The Alpha's Rejected Mate

Chapter 14: The Road Home

The sun was up. Pale. Cold. Didn't matter.

We walked. Slow. The seven girls in front. My warriors behind. Me at the back. Watching. Waiting for someone to follow us. No one did.

The camp was dead behind us. Bodies in the dirt. Blood in the fires. I didn't look back. Didn't need to.

One of the girls was crying. Quiet. Not loud. Just tears falling. She was young. Fourteen maybe. Her hands were tied before. Rope marks on her wrists. Red. Raw.

"What's your name?" I asked.

She didn't answer.

"You don't have to tell me. Just wondering."

"...Mira."

I stopped walking.

Mira. The girl Ryder told me about. The one who fed stray dogs. The one Damian sold.

"Ryder spoke about you," I said.

She looked up. Eyes wet. "Ryder?"

"Yeah. He said you were kind. Fed the dogs."

She didn't say nothing. Just cried more.

I kept walking.

After an hour, Ryder walked next to me.

"Any problems?" he asked.

"No. They're scared. That's all."

"Can you blame them?"

"No."

We walked in silence for a bit.

"Lila," Ryder said.

"Yeah."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For going back. For getting them. No Alpha would have done that."

I looked at the girls. Walking slow. Hurting. But walking.

"I'm not an Alpha," I said.

"You're something else."

"I don't know what that is."

He didn't answer. Just kept walking.

The sun was higher now. Warm. The woods were quiet. Birds singing somewhere. Stupid birds. Didn't know what happened last night. Didn't care.

One of the warriors came up to me. Young guy. The one who asked about fighting.

"We lost two," he said.

"What?"

"Two of ours. Didn't come back. I think... I think they died in the camp."

I stopped walking.

"Names?"

"Jonas and Tarek."

I didn't know them. Didn't know their faces. But they came with me. They fought for me. And now they're gone.

"We'll bury them when we get back," I said.

"They have families."

"I know."

He walked away. Didn't say nothing else.

Ryder looked at me. "You okay?"

"No."

"Anything I can do?"

"Find a way to bring them back."

He didn't answer. No one could.

We reached the pack house at noon. The sun was high. Hot. Wrong. Felt like a funeral.

People came out. Stared. The seven girls. Bloody. Broken. But alive.

Some of the pack started crying. Mothers. Fathers. Sisters.

Mira's mother ran to her. Hugged her. Screaming. Crying. Happy crying.

I stood there. Watching. Not moving.

Ryder stood next to me.

"You did good," he said.

"I got two of our people killed."

"They knew the risk."

"That doesn't make it better."

He didn't answer. What could he say?

I walked to the throne room. Sat down. Alone.

The hall was quiet. The torches were low. The throne was cold.

But in my chest... something was warm. Small. Quiet.

Not happiness. Not pride.

Just... peace. For a moment.

Then the voice woke up.

"The other packs will come now," it whispered. "Shadow Fang had friends. Blood Moon. Dark Claw. They won't forget what you did."

"I know."

"Are you scared?"

"No."

"Good. Because this is just the beginning."

I closed my eyes.

The beginning. Not the end.