Tempest

Chapter 3

                                                                   Chapter 3

Wade woke with a splitting headache, putting him in a foul mood, the loss of a Pack member weighing heavily with him. He was the Alpha, and Henry Jensen had been his to protect. It didn’t matter that Henry was a grown man, a Were, or that he knew how to look after himself. It wasn’t just his loss that hurt Wade; it was his failure.

It was Wade’s responsibility to ensure the safety of all his people and in this he’d failed Henry; he’d failed to protect him. After today, he wouldn’t stop until someone paid for Henry’s death.

The Pack was preparing to say their goodbyes. Wade had personally organised to have Henry cremated as was their custom, they couldn’t risk anyone other than their own kind getting hold of a body — until now. He ran a hand over his unshaven jaw, thinking on this as he made his way to the bathroom.

For some idiotic reason he couldn’t seem to get Dr Kincaid out of his mind. He had more important things to worry about. “Son-of-a-bitch!” he muttered after nicking himself for the third time. He persisted, needing to look the part of a strong Alpha when the Pack came together to pay their respects.

Today was important to the Pack; they needed to say goodbye, needed his strength to lean on. So even though all he wanted was to be out there, hunting for the bastard, that had taken the life of a man who was as gentle and well liked as he was fiercely protective of those he loved, he’d be there. He’d take one day before he began to hunt.

He had faith in the local Police, but they had no idea what they were up against and he didn’t want the body count to increase. If it did, someone was likely to start looking a great deal closer at the corpses and discover it wasn’t a rabid dog that caused the damage.

Wade didn’t worry about breakfast, there’d be a stream of food throughout the day, brought by those who had the time to prepare something and also by the main kitchen that took care of those that lived within the Compound he called home.

He grabbed a mug of coffee on his way to the front porch of his home, that is to say, the Alpha house. It was a huge two story sandstone house with a wide porch that completely surrounded it. It sat at the far end of the Compound, with buildings several hundred yards away on either side. Directly in front of the house was an open area covered in grass, wooden benches set at intervals so people could sit and chat or relax and enjoy a bit of quiet. It was there than many of his people would gather, to catch up and exchange stories of their memories of Henry.

The building to the left was designated accommodation for single men and older juveniles coming to the end of their training. There was another smaller building behind this with a gymnasium for the men and juveniles to utilise in their down time. To his right were two buildings sitting alongside of each other. The lower floor of one was for female housing, with the upper floor containing several suites designated for guests.

The other building containing a cafeteria type kitchen and lounging area. The school, library and computer room, was situated on the first floor with several offices and the security area on the second. The school was small, but run only for the younger children. They didn’t enrol in the local human schools until they were old enough to control themselves and their beasts.

This wasn’t a big Pack, but they were growing in numbers and each child born was loved and protected. The Compound was situated on a large piece of land, a great deal of which was bushland. It was here that many families make their homes, blending them into the landscape to further offer the privacy, they both wanted and needed to keep their young safe from outsiders.