Page 86 of Forgotten Arcane

Logan smiles, “We’ve been under the tyranny of Derek for so long that some of us have forgotten what it’s like to have a real alpha.”

River nods, and doesn’t correct him, now is not the time.

“I understand that.” He replies. He continues, “I need people to stay here and guard the wolves loyal to Derek. I also don’t want his body moved. We need to dispose of that properly. I need people to be on standby, and gathering more medical supplies, and then load up the jeeps that we saw on the way in and follow after us. By the time that you get to us, we should be done dealing with the threat. We will take what medical supplies that we can carry now, but we need to move quickly, so that means going on foot.”

Logan is once again the one who answers for all of them, “We can do that.”

“Great. Logan, since you know the others better than I do, why don’t you organize them and split them into groups of who will do what we need them to do? I want to leave in five minutes,” River suggests.

Logan’s eyes light up, and he smiles, “Yes, Alpha.”

He immediately calls out some names and sends them to the pack's medical buildings to grab some medical packs for us to take. While he’s organizing everyone, the guys move closer.

“Ransom, can you put up the ward quickly?” River asks.

Ransom looks surprised at the question, but immediately nods, “Yeah, of course I can.”

His magic snaps out with ease, and we are soon surrounded by the familiar golden glow of Ransom’s ward. Some of the wolves look at us quizzically, but Logan quickly has them getting on with their tasks again, and I smile. He’s a good wolf.

“Good job, man,” Coen says to River with a smile. “I wasn’t expecting to be dropped to the floor like that. You know you shouldn’t be able to do that to me because Draith is technically an alpha, right?”

River nods, “Yeah, I know.”

I move closer and he wraps his arm around me, pulling me tight to his side, and once again making the guys smile.

“You’re fucking good at this,” Raiden adds, studying River’s expression. “You know what you did by killing the alpha?”

River nods, “I became their alpha. I couldn’t leave him alive, I could sense how dark he really was. As soon as my hand was around his neck, I knew exactly what kind of wolf and leader he was. All of these wolves need therapy. They need kindness and help. That dick barely deserved to call himself a wolf, let alone an alpha.”

“You could literally sense it?” Reed asks with a frown.

“That’s not all,” I say.

“What happened?” Doc asks, looking confused.

Raiden’s face drops into a frown, “I thought I felt a blip of death magic, but it literally lasted for maybe half a second, and then it was gone. I figured it was one of our new magics taking an interest because someone died.”

“Well, you’re not wrong, actually,” River replies, and then launches into a quick explanation of what happened.

“Wow,” Griff says.

“Yeah,” River replies.

“And you took Neith with you?” Van asks.

I interrupt, “I don’t know whether he took me with him, or whether my magic just decided it looked like fun and tagged along.”

The guys all crack smiles at my joke.

“Okay, well, we can look into it later. We need to find these wolves,” Raiden says.

“Agreed,” River says. “Let’s do this.”

Ransom nods and drops the barrier so that we can get this done.

Logan jogs over to River, “Everyone has jobs assigned. We have got enough medical packs so that we can each carry one on our backs and chests, and we have people loading up the jeeps to follow as soon as possible.”

“Great job,” River compliments immediately. “Well done, man. You’re good at this.”

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