Page 81 of Alpha Reid

Could I have prevented this if I’d arrived a few minutes before?

The hairs on the back of my neck stand up as I look around wildly in an effort to identify where the assailants have gone. I hear a small whimper from behind me, whipping my head back around, startled to meet a pair of blue eyes peeking out from around a fence. They aren’t the eyes of the enemy, but of a small child. The pack’s children are supposed to be locked away at the school nearby, not out wandering around while a goddamn war is breaking loose…

My wolf yields to my human side, tucking back so I can shift. As soon as I do, I rise to stand on two legs and the child steps out from behind the fence.

“Luna?” His voice is shaky. He can’t be more than four or five years old, and there’s so much fear in his wide-eyed stare. Recognition suddenly dawns on me- I know this child. It’s Liam, the little boy that was at the packhouse the other day.

“Yes, it’s me,” I pant, keeping my voice gentle as I advance toward him. “Liam, right? What are you doing out here?”

His lower lip quivers as he takes a shaky step in my direction. “I… do you know where my mommy is?”

Fuck. I met his mother at the packhouse; she was there with the other volunteer fighters.Is she one of the bodies?

I crouch down, holding my arms open. “Come here,” I coo, beckoning him.

Liam comes forward, falling into my arms and wrapping his own around my neck tightly. I lift him up, spinning around so that I’m facing the gory scene instead of him. “I’ve got you,” I whisper, rubbing his back with a hand as I frantically scan the faces of the bodies on the ground. Then I see her, and my stomach sinks.Liam’s mom. Her eyes are wide open, frozen, staring up at the sky. Lifeless.

“Let’s get you back to the school,” I say calmly, backing up so that Liam doesn’t have to see what I can. I don’t turn around until I make it to the fence, tucking behind it to shield Liam’s view of the dead. When I spin around, I nearly run right into Cy’s mate Taylor.

“Serena!” she exclaims, eyes wide with surprise. “What are…”

I’m just as taken aback to see her as she is me. “Has the school been breached?” I interrupt.

Taylor shakes her head emphatically. “No, we realized that Liam was missing…” her expression shifts as the pieces click together in her mind, panic washing over her features. “Wait, are they past the border? Did they make it into town?”

I look down at Liam, softening my voice again. “Taylor’s going to take you back to the school, okay?”

He nods his head, his lower lip pushed out in a pout. My heart aches for the kid. Someone will have to break the news to him that his mom’s gone, but now’s not the time. The priority is getting him to safety. I hand him off to Taylor as she looks to me questioningly, and I realize I still haven’t responded to her questions.

“The fight’s still going near the border, as planned,” I supply, patting Liam’s back one last time once he’s securely in Taylor’s arms. “I saw a small group break off and head here, so I followed. Get him back to the school, I’ll shift and cover you.”

Taylor nods quickly, her fear evident in her expression. All the more reason for her to hurry to safety. I call my wolf forward and shift back to my animal form, seeing to it that Taylor and Liam make it the half block to the school unharmed. Once they do, I resume the hunt for the shadow pack soldiers, tracking them several blocks to the edge of the little town square.

Either they’ve split up or a few of them have already been picked off, because I only count six when I come upon them. They’ve got someone backed into a corner, and while I can’t quite see who it is, it’s clear that the poor wolf is fighting like hell despite the fact that it’s six on one. Not that I’d ever expect these monsters to fight fair, but it’s almost like the enemy soldiers are making a game out of it, taking turns and prolonging the agony of whoever they’re ganging up on.

I don’t stop to consider how foolish it is to take on six foes at once, I just launch myself into the fray, leaping onto the largest wolf’s back and sinking my teeth into his neck. Blood sprays the pavement and he makes a gurgling sound as he collapses beneath me- but before he’s even down, two of the other wolves are on me. Again, I fight practically on autopilot, snapping my jaws and throwing my body sideways to roll out of their grasp. It’s a blur as I take one down, then another gets the jump on me. Then suddenly he’s not on me anymore- the wolf that they were ganging up on tears into him.

When I get a better look at her, I recognize her instantly. A tall, tawny wolf with deep blue eyes.

‘Fallon?’I blurt through the mind-link, blinking in her direction.

‘Behind you!’she calls back, and I whip around just in time to block an attack and take down another enemy. Together, Fallon and I make quick work of the rest, and a few minutes later it’s just the two of us standing there panting, surrounded by six corpses.

‘What are you doing here?’I demand, turning back to Fallon.‘The front line…’

‘Is still holding’, she interrupts, and relief washes through me.‘I saw that group head this way, then you not far behind. I followed you.’

‘Thanks…’I start to say, but Fallon interrupts again.

‘Don’t. I did it because I didn’t trust you. I was wrong. I would’ve been a goner if it wasn’t for you jumping in, so thanks for that. I owe you one.’

Now isn’t the time or place to hash things out with Fallon, so I just let it go.‘Don’t mention it,’I snap through the mind-link.‘Did you see where the others went?’

‘The pack’s fighters got them,’she supplies, and I’m hit with another wave of relief. For now, the town’s safe. Which means…

‘We should head back,’I say, and Fallon quickly agrees. Without another word, the two of us make our way out of town, back toward the main battle. It feels like I’m holding my breath the whole way there, anxious and unsure of what we’ll find.

By some miracle, the six-pack warriors are still holding the line; the shadow pack has made little advancement into the territory, if any. The battle seems to be a lot more concentrated than before, though- when I left, it was more spread out, and now, it feels like everything is happening in a tighter area. I see some of the other alphas and their mates, the other teams, some of the Denver wolves… our divided defense has seemingly blended together to a single unit.

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