Chapter 500: Finn
August gasped and sprinted out of Graeme’s arms. It was true—he actually came back!
"Finn!" She cried, instant tears streaming down her face.
This was the male who had died to protect her. Another one! She was so blessed with the family that she had surrounding her in this pack. The last time she saw Finn was on the night of Samhain when they were exploring the haunted forest with the pups. She knew something was wrong—she could sense it. She could sense the strays hiding in wait in the forest, masking their scent. She should have never let Finn go ahead of her.
"Finn!" She sobbed as she embraced him, colliding with his body so hard that he had to take a step back to receive her.
His eyes were wide with this greeting from his Luna. It was completely inappropriate. He looked over her shoulder at Graeme, scared about what anger might be directed his way. But his Alpha was smiling. Was he even... was he chuckling?
Finn had just been looking at his Luna in awe the other day for the beautiful glow she had and was reprimanded for it. Why was he allowed to be the recipient of such a passionate hug now?
But Graeme was smiling so large as well. And as he made his way to Finn, he nodded to him with the reassurance that he could receive his Luna’s affection without any jealousy on Graeme’s part.
"Goddess, what a miracle. Another one!" August said against him. "Thank you for coming back to us."
"But Luna..." he said, frowning. He didn’t understand what she meant. Why were they so overjoyed to see him?
August released him, beaming as she looked up at him. She cupped his face in her hands with a satisfied smile as if she were making sure he was okay. Graeme came and slapped him on the shoulder before pulling him into a hug as well.
"Thank the Goddess," his Alpha said, squeezing him tight. "You are a good male, Finn. We are so blessed to have you."
Finn was stunned. He was speechless. What was happening?
Next his brothers came jumping down from where they were standing above in the mezzanine. "Look at him, he doesn’t remember anything," one of them chuckled, mussing up his hair before pulling him into an embrace.
Slowly Finn was realizing that something bad must have happened, but he couldn’t recall what it was. Had he gotten lost? Had he wandered off into a fairy portal on the night of Samhain and somehow made it back out?
"Dude, you literally lost your head. But look at him..." one of his brothers said, wrapping a hand around the back of Finn’s neck and shaking it gently.
"Get off of me," he half growled, half chuckled, pushing the male away. It was one thing getting a hug from his Alpha and Luna, it was another thing getting this attention from his brothers.
And then the whole pack was surrounding him, pressing in to get a look with gasps of surprise and sobs and happy tears. This day was the most remarkable one that any of them had ever experienced. Two lives had been restored! Had their Luna truly done this?
They witnessed the miracle of that place with the hot spring and the petals spiraling up into the sun. They were there—they saw it with their very own eyes. They heard the rich sound of the song that resonated within each of them, sparking that melody that brought together their voices into one united, resounding chord of creation. But even with all of that, it was still hard to fathom that this was the result.
Neoma came back, but she had only just passed moments before. One could imagine that she had not really been dead at all. After all, there was no visible wound. But Finn...
Hands kept seeking him as the pack surrounded him, touching his body and his head and his neck—each pack member wanting to be reassured with the physical evidence that this was not just some collective dream they were all having. Finn was truly here. He had been healed.
Someone reached to lift up his shirt, and he took hold of it to prevent them from taking it clear off of him. He was a lycan—he didn’t mind stripping down in front of others, but that was because no one paid anyone else’s nakedness any mind. Now hands were all over his body, wanting to see it. This was overwhelming. Why was this happening?
"Okay," Graeme said in his Alpha tone, quieting the rising voices and stopping the hands that were desperately seeking Finn. "That is enough. Give him some space."
"Alpha, what happened?" Finn straightened his clothes, a flush of embarrassment on his cheeks. He had never been the object of so much bizarre, unwanted attention before.
"You don’t remember anything?" August asked, wiping tears from her face.
Finn shook his head. He could not remember anything that would warrant this reception. Now that he thought about it, why was everyone gathered in the chambers anyway?
"What is the last thing you recall?" Graeme asked, pulling August into his side to comfort her.
She was still crying. The tears wouldn’t stop, and she chuckled at them—wiping them away as more came. They were happy tears, and they just kept coming. Graeme rubbed her arm, holding her under his wing to give her the tranquility of his physical touch that was unique to mates. She sighed contentedly, her breath shuddering like it was descending steps back to him.
"Samhain," Finn answered, frowning. He looked up at the skylight and the color of the sky beyond it. Something in the air made him realize that the time of Samhain had long passed. "Luna August and I were following the pups into the haunted forest. I told you I wouldn’t leave her," his eyes dropped back to his Alpha’s.
"You are a good male, Finn," Graeme smiled, his chest swelling with a pride for Finn that he hoped was shared by the young male in front of him.
"I don’t understand," Finn frowned, looking around at everyone who was gathered again. "What happened? Why is everyone in the chambers?"
"Finn, you were killed," August said softly. "You truly don’t remember any of it? Do you remember the strays?"
She grimaced internally as she thought of Seth here on their pack land, a threat to her pack. And Zagan for that matter. It was hard to square what had happened on Samhain—the threat to their land and their pack and their people—with the Seth and Zagan that she knew now.
How would anyone else here understand the difference between who these attackers were before—villains capable of killing one of their own—and who they are now? Would Graeme understand? Or would he want them punished?
This was going to be a hurdle moving forward, she was certain of it. August couldn’t imagine herself being so forgiving of whoever had killed Finn if she had not been there on Zagan’s island, living amongst them, seeing them change before her eyes.
"No, Luna," Finn’s eyes went wide with the revelation. He had been killed? He searched his memory, but there was nothing between the pups’ haunted forest and now. "Are you sure? Are you sure I didn’t just heal?"
"Very sure," Graeme grimaced, recalling how Finn had been killed. His head had been sliced clean off of his body. There was no doubt that he was gone. It was difficult to kill a lycan, but decapitation was one sure way to do it.
"Finn?" A small voice cried, sniffling behind the rest of the hushed crowd.
"Violet?" He said, recognizing the voice of the female who he had brought back through the woods when she was so badly injured.
It was the most awful violence done to a female that he was aware of, and when they returned, he didn’t want to leave her unprotected. He felt responsible for staying with her so that no one else would have a chance to harm her. She was so fragile in that state.
An uneasy energy seemed to descend on everyone gathered, and the crowd parted so that he could see the female who had called his name. Sam was behind her, and her hands seemed to be tied behind her back. It suddenly dawned on him that they were all gathered in these chambers because of her.
Violet sighed, a genuine smile on her face as her gaze fell on him. He was okay.
"I don’t understand," he said, his thoughts making their way into the air. Why would Violet be on trial here? Was it his fault? Was it because he allowed himself to be distracted by her in the market that day?
"This is my fault," he said then, looking back at his Alpha and Luna. "I shouldn’t have taken my eyes off of you that day, Luna. It was my fault. Not Violet’s. Please don’t punish her..."
"No, Finn," Violet shook her head, her heart plummeting.
She couldn’t bear to hear him trying to take the blame for anything she had done. She hated August and she wanted her to pay, but there was no way she was going to listen to Finn claiming responsibility even for the smallest thing. That she could not live with.
"But Miss Violet..." he said.
"She has done a lot, Finn," Graeme said. "She has done much more than you know."
