Page 106 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

NIGHT

After I left Dom to fight at the northern border, I headed to the eastern border.

My wolves there were telling me that was where the fighting had started and where the majority of ferals were gathered.

When I arrived, I found ferals engaged in a close battle with Wargs and Kings warriors. But our forces were struggling.

The problem was that they were out of sync.

Without organization, they couldn’t work together, so our wolves fought in groups of all Wargs or all Kings, but that only made them easier targets for ferals to overtake or attack from behind.

This was my worst fears come to life—not used to working together, both packs were allowing gaps in formation and making it easier for the enemy to slip past. I didn’t want to think about how many ferals were running wild behind the border. I couldn’t.

I let out a long, echoing growl—an Alpha’s growl that brought a momentary pause in the fighting.

Even the ferals were paralyzed for a moment.

They wouldn’t be able to hear my thoughts, but it would stun them.

In that time, I seized control of both Wargs and Kings fighters and sent out an open call for anyone in the area to hear.

“Group up in front of me!” I was grateful when not just the Wargs, but Kings also scrambled to follow my orders rather than push back. They must have realized that they had loved ones in danger just like we did.

Just as wolves began to form an arrow of several lines in front of me, the ferals snapped out of their momentary stun. That trick wouldn’t work again, but that was fine. This time, we presented a united front.

I wanted to join the fray at the point of the arrow, but I kept close to the back so I could pick off any ferals who managed to slip past our defense.

I intercepted one such wolf, grabbing hold of his back paw with my teeth and tossing him into another feral who tried to help him.

In front of me, a young Kings wolf, no older than sixteen, didn’t notice that there was a feral sneaking up to flank him.

When the feral went in for the attack, I cut him off, grabbing him by the scruff of his neck and biting down until I felt bone give way between my jaws.

“You alright, kid?” I asked, letting the feral drop.

“Y-yeah,” he said. “Thank you.”

“Don’t mention it. Just stay sharp.”

The fight wore on and the sky turned black. I wasn’t exhausted yet, but I was surprised by how determined these ferals were. Ferals were usually cowardly and skittish. How the hell had they joined forces so powerfully?

The telltale scent of flowers hit my nose, and I whipped my head around. Bryn was coming here? Why?

While my attention was on her, a feral slipped by me. It was headed in Bryn’s direction. I sprinted after it, zig-zagging between the trees. Ahead, I saw Bryn running toward me in her human form. She was already covered in blood, and that horrible sight caused me to lose it.

The feral roared and leapt for her. My heart dropped.

Bryn hit the dirt, and for too many milliseconds, I couldn’t see her.

I didn’t know if she was still there, but then the feral passed over her, and I saw her crouched low to the ground.

Relief rushed at me even as rage flooded my blood.

The feral skidded gracelessly into the trunk of a tree, and I lunged for it.

Before it could recover, my jaws were locked around its throat.

With a roar, I forced it down onto its back.

It whimpered beneath me until my fangs closed and blood gushed from the fatal wound.

The feral taken care of, I turned to Bryn.

She was just getting to her feet, but my wolf and I were so desperate to check on her that I almost knocked her over again when I poked at her with my nose, prodding at the spots of blood that stained her shirt and pants.

“I’m okay, I’m okay,” she said, pushing me away. “It’s not my blood.”

Thank everything for that. “What the hell are you doing here?” I demanded. “You’re supposed to be with the wounded!”

“I know.” She met my eyes. “But my wolf was telling me that you were in danger, and I had to see you.”

“Bryn, I can take care of myself, dammit! But you, you’re not even in your wolf form.” She could have died right in front of me. That feral could have ripped her head off and then…then where would I be?

“I took down Troy when I was half-dead, Night,” she told me. “I know my wolf and I aren’t totally in sync, but I trust her to save me when I need her.”

This woman! I stomped the ground, but she kept talking before I could argue further.

“More importantly, I think I know who’s behind this.” She pointed over my head toward the rock formation that overlooked the battle ground. “I saw Harlon and Samson standing up there on my way over here. But they ran back toward the compound when the feral leapt at me.”

“Of fucking course.” I was frustrated at the fact that they’d managed to slip past me, and decided I’d take it out on them by making them both corpses as soon as possible.

“I think they’re heading to the patrol point out by my mom’s cabin. There’s an unguarded hidden path there that leads from one small cave to another. I used to play there when I was young.”

“Tell me where it is, and I’ll end this myself.”

“I can’t give you specific directions. I don’t remember it well enough. I have to show you. I’ll remember it when I see it.”

I growled in frustration. The absolute last thing I wanted was to take Bryn with me into what would likely be the lion’s den, but I couldn’t stand around and argue about it either.

It wasn’t safe for her to be here, but I couldn’t leave with her when this point of the border was still so unstable.

Not to mention, we had been lucky that the Kings were too busy to see us arguing.

That would undermine her power, and mine when I became their Alpha.

This was a bad situation all around.

Fortunately, just in the nick of fucking time, I saw Dom sprinting our way. I gave him a rundown of what was going on as he neared.

“You need me to take control of this sinking ship?” he asked. “I’ve got you.”

“Thanks, Dom.”

“You’re a lifesaver. Literally,” Bryn added.

He winked and headed off to take my position at the back of the line.

Bryn shifted, shook off the clothes that still clung to her, and the two of us took off.

Bryn, who was a bit faster than me, held the lead as she took me back to the compound.

We headed toward Glenda’s cabin, and then passed it.

The cave in question was just behind the tree line at the back of the cabin.

Actually, “cave” was a generous word; the entrance was little more than a hole in the ground surrounded by boulders. It was a tight fit. Even Bryn would have to crawl on her belly to get through it. After me, of course.

I dove into the hole and shimmied as quickly and quietly as I could manage.

I was eager to end this, but I didn’t want to lose any element of surprise we might still have.

Eventually, the hole widened into a larger cavern.

I shook dust and dirt from my fur and made room for Bryn to crawl through and do the same.

My hackles raised as the scent of ferals hit me.

My sense of smell was much faster than my eyes could adjust to the darkness.

We weren’t the only ones here.

Given the evidence of camp supplies and bedding, it was obvious that here was where the ferals and presumably Harlon and Samson had gathered to plan the attack.

My rage spiked knowing that all this had gone on so close to Glenda’s cabin.

A force capable of knocking both the Kings and the Wargs onto our back feet had been literally under our noses.

At any time, they could have killed Bryn or Glenda—anyone who happened to stumble onto their hideout.

“We tried to warn you, bitch,” Samson’s voice sounded from the very back of the cave. He and Harlon emerged from the darkness, surrounded by ferals. “We tried to tell you that your days as Alpha were numbered.”