The morning air was still, carrying the faint scent of damp earth as Capel strolled along the dirt path, his second child clutching his hand.
"Daddy, when do I go to school like the other children?" the boy asked, his voice soft but hopeful.
"Soon, you will," Capel replied with a warm smile.
Two riders passed on horseback, their hooves kicking up dust. The peaceful moment shattered when a man strode forward, his face twisted in anger. He seized Capel by the collar.
"Where's my money?" the man bellowed, his grip unrelenting. "It's been four months, Capel pay me!"
Capel kept his voice calm. "I will pay. I just… need more time."
"You've been saying that for months!" the man snapped.
"I will," Capel repeated, his tone firm but pleading.
The man released him with a shove. "Two weeks, Capel. Two weeks."
The boy looked up, worry clouding his young face. Capel knelt beside him, brushing a thumb across his cheek.
"It's fine," he whispered, kissing the child's forehead. "Daddy's here."
A sudden blur of motion Tyler lunged at Capel, eyes blazing. Capel reacted instantly, summoning a spear of writhing black aura that struck Tyler square in the chest. The force hurled him across the clearing, his body crashing against a jagged boulder.
Bella and Henry broke through the treeline, leaving Jasper and James fallen behind them. Henry barely had time to react before Capel's arms snared Bella, locking her in a crushing grip.
"Henry!" Bella's mind screamed, but before he could reach her, Capel flung a burst of shimmering blue dust. It slammed into Henry like a sledgehammer, sending him hurtling deep into the forest. He hit the ground hard, his wolf form unraveling into human flesh before he went still.
Bella's breath came in ragged gasps as Capel's hand pressed into her throat. Her vision swam.
Jasper charged, his steps pounding like war drums. His strike swept low to bring Bella down but Capel twisted away, driving a vicious kick into Jasper's chest. The impact sent him sprawling to the dirt with a bone-shaking thud.
Far away, Sophia clutched her head, her link to the pack flickering like a dying flame. She could feel their pain sharp, relentless but Henry's mind was gone. Silent.
Was he… still alive?
Capel's grip tightened around Bella's wolf form, her strangled groans cutting through the night. Tyler's head snapped toward her her pain burned in his mind like fire. His eyes flared a deep, unholy red, and in a blur of impossible speed he lunged. His jaws clamped down on Capel's arm, tearing it clean from the socket.
Bella fell to the ground, cringing in pain, as Capel staggered back. He glanced at the jagged stump where his arm had been, shock flashing in his golden eyes.
His aura… it's different now, Capel thought.
Tyler was on him before he could summon a single ounce of power. The impact drove them both into the dirt.
In another flashback, Capel was bent over his anvil, the clang of his hammer ringing in the air when a distant column of smoke caught his eye thick and dark against the hill near his home. Dropping his tools, he ran. Sweat stung his eyes, muscles burning as the smell of burning wood and thatch grew stronger.
When he reached the crowd, the world seemed to close in. Flames roared from his home. He screamed for his wife and children, trying to force his way through, but strong arms held him back. The villagers spoke in grim, hurried voices someone had set the fire. His debts had made him enemies. All the work, all the sacrifice to save his children… and still he could not see them smile.
The memory faded into rage. In the present, Capel's body warped bone and flesh regrowing a new arm in seconds. Black aura flared around him, changing into a jagged arrow of raw energy. With a snarl, he launched it.
But Tyler moved faster than anything Capel had faced. The arrow hissed through empty air as Tyler blurred past, jaws locking on Capel's shoulder. The vampire froze.
Another memory slammed into him cold rain soaking his body as he stumbled through the night, broken by grief. A figure appeared in the downpour: a vampire cloaked in black, golden eyes gleaming.
"Poor creature," the stranger said. "Why not become immortal? Why die so weak?"
Capel had no strength to refuse. A nod, a bite, and his humanity bled away into darkness.
He had destroyed and killed the entire people he owed money, drank blood for centuries forgetting who he used to be.
Now, in the crushing grip of Tyler's jaws, the faces of his wife and children flickered before his eyes. Pain twisted with a long-forgotten love. A single tear slid down his cheek before his bones snapped under Tyler's strength.
The clearing fell silent save for labored breaths. Sophia had shifted back to her human form, wincing with every movement. Jasper and James lay nearby, human once more, groaning. Jasper pushed himself upright and staggered into the trees to find Henry.
Tyler stood swaying, Bella cradled in his arms. Her voice came weak and muffled. "Drop me… Tyler."
His knees buckled, he fell with bella on the hard ground, too weak to scream.
Jasper returned with Henry slumped on his back, collapsing to the ground as his chest heaved. Around them, the forest was still haunted by the echoes of the fight.
The moon was full and the night was turning to morning, Henry was unconscious, Sophia was in pains unable to move, Jasper was gasping for air, James laid next to a tree. Tyler and Bella stayed by each other side. What was that Tyler thought, just few minutes ago it was almost like he had changed to a completely different person, his speed and strength increased and it felt like his wolf form and human became one, what do you call that he said as he closed his eyes.
It had been a long, brutal night.