Chapter 47 - Healing the Broken Alpha

River

The clan leader on the far outskirt settlement of Henderly scratched his head as he looked between me and my father. “Sorry Alphas, I have no idea what you are talking about. I didn’t call for a meeting.” He waved his arm toward the sleepy looking village. “As you can see, we are getting on just fine.”

Indeed, the settlement looked good. The houses were small, but they all seemed to be in good repair. There were an assortment of vehicles parked in front of and beside the homes with pretty flower gardens and the occasional garage. Economical options, but most of them roadworthy. Here and there I spotted movement. There was an older gentleman out mowing his patch of lawn with a push mower. A young woman was hanging her laundry out on a clothesline to dry. Another woman was sitting on her front steps blowing bubbles with a toddler. No one seemed anxious or afraid.

There was no sign of the ‘dangerous unrest’ Asher had reported to me this morning. He had insisted it was urgent, that Henderly had called requesting immediate assistance from their Alpha as they were being torn apart from the inside by insurrectionists and rogues. That’s why I had rushed up here, making the two our drive with my father, and two car loads of my best warriors.

“No rogues?” I asked, just to be sure.

“No, Alpha,” Cade, the clan leader, shook his head. He was a short, stocky man with kind brown eyes. “We haven’t seen a rogue around these parts in months. And even then they were just a few stragglers passing through; they didn’t cause any trouble.”

I sucked in a breath and pulled out my phone, attempting to call Asher for the third time. He must have gotten his wires crossed somewhere, and sent me to the wrong damn town. Which could mean that there really was another settlement somewhere in trouble, waiting for their Alpha to come to their aid. But the call went straight to voicemail. Again.

“What about your neighbors? Have any of them had any problems lately?”

“No sir, not that I’m aware of. And we had a barbeque with some of the guys from Quinett a few days ago, I’m sure they would have mentioned it if something was brewing around here.”

“Alright, sorry for the mix-up.” I looked at my father, who could do nothing more than shrug. “Things look great around here, Cade, keep up the good work.” I clapped the shorter man on the back and then turned back toward the vehicle. I had taken about three steps when suddenly I stopped. I reached my hand out to brace on something, but the only thing available was my father’s arm.

“What is it?” My dad asked, his brow wrinkling with concern.

“I– I don’t know. I don’t… s.hit, I don’t feel so good.” My stomach was rolling like I was speeding through a loop-de-loop on the Steamin’ Demon roller coaster. When the feeling of nausea and vertigo finally started to pass, an incredible pain started in the base of my neck, making my legs feel so weak that I dropped down on one knee.

“What? What’s happening?” My father looked around anxiously, and bent over me. “What do you need me to do?”

“Just…get me back to the car,” I groaned. I didn’t want to fall apart out here in the open. People already had enough doubts about my ability to lead them as a wolfless alpha. Dad grabbed my arm under the shoulder and hauled me up to my feet, and then he slung my arm over his shoulders as he started guiding me back to the SUV. I had driven on the way over to Henderly, but obviously I was in no condition to drive back. He dumped me in the passenger seat.

I hunched over, putting my head between my knees. I tried to focus on my breathing. My father was talking, but his words were just noise in the background, like he was far, far away. Even while I was swallowing bile back down my throat, I had one thing on my mind.

“Lenora,” her name came off my lips like a plea for mercy.

“What?” My father looked confused. “What’s wrong with Lenora?”

“I don’t know,” I gasped out. I took another deep breath and blew it out slowly. The sick feeling was starting to pass.

I sat up and took another slow breath through my nose. “Let’s go.”

“But the warriors–” my father started to point out that our men had gone to check the perimeter of the town.

“They can find their own way home. Now get moving, or I will drive myself.” I growled.

While my father tested the speed limits, I had my cell phone out trying to get a line on Asher, or Lenora. Asher’s phone was still switched off, and Lenora didn’t have her own phone. The staff 9j[wasn’t picking up the landline.

“Call your stepmother,” Dad said tersely as he navigated a sharp turn. The tires squealed in protest and I was thrown against the door by the centrifugal force. I pushed myself upright and searched for Gayle’s number in my contacts list.

When she picked up, I could hear by the background noise that she was not alone. “Where are you?” I asked, without greeting.

“I’m at the Lake House Club,” she answered testily.

“Is Asher with you?”

“What? No, of course not! This is a she-wolf meeting, he wouldn’t be here. Why? What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” I snapped. At least I hoped it was nothing. “His phone is off.” I switched hands and held the phone close to my ear. “What about Lenora? Have you seen her?”

“I wasn’t aware that I was supposed to be babysitting the new luna!” Gayle said, clearly annoyed now. “Really, River, get your household together. I’ve got better things to do.” She cut the call. I looked across at my father. Judging by the way he was pursing his lips, he had heard both ends of the conversation, and he wasn’t particularly pleased.

I had never really understood why a kind and jovial man like my father would be attracted to a bitch like Gayle, but I didn’t have the time to ponder that now. I dialed the phone again, this time dialing Remmy. Even though it was his day off, he was the one person I knew I could always count on.

“Yes, Alpha?”

“Remmy, are you at the house?”

“No sir, I’ve gone to visit my sister Caroline. Is there a problem?” His voice betrayed his age with a slight wheeze.

“I hope not. I hate to disturb you on your day off, but I’m still about an hour and a half away from the pack house. Would you mind popping over and checking on Lenora for me?”

“Not at all, Alpha, it’s only a ten minute drive from here. I’ll head there right now.”

I almost breathed a sigh of relief. I laid my head back against the headrest and closed my eyes. I tried to convince myself that everything was fine. Remmy would call me back in ten minutes and assure me that everything was in order. Lenora was probably in our room, or in the library where she sometimes went to work, sorting through Blackstone business for the office. I’d ask him to put her on the phone, and her soft pleasant voice would chase away the feeling of dark foreboding in my chest.

I felt the car decelerating slightly, and without opening my eyes I snarled, “Don’t slow down. I need to get back to her.”

Precisely twelve minutes later, Remmy called me back. I gripped the phone tightly as I pushed the button on the screen to receive the call. Immediately I heard Remmy’s raspy breath as the old man was breathing hard. “Alpha River,” he panted. “I can’t find her, she’s not here… but there’s blood in the entryway.”

“Lenora’s blood?” I snapped upright in the seat, causing the seatbelt to lock into place.

“No Alpha, it smells of young master Asher, but I can’t find him either. There isn’t a soul in the house, even the kitchen staff is gone.” I heard a door open and shut, and he mumbled to someone, like he had his hand over the phone’s speaker. “Jenny’s just come in, she said Asher gave them the day off, said they didn’t need to come in until it was time to prepare dinner.”

“Son of a b.itch!” I swore.

“What is it?” My father asked, his hands tightening reflexively on the steering wheel.

“I don’t know,” I growled, “But something is very, very wrong, and Asher’s in the middle of it.”