The Alpha's Fight

Chapter 24 - Ruined Us

By the time I had gotten to the pack house, night was descending. I was hoping to slip into the Alpha wing unnoticed and slip out in the same fashion. Given the slight disturbance when I entered the door, unnoticed was going to be a difficult task.

Imogen hurried away down the hall, her head down, and leaving for the more inhabited part of the pack house.

'Hey,' I caught her arm, jolting her. 'What happened?'

Her eyes flitted back, beyond the private kitchen, to the small sitting room that looked over the back of the property.

'That Alpha girl,' she looked about her, nervous, as if waiting for someone else to appear. 'Her guard was pushing to clean, she threw the duster at him and he grabbed her arm and pushed her to the floor.'

The ruckus I had heard when I first entered had quietened, and I continued to hold my breath waiting for the ripple in the air that would announce my father's aura... but there was nothing.

'No one else saw? Did she have any injuries?' My head whipped back to Imogen.

'I don't think so, no.'

'Ok, get yourself out of here and keep a low profile,' I guided my friend to the exit quickly. 'The guard isn't exactly going to announce that he lost control of her. I'll listen out, but Nicholas is only a few minutes away at the training grounds. If he hasn't come by now, it means he doesn't know.'

She nodded with a grimace, glancing behind her once again. The red-haired girl, April, passed by, pausing to frown our way, only to be shoved forward by her guard. I scowled after her, growing more and more pissed off by her presence. Every time she acted up, she put those around her in danger. Imogen, twice now, had been put in the line of fire by her. And because she was always guarded and under lock and key, I couldn't pull her aside and tell her to cut that shit out; she knew how dangerous Nicholas could be.

April would be 17 years old and, as an Alpha, she could shift any day. Each month the full moon rolled around, a bead of dread clutched my chest. When that day came, I would be forced to mark her. My only escape would be to challenge my father for his title, a fight that would be to the death, and I wasn't strong enough yet to beat him. At 50 years old, he was in his prime as an Alpha and had nearly three decades of experience on me. Leaving the pack wasn't an option either. I didn't get to run away and leave the members of this pack to my father's tyranny. If I didn't stop him, who would? Our pack was closed off to any and all packs around, they wouldn't know what went on here and, for all I knew, they might be exactly the same.

'Scowl later, would you?' Hawk bit out. 'I haven't scented my sweet blond boy in a week. You hanging around here is what's gonna draw attention, so move your ass. I can't take another night of having to settle for spanking it.'

I took a quick shower and changed into some unscented clothes I had stored in sealed bags, saturating myself in scent cover. I had listened out the entire time for my father and heard nothing. No one came demanding blood for whatever altercation had taken place and I received no mind-link.

Vaulting out of my window and shimming down the drainpipe, I held in my Alpha aura to find myself a spot in the woods to wait, watching for Taylor's figure to approach. I heard the light steps drawing nearer and saw a hunched silhouette move through the trees.

'We're gonna have to teach our dew drop the art of slinking around,' Hawk shook his head in amusement.

'He's not too bad. He just needs a little one-on-one with us, maybe some tussling,' I moved stealthily behind our mate. 'At least he's covered his scent well. I can't pick up on anything.'