Chapter 42 - Healing the Broken Alpha

River

My temper was getting out of control, and Lenora wasn’t beside me to help calm me down.

“I have no issue with you taking a loan from the company,” I said to my uncle between gritted teeth. “But taking pack funds for your private business was against policy. You, of all people, ought to know that, Uncle Richard.”

He shrugged and lifted his shoulders. “I suppose I must have overlooked it in my eagerness to make these necessary investments. But really, River, you have nothing to worry about. Once we complete these contracts, I will be able to repay the loans in full, with interest. No one will have anything to complain about, as long as the money is returned to the coffers in due time, right?”

Maggie had returned to the house, and was serving slices of cake on hand painted china plates.

I opened my mouth, about to argue further, when I heard a scream through the open window. Immediately, I knew it was Lenora. Everyone’s head swiveled toward the back door, and without thinking, I jumped from my chair, toppling it over backwards, and ran for the door. I forgot entirely that I was nearly as defenseless and weak as she was, if not more, since I couldn’t shift into my wolf. My aunt and uncle, and even Zachary were right behind me, pushing me out into the dark garden.

I cursed my dull human eyesight, as I could barely make out anything in the moonlight. Everything was dull, monochromatic, black and grey bleeding together in one indistinct night panorama. I raced toward the treeline, navigating the garden more from memory than from sight. I was nearly to the pines when Lenora burst out, and ran straight into my arms.

“River!” she cried, burying her head into my chest, and wrapping her arms tightly around my neck. Her body was quaking. I held her close and scanned the trees, looking for the danger she’d been running from, but the forest seemed quiet.

“What is it, Nora?”

“There…there was a man in the woods!” She whispered, her breath shuddering in her ribs.

I tightened my hold on her and looked over her head to my uncle, who had drawn up beside me. “Rogues?” I asked him.

Lenora shook her head under my chin. “I–I don’t think so. He didn’t smell like a rogue, but he had applied herbs to cover his scent. He… he looked like a wild man.”

“What do you mean?” Uncle Richard demanded.

“He…he was dirty and unkept,” she stuttered. “His hair was long and tangled. Like…like a homeless person.”

“How strange!” Maggie exclaimed behind me.

“Did he hurt you?”

“N-no.” Her fingers tightened around me. “When I tried to come near him, he started to scream and thrash, and I was frightened…so I ran.” She released me and looked back into the woods. “But I don’t think he followed me.”

“That’s very unsettling,” Uncle Richard said, propping his hands on his hips. “I don’t know of anyone like that around here. Zachary, maybe you should go check it out.”

“Right,” Zachary made a show of stripping off his shirt. When he reached for his belt buckle, I turned, using my body to block Lenora’s view of my cousin’s naked body as he dropped his pants. He gave me a wicked grin before he shifted into his grey streaked wolf.

His wolf was an impressive animal, as was expected from a descendant of a powerful alpha. He took a moment to stretch, and I swear he was preening on purpose, reminding me of what I no longer had. He lifted his snout into the sky and gave a sniff before he loped off into the woods at a lazy pace, like he wasn’t particularly worried about Lenora’s report of a strange vagrant so near the house.

However, Richard and Maggie looked properly concerned. “Let’s get back inside the house,” Richard said, putting his hand on my shoulder and steering me back toward the door. Maggie kept looking back over her shoulder as she walked beside Lenora, a protective arm also wrapped around her shoulders.

“I’m so sorry dear, I shouldn’t have left you outside alone. I never expected–well! We haven’t had any issues out here in years! I can’t imagine how that man found his way here!”

Back inside the warm confines of the house, Uncle Richard shut the back door and bolted it, apparently not worried about the fact that he had left Zachary alone outside. I clenched my fists and realized the hypocrisy of the situation.

I was the alpha. It was my job to keep my lands free from rogues and any other criminal elements. I should be out with Zachary investigating this incident. In fact, upon finding the man, I should rip him apart for frightening my mate. And yet, there I was, shut up in the house like I was one of the elderly wolves, or the women and children who couldn’t fight and protect themselves.

Because I wasn’t even a wolf.

Lenora seemed to sense my despair, and placed her hand against the small of my back. “It’s okay, River. I don’t think the man was dangerous…”

I allowed myself just a second to indulge in the comfort she offered, and then I ripped myself away. I paced to the other side of the room and turned to stare out the window at the garden with its circular beds.

I was a selfish a.sshole, putting an innocent she-wolf in danger for my own purposes. She’d gotten lucky this time, if the man she met was truly just a harmless mad man in the woods. But what about next time? What if my attempted murderer caught her alone somewhere?

I curled my fingers into my palms. I had no claws to extend, but my dull fingernails bit into my skin nonetheless.

“Anyway, River, about the money,” My uncle approached me contritely, “I really am sorry if I overstepped my bounds and took advantage of the family connection while you were ill. I might have allowed the excitement to cloud my better judgment. Please forgive me.”

I shut my eyes and tilted my face toward the ceiling, as if seeking divine help to keep my temper in check. There wasn’t anything I could do to rectify the situation now. I had already investigated the demolition company’s finances, and they were just barely in the black. He would not be able to pay back the loan in full any time soon. In order to make sure that the pack remained financially solvent and to remove both the risk and the potential accusations of nepotism and favoritism, I would have to pay back the loan myself, from my personal assets.

I didn’t bother to inform my uncle of the decision. He’d find out when my lawyer presented him with the buy out in a neat and tidy legal package. I spun around once more and motioned to Lenora. “Let’s go,” I said shortly. “We’re finished here.”

She walked to me obediently, but I saw her cast an apologetic look back at Maggie. “I’m sorry that I’ve ruined everyone’s night. I think he was just a harmless, confused man. I shouldn’t have overreacted.”

“It’s fine dear. I’m sure anyone would have been frightened, in your position,” Maggie said graciously. “But please come to visit me again, I really enjoyed meeting you.”

I held Lenora’s hand and pulled her toward the door. The motion-sensored lights switched on in the front yard, clearly illuminating my SUV. I helped Lenora into her side before I climbed into the driver’s seat. Once we were safely out on the road, I glanced at her, watching her from the corner of my eye. “Describe him to me.”

“The man in the woods?”

“Yes.”

“Um, I really couldn’t see him that well. But he looked…well, rough. Long hair, long beard, clothes in tatters. He was kind of squatting down on the ground, but I think he might have been tall, if he stood up.” Her small hand reached over and touched mine where it was resting on the gear shift. “Maybe it was just a trick of the shadows, but…he kind of looked like you, River.”