The Good Wolf's Alpha Mate

Chapter 8

Liam’s POV

I spun to face the wolf coming at us--- and suddenly, I wasn’t sure how to act. Because while the wolf coming this way was a Beta-ranked wolf, the kid was no more than 15! Sure, he was big for his age - like all ranked wolves were - but my wolf still gaped in disbelief as he let out a foul curse.

A KID?! He exclaimed while shaking his head. They put a kid in charge?

I could hardly believe it myself. While Alpha-born wolves were stronger and naturally led Packs, there were occasions when a powerful enough Beta-born would lead a Pack.

If - and that was a mighty big IF! - they were strong enough...

And even if a wolf rose to the rank of Alpha, he would never gain a wolf that was outside his birth rank. But a wolf could always sense who was the Alpha of a Pack. It was like an invisible blanket that engulfed the Alpha—’an Aura’, if you will. If you were a wolf, you knew that this was their Leader. You could sense that the others in the Pack had submitted to this wolf...

And in this case, a f*****g kid!

Before I could reply, said kid was in Remy’s face, snarling at the much bigger wolf.

“Why the Hell haven’t you killed him?” he growled and, much to my dismay, pointed at me.

So much for the hope that this Pack doesn’t kill off Rogues, my wolf grumbled, getting ready to fight in case he had to kill these idiots to protect Our Peach. I was ready to do the same, but another part of me found it fascinating that the bigger and older wolf exposed his neck in submission. Which proved, if anything, that these wolves were loyal to the bone. Otherwise, I was pretty sure the older wolf would have ripped the boy's head off for talking to him like that. I guessed it was because they felt loyal to the people who once used to hold the title.

This also led me to conclusion number three:

ALL ranked wolves were dead!

All the senior-ranked wolves at least. Which again made me wonder what the Hell had blown through here. What the Hell was strong enough to kill off a werewolf prince and all his ranked members?

You? My wolf snorted, and I quickly shook off that thought.

I’d rather not think about that…

“I didn’t come here to cause trouble,” I said before Remy had a chance to reply, and as I stepped forward, I made sure to use my most diplomatic voice to defuse the situation. Working at the Pack-Clinic did have its benefits... “I came here to see Alpha Daniels. I didn’t realize... erm, any of this had happened.”

I wasn’t sure what else to call this. The word m******e came to mind, but---

“What did you want with him?” the kid snapped, his fury turning on me. “Was it you? Were you the one who kidnapped her?”

Erm...

“What?!”

The question slipped my lips before I’d even managed to think it through. But as if an idea had suddenly been lit in everyone’s head, the wolves surrounding me suddenly tensed and looked at me with renewed fear in their eyes.

Along with a healthy dose of skepticism…

“Don’t play dumb!” The kid Beta snarled as he took a step closer. “Our Luna was kidnapped, which started---” His voice broke, and I could see that the pain of loss and grief was taking away his ability to speak. He needed rest and a good meal, but he soldiered through anyway.

Got to give it to the kid...

He was tough!

“I didn’t even know Alpha Daniels had a Mate,” I replied honestly, still confused at what was going on. And to underline that I had nothing to do with--- whatever he was thinking! - I took a step towards him, holding out my hands and showing him that I was no threat.

“I can help,” I said again, making sure that my voice was calm and soft. “My name is Liam Bradford. I have medical training, and by the looks of things, you need all the help you can get!”

The kid snorted, probably to cover the fact that he was one wrong word from breaking down in tears. But he didn’t say anything. He looked at the wolves with still-open wounds and scratches covering large parts of their bodies.

“All I ask for in return is that I can stay until the Alpha king arrives,” I continued, giving the kid something to work with. Perhaps his pride would feel less wounded if he thought he wasn’t a charity case. And sure enough, his eyes drifted back to me. Despite them being glassy, the grief was over-powered by the instinct to protect his Pack.

“What business do you have with the Alpha king?” he asked with suspicion dripping off his every word. He gave me a quick once-over and took me in from head to toe. Sure, I was much bigger than him and a Hell of a lot broader; if push came to shove, he knew I could take him on. But he would also sense that my wolf didn't have a rank. And since a non-ranked wolf rarely had the instinct to lead, he would feel that his position was safe from me.

Or at least I hoped so...

“Personal,” I replied without missing a beat. Perhaps it was the fact that I didn’t really trust these wolves. Perhaps it was all the new faces and scents that made me wary. Perhaps I didn’t fully trust Packs, considering what had happened in my old Pack. Or perhaps I just didn’t want to admit - not even to myself! - that Peach wasn’t really mine...

But I didn't want to tell them!

They'd already assumed she was mine. That I'd lost my Mate and Peach was my daughter. That wasn't on me! Or at least that was what I kept telling myself. Once I met the king - if he didn't outright kill me! - I'd tell him the truth. Until then, my one and only priority was keeping my baby girl safe.

In hindsight, that was my first mistake...

The Beta-wolf still looked unconvinced, and I had to almost physically hold my eyes in place so as not to roll them. Hell, even in his shoes, I would have accepted the help. They were all beaten to s**t, and they needed medical attention. But I understood his reservation. The safety of all the wolves here now rested in his hands and considering they'd just been through one Hell of a battle, the last thing he wanted was to invite more trouble...

“Think logically,” I urged him, but kept my voice soft so I didn't sound patronizing. “If their wounds don’t get treated, they can become infected, and they might lose a limb.” That seemed to get his attention. Because while he didn’t look like he’d been fist-fighting a lawnmower, his Pack Members did.

“And I’m a single Rogue with a baby in my arms," I added with a sheepish grin. "How much of a threat do you really think I am?”

That gave him something to think about. He gave me another once-over and finally seemed to notice the bundle that kept my other arm occupied. Seeing that there was an actual baby clinging to my chest, he seemed to lose some of the tenseness in his body.

"It would be nice not to be bleeding all over the place," said one of the males, who hadn't spoken a lot before. He was the shortest of the bunch and slender at that; he'd probably make an excellent tracker or hand-to-hand fighter. His once-blond hair was darkened by whatever had been going on here, and there was a gash just below his rib, that occasionally would leak a little blood, whenever he moved in a certain way.

He almost looked worse than the guy missing half his forearm!

“Fine,” the kid finally gave in after taking one last glance around at his wolves. “Take him to the Clinic.”

“Thank you, Beta,” I said, adding the title as a show of respect. But as I did, the kid flinched, as if I’d struck him. Hell, he couldn’t even meet my eyes as he suddenly stormed off.

Sighing, it wasn't difficult to figure out what the problem was.

He didn’t feel he was worthy of the title!

Especially not while he was still grieving for his parents...

“This way,” Remy said, taking me to a building adjoining the PackHouse. The clinic itself was huge, well-equipped, and had everything I could ever want.

Except for a full staff!

“What happened here?” I asked, taking a quick look around. It looked like something out of a horror movie. It looked like the Demo_Gorgons from "Stranger Things" had invaded the place and left everything a mess in the process. Blood, papers, and broken equipment were scattered all over the place, and I swore I could still smell decaying bodies. The place had a ghost-like silence, making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.

As if I should be looking over my shoulder...

“You want the long version or the short one?” Orellaasked as she and the other she-wolf, Alyssa, cleaned one of the rooms up a bit.

“How about what happened to the Staff?” I said, putting myself in the mindset of only dealing with one crisis at a time right now. I needed all the wolves in the Pack to come by the Clinic, and I needed to deal with their injuries as a matter of urgency first. Then I'd worry about whatever the Hell happened here.

Although, I already had my suspicions...

“The same thing that happens to all wolves when they lose their Mates,” Collin sighed, his voice thick with grief. “They died!”

That’s when it hit me!

All those Pack Warriors I'd "met" in the forest had been Mated! And when they were being brutally murdered, their Mates would have felt their pain, felt as if they'd been pulled apart as well. When the Mate-bond snapped that brutally, the wolf's heart wouldn't be able to take it.

They died, following their Mates into the afterlife…

Taking a deep breath, I looked around for a place to put Peach down. But instantly, Alyssa stepped forward and offered to take her. She was already taking care of her deceased Sister's twin boys; so she knew a little bit about taking care of a baby. She also looked worse for wear, but at least she wasn't bloody. I told her to find a bottle in my backPack for Peach, and to take a seat while she fed her.

Next, I took off my jacket and dug deep for information that I never thought I’d ever use again...

“Remy, I need you to mind-link everyone in the Pack and tell them to come here for an evaluation," I told him, cleaning up ‘a spot’ at the sink to wash my hands. "If anyone needs assistance, I want you to take Orellaand help them get here." I dried off and then turned to Collin. "Sit! And let's take a look at that arm! You're next, so don't go anywhere!" I told the male who was bleeding from his side. Normally wolves didn't like it if some stranger was ordering them around, but in this case, they were too tired to even care. Without any protest, he sat down and grunted in pain when his wound acted up.

“Do you have the authority to do that?” Remy asked, looking from his hurting PackMate to me, clearly in two minds about taking orders from me. But I could see in his eyes that he wasn't really going to be putting up a fight about it...

“I’m a Doctor,” I replied with a sheepish grin. “Alpha’s don’t outrank Doctors!”

It was the truth...

Normally, in a Pack, the Doctor was considered neutral-rank. They didn't outrank anyone in the Pack, but at the same time, they couldn't be commanded by anyone. Doing so was a direct violation of one of the most sacred laws to werewolves; the only one more sacred was that Mates were never allowed to be kept apart...

Remy seemed to accept that and sent out the mind-link. And soon enough, the Clinic was a buzzing hive of activity. Hell, some of the wolves were so tired that they fell asleep while I worked on them; the exhaustion worked better than any drug I could administer. I let them sleep, knowing they needed the rest. Hell, Alyssa was sleeping in the chair with Peach in her arms, both of them sleeping like little babies...

I managed to save Collin's arm, but he'd have a massive scar. And like most of the wolves that dragged themselves to the Clinic, he fell asleep the second his head hit the pillow. Carl, the guy with the bleeding side, had also fallen asleep by the time I got around to him. I had to bite back a snarl when I realized that he'd pierced his liver, and that was the reason for the constant bleeding. He was lucky that he'd survived this long...

But why the Hell hadn't their wolves healed them?

Taking a deep breath, I let my wolf's aura out so he could investigate their wolves' health.

It wasn't good!

They're weak from losing their Alpha and grieving their lost family members, my wolf informed me, shaking his head. As if that wasn't bad enough, they're also starving! Their Alpha has them protecting the borders in case of another attack, but it's too big, and there are too few capable warriors left. They just don't have the strength to heal the wounds.

I wanted to curse the Alpha out for his utter disregard for his Pack; however, keeping in mind that the current Alpha was a freaking kid and that he probably didn't even know what he was doing. Hell, he was probably trying really hard, just to get back to the way things were, before all of this happened. He didn't want to accept that everything had changed - forever!

Getting up, I approached Alyssa, gently shaking her awake. She startled and snarled, her arms instantly coming up to protect Peach. That had me snarling for some reason, and just like that, she'd gotten my wolf's stamp of approval...

"Sorry for waking you," I said softly, taking Peach and putting her against my chest. My wolf purred, happy to have his baby back. And yeah, taking in her sweet peach scent soothed some of the edginess that had been coiling in my guts ever since leaving her out of my sight.

“Can you please get some of the Omegas to prepare everyone a meal for when they wake back up?" I asked Alyssa, who groggily nodded before pulling herself out of the chair.

"I'll need to go get them," she informed me when she noticed the puzzled look on my face; probably realizing that I meant that she mind-linked them. "Alpha ordered all of the Omegas and kids into the panic room after he was made aware of--- well, you!"

So much for trusting us, my wolf snorted as his opinion of the Alpha got less by the minute.

Rome wasn't built in a day, I reminded him, and while it irked me that wolves had been locked up for hours for absolutely no good reason, I understood the kid.

"He was worried I'd hurt them," I nodded in understanding. "Considering everything that has been going on here, I get it."

Alyssa looked apologetic, and a part of me appreciated it. But yeah, it stung that after I'd spent an entire afternoon helping these wolves, I was still treated like "the bad guy".

Packs are all f****d up, my wolf grunted, easily turning his back on anything related to Packs. I couldn't blame him. Not after what happened in our old Pack...

I pushed aside any negative thoughts and went to change Peach. I'd barely gotten her back into her diaper when an Omega She-wolf approached me, offering me something to eat and to take care of Peach while I worked.

Yeah! Over my f*****g dead body! My wolf growled. And while I shared his sentiment, I knew that it would be impossible to work whilst also taking care of Peach...

"I can stay here at the Clinic, if you like, Sir," the She-wolf said timidly, as if she'd just been reading my mind. "I sometimes help my sister in the daycare with the younger ones. You won't have to worry about anything."

That did put me a little more at ease...

And it would actually give me time to get s**t done around here, I told my wolf, who didn't like the idea much. Why he then had no problems with letting Alyssa have her was---

Because the She-wolf was dead on her feet, he snorted with a laugh. I knew she would pass out before our little Peach would. This one is alert and ready to take off if she wants to!

She's also an Omega, and she can't shift, I hushed him. Most Omegas couldn't shift into their wolf form, despite having a wolf spirit, so to speak. Some could eventually shift if they trained hard enough and got stronger. Their wolves would always be smaller and weaker than average, but still...

I thought they looked cute!

You only think that because Cherry was f*****g cute, my wolf grinned, thinking about our little sister.

I didn't deny it...

"What's your name?" I asked, wanting to know what to call her. At my old Pack, Omegas were treated like s**t - Pack slaves and good for nothing, but cooking and f*****g the single enforcers.

And they didn't care if the s*x was consensual or not!

I always swore to myself that I'd never be like that. I'd never be the sort of jerk to ever look down on another, just because of their status or strength.

I'd never be the kind of man my father was...

"Grace, Sir," she said with a smile.

"Take care of her, please, Grace," I said softly, and put the fussing baby into her arms. Grace nodded eagerly before making funny baby-noises at Peach, who seemed to enjoy it. I watched them walk off into what looked like a Doctor's Office, where another Omega greeted her. Apparently, this was the new daycare for the Pack.

Did it move something inside of me that they'd moved it here, just for my benefit?

Perhaps...

But I would rather chew on my own tail than admit it...

“What the Hell is going on here?”

My wolf groaned as the familiar voice entered the overcrowded hospital room, where four badly injured Enforcers were recovering. The Omegas had been handing out meals for everybody, but most of them were still sleeping. Hell, some of them had been close to dropping dead from exhaustion and were basically in a healing coma.

I turned and came face to face with the kid Beta, who looked like he was about to drop too. But stubbornness and something else kept him on his feet, despite his ragged appearance and black circles under his eyes...

“They’re resting,” I explained and quickly ushered him out of the room. He tried to resist, but I managed to pull him out in the hallway...

“Wake them up!” He growled, clearly not thinking straight, and tried to rip away from my grip. “We have a Pack to protect. And until the Alpha king arrives---”

“They NEED to rest,” I repeated, and got in his face; for one because I needed him to hear me, but mainly because I needed him to snap out of whatever ditch he was in. When I'd first approached him, I needed his permission to stay: I was just a Rogue on Pack lands with nothing to lose, and I needed some way to get into contact with the king, without any risks to Peach...

Now I was the Doctor!

Now, the lives of these wolves and health were in my hands and my care. And like Hell, I was going to let anyone harm them – pride and rank be damned!

But the kid was angry too. He had a legacy to protect and big shoes to fill.

His anger was in his eyes...

“I say they---what the---!”

I didn’t let him finish!

I grabbed his arm, pulled him into the closest office, and kicked the door closed. The second we were alone, I grabbed his collar with both hands, and with brutal force, I slammed him up against the wall. Did I like beating the kid around? No! But hopefully, a rude awakening could snap this kid out of whatever delusions he’d let himself get stuck in...

“I know what it’s like,” I hissed, looking him dead in the eye. “To lose everything you love. And how f*****g unfair it feels. Especially when you didn’t even have a chance to say goodbye.”

That seemed to get his attention. He stopped struggling and just looked at me with---

Something I couldn't explain...

Shock?

Surprise?

Confusion, frustration, hatred...

Emotions always ran high when you lost someone you loved. No matter how much you prepared yourself for it...

It always hurt!

“You just don’t expect it,” I continued, pushing aside my own grief and anger. “You think you have time and then--- It’s all gone. And it hurts!"

It hurts so f*****g bad, you sometimes wondered, why you were even left to live. What was the point of even moving on, if they weren't---

"But right now, you have to think past your pain and think about what’s best for the Pack!” I growled, finally letting him go and drop to the floor. He stumbled and landed on his ass. But to my surprise, he didn't try to get back up. He just looked...

Defeated...

“They need sleep," I argued. "And food and a safe place to do that---”

“Which is why," he cut me off, but his voice was broken with unshed tears. "They need to protect our border---”

“There aren’t enough of them to protect the old borders!” I growled, knowing that I needed to get it through his thick skull that things were different now.

That everything had changed!

“I’ve been there, they’re gone!” I continued, and that finally got a reaction out of him. His head snapped up, and I met his confused, fear-filled eyes.

Shit...

Losing ‘Pack Borders’ meant losing your security. Losing places for the Wolf to roam and hunt.

Losing your safe haven...

“The best you can do now," I said in a calmer voice, not wanting to freak him out more but helping him move forward. "Is to make sure that this area is protected so whatever killed your Alpha doesn’t have any easy targets.”

To my surprise, the kid let out a derogatory snort and once again refused to meet my gaze.

“You really have no f*****g clue, do you?" he said, his lips trembling as he spoke.

“What do you mean?” I asked, feeling slightly confused. From what I'd picked up on, something had happened with Rogues, and then---

“Rogues didn’t kill everyone here,” the kid sighed, tears running down his face. “It was Alpha Emil!”

Erm...

WHAT?!