Her Savior Alpha
Chapter 45

Clive

After getting off the call with Archer, I sat back on the couch in my family’s living room. Hissing, I winced at my still-healing back scars sent a shot of pain through my nerve endings.

To be clear, I did regret not taking care of it sooner, and the long wait before I properly cleaned it and dressed it up led to it getting all swollen. When one of the nurse saw the injury bleeding through my shirt as I sat slumped on that bench outside Reilly’s ICU room his first week of recovery, she had gasped and took me to treat it right away. I was too distracted to notice her blushing the entire time, too worn out to appreciate her playful disapproval.

Even now, my healing was the least of my worries.

I had worried the sitting room rug to pieces pacing all over t as I watched over Reilly’s recovery, occasionally visiting his room to ask if he needed anything, to give him pain meds, and deliver meals….when I had time to do so. My schedule was full trying to navigate the issues the pack was going through currently. Dane had turned into an authoritative dictator, issuing several harsh orders for the top men to go out across the land and search for Vera. Day in and day out, squads went out to join the ongoing hunt, as others came back tired with nothing to report. The alpha had an iron fist clenched over the pack, and people were truly terrified. Simply walking outside the house showed sites of the current events: guards marched down the residential streets in duos regularly.

What worried me most though, was the rising discontent of the pack.

Yesterday, when I had finished mentoring the newest recruits - I still had a job to do despite all the crap going on; it always gave me a duty here that prevented any commander from sending me to replace Vera, a commotion got my attention from the town’s center, right past the dining hall and barracks. Curious, I followed the sounds along with others who’d picked up on it. There, in an empty space between shops and buildings, a group of pack members had gathered. One, a balding man with a rotund belly, stood on a wooden crate, yelling out at the crowd so hard, his round cheeks went red.

“The Lycan has been within our pack, livin’ among us, eatin’ our food, trainin’ with us, sleepin’ with us,” he bellowed, taking a pause to breathe. “Now it has nearly taken the lives of our own!”

The crowds cheered in outrage, fists thrown up.

“I don’t care how long that wolf has been livin’ or how much wisdom it has! I want my family safe, I want my pack safe, and I don’t want to look around in fear in my own home!”

“Yeah!” the crowd screamed.

I could only stare in absolute shock, hidden in the shadows of a building’s stone wall behind the crowds.

“I say we replace that runaway Lycan, and tear it apart before it causes more terror and bloodshed on our land!”

“Yeah!”

“I say down with the Lycan, that could destroy our pack. Why should we live in fear, walkin’ on eggshells to avoid its wrath. Let’s take it down before we get to that point!”

Yells rang out, the crowd’s tempo reach a cacaphony of noise, as they agreed excitedly at the man’s words. Then, chanting began.

“Down with the Lycan! Down with the Lycan! Down with the Lycan!”

I couldn’t take it anymore, hurrying back down the street, away from the town’s center.

That scene kept repeating in my mind like a horror move. I couldn’t believe the pack had come to this. Vera, someone who had kept to herself for years was being discriminated by her own people for something she didn’t choose, her wolf of all things. She was a victim, yet the pack only remembered what she did to protect herself, to fight against her bullies.

Sighing, I realized it was noon, the sun streaming in through the window.

Going up the steps to the first door on the right, I stopped, hearing Reily’s voice I didn’t see any visitors come in, and I would have heard anyone sneak into the large echo-chamber of a house. Soon, I realized it was just one voice: Reilly. He paused every few seconds, and I knew he was talking on the phone.

“I know you’re pissed, Gina! Don’t you think I am too?” he said in a rough hush, angry but trying to stay quiet. “I fucking hate that she got the upper hand. But I’m telling you, we have to bide our time.” He paused, and I pressed myself against the wall and stilled my breathing. “No, we can’t go out to replace her. Not yet. There are enough soldiers out there… Dane’s kind of going crazy looking for her, based on what Darren told me… Yeah, even if we could, everyone’s in bad shape…Oh don’t you fucking worry. I will exact my revenge on her, and do it right this time. I know, I want to be the one to replace her first, but it’s not feasible right now. Seriously, I’d be the first one out there to run after her and rip her bones out if it weren’t for these dumbass injuries.”

A sense of cold dread expanded in my chest. Although it wasn’t as through our relationship had gotten better, I had assumed, or at least hoped, that our continual conversations had gotten through to Reily. I’d hoped that through Vera beating him up, even as a Lycan, would drive some sense into him - but as it seemed, violence was never the answer. Neither was revenge. I could understand the sentiment; getting back at someone might feel like it would solve all problems. Only it tended to create more. Vera sending Reily to the ICU did nothing but further ignite in him a determination to get her back again, and he didn’t see the impact of his own actions, of his low manipulation and betrayal of his mate.

“I will never forget what she did to me, Gina,” he spat out in a hoarse voice. “Mate bond be damned, if I could, I would use it to drag her here right now by the hair.”

I couldn’t listen anymore. My thoughts roared loud enough between my ears to drown out the sound of Reily’s terribly harsh voice anyway. In my mind, a seesaw balanced back-and-forth, falling on one side, then the other.

I needed some air. Deciding that I couldn’t speak to Reily now anyway after hearing his hate-fueled words, I slunk quietly back down to the first landing and right out the back door. The day spoke of beautiful birds singing like bells and the scent of fresh grass and cool wilderness. After last week’s rain, the scenery around the pack had been green and bright, rejuvenated by nature’s water. As I walked down the path that led into town, packing guards milling about left and right, their hushed whispers reaching my reluctant ears, I couldn’t help but see the contrast.

Our pack was anything but bright, fresh, renewed right now. It still held the aura of a storm brewing beneath the surface. Every corner spoke of tension and foreshadowing of something worse to happen.

Worst of all, I felt caught up in the middle of it all. Having been gone for a while, only visiting but for brief moments, Mount Hunter remained a nice, happy place in my memories; filled with family and community, togetherness and solidarity against our enemies. I had realized such a huge change had occurred since the battle with Beartown. The abuse against Vera had been a major hint, but I still seemed to push it out of my mind, continually marking it as an anomaly. But it was a crack in the system, a symptom of something greater happening.

Where did I stand? I didn’t feel any connection to anyone but my past, which I’d funnily enough tried to run from. I would give my loyalty to Vera, that was for certain, despite not having known her for long. With Reily, my feelings were a bit complex, and I had to admit the only reason I hadn’t yet given up on him was because of my own guilt and self-blame. I tried to help him with my parents in mind, but I think our connection was severed long ago.

And my devotion to the pack? I didn’t know. These days, I didn’t recognize the pack anymore.

A bark of an order caught my attention. Looking up, I found Grant walking towards me briskly, a group of solders and a messenger surrounding here. The town was busy as ever, but people walked fast and kept their heads down. Everyone sensed the unease in the air.

Grant’s vibrant red hair was pulled up in a high ponytail, her brown eyes dark and unforgiving. She paused to turn to the group, letting our a series of commands as she pointed at each one. At her words, they flew off to carry out their tasks.

I reached her just as the Alpha’s granddaughter sighed heavily.

“Grant,” I greeted, trying be curt and polite. While I wasn’t close with Grant and didn’t necessarily want to be, I had to speak with her to figure out the current state of affairs.

“Oh, Clive, hi,” she grumbled, not even trying to be pleasant. “How’s Reily doing?”

“Physically, he’s okay. Just resting at home,” I replied, not bothering to mention the state of his psyche.

“Good, good,” she said, tucking a wayward strand of hair behind her ear, distracted. “I was just passing over some orders from the Alpha.” Grant didn’t have any lipstick on today, and her lips looked worried through with chewing.

“How’s that all been going?” I said, hinting at something she picked up on immediately.

Looking away, she answered, “Well. It’s been rough. My grandfather is really losing it after replaceing out about Vera having Lycan blood. Like losing it - drinking, staying up all night reading or mumbling to himself, looking through the basement storage, pacing, sending out people to replace her no matter what it takes. I just left him turning the house over looking for anything Vera might have been hiding. The pack’s too scared to do anything other than what he says.”

“He thinks Vera knew all along that she was Lycan?”

“I don’t know what he thinks, but to be honest, even I doubt Vera knew. Wouldn’t she have retaliated against the pack if she had the slightest idea? I always despised her but she had no secrets... and no time to conspire anything.”

“Yeah, I’d imagined that, considering the workload her family put on her.” I gave her a critical glare, and she got the message, huffing out.

“Oh, shut up, I don’t need any criticism from you, Mr. High and Mighty.”

“I know you’re just doing your duty as the “next Alpha” or whatever, but I hope you don’t truly want Vera caught.”

She sighed, looking down. “No, from how Dane is looking now, I wouldn’t even wish for my worst enemy to be caught by him. Between you and me, Reily was an asshole for what he did.”

“Well, I’m glad we can agree on something,” I said lightly. Perhaps Grant was starting to realize that the side she’d always been on might have been in the wrong.

“Don’t get me wrong though,” she said, crossing her arms and turning to the side. “I’m not picking favorites, everything I do, I do for me. And for now, that means being on the Alpha’s good side.”

I nodded in grave understanding.

Passing by the Commanding Office, where messengers and pack soldiers walked in and out in a frenzy, I noticed a familiar small body in guard’s black garb: leather pants, a belt, shoulders covered by a dark cloak, a strap holding a basic knife in its holster. Short blonde hair topped off the figure.

“Thelma,” I called out nearing her.

“Oh hey Clive,” she said, biting her nails. “I was just waiting for my commander, I need to see how the search is going.”

I lowered my voice to a barely perceptible whisper. “I talked with Archer earlier. Vera’s fine and hasn’t been caught.” I dared not say yet at the end.

Relief spread across her features. “Oh thank the Moon Goddess,” she breathed. “Oh, Archer is with her isn’t he?” An weirdly unreadable expression came over her, caught somewhere between sadness and painful acceptance. It didn’t make much sense, but it soon left as she looked up at me wide-eyed.

“What about your asshole brother?”

I scratched the back of my neck. “He’s still stuck in bed.”

“Good,” she said vehemently. “No offense. He would have been the first to tear off after her.”

I gave a dry chuckle. “None taken.”

“I just wish I could be with her to help. Or I wish I could have stopped her before her mate ship with Reily. I can’t believe I actually thought it was a good idea! I knew what he did to her! I’m a horrible friend.”

I placed a hand on her shoulder. “I know exactly how you feel, Thelma. You just wanted to give her a choice for once. What we didn’t count on is that her upbringing in this pack and in Dane’s house didn’t give her the right tools to make the best decisions for herself.”

“Thanks for your kind words, Clive.” She gave me a small smile.

“Of course. So have you been sent out to try to replace her yet?” I asked.

“No, and between you and me, even if I am assigned it, I think it would be the first time I dare to betray my pack,” she whispered.

I realized the weight behind her words. While I didn’t know her that well, from what I could tell, Thelma was incredibly dedicated to her work. If she would throw that away for Vera, and it was a big deal.

A messenger ran up, looking frazzled with glasses askew. I recognized him as one of Dane’s personal messengers; the poor guy always looked like he was on the edge of a breakdown.

Catching his breath, he addressed Thelma, “Alpha Dane... needs you... to stop by his office.”

Surprised, Thelma stared the the young man. “What for?”

A sense of danger crept up my back.

“I don’t know exactly, but...” the messenger gulped, as remembering something that brought him fear. “He looked really out-of-it. All quiet and intimidating. I’d say be on guard, and don’t say anything out of line.”

Thelma sent me a cautious glance. “Oh-kay,” she said, drawing out the word. “I guess I’ll see you later then Clive.” She waved as she turned to leave, and I stared at her back stuck with the dark feeling that it might have been that last time I see her for a while.