CHAPTER 49 LIFE OR DEATH

November 4th

"How are you still alive?!" Leo said picking me up by the waist and pulling me into his chest, after

scanning my body for injury.

"You have the Praesidium Deae Astra to thank for that," I said.

"You protected yourself?" Leo asked and I nodded.

"Don't sound so surprised," I said hugging him again.

"Okay, celebration over, these people need leading," Leo said to the chaos that had evolved around us.

"Hey, Christiano!" Leo called beckoning a man over. "Inform the base of our victory and deploy the

paramedics. There are a lot of casualties scattered throughout the territories."

The man nodded and scurried off.

"Alessandro," Leo said to another man. "Order your squadron to take Alpha Haden to the base prison.

Ensure there is a doctor there to administer wolfsbane hourly. He must be kept weak."

"Alpha what should we do with the children?" The man asked that had helped save the kids. "They

have no other family members."

"The convoy trucks will be here shortly, Angelo," Leo said. "For now, ensure that they are kept warm

and out of the way. I suppose we'll see if anyone's willing to take them on when the situation has

settled a little."

The soldier nodded before pausing, "Actually, Alpha. I'd take them on."

Leo looked at him, "For real? All three?"

He nodded.

"Do you have you have a mate?" Leo asked.

"Yes."

"Does she not want her own kids?"

"He and I can't have our own children...for obvious reasons."

"Oh," Leo said with a smile, "I see. Then you and your mate are dismissed from duty for today. Get

those kids home. They don't need to see all this."

I looked around.

To the left of us was the body of their mother being loaded onto a stretcher. All around the rest of the

clearing there was injured soldiers, weapons, bodies and a whole lot of blood.

The soldier nodded, "Thank you, Alpha."

He then approached the three children, huddled together and guided them away.

"Ella, your brother is stood creepily at the edge of the forest," Leo said.

I looked around to see him watching us.

"He knows he's not welcome on your territory."

"Go," he said.

I looked up, in surprise.

"Go and talk to your brother," he repeated as if he was having to swallow his pride. "Then he can get

the fuck off my land."

I smiled and left before he could change his mind.

"I thought you had gone?" I said hugging him.

"I had but then I realised I couldn't leave things between us like this. I'm sorry for reacting so badly to

your pregnancy," he replied.

"I understand," I said. "It's a lot to take in."

"So you have like...a human inside you," he replied.

I nodded, "Guess so."

"And when it's born, do you think he'll let me come and see you?" he asked.

"If not, I can persuade him," I replied with a shrug. "I have a way with words as you know."

He smiled, "Glad he hasn't changed you too much, sis."

"Why don't you come and talk to him?" I asked and Connor's face instantly dropped.

"Absolutely no way," he replied.

I looked over to Leo, he had just finished to one of his shoulders and was walking across the clearing.

"Leo!" I called, beckoning him over.

"Ella," Connor hissed.

Leo then approached us until he was stood directly opposite Connor.: text © owner.

"I don't think the two of you have formerly met," I said gesturing to Connor.

"No..." Leo said, "But I've heard a lot about you."

"...as have I," Connor replied.

"I have to head back to the base now," Leo said.

Convenient excuse.

"No worries. Connor and I can come too," I chirped, "I'm sure you need all the help you can get."

Leo raised an eyebrow before looking to Connor.

"Leo," I said, "Please."

Let let our a deep breath, "Fine," he said sharply.

I then followed him as he marched to his car, dragging my brother reluctantly behind.

When we got to the car, I pushed Connor into the passenger seat and got in the back, in the hope that

it would trigger some conversation between the two. But it didn't and in its absence was a tense

silence.

"So," I began putting my hands on each of their shoulders. "This is nice."

Leo rolled his eyes and Connor scoffed.

I then nudged Connor and raised my eyebrow, gesturing to Leo. "Say something," I mouthed.

"Congratulations on the baby," he said.

"Thank you," Leo said.

So far so good.

"How does it feel to be a paedophile?" Connor added.

Christ's sake.

"Pretty good actually. Your sister is brilliant in b-"

"Leo," I snapped and the car returned to silence.

"Thank you for keeping Ella safe," Leo said a moment or two later.

"I didn't do it for you," Connor replied. "It's your fucking fault she was in danger in the first place."

"I didn't start this war," Leo said deeply.

"But you dragged her into your chaotic, violent life, didn't you?" he asked.

"Connor that is enough," I butted in. "This was a stupid idea."

"What trying to force us into being civil?" Leo asked.

"It's never gonna happen, Ella," Connor replied. "You need to accept that."

"Maybe if you acted your ages, it would be possible," I hissed.

The rest of the journey was silent and at long last we arrived at the base.

Rosa immediately came rushing up to us.

"Thank the Lord you two are alright," she said hugging Leo and then me. "But Leonardo, have you

seen you eldest two sisters? They've been missing all night."

Leo hesitated for a second.

"Maria and Elena were on the last line of defence, I wasn't expecting the war to escalate as much as it

did. I haven't seen either of them in hours, but Maria was the one who shot Alpha Haden with the

wolfsbane arrow, which won us the war," Leo said.

"They....fought?" Rosa said.

"Allison too," Leo said.

"What on earth were you thinking?! What if something has happened to one of them, Leonardo?!" Rosa

said worry dashing across her face.

Connor let out a short laugh at the sight of Leo being scolded by his mother.

"I didn't strictly allow it, Mom. They took themselves to the border and apparently they have been

training themselves for months. If I knew about it before I would have put an end to it, but..." Leo said

before he suddenly trailed off. Rosa's face had gone from slightly agitated to pale and ghostly.

We both turned around to see what she had spotted.

Elena.

In the arms of Mateo.

"SOMEBODY GET A DOCTOR!" Mateo roared.

Rosa had raced over to them, Leo and I following suit. Maria, Allison and Lia were already with them,

along with Marco and Carlos. Mateo placed the unconscious Elena on the grass as Rosa sunk down to

her knees beside her.

"My baby," Rosa cried before Doctor Amanda bustled through the small crowd.

"She's still alive, but she's not breathing," Amanda said listening to her chest. "Mateo, what exactly

happened?"

"I don't know, this is how I found her," Mateo said quickly as Amanda began CPR.

"I'll need a stretcher and an oxygen machine urgently," Amanda said to another doctor with haste in her

voice.

"What can I do?" Rosa asked her voice croaky.

"Take her hand," Amanda said. "And prepare to say goodbye."