Alpha Rising: The Wolf Runs
Chapter 14

KRISNA

Hunting, I found, is a lot harder when you have no one else to help you. I managed to get some wild bunny and cooked it over a small fire.

I also started heading back towards the village and away from the Redlands. My wolf seems like she is just enjoying the walk. There doesn’t even seem to be a hurry. I laze around near the water and walk around.

My wolf doesn’t seem to even really want to do anything. Feeling almost playful for a moment. When I come to a larger hill that overlooks the dirt path I am on, I have the urge to climb it and I do. The sweat and the exercise when I finally reach the top feels incredible.

I feel exhilarated. The climb gave me the burst I needed. I sit on the hill until my wolf’s ears perk up and I become alert. I don’t see what my wolf can hear right away, not until they are basically under me. I see him. I hear his laugh. Alore.

I hear him talking and when I peek over the edge, I see him with four others and about ten behind them. I want to reach out and say hi to him, but a warning in my gut stops me from letting him know I am there.

They are laughing and having fun, but the people behind them are setting an undertone. One that seems off to me and my wolf. They are to far now from the Redlands and I don’t know why I feel like they are headed closer to the village which would be strange.

Why would they be moving closer to a village full of shifters? Something feels off and from the position I am in, I can follow them only so far without them seeing me. They are not talking about what they are doing, just about training and how Alore is one of the best.

What I do notice is the people behind the four-keep watch. They are being guarded and making sure that nothing is coming out to attack them which makes me think they know that the wolf run is in progress, but it also means they don’t know that all thats left out here is the Alphas.

For a moment it dawns on me. I am an Alpha. The first female Alpha in decades. My wolf turns and if a wolf could tell me I’m stupid, she would be telling me that. While I follow the men below my mind drifts. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this last night. The possibilities are opening in my mind now.

I can mate and mark Ruse. We do not need to replace a pack that will take us, we will be a pack and together with Collin, and maybe Kale. We can travel anywhere. I do not even want to think about Juniper. I haven’t marked him and I know that Renwick and Thorin will be doing everything that they can to make Juniper want to leave me.

While I now have a world ahead of me realizing that I am in fact an Alpha. I also have problems that will come. Males who aren’t mine are going to want to be with me, they are going to want to try and court me and be with me.

I can’t even try to hide that I am an Alpha. Once I cross the fire line with whatever other Alpha’s the whole village will know.

“Alore.” My mind snaps back to the men below. The four men in the front stop to stare at the men behind them. “Your sister has been trying and failing to hide but she is just a little behind us.”

I watch Alore sigh before he calls out to his sister. “Alana, get your a*s out here.” I hear a giggle before a beautiful woman with dark hair comes around the corner and into sight. She sprints towards him and when she reaches him she smiles at him. “You know mother is going to skin you alive, she didn’t want you on this mission.”

“I can handle a bunch of wolves.” Alana says with pride in her voice, thats not what stops me, it is the fact that she says that she can handle wolves. They are going to the village. The problem is for what?

“See you are already making a mistake. In these mountains and rocks and hills are wolves with incredible hearing, and for mothers calculations there is nothing left but Alpha wolves out here, and they are the strongest of the wolves and because they are now alone, they are ten times more dangerous.”

“Is she out here?” Alana whispers which has my attention on high alert.

“Damn it Alana, yes she is which is why we have to get to the village before her.” A fear finally hits me. Are they looking for me? Why would they need to go to the village before I get there?

“I’m just asking.” Alana pouts at her brother as they keep moving. Soon I will run out of space to follow them without being seen.

“That is why you should have stayed away. You have no idea what is happening.” Alore glares at his sister.

“Well, I am here now, and I don’t plan on going back. Orell is here as well, and he will protect me.” She points to the very back where there is now eleven men.

Again, sighing at his sister, he shakes his head. “You’re incorrigible. We don’t know what is out here so keep your damn voice down.” He waits for her to acknowledge what he said before they keep walking.

They are worried about me going to the village and they know more about the wolves and wolf runs than I thought. I am fearing the worst and not being able to cross back into the village before I shift is one of the biggest downfalls of this wolf run.

I follow them for as long as I can without being seen. I crawl to the edge of the rock, and I watch. Something in Alore makes him pause and before he can look back, I duck down. The tingling sensation that creeps up my back when he is near happens again. I don’t know why it happens, but it is like a pull that I cannot put my finger on.

I have the strangest feeling he feels the same thing. “You all go ahead I need to relieve myself.” Alore shouts and after a few moments I hear him moving under where I am. “I know you’re up there, Krisna. Don’t come out and don’t talk. I am sorry for whats about to happen but like I said stay away from the Redlands.”

I keep hidden and I don’t say anything. He doesn’t say another word as he moves back to his men, and I stay where I am at. Conflicted and worried about what is going to happen. My heart knows something bad is going to happen and for whatever reason I know it revolves around me.

I just don’t know why or what. I lay back and look up at the sky and hope that I shift sooner rather than later so I can warn them. A thought occurs to me. I marked Kale and he in turn marked me.

“Kale, there are men coming from the Redlands. I don’t know what they want but it is not good you need to be on guard.”

“Krisna?”

“Yes, did you here me?”

“I did. What do you mean men coming here from the Redlands? They wouldn’t be coming this far, a village full of shifters, they are human,”

A thought strikes me. How would they be brave enough to do this if they are all human. Something is not right.

“Keep your eyes open, there is something that isn’t right and I feel it in my bones that something is wrong.”

“I will.” He cuts the link and for a moment I feel better that he has been warned. I lay back again and look up at the sky. Praying that this feeling is nothing and that nothing will happen.

Collin

Being back feels different. It feels like I have lived a whole other life before coming back to somewhere familiar. I know I haven’t but the way I feel and the way everything smells different is something I will have to get used to.

I was greeted by my brother and strangely by the other males in Krisna’s pack. I can tell they didn’t want to be there but the wolf part of them wouldn’t allow them to not greet me. It is a pull that feels weird and one that I have to learn to settle when she is not with me.

Ruse made sure I had some of my favorite clothing, and after putting them on I went in and greeted my parents. They were so happy for me and seeing as they knew I was already mated to Krisna, my father expressed how happy he was for his children.

What I started to notice is that all of us no matter what seemed to drift towards one another. My father explained it as the males need to get ready for their mate to return, since she will be in heat. She will want to mate and mark her males, and from the sounds around the village that was happening all over.

I had went to the hut with Ruse to prepare not knowing what else to do. Kale was in their constantly battling his own emotions towards smelling her on me and trying to remain calm, letting his wolf know we are family.

Ruse and I cleaned the hut and blankets were brought in. I wanted her to be as comfortable as possible and we also added another bed since it will need to hold all of us during the mating. She will not want any of us to be away from her.

In the process of cleaning Ruse looks at me and I pause knowing he wants to say something. “What’s up?”

“I’m glad she is your mate, Collin.”

“Are you?” We haven’t talked about this yet, but I know Ruse and I know he never sugar coats anything so I know he really is happy for me.

“I am you know that. I also wanted to see if you remember that old tales of the Alpha female.” Ruse sits down in a chair and looks at me.

“I do. Well some things. Mainly about her bravery and her mates. How they fought beside her.” I don’t know where he is going with this because every wolf is different and even though Krisna is the first female Alpha in decades every wolf is different.

“Her mates become stronger with the mating bond, stronger than normal shifters.” Ruse looks for my reaction and while I think that it is a bonus it is not what matters to me.

“What matters is that we have a strong bond with her. I don’t see us needing to be stronger. That war was decades ago against magic users and other tribes for land. We are all now set in our tribes and the Red witch doesn’t leave the Redlands.”

“I wouldn’t be so sure.” Both Ruse and I pause to turn and stare at Kale who looks pale. “Krisna reached out to me through the bond and she said men are coming from the Redlands. She got the feeling that they knew about us and especially her. She also said that they weren’t scared which to me that means they are coming prepared.”

“Why would they be coming this way?” We haven’t had any qualms with the Redlands and my father the Alpha along with the other Alphas here have been here for years, we are the closet to the Redlands.

“We need to go tell father.” Ruse moves past Kale and he follows and I am hot on their heels. Just as we are coming up to the Alpha home, noise breaks through and then choas. Smoke is rising and instead of shifting like most would have done by now, many of the shifters are crawling.

I see my father running fully shifted and we start to take off. “Collin, don’t.” Renwick yells at me as Thorin tries and fails to grab Juniper as he chases Kale. The smoke continues to mob the shifters and the coughing, panic and yelling is heard. We are trapped and there is nothing we can do about it.

If we go in there we are going to wind up just as helpless. Feeling the pull to the two males I decide to run anyway. I hear the others follow me in and the moment we enter the smoke we fall. My brother moves closer to me and in front of me I can see Kale and Juniper.

As we start to fall from our knees to our stomachs, a pair of boots steps in front of me. “Damn brother, this really got all of them. You should have told mother, I bet she would have rewarded you.”

“Thanks sis, but I wasn’t sure it would work but it seems to work better then even I thought.” A male voice standing above me and I turn over and look up. “Not this one. Keep looking.” He turns around and points to Ruse. “That one. Take him and replace the other. This one is fully marked.”

“Why are we taking two and not just the one with the marking?” The female who he referred to as sister asks him.

“Because her heart is here with that one and she marked this one. She will follow him. Now move quickly because the smoke is starting to lift and if they get up we are f****d.” I watch the boots move away and whatever this is is preventing us from getting up.

Men throw Ruse and Kale over some horses and they take off. It takes a moment before the smoke clears and when it does I can tell they came in just to target Kale and Ruse. My father stands and everyone turns to him.

“This was a shock but before we do something, we need to figure out what they wanted and what they used. We need to be prepared.” My father’s voice is shaky and with everyone standing around looking for answers, hearing the Alpha of this land speak is something everyone needs.

I do know that they wanted Krisna’s mates which means they want her. I know that somehow they knew she is an Alpha and they want an Alpha female, because if that wasn’t the case they could have taken any Alpha male here but the targeted her.

“Everyone.” My fathers voice raises again and I can hear the slight panic in his voice he is trying to hide. Ruse is gone, and that is weighing on him. “Please see to your families and make sure no one is injured and we will all come to the starting line at sun down. I am sure that most of the Alpha’s still in the wolf run will be coming back since most of them have most likely felt a pull from the pain of some of their mates.”

My father looks at me and the rest of Krisna’s males. He knows she will be coming back. She will have felt Ruse and Kale and even linked with him. As the smoke continues to clear, I can see how many smoke contraptions they used. There is so much smoke that they must have started using them the moment they crossed the line.

We should be thankful that no one is hurt, but this sinking feeling tells me that someone is going to be hurting soon and that they will not like it when Krisna comes back.

“Son.” My mother stands in front of me. “Gentleman.” She looks to the guys behind me. “A warning if I may. Krisna is going to come back angry and ready for war. Ruse has been her love since she came here, Kale is mated, not that she doesn’t love you all, but they are the most connected at this point which tells me that they knew what they were doing. My advice is to try and keep her calm. Most women would fight till death for the men they love, but an Alpha female will and can go feral and be incredibly dangerous. You have to keep her mind and heart right or else the fallout could be catastrophic.”

My mother looks at each of us before turning and walking away. This is new information that I didn’t know about Alpha females and now these men have potentially released a deadly Alpha wolf into the world by taking her men.