Moon Bound - PART I & II - (Book 1 in the Original ROYAL HOWLERS Duology) ✔

S I X T Y - O N E ~ Eleni's Choice

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He heard it. The anguished cry echoed to where he was and it prickled his skin. 

Sebastian spun around, wide-eyed at his cousin's sorrow and he opened the emotional barrier to seek out his Alpha. Sebastian frowned when there was an emptiness where his Uncle Vali should have been. His heart sunk so heavy it became hard to breathe.

"Uncle Vali..." Sebastian could barely whisper it out then took off in the direction of Micah's cry. 

The Twilight Savior dodged a hunter, shoving them back into a tree. There were two more who attempted to stop Sebastian but the Werewolf snarled, slashing his claws against their faces in one swipe. Blood sprayed onto the ground; droplets coating the greenery of the forest. 

Micah's cry had been a good distance and had Sebastian head further into the forest in order to find a few fights still lingering in this particular area. But it was over towards the edge where his Aunt Ursula was leaned forward, screaming in anguish and Micah was blubbering as he tried to console her. 

Sebastian slowed to a halt, distraught at recognizing the tall bloodied form of his uncle. The man was leaned against his wife who kept screaming for Valor to come back, to not leave her alone. 

Everything hit him all at once. Sebastian was suddenly taken back in flashes of the memories shared with his uncle. 

The glimpses were through his eyes; staring up at a blond man whispering for him to not wake his parents at his Twilight Hour, the frown on the same blond man staring back at him with mashed potato on his face, the many times the blond man opened a cupboard or some hiding space Sebastian would crawl into and see the confused look before a bright grin on the Alpha stared back at him. 

There was the echoed laughter from Sebastian playing "Wolf" with his uncle; hearing his own laughter mix with the nephew's. The many hugs Sebastian surprised the Alpha with which softened the man up as he stared down and grinned when Sebastian piped up, "I love you, Uncle Vali!"

Sebastian's memory flashed to the time he spent at the watery enclosure his uncle shared with him. How his uncle's words echoed; telling Sebastian of who he was and was going to be. 

Then there was the time of Sebastian's first encounter with the Elders; his uncle telling him that Sebastian had greatness inside him... and then when his uncle forced a small smile to keep the boy from knowing how injured he was after his lashings. 

Sebastian's memory flashed again. Now as an adult; the laughs he shared with his uncle were echoing around him and the same smile his Uncle Vali gave him flashed back at him. Their bond being mended after the fiasco with Eleni. 

The painful clawing in Sebastian's chest couldn't take away his hope that this wasn't real! This was just a terrible nightmare!

But it wasn't. And Sebastian knew that. 

Micah whimpered at his mother while trying to pry her away from the fallen Alpha. Ursula screamed for her son to not touch her mate, that to give him space! It wasn't intentional, Micah knew, and it just hurt him more to see his weeping mother taking it the hardest. 

With slow steps, Sebastian approached. His hands shook the closer he got and once he was beside the weeping mother and son, Micah looked up at him.

"Sebastian..." Micah whimpered then hung his head to cry again. 

Sebastian knelt, his chest filling with such a heavy cloud as he took in his uncle. His chin trembled, swallowing hard as he shook his head and leaned forward to gently pry his aunt off the body.