Alpha Rising

Chapter Twenty-Three

Alvira's P.O.V.

“Are you sure about this?” Alban asked me. He was standing at the edge of the forest, just to my left. Night had fallen some time ago, and Nikolai was still out on his own hunt with Trevor. They’d left Gamma Phillip in charge, but he was easy enough to get around. Nell and Joey were busy talking his ear off about...well… I didn’t exactly know what. But I trusted Nell to keep us in the loop.

I rolled my shoulders back, letting my bones crack and pop to relieve the tension building up inside of me. “I’m not going to let Nikolai keep me locked up like some bird in a cage,” I said to my brother. “If someone’s out to get me, then I’m going to take them out myself.”

He seemed to whine in protest, shifting nervously from foot to foot as his eyes darted from me back to the pack house. It was hard for him to go against someone else’s wishes, I knew. But I wouldn’t dare let him take the fall for it. He was simply coming to find me after noticing me missing. Simple. Alban let out a deep sigh, and I saw his shoulders slump. “If it gets too dangerous, we’re coming back here,” he said.

Even for that, I couldn’t fault him. As much as I wanted my own answers, I also didn’t want to cause a rift between the two important men in my life. So I let out a sigh and gave my brother a subtle nod. “Deal.”

And with that, we were off. Bare feet pounded the dirt in unison as each step pushed us forward through the transformation. And with one last leap forward, I landed on all four paws just beyond the treeline. I fought against every instinct in me to let a howl rise from my lips, knowing that it would signal to my mate where I was. But a low growl reverberated in my chest as my nose turned up to sniff at the air. Nothing stood out to me on the wind, but I wasn’t convinced.

We shared a look, and Alban slowly turned to lead the way back to the side of the house my old window was on. The two of us ducked and dodged under brush and through low branches, trying to keep away from the circling paths of the sentinels. It was an easy enough feat once you knew their routines even a little bit.

There was a hint of something else in the brush, something familiar. The scent of eucalyptus and lemon caught in my nose, and I was drawn further off the path than I think Alban had intended for us to go. Where had I smelled that before? It was going to drive me absolutely insane, I knew. But I had to shake my head to force the focus away and back on the much more pressing matter of what the f**k happened to me today.

All of a sudden, I felt a strong clamp of teeth on my ruff and almost yelped as Alban pulled me down into the overturned pine tree beside us. It was just in time, too, because not even a moment later, a petite blonde wolf came streaking past our hiding spot. There was a hesitation in one of her back legs like she’d been injured. But she was so quick on her feet otherwise that I hadn’t heard her coming up behind us. What worried me even more, though, was just one thing.

I couldn’t smell her. It made me freeze in place and made my heart race so fast I thought I would throw it up.

Something was wrong. I could smell Alban and that strong scent from earlier. Was that blocking off my senses or what? Something in my gut told me no. But moreover, why was she alone? I remember Nikolai instructing all of his scouts to pair up. I looked at Alban and c****d my head to the side. And the leg that was injured...

‘Wasn’t that one of the search party?’ He asked through our mind link, snapping me out of my focus.

I waited until she was beyond my line of sight before I stepped back out onto the path and pawed at the dirt. ‘I think so,” I replied. ‘I think that might have been Brianna.’ The small wolf was definitely not unfamiliar to me, that was sure. She may have been the only member of the pack who hadn’t been willing to give me a warm welcome. I always felt so judged when she was near. I shuddered remembering her cold and calculating gaze when she came upon Nikolai and me at that pond.

Alban’s ears perked up with an unasked question, one of his ears flopping to the side like a typical lapdog. I knew then that I’d been quiet for far too long.

A hard breath huffed out through my muzzle, and I took off down the dirt path with him hot on my heels. I wasn’t going to let the she-wolf get too far. ‘She’s...not my biggest fan,’ I eventually replied as we ran. The hair on my ruff bristled when Alban loosed a low growl, and suddenly shoulder checked me into the bushes.

I was about to protest and pounce back up when he hissed a low ‘Stay down’ in my mind. Just as I was about to reply, I heard the small but cold voice of Brianna come from over the bushes. “Oh please,” she said. “Like I would even try and fight you.” She’d shifted back to her human form. Was she waiting for us? If Alban hadn’t sensed her, we would have run right into her. Brianna tossed her blonde curls over her shoulder and narrowed a glare at Alban as he stepped closer. “I may be quick, but I’m still an Omega.”

At least she knew her rank, I caught myself thinking. To talk, my brother shifted back too, modestly covering himself with his hands as we were kind of far from our spare clothes. I kept my eyes focused on Brianna, green narrowed slits focused on her round and pouty face. She must have had a stash somewhere nearby because a loose white dress hung on her shoulders and fell just above her knees. The length meant that I couldn’t quite see the part of her haunches that looked injured before...damn.

“What do you want?” He asked, all sense of his usual camaraderie gone from his tone. “Because I’m not about to let you hurt her.”

Alban’s words were met with a scoff. “I want to know why you’re out here,” Brianna hissed. “She’s supposed to be locked up in her room like a good little Luna. Taking up all of Alpha Nikolai’s time.” The woman’s eyes fell on the bush I was settled in, and I felt the venom in her voice nearly coarse through my veins.

Sheena had warned me about this. I’d wanted to be the bigger person and give the benefit of the doubt. But hearing that set my blood ablaze. It took all of my self-control not to pounce on her right then and there, but my brother managed to keep me calm with a subtle mental press of comfort and support. ‘Think you can try and use your Alpha push on her?’ he asked me subtly.

‘Maybe,’ I replied, already having a feeling about what he was going to try. When Alban confirmed to play along, I just held my gaze and waited as he spoke.

“You should learn to hold your tongue,” my brother said low to her and then made an obvious step forward. When he did, I tried my hardest to focus on Brianna and force out that strength that had started to bubble back up as of late. She appeared to cow slightly in retaliation, and her eyes fell to the ground at her feet. “Now leave, and let me go for a run with my sister in peace.”

Brianna stepped back from him, shooting me one more look of pure visceral hatred as she turned and shifted in one fluid movement. With a few more cracks and snaps of fallen twigs, she was gone. Alban looked back at me and shook his head. “We’re going back,” he said forcefully, shaking his head and leaping down the path as he shifted back into his wolf. ‘Now.’

It was the second time I’d ever known him to be forceful with me over my own safety, but I had made him that promise earlier. So I relented.

The entire winding path pack to the house was passed quickly and in near silence, with us only stopping once to sniff at an errant fallen log that hadn’t been there on our way down. It stalled us enough to where we were almost caught by the patrols, but we managed to sneak our way back into the house with little issue.

Once we were settled and changed back up in my room, Alban sent a message down to Nell for her to come up. I was sitting on the edge of Nikolai’s large bed with my head in my hands as I felt her approaching from behind. The weight shifted on the mattress, and the comforting feel of my friend’s arms on my shoulders calmed the racing beat of my heart.

“Do you have any proof it was her?” Nell asked me, lightly nuzzling her head against my cheek.

“No,” I said low, my eyes closing. “Just a hunch.”

Nell shifted and draped herself over my lap, facing up and trying her best to be that bright spot that we both knew I needed right now. “You were right about your status,” she said rather matter-of-factly. “And you were right about predicting the attack on our cabin.” Alban flopped onto the bed beside us and let out a heavy sigh. “So what are the odds that you’re wrong about this.”

“Slim to none,” he chimed in. He laughed, though I could feel Nell’s leg shift to kick him in the side. “Are you going to tell Nikolai about this?”

“And tell him I was out there?” I scoffed and looked over my shoulder at my twin’s dumb face. “No, not until I know for sure that it was her in my room.” One of my hands fell to the mattress to keep me balanced while my other softly sifted through Nell’s hair. “She had no scent,” I said softly. “That can’t be a coincidence.”

I felt Nell take a deep breath, and she felt like she was about to speak before a high howl sounded through the open windows. It was pained, and it sent a shudder of fear and discomfort down my spine. Almost at once, the house sprang to life. Feet were pounding on the floors below us, and there was an instant chatter that rose as a few wolves went sprinting off from the central porch in the direction of the howling.

Goddess save us; was this another attack?

Nell felt my discomfort and ran for the door, only for it to burst open in on us as a frazzled Gamma Phillip came peeling in to make sure I was safe and where I was supposed to be. He held a hand to his chest in relief and looked rather focused for a moment, presumably sending a message to Nikolai. “Vira,” he said, out of breath. “Come with me. I’m supposed to bring you to Luna Irena.”

Though I stood to go with him without question, my brow still knitted tight in confusion. I think the look was clear on my face because he was quick to answer.

“Brianna Mallard was attacked.”

Hearing this, Alban shot right up from the bed and glanced nervously to Nell. “By what?” he asked, visibly fearful of the answer.

Phillip only shook his head as he lead us out and down to the main hall where Irena was sitting in her wheelchair at the expansive bay windows overlooking the northern side of the house.

“Rogues,” Irena said. “On our own land.” I could hear the broken defeat in her voice and gently laid my hand on her shoulder. “So close to the pack house too.” Irena reached up to rest her hand on mine, though her eyes never moved from the crowd of people gathering. “Nikolai will see her to the hospital?”

“Of course, Luna,” Phillip said with a soft bow.

“Good.” There was the briefest moment before she inhaled deeply and started to wheel away from the window. Out of habit, I followed her. “Come, Alvira.” Those words did almost make me halt, though. But the compulsion to be near her was intense. I had this distinct feeling that if anything were to happen, I would be the safest by her side.

“I think that you and I should have a talk.”