Page 62 of Claimed By the Rival Alpha

I’d seen others try and fail to connect with him, so instead of talking, I had simply leaned against the tree next to him and put my hand on his shoulder.

We stood in silence for a long time, until Dom finally broke down in tears.

I said nothing while he cried, and I never moved from that spot.

I let Dom have that moment and offered my presence as comfort.

And now, over a decade later, Dom was doing the same for me.

I took another deep breath and nodded. “Alright. I’m calmer.”

Dom let his hand fall. “I’m sorry, Night. I wish we could go out to find them.”

So did I. I opened my eyes and cracked my knuckles. “Send out anyone we’ve got—hunters, sentinels, anyone not on duty—and tell them to fan out to find Tavi and Bryn. They can’t have gone too far.”

Dom nodded. I caught relief in his smile. “I can do that. I’ll let you know the moment they have any leads.”

I nodded again, and Dom left to carry out my orders. After the door closed, I dug my hands into my hair. I knew he was right; I knew that I needed to be smart, or I would end up burying the women I loved. But that didn’t make it any easier to deal with.

Tavi was a great fighter. Both Dom and I had made sure of that after Troy and his men killed her family.

I knew that Tavi would defend Bryn to her last breath, but I didn’t want her to be in that position.

I would never forgive myself for tasking her with taking care of Bryn if Tavi got hurt in the process, or worse, died.

Bryn, for her part, was intelligent, clever, and resourceful—she’d proven as much when she had been hell-bent on trying to escape from me.

She was a shifter now, too, which meant she was much stronger than she’d been when I first took her.

But she was still coming into her power.

There was so much she still needed to learn before she would really be able to fight in her wolf form.

With the girls together, their chances were much better than if either of them had been alone. But that was cold comfort to me and my wolf.

On cue, he howled so loud and so long that I felt it trembling through my bones.

Hey, I soothed. We’ll get her back. I promise.

His answering whine was filled with doubt and sorrow.

Come on, buddy. We need to be united right now. I need you on my side for Bryn, alright?

He whined again, but rather than arguing, he quieted down, resting his head on his paws. I knew he was cooperating with me, but it was a lot to ask of him. I would take any level of camaraderie I could get from him right now.

I steeled myself and jogged back up the stairs. The door hung open, and the knob I’d ruined lay on the floor nearby. I sighed, knowing I’d need to find the time to fix that, and walked into the room.

“Sorry about that, Doc,” I said. “I let myself lose control.”

“No apologies necessary, Alpha Night.” He gave me a slight smile. “Given the circumstances, I can hardly blame you for your reaction.”

“I appreciate your understanding.” I looked at Mom.

Her wound had been cleaned and was covered with the strips of cloth I’d prepared for bandaging.

Crimson beaded through the white linen, but the blood wasn’t flowing the way it had been minutes before.

She was calmer, and her breathing wasn’t as labored. She almost seemed peaceful.

“She looks more stable, but how is she really?” I almost hated to ask, but I had to know.

“Well, she’s very weak, so it’ll be touch and go for the night.

” He used some spare linen to gently dab away the sweat on her forehead.

I’d never seen Doc work on a patient, but his touch struck me as particularly gentle.

Mom’s eyebrow twitched at the contact, but she otherwise lay still.

“She’ll be in a lot of pain, but as long as she survives the night, she will recover. ”

“Is there anything I can do to help her?”

Doc put the cloth on the pillow beside her head and rubbed the edge of his eyebrow. “I won’t sugarcoat this, Alpha. There’s not much you can do. I’ve seen Alpha wounds a couple times in my life, and they’re never easy. Even young, healthy men don’t always survive these injuries.”

“She’s a fighter.”

The doctor nodded and smiled a bit. “Of course she is. She’s your mother, after all.

She couldn’t have raised the greatest Alpha I’ve ever seen without being able to take care of herself.

And you didn’t know what she was like before she was your mother.

” His smile became wistful. “The best you can do for her is sit with her, talk with her. She should be able to hear your voice even in this state.”

It was so surreal. Mom and I had spoken to each other just yesterday. She’d been lively, playful, and wise, as she always was. Seeing her now so pale and quiet made my heart ache.

“I can do that, Doc. Thank you.”

“Of course.” He left the strip of linen on the pillow beside Mom, and then stood. “I’ll be staying in the living room, if that’s alright, Alpha. If her condition changes, I want to be close enough to help in any way that I can.”

Tension released from my shoulders by a few increments. Having the doctor so close made me feel a little more at ease.

“I won’t make you sleep on the couch, Doc. Take my bed, please. It’s a couple of doors down the hall.”

“Oh, I couldn’t ask you to—”

“You’re not asking. I’m insisting.” I slipped by him and sat on the bed next to Mom. “You’re free to use my house however you’d like, Doc. Coffee, tea, beer—whatever you need, the fridge and all that’s inside it is open to you.”

Out of the corner of my eye, I watched Doc bow slightly. “I thank you for your exceedingly generous hospitality, but I think the only thing I’ll need tonight is a place to sleep. Still, thank you.”

He left to find my room, and I turned my full attention to Mom. Each breath she took was a tight, rasping pant, but at least she was breathing.

“I’m so sorry that I let this happen to you, Mom,” I whispered, brushing her hair out of her face. “I swore an oath to protect this pack, yet I allowed my own mother to fall to my worst enemy.”

She didn’t respond, of course, but her mouth twitched. To me, it looked like an attempt at one of her disapproving frowns, and it made me chuckle.

“I know you wouldn’t want me to blame myself, but how can I not?

I hate when anyone gets hurt on my watch—especially when it comes to the people I love most.” I took her hand in mine and squeezed gently.

“You’ll pull through, won’t you? There’s still so much that you need to experience, so many people who need you.

For one, my future children—Tavi’s future children, and Dom’s, too—they all need to know you.

You’ll spoil our pups endlessly with treats and snacks, but that’s what grandmothers are supposed to do, right? ”

Her lip twitched again.

I leaned down and pressed her hand to my forehead.

I had watched these hands dig through soil, fend off men when I was a pup, and handle planks of jagged wood to assist in the construction and repair of cabins throughout the village.

How was it possible that they could feel so thin and fragile to me now?

“I swear to you,” I whispered, “I will make sure Troy suffers for this. I’ll get Bryn and Tavi back safe and sound. But you need to be there to see it.” I squeezed her hand again. “Please, please, be there to see it.”