Page 26 of The Hidden Falling
“I’m the Alpha of this pack,” I state, as I nod to my members. My spine straightens, and my chin lifts at the declaration. I’m proud to be called Alpha of Eridian. It’s an honor.
“A female Alpha with no mate?” His face shows his surprise for a split second at my nod before he controls his reaction. There are not many females that run packs on their own anymore. There is usually an Alpha male and female that run a pack together. “So, this isn’t your mate?” He nods his head toward Josh, and the question surprises me.
“No,” I shake my head. “I have no mate.”
“And this is your pack?” I nod again. “Is thisallyour pack?“ I hesitate, and he picks up on it. He looks thoughtful for a second, looking toward the dark, blond-haired male who has Colten on his knees in front of him. The blond male looks at the rest of the Elites, especially their injured who are a little further back. I follow his line of sight and see the woman from earlier cleaning some of the injured men’s wounds.
“Maize,” the blond calls, and the woman looks toward him. “How many injured, and how badly?”
“Six injured, three badly. They may not make the night even with shifting. I suspect one has a broken rib in his lung. He needs a healer, Leo, if he stands a chance at living,” she replies coldly, looking directly at me.
The Alpha’s face hardens again, and I look at Kade and all the blood he’s losing. His eyes are drooping as he takes slow, raspy breaths and pure fear sets in. It’s the only reason for what I say next. “I can take your injured to a healer,’ I force out in a rush, and my guys look at me in shocked surprise. They then look in the direction of Kade. Worry soon shines in their eyes. Josh struggles again, eyes on Kade as he tries to get to him, but the other dark-haired male holds him steady. I have no choice but to do what I’m about to do. Kade needs help, and there is only one person who can help him right now. “I can take you to a healer,” I say louder when no one speaks, demanding their attention. I feel all eyes on me as I continue. “I will take you if you vow no more harm comes to him.” I point at Kade. “Or my pack. Or anyone at our home,” I add.
Everyone is silent as my words set in. I failed the mission, and now I’m inviting the Elites to our home. The home I was trying to keep them so very far away from that I was willing to kill for it. Have killed for it. But I must get Kade help. He won’t be able to shift for hours yet. It would put too much strain on his body, and if the Elite Alpha forces him to shift back now in his weakened state, he might not make it. And that is not an option. I put my pack before everything… everything but Kade. I will figure something out if he agrees to go to Eridian. But Kade is my priority now.
Finally, the Alpha speaks to me. “I could just torture the pup until you tell me where your home is.”
“You could,” I whisper, my voice steady despite the thought of him doing that making me want to throw up. “But he is innocent. He had nothing to do with this. He was just trying to protect me. He wasn’t even supposed to be here.”
“My trainees that died were innocent,” he spits, nostrils flaring as he glares at me.
“I know,” I agree with a nod. “You can do whatever you see fit with me, and I will take you to the healer.” He stares at me, and I stare back, letting him see the truth of my words. If he has to take me back to the Highers, then so be it. But Eridian and the lives there will stay secret. If I can’t do it, then Solvier will make sure there is a way to do it. I just need time.
He searches my face for a few moments before looking toward his injured, then looking back at me, “How long will it take to get my men to a healer?”
“I have a port stone in my pack I left behind.” I nod in the direction we came from. “If we don’t collect it and go on foot, it will take days, depending how fast we move.”
“We have a port stone. We will use that,” he decides. “Damian, grab the stone and gather everyone together,” he orders the brown-haired male that was on watch in their camp. “Leo, Zaide, round up the assholes that attacked us.” The blond male in front of Colten grabs him by the arms and hauls him up roughly, causing Hudson to growl where he’s on his knees next to him. The other dark-haired male, Zaide, does the same to Josh while Sebastian and Taylor grumble as they are pulled to their feet. I snarl at their rough handling of my pack, unable to help myself while they just smirk at me. Unconcerned. Just wait assholes.
The Alpha stands, causing me to look in his direction as he sheaths his blade. He bends and picks up a barely conscious Kade and throws him over his shoulder. Not seeming to care about the blood dripping on his clothes he moves over to the side and picks my knife off the ground. Walking over to me, his face lethal as he brings his free hand down and grips my ponytail. Tightening his hold on my hair, he snaps my head back while I glare up at him.
He growls down at me. “If you try anything stupid, I will slit the pup’s throat and make you watch. Is that clear?”
“Yes, it’s clear,” I grit out, ignoring the pain in my scalp. His chuckle is dark and low as he puts my knife back in my boot. “To see you play later.”
“Darius, everyone is ready,” calls the blonde male, Leo.
Darius, a name to put to the Alpha asshole.
He pulls me up by my hair, my head still tilted back at an awkward angle as his face hovers close to mine. “You fucked up, in more ways than you know.” He drags me over by my hair to where everyone is huddled together, ready to port. He stops when Damian hands him a stone. He puts his back to everyone and looks down at me. “Hold the port stone and set the location.”
He passes me the stone while still holding my hair tightly, but allows my head to straighten. Everyone is still touching, and the red, plaited mohawk guy stands next to Darius, flicking his eyes to me before placing a hand on his shoulder. I close my eyes and feel the tingling in my palm as I visualize where I want to port in. I would usually port to the base of the cliffs, but time is of the essence with Kade, so just inside the Eridian Forest will do. The one good thing with porting there, is that they still don’t know where it is. They could store the location in another port stone, but they don’t know exactly where it is from there toward our home, and that’s an advantage I won’t ignore. They also don’t know you can’t use magic inside Eridian’s barrier, so they can’t communicate with others about the location, giving me an opportunity to think about how the fuck I’m going to get them to keep it a secret.
Or try and kill them, again.
“It’s ready,” I tell Darius as my eyes open, and I hand the stone back.
“Then it’s time to port,” he says, staring down at me. “Let’s see where you live, little wolf.”
Fifteen
Rhea
WearriveinsideEridianForest, and I blink a few times, adjusting to the now bright area and breathing in the comforting, sweet smell of home. The sun is high in the sky, so I know it’s around noon, which means most of the pack members are at the gathering eating their lunch. Maybe it’s not such a bad thing. With everyone being in one place they will all see the Elites arrive, so they won’t accidentally stumble upon one and get the shock of their life.
The Elites look around the forest, shock on their faces at seeing the lush of life in the healthy trees, shrubbery and berries growing around the area. A bird squawks in the distance, and they look up as one, following its path as it glides through the air and zooms past the cliffs at their backs.
“What the fuck?” Damian asks, looking toward the top of the cliffs that he can see peeking through the trees.
