Gamma No More - Book 3

Toni strides through the battlefield, completing the last rites for each wolf that died, she’s guarded by Felix and Liam who had the assignment to protect her, not that there were any stray wolves around.

Karl, not taking anything for granted now she has declared her Lycan heritage publicly, had assigned a rotating guard, while the rest of the Alphas had taken charge of restraining and separating the wolves into packs.

Others in her pack had offered to help with the rites, but as far as Toni was concerned, these wolves were her responsibility. She hadn’t stopped the fight soon enough.

Behind her, other wolves were taking their bodies back to be prepared for their last journeys back to their packs, cleaning and sewing wounds up as best they can

As she straightens from the last body, Toni reflects that the Aftermath of war or rebellion takes more effort to resolve than the fight itself, a cool reminder that they still had to deal with the remaining wolves that had surrendered.

Every wolf from her alliance, regardless of their pack affiliation, had survived. While most bore the evidence of a hard fight, they were now needed to deal with the aftermath. None of them could rest until they had followed this through to its conclusion. Finding Tane was the ultimate goal.

Each wolf that had surrendered would need to be assessed on whether they posed a danger to others, but before that, the injured needed tending, everyone feeding for the time they were under her control and guarding, plus ideally, shelter provided.

She and the Alphas had split up the tasks that needed to be done between them. Finally, she realized she was no longer the lone wolf, and it was almost liberating to know that she didn’t need to do it all alone.

She had no training for conflict on such a scale, but then she wondered, was anyone in her world, after over six hundred years of peace?

But Fifty-three wolves lost their lives today, Alpha Joseph had said that a three per cent loss was far smaller than he had expected, with the other Alphas agreeing, but she still felt the loss of each one as a reminder of the folly that had been so much in evidence today.

But that’s still a significant loss of life and that doesn’t include the potential loss of mates over the deaths that occurred here today, this is a shameful day in the history of werewolves and Toni hopes it’s the only one she sees in her lifetime.

She hoped that among these wolves, they would find Tane; finding the person who instigated this atrocity is the single thought that sends her Lycan blood hot and stops her from succumbing to the deep-seated fatigue that is threatening to overwhelm her.

Taking some deep breaths to calm herself, she understands that being hot-headed won’t help her find the culprit; she needs to be calm, methodical, almost detached.

This person needed to be shown to the werewolf world and put on trial for all to see.

For too long, she realised that alphas have been the last word in law, and that allowed bad wolves to take advantage of, and it needed to change.

But that also covers her as well. She’s already shown her ruthless side with Alpha Bates’s death, and now she needs to be more compassionate. Most of the wolves here would be innocent, just following the orders of their leaders.

Alpha Dimitri walks towards her, breaking her out of her thoughts

“Lycan Antonia,”

Dimitri bows his head respectfully

“Dimitri, I was Toni to you before. We are all friends and Alphas here, so what’s with the sudden title change?”

Dimitri glimpses at her with a sly look in his eyes

“Lord Leif did this whole old age reminiscence about proper form when dealing with Lycans. I thought he wanted to relive his youth, but now I realise he was giving me hints.

It seems he knew things I didn’t and I have an excellent network of informants in the neutral zone, but not good enough!

I would ask Cage as our principal representative to your pack if he knew, but from his expletive on the pack link, I’m guessing you kept that close to your chest. ”

He chuckled lightly, more to himself

“But if others hear the way I address you, they will follow. Most won’t know how to deal with you and need direction and it’s an Alpha’s place to lead, after all.”

He takes a long look at Toni

“But if you permit me to call you Toni, then I would be honoured to do so. ”

Toni shook her head ruefully, wondering if there had been a way to stop things without her announcement

She finally voices her thoughts

“Nothing has changed except a lot more people know what I am now… but I would prefer you to just stick with Toni, makes me feel normal, well as normal as I will for a while.”

She gestures around the makeshift camp she takes in the wolves sitting in groups, bound at the wrists. Each group has wolves guarding them, stationed at intervals. They form a ring round each group.

The groups are between twenty and a hundred wolves strong, injured and uninjured, sat together by their pack, with no visible signs of communication happening, all demoralised and broken.

Dimitri places a hand on her arm to gain her attention back.

“On the contrary Toni, everything has changed.”

He pauses, letting the information sink in.

“Lycans, as any history book will tell you, don’t exist, erased from our world for centuries, then today, you pop up in the middle of a battle and stop it with a single order.

The power you exuded was immense. Even now it’s subtle, but there, without you trying to use it, every wolf here will now look to you for direction.

Ink wants to defer to you in a way he never has with any other Alpha, not even the King.

I guess that’s why Lycans were the original rulers of our world.”

Toni looks aghast at Dimitri as he mentions rulers.

“Let’s not get hasty with what the outcome will be,”

She muttered lowly before she continued

“That’s not what I want to happen. I’ll be happy to slip quietly back into my pack.”

Dimitri chuckles

“I know, but the best leaders don’t want the responsibility, but they can’t help but step up.”

Dimitri grins standing by her side, he moved his hand onto her shoulder, smiled at her smugly

“Leif told me you held the ability to change this world.

I scoffed, told him a single Alpha doesn’t have that power, but he knew what you were, didn’t he?”

He doesn’t wait for Toni to reply. The look on her face tells him all he needs to know.

“And he was right, you will make a great Leader Toni,”

Toni shook her head at his comments, not wanting to think about the implications of his words. All she planned to do was stop the battle. She had no desire to lead.

“Before that is up for discussion, we need to think about how we provide for those who are currently being held here.

They have families and most will be innocent, here by pack loyalty, not a desire to fight. We need to process them quickly and safely, getting them back to their families.”

Her mind goes over all the things she has to make happen.

“Plus, identify the ringleaders.” She added.

“We need to decide who sits in judgment to decide if it’s safe to release them back to their packs and if not, who we can appoint as Alphas to protect those in their packs?

I refuse to leave people packless, because of a feckless Alpha.

Not least because packs will be wary about taking in new joiners with tensions still high.”

It feels like an impossible task to Toni. They have over a thousand wolves to process and it’s not like she can rely on the Royals, in case they were involved in causing the uprising.

“See, even now you are thinking of the prisoners; so know, the Freedom pack will step up in any way you need. ”

He looks at her like a kindly old Alpha schooling a junior leader, irrespective that he is just five years older. The key difference was he trained for the role from birth.

“Tell me, though, what made you bring your Lycan out at that point and not before?”

“It was a forced change. I hadn’t got my third form yet. According to the books, I was still a few years off.

But I heard a warning bark and saw that you and Cage appeared cut off from the main fighting force, about to be overwhelmed.

I realised the plan was flawed. Pushing them into a choke point just made the fighting worse.

Then, after the battle stopped, I saw the flood of your wolves that had come in to surround your attackers, that you had laid a trap to gain control of that flank.

I guess it was an instinctive need to protect those who fought with me.”

She glosses over the fact she had identified her Erasthai, not sure if that forced the change, or if it was co-incidental that she sensed them afterwards.

Tyra told her it was after the change that they knew, but she needed to think through that part carefully before she announced it to anyone and as much as both she and Tyra desired to be with him, the middle of this mess was not the time.

Dimitri nods

“That’s what makes you the best type of leader, your need to protect others, even those.”

He points to the surrendered wolves

“Most wolves wouldn’t offer them quarter. Winners in our species have a history of slaughtering the losing leaders, removing the problem and turning the rest loose, leaving the packs to fend for themselves or find another pack that would take them in.

Yet, after dealing with the challenge from Alpha Bates, you reiterated no one was to be harmed.

You are proving yourself a leader through actions while your dominance proves your leadership through right.

Wolves want to follow powerful leaders and I doubt they will follow the King anymore. Wolves will view him as weak.

However, if it’s acceptable with you, I can have some of my main pack bring up some supplies to feed, water and help tend to the wounded, if you allow it, they can bring Raine’s coven to help erect magical shelters, warding them like a prison, so that they are free to move about within them.

The other Alpha’s have arranged motorboats to travel upriver, bringing supplies and support teams, and they can be here later today.

The boat owners have been told that we have the Kingdom’s agreement to let them onto the territory, so they will be safe, plus a witch will travel on each boat for protection.

The other Alphas are all close enough to rivers for us to share this task between us. We just need your permission, since you are the wolf that everyone submitted to!”

Toni stared at Dimitri, suddenly aware of how much the other Alphas had been doing in the background, feeling humbled by their actions.

“Thank you, Dimitri. I’m still not sure that lands on me, but no one could refuse this help.

I’ll work out how to repay you all and any coven you bring in.

Your packs shouldn’t be at a loss from this mess.”

Dimitri laughs as he gets ready to walk away. He turned.

“Just remember, to the victors go the spoils of war… you have every right to demand a tribute from every pack here.

You set the level, because they all surrendered to you, well, except your allies. We all chose the right side to be on from the outset.”

He winks as he walks away

Toni walks among the wolves, directing the guards of each to sort the wolves into groups based on injuries, pulling out the worst injured wolves and getting them immediate attention.

The first few were the hardest to extract, but after people saw them being treated, the rest acquiesced peacefully.

As she moves on to the next group, she sees someone she recognises.

“Gamma Anderson stand”

“Alpha,”

He stands head bowed, not showing an ounce of recognition, not surprising her hood is up and she gained over four inches since they last met, but since everyone here is watching as she walks around with Liam and Felix, flanking her, it’s not hard for him to guess she is the Alpha he saw transform to a Lycan.

Toni sighs to herself, seeing the injury to his leg.

“Take him for medical attention, then take him to our command area. Hold him, and I will interrogate him personally.” She told Liam.

Something inside her wants to believe he is innocent, but until she knows he is innocent, he has to be treated like the others.

Toni is relieved for Susan that he survived, but a pang of guilt passes through her. She still hadn’t been able to contact her, and she’d forgotten all about it, something that makes her feel guilty.

Worse, so many wolves and mates are wondering what happened in the battle. It’s going to be an uncomfortable few days.

As Liam tries to lead him away, he resists calling out.

“Alpha, with respect, there are others with worse injuries than me. They need attention first.”

His voice is respectful, but every eye in the field turns to him. Seeing if she will see it as a challenge, the tension rises and she knew they were all wary after seeing her execute Alpha Bates earlier.

She turns, so that she faces most of the wolves that surrendered, allowing her voice to project across the field.

“The injured are being prioritised already. High priority cases see the doctors, serious but not life-threatening by nurses. Neither of these applies to you.

You will see someone trained in field medicine, a first aider. Your injuries are severe but not to justify a nurse or doctor’s time, but I will not interrogate those who need medical attention.

With over a thousand wolves here to assess medically, feed and interview before release, we already have a system in place, but I’ve noted your comments.”

Her words are calm, but projected across the field. No anger, no pride, just facts and no retribution on a wolf looking out for others. She nodded to Liam, who took him away.

As Dimitri said, leaders step up, and his first thought was about injured wolves, which sits well with Toni. She has faith that Henry Anderson will be an innocent party in this mess.

Hours seamlessly merge, as Toni, Lance and Dimitri work to get shelter, food, and medical supplies for every wolf on the battlefield while agreeing on plans for how to assess the wolves that surrendered.

Every wolf that wasn’t from her pack wanted her approval for actions. Thankfully, the Veiled pack just got on with their jobs and didn’t treat her any differently, but mostly it was her leadership team who worked seamlessly to organise others.

The decision was that Toni will interrogate all the ranked wolves, with each wolf’s profile being checked against the werewolf database to ensure she sees the right wolves.

She has a long list of names that she had to interview and the list covered only half the packs so far.

Dimitri and Lance, along with their Betas and Karl, had agreed to interview the rest, referring any they had concerns about to the group to decide their fate.

Things had got a little smoother when Raine and her coven had turned up late that evening, setting up tents and warding them so they acted as prisons, allowing the captured wolves to be unbound.

While most of the witches had left on the boats, their tasks completed, Raine had stayed, wanting to hear as quickly as possible about Rowena.

As night fell, Toni finally got time to herself. Entering the tent assigned to her, she pushed her hood back, finally able to relax.