Chapter 33 Chapter 33
ALPHA XANDER'S POV
As I sent the message, the urge to run gripped me. I needed to do something else to clear my head, and the run sounded best right now.
There were no easy answers when came to Adriana's condition, a wolf fighting it's other part isn't something that is common, the study would take a while.
As I sat on the bench outside Adriana's hospital room, my mind was consumed with thoughts of the rogue attack. No sane being would dare to threaten the safety of my pack, was like begging for death. The thought was almost laughable.
Daciana's voice pulled me from my reverie. "Xander, what's wrong?" she asked, concern etched on her face.
"Rogues were sighted around the border." I said simply.
"Shit. Is it bad?" I shook my head.
"I don't know. I want to go down there to make sure it's nothing serious." I explained. I felt the familiar tingling, someone was trying to break down my mind barrier. It was like a mind link but far more urgent. I let the person in and Donovan's voice filled my head.
"Xander, where are you? Your warriors are dying but you're more concerned about a dying bitch. You're a pussy." Donovan's voice came through the link, tinged with a hint of humor, he was obviously not joking. The words sent a jolt of panic through my body when it came through.
I know my warriors can hold their own so his words were shocking and that sent me into a stupor. I stood up sharply which made Daciana turn to me, her eyries raised in question.
"What happened now? Everything okay?" she asked, staring at me expectantly. I could feel multiple people trying to reach out to me through the link. I sent a broadcast message to warn the pack members and close all borders, all the children and elderly people and civilians were to be taken to the safe house until the pack was deemed safe again.
We don't do this much but they already knew the drill. This was taught in school just like first aid and fire drills. When the pack is under attack, we enter a lockdown mode and everyone knows to rush to the middle, each set having their meeting point. Like women who were civilians, children in school and elders who were retired. Warriors who were assigned to keep people safe would be waiting for them and they'll remain in the safe house until the lockdown is lifted.
That way, if anything went wrong, not the whole pack would be wiped out. Though I would be damned if it came to that. "Xander, what happened?" Daciana tugged my hand. Her brows were furrowed now, her eyes studying me with worry.
"I have to leave immediately," I said, my voice tight. I was ready to start leaving when I heard her rushed footsteps behind me. "Why? What's going on?" She asked, her voice filled with concern.
"I can't tell you all now cause there is no time but the rogues are attacking and I need to get there." I wasn't sending my men off to war while I sat in safety. I was their leader and if they fight, I fight alongside them.
Daciana nodded hearing that, she knows I would never sit back while something like this is happening. She started for the door too but I called her back. "Where are you going?"
"I'm coming with you," she said, stopping to give me a deadpan look.
"No," I said, my tone final. "You are going to be here in case Adriana will need anything. I need you to stay here. I'll go there and see what is going on but you need to be here." I stressed so she knows how important that is to me.
Her eyes were defiant but she saw the urgency in the situation. I wasn't about to sit and argue and she realized every second she is asking me questions is probably another person getting hurt or even killed. She nodded in agreement. "Ok, Xander, I'll stay." I nodded gratefully and turned away.
"Tell me if anything changes with her." I told her through our mind link. Her reply was a whirlwind in my head. I'd already opened my mindlink to the pack and multiple people were talking, asking questions and directions, asking if there were any orders or changes.
I drove towards the packhouse, my mind was racing with multiple different thoughts. A part of me was telling me that Donovan might have been lying. Though the activities from the pack members said e wasn't. He hadn't sounded serious and though he was the kind who never got serious in any situation, no matter how grave, he would always find a way to joke around. He wouldn't lie about something like this. He had his downsides but he wanted to rule more than anything.
As I neared the borders where the sighting was, I
slowed down and pulled my car to a stop at the edge of the woods. I stepped out of the car and into the woods, sniffing around for anything out of the ordinary. The trees were thick and the underbrush was dense, so I used my wolf abilities to step over them easily.
I moved further into the woods, it was still bright out so seeing was easy. There were distinct scents around the place that showed people were there or they passed through recently.
"What's going on now?" I asked Donovan through the link. I couldn't get to the leader of warriors and he was my second best option. "If you'd come and see for yourself, it would save me the trouble of having to explain all of this to you." Donovan's annoyed voice came through. I wanted to tell him to get to the point but he blocked me off.
I cursed and ducked over a few twigs. The tangy smell of rogues was more prominent here, there was a small lake nearby so it masked how strong their smell is, but it wasn't so faint that I couldn't trace them that way.
I mind linked the head of warriors again but something blocked me out. It meant either he was incapacitated or dead, I would rather it be the former because whatever might have happened to him could be tested, not when he was dead.
He has been my pack's leader since when I first became alpha, he'd been a footman under my father, but I saw his potential. He was loyal and better than most of the people my father had.
I reached the clearing, a few feet away from the lake. There was no one in sight, I sniffed around trying to gauge at what point I stopped smelling the rogues. Their scent had been prominent when I was in the woods, it wasn't here, not even that it was faint. It was just
absent.
I turned around, noting that I was indeed alone. A growl of frustration rose on my throat, it didn't make it past my lips before I felt something sharp hit me square in the back. I hissed through the burn, my clothes tightening to the point of suffocation before it ripped off my body as I shifted. Fur replacing smooth skin and my nails elongating into long paws.
I growled turning to the side I was hit, the same time I felt another sting in my leg, then my back again and my other leg, within seconds I couldn't feel anything in my body except the burning of wolfsbane that I knew had to be on the arrows.
What the fuck is happening, was my last thought before my body lost balance and fell to the ground with a loud thud.