The People's Alpha ✔

11: Joint Exercise

Our target was a stark concrete skeleton of a building just inside the border of the Stone River pack, roughly equidistant between our pack and theirs, three storeys tall, and filled with more nooks and crannies than one could count; a mockup pack house of sorts. We had nicknamed it Colditz. Sometimes we rented it out to modeling agencies for photoshoots.

We were watching the two sentries posted at the main entrance of the building from a safe hiding spot some distance away in thick tree cover. Somewhere in the concrete husk, there hid Alpha Jack and his henchmen. Taking them down and securing the complex was the goal of the exercise.

The atmosphere was tense, and it was uncomfortable. None of us really wanted to be here. But letting the rogues affect our routine was out of the question. We had scaled it down somewhat, so a full patrol could be manning the borders while we pretend-

I was leading a team of about ten wolves, standing around me. Hiding in the bushes out of view on the other side of Colditz, Brian was making his debut as the leader of the other team. My team would go through the front entrance, while Brian's team was storming through a side entry.

On the opposing side, it was Tim's first exercise as chief warrior of his pack too, and I hoped like hell he wouldn't screw it up.

We slowly advanced towards the structure, keeping low, using the undergrowth to shield us.

There were two sentries by the main entrance. They were easily overpowered.

As the main contingent stormed up to the first floor, I looked into the first room. Empty. A few of my fellow pack members fanned out behind me, looking though the other rooms methodically.

Clear. Proceed.

Clear. Proceed.

As with any pack house, there were countless afterthought extensions and oddly designed levels, and we found ourselves bounding down a short, steep landing that curved in under the grand staircase to what I could only assume was a sunroom of some type. Whatever it was, it had some quite nice views of the valley beyond.

I had barely put my snout into the doorway when an onslaught of flying fur materialised from a dark corner of the room and launched itself at me. Recovering quickly, I grappled with the assailant, lunging for his neck, while linking my packmates.

Need backup.

Dodging his blows but staying on the back foot, I stalled for time. A few seconds later two of my pack members charged in, piling onto him. He fell to the ground in mock death.

One down.

Having secured the ground floor, we were scaling the staircase when I felt a faint buzzing sensation through the concrete floor.

What the hell is that?

The buzzing gradually intensified.

Everybody froze. I could sense that our 'opponents' had stopped too.

A car. Coming towards us.

Rogues would almost definitely not have taken a car, and even if they had, they wouldn't have gotten this far without someone raising the alarm.

It almost certainly wasn't a rogue attack. I breathed a slight sigh of relief, but the omnipresent tension still hung in the air.

For a moment, everything around us was completely silent, except for the breeze blowing through the openings in the walls, and the intensifying burble of a V8 engine became clearer.

The mind link erupted into people talking over each other. I tried to block it out for a moment, trying to think clearly.

We told them to turn back anyone that needed to come.