Indianna gasped and sat upright. She frantically looked around, her heart pounding in her chest.
She was in her room.
Her breath came rapidly, and she was slick with sweat. She didn't know how she had got back to the pack house.
Indianna groaned as she climbed out of bed. Her whole body ached.
"You're awake!"
Indianna cried out in fright as Brooke barged into her room and hugged her.
"She's awake!" Brooke yelled. "Guys! She's up!"
"Ow, Brooke!" Indianna whined. "There's no need to yell so loudly."
"Sorry," Brooke said.
Suddenly, Indianna was joined in her room by Kal, Harry, Kirstie, Mac, Janson and Olivia.
"How are you feeling?" Kal asked.
"I'm... Where's Greyson?" Indianna wondered.
"Indie," Brooke said softly. "You don't remember?"
"Remember?"
Indianna frowned as she looked at Kal, who had his arm in a sling, and Harry, who had cuts and scrapes across his face.
"What... what happened? Where's Greyson?"
"He..." Brooke gulped and glanced towards the others.
"Brooke!" Indianna said sharply. "What is it?"
"Do you not remember the attack?" Brooke whispered. "I was kidnapped, and you came to try to save me, but—"
Indianna's eyes widened, and she nodded as all the memories came rushing back.
"We were bait. I told Greyson not to come... but he did! Oh God, the attack!"
Indianna stumbled backwards and fell onto her bed.
"The attack. We lost."
Indianna froze, and her breathing became rapid.
"I... Rogue... J-Jason—he l-lied."
"Leave," Kirstie ordered. "Everyone leave."
"But—"
"Family only!" Kirstie snapped, cutting Brooke off.
Indianna looked up at Kirstie and realised how tired she looked. She had dark bags beneath her eyes, and her skin was sickly pale.
Kirstie grabbed Mac's hand and slowly approached the shaking Indianna as everyone else left.
"No," Indianna whispered and shook her head. "What happened? I don't remember anything after I was tackled to the ground. What happened to him? Is he all right? Is he hurt?"
Kirstie swallowed.
"He's not hurting," she said slowly. "Not anymore."
"H-He's not?" Indianna stuttered. "K-Kirstie. Kirstie, is he... He can't be! He can't! No! He's alive! He has to be! I need him to be—"
Indianna slid off the bed and crumpled to the ground as tears streamed down her cheeks.
"He can't be!" she cried.
Kirstie crouched down and wrapped her arms around Indianna.
"He can't! He's all I have!"
"I'm so sorry," Kirstie mumbled and closed her eyes, trying to hold back her tears. "I'm so sorry, Indianna."
Indianna screamed into Kirstie's chest.
"No!"
"I'm sorry," Kirstie repeated.
She didn't know what else to say. She couldn't support Indianna when she was grieving too.
"I've got no one," Indianna whimpered.
"You've got us," Mac said softly and rested his hand on Indianna's shoulder.
"Don't touch me!" Indianna snapped.
She suddenly shoved Kirstie away from her.
"It's not the same! I'm not your family! Greyson was mine! He was all I had! He always said he would put his life before mine, and he did! He should be here, not me! I'm the one who ignored him and snuck out! I went to Rogue! Rogue killed him because he's my mate! It's all my fault—"
"You can't think like that—"
"Shut up!" Indianna screamed and covered her face with her hands. "Shut up, shut up, shut up!"
"Indie—"
"Shut up!" she exclaimed. "Just... just leave me alone! Leave me the hell alone! Get out! Get out!"
"Go," Kirstie said sternly and nudged Mac towards the door.
She looked back at Indianna.
"Indie, we've all lost someone. He was my brother, our Alpha and your mate, but you're the Luna. It's time for you to be strong."
"Strong!" Indianna yelled. "Strong! He was the strong one! He was the one who knew what he was doing! He was the one who needed to live, not me! I need him back!"
Kirstie pursed her lips and walked up to the sobbing Indianna.
"Hey!" Kirstie said sternly.
Indianna wasn't listening.
"Indianna!" Kirstie sighed.
She raised her hand and slapped Indianna.
Indianna froze and looked up at Kirstie with wide eyes. Kirstie was on the verge of tears, but she gulped and crossed her arms over her chest.
"Indianna, I'm so sorry, but you're our Luna. You need to act like one. Take your time to grieve—we all need to—but when you're ready and willing to compose yourself, you need to help lead this pack."
Kirstie's voice shook slightly.
"Rogue has control, and we need you. Yes, Greyson was the Alpha, but you're our Luna. You are strong. That mark on your side binds you to this pack. This pack is your family now, and we all need you. When you're ready, we'll all be waiting."
"No change?" Kirstie asked.
Kal shook his head.
"She won't come out."
"It's been three days. She needs to grow some balls," Kimberly muttered.
"Her soulmate is dead!" Brooke snapped. "You may not know what it's like to care about someone, but Indianna loved him, and he's gone! So shut your mouth and show some goddamn respect!"
"A week," Brooke sighed. "She's been in there a week."
"How much time can we give her before we intervene?" Kal wondered.
"Give her more time," Harry said and looked at Brooke. "I know I'd need it."
"Hey, man. Indie still won't come out. I don't blame her, but we need her. It's getting bad, dude. The pack is a mess."
Kal sighed and looked down at Ace, who still wasn't responding.
Ace was one of the many casualties of the battle. He had slipped into a coma from his wounds. While his injuries had healed, he still hadn't woken up.
"I can't believe he's gone," Kal whispered. "We've known him since we were born. I remember hating the ass when I was six, but then you befriended him and dragged me into one of the best friendships I've ever had. He was a dick, but he cared... sometimes, if he really tried."
Kal rubbed his eyes and patted Ace's arm.
"You'd better wake up soon, man. We can't lose someone else."
"Two weeks," Harry announced.
"Nothing from Indianna or Ace," Mac said quietly.
"We need an intervention," Kirstie said. "Someone needs to talk to our Luna."
"I've tried," Brooke whispered. "She just sits and stares. It's like she's not there."
"Doc, what do you suggest?" Kirstie asked.
Doc sighed and looked around at the people gathered in Greyson's office.
"I—"
Everyone turned towards the door as it creaked open.
A barefoot, messy-haired Indianna walked in. She was dressed in one of Greyson's jumpers and hugged it tightly against her body.
Her face was gaunt, and her eyes almost looked black beneath the dark circles. She let the door close behind her before looking up and meeting everyone's eyes.
Indianna slowly walked through the office and squeezed Brooke's hand as she passed. She then took a seat in Greyson's chair behind the desk and looked at everyone else, pulling her knees up to her chest.
"Let's talk," she said, her voice hoarse and quiet, lacking any emotion.
"About..." Kal trailed off.
"Rogue."
"After the battle, he knocked you out, and you were unconscious for three days," Kirstie explained. "He allowed us all to return to the house and help the injured, but he made it clear that if we even thought about fighting back, we wouldn't live to see tomorrow."
Kirstie swallowed.
"He has complete control. He's letting us run the pack, but it's an illusion. It's his. We're just doing the hard work for him. He has control of us, and his men are everywhere in town. I hear he's already planning on taking Janson's pack."
"What happened to them?" Indianna asked quietly.
"We told them to run," Kal said. "They made it back to their territory, but they're weak. An easy target."
"He'll soon have two packs under his command," Kirstie sighed. "Even two broken packs are easy enough to use to take over a third, and then a fourth..."
"He's using his men to control us and the town, and then he'll use us to take down other packs. The cycle will repeat itself," Mac muttered.
"So we kill him," Indianna said.
"It's not that easy," Harry said.
"His men are loyal," Brooke added. "Too loyal. He's their leader, and if he died... there would be more bloodshed and death. We'd lose again. He has too many men, and they could easily overthrow us."
"So what do we do?" Indianna asked.
"We put on a brave face," Kal said.
"The pack is already in pieces," Kirstie nodded. "We need to look strong for them."
"So we're going to lie to them?" Brooke asked.
"We're going to be strong," Kirstie said. "And we're going to do as Rogue says."
"No one else can die," Indianna whimpered.
"And while we act like good little slaves and do everything Rogue says, we plan how to defeat him," Harry said.
"But you just said—"
"There'll be a way to take him down," Harry cut Indianna off.
"There has to be," Brooke whispered.