Revenge of the fallen Beta

Chapter 06

　　Cara was in her happy place, the gym, midway into a decent run on the treadmill. Her phone buzzed in the holder, and her eyebrows shot up when she saw the Alpha’s number pop up on the screen in front of her.

　　She immediately stepped on the edges away from the belt and hit pause on the treadmill, grinding it to a halt. She composed herself, not wanting to give away how nervous she actually was, and cleared her throat before answering.

　　“Alpha Lucas,” she said cheerily. “How are you?”

　　“I’m well, thank you Cara,” he replied in his deep baritone voice. She didn’t want to admit it, even to herself, but his voice alone stirred something in her.

　　“What can I do for you?”

　　“The Gamma is hosting a party at his house tonight and I’d like to invite you. It might be a good way for you to get to know some of the pack members better. And besides, Gamma Sam has a reputation for throwing brilliant parties. You’ll love it.”

　　Cara didn’t have to think about it for long. She didn’t need much of an excuse to get dressed up and have a good time. “That sounds amazing, I’d love to go. Thanks for the invite.”

　　Lucas couldn’t believe how nervous he was and how shaky his voice was sounding. This wasn’t the usual calm, strong nature he communicated with. He could hear the noise of the busy gym in the background and figured he didn’t need to interrupt her any longer than he already had. He needed to get off the phone before he embarrassed himself.

　　“Well, I won’t keep you from your workout any longer. That body doesn’t make itself.” He cringed immediately, hearing Cara’s awkward laugh.

　　What an i***t, he thought. Pull yourself together, you’re an Alpha!

　　“I’ll text you the details.”

　　As Lucas ended the call, internally berating himself, he heard aggressive thumping on his door.

　　“Lucas, it's Dane… it's an emergency!” Dane pleaded, out of breath. He had run the last kilometre and a bit of the journey just to work up a sweat, although for a man of his fitness he was putting a bit extra into his heavy breathing.

　　A buzzer sounded and he heard the door unlock, so he pulled on the handle and rushed into the room, making sure to appear suitably panicked.

　　Lucas took one look at his torn, blood-stained clothing and stood from his chair behind his desk.

　　“What the hell happened?” he asked, his voice rising.

　　“Rogues,” was all Dane could get out, mock panting and attempting to catch his breath. Lucas allowed him the time to recover, but was eagerly leaning in, waiting to hear more.

　　“They attacked... at Mawson's Hollow. There must've been twenty of them, easily. Manky, dirty, rogue wolves. I managed to get some slashes in and wound a few with my machete, but they fled when they were actually challenged.”

　　A look of concern crossed Lucas' face.

　　“Where’s everyone else?” he asked. Dane cast his eyes down to the floor.

　　“They're all gone,” Dane conceded, glumly. “It all happened so fast.”

　　Lucas' face dropped.

　　“I was off relieving myself in the trees, and the guys decided to have a sit down and relax, letting their guard down – I guess that must just be the way they did things in Green Plains. The rogue pack took that moment of weakness to attack. Our men never stood a chance.”

　　“Oh…” was all Lucas could say.

　　“I've come out of the trees and decided to take my chances and have a swing at a few of them, and they've taken off and run into the forest like the opportunistic cowards they are.”

　　“Why didn’t you mind-link me?”

　　“What could you have done? By the time I could focus enough to mind-link, they were all dead and the rogues had disappeared. I figured I’d just make my way back here.”

　　The colour was starting to drain from Lucas’ face as he realised that his newly appointed Delta was part of the travelling party.

　　“Bruno, too?” he asked, hesitantly.

　　“Unfortunately. He was the one who told them to sit down and took his pack off first. Some leadership that was, getting seven of your pack killed. I wanted to tell them to ignore the order and stay alert, but Bruno outranks me. Well, he did.”

　　“Such a shame. He was a good man,” lamented Lucas, his brow furrowed.

　　Dane continued to tell a slightly modified version of events, using this as an opportunity to reinforce to Lucas his lack of faith in the leadership and plead his case. They’d barely spoken since the announcement on Foundation Day, and Dane wanted to leverage the doubts he had just seeded with Lucas.

　　“And what about me? I'm the better man. Who came to you with the idea of getting rid of Marcus and Patrick? Whose idea was it to reunite these territories and create a formidable pack?” pleaded Dane passionately. “This is silly, L… Alpha.”

　　Dane walked over to Lucas and put a firm, reassuring hand on his shoulder as he made his final pitch.

　　“Make me Beta, it's where I belong. Not babysitting these useless warriors of yours. Henrik can train them properly with his eyes closed. He was in charge of the army you want to replicate, and I fully trust him. You've got a vacant Delta position now, shuffle everyone down and give me the Beta title and the respect I deserve!”

　　Dane was almost yelling at Lucas now. His eyes had darkened and he realised his passionate address was partly fuelled by his wolf, Stig.

　　Deep down, Lucas knew that Dane was one hundred percent right. But he’d played the game within his own pack to ascend to Alpha, and that meant guaranteeing leadership positions to those who sided with him and helped convince senior pack members and elders that a coup was the correct decision to make.

　　“I can't, Dane. You don't know the deals I had to make to get Marcus removed. And besides, the fact that these warriors were taken out by rogues without even so much as a whimper is exactly why I need you to turn them into something our pack can be proud of. You’ll remain as Head Warrior.”

　　Stig was aggressively pushing forward, begging Dane to let him shift in rage. He’d just orchestrated the slaughtering of seven men, all so he could be promoted, and now Lucas was standing in front of him, telling him he was staying as Head Warrior.

　　His hands were trembling and it took all the effort he had to keep his face neutral. Dane turned and stormed out of the office, slamming the door behind him with such force the whole room shook. It was a miracle it stayed on its hinges.

　　Lucas sat down at his desk and contemplated what had just happened. He had no doubt Dane was the best person for the Beta role, but he had genuine political reasons for placing him in the position he did.

　　He never set out for the situation to be personal, but now that his mate was at stake, he couldn’t guarantee it would stay that way. He had no choice but to deny Dane what he wanted, so that he himself could get what he wanted – Cara. A small smile crossed his face as he took pleasure in the mind games that would undoubtedly come with Dane.

　　His smile widened as he picked up his phone and texted Sam's address to Cara. He was happy she had agreed so quickly, and was looking forward to getting some time alone with her to get to know her more. Or better still, maybe it could turn into something a bit more physical. His wolf, Lando, was pressuring him to get her to accept their mate-bond.

　　Cara finished her run on the treadmill and hit the button to stop. As she stepped off the machine and made her way to the lockers, her cheeks reddened. It made her feel special that the Alpha had personally called her to invite her to something, just to help her fit in with the new pack. Her skin felt tingly every time she thought of Alpha Lucas, and she wondered whether this was the start of the mate-bond working its magic.

　　The more she thought about it, her excitement turned to nervousness. She would be attending the party of a ranked wolf, in a room full of people she didn’t know. She doubted Alpha Lucas would attend, he’d already done her a favour just by adding her name to the guest list, but there was no way she could go alone. She was confident that it wouldn’t take more than a batter of her eyelids to convince Dane to join her.

　　Later that night, as they strolled up the long, paved driveway that led uphill to Gamma Sam’s house, Dane was making it known just how much he didn’t want to be doing this.

　　“What do we want to go to a Gamma’s party? It’s so beneath us,” he grumbled. “I wouldn’t be seen dead at a Gamma’s party back in Cape Point”.

　　Cara wrapped her arms around Dane's waist and squeezed him as they stopped, bathed in moonlight.

　　“And that's why I love you. For doing stuff you don't want to do, for me.”

　　He smiled as they continued to walk up the driveway, holding her hand in his. Lucas may be winning the hierarchical battle in the pack with him, but Cara was still very much his.