White Lightning

Chapter 96: Black Circles

The past week and a half had been nothing short of exhausting—physically and emotionally. The Beta was working nearly triple-time, as was the Alpha. Beneath the persistent fear that if he left the patrols to someone else there would be a catastrophe, Ryan was weighed by a heavy guilt. After his first night, he had gone home to see his mate and explain the situation in depth. Tragically, that meant delivering heartbreaking news to Rain about her family.

He would forever be haunted by the look in her eyes when she realized that her brother and his mate had been murdered by the rogues, along with a niece that she had never even met. Tears filled Rain's beautiful eyes and she hadn't stopped crying since. In his sporadic visits home to catch up on sleep and eat, he had watched her move about as a shell of the vibrant she-wolf that she had once been.

Ryan had struggled with the need to be on the fence, motivating the other wolves and keeping their defenses strong, and the need to be there for his grieving mate and their young pups. And that constant battle raged inside him as he watched his brother struggle with his own issues: Chris' mate had renounced their pairing, refused to speak to him or see their pup, and was living in separate quarters. So far as anyone seemed to know, she only admitted the Gamma into her room and she hadn't emerged in weeks. Whether she was even eating proper meals was anyone's guess.

Needless to say, the Alpha was facing even more troubles in the fight to keep their pack safe and the need to provide for two of his three pups. As he worked continuously alongside his wolves and trainees, he had entrusted the care of his eldest and youngest to one of the pack's most trustworthy, older couples. He visited when he could: when time allotted and he was not about to collapse. Both had been rare occurrences over the past ten or so days.

The brothers had just finished leading their own patrols around separate quadrants of the property, and were now comparing notes. The Alpha was sporting massive black circles beneath his haunted brown eyes, while the Beta had lost a noticeable amount of weight. In fact, the second his duty had ended and he walked in the front door of his home, Ryan's mate noticed his pale and scrawny appearance.

He looked absolutely exhausted as he sat at the kitchen table, appearing as though he might drop over at any moment. Balancing Annabel on her hip but trying her best to cook a hearty breakfast quickly, Rain frowned down at her mate. "Babe, I'm worried about you!"

Her mate's head snapped up at this, as he had begun to fall asleep. "I'm alright," he yawned. "I have to be! I have to keep the pack safe!"

Rain placed their pup into her high-chair, then sighed. "Ry, you're sleeping on your feet. You can't keep anyone safe when you're like this! Do I have to talk to Chris?"

"NO!" he demanded. The tone and volume of his voice scared their pup, who began crying and pounding her little fists onto the plastic tray attached to her seat. Ryan winced. "I'm sorry, Anna. Calm down, baby girl. Daddy didn't mean to scare you!"

"Babe," his mate demanded firmly, stepping closer and placing a hand onto his shoulder. "You're a mess. You can't keep up like this! You have to get some sleep, Ryan. I'm not even asking anymore, I'm demanding. You cannot go back out on patrol until you eat a good, hearty meal or two and get at least eight hours of sleep."

When she returned to the stove to finish cooking, there was a loud knock on the door and before it could wake Christopher and rile little Annabelle further, Ryan hopped up and nearly tripped over his own feet as he raced to answer it. Standing on his tiny front porch was the Delta, his cousin, and several of the underlings who were still in training. The Beta frowned. "Why are you at my home?"