Sacrificed To The Triplet Alpha Kings novel Chapter 2

Chapter 2: The Body Comes Home

The smell hit them first.

Not the smell of death, though that was there too, underneath everything else. But the smell of fear. Sharp and acrid, hanging in the air like smoke, clinging to the crowd gathered in the town square.

Lilith felt her mother’s hand tighten around hers.

"It’s going to be okay," Cassandra whispered, but her voice shook. "He’s coming home. That’s what matters. He’s coming home."

Lilith didn’t answer.

Because she could see the wooden cart at the center of the square, surrounded by pack guards and onlookers, and she could see what was on it.

Body bags.

Multiple body bags.

Small ones.

"No," Cassandra breathed beside her.

They pushed through the crowd together. People moved aside when they saw them coming, the Beta’s wife and daughter, still afforded that much respect at least. Still treated like they mattered.

For now.

Alpha Garrett stood beside the cart. Tall, broad-shouldered, his face carved from stone. He looked up when they stopped in front of him, and something moved in his eyes. Something dark and complicated that Lilith couldn’t name.

"Cassandra" he said quietly. "Lilith."

"Where is he." Cassandra’s voice was steady despite the way her hand was shaking in Lilith’s grip. "You said Victor was coming home today. You said....."

"He is home." Garrett’s jaw tightened. "What’s left of him."

The world tilted.

Cassandra made a sound. Small and broken. Like something inside her had just cracked.

Lilith looked at the cart. At the body bags. There were five of them, she realized with growing horror. Five separate bags, all small, all.....

"No," she whispered.

"The hunters got to the meeting site before we could send reinforcements," Garrett said, his voice flat and emotionless in that particular way people speak when the emotions are too big to let out. "By the time our scouts arrived, everyone was dead. Torn apart. We did our best to...." He stopped. Looked at Cassandra. "We did our best to recover what we could."

Cassandra’s knees buckled.

Lilith caught her before she hit the ground, her arms wrapping around her mother’s waist, holding her upright.

"Mom....Mom, I’ve got you...."

"He’s in there," Cassandra whispered, staring at the bags with wide, uncomprehending eyes. "Your dad is in there. In pieces. He’s...." Her voice cracked completely. "He’s in pieces."

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