and hugged me tightly as I hugged her back and I could hear her sniffling on my shoulder “Please stay alive… all of you” she whispered as she cried heavily.

I pulled away and nudged her for her to go, she started stepping back and I could see the fear in her eyes.

“GO” I ordered.

She spluttered tears before turning and running to the back of the Palace. I turned on my heel then and ran to the forest as fast as I could, my eyes glazed over as I mind linked my parents “where are you?”

"We’ve just got to the Palace” my dad answered.

“Good… stay safe”.

“Oh, my darling” I could hear the sadness in my mum’s voice ”Please, be ok, you and Sam come back safely to us”.

“WE WILL MUM” I heard Sam shout and I could tell he was already in the forest. My legs picked up more speed as my adrenaline kicked in, wanting to be near him and fight by his side to keep him safe. As I reached the end of our forest territory, I took in the sight before me. The warriors were stood in formation wearing their armour and weapons at the ready.

The rogues were nearing us, walking as if they owned the very air they breathed with so much arrogance. I ran to the front of the line and stood by Dakota. On her right was Sam and on his was Layton. He stood so tall, so confident! On his right were a line of Alpha’s including Kye and seven hundred warriors behind us.

As soon as my gaze fell on Kye, my promise to Florence came flooding back and a slight guilt tugged in my stomach… I had promised I’d keep him safe. How could I have made such a big promise to her? It would be near impossible to keep sight of him the moment we were all in battle!

I focused on the rogues approaching, the first line of them stopped a few yards away and straight away I could point out Zara’s family amongst the people with them. Not only did they share the same physical resemblance of Ericcson, the tall, skinny physic but they also shared the same sharp jawlines, pointed noses and dark empty eyes. Not to mention what they were wearing!

While the rest of their rebellion were wearing tatty clothes that were either too big or too small, they were tarnished with mud and rips, but the five people at the front were wearing new, clean trainers with dark jeans and T-shirts… I mean who wears new trainers and Jeans to a fricking battle I scoffed in my head.

They all stood sizing us up when a man who I believe must be Zara’s Uncle Rick, spoke up looking too fucking smug for my liking. ”Well, well, well, you must be Layton?”

"It’s Alpha Layton to you" Layton said strongly, his hand gripping his sword.

But Rick just chuckled arrogantly ”You won’t be an Alpha for much longer” his eyes started to linger on the strong men beside

Layton “and from the looks of it, neither will the rest of you” he sneered “Michaelson nice of you to join us”. He smirked at Alpha Michaelson, he was one of the alphas that had known some of the Maven family when they lived in his pack.

"Rest assured, Rick Maven, you and your family won’t get out of this alive” Alpha Michaelson retorted, looking as if he couldn’t wait to have an excuse to kill them with the rage burning from his eyes.

Rick rolled his eyes and shrugged off Michaelson’s comment as if he barely even noticed it, and his eyes moved again across the front line until they fell on me. “Ohh Let me guess… You must be the famous Lelanna Vanderwood? we’ve heard so much about! The irritating little Nat that just won’t learn to fuck off”.

"YOU WILL NOT ADDRESS HER YOU FUCKING TRAITOR” Layton shouted as his voice rumbled through his chest with a growl.

Rick laughed menacingly as he took a step forward… way too fucking arrogant!

"Oh, I’ll address her, and I’ll make sure she dies the slowest, most painful death while I rip into that pretty little neck of hers"

The rest of his pathetic family laughed, which just made me feel nauseated but fucking pissed.

“Oh please!” I looked at him unphased “I’d love to see you try! You’re no different to all the other dirty rogues I’ve killed, your pathetic”

His face turned angry, and his pasty colour turned blush red as his eyes bored into me with such vexation, but I still looked him unbothered, and I let my lips curl into a smirk before him and his fists clenched tightly. “I’ll fucking tear your head off bitch AND WATCH YOU FUCKING BLEED”

“AHHHHHH” Layton’s growl shook the ground ”YOU’RE GOING TO FUCKING DIE!” he shouted as he raised his sword and pointed it at Rick “NOW LEAVE OR FUCKING FIGHT”

“We’re not going anywhere, you weak piece of shit, not until everyone of you IS DEAD!" Rick seethed.

Layton raised his sword in the air “WARRIORS, ALPHAS PREPARE YOUR WEAPONS!” everyone raised their weapons, swords, axe’s, some started to shift into their wolf form. “WE WILL SOAK THE GROUND WITH THEIR TREACHEROUS BLOOD”

“RRRRAAAAAARRR” Everyone including the Alpha’s roared in anger and readiness. I could hear the wolves behind me growling, panting, snarling, wanting to fight, wanting to tear them apart.

“FIIIIGGGHHHT” Layton called out and everyone charged forward, and the rogues began to run toward us, with the Maven family in front, looking so sure that we were no match for them… But I knew they would have to fight tooth and nail to get to our boarder.

All our bodies came clashing together, with growls and howls filling the air and within a few seconds the metallic stench of blood whished around us as claws, weapons and fists were slicing and tearing armour and skin. Yells of pain rang through my ears as I tore through the crowd of rogues and my promise to Florence was now looking less than slim. There was no way I could look out for the safety of anyone with the madness all around me. We were all collided together in a fight for survival!

I was quick on my feet, twisting and turning as I swiped one throat after another. I swung down to my knee and tore through several abdomens and, with their dirty old clothing in my face, to my disappointment, none of them were the Mavens. I swung right with my sword as it sliced another’s neck and pulled out a dagger and jammed it into another’s chest, right through his heart, just as I felt a pain shoot through my stomach, it was sharp and made my heart ache. As my hand shot to my stomach, it clenched and burned as if my gut was on fire!

I quickly swiped my sword at upcoming rogues with one hand still gripping my stomach. The sharpness had started to ease and that’s when I realised the pain wasn’t mine, I hadn’t been cut or touched, I sliced through bodies as I tried to force my way toward the yells of pain, I could hear it was a male.

My heart started to race, and I felt desperate to get closer to him and frustrated at the assholes in my way. I headbutted one rogue, kick slammed another to the ground, threw a dagger into the head of broad pale white man who was lunging at me with saliva falling from his mouth. I hit the temple of a woman with the handle of my sword, spun and side kicked a young man, and with another swipe of my sword across another rogue. The male who’s yell I was drawn to came into view and the woman knelt by him with a rogue in wolf form just about to aim for her neck I quickly threw my sword and it stuck in his side, as I ran over and knelt down to see Sam all bloodied on his stomach and Dakota crying.

“Nooo” I gasped as I placed my hand firmly against his wound to slow down the bleeding... I quickly looked up to see who was close by “YOU AND YOU” I yelled to two young warriors “Get him and any injured to the pack doctors NOW”.

They nodded in response and carefully picked up Sam and darted back through the trees. I grabbed hold of Dakotas arms and pulled her up onto her feet ”Dakota… wipe your eyes and fucking fight… Use your anger against them! Sam will be ok! but we can’t falter… WE NEED TO FIGHT”

She sniffled and rubbed away her tears “Ok, come on let’s kill the fuckers”

I nodded with a smile, and we ran back into the fight and just then I heard a loud roar and saw a throng of warriors approaching behind the rogues. There were so many of them and a smile rose on my face when I saw who was leading them... “Heath” I breathed out as he charged towards the rogues, he, Adeena, Trey and the rest of the warriors attacked them from behind and tore through them. I didn’t even know he would be here.

The battle had spread across the flat bare land of the forest as everyone fought hard and strong. I could see around better now as I cut down one rogue after another and I could see all the dead and injured bodies sprawled across the floor most of them getting treaded on and to my dismay some of the dead were our warriors.

A rogue tried to swipe me on my right and just as I tried to swipe him across his stomach another rogue attacked me from behind causing me to plummet face first into the bloodied soiled mud. The rogue on my back grabbed my hair and pulled back my head as he laughed, the other rogue that tried to attack me knelt in front of me, till I could feel his musky breath on my face ”Our master will sure be glad we got you, you’re his little prize” he grinned showing his broken brown teeth.

I pulled out a dagger and stuck it in the leg of the bastard pulling my head back, he yelled out in pain and called me a bitch before he turned my head to the right and punched me in my jaw. It ached but his hands were too skinny and bony to cause any serious damage. The other rogue screeched with laughter, stood up and kicked me in the face then again on my side. I winced and felt blood trickling from my nose, the rogue was about to land another kick to my face when suddenly his whole body flew from my view and was slammed onto the ground with a large black wolf tearing at his neck, killing him.

The wolf then fixed his eyes at the rogue still sat on my back and I could hear him whimper in fear as blood dripped from the wolfs sharp teeth The wolf snarled with rage and licked his teeth, then ran and pounced at the rogue ripping him off my back as he tore him apart. I stood up and the wolf looked back to me once the body beneath him was dead. I smiled gratefully and bowed my head in respect, I knew it was Layton. Although most Alphas wolves were black… it was the eyes, the deep golden brown eyes that shone like diamonds, his stance was muscular and his fur was soft and shiny just as I always remembered it to be. He padded over to me and brushed up against me his height reaching my shoulder yes… it was definitely Layton!

Rogues came bounding over to us and we both stood ready to attack. We kept at each other’s sides as we killed them one by one fighting simultaneously, he had my back, and I had his. I felt connected, not just to Layton but to his wolf too.

More warriors joined me and Layton until there was a vast group of us fighting side by side with Dakota and Adeena with us as we all fought together to take them down and push them back. A hard kick to my back nearly knocked me to the floor but I quickly landed on my knees, slid and swerved myself around, my sword held firmly in my hands ready to kill my attacker, when I saw the dirty sneer of Rick as he stomped toward me. I went to swipe him with my sword, but he swerved it and charged toward me again and wrapped his hands tightly around my throat, lifting me up to my feet, the tips of my toes barely touching the ground when he flung me into the air. My body hit the ground like a rag doll. I jumped up to my feet as he ran over, looking determined to kill me just the way he had imagined. A twisted and evil look flashed across his eyes, I lost my sword somewhere on the ground when he chucked me, so I grabbed a dagger in each hand.

He ran and jumped ready to pounce on me, but I slid to the side as his knees landed on the ground, he whipped his face back to me and got up with a growl, he swung his fist as I ducked. He kept swinging, left and right, one after another, becoming frustrated with each miss. When he swung again, I cut his arm with my dagger, but all it earned from him was a growl. It didn’t deter or slow him down, he kept aiming his fists for me and trying to grab me into a headlock, most likely so he could quickly snap my neck. But I swerved and missed every hit.

I ducked and swiftly kicked his ankles hard from underneath him and he fell, landing on his side. I flung a dagger with a strong swing landing it into his stomach. He snarled in fury as he stumbled to his feet. I spun and kicked him around his face, and he stumbled back onto his feet. He roared, bent down, ran and tackled me to the ground. Sitting on my hips with all of his weight, he started to laugh, but all too soon he got cocky as I swung my legs up to his chest and pulled him backwards, he hit the ground but grabbed my right leg before I could move, he pulled the dagger out of his stomach and jammed it into my calf. I yelled in pain then kicked him in the face.

I got to my feet, pulled it out and threw it and it landed in his arm. He grabbed it and threw it to the ground as he ran to me, he jumped with his fist pulled back, I swerved, grabbed his shirt pushed him to the ground and stuck my other dagger into the back of his neck. I heard chokes and gasps coming from his mouth as I kicked him over onto his back causing the dagger to slide further into him. Blood splattered from his mouth as he choked and gasped for air. I knelt down, my face only inches from his “you were told you wouldn’t get out of this alive... Like I’d ever let a dirty scumbag like you beat me.... You fucked with the wrong warrior”.

I stood up and faced the battle once again, I took a deep breath, picked up the nearest sword I could replace and marched back into the fight, but it wasn’t as much of an effort now. As rogues were skinnier and had less stamina than us due to their poor way of eating and living, their bodies were tiring quicker than ours, we now had the upper hand. They were falling easier and slowing down, they were still determined but not as confident or fierce.

More time passed and eventually the battle wore thin with more dead rogue bodies were lying on the ground than warriors. Layton and the other Alphas had the rogues that were injured but alive, handcuffed and ready to be taken to the cells. Luckily, we had another older cell building at the other end of the village that wasn’t in use anymore that could house some of these criminals. Two of the ones being arrested were Zara’s cousins, I had seen Zara’s Aunty Delia dead with her torso torn apart when the fight was over. Guards took away the prisoners and the able warriors helped to carry the dead bodies of our men and women back to our forest boarders. while the rest of us helped to get the injured ones to the pack hospital.

The hospital was rammed with doctors and nurses rushing to help each patient. People were volunteering to help aid and comfort our fighters and the ones with minor injuries were helped to their houses. Each one of them was sent home with a bag of medicines, baked goods and toiletries. As soon as the wound on my leg was stitched, I quickly rushed to look for Sam when I spotted him in a white linen hospital bed and Dakota hovering over him. They were both giggling, his bandages were bloodied and he was pale, but he looked ok and happy with Dakota by his side. I walked over eagerly, and he smiled as he saw me. My arms flew around him as he bought one of his to my back.

" We did good huh?” he asked as I pulled away smiling at him.

“We did! We have lost a few and we don’t know the names of whom yet, so it’s going to be a long night, but Rick and Delia are dead and one of Zara’s cousins. We have the other two arrested. Layton’s helping to bring the wounded back so you might see him around.

Sam nodded and squeezed my hand. ”Thanks for making sure I got bought here Lanny”

“Anytime brother” I looked at Dakota who was smiling through watery eyes. “I’ll leave you two alone, I know it was hard for D to fight, not knowing if you were ok”.

Dakota mouthed me a thank you when I left them alone.

As I was just about to head out of the hospital it suddenly dawned on me that I hadn’t seen Kye anywhere. My heart lurched in my chest at the sudden panic if he was even alive or not. I looked around the hospital checking patients in every bed, conscious and unconscious, but after searching it was evident, he wasn’t here.

I ran back down to the forest and first came to the dead warriors, all the ones that had been collected so far but none of them were wearing the Alpha medal on their armour, so I headed down to the battle ground. The stench of all the blood was revolting, it felt as if it was burning the olfaction in my nose. I sent a silent heart-filled apology to the forest for all the blood we had spilled on its soil today.

I looked at the bodies on the ground, their blood trickling like little rivers through the once dry mud and I assisted in bringing the injured ones to the hospital. I finally caught sight of Alpha Michaelson and I ran over to him. ”Alpha, do you know the whereabouts of Alpha Greyson?”

“Why, Yes, he went to the palace with a couple of the warriors to gather the people from the basement. They’re to escort all the family’s home making sure none of them pass through the village until we have everything sorted down here”.

“Oh, thank goodness” I blew a breath of relief.

“Miss Vanderwood, I didn’t realise you personally knew Alpha Greyson”

“No, I only met him briefly but he’s the mate of Alpha Layton’s sister and... well she’s a very good friend of mine. I wanted to get word to her of his whereabouts, but I guess she’ll know anyway if he’s headed to her now”.

“Ahh, I see. well in that case no need to worry! By the way, I caught sight of you taking down that treacherous animal, Rick! I have to say I was rather impressed, you’re a skilled warrior. Alpha Layton is lucky to have you in his pack”

“Thank you, alpha Michaelson”, I blushed as I bowed and returned to helping with the dead and injured.

I had also managed to replace Heath, Adeena and Trey while they were tending to the rest of their warriors. Heath explained that Matt, Danny and Yen were back at Silver Moon keeping it protected. Apparently, Layton had spoken to Heath after I had and asked him to come down but to camp nearby and wait to attack from behind to catch the rogues off guard and leave them vulnerable and caught between us. They decided to stay and help us with the clean up of the village and forest boarder before resting and returning home.

It was dusk by the time we had noted the identities of all the fallen warriors and had them transported each to be taken back to their own packs for burial. Our pack had lost sixty men and women. Layton had asked me to accompany him as we visited each of their families all night to give them the news himself and to personally pay his respects.

To see them all so distraught was so heart wrenching and I constantly had tears escaping my eyes as he delivered the news to each and every one of them. Their agonizing screams made my stomach turn every time. We tried so hard to comfort them, but no matter what we said or did, we still always felt so helpless, not being able to take away their heartbreaking sorrow. It was a long and painful night.

xxxxxx

The sun rising the following morning, and the birds were singing by the time I had finally gotten home and after a bone crushing hug from my parents, I headed up to have a hot shower. I peeled off my sweat and blood-soaked armor and let the hot water wash away all the tension and exhaustion. I pushed my hands into the nape of my neck to ease of its tightness, then I washed and scrubbed my body and hair until no trace of blood, dirt or sweat was left on my skin and I finally felt clean again. By the time I got back to my room I saw my mum had left a cup of hot herbal tea and a plate with two buttery bagels on my nightstand and she had already drawn my curtains…. I just love her!

I sat on the edge of my bed and listened to the singing birds, I felt so heavy and weighed down, and not just because of the long, hard battle, but because of the grieving families and mates that won’t be able to sleep now, like I could. The memory of their screams and cries as they begged for Layton to be wrong, that it couldn’t possibly be their loved one that had fallen. A lump clogged my throat at the thought of it and I tried to bite it back. I drank the rest of my tea, curled up into bed as my eyes were so sore and begging to close. I pulled the duvet up and over my head to block out everything that happened.… for now, I just needed to sleep.