Alex

After a good night's sleep, I was back to full strength and ready to take out these rogues. Alpha Knox and I discussed the attack plan and I was confident we could handle them with little to no injuries to our fighters. I was anxious to get the attack over with, but Knox seemed to be enjoying the commraderie of the camp, laughing and joking with his men.

He could do that at home as far as I was concerned.

"Let's do this Knox." I say sharply, my tone mirroring my frustration. He chuckles and shakes his head, giving me an affectionate pat on the back.

"Relax, Alex. Let the men finish their breakfast. No wolf can fight on an empty stomach." He says, grabbing more food. I huff at him, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I want everyone shifted and ready to go in twenty minutes." I practically shout. He sighs, but nods his head in agreement. A little growl escapes me as my nerves begin to roil. I walk away to get some seperation and link Leah.

'Hey little one.' I press gently against her mind. It's still early and I'm guessing she's sleeping.

'Hey, baby. What are you up to?' Her sleepy little voice massages my mind, calms my nerves and extinguishes my frustration. My wolf purrs in content, but my body stiffens wishing I could be there with her.

'Just checking in. Everything ok?' I ask.

'Yeah. I didn't sleep great without you, but Jon and Penny have been distracting me.' She says. I can tell she's trying to make her voice sound light and unbothered, but I can feel her sadness through our bond.

'I'll be home soon.' I tell her warmly, hoping it's true. There are never any guarantees with things like this.

'Is it over?' She asks hopefully. I sigh heavily, not wanting to lie to her and not wanting her worried.

'Not yet. We found them and have plenty of warriors to take care of them. We are going to strike today and I'll be on my way home to you this afternoon.' I tell her firmly. Leaving no doubts about my intentions. I will be going home to her. I hear her sigh in my mind and feel her anxiety pick up. I curse myself for worrying her. I should have just let her sleep, but hearing her voice soothes me, centers me. Prepares me for what I must do to protect her and our pack.

'Please let me know when it's over. That you're alright.' She says quietly.

'Of course. You'll need plenty of time to prepare for me to come home.' I say teasingly.

'Prepare for what?' She asks cheekily and I chuckle.

'For what I'm going to do to you.' I say lowly and I'm sure if I were next to her, I would have seen her body shiver.

'Promises, promises Alpha.' She quips, my smile growing wider.

'And I always keep mine. Don't I?'

'Always.' She says quietly and my heart aches, wishing she were in my arms.

'I need to go. I love you, Leah.' I say, pushing as much love and affection through our bond as I can.

'I love you too, Alex.' She says before I break the link and take a deep breath.

"Alex?" I hear Knox call. I go find him, sorrounded by wolves, anxious breathing and pacing filling the otherwise quiet morning.

"There you are. You're the one that said twenty minutes and went off and disappeared." He says, sounding a little annoyed.

"Sorry. Just checking in with my pack. You ready?" I ask and he nods.

"As ready as I'll ever be. I'm getting too old for this shit, Alex." He says making me chuckle.

If we're being honest, he is too old for this shit. He's lazy and comfortable. But he's the ally I needed in this case so I will just need to pick up the slack.

We both shift and begin to run. Scouts had pinned down the rogue camp a few miles away. It only took about a half an hour to run there. We knew roughly how many there were made sure to outnumber them by plenty.

We split off in two groups as we had previously planned. I took my group to the south side of the camp while Knox took his to the north. We hid in the heavy foliage eyeing the patrols. I nudged one wolf, Jeremy I realized, and motioned towards the nearest border patrol wolf, signaling Jeremy to take him out. Jeremy nods in understanding and crouches, waiting for the signal. A few minutes later, Knox's howl rings out in the still morning, signaling us to attack. Jeremy springs forward, catching the border wolf off guard. It only takes Jeremy a few seconds to rip his throat out, his still body falling to the ground. Steam wafts off of his blood as it pools around him in the cold morning. I'm impressed by the young wolf as he leaps at another rogue, tearing his stomach out with his claws as he latches on to his neck.

I'll take as many of those wolves that want to join my pack as possible.

After the first strike it all becomes chaos. I bite and claw anyhing that comes at me doing my best to make sure it's not one of our own warriors I'm killing.

I feel teeth sink into my shoulder and roar in pain. I feel Leah's panic run through me, knowing she is likely feeling it too. That pisses me off and I spin, trying to fling the disgusting piece of shit off of me, but he sinks his claws into my side. It hurts like a bitch, but I can't let fear make me reckless. I throw myself at a tree, smashing him into it. He whines in pain, but doesn't let go. He drags his claws down my side and I feel sticky blood soaking through my fur. I go to smash him into the tree again, but suddenly his weight is off of me. I turn to see Jeremy ripping his throat out, snarling at the rogue as his chest stops moving. He looks up at me, his eyes running over my body.

I nod to let him know that I'm ok, and as a silent thank you for saving me. He nods back, understanding my gesture before returning to the fight.

Yeah, that kid is joining my pack even if I have to fight Drake for him.

I look around, the ground littered with chunks of fur, bodies and blood. The stench of sweat, fear, blood and death permeates the air around me. The last of the rogues is taken down and I take a moment to count the bodies. A sinking feeling takes over as I look around. I shift and throw on some shorts before going to find Knox.

He's already shifted back, hardly a speck of blood on him.

Fucking lazy Alpha.

My sides have healed, only a slight sting left when I move quickly, but otherwise I'm covered in rogue blood. Knox is laughing, joking around with his men looking all jolly like we didn't just slaughter fellow wolves.

"Where the fuck are they?" I ask him, pushing him up against a tree. His eyes widen in surprise and he tries to push me back, but he hasn't kept up with his training and is much weaker than me so I don't budge.

"Where is who?" He asks.

"The rest of the rogues, you fucking idiot! You said there were twice as many here than there are!" I shout and he looks around as if counting the bodies. I set him down and he spins in a cirlce, his eyes wide and worried.

"I don't know. They were all here last night when the scout came back to our camp. It doesn't make any sense." He says, wandering around the rogue camp as if the answers will somehow appear. I growl loudly, clenching my fists.

This shit isn't over yet.

"You didn't have anyone watching overnight?" I ask incredulously and he shakes his head.

"I wanted all of the men rested and ready to fight so I pulled them. Fuck, Alex. This isn't good. We need to find the rest of them." He says and I scoff.

"No shit, Knox. Send someone-" I'm cut off by Leah's frantic voice pressing against my mind.

'Alex! Alex, we're under attack. The pack is under attack!'

My body forces the air from my lungs as I double over, spewing my breakfast across the ground. I heave heavy breaths as I try to right myself. I stand and grab Knox around the throat.

'I'm on my way, Leah. Get somewhere safe. Listen to Jon, he knows what to do. I love you.' I rush out, but she doesn't respond. I reach out to our bond and feel her, so I know she's ok.

For now.

"I know where the fucking rogues are. They're attacking my pack while I'm here wasting my time with you. Get your fighters and follow me. This is your mess and you're helping to clean it up." I seethe through clenched teeth.

He nods so I let him go and jump, shifting before I hit the ground. I take off in a dead run, not bothering to check if he's following me.

He will if he knows what's good for him.