Page 73 of Cruel Alpha Daddy

“What?” Rider asks, his face grim.

“Most of these sheds are full of basic supplies. Like linen, camp beds, tinned food. There’s also generators, fuel, wiring, plumbing, and construction equipment.”

“He was planning to go completely off-grid,” Rider says. “This was their supply base. Tobias made it clear he wanted to go back out into the wild, but he was securing equipment before he made the big jump.”

“Yeah, I think so,” Ryan agrees. “Don’t get me wrong, there’s lots of weapons and stuff, too, but mostly, this is all equipment we can use.”

“We can build up New Hope!” Rider says, his eyes lighting up.

“What?” I ask, smiling because I know exactly what he means.

Rider grins back at me. “Yeah. I decided to name our town New Hope. We aren’t Sawpit Pack anymore. Hope has always hung on to me, even when I wished I could give up on it. Over the last couple of weeks, I’ve realized hope is what all of us share. We survived our past, then we survived Jethro. Everyone who stands with me now does so because they have hope we can make a better future.”

Finally, we reach the trucks. It’s starting to scare me that Rider doesn’t seem to be healing as quickly as he should. I gethim settled in the passenger seat and wrap him in blankets. Caleb snuggles by his side while I jump behind the wheel.

“We’ll be here for a while,” Ryan says. “I want to organize a run to get these supplies into town for you. It’ll take a while to do a bit of inventory, but when you get back, tell everyone that resources will soon be stocked up.”

“Tell me if you find a satellite dish,” I say, laughing. “And any TVs or phones. I think the girls miss gossiping on social media as much as the kids miss cartoons.”

“Will do,” Ryan says, waving. “Get him home for us.”

I turn the truck around, glancing over to see that Rider has already fallen asleep, with Caleb dozing in his arms. It takes a few hours to drive through Sawpit and up through the mountains back down to the dirt track that leads into our valley.

Rider’s truck is made for rough terrain, but there’s only so far it can go into the deep canyon. Reluctantly, I wake him and Caleb up so we can walk the rest of the way.

“Are you okay?” I ask, lifting the blanket to check Rider’s wounds.

“I’m fine,” he says, a bit too quickly. I frown as I take a closer look.

Immediately after the fight, I patched him up with a basic med kit, expecting his shifter metabolism to kick in. To my dismay, the gash on his forearm is still bleeding badly enough to soak through the bandage, and he has black and purple bruises across his chest where Tobias tried to tear him in half.

“I’ll make it,” he says, smiling. Even though his voice is reassuring, I don’t like how pale his skin is.

“Okay, let’s just take it slow then.” I gently wrap my arm around his waist and encourage him to lean on me as we head into the forest.

Caleb is looking around with wide eyes, enjoying the adventure. He holds Rider’s hand as if he’s afraid his dad will disappear if he lets him go.

The sky begins to lighten as we come to the edge of the ridge. As we break through the trees and see New Hope beneath us, the sun blazes above the horizon, painting us with warm, golden light.

Rider and I share a smile, remembering the day we watched the sunrise together. That was the day so much changed for me—the day I knew my heart could not be whole without him.

Down below, I hear a shout. People start running out of the cabins and coming up the hill to meet us. Rider shuffles along, trying to get ahead of me to greet his pack.

“Will you stop?” I chide him gently when he stumbles and almost falls. “You’ll tumble right down this hill and break your neck. Imagine the embarrassment—surviving a death match, then defeated by your own clumsiness.”

“I’ll keep that in mind,” he chuckles.

The people coming out of town are close enough now for me to see who it is, and I’m shocked to see Maddy leading them, with Lilah not far behind.

It’s all the girls, and their kids!

I stop, clinging to Rider. Last time I spoke to Maddy, she clearly didn’t want Rider to be the alpha of the pack. I watch her warily as she gets closer.

When she stops in front of me, she tries to keep it together, but her lips tremble and tears pour down her cheeks as she holds her hands out to me.

“I’m so sorry, Fiona,” she says. “I was scared, and angry. I heard about everything Tobias did—his plan for us, and everything he did to you. Some of the pack have returned from the fight and told us how Alpha Bailey saved us.”

I step forward and take her hands, smiling. “It’s okay, Maddy. I understand. I’m here to lead you into the future—the future of New Hope.”

---