Alphas War

Chapter 36

We arrived at the pack territory just under an hour later, with most of the journey being through woodlands where we could run. Once we neared the border of the territory, darkness fell, despite the fact the sun was still high in the sky. Now however, it was concealed by a thick black smoke that wrapped around us, blurring our vision and an intense heat radiated around us.

"Fire," I snarled, wanting nothing more than to turn around and run in the other direction with the people I loved.

Zach's hold on my hand grew tighter with every step we took and finally, through the blackened smog, I could see hot reds and oranges danced across the ground, engulfing nearby trees.

I snarled at the flames, wishing that my dominance worked on fire because if it had, there wouldn't even have been a spark left. "We aren't going through there," my dad growled, grabbing the hand that wasn't crushed in Zachs and pulling me away. "We'll go around."

I nodded in agreement and followed him to the left around the border of the territory until finally the flames had died down and piles of rubble littered the ground instead. Not far inside the border was a group of wolves deep in discussion, one of which I recognised as the Alpha.

After a few moments, their conversation ended and he turned to side and spotted us. "Alpha Reed," he greeted with relief, a smile crossing his face.

"Alpha Glenn," I responded, bowing my head in respect since I was on his territory, not my own.

"Thank you for coming so quickly."

I nodded. "Of course... what happened here?"

He sighed heavily and turned to wave off the rest of the group who instantly dispersed. "Fortunately, its not as bad as it looks. We didn't lose anyone but as we chased them off one of the humans set off some kind of bomb and while it didn't kill anyone, it did start a fire and out here in the woods, it spread too quickly for us to stop."

Again, I nodded, taking in all the damage done to the earth beneath my feet and looking as far into the distance as the smoke would allow to see a large number of people trying to put out the growing flames. "Were any humans hurt?"

The Alpha smirked. "Yes, we managed to kill quite a few of them," he stated proudly and I frowned.

"Don't you think we should let them be? They're just scared and the more we hurt them, the more they will attack."

Alpha Glenn rolled his eyes. "I forgot how soft you were, hardly a strong leader," he grumbled, shaking his head.

"Excuse me?" I snarled, rage flooding my veins and causing my eyes to sizzle amber. "Watch how you speak to me! I risked the lives of my pack to come here and help you!"

His eyes widened slightly before he nodded his head. "You're right, I'm sorry," he uttered under his breath, glancing around to see if anyone heard.

My frown deepened, however I contained my annoyance and nodded, accepting his half assed apology. "What can we do?" I asked him snappily.

"Some of you can help put the fires out and we also need the borders checked for any humans that may still be around. If you guys can start on that while I do a headcount then that would be a great help," he said, barely sticking around to hear my response.

"Okay," I muttered, glaring after him as he strode away, his demeanour arrogant and cocky. "Ass," I hissed under my breath.

Zach's hand squeezed mine and he smirked down at me as I turned back to face them all. "Well, you heard him," I huffed.

Immediately my dad stepped forward a little. "I'll put out the fires," he offered, shooting me a look.

"I'll help," Chris said, joining him off to the side of the group.

"And me," one of the protection wolves said and after another also offered, the four of them made their way towards the edge of the wall of flames.

"Be careful," I warned as they left before turning to the rest of them. "Okay so lets split off and check the surroundings, if you guys search this side," I said to four of the left over protection wolves, "you guys look over there," I told Liam, Tyler and the other protection wolves, "and we'll look over that side."

"Okay," Tyler said.

"Be careful, and if you do find any humans, don't kill them, not unless you really have to," I ordered.

Everyone nodded and went off in the direction they needed to go while Zach and I strolled hand in hand towards the far side of the pack, away from the flames to where it was much quieter and easier for people to be hiding.

"Are you okay?" He asked after a while when we had left the chaos behind and were surrounded by blissful silence.

"Yep."

He chuckled and tugged on my wrist, stopping me from marching on. "Liar," he accused, raising his eyebrows in a familiar daring manner. "I know what he said upset you."

"I'm not upset," I corrected, "I'm annoyed. Did you see how ashamed he was to apologise to me? We all know if it weren't for the fact he needed help he would've laughed in my face rather than apologised."

I grit my teeth to stop them from sprouting into fangs. "I hate when people call me soft," I spat.

"Why do you care what he thinks?" Zach asked, taking my clenched fists in his. "He's not worth it."

"I know, it's just... he was a friend of my dad and if he's disappointed by me then maybe my dad would be too," I said with a sigh.

"Believe me, he wouldn't," he promised quickly, leaning forward to kiss my lips. "Your dad believed in you, that's why he chose to make you alpha and you're an amazing leader El. You've kept our pack safe, extended it and protected it. He would be so proud of you Ella and you know it."

I smiled up at the most amazing husband in the world, forgetting all my annoyance and feeling pure love for Zach. "I'm sorry, you're right."

"Come on, let's search the area a bit and then we can get back to the others," he said, taking my hand and leading me down a small slope.

We searched for quite a while, coming across a lake and following a small stream that lead around the edge of the territory a few miles from the border. It was pretty clear that any humans that had come to attack had made a quick getaway, probably knowing about the fire and wanted to escape the huge flames.

We were only a mile or so away from where we started when a sickly scent hit my nose. "Do you smell that?" I asked Zach, already heading in the direction of the smell.

He didn't respond and instead, quickened his pace until we crossed a bridge over the stream and ended up on a large clearing where, in the middle of the grassy field, was a small girl screaming and crying.

I ran as fast as I could towards her, Zach right beside me, until we were close enough to see the body beside her, completely coated in a layer of thick red blood with closed eyes and a still chest.