The Lost Alpha

A pack in mourning

A few days after the attack, Luna Daphne was sitting with the younger pups, reading them a story. The warriors were going out every night to scout the land but Roman’s warriors were still there. Daphne, Jackie and Marlene had been doing their best to keep the pack calm. The omegas were making sure everyone had food and water. Luckily, all of the pups were potty-trained, so there was no need for diapers.

Towards the end of the fourth day, Daphne felt the loss of a pack member. She looked around to see who it was and saw everyone else was feeling the loss as well. This could only mean one thing: Roman had killed one of their warriors. Luna Daphne did her best to comfort and console her pack. Whoever passed had family here and they would be more than devastated.

This went on for a week. Every night they all felt the death of a warrior. Finally, Luna Daphne had enough. The next morning, she gathered some warriors and ordered them to go to the Death Valley pack and rescue her mate and their warriors. They left immediately, knowing they’d get there right around midnight.

That night, as everyone was getting ready for bed, Daphne felt the loss of another member. She also heard someone cry out. It was Donna. Her mate, John, was one of the warriors captured. Donna was hunched over, as if in pain, crying. Luna Daphne’s heart broke for this woman. She couldn’t even begin to comprehend the pain of losing a mate.

Daphne mind-linked one of the sitters to ask her to come take care of Donna’s pups, while Daphne consoled Donna. After an hour of crying, Donna fell asleep. Daphne went to check on her own pups. Adam and Celeste were both sound asleep. She was praying the Goddess would save Karter. Not only did she need her mate, but her pups needed their father.

After checking on her kids, she went around the room to check on the rest of her pack. Most of them had fallen into a restless sleep. The rest were having a hard time falling asleep, most of them worrying about their mates.

Daphne went to lie down for a while to try to get some sleep. She needed to keep her strength up so she could take care of her pack. She finally dozed off and was having a nightmare when someone’s cries woke her up.

Daphne shot up and started to look around to find out what was wrong. It didn’t take her long when she could see a bunch of wolves hunched over in pain, crying, and then she felt the deaths of her pack members.

As Roman’s army killed off Karter’s warriors, their mates were feeling their deaths in the bunker. One by one, wolves were experiencing the loss of the mate bond. The whole pack was devastated as they could all feel the deaths of their warriors.

Daphne’s eyes darted around the room watching her pack members suffer and she couldn’t do anything for them. Her eyes landed on her Beta and Gamma and they were also hunched over. She started to head over to them to try to console them when she felt a sharp pain in her heart. “Mate!” her wolf cried inside her head. Daphne fell to the ground and clutched her stomach. Her pain was so unbearable that she couldn’t breathe. One of her warriors came over to her and helped her to a cot and tried to console her. She was crying hysterically over the loss of her mate. She could see the pain in the warrior’s eyes from losing his Alpha, but he was more concerned about his Luna right now. They still needed her to help them rebuild when it was safe to leave.

Every wolf in the bunker was feeling the loss of all the warriors who died in battle, as well as the deaths of their high-ranked wolves. A lot of them were also suffering the loss of their mates. The warriors who remained were either un-mated, or their mates were in the bunker. Those who didn’t lose a mate did their best to console those who did.

Mable had taken all of the pups into another room to spare them the scene of grief, misery and sadness. It was a sad time for the Solar Eclipse pack and she wanted to do what she could to help. She’d lost her mate in a battle years ago, so she knew what these wolves were going through. She had the omegas go around the bunker periodically to offer food, water or comfort to the remaining pack members.

Over the next couple of days, the remaining members of the Solar Eclipse pack mourned the losses they suffered. On the third day, Luna Daphne, along with her Beta and Gamma, held a memorial service for all those lives lost. They encouraged the whole pack to say a few words about their loved ones. A lot of the pack members spoke up and expressed their grief and love for the lives of the wolves they lost.

Beta Jackie came forward when they were done. “I met my Luke just a few days after my first shift. He was the sweetest, kindest and most handsome man I had ever seen. He has given me so many happy memories and all the love he had in his heart. He also gave me two beautiful children whom he loved so much. I will cherish every moment we were able to spend together. Lucas, my sweet Lucas, I miss you so much and I love you with all of my heart. Until we meet again, my love.”

Gamma Marlene spoke next. “When I met Tony, I didn’t want a mate and I tried to fight the bond. But Tony, he was just so persistent and he never wavered. I’m so glad he didn’t give up because he became my world, my everything. When I thought our life couldn’t get any better, we had our handsome twins. And then, a few years later, we had our beautiful daughter. We had so many great times together. He was the most amazing mate I could ever ask for and I thank the Goddess every day for every moment with him. Tony, you are my first love, my true love, my only love. Please watch over me and our pups. I will love you until my dying day.”

Luna Daphne knew she had to make a speech, but she didn’t know where to begin. Not only did she lose her mate, her children lost their father and her pack lost their Alpha. No amount of words can ever express the grief everyone was feeling, but she had to try.

“Your Alpha, my mate, Karter Storm, was a great man and an amazing leader. When we met and mated, he was scared to take over the Alpha title. He wasn’t sure if he was ready or if he was good enough. He was scared he couldn’t live up to his father’s reputation. I told him he would be fine and do great things. I did and said whatever I could to boost his confidence because I knew he had what it took to be a great leader. And when he finally became Alpha, he did everything he had to do to be a good leader. Every decision he has made has been to better this pack. Karter was my perfect half and he was such a great father. He loved those kids more than he loved himself. I know that he gave up his life to protect his daughter, our daughter. Our Beta, our Gamma, all of our warriors. They gave up their lives to protect my family. I can’t express the gratitude I feel to have my baby safe, but it comes at the expense of so many lives. I will be forever grateful to each and every one of them, as well as to all of you. You have all come together, even in your grief, to provide whatever help you can to the rest of the pack. I know Karter would be so proud of all of you. I hope he knows he was loved and respected and appreciated. I pray the Goddess will reunite us one day in the afterlife. I love you Karter!”

When she finished, Jackie and Marlene each put a hand on her shoulder. She covered their hands with both of hers. Daphne was grateful for their presence.

Daphne cleared her throat to get everyone’s attention again. “I want everyone to take the rest of the day to mourn properly. Tomorrow we have to start planning the move to our new territory.”

Everyone started looking around confused and asking questions. Daphne put her hands up to quiet them down. “When Alpha Roman started making threats, Alpha Karter thought it best to have a contingency plan.”

“What does that mean?” someone asked.

“Well, Karter bought a large plot of land on the other side of the country under a pseudonym. Everything we need to rebuild our pack is here. Karter kept everything important in a safe here in case someone got into the pack house. Roman can take our land and our pack house, but that is all he will take. He’s already taken so many of our members. We can’t allow him to come after us again. Tomorrow, I will send our warriors out to scout the land and let us know when Roman’s guards are gone so we can start making plans to move out,” Daphne finished explaining as she carefully examined all the faces in the crowd.

The pack was still grieving, but their Luna’s speech gave them hope. Although they lost so much, they still had each other and they had all the pups to look out for. The pack needed to be rebuilt, even if just for the pups.

That night, after midnight, Luna Daphne sent the warriors out to scope the area and report back. She sent two teams out with Charlie and Allen leading the two groups. It took longer than she expected to receive any information from the warriors. Charlie was the one who linked her.

Luna, we have good news and bad news.

OK, give me the good news first.

Alpha Roman’s guards have all left. There is no trace of anyone left on pack lands.

Great, what’s the bad news?

Everything is destroyed. The pack house, the pack hospital, the training facilities, even all the rest of the houses that the pack members lived in. It looks like everything was burned to the ground.

Should I come up and-

NO! You absolutely do NOT need to see this. Really Luna, there’s nothing up here worth salvaging. Please stay down in the bunker. We will be back soon.

OK, thank you Charlie.

You’re welcome, Luna.

Luna Daphne would never see the extent of all the damage, but none of the warriors would ever forget it. The reason for the damage was Alpha Roman, of course. After he finished off Karter and his army, he ordered the guards he left behind to burn the entire pack down and return home.

Roman’s guards spent the whole day tearing through the pack house and all the smaller houses, ripping up books and papers, breaking everything they could get their hands on, throwing clothes everywhere. They hoped to find anything that would lead them to the location of the remaining pack, but they didn’t find anything. They didn’t even find anything of importance in the Alpha’s office, which they found especially odd.

When they finished ransacking all the houses, the guards set everything to burn. They only stayed around long enough to make sure the larger buildings were fully engulfed in flames before taking off into the night. A few hours later, a rain storm came through and killed all the fires before the forest caught and burned the whole area down.

Since there was no point in hanging around outside, the warriors all made their way back to the bunker to find out what Luna Daphne wanted to do next. It was early morning when they returned to the bunker, and it was busy with activity. Daphne spotted them right away and went to give them all their instructions.

After Charlie reported their findings, the Luna started getting everyone in gear to pack up and get ready to move out. She told the warriors to pack up all the cots and put them into the empty moving van. The other moving van was filled with camping supplies. It was going to be a long drive across the country and they would need to make rest stops along the way.

All the omegas were packing up the rest of the supplies from the bunker and loading them into the moving vans. Jackie and Marlene were getting the rest of the pack loaded onto busses. Daphne made sure to assign a few warriors to each bus. There were 4 warriors-2 for each moving van-to drive the vans. There would also be two extra wolves on each bus that could drive, so the driving could be divided up between several people. It would make for fewer stops on their way to their new territory.

After everything was loaded into the moving vans, and the rest of the pack were on the buses, including the omegas, Daphne, Jackie and Marlene were led to an SUV with tinted windows. Daphne looked around and noticed that the buses had tinted windows as well. She assumed it was to help hide them better. By the time they were ready to leave, it was evening and the sun was starting to set.

As the caravan of vehicles made its way out of the underground garage, Luna Daphne sat in the back staring out of the window. She looked around at what was left of their pack. She couldn’t believe the destruction. It really broke her heart. Her mate had worked so hard to make these lands beautiful and safe, but in the end all his efforts weren’t enough. Alpha Roman destroyed them and it would take a long time to rebuild her pack. Daphne knew, with time and determination, they could do it, especially if they all worked together.

She looked around one last time as they crossed the border. She knew she’d never see this place again. She only prayed the Goddess would help them become strong again.