Page 313 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

“Oh, sure. I’ll see you downstairs.” As soon as I stopped speaking, he was out the door. I pressed a hand to my heart, hurt gathering around the beating organ. Had I done somethingwrong again? Hurt his feelings in some way I hadn’t realized? I had to ask him.

It took only a couple of minutes for me to pull on a pair of jeans and a blouse before heading downstairs. “Night,” I called as I reached the main floor landing. “I feel like there’s something else we should talk about…” I trailed off when I found him in the living room with Dom, Tavi, and a person I’d never met before.

The stranger was tall and lanky, his body corded with lean muscle. His curly blond hair hung down to the middle of his back, but I’d bet if I touched one of those curls and pulled, his hair would be even longer. This man didn’t smell like pack. Instead, his floral scent was laced with the musk of sweat. He had been running far, and his anxiety was palpable enough to make the room tense and somber. Immediately, I was on guard.

“What’s going on?” I asked.

“That’s what I want to know,” Night said. “It’s not every day I see a member of the Camas Pack on my territory.”

My eyebrows raised. The Kings hadn’t had contact with the Camas for at least as long as I’d been alive. And as far as I knew, the Camas had avoided the Wargs because of the rumors that they were borderline feral.

Dom spoke first. “Tavi and I were with our team, investigating the coordinates, when River came to us.” He nodded to the stranger. “He’s a messenger from the Camas Pack.”

“What is your message?” I asked River.

He winced and looked away from me instead of responding. My eyebrows scrunched together, and I looked at Night, who seemed just as confused by his reaction.

“Answer the question.” Night’s voice was stern, full of authority.

This time, River answered right away. “We were attacked, Alpha Shepherd.”

Night’s eyes flashed with surprise, then rage. “By who?”

“A pack of ferals infiltrated our borders and wreaked havoc through our territory. They injured many of us, including our alpha’s mates, but we don’t have the resources to take care of them. We need your help.”

Shock and fury shot through me. This had Troy’s name written all over it. “Tavi.” I turned to her. “Ask Dr. Stan if he has doctors to spare. They need to bring bandages, salves, blankets, and anything else they think we’ll need. When they’re ready, have them meet us on Camas Pack territory.”

She nodded. “On it, Bryn.”

As she jogged out of the cabin, I looked at Night and Dom. “In the meantime, we should all head out there. I want eyes on the state of things.”

Night touched my shoulder. “Wait, Bryn, maybe you should let us handle this. We can give you a report after.”

I shook my head vehemently. “Not a chance. As den mother, I need to be there for the injured, for the women and children who need help.” Healing, nurturing, watching out for those who needed help—that wasmydomain, not Night’s. And he couldn’t say otherwise.

He seemed to realize as much. He nodded at me, smiling slightly. “You’re right, love. Okay, let’s head out.”

Within an hour, we’d gathered those we needed—among them were Frankie, Violet, and Lance—and reached the Camas lands. It was nearing the afternoon now, and the sun was high in the sky, revealing the extent of the damage the Camas Pack had endured.

Their lands were in disarray. Some of their buildings had been set on fire, the stench of charred wood and fabric lingering in the air. Children and women huddled together in small groups, shaking in the aftermath of the attack. There were tracks leading in all directions; it was impossible to tell if the attack had come from one direction or several.

“Thank you for coming, Alpha Shepherd.” I recognized the Camas alpha from pictures in the books I’d studied in school. His name was Oakley, and he was the oldest alpha in the area. He would be in his sixties, but he didn’t look more than forty. The only indication of his age was his long white hair, which he kept in a braid that hung down to his lower back.

At his side was a man around his age, only his hair was gray, wavy, and gathered over his shoulder in several braids. His beard was an even darker shade of gray and reached his chest. He was Birchen, Oakley’s beta.

“It’s a pleasure to see you, Alpha Shepherd,” Oakley said, bowing his head slightly. “I wish we were receiving you under better circumstances.”

Night nodded. “Tell us what’s happened, Alpha.”

Oakley and Birchen glanced at me, Tavi, and a few of the other women we’d brought along. Neither of them answered for a few seconds, as if they were waiting for us to do something. What the hell was up with that?

“We were attacked by ferals,” Oakley said finally. “They came for us while we slept and nearly destroyed our buildings.”

“Is this all your injured?” I asked, gesturing toward the groups of people huddled together.

Neither Oakley nor Birchen looked at me. They shifted from foot to foot. That was when I understood their hesitance. The Camas Pack was traditional to a fault. They were peaceful, but their women weren’t seen as equal to the men. It was unheard of for a woman to ask them any direct questions or take charge. They probably didn’t want to speak about the damage they had suffered around us.

This annoyed me to no end, but now wasn’t the time to talk about how outdated and wrong their thinking was. These people needed our help, and we’d wasted enough time as it was. Without asking another question, I nodded to those who had come to heal, and we split off from Night’s team.