The Dark Alpha: Old Blood

Chapter 2: Aftermath

Silence spans the safe room. Corbin grabs the doorway as he watches the floor in front of his feet, and Maude steps away, facing me.

Dan is dead?

I don't know what to say. Dan and I spoke just this morning when he came to the pack house for Theo's Wolfsbane, when he told me congratulations. I never worried for Dan or Corbin in the battles, not really. I knew Theo would look after them, but this time Theo wasn't there. Somehow Alpha Belrose found out he would be away and knew his absence would enable the Belrose warriors to do the most damage possible.

"Where's Theo?" I ask, speaking first. "Does he know?"

Corbin looks up. "Theo knows; I told him, and he went right after the retreating warriors. He's hunting down Alpha Belrose—wants to make him pay."

"I'm sorry," Maude says in condolence, ending after bout of silence.

Corbin breathes in. "It's safe to return to the pack house. They didn't infiltrate."

Maude turns and waves Lily and Elise over.

"So he went after them alone?" I question Corbin as I step out of the cement room.

"A few of our men followed, but I doubt Theo will get to him in time. Alpha Belrose was one of the first to retreat—probably got word Theo was on his way back. He'll likely kill the stragglers and return soon just...be there. As I'm sure you expect, he didn't take the news well. I don't want him to be by himself."

"Of course," I murmur, afraid this will send Theo leaping over the edge of morality.

Lily and Elise squeeze into the small stairwell and Maude relocks the safe room door. The hatch above is left open, but the sky must still be in overcast because little sunlight trickles in. One by one we climb the steep stone stairs, Corbin surfacing last, closing the hatch, and kicking fallen leaves and dirt over top of it to hide the entrance.

"Do you want me to walk you back?" He asks Maude.

"No, we'll be fine."

He nods once. "I'm off to Kalilah and the kids then. Stay safe."

Corbin's gaze holds on me before he breaks away and walks off through the trees.

"Dan was the Third, right?" Lily asks.

"Yeah," I tell her, "He, Corbin, and Theo were friends since they were young."

"Oh." She deflates. "How horrible."

"Let's get back to the pack house," Maude cuts in.

Remembering the way we came, Elise and Lily take lead while Maude and I fall behind. My worries switch my focus from my even-more-likely pregnancy to the pain Theo must be feeling in the wake of losing Dan.

Maude walks in line with me after we emerge from the forest. "You need to see the wise woman."

I glance at her. "I know, but I want to tell Theo first. He might want to come with me."

"I'm sure he will."

My mouth opens and then closes. I look forward.

"What?"

"Should I tell him while he's...grieving, or should I wait? Losing Dan... He can't be okay, Maude. I don't want to barge in and trample his grief with the fact that I'm pregnant. What if he can't handle it right now?"

"I understand what you mean, but you have to take your physical wellbeing into account," she reasons. "The Alpha could be mourning Dan for months—years. If he's too torn up to handle it, wait a day or two, but keeping your pregnancy from him isn't good for him, either. He'd want to know."