THE STOLEN PIECE

CHAPTER 59 - RIVER MEADOW

GABRIEL

We were taking the plane, and I was sure I knew what pack would be targeted. I saw the twins fighting over the window seat, Eva came down and sat next to me.

-Thanks for bringing me alone.

She said, clinging to my arm.

-Say thanks to Chris, he told your Dad he would keep an eye on you because Kevin wasn’t letting you come.

-But he did! I am stronger and you have seen me during training!

She said really proud, and yes part of Eva clinging to me was her watching me train the members until she decided to join the training, so she also trained at least one hour each day. She was indeed a good warrior, she had it in her blood.

-I can’t wait to arrive and…

-Eva we are not going to play, we are…

-I know but at least we can go and have some fun at…

-No Eva.

As I said that she looked the other way and decided to ignore me. I looked at Chris, the twins, and the other ten members I was taking with me. The River Meadow pack was a strong one. Not so many members but good warriors, I am bringing just 13 more to lead and stop the attack, I am sure we can control it now. The plane took off and I closed my eyes. I needed to rest because I wasn’t sure how much time we had until the attack and I was still trying to decide how to inform the Alpha of the attack.

-Gabe, we arrived.

I heard Eva’s voice. I opened my eyes and saw the members getting off the plane. I took my backpack and exited the plane. I was the last one to get on the ground. 3 members were waiting for us. One had a particular air around him. “He must be the Alpha Gabe!” “He looks older than what I expected.” I thought Alpha Johnson was younger than my Dad but he looked way older.

-What are you drinking Miller? You look even younger than before! What’s with the long hair? Are you in your middle-age crisis?

He said as he passed his arm around my neck, but then he suddenly pushed me away.

-You are not miller? Impostor!

The two other members started to growl at me and then the twins ran to my sides and roared at them.

-Hi Alpha Johnson, my name is Gabriel Miller. You must know my father Zachary Miller.

-Why are you here? Where is your Dad?

-My Dad is currently helping other packs…

I hope.

-So I came here to help your…

-We don’t need your help, you can go…

-Alpha we think your pack is going to be attacked and…

-We have capable members and we don't need your help.

-You don’t understand the magnitude of these attacks, we have lost entire packs by…

-I know, my daughter was mated to the Alpha of the North Mountain Pack.

I remembered the name of the pack… No survivors, no traces of them.

-I’m so sorry Alpha…

-You don’t deserve to be sorry, you should have been there! Not here. So now you can go.

He said and then he turned around and started walking towards a truck.

-I’m sorry Alpha but we are not leaving.

He turned and looked at me.

-WHAT DID YOU SAY, BOY?

I could feel his alpha tone.

-Even if you don’t want us here, I’m here to protect this pack and…

-THIS PACK, YOU SAY? THIS PACK IS MINE! MY RESPONSIBILITY! YOU HAVE NO BUSINESS DOWN HERE SO GO!

I kept my ground and I never broke eye contact. I took a deep breath and felt the heat on my body.

-We are not leaving, and for the sake of the pack we better work together. If you don’t want us here we will have to fight separately and that makes us weaker. The pack attacking is huge and they have a strange way to fight. We need to fight them together. I know this pack is strong. That's why I only brought a few warriors, but let us help. Let us prove to the Kingdom we can stop these attacks and kill the intruders once and for all.

-I know my warriors, I will dictate the strategy for… Wait, how are you sure we are going to be attacked? We haven't found traces of intruders.

-Yes, I know but…

-Let’s talk at my office.

He said as he walked back to the truck, they had two trucks, Eva and I were in the back seat, and twins and Chris were in the trunk and the other members were on the other one. The alpha was driving as if they were not members in the trunk. I really thought the twins would fall off during the curves or jumps the truck did. Finally, we arrived, the tins and Chris had their ears showing. So they were indeed nervous during the drive, but they didn’t say anything about it. I followed Alpha Johnson to his office, there I tried to explain but because the attacks were so random it was hard to explain.

-I’m not getting why you think we are going to be attacked… It makes no sense at all.

-I know but believe me I…

-I do believe you think we are going to be attacked but it makes no sense to me…

-I know but…

-I would tell you this, it’s already late so I will give you one week, you can stay here for a week. We can train together so you can see the level my warriors have and after the week is over you take your members and go back with peace that we're strong enough to fight the intruders.

I wasn’t sure a week is enough time, but at least it gives me time to make him change his decision.

-Okay.

-Well my Beta will show you what rooms you can use and we can meet in the morning after hunting, well if you are hungry. I ate a whole deer yesterday so I’m probably skipping tomorrow's hunt but I will catch up with you at training.

As he spoke he stood up and made it clear to me that our talk was over and that I should leave the office. I stood up.

-Thanks for your hospitality, I will go and join the rest of…

-Yes, good night.

He cut me off again. I could feel Zeus getting angrier but I couldn’t afford a fight with the Alpha on our first night here. As I left the office I saw David.

-How was it?

-We are staying here for a week for now.

-For now?

I kept looking around but didn’t see Daniel.

-Where is your brother?

-He wanted to patrol the place so Dad joined him. They are searching the area right now.

That was odd, they usually don’t separate at all.

-And the rest?

-Eva went crazy when you left and didn’t want any male near her so she just shut herself in a room and the others are probably in their rooms or outside stretching out. I also felt a bit cramped on the plane but nothing like the drive with four people on the back seat of that tiny car, that was hell.

David was right, many members that I brought with me weren’t part of the Royal pack, their packs were smaller so this was probably their first ride on a plane. It’s obvious they felt cramped up there. I tried to feel them on the link and everyone seems alright.

-I’m hungry, where is the kitchen?

David said.

-There’s no kitchen.

-WHAT?

-They hunt.

-Great I hate these packs, when we used to visit these were the worst ones. I like to eat hash browns in the morning, no raw meat.

-David, behave.

I said y¿to him when I saw the angry stares at his comments.

-What? I’m just saying my opinion, it's not my problem, I prefer salty cooked things. So a whole week eating raw meat… Great.

-David!

-I’m sure that if you tell this to Daniel he would say the same thing, but for him, it is worse… He loves his waffles with extra honey in the morning. Wait until he hears about this.

And there I was thinking the twins had matured. I walked outside where some of the now royal pack members had shifted or were just stretching in their human form. I could feel Daniel approaching so I stayed outside waiting for him. The first one to arrive was Chris, he was already shifted and with some shorts on. Then Daniel appeared. Wearing the most ridiculous shorts I had ever seen, pink flowers and cats.

-What are those?

David said surprised, so he also hadn't seen them before.

-If I use this type of shorts no one would wear them but me.

He said.

-They are awful.

David said, making a disgusted face. Then a scent hit me. I approached Daniel and the scent of wolfsbane got stronger.

-"Are you wearing wolfsbane?"

-"Yes I have a whole bottle in my pocket!"

He proudly said and when he was about to take it out I grabbed his arm.

-"Get rid of that, we are not using it anymore. You can harm the members of this pack. I forbid you to use it!"

I was beyond mad, what was he thinking? I could see his head low. I knew he wanted to help so I just sighed and looked at him.

-So?

I said to him, he then smiled and pointed at the forest.

-The place is not that big, but just like our pack the attacks can come from anywhere, no mountains, or rivers protecting the area, they can cross to this territory in any direction without too much complication.

That made the strategy more complicated if the territory had just one entry like the one of the Shadow pack… Just thinking about their Luna gave me chills. The shadow pack was one of the packs that hadn't been attacked, but I suspected it was because of the risk they had, it was not easy getting used to that. The next few days were the same, we woke up, some members went hunting, others patrolled, and then training started. They were strong, not as strong as us but their teamwork was amazing and the synchronization between them was impressive. You could definitely see the bond between all of them. “That’s how a pack should be fighting.” Even Zeus was impressed. But even though I did a morning and night patrol I didn’t find anything out of place, maybe I was wrong and no attack was going to happen there. During this time Eva didn’t come out of her room, she kept her distance from the pack.

-This is our last night here right?

Daniel said.

-Yes it is.

-Finally, I can’t wait to eat some waffles or even some blueberry muffins.

I saw the sun and it was already gone. I was about to go back and pack when I heard a strange noise. I saw members leaving the house shifting and then running into the forest. “The attack!” As Zeus said that I was already shifting. I saw Gur running by my side. Then I saw a wave of wolves, I couldn’t explain it differently, there were so many wolves running towards us.

-” Gabe, we can't deal with that many!”

-” We must try!”

I said to him while I jumped towards the closer wolf and bit his neck. I could feel two others biting me. I could see Gur wanting to help me but he was also dealing with more wolves than what he could deal with.

-” Something is wrong Gabe! I can’t feel David!”

I tried to feel him or Chris and he was right… Something was off. I saw Gur running, probably trying to find Finn or his Dad. I wasn’t leaving the members at the front line alone. I kept fighting until I felt cold. “Something is off Gabe! We must retreat!” “What are you saying Zeus we can’t…” I lost control and Zeus started running away from the wolves. He ran back to the main house but passed it. I saw wolves entering the place and wolves exiting through the windows. The place was chaotic. Zeus kept running until I felt a dagger and I was out of breath. I shifted back abruptly and then I checked my heart but it was okay, the pain I felt was not a real dagger I was confused. “Zeus, what is happening?” He wasn’t answering me, I tried to feel the rest but I couldn’t. I saw some clothes and put them on. I had scratches from the fall I took when I shifted back and with a cut on my forehead, I could feel the blood on my hair. Then I saw him… the cream wolf. I wasn’t letting him walk away. I started following him, but I was running as fast as I could but he was just way faster. Then I saw two wolves surrounding me, they started sniffing me, and then one man approached me and punched me in the stomach. I was about to say something but it all went dark.