Her Savior Alpha

“If he’s underground at the barracks he will be close to the medical hall, and we can look out for him should he need attention. Guards can make sure he’s fed and watered as part of their patrol regime.” Grant was talking to Vera, Archer, Clive, and some of the elders re explaining the particulars to them.

“We have to transport him this afternoon. We’re going to have to move him from the dungeon. What do you suggest?” Clive enquired to Grant who was tense.

“We should keep a tranquilizer gun on deck. Dane is deranged and just because it seems like he’s placid, I don’t think you should believe that. He’s a risk to deal with.” Grant shook her head furiously. “Vera, do we have any more supplies of tranquilizer?” she asked with her usual air of authority.

“Yes, we’ve got two cases of it here. I can bring it over to the house after lunch. Is that when we plan on taking him?” I answered her staying as even as I could. I still had my issues with her, but was willing to put them aside to deal with the bigger issue.

“Yes, exactly. We will have five soldiers to restrain him, but another team of soldiers staggered across the field so if for some reason the tranquilizer doesn’t hit the nervous system quick enough, we have enough restraint. Dane’s not going to go down without a fight. We have to transport him up from the dungeon in human form hoping he doesn’t turn into a wolf as well. We will have two others standing on the ready at the top of the stairs.” Vera smiled as Grant led with authority. Being in a leadership position was the perfect place to be.

She caught me looking at her in admiration as I wrapped the tourniquets up in the medical hall. “What do you think? Did I miss something?” She was leading well, but part of me didn’t want her to know that after all the things she’d let pass. Her furrowed brow and jittery eyes gave her away.

“You missed nothing.” I left it at that. I didn’t want her getting a bigger head than she already had.

Her shoulders eased in relaxation as she closed her eyes briefly. “It’s a big job, but I’m grateful I’m not doing it alone. I’m happy I have you guys with me to help me along.” She shocked me with the affirming statement, but left it alone.

Clive cupped the top of her shoulder. “That’s a fine plan. One I think we run with. I’m thinking if we I tackle him from the left and Archer from the right, along with Thelma out front and Zion out back we can cover him from all angles.”

“I think that’s a great idea in theory. Let’s see what he does. He is my grandfather and Vera and I have seen the guy in action more times than to count. He’s not going without a fight.” Grant’s nervous energy required soothing, so I grabbed her hand. I will bring my Lycan to the forefront if we run into trouble.”

“That’s the power of ten wolves. I’ll take it. By the way did you get the information from Dane, your books? The ones mother gave you?” Grant asked with concern. My sister was a different person now and it was strange that she cared so much about me when before she’d been dismissive and cut throat.

“Ah some yes. Some others I don’t know where they are. Shame, it had some information in it about the lineage of the Lycans in relation to the Mount Hunter group that could have been useful.” It saddened me that Dane had done away with my information. He’d taken it from me and now I had to discover my Lycan powers without him.

“Hey Vera, we’ll figure it out. It will be a discovery for us both.” Archer gave me his usual enthusiastic pep talk that I’d come to enjoy.

Clive’s jealousy had ceased. I could tell he conceded to Archer. I didn’t see him the same way anymore. His handsome good looks still gave me the image of a still life portrait I enjoyed looking at, but Archer and I had formed an unshakeable bond through trauma, teamwork, escaping together and I felt like he was as close to a best friend as Thelma was. Every now and then I got the message from my wolf that I needed to still understand hidden mysteries about Archer. I should have listened to them, but I kept the closeted worries at bay. Archer and I were so close that it was almost as if I had a shadow with me, and not in a bad way. He was starting to finish my sentences and I his.

I let the nag go nodding briefly at Archer. “We will.” Felt good to say we will. I never thought about love as being important so much as I thought about survival in my life. It was all I’d ever known. Doing things by halves was much better and lightened my load significantly.

My focus turned to the wall clock, as I looked up at it I saw lunch time was closing in and the operation of transferring Dane was too close for my liking.

“Okay, I think we have everything in order. I have the walkie talkies and I’ll communicate what needs to happen for everyone. Vera, you have the tranquilizers?” Grant was checking everything twice.

“Yep, I have everything that’s needed. It’s going to be okay. We just have to get him over here in the Jeep.”

“That’s right.” Clive parroted after Vera. He dropped a case of bullets for his Smith and Wesson in his gun, seeing the sight of the gun made me sad as I didn’t know if I wanted Dane to get shot or not. I frowned at feeling conflicted about him. He’d tried to rape me, break me and throw me to the other wolves for so long I didn’t understand why I felt anything for him anymore. I pushed the feelings of compassion down as I traveled through to the mess hall for sustenance. I ate light as Archer, and I finished up and walked over to the country house.

“You ready for this. I don’t know about you, but I feel scared. I’m not going to let you down, but at least I wanted to get it off my chest.”

Through all the fighting and everything I’d gone through I wasn’t scared anymore. My worst fears had been actualized. “The Mount Hunter pack are strong. Dane is well overdue in receiving his karma.”

“Yep. You’re right. We can do it.”

“That’s the spirit. Come on! Let’s run.” Feeling frisky and wanting to run off the excess tension I encouraged Archer to let loose and run with me. As we crossed through the fields to the country house it became a somber affair. Wolves were guarding the front of the house, two of them and their faces showed they meant business. As we stepped inside another two wolves guarded the dungeon door.

One of them was a newly recruited wolf named Cruz. He had dirty blonde hair and could have been a doppleganger for Reily minus the maverick rebel streak. As I thought about Reily I recognized how much he’d changed. He’d humbled himself, and him and Gina had stayed broken up. At first he had trouble looking me in the eye, but as time went on and I had to deal with him in the hospital he’d started to warm to me. I put it down to the fact he’d been part of trying to kill me like Dane. He was lucky his arm was able to be sewn back on. Being that the Mount Hunter pack were known for their healing qualities, it was good news that the tissue fibers were starting to knit back together again.

“Are you going down there now? He’s just had something to eat. He’s sleeping, but we put a bag over his head in preparation.” Shocked at what Cruz told me I blinked at him as I waited at the door for Grant to arrive.

“You put a bag over his head. Why?”

“He’s got a mouth breathing hole. We did it as a tactic to eliminate the risk of escape.”

“Ohhhh, I get it. I’m waiting for…” Grant appeared from around the corner with Clive before my sentence ended. A warrior expression covered her face, and it read as if we were going into the battle of the century. In a lot of ways we were because if Dane cut loose it could be hell to pay for everyone. The door creaked open as we heard the slow wail of Dane below the stairs. After hearing his call, I knew he wasn’t about to go down without a fight.

“That sounds like a fighting call. A warning. It’s the same call Dane made when we were in the forest.” My eyes shifted to Grant who had her hand on the handle.

“You got the tranquilizer gun ready? That gun takes three. Shoot clean and aim for his neck. If you hit the body, he might still be able to get away. I’ve seen you in fights with Dane. I know how he attacks. I’ve studied him and I never knew when that information would come in handy, but now it seems like it will.”

“I’m ready Grant, thanks for the tips. Let’s get it over with.” All four of us charged down the sunless stone steps single file armed and ready to apprehend my maddened grandfather. It smelled like bleach downstairs, obviously one of the staff had cleaned up the stench from when Reily had been kidnapped. I was thankful because the last thing I wanted to smell was blood, bile, and feces.

Flicking on the light I stared back at a broken Dane through the dimness of the one hanging light in the middle of the room. It was truly sad to experience him this way. A brown hessian bag was on his head, but each one of his fingers were tensed as if they were ready to grip onto something. Likely our necks. I stepped towards him carefully with a loaded gun ready to pull the trigger and release the dart into his neck.

He started a low growl as he got onto all fours not knowing which way we were coming. Grant was closing in on him whispering to Clive. The original plan to surround him in all four quadrants wasn’t going to work as Dane had worked himself into the corner. I could see he planned to leap forward and run forward. Clive had the same idea and stood directly in front of Dane to prevent him from doing so.

“Dane, don’t make this harder than it needs to be. Come with us now. It’s going to be better if you don’t struggle.”

“You are making the worst mistake of your lives. The Mount Hunter pack has been in my family for eons and now you think you can treat me like a subjugate? You will all be sorry! Mount Hunter is mine! I built this pack to be what it is!”

Grant ignored his warning rant as I raised my gun ready to shoot. She grabbed his right arm as Clive guarded him from the front. The other two guards were crouched low in position. One on the right side, and one on the left side equipped to do their part. I looked up briefly to the door checking for the other guards. That fleeting look at the door cost us as Dane barreled forward headbutting Clive with the sickening thump causing him to fall backwards. The other two guards didn’t have enough firepower to run at Dane the right way. Both of them toppled over like ten pin bowling balls. By the time I snapped my neck back around Dane had me in his sights. The gun flipped out of my hand into the air as I struggled to get a hold of it.

“Shit! Get him!” Grant called out as we clambered after him up the stairs. His hands had been bound with rope, but clearly not tight enough. The thickly corded rope had frayed and was now on the ground. Dane’s speed threw me off guard, I forgot how agile he was. Clive had him by the back of shirt at the top, but he was uncontained.

“Shoot him Vera! Shoot now!” The guards had guns, but we agreed that would be the last resort to shoot him. I had the gun back in hand, but I got a little sloppy with it. I managed to grab it in time as Dane burst through the door to the outside. Two guards from the outside attempted to wrangle him as I angled my gun and shot the first pellet. As soon as I let it fly the dart connected with the side of his ribs. The problem was as I hit him Dane shapeshifted into a wolf. As he morphed, he kept running, the guards in the middle of the ground switched ready to combat him. A quick decision had to be made. I loaded the gun again as three wolves battled.

Steady Vera. Aim for the target. Use your wolf sight.

The gun kicked back in my hand as the pellet flew through the sky and I hoped it would hit the right target. As the bullet flew it reached his back leg. I had one more to go. I loaded the gun again and breathed out as the other wolves backed off. Dane fell on his side as the tranquilizer kicked in. The knots in my stomach unbuttoned as we all ran out to the field. The wolves stayed in form as Clive and Grant lifted Dane’s heavy body carrying his arms and legs.

Another one of the pack brought the Jeep onto the grounds to make it easier as Dane was wrapped up and transported over to the barracks.

“We did it.” Archer who had stayed at the top of the stairs and assisted the wolves on the outside high fived me as I laid my head on his shoulder in relief.

“We did.” It would take time for me to recover from all the brutality I’d endured, but the reign of Dane was over.

Once Dane was secured inside his cell, I waited until the next day to go see him. I had a few things to get off my chest. Two stoic guards protected the door. One of them nodded as I entered and stood across from Dane who was sitting on the single bed he’d been given. He was in a sorry state of affairs with his head down. As his head looked up an turned towards me, I addressed him.

“It’s over Dane. Do you think my own mother would want you to have crushed me like you did?”

“You don’t have what it takes to run this pack.”

“Oh, the way you ran the pack? Guards looting the streets, sub packs forming and leaving you wide open for attack from Beartown? The same pack you wanted Mount Hunter to be protected from? Is this the way to do it?”

Dane was speechless for once. The only reaction I got from him was a furrowed brow. He was shirtless and his elbows were on his legs, it appeared he was listening to me for once.

“I’ve lost everything Vera. My daughter, she was my everything. I worked to take care of her – for my family. I lost my wife. You were the battering ram, I took my rage out on you. I admit it.” The room got quiet as the very words I wanted to hear so many times floated from Dane’s mouth. Not a direct apology, but as close to one as I would receive.

“I didn’t want my parents to die. I’m an orphan now, and what happened on that day wasn’t my fault.”

“I know. We weren’t prepared enough. That’s why I trained the pack the way I did after it. Can you let me out of here now, I’ve learned my lesson now.”

Dane, the trickster – I observed his salt and pepper hair and the sprouting of his beard. I knew there was more. I smirked as I moved to the door.

“No.”