Alpha Mate

Morgan Pov The sound of the book slamming shut added to the noise of the chaos that was going on outside the house. I had been sitting in my favorite recliner of my brother's living room when I was startled by the shouts from outside. While I lived in the pack house, it was a routine of mine to visit my brother's much more peaceful house to complete my reading. The interruption of the usual silence brought me to my feet so I could glance out the window. Not a single person stood still, there was no time to be frozen with fear. Everybody was running somewhere, whether it was to fight or to hide. There were guards that ushered women and children to run towards the pack house, where there was an impenetrable safe room that became even more guarded during emergencies. Other guards had already taken on their woven forms. They were the ones running in the opposite direction. Towards the frontline where they could defend our pack as closest to the border as possible. I turned at the sound of footsteps entering the living room. It was my sister-in-law Erin who was holding her one-year-old daughter. Another reason I preferred to visit the house to read was so that I could see my young niece and keep Erin company when she needed. As the alpha of the pack, my brother was often in his office at the pack house or at the fields training guards throughout the day. This left Erin alone to take care of their daughter in the house he built for the privacy of their family. Erin's face was flush and her breathing was heavy after running down the steps to reach me. If she hadn't heard the commotion outside from upstairs, she had surely felt what was happening to the pack through her bond as the luna. There was only one thing that could cause this great of fear. We were under attack. "I need you to take care of Lilian," she demanded. "What do you mean?" I asked. "We have to get to the safe room. All of us." Erin shook her head. "Morgan, I can't hide in the safe room with you. I need to help defend this pack." There were many warriors of the pack who were women, but no mothers were expected to fight and be separated from their children. Erin is one of the strongest women I've ever met. She took on her duties and responsibilities as the pack's Luna without any fear or hesitation. She looked after our pack just as well as she took care of her daughter. "Leo would never approve of that." My brother loved his mate and daughter more than anything. If he were here with us, there is no way he would ever stand for Erin going to the battlefield away from Lilian. "It doesn't matter. We're losing time the more we argue about this. You have to get Lilian to safety now." "We should go to the safe room together." Erin stood her ground. "I'm the Luna of this pack and I cannot sit by as it gets destroyed. Take her, Morgan. I trust you." "I will protect her with my life." That was the last thing I said as I reached out to take hold of my niece. It made me uneasy to think about the two of them being separated, but Erin was right. The more we argued about it, the less time we had to make it to the safe room. We hurried to the door, seeing the amount of pack members running outside had already dwindled. As soon as we stepped out the door, Erin shifted into her dark gray wolf and ran towards the border to join the fight. At being away from her mother, Lilian began to cry in my arms. There was no time for me to comfort her. I could only hope that her cries wouldn't bring us any more attention as I ran with her towards the pack house. There were hardly any other pack members outside now, likely all safely hiding or at a distance fighting. If it were just me, I could shift into my wolf form and protect myself. But since I was holding Lilian, we were completely vulnerable as we were out in the open. To make matter's worse, if anyone were to realize I was holding the alpha's daughter, we would become an even bigger target. This knowledge pushed me to run at an even greater speed. As I approached the pack house, I noticed a couple of wolves that were rounding the building from the back. Instead of our pack guards like I had hoped, these wolves were rogues. I almost stopped in my tracks. We were being attacked by rogues, and two of them had made it passed the border's line of defense. As getting to the safe room was no longer an option, I shifted my direction by making a dash towards the woods. I sent a silent prayer to the moon goddess asking her to allow us to go unnoticed by the rogues, but Lilian's constant cries only attracted their attention. I sprinted impossibly faster, not daring to look behind me, but knowing they were coming for us by the sounds of their paws moving against the ground. I couldn't hide from them, our scents and Lilian's cries would only give us away. Though I had gotten a headstart that would keep us ahead of the rogues for a little longer, I couldn't outrun them in my human form and it would take too long to shift into my wolf form with Lilian in my arms. My only chance was to make it within the range of a neighboring pack's border patrol. Luckily, I was heading east of our packlands. I couldn't remember exactly how far it was, but I knew that the neighboring pack had territory that extended into these woods. If I pushed a little further, perhaps I could reach them in time to save Lilian and I. The forest floor was uneven as I hurdled fallen logs and crushed several twigs. Each obstacle slowed me down more than I would have liked as I concentrated on maintaining my balance through them all. If I tripped and fell, Lilian and I would be at the mouths of the rogues. She screamed louder each time I jostled her in my attempts to get us away from the wolves. The rogues were right on my heels now. I felt a claw scrape along my calf as though the rogue was taunting me, letting me know I was right within his grasp. Just when I thought the moon goddess had left me to die, my nose picked up the scent of other wolves. Wolves that shared the scent of a pack, meaning they weren't rogues. I almost cried at such a blessing. If I were able to survive this, I would thank the moon goddess a hundred times over. Through the weakness of the scent, I could tell the wolves were still a couple hundred yards ahead of me. I wouldn't be able to reach them before the rogues pounced on me for an attack, but I was close enough for the wolves to sense me. I had to get their attention. "Rogues!" I shouted. "Help! Rogues!" I tried to push myself to run even faster, but my shouting had been rogues' last straw. They wouldn't let me make it any closer to the nearby pack. Whereas the previous claw mark had been just a warning scratch, the next one was a weakening blow. The rogue that was closest to me reached out again and dragged his claws down my calf agonizingly deep. A searing pain ripped through my entire leg after feeling the skin of my calf tear. The muscle spasmed, no longer able to support my weight with the injury. I collapsed to the ground, breaking the fall on my side so as not to crush Lilian. She remained held at my chest. When I knew I had no chance of getting back up to run, I brought Lilian beneath me. I then shifted to my wolf form so I could shield her from an attack. By instinct, I knew that the only thing that mattered was keeping my niece safe. If I died in that moment so Lilian could live, it would be worth it. As I huddled over Lilian, I took one last chance to howl towards the sky. It was a howl full of desperation, asking others to help me from this danger if they hadn't heard me before. My howl would make certain that they come to our rescue. Standing to my full height, I snarled at the two rogues in front of me. One of them growled back in response. I took a small step forward making sure that Lilian was safely guarded under my hind legs. This let the rogues know that they would have to get through me if they wanted the alpha's daughter. I continued to stand my ground, forcing the rogues to make the first move. My best chance against them was to remain on the defensive. The came at me all at once. It was a struggle to keep them away from Lilian while I was outnumbered, but receiving extensive training during my youth made it possible to hold them back enough for me to survive. There were many close calls as I could barely defend myself from the both of them at once. I received many slashes across the chest, the bone of my right paw broke after being stomped on, and I narrowly escaped death after pulling away before a fierce jaw could clamp down of my jugular. Just as I whimpered with the thought that I couldn't take anymore, more wolves gathered up at my side. The warriors from the neighboring pack had arrived and began effortlessly tearing apart the rogues that had tried to kill me and my niece. There was no certainty I could trust this other pack, but for now, they saved our lives. Knowing the fight was no longer mine, I shifted back into my human form and crumpled to the ground. I crawled back to where I had set Lilian down and curled myself around her, not only because it was still my duty to protect her but because I wanted her close to me. The both of us were now covered in blood, but at least Lilian's cries ceased. As long as Lilian was safe, I wasn't too worried about my injuries. My wolf abilities would help them to heal quickly despite hurting so much right now. It was possible I did need medical attention for my wounds, though I figured none of them were life-threatening. I wanted to thank my rescuers as the growls turned to silence, but my vision began to blur as exhaustion took over my mind. Warm hands began to lift me. Though I had little strength left in me, I struggled to hold onto Lilian. Whether they saved us or not, they couldn't separate us. I wouldn't let them. I couldn't make out any words that the warriors said. I was too far gone by that point, and soon blacked out completely.