Trying to Make Sense of What Happened

JAMES

“What was he doing here? I was expecting them to send scouting parties to Linton. We had prepared for that. But he turned up in person—why? And with only a small party of wolves.”

I look around at my inner circle, my most trusted wolves.

It’s three in the morning and I’ve assembled my beta, my head warrior, and my brother. Alexander is also here. He had been running in the woods when the attack happened, so he had been able to help.

We need to unpack what happened here tonight.

After I escorted Allie safely back to her home, I came straight back to the pack house.

My first priority was to make sure our wounded were taken care of, and then to hear reports from the scouting parties who had tried and failed to keep up with Ryan’s wolves.

I’m angry at myself for not chasing Ryan down personally. This had been my best chance to finish him for good, and I’d had to let my warriors handle the hunt without me.

I just couldn’t leave Allie alone, not when I wasn’t sure if she had been injured in the fight.

“Maybe he wanted to scout out the territory for himself?” David suggests.

“That isn’t the way he usually works,” Chris, my beta, comments. “He normally sends in small parties to raid and find weaknesses to exploit before he sends in a bigger force to take over the pack.”

“So why do it differently now?” I ask.

“Something has changed. His priorities are obviously different this time,” Alexander muses. “For him to run the risk of capture the way he did, it must be something important to him.”

“How many wolves did he have with him?” David asks.

“Twelve,” Alexander replies.

“No, fourteen,” I correct him. “Two were killed before we attacked.”

“By who?”

“By Allie, the lone she-wolf. She was there.”

“She wasn’t one of them?” David presses.

“No, she was their prisoner. They were taking her back to their camp.” I feel my temper rise, and I struggle to hold onto my self-control.

I’m angry that Ryan had been so close to capturing my mate. I try not to think about what he would have done with her if he had been able to take her back to his camp.

“When you interrogated the prisoners, did they say why he wanted her?” I ask Alexander.

“No, they didn’t know why. They came across her standing over the bodies of their pack mates. They were set to kill her in revenge when Ryan stopped them.

“He decided to take her prisoner instead. They were surprised by his decision.”

“How was she able to kill two of Ryan’s wolves? She’s a first-year student at the university, a loner. She has no warrior training but was able to take down two wolves without help?” David asks.

No one answers him. I honestly don’t know how she did it, but I need to find out.

I turn to Chris. “Have you found out any more about her background?”

“Not much more, but what little I have found out doesn’t indicate that she would be able to take on two warriors single-handedly.”

“You pack wolves always underestimate loners,” Alexander tells us. “If you don’t categorize them as rogues, you look down on them as weak and incapable of doing things that pack wolves can.”

“So, you think that it’s common for lone wolves to be able to take down trained warriors from the Savage Wolves Pack single-handedly?” I ask him skeptically.

“Not common, but possible. I doubt this was the first time Allie has been in a fight and forced to defend herself. Both pack wolves and rogues will have seen her as an easy target.

“She has grown up being attacked and chased off pack lands.”

“Are you telling us you think that what lone wolves experience makes them better fighters than pack warriors?” my head warrior Lucy puts in, clearly feeling insulted.

“No, not all of them, but you have to admit that just because someone is not a member of a pack it does not mean that they’re weak.

“Just because loners don’t undergo formal warrior training or hold rank in a pack, does not mean they don’t have the same skills or strengths. I repeat once again: don’t underestimate loners.”

“Perhaps,” I allow. “If she’s truly my mate, she would need to have strengths the average wolf would not have. But does that mean she could fight well enough to take out two of Ryan’s men?”

Lucy gasps and I realize she’s the only one in the room who doesn’t know about Allie being my mate. I ignore her response to the news and continue.

“Whatever the reason for her fighting skills, we need to find out more about her. Where she comes from, how strong she is… Does she pose a threat to our pack?”

My beta nods. “I’ll double my efforts to look into her past. There must be more information out there.”

“I would offer to try and get closer to her, but the loners hate me,” David says apologetically.

“Don’t worry about it,” I say and turn to Alexander.

Before I say anything, he holds up his hand. “You expect me to spy on her? I won’t do anything that will betray her or the other loners she lives with. I count them as my friends.

“But I will pass on any information that I believe could help you, as long as it could not be used to harm them.”

I nod at him. I want more than this, but I know he won’t agree to it so there is no point pushing him.

He gets up to leave. “Good. I’ll see you all later. I’m eager to get the other side of this fascinating story. Goodnight.”

“In the meantime, I don’t want anyone to know about Allie’s role in this. None of the pack need to know that she killed two rogues or that Ryan tried to kidnap her.”

They nod.

“That’s enough for now. Go and get some rest,” I dismiss them.

ALLIE

I’m sitting with my housemates in our kitchen. Danielle has wrapped a warm blanket around my shoulders, and Adam has made us all hot chocolate. We have been sitting in silence for the last half hour.

I don’t feel like talking about what happened to me. I don’t want to discuss the events of tonight. They were scary enough without having to relive them again.

I know it can’t last. They’re curious and they want to know what happened.

It’s no surprise when Danielle turns to me and asks, “What happened out there? One minute you were with us, the next you had run off.

“We tried looking for you, but we couldn’t find you and then there you were, coming out of the forest. Injured and being carried by the alpha.”

“My wolf caught the scent of a rabbit and decided to chase after it,” I explain. “She was so intent on catching her prey we didn’t notice that we had left everyone else behind.

“She caught the rabbit and then two strange wolves appeared. They attacked me, I fought back, and killed them… I’ve never killed anyone before,” I say with a sob.

I’m horrified by what I’ve done.

“If you hadn’t, they would have killed you,” a voice says behind me.

I turn to see Alexander standing in the doorway. He walks slowly into the room and squeezes my shoulder.

“They were very dangerous wolves. Ryan’s men. They would not have hesitated to kill you. Killing is what they do. It’s easy for them.”

“It was Ryan and the Savage Wolves?” Fear is written across Danielle’s face.

“Yes, he came with a small raiding party. James’s warriors fought them off, but were unable to capture Ryan.”

“Why was he here?” Adam asks.

“He wants to add this pack and this town to his growing empire. We’ve known about his ambitions for a while. That’s why James agreed to take over the Red Moon Pack.

“We can’t afford for Linton to fall into Ryan’s hands.”

“So, there is going to be a war. If he wants something he will do anything to get it. He never gives up,” Danielle states.

“There could be. We are hopeful that once he realizes James is here with all his warriors ready to defend Linton, Ryan will back off.”

Danielle looks like she might cry. “I don’t want him to do to Linton what he did to my pack.”

I squeeze her hand. “We won’t let that happen.”

She gives me a sad smile and gets up to leave the room.