Chapter 4 : Alpha Calling

*Lynn*

Time slowed to a near standstill as I looked up at the silver wolf. It took a moment, but then I realized: it was an Alpha. How I knew it was the Alpha, I couldn’t say. I just knew. Maybe it was those startling blue eyes that sent shivers through me.

He looked at me like someone might look at a disobedient child who had strayed too close to the fire.

His small group of wolves circled around him, protecting their leader, though I didn’t know from what. Surely, they didn’t see me as a threat?

Some wolves shuffled around a hump in the snow, their noses pushing up against the mass. My stomach dropped when I understood what they were curious about.

“CLARA!” I yelled and stumbled to my feet just as the sound of splashing water came up beside me.

Ignoring the mass of wolves around me, I pushed past them and ran toward Clara.

Aldith reached her at the same time I did. I didn’t know where she was when Clara first was struck, but she arrived panting and heavily drenched in sweat and icy river water.

“What happened?!” Aldith asked, reaching for our sister.

“Cole hit her,” I replied.

I tried to keep my voice calm and steady despite my anxious emotions. I assessed Clara as I spoke. Clara had a massive gash in her side where Cole had slashed her with his claws. Blood pooled around her as her chest slowly raised and lowered. Raised and lowered…

She was still alive!

“Quick!” I motioned to Aldith. “Get me a cloth, something to stop the bleeding!”

Aldith reached into her open pack and pulled out a spare shirt. I grabbed it and pressed it into Clara’s wound, wincing as she did at the sudden pressure and pain.

I hated seeing my sister like this and choked back the sobs that threatened me.

“Here,” I heard a soft voice say from above me. “Let us help.”

“Go away! We don’t need help!” I shouted, not daring to look up from my dear sister.

I don’t know why I lashed out. We very well could have used their help, but right then, I was tired of relying on other people. It always seemed to get someone hurt.

A gentle hand placed itself on my shoulder, light and warm.

I looked up and stared straight into deep blue eyes. I shivered again, but not from the cold.

A man approached us, cloaked and hidden by a drawn hood.

The Alpha, because that was who this undeniably was, motioned toward another man. “This is my healer, Sabastian. He can help your friend.”

Though the Alpha’s words were kind, his eyes gave away his trepidation toward us. Even the way he held his body was rigid and filled with apprehension. I blinked when I realized he was completely naked. All of them were, except for the healer.

“I...uh…” I stammered, but Aldith’s firm voice spoke for me.

“If you hurt her, I swear I’ll kill you.”

Those weren’t exactly the words I was going to use, but they would do.

I stood and backed away with Aldith as the healer stepped in. He covered Clara with a blanket everywhere but the wound and began dressing it.

While the healer was working, the Alpha tightened the cloak around himself, which did little to hide his muscular body's swell.

He looked at my sister and me as we stood huddled against the cold. Aldith was wet and shivering, so I placed the edge of my coat around her while she pressed herself into me.

“And who might you be?” his deep voice asked us. His words sent coils through my brain, fixing my attention on him while all else was drowned out.

My voice was caught in my throat, and I found I couldn’t answer him. I couldn’t stop shaking, even though the snowstorm was dying.

“What’s it to you?” Aldith snapped, again speaking for me.

The Alpha looked at my youngest sister, his eyes narrowing on the youth, and he smiled coldly.

“Does she always speak this way?” he asked me, his eyes still trained on Aldith.

I tried to clear my throat but ended up with a strange squawk.

“I talk however I damn well please,” Aldith stated, crossing her arms.

The Alpha was tall, with broad shoulders and chiseled features. His dark hair hung loosely about his shoulders, parts of it wound in tight braids. It was an interesting look, one that made me quiver.

I stabbed Aldith’s side with my elbow, and she shouted out in pain. “Hush,” I whispered to her. “Let me handle this before you get us killed.” I looked back at the Alpha, trying to shove the butterflies forming in my stomach. “My name is Lynn. This is Aldith.” I motioned to my side. “And that is Clara.”

I pointed to the young woman the healer was placing on a stretcher made of branches and blankets.

The Alpha nodded and rubbed the stubble on his face. “And what are you three doing here…Lynn?” He drew out my name as if tasting it for the first time on his tongue.

“We…” I looked at Aldith, who merely rolled her eyes at me. “We were looking for work. We heard your pack was looking for new workers.”

The Alpha pursed his lips. “Yes, that is true. We are offering jobs for pack MEMBERS. As far as I know, you are not part of my pack. Unless I am mistaken?”

I shook my head. “No, you aren’t mistaken, Lord...?”

“Aldrich,” he stated. “My name is Calix Aldrich.”

“Right. Lord Aldrich. We are not from your pack but have migrated from further south. We were hoping you would allow us entrance into your territory so that we could work and provide for ourselves. You see, we were orphaned some time ago, and it has been difficult to sustain ourselves.”

The Alpha nodded and looked to the corpse at his feet, then the two surrounded by blacked trees.

“I see. And them?” he asked, gesturing to the bodies, his chin casually cocked to the side.

“We accidentally went too close to their territory. We caught their attention, and they chased after us. I was able to hold them back for a short time with fire, but….”

“But none of you can shift, and you couldn’t put up much of a fight,” he finished for me.

Aldith stiffened at my side, and I had to hold her back with a hand.

“Right,” I said. It was as close to the truth as I wanted it to get.

“And you were orphaned?” I nodded once.“What took your parents, if you don’t mind my asking.”

I gulped, sweat beading on my brow.

“It’s none of your business,” Aldith said hotly.

Lord Aldrich, surprisingly, laughed. “You’re right. Perhaps it isn’t any of my business. What is my business is that I happen to find three young women facing three shifters in the dead of night on the outskirts of my territory. You tell me you’ve migrated from another pack, but we both know what that really means. You’re rogues. You’re running from something, and I intend to find out. For now…” He looked to Clara as she shivered on the makeshift stretcher. “I’ll take you back to my castle to tend to her wounds.”

My legs trembled at the prospect. Castle? He’s taking us to his castle? Did I hear him right?

“Is she okay?” I asked the healer, who took his place at Lord Aldrich’s side.

The healer, unspeaking, nodded, his face still cast in shadows.

“She will heal in time,” Aldrich responded. “She is stabilized for now, but we need to return as soon as possible. It is a day’s walk from here to the castle. If we start soon, we can take a short rest in a few hours and keep going.”

He looked at Aldith, who stood shivering violently beside me. He snapped his fingers at one of his people, all of whom had shifted back into human form.

A woman walked up, and the Alpha asked her to give both of my sisters a change of clothes to keep them warm. Despite the Alpha’s cold exterior, I suspected he had an inner warmth he didn’t often let others see.

Eventually, we began to walk through the night, the storm well behind us and a new day soon arriving. Aldith had changed into a thick woolen cloak that dragged behind her as she walked. It likely came from someone much larger them her.

Thankfully, I was able to retrieve my pack and its contents and had it snuggly strapped to my back.

She stuck close to me, and I stayed close to the men carrying Clara’s still form. She was breathing lightly, the breaths from her mouth coming out in soft huffs of steam. Her eyes fluttered with every rocking of the stretcher, her forehead drenched in sweat despite the cold.

My legs were growing wearier and wearier with every step we took. My feet had to drag through the snow that easily went up past my calves. I wasn’t sure how my further I would be able to continue, but just as I thought I had had enough, Lord Aldrich called for a halt.

We set up a camp with a small fire, just enough to cook some meat, rabbit by the looks of it, and tea. The warm food and liquid heated my insides, and I sighed in relief.

Aldrich gave me a strange look as he gazed at me from across the fire, his blue eyes nearly penetrating me.

“Why are you looking at me like that?” I asked before I thought better of it. As soon as the words had left my mouth, I clamped my jaw shut, and my cheeks turned red.

Aldith smiled next to me, her eyes cast down at her plate of food.

Aldrich didn’t smile.

“Where is it that you came from?” he asked.

I stiffened on my spot on the fallen log. “I already told you. South.”

“Yes, that is what you said. But the south is a big place. There are many settlements and just as many pack territories. Which pack did you belong to? Why are you running from it?”

“Does it matter?” I asked, almost daring him to give a reason.

Instead, he shrugged and leaned back, resting against a tree. “No, I suppose, for now, it doesn’t. But know this, young pup, I will find out one way or another. It would be much easier for all of us if you simply told me the truth.”

“I did tell you the truth.”

“No,” he said, eyes gleaming. “You told me one truth. Not your truth. Like I said, you will tell me sooner or later.”

With that, he leaned his head back and closed his eyes. A group of his warriors came in around him, guarding him as he slept.

Their level of loyalty toward him amazed me. Each warrior stood as stiff as the trees around them, their eyes never leaving their surroundings as resolute as I could imagine a person to be.

Aldith and I made cots on the soft ground, clearing away the snow to make a temporary sleeping place. Clara, placed nearby, was sleeping softly, but her brow still furrowed from the ache of her wounds.

The mats they gave us to sleep on were dry enough, and once Aldith and I were tucked away with borrowed blankets, we quickly became warm enough to forget about the cold.

Aldit fell asleep almost instantly while I laid awake, staring up at the trees above me. The sound of sleep was all around me, except for those standing guard both around the Alpha and the perimeter of the camp.

It was comforting to have so many standing watch, and also alarming. Why else would someone need to stand watch if not for the fact that there was something that we needed protecting from?

This thought and more circled my brain a hundred times, never letting sleep come as it should. I was tired, more than tired. I was exhausted. I slept comfortably in our small cabin only yesterday, even if the conditions weren’t that great. It was ours.

I didn’t know where I would end up the next day, which terrified me. I didn’t know what would happen, and I hated that.

I knew that fleeing to Aldrich’s territory was our best shot at surviving. But for how long? How long could we run from Dryden’s wrath? And what would happen once we were caught?