Page 82 of Alpha Reid

As Fallon and I approach, ready to jump back into the thick of things, something catches my eye.

Someone, rather.

Chase.

There’s movement all around him, but he’s frozen, staring at one of the shadow pack soldiers like he knows her. I focus in on the mind-link, about to ask him what’s wrong, when I hear his shaky voice come through and the word he utters makes my heart stop.

‘Mom?’

My paws are anchored to the ground, my head spinning in disbelief. I couldn’t have heard that correctly… could I? Chase is still frozen, staring, but the other wolf doesn’t have the same reaction. She bares her teeth, launching toward him. Panic grips me as I watch her go in for the kill, going straight for his jugular. I’m too far away- I’ll never make it in time.

‘Chase!’I screech his name through the mind-link in a futile effort to make him move. It doesn’t work; he’s still frozen, but someone else jumps in.

His father.

Vaughn slams his body into Chase’s, knocking him out of the way at the last second. The other wolf sinks her teeth into Vaughn’s neck instead, tugging backwards sharply.

I hear the snapping sound his neck makes- I swear it fucking reverberates through the forest. It’s almost like everything goes still for a moment, time screeching to a halt… and then sound roars back into my ears all at once.

Chase picks himself up, shaking out his fur, looking over to his father. I see the moment he registers what’s happened- it’s like watching something break inside of him. The air shimmers around Vaughn as he transitions back to his human form in death, vacant eyes pointed at the sky. And the bitch who killed him squares up again, focusing back in on Chase.

CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE

Reid

I’ve never enjoyed killing. It’s simply a means to an end; a necessary evil to keep my pack safe. As Alpha, it’s my duty to ensure my pack’s safety, and if that means taking the lives of those who threaten them, then so be it. It’s a burden I’ll gladly bear for the benefit of my people.

That doesn’t mean it doesn’t come at a price. War is physically, mentally, and emotionally taxing, and no amount of preparation can truly prepare you for the sheer carnage of the battlefield. The smells, the sounds. The blood. The bodies that pile up underfoot. The awareness that some of them are from my own side, friends and allies we’ll be left to mourn if we emerge victorious, or soon join in death if we don’t.

In order to focus and do what has to be done in battle, I have to turn off part of my humanity, in a sense. I tuck it away and let my wolf take over. I’m still there in the background, executing the strategy and guiding the ship, but I’m completely in the zone. It’s why I’m so skilled in battle- I check my emotions at the door. My moves are clean, precise. I’m laser-focused. Nothing can knock me out of that trance.

Nothing except the sound of my mate in distress.

When I hear Serena’s voice come through over the mind-link, the sheer panic and desperation evident in her tone, it shatters the wall I’ve erected to shut everything else out. It all crashes back in at once- the smells, the sounds. Blood drips from my mouth and fur as I come back into myself, eyes wide and wild as I search frantically for her red wolf amongst the carnage.

I breathe a sigh of relief when I spot her standing on the periphery with Fallon, seemingly unharmed. Then I follow her sight line to see Chase, the one she called out for over the mind-link. He’s rooted in place as a shadow pack wolf lunges at him, but Vaughn intercepts just in time, knocking his son out of the way. Making the ultimate sacrifice. He doesn’t have time to react or defend himself before the other wolf sinks its teeth into Vaughn’s neck, yanking back and twisting sharply. His body goes limp and crumples to the ground.

Everything and everyone on the battlefield seems to go still for a moment after it happens, like the six-pack can collectively feel the profound loss of one of its leaders. Chase struggles to his feet, his eyes coming to his father’s corpse as the realization dawns on him. Then he throws back his head, letting out a howl that sends birds scattering from the trees.

The wolf that took out Vaughn is already squaring up again, ready to pounce on Chase, when Fallon and Serena come crashing in, heading her off before she has a chance. From my vantage point several yards away, I can see that Serena’s fur is matted with blood, but she doesn’t appear to be outwardly hurt. Fallon, on the other hand, is clearly injured. The left side of her face is ripped open, flesh hanging down from a gaping wound, and her right front paw is bent at an odd angle. Even so, her injuries don’t seem to slow her down one bit.

Serena pounces on the wolf’s back, taking it down to the ground, and when she tries to scurry away, Fallon is right there to head her off. I’ve never seen the two of them team up like this before- and goddamn, it’s something to see. Serena and Fallon are each skilled fighters in their own right, but it turns out when you put the two of them together, they’re absolutely lethal. I just look on in awe as they make quick work of the enemy wolf, culminating in Serena sinking her teeth into its throat and ripping it out. The other wolf thrashes, twitches, then goes still, blood pooling in the snow around her body.

Chase is still just looking on, frozen in place. His expression is completely vacant, like he’s checked out; and if he just keeps standing there like that, the kid’s going to get himself killed.

‘Someone needs to get Chase out of here,’I bark out over the mind-link as I bound in his direction.

‘Fallon,’Gray calls, and I see him coming from the other direction.‘Take him up to the complex.’

She whips her head around toward Gray, and if I know Fallon she’s about to protest- but from the tone in her mate’s voice, it wasn’t a suggestion.

‘It’ll give you time to heal, baby,’he continues, his voice a little softer this time. He steps closer, nuzzling her affectionately.

‘Fine’, Fallon begrudgingly agrees. This is exactly why her and Gray work so well together as a couple- because while the girl has a stubborn streak a mile long, Gray’s the only one who knows how to get her to bend. I used to give him a little shit for how he caters to her, but now… well, I guess we’re all suckers for strong-willed women.

Fallon steps toward Chase, nudging him with her nose.‘C’mon, baby Alpha…’

The kid doesn’t make a move to go with Fallon- he’s still just staring blankly between the corpse of his father and that of the shadow pack wolf that killed him. And sure, if the circumstances were different, we’d probably give him space to process what just happened, but at this moment we can’t afford to keep standing around while the battle continues to rage- the enemy wolves have picked up on the fact that we’re all just sitting ducks right now and they’re starting to close in.

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