Alpha Rick
Chapter 41

Livie

Ricky, Kaiden, Zane, and I had a long talk. We planned it all out. I'd call Desiree, and ask to see her. Once with her, Kaiden, Zane, and Ricky would join me and try to convince her to help, but, without letting Skylar and Desiree's husband Cole know about any of this. It sounds bad, I know, but we needed to do it this way.

Was it risky? Yes, and it was a long shot, but even Desiree hated knowing what they did to those girls. She felt repulsive not being able to do a thing about it. I could see the look on her face when I new rogue girl was dragged into those dungeons in front of people. What we hated the most was that no one in our pack ever did a damn thing about it.

Desiree had seen what happened before many... Many times. She hadn't spent as much time as I did in the dungeon, but she was still sent a few times, and that was enough for her to witness it happening. Alpha Noah was so sure of himself and the authority he held over us that he was certain no one would ever talk against him.

He was a sick man; and unfortunately for us, he always did what he needed to do to clean up after himself and Gunther.

Ricky and I suddenly felt that there was a commotion within our pack. Something wasn't right. We exchanged looks, and our suspicions were correct as one of our guards barges in, knocking on the door before he opens it abruptly.

"Alpha! bad news. We have a problem." one of our younger guards, Zion, says as he came in running. We stood up, he looked in absolute shock. "What is it?"

"It's Alpha Skylar. He just got a call from his beta. His pack is under flames. All of it, it's on fire, and spreading quickly, alpha. What do we do?" Zion says, and my heart begins to race.

"Ricky. Desiree, I- I need to go save her," I say under my breath, making Freya whimper. Desiree may have stopped being my friend, but I never stopped being hers. As far as I knew, the possibility of her being forced to stop talking to me was grand. I have no doubt Desiree was ordered to stop talking to me by Leah or Alpha Noah.

"Get every guard and warrior to prepare for a rescue mission Follow protocol, the fastest will follow Zane, Kaiden, and me. We'll shift to our wolf, we can make it there faster in wolf form. The rest will go on the convoys, ready to bring the wounded. Livie you stay with the visiting lunas. We need to get there as soon as possible," Ricky says, making me look at him with fear.

"No. Ricky, I'm going."

"No. That's out of the question, you need to stay," he says, making me angry.

"Ricky, that's my best friend out there. DESIREE is my best friend, I NEED to go save her... Please!" I pleaded. My eyes watered, making me fight back tears and the lump in my throat.

He and Kaiden look at each other for a second, before pursing his lips and sighing. He has no choice, and he knows it... But- He ends up nodding his head, reluctant to the idea. The mind link was set out, and everyone began to gather the necessary equipment, and our visiting alphas and their lunas, as well as the guests they had brought, began to volunteer.

"Livie, you make this so hard for me... Fine. But... stay close at all times."

"I will," I said feeling the adrenaline fill my body. "I mean it, Liv. STAY. CLOSE!" he demands in his alpha voice, making me smile through my nervousness. "I will. I promise." I say, holding his cheek in my hand and kissing his lips.

We ran out of the office without further ado.

People were scattering, gathering bags with necessities and first aid kits, and throwing them inside the convoys or hoisting them over their shoulders to take in case of emergency once they shifted. Skylar was going around looking for Leah and Evelyn, they had left the infirmary while we were in the office. But- They were nowhere to be found.

"We gotta shift and leave now. We can look for your mate later, alpha Skylar. If we wait any longer it will be too late." Ricky informs Skylar, making him nod nervously.

"Everyone, gather around, listen up. Alpha's thank you for volunteering to help. Now, we need to get there as fast as possible. All the women, stay alert and save as many children, women, and elderly members as possible. Our Luna will lead you there, she knows the way, so please, follow her orders. There are a lot of small houses scattered throughout the forest, which means you will have to run through loose debris that can catch on fire, fast, so make sure to stay safe. Listen- I mean it. There are a lot of dry trees and debris, the fire WILL spread fast. Men, stay vigilant. We need to make sure to stop the fire from spreading any further, turn it off, and make sure that rogues are not roaming around. They may take advantage of the situation and attack." Ricky says as he stands next to Skylar. I can tell Alpha Skylar is still scanning for Leah. No one seems to know where she is. It's irritating. This is her pack in danger, she should be out here, worried and ready to join us to save her members.

"Alright. Let's not waste any more time. Everyone running, shift now. All the rest, to the vehicles and roll out." Ricky says, and without wasting any more time, I shift to my wolf. Freya takes over, she signals every female the way and we run off.

We run through the woods, jumping over massive boulders, jumping from giant tree stumps to the others, going over streams and through massive shrubs, and sliding down loose gravel.

And after what seemed forever because of the situation and my nerves, Freya begins to smell the fire. The forest is burning quickly, making Freya whimper before she begins to howl in pain. Many follow, howling after Freya. As mediocre as it may sound... Whether that pack liked me or not, it was still my home for my first eighteen years.

It hurt to think the Silver Moon Pack could become extinct.

Ricky and the men are easily half a mile ahead of us, and my nerves are getting the best of me. When we finally come up to the mountaintop of Silver Moon territory, I feel Freya's distress and my heart drops.

There is fire everywhere, rising high off the ground, making trees fall as they are engulfed in flames. "Help us! Please, someone, help." I can hear them from every direction. Running, trying their best to put the fire out.

There were faint voices, farther off. I can hear the agony, the desperation in their voice. We waste no time and begin to work, "Save as many as possible. Get them to safety." Freya says, jumping into action, saving one body after the other, letting kids and elders ride on Freya's back, and getting them to safety. But there are a few babies, so I had to shift back, changing into clothes as fast as possible and getting the babies to safety.

Our guys are running around and getting water hoses, to put the fire out. Some grab fire extinguishers and let the foam out until the container is left dry, tossing them and getting more. We can only hope that our convoys get here on time.

I see Skylar running around, saving people as his body is covered in ashes. Hell- Most of us are covered in ashes, our spare clothes when we shifted back to our human form covered in mud, dirt, and ashes.

But we can't give up.

We go one house after another, leading my female warriors from one house to the other and saving everyone we can.

But I am panicked, I don't see Desiree anywhere. I don't see Cole. And time is running out. But, maybe, I missed seeing her, and she was safe amongst the ones we had already rescued.

The sun is starting to set, we've been here for hours and there is still a few fires scattered throughout. Most houses are completely destroyed, including the pack house.

"Luna, over here. Help me move this stump." one of the lunas says as she pushes on the stump that had fallen in front of my old house, blocking the doorway. There was no other door, and the windows had bars on them, so there was no other way out. But it didn't matter, I doubt anyone lived there since I left.

I looked and nodded. "No one lives in that house, Luna," I tell her, but she looks at me puzzled.

"Luna, I can hear someone in there. We need to get them out." then I hear it. Very faint, but still, I hear it.

"Anyone out there? Please... Help me." my eyes widen in shock. "Desiree. It's her. You need to help her, Liv!" Freya says, whimpering in desperation.

I run, grabbing the stump and pushing on it with all my strength, trying to move it out of the way, but it's so heavy.

Then it lifts off like nothing, and I turn, seeing Ricky and Zane behind us. "Thank you," I say, grasping for air.

I turn, running inside, not realizing yet that my pants were slightly burnt from the stump. I see her there. Desiree sits with her knees bent next to Cole's unconscious body.

"Desiree!" I yell, and she jumps to her feet in shock. She hugs me, crying her eyes out. "Livie! Oh goddess, thank you. It's you. But... How? Am I dreaming? Shit... Am I dead?" she asks, pulling away from me.

"No, dummy. It's me."

"I... I thought you were dead. I thought I'd never see you again. Livie, I am so sorry, I should have never stopped talking to you. I am so... So sorry." she says crying.

"Des, it's ok. Come, we're here to help. Let's get you out of here, ok?" I say, holding her around her shoulders. I look at Ricky who is checking on Cole.

He's out cold. He probably inhaled too much smoke and passed out. "We need to get him to the convoys and get him some oxygen, fast," Ricky says as he grabs his body, places him over his shoulder, and begins to walk out. "He's," Desiree says in shock. "My mate, alpha Alarick Dannelly," I say with pride, making her mouth agape. "Come on, let's get you out of here," I say smiling. "Thank you, Luna," I say to the other Luna, making her smile.

The thing about Ricky, is, he really does look like he's mean. Always with a serious face that makes you back up and not dare provoke him. But he's the sweetest man I've ever known.

The mayhem slowly dies down, and the fires are put out, but everything is gone. And I mean- Everything. The infirmary, the houses, the pack house... Everything is destroyed. Consumed by the fire to smithereens.

How did this fire start? More importantly... What will we do now? Silver Moon Pack was now without territory. They couldn't possibly stay here. Not until it was rebuilt.

"We have no choice. We need to give them asylum. Either you take them in, or I do." Kaiden says as he and Ricky talk privately.

Skylar refused to rest. He walked around, giving bottles of water to everyone, checking up on the ones who were hurt, and consoling the little kids.

"We can take them in. We have plenty of room for them." I dared to cut them off. Ricky crossed his hands, looking at me with concern as he clenched his jaw.

"Baby... Are you sure? I mean, you wanted them out of our pack, and now you want to give them hospitality? Think about it, I mean... I don't want you to feel uncomfortable with their presence."

"I'll be fine, Ricky. They need a place to stay while this pack gets restored. Besides, our pack has been in the same position before, right? The best thing for us to do is to lend a hand, just as our pack was lent a hand in the past." I said as I remembered Ricky telling me the sad story of the day his mom was taken away and our pack suffered a major loss.

"Well, in that case, then it's settled. The Silver Moon Pack will reside within our walls until they can reestablish their grounds again." Ricky says, pulling me in for a hug around my shoulders and pressing a kiss on the top of my forehead.

"But if at any time you feel unsafe or uncomfortable, you need to let me know. Your wellness and safety are more important to me. Understood?" he says, looking at me as he hugs me. I smile, nodding my head and kissing his lips. Was I sure about this? Hell no!

But I couldn't bear to see them become homeless. This was what set me different from them. I was willing to open my doors to them, while they will have no choice but to look back and reminisce about the way they treated me in the past.

I look over to one of the convoys and see the former Luna looking back at me with shock in her eyes. She sat as one of our girls took care of the burn she had suffered on her arm. But the look on her face as sees who my arms are wrapped around... Priceless. Yet- alpha Noah, her mate, was nowhere in sight.