An Alpha's Duty

Chapter 8

The seer looked bowed down with the weight of her words. She sat heavily back down on her chair, staring sadly at the child in front of her. Ryan didn't want her looking at Poppy that way, as if she were already seeing a ghost rather than a living child.

No one spoke or moved, whilst a quiet hush settled over the room. Ryan could think of nothing to say that would elevate the suffocating atmosphere they now found themselves in. Even the foreign wolves seemed unsure of what they should do now and the enforcers just stared around with disinterested expressions.

For some this was the news they had wanted but there was nothing they could do until the council made their decision. For Ryan and his pack it was the worst possible outcome. His niece had just become the most desirable commodity within the shifter community.

Lenah walked forward and stepped over the line of candles, hurrying forward to check that the seer and Poppy were okay. She pulled Poppy into a tight hug whilst she held the seer's hand in a comforting manner.

She turned to look at Ryan and mouthed that they were both okay. He was relieved to know there was no lasting damage to either of them but his relief was short lived when he looked towards the enforcers' side of the room.

Two wolves behind the enforcers suddenly caught his eye.

They appeared to be the only ones who remained unaffected by the news. Chills ran down his spine as the one checked his watch and a cruel smile appeared on his face. Something wasn't right and his wolf grew restless at the sight of them.

Howls sounded around the house breaking the tense silence. It was the pack's warning sign.

They were under attack.

Suddenly everything happened all at once. The two wolves partially shifted and attacked the closest enforcers to them. Throwing them into walls with ear shattering cracks. Although the enforcers were all paranormals, not one of them could best the brute strength of a shifter in one to one combat.

Ryan could hear the growling of his pack far too close to the house for it to be a good sign.

"They're coming!" Ryan saw the old seer point avidly towards the window as a huge timber coloured wolf crashed through the panes.

Luke was already on top of the thrashing wolf racking his own claws over the wolf's throat before anyone else could react. Unable to transform himself in such close proximity to another wolf, all he could do was sink his claws in further and hang on.

Ryan ran to help his friend flashing his own set of claws. They worked quickly until the wolf slumped to the floor taking its final breath. Killing was never an easy choice for Ryan but he knew he had no other options. It was them or his pack. And he knew which ones he'd die to protect.

"Lenah!" He heard Elaina scream causing him to turn and look in the same direction as her.

What he saw had his wolf growling in anger. More wolves were starting to circle the area outside the now broken window. Ryan couldn't see any of his pack only foreign wolves as he ran to help his father hold them back.

He saw two enforcers unconscious on the floor whilst the other floundered around trying to tend to their injuries. They were lucky that Faes possessed some magic to help the healing process, as the tall man stood over his comrades muttering spells to keep them alive.

Ryan was glad to see they were all breathing and thanked the Goddess that the attacking wolves hadn't had time to finish them off. A dead enforcer would be the last thing he needed right now.

The wolves from other packs had fled during the chaos, not wanting to be in the middle of a pack war that was not their own. Ryan couldn't blame them. From the number of enemy wolves he could see it was not going to be an easy fight. He just prayed they wouldn't lose anyone.