Page 135 of The Married Alpha And His Arrow: Vol 1

Heath looked away, “Not always, but I’m trying. You and me, always. We promised. I’ll always put you before me, Lex.” I frowned, “Well, don’t do that!” Heath smiled, “You’re my little sister. I failed you when I gave you space. I should’ve known all along what Noah did to you, but I buried my head in the sand. It won’t happen again.”

I assured him, “You can’t know everything even though you give it a fair try. You have NEVER failed me. You are my rock. Speaking of people failing… Have you found out anything about our family?” Heath sighed, “I’m hitting roadblocks. Someone really didn’t want us to find them if we started looking. But the number of walls I’m hitting tells me there is something to find.”

Tears filled my eyes, “So they really are out there, and they don’t want to know us? Heath shrugged, “That’s their loss, and they WILL know that when I track them down. I wouldn’t do that without you though. We see them together, and we get answers together.” I smiled, “Agreed. It was nice having dinner. We should make it at least a monthly thing.” Heath told me, “My door is always open, but I’ll take a monthly dinner with you.” I gave him a hug and took off running.

I left the Shroud and crossed into Chase’s territory. I heard a fight going on and my heart skipped a beat. Was Chase ok? I heard a grunt of pain. Oh god, I knew who that was. I screamed, “NOEL!” I flashed to him. Noah’s brother was fighting someone. I took out two of his opponents.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw something that made my heart stop. A black wolf was down. My heart started pounding in my ears. Tears filled my eyes. Not Chase. War Goddess please not Chase! I took everyone remaining out by myself in a rage.

I turned to Noel who was breathing heavily. I asked, “Are you alright?” He nodded, “The old man found my hiding spot. He was questioning me when witches and rogues jumped us.” My heart stopped again. I whispered, “Old man?”

Noel nodded, “He said he called for someone named Isaac, but they got caught by rogues too. I tried… I was running the whole territory all night, I swear. I tried to keep them safe.” I reassured him, “Noel, this isn’t your fault. Get back to the Shroud. I’ll handle the cleanup.” Noel nodded then added, “The old man’s a good fighter. He didn’t get hit with anything but spells. He still took down six rogues while he was whining in pain. He only went down as you showed up.” I nodded and he took off.

I turned to look at the wolf. I knew exactly who it was, and he wasn’t allowed to die. I would never allow Chase to know the pain of having both parents die if I could help it. I put some steel into my tone, “Frank, don’t you dare be dead.”

Frank shifted back into human form. He tried to laugh, but it came out wheezing. He whispered, “The Black Arrow knows my name, huh? I guess you would with TeleTed being kidnapped and a member our pack. You saved him.” I checked Frank over ignoring him.

He assured me, “I didn’t take a hit of any kind. It was just a spell of pain. My wolf says we will be fine.” I informed him, “You don’t have a choice, you have to be fine.” Frank huffed, “My son might respect me again if I died saving the pack.” I yelled, “You shut up! You have three kids who need you. Everyone needs their dad. Especially when he’s a good man like you. A particular little girl comes to mind. Her mother does too. Don’t go dying for respect, EARN it back without dying.”

Frank managed to nod. I ran to the tree line and grabbed him some clothes. He put his own shorts on, and I had to help him with the shirt. He commented, “I can't smell you, but my wife will be in fits over this.” I snorted, “She won’t be able to smell me on you. I don’t have a scent right now.”

Frank laughed but it turned into a cough, “Of course you don’t. My wolf said you seemed frightened when you saw me. Did you think I would hurt you? No, that doesn’t make sense because I was down.” I admitted, “I was worried. We were trying to protect multiple areas from attack tonight. We did not want any werewolf casualties.” That was true.

I couldn’t tell him I’d thought he could’ve been Chase. My heart was still not beating normally. Frank said, “Your heartbeat is telling me you were afraid. I just don’t understand why.” I didn’t answer him. He asked, “Do you know Lexi Scott?” I stiffened, “Yes.” Frank said, “My son is worried about her. Do you know if she’s alright?”

I brushed him off, “Let’s focus on you.” Frank argued, “No, I can’t do that. She’s important to my son. I need to know if you know her status. She had a mission tonight, and you said your people were all over the area.” I answered, “She’s fine.”

I had my heart stuck in her throat, but I was fine. That moment of knowing the black wolf was down replayed in my head. Thinking it was Chase. I needed to see him to really be ok. Frank looked relieved, “That’s good. Chase will be worried about her until he sees her again.”

I commented, “I think your son may be more worried about you. Can your mate feel your pain?” Frank nodded slowly. I hoisted Frank up to his feet, but he collapsed. I sighed. He urged, “Leave me here. Isaac will find me. His family just finished off the rogues they encountered. His daughter and son are with him.” Perfect.

Matt was coming. He couldn’t smell me, but he was very observant. We needed to move. I questioned Frank, “Do you have a hospital around here?” I knew the answer I’d seen it today, but I was curious if he’d be honest with me. Frank snorted, “Of course we do. All packs do. It’s west of us.” I nodded and hoisted him up.

Frank was startled, “God. Seriously? I’m just racking up the amount of your people that hoist me effortlessly. I’m starting to get a complex. I need to eat more and pack on more muscle, clearly.” I laughed, “We are quite strong.” Frank snorted, “I noticed. Your voice modulator deal is something.” I smiled, “Thanks. I’ll pass along my compliments to the Hood and Princess Haley. She charmed it for me.”

Frank snorted, “The Hood’s no fan of mine. I haven’t met the Princess officially yet so that still has hope. She sounds pretty amazing.” I asked, “You know the Hood?” Frank answered, “He punched me in the face once.” I laughed, “When did he do that?” Frank replied, “A while back. He wasn’t happy with me.”

I snorted, “He’s not one for being subtle. If all he did was punch you, then he’s probably over it.” Frank coughed, “God, witches’ spells hurt.” I sighed wishing I could call Haley. I just didn’t know what she was doing. I didn’t want to distract her, and Frank was going to be fine.

I told him, “I’d call Haley but…” Frank shouted, “NO! We haven’t heard from Chase or Cameron yet. There was going to be a fight tonight that she would be part of. They need her, and like you said I’m fine. I need my son to have her with him.” I agreed, “Ok.” I took off running.

I flashed inside the hospital. The halls were empty. SERIOUSLY? I yelled, “I need some help over here!” Doctors poured into the hall. One yelled, “That’s former Alpha Frank! Oh god! The Alpha will have our heads! Is he alright? We have search parties out looking for him. The Beta’s family couldn’t find him.” I explained, “I found him. He’s been hit with a spell, but I found no other injuries.”

I set Frank down gently on a bed they wheeled out. Frank fussed, “I’m fine!” The doors burst open and Nadine ran in. Tears streamed down her face. She threw herself on the bed and Frank. She sobbed and yelled, “YOU! YOU!” He rubbed her back. She yelled into his shoulder, “DON’T DO THAT TO ME!” Frank assured her, “I’m fine, Nadine.” She swatted him, “You did not feel FINE! In fact, you still don’t. What’s wrong with him?”

The doctor nodded to me, “According to the Black Arrow he took on some spells. We don’t see any other injuries. We will give him something for the pain.” Nadine gasped when she saw me. She jumped off Frank and hugged me tightly. She whispered, “Thank you, Black Arrow.” I responded, “Call me BA.”

Ted ran through the doors and stopped short when he saw me. He finally spoke, “I linked Matt that Former Alpha Frank is here.” Frank said, “For god's sake just call me Frank, Ted.” Ted greeted me, “BA.” I nodded to him, “TeleTed.” He winked at me, “Busy night?” I nodded, “So very busy. Is everyone else alright here?” Ted would know who I was asking about.

Before he could respond Frank asked, “My sons and Reagan? Are they all alright?” Ted answered, “Matt linked me that they are all fine. Chase is on his way home now.” I waved, “I’ll leave you all to it.” I whispered to Ted knowing they could hear me, “I’ll run the territory to make sure the borders are clear. I’ll send you a text when I know.” Ted nodded and I took off.

I ran Haley’s border last giving Chase time to get through. I found two more rogues and killed them. I pulled out my burner phone and texted Ted.

Me:Two more rogues on the east end killed.

Ted:Got it BA.

I was about to put my phone away when I saw another text.

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