Alpha Rising

Chapter Twenty-Two

Nikolai’s P.O.V.

“Stay here,” I said low, my firm grip on Vira’s waist belying my genuine fears of letting her go into some danger or another. I could see the protest form on her lips, but the subtle roll of a growl bubbling in the back of my throat quelled that as best as I could have expected. With a glance over to her brother for reassurance, I pressed a kiss to Vira’s forehead and turned to leave her in the capable hands of those set to keep an eye on her.

All I could feel in my chest was the white-hot rage of not protecting my mate fully from the threats that may lie out there. She was infuriatingly stubborn and wouldn’t listen to reason when I tried to get her to stay put in our room. I’d nearly considered a sleeping draught until her brother Alban stepped up to volunteer and sat with her while I went out with Trevor to hunt down this crafty trespasser on my lands. Maybe he wasn’t such a pushover after all.

And besides, I would be leaving Phillip behind to watch them all anyway. The man was my Gamma, and recently back from family leave to mourn his mother’s passing. He was emotional but reliable.

Trevor was standing in the door a moment later, clearing his throat to catch my attention away from where it truly wanted to stay.

Wordlessly, we left the twins and their guests in his care and set out on our run. I looked back over my shoulder at my Mate as I left the main hall, my jaw set firmly in a clenched line to keep from speaking. There was anger in her eyes, and it cut me to the core. Why couldn’t she see that I just wanted to keep her safe?

That I needed to keep her safe, I couldn’t lose someone else. Not again.

Trevor let his fist fall heavily on my shoulder as we rounded the large staircase down to the main floor, a low laugh ringing in my ears. “Now you know how I feel leaving Sheena,” he said with a sigh. “Sucks,” my friend added. “Doesn’t it.”

As we walked, I peeled off my shirt to leave it folded neatly by the front door. It was one of the nicer ones, and I didn’t want to have it torn to shreds with the shift. “I don’t like feeling so…” But I couldn’t speak the words. Even as I claimed that I didn’t care for the connection, I could feel the warmth pooling in my chest at the thought of that first touch of Vira’s hand.

“Helpless?” Trevor completed it for me. And...that was honestly the perfect descriptor for how I felt.

A grunt of agreement was my reply as we walked. “Like I have no personal agency anymore,” I added. With a glance up through the trees, I could see the large full moon beaming in the clear night sky. “Every ounce of me wants to move and breathe for her,” I sighed.

Trevor paused, shaking off his shirt and stripping down to his boxers. “You get used to it,” he said with confidence. “It makes you angry, and it frustrates you because it takes the biggest place in your mind.” Trevor hummed, looking back towards the window to the kitchen, where his mate was busy preparing dinner with the other cooks.

“And then, you learn to cherish it.” He stood still a moment, letting the breeze toss his hair over his hardened face. “He would have liked her, you know.” Thick brows knitted together in what appeared to be deep thought, and a knot swelled in my throat as I recalled the last time he looked so profoundly intense.

“Trevor,” I said quietly, trying to keep him from dredging past wounds back up to the surface. But to no avail, it would seem. My Beta leveled a glare at me and nodded firmly. It had been months since I’d spoken about my father with anyone other than Mother. And I don’t know that I was truly ready to tackle that piece of my year just yet.

I felt the weight nearly vanish when Trevor’s hand fell to my shoulder once again, and he huffed a sigh. “The Goddess gifted you who you need in your life to heal.” The words were short, harsh, yet somehow comforting. But soon enough his cocky grin was back and twisting into a smirk. “Now, let’s go track down that bastard that was skulking around your land.”

I greatly appreciated Trevor’s gesture and found that his confidence was still just as infectious as ever. I could feel heavy eyes on us as we shifted and pounced into the woods. A feeling that I didn’t entirely relish, as no scent or aura could be sensed from any member of my pack nearby. The lips of my muzzle curled into a snarl and I was already sniffing at the earth and pawing at the dirt paths by the time Trevor caught up to me.

He was a broad wolf, by many standards. But where he out-classed me in bulky muscle, I had clearly out-sized him in sheer height. It was a part of the Alpha breeding to be scaled up to mythic proportions. Something about it just instilled that innate sense of subservience needed in a good and obedient pack.

It was an aura that I took for granted far too often, I felt. The rolling trials of the last year filled me with a deep regret. So many of my pack members had fallen in line behind me once my father passed, and I had been so distracted by the rogue attacks since then.

I owed it to them to be better.

And it started here. Trevor and I broke from each other, always keeping within eyesight of one another, but far enough away to cover more ground. He had managed to dig up a few small bits of plastic and metal, but nothing concrete. There were cracked and pressed circles of prints here, noting where the cursory searches had already covered. Thankfully, that was one hell of a guide to keep us on track to find new things.

Gravel and sticks shifted underfoot as we ran, slowly making our way out away from the house in sweeping arcs to try and catch anything that might have been missed in the initial sweep. The sun slowly sunk lower behind us, and I feared that we would have to give in to the night sooner rather than later.

By the time the dim light was finally dropping into obscurity, it felt like we were out there for days despite it only being just a few hours. It had been the longest time that we’d remained shifted in quite some time, and there was a soreness starting to settle into my joints from lack of use. Goddess above, I had to get better about working on all aspects of my rule, and not just the business side of it.

I had been about to turn back for the main house when my attention suddenly snapped off into a less run path to the eastern side of the main grounds. One of the scouts had said they’d heard noises come from this direction earlier, but it’s likely that none of them came out nearly as far as we had.

But that was unimportant. I had found an aggressive focus in my stride as I knelt and crawled deeper into the forest after that deep and primal hunt that burned in my gut. I could smell my Vira out here.

The scent of warmed vanilla and rich spices caught me and drew me nearer to a long strand of brush beyond a fallen pine tree. My ears pricked back and my tail swished against the low branches of the fallen tree as I leaped over it. Leaves and sharp thorns pricked my muzzle even as I shoved my nose further into the undergrowth after the scent.

And once I pulled back, the rich velvet fabric was clenched tightly in my teeth. Vira’s curtains. Trevor’s head flopped to one side before he leaned forward to nose at the crumpled pile of fabric I dropped on the path in front of him. From his jaws fell a crushed metal tube, apparently flattened by the tree or by foot. It had the vague lettering of some brand on it, but in the dim light we could hardly make it out.

We shared a long look and I managed to drape the bolt of velvet around my neck to cart it back to the house. We had enough to at least go over once I had gotten some rest.

Suddenly, the both of us froze. Our heads popped up in unison and our ears twitched in the wind. In the distance, I heard a low howling that sharply curled up into a high whine. My eyes snapped to Trevor’s and we both had the same thought.

‘Brianna,’ I heard him say through the mind link. She’d been sent out with one of the scouting groups to the north, and at first, it seemed like they might have come upon something useful.

A frantic cry came over the pack link only moments later, beckoning help closer with the urgency that one might expect. I heard the cries that she’d been injured, but pushed out more than that as I focused on closing the gap between our location and theirs. Cool air stung with each sharp breath in, and my senses all stood on end while I searched and sniffed to follow the scent of the group.

This was the fastest I’d run in ages, and my muscles tensed and burned with every movement; I pushed myself faster and harder towards the growing frenzy of my lower pack workers yipping and anxiously fretting over such a brazen attack. They weren’t talking over the mind link anymore either. People had pulled the packed clothing and drapery hidden around the grounds for shifted wolves to use, and they were scrambling to get dressed as they all busied themselves around Brianna’s small and shaking body.

Something had shifted her back to her human form, and soon enough Trevor and I were alongside the pack healer to assess the situation. Kendrick was an older man with a soft but unique physique. He was the oldest of Sheena’s siblings, and very easily the most laid back of the four of them. But now, in his element, he was firm and resolute.

From where we stood, we could already smell the blood mingling with freshly dug dirt. “What happened?” I all but barked, kneeling down beside the doctor that was already wrapping her forearm and torn upper thigh. It looked like she’d been raked by claws or even teeth. But her breathing was shallow and labored. There was a bitter taste in the air, but just barely. Something that made the tip of my tongue feel rough and numb as I brought my fingers to my lips to try and place the smell from the dirt.

“Alpha,” Kendrick said with a low groan. “Based on just a look, she’s having a reaction. Most likely to-”

“Wolfsbane,” I muttered to the doctor before looking back over my shoulder at Trevor. “Beta,” I ordered, barking it loud enough to bring the slowly growing crowd to attention. “Escort the crowd inside.” It was an order met with groans of displeasure at first, but the push of my aura settled the murmurs in no time at all. We needed to keep them in one place until we had Brianna stable. “I’ll take Miss Mallard to the hospital, and send word once she’s safe.”

Kendrick had already motioned for one of his aides to help him load her onto the gurney that had been wheeled out from the main road. They worked quickly to have her into the waiting ambulance, and off to our pack’s hospital. The ambulance went ahead of me, giving me time enough to grab clothing and hop into my own car. I hadn’t had the chance to stop up and see Vira before leaving, but I left Trevor and Sheena with explicit instructions to keep an eye on her until I returned.

With any luck, I would be back by morning.