A Dying Legacy

Chapter 4

Alpha Barret paced impatiently in his office. His Beta should have been back hours ago, but still they hadn't shown up and no call about a delay. Barret abruptly stopped his pace in front of his office doorway, as if staring a hole through the aged oak wood would bring his Beta barreling through it. 

With a disgruntled scoff at his own childish behavior, he reached up to run his fingers through his hair...his now short hair. He curled his fingers around nothing and remembered he'd just cut it-just how she liked it. He trimmed it for her, he remembered wanting to do is all for her. So why did the short trim on his dark dirty blond hair suddenly bother him so? Maybe it was the sudden loss of his bad habit-combing his side swept bangs when he was irate. The softness of his hair under his fingertips as he would 'fix' his appearance somehow having a calming affect. But it was doing shit to calm him down now.

Strobes of light lit up the walls in passing as headlights in the distance streaked the glass. Barret whirled around to the window, confirming the silhouette of two vehicles entering the packhouse gate. Their glow in the reflection of the glass illuminated his hazel eyes, but he didn't look away. He needd to see them up close for himself; no tricks or assumptions. It wasn't until they disappeared under the overhang of the garage that he left his spot beside the window. The walls shook with the thud of the large wood door swinging open in his haste. A passing omega jumped and changed directions, not wanting to find out what upset the Alpha. 

The faint scent of blood caught Barret's attention. "What happened?" He shouted as additional nurses ran down the hall to the infirmary. They shrugged, just called into duty for an emergency. "Gamma Jared brought three injured wolves in." One reported all they knew with a shrug before disappearing behind the door with a big red cross on it. Barret quickened his pace, the scenarios of what all could have gone wrong playing in his head. Were they ambushed? Was anyone seriously hurt? Did they lose the she-wolf?

The door down the hall smacked against the wall, kicked open before he could reach the garage. A sigh of relief escaped his lungs, seeing his Beta walk out unharmed with an unconscious female draped in his arms. He could see Noah was covered in sweat and dirt from whatever happened, but the smell that overwhelmed him was reminiscent of honey and lemon-not male bodily odors. Inside Barret's mind, his wolf Koba growled in warning. A warning he hadn't realized he expressed outside of his mind until Noah stopped in his tracks, confused. Noah pulled the female deeper into his chest. He still couldn't tell what he felt for her, her scent and body giving him mixed signals...but if he handed her over, would he get the chance to find out? His Alpha didn't give him much option, marching over to him and pulling her right out of his arms. The red that had overcome his eyes told Noah to stand down; Koba was in control. 

Koba knew what she was the moment her honey and lemon filled their nostrils; and he'd be damned if he allowed Barret continue with his original plan for this she-wolf be bought. No one else would touch her but him. The jolt that ran through his body when he pulled her into his arms brought Barret back, his shock overriding Koba's possessive nature. Mate, Barret thought, gazing down at the beautiful ebony haired woman in his arms. As quickly as the thought came, he shook his head with a scowl. Vanessa he reminded himself with a curse. She is our Luna. She will be our Mate. Koba snarled in annoyance at his little 'mantra'.

"What happened?" Barret questioned as he turned on his heel, taking her somewhere to rest. Unfortunately, it wouldn't be a comfortable place to rest. Expecting she'd wake up in a frenzied panic after being sold off the way she was, they took the stairs down to the cells.

"Our tires were taken out and we were ambushed, Alpha." His Beta began to recount.

"By who?" There was a snarl in his tone, ready to return the pain to whoever hurt his pack members.