Page 196 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

NIGHT

With dawn just peeking over the horizon, Bryn, Lance, Dom, Tavi, and I shifted into our wolf forms and set out.

Lance’s wolf looked so much like Bryn’s, with his deep auburn fur and bright sapphire eyes.

The only difference was that she was smaller and sleeker—even pregnant.

Dom’s wolf had fur light enough that it looked white in the shadows; the true pale yellow was only visible in the sunlight.

Tavi’s wolf was as black as mine but smaller, with tufts of white fur on her chest. She and Bryn were similar in size, aside from Bryn’s round stomach.

Vince and Jasper joined us. The location of the attack was miles and miles away from both territories, so we’d be running for a good portion of the day. Bryn and I set the pace.

“Don’t push yourself, love,” I reminded her after the first hour. “Let me know if you need a break.” We’d made good time, but I didn’t want her to wear herself out.

“I can handle this much,” she replied, and I heard the playful challenge in her voice. “Why don’t you try keeping up?”

We were heading into territory we didn’t know, and it was likely that we would be seeing some unpleasant things.

But as Bryn ran ahead of me, my wolf started to take over, and he pushed us to match her.

She panted with joy, and it turned into a race.

Her belly was round, and it must have made her slower.

But despite that, and despite the fact that her wolf was smaller than mine, she was built for speed and distance.

We took a brief break when we were about halfway to the site of the attack. She gave a panting yip, rolling onto her side as she caught her breath.

I went to check on her. “You okay?”

“Yes.” She nuzzled her nose under my chin. “I feel very alive.”

I pressed my nose into her neck and let the scent of her fur soothe my heart, which was beating at an elevated pace. She would probably like it if I didn’t worry about her as often as I did, but it was impossible to stop. I loved her far too much, and I hated when she was out of my sight.

“I want to do this with you again,” she said. “I think our wolves need it.”

“Yes. And so do we.”

She nipped at my fur. “You’re right, of course.”

“When you two are done cuddling,” Lance said, “the rest of us are ready to go when you are.”

Bryn and I laughed. “I don’t see you calling Tavi and Dom out,” she replied.

My sister and beta were sitting only a few yards from us. Their heads were bent toward each other, touching. If they were communicating, they didn’t want us to know the specifics.

Lance scoffed. “They’re not the ones slowing us down, sis. You two are.”

Bryn shook her head. “You’re not going to start calling me that, are you?”

“Only if it annoys you.”

She rolled her eyes. “Great. I guess you’re going to try to make up for two decades’ worth of annoyance.”

“That wasn’t my plan at all. Or, it wasn’t before you said that.”

I chuckled. It made me giddy to hear them argue like siblings. Compared to Dom, Lance was much stiffer around Bryn, but he was obviously getting used to his role. He was treating Bryn the way I did Tavi, so the scene felt very familiar.

We continued our trek. When we arrived on Garou territory, the somber mood of the young wolf who met us at the entrance drained the happy mood right out of us. He had clothes ready for us, including a dress for Bryn.

“You’re earlier than we were expecting,” he said. He spoke calmly—in fact, everything about him seemed calm, if stiff. But his dark brown eyes carried that wide, faraway look reserved for those who were suffering very deeply.

We shifted to our human forms and accepted the clothes with thanks.

“Follow me,” he said. “It’s…it’s a real mess inside.”

That turned out to be an understatement.

About a dozen bodies were strewn across the ground in both wolf and human forms. The Camas Pack had suffered heavy losses, but it was different walking through the Garou compound.

Maybe it was because the area was much smaller, or that the bodies were mangled to the point of being unrecognizable.

It didn’t matter. While Lance, Dom, and I were trained to keep our expressions neutral, I couldn’t blame Bryn or Tavi for covering their mouths and fighting back tears.

The ground was stained with blood, and where there was blood, Troy’s stench wasn’t far away.

Some of the bodies were of feral wolves—it was obvious by their unruly, matted fur. Bryn shuddered at the sight and turned away. These kids weren’t our enemies, not really, and each loss was a loss for our pack.

“You must be Night.”

The voice belonged to a tall, wiry man with curly red-gold hair. Red scratches crisscrossed his neck and shoulders, and the expression on his face was hard, stiff, haunted. I suspected he was the alpha of the Garou. Meaning, his men were scattered on the ground.

“And you must be Leo,” I replied.

“I am.”

“I am so sorry that this happened.” I extended my hand to him. “If I had things my way, we’d be meeting for a happier reason. That said, I’m here to help with whatever you need of us.”

He let out a brief, pained sigh. “I appreciate you saying that.” He shook my hand once, his hand as dry and cold as winter frost.

The wolf who led us in spoke softly to Leo. “I’ll get Cat.”

Leo nodded. “So, I’m told you can help me understand why my pack was blindsided by an army?”

“I can tell you that the man behind all of this is named Troy Redwolf. He’s been terrorizing not just your pack but ours and others in the area.”

“Oh, good. A tyrant.” Leo’s mouth thinned to a straight line. His words were sarcastic, but his brown eyes were filled with dark rage. “Tell me everything.”

I explained Troy and how he was in control of the army. But as I started to explain his goals and how the ferals came into play, Leo raised his hands to stop me.

“No.” He shook his head vehemently. “You’re telling me that this guy is looking for a portal for eternal life? I can’t accept something so insane.”

“You don’t have to accept it,” I replied. “It’s his reasoning, not ours.”

“I don’t believe in that kind of magic.”

“Neither did we, but magic is what gave him his army. Those ferals are actually children kidnapped by him and his father. In trying to open the portal, he turned them into the wild wolves who attacked your people. They’re not in their right mind. They’re under Troy’s control.”

He was shaking his head again. “This is too much for me to take in.”

“I’m sorry, but it’s the truth. Troy is hunting down a fairytale, and he’s willing to hurt, kill, or maim anyone to do it.”

“No kidding. If he’s willing to do all of that to members of his own pack—to children—then I guess we got off easy, all things considered.”

“You could say that, but what you’ve dealt with is devastating. There are losses on all sides where Troy is concerned. The only person he’s looking out for is himself. We’ve been tracking him for months, but we haven’t been able to get ahead of him.”

Leo had paled the more I spoke, but he was no longer denying what I had to say. “But why is he going after new packs like mine? Is that part of his ritual? Or is the guy just out of his mind?”

“That would make sense, wouldn’t it?” Dom said. “But I doubt it. My only theory here is that he’s trying to establish dominance over the area, but if that was the case, I’d think there would be some kind of order to what he was doing. But his attacks are sporadic, chaotic, and clearly devastating.”

I nodded in agreement. “As far as we can tell, there’s no reason behind his attacks. We’re beginning to think that he’s just lost it completely.”

A woman separated from the group and jogged to us. Her blond hair was shaved on one side of her head, and on the other, the strands fell to her shoulder. Leo looked up as she touched his shoulder, and his shoulders eased a bit.

He hugged her. “Cat.”

“Sorry I didn’t come over sooner,” Cat said. “I didn’t want to leave the men behind until I knew they were in good hands.” She glanced at Dom, Lance, and me. “They were. In good hands, I mean.”

“This is Catherine,” Leo said. “She’s my beta. This is Alpha Night, his beta, and Lance.”

“Call me Cat,” she said. “It’s good to meet you all.”

We caught her up on what we told Leo, and she didn’t interrupt once. She seemed more willing to accept what we’d said than her alpha had been. She let out a long, deep sigh.

“That sort of arrogance was the reason we left our packs and started this one,” she said. “We weren’t exactly being killed for no reason, but we know what it’s like to be ruled under an alpha’s iron fist. It fucking sucks that we’re back to square one.”

“It’s not your fault,” Lance told her. “It’s no one’s fault besides Troy’s. We’re searching for him now, and we’re not leaving the area until we’re sure that he’s dead.”

Dom and I nodded along with his words. We were on a mission, and that mission wouldn’t be complete until Troy was dead and buried.

“If you need help, we know these lands pretty well. We can—”

“Cat,” Leo interrupted, “I’m sure they’ve got things under control.”

She paused, then said haltingly, “Oh. Sure. Of course. Sorry about that.”

I kept my face neutral about the help that was offered and then taken back. Leo probably already felt stretched thin enough as it was. He probably hadn’t been alpha for more than a couple of years. This sort of attack wasn’t something you were prepared for right away.

“I take no offense,” I said. “We’re here to help where we can.”

“Like I said before, we appreciate it,” Leo said. “Your hunters helped us hold things down until you got here. We’d be much worse off without your help.”

“Think nothing of it. It’s the least we can do.”

“Speaking of holding things down,” Lance said. “I was thinking I could help you out with some basic fortifications your pack can benefit from.”

As he started to explain his tips, Dom and I stepped away. Oakley had been taken on a walkthrough of the Garou Pack territory with his beta and a few of my men. The minute he saw me, he came over.

“I’m amazed, Alpha Night,” he said.

“By what?” I asked. My voice was a little harsher than I would’ve liked, but it was hard not to take issue with the man when I knew how he’d treated his own daughter. But if he’d noticed, he didn’t seem to mind.

“The cooperation you and your men show with the females of your pack,” he said. “I’ve never known that something like this could be as successful as it is.”

“That’s all?” I suppressed a growl and started walking back toward Bryn. She and Tavi were speaking with a group of the injured wolves. Dom walked next to me as Oakley followed behind us.

“I’m just surprised,” he went on. “I was sure that you would eventually see how the women would hold you back, but it seems like you’ve only gotten stronger with time, not weaker.”

My eyebrow raised a bit. “That’s what we’ve been trying to tell you, Alpha Oakley. It’s more than possible for men and women to work together. What you’re doing is weakening your pack by keeping half the population subservient to you.”

“I’m starting to see things from your point of view.” He was quiet for a few seconds, and then he asked softly, “How is Samara?”

I stopped walking and turned to him.

“Night,” Dom’s warning voice entered my mind, but I ignored it.

“She’s thriving,” I said firmly. “She is happy, she’s making friends, and she’s made a place for herself in my pack. She understands what she has been missing by being under your thumb all her life.”

Oakley looked surprised by my words at first, but that surprise quickly fell from his face and a deep frown replaced it. He didn’t seem angry, just upset. Maybe even a bit ashamed.

“I see.” He turned from us and slowly walked away.

“Huh,” Dom muttered. “Considering how close you two came to fighting last time you spoke, that went way better than I thought it would.”

“No kidding.” I watched him until he reconnected with Birchen. “I think this time away from Samara has given him time to think.”

“I hope that means he’ll change, even a little bit.” Dom looked at me. “You didn’t tell him that she misses him.”

“She can tell him that when they see each other. I’m sure one or both of them will want to have a visit before too long.”

He smiled. “Fair enough.”

An hour later, we put the Garou Pack’s dead to rest in one large funeral pyre. Bryn pressed close against me during it, her shoulders shaking as she sobbed silently.