A Bloody Mess

Winston returns to Emilia's side after finishing his conversation with Cedric. His mind swarming with thousands of thoughts about everything that had happened. 'Is it just a coincidence that the same wolf who made an appearance the day before was also the one fighting with Emilia tonight? Who was that man with golden eyes? Why did Cedric stop him? Where did Jak go? Is Emilia going to be alright?' He kept thinking about these things throughout the rest of the night.

Winston wakes up with a start and searches the room frantically. Emilia was nowhere to be seen. He goes into a panic as he looks around for clues about where she might've gone. Finding nothing in her room, Winston goes to check downstairs.

He hears faint whisperings coming from his father's study. "What are we going to do Sam? What if they find her?! We might lose our daughter! How are you so calm?! And just look at the shape she's in! Our only daughter can't even return to her human form and all you're doing is sitting there in silence while drinking scotch!" Reina's anxiety ridden voice sounds.

Winston sniffs the air but walks away. Though his sister's scent is coming from the direction of the study, it's already fading which means that she's not in there right now. He decides to check outside, given what his mother had just said it's easy to tell that Emilia is still in the form of a wolf. A wolf, even one that's in shock, would crave to be outdoors.

He opens the front door and spots Cedric staring at something in the distance. Winston approaches his brother and looks in the direction that Cedric is watching. There he spots a black wolf running around in circles with a smaller tan wolf. "How's she doing?" He asks. Cedric sighs, "still no sign of shifting back but at least she's moving around. She gave mom quite the scare this morning, rummaging through the kitchen and devouring every morsel of meat we had."

Winston lifts an eyebrow. "Like raw meat? Em? You sure mom wasn't just seeing things?" He asks with a small chuckle. His laughter dies when Cedric gives him a serious expression. "Win, I'm serious. She's not our little sister right now. At least not fully. She's been behaving like a wild wolf this whole time." He explains, his tone filled with concern.

Winston shakes his head in denial. "Nope, you're just messing with me or overreacting. None of what you're saying makes any sense. A werewolf doesn't just suddenly become a normal wolf. It's not just unheard of, it's not possible." He says while walking towards his two younger siblings.

"Em, come here. You scared the hell out of me, you could at least say sorry or something." Winston shouts toward his sister. Emilia's black wolf turns in his direction and walks up to him. It was easy to tell that Emilia recognized her brother but something still seemed off about her. She pauses and tilts her large head at Winston.

Upon looking into her silver eyes, Winston can see the confusion his sister is feeling. "Hey, wanna spend the day running? I can shift and we could go out into the forest for a few hours if you'd like?" He asks with a gentle smile. Hurt flashes through Emilia's eyes at the mention of shifting and Winston curses at himself for not choosing his words more carefully.

The black she-wolf returns to the tan wolf's side and goes back to running around in circles. Cedric comes up behind Winston and pats his shoulder. "Just give her some more time, dad needs our help in the house anyways. We have a lot of things to prepare ourselves for because of last night." He says before leading the way back inside.

Winston and Cedric enter their father's study fully ready to be scolded. "Boys, have a seat please." Sam says in an eerily calm voice. Both boys do as they're told and look at their father's face expectantly. "Cedric told me that he set up a surprise party for your sister at a club. He also told me that this party turned into a complete disaster but that you were quick to react and got Emilia out of harm's way as fast as possible. However, I have difficulty understanding what part of her current situation makes either of you believe that I would fall for such obvious lies. Now, Winston. Tell me what really happened last night." He demands in a low voice.

Winston and Cedric wince at their father's harsh tone but Winston explains every detail of what had occurred the night before. After he is finished explaining, he averts his eyes to hide his shame. "I see. Alright, then there are a few things we must do in order to help your sister. First-..." But Sam doesn't get to finish his sentence as Emilia, in human form, barges into the room reeking of blood.

"What's going on?!" Winston says as he jumps up from his seat and rushes to check on his sister. "T-Timothy.. Help! No time, we need to help Tim!! I-it's everywhere!" She stutters through fearful tears. "Winston, stay here with Emilia and clean her off. Cedric, you're with me." Sam starts but Emilia protests, "no! I'm coming with you."

She doesn't give the males a chance to argue before she takes off outside again. Everyone follows Emilia, the sound of loud snarls and howls growing louder as they get closer to their destination. Winston catches a familiar scent and quickens his pace so that he's running directly next to his sister.

Sam and Cedric skid to a halt when they reach their destination and look around at the awful sight before them. There was Timothy's tan wolf, his fur drenched in crimson as he lay motionless on the forest floor. A few feet away was an unfamiliar black wolf brawling with two large grizzlies on his own.

Emilia runs straight to her younger brother's side and cradles him in her arms while looking over to her other brothers and father with pleading eyes. "Don't just stand there, help us." She tells them. The three men snap out of their trance, Cedric and Sam rushing to the aid of the unknown wolf while Winston lifts up Timothy with one arm and uses the other to pull his sister along with him. "Come on, dad and Ced can handle that without us but Tim needs immediate help if he's going to survive." Winston says.

Emilia nods and follows her brother out of the forest and over to the pack doctor. The siblings burst into the clinic and rush Timothy over to an empty bed. "What's going on? Oh my goddess! What happened to him??" A woman with grey hair asks after seeing Timothy's poor body. She gets to work right away while continuing to ask questions. "Come on Emilia, I need to know what did this to him so I can know what is needed here."

"We were running around in the forest, everything seemed fine at first but then… two large grizzlies came out of nowhere and rushed at us. Timothy jumped into the way to s-save me… and then they... " Emilia begins sobbing again and is unable to finish explaining. "Alright, that's all the information I need, go ahead and take a seat in the waiting room. I'll let you know as soon as I'm done here." The woman instructs the two siblings.

Emilia does as she's told but Winston stays back for a moment. "Hey, Larissa… is he going to be alright? I mean… two grizzlies…" Winston says. Larissa continues her work while responding, "he's in bad shape but I think he'll make it. You guys did a great job getting him here in time. For now, go focus on helping your sister calm down. She's not like the rest of us, seeing this kind of thing is new to her and we all know how startling that can be."

Winston nods in agreement and returns to Emilia's side. He gently rubs her back and whispers soothingly in her ear. "It's going to be alright. The doc said he's going to make it and that we got him here with great timing. That's thanks to your quick thinking Em, you saved Tim's life." He says over and over again.

Three men suddenly enter the clinic in a frenzy. Cedric, Sam, and an unknown yet familiar looking man all look around the room before spotting Emilia and Winston. Emilia surprises the entire room when she jumps up and starts worriedly inspecting the unrelated man for injuries. "Are you alright? Do you need medical attention?" She asks in a concerned tone. The man guffaws at her adorable reaction. "I'm fine, don't worry about me. How's your brother though?" He asks.

The two seem to be in their own world, completely forgetting about Emilia's brothers and father's presence in the room. Winston clears his throat loudly, snapping them back to reality. "Thanks for helping my siblings. If you aren't injured then you're free to leave now. We can handle the rest by ourselves." He says coolly.

"Winston. Don't be like that." Sam scolds his son before turning to the unknown man. "Sorry about that, your highness, he's still young and learning. I'm sure if he had known that you're the prince of the Northern wolves then he never would've said such rude remarks." He says apologetically.