Ryan's P.O.V

"How is she?", Dominic asked me.

I sat beside my mother's bed and held her hand.

She was in a coma.

And it was my fault.

A tear fell from my eye and I wiped it away angrily.

I stood up, letting go of her hand.

"I don't know. She's not responding to anything and I can't feel her wolf. It's all my fault.", I whispered.

Guilt tore through me and another tear fell.

I wiped it away more aggressively. "God damnit. I can't even keep it together for fucks sake. What the fuck am I doing leading a pack?", I growled at myself.

More tears fell and I felt weak.

A hand landed on my shoulder.

"It's okay, Alpha Ryan. We all have our weak moments. We don't expect you to be strong in front of us.", Dominic said soothingly.

I collapsed back into the chair and let the tears fall free.

I was only 20 after all.

"It's all my fault! I told she had to break the bond with him! I basically pushed her!", I yelled.

A sob broke free as I put my head into my hands.

I sobbed even harder as Dominic engulfed me in a hug.

As I sobbed in his arms, I got the link.

"We're back, Alpha Ryan. And we have a bunch of people with us.", Everett mindlinked me.

I gently pushed Dominic off of me and went to the little sink in the corner, splashing my face with cold water.

"Let's go Beta Dominic. Everett and the rest are back.", I whispered, walking out.

I followed the path to the packhouse.

Once I got there, I first took notice of Everett.

I walked to uim and talked in a low voice.

"How did everything go? Did anyone get hurt?", I asked.

"It all went good. No one got hurt, thankfully. We did have a close call with one of those ruthless rogues but the guns helped.", Everett whispered.

I took a glance at the 36 rogues. Some were looking around nervously and I could feel the fear. The rest were just indifferent.

"What do they think they're here for?", I asked Everett.

"They think that we were there to bring them back to the Alpha and be killed. Some we had to sedate because they went crazy."

I pinched the bridge of my nose.

"Alright everybody! May I have your attention!", I yelled.

The chatter stopped and everyone looked at me.

"My name is Alpha Ryan Halifax! I want to assure you that you are not here to be killed!

I take in rogues and give them homes! If you would like, you may join the pack and become an official pack member!

If not, that is okay! You can stay in one of the many homes we have or you can leave!

If you do decide to stay but not join, you must get a job in the city and provide for yourself! We offer protection and a place to stay! That's it!

Now, raise your hand if you would like to stay!", I yelled.

Everyone raised their hands. I smiled warmly.

"Do you swear to protect the Alpha and the pack? Do you swear to lay down your life to your Alpha and your pack?", I asked.

"I do!", the rogues yelled.

I could tell that these rogues just wanted a place to stay. They were left behind, kicked out, and forgotten.

"Welcome to The HellHounds Pack! If you want to be as big as us, you must start training and running more often in your wolf form!

I want a single file line and I want each person to tell me the reason why they got kicked out of their pack!", I ordered.

The new links were clicked into place and I felt stronger.

I could feel my pack rising in the ranks as we slowly gained numbers.

The first wolf was a female.

"The runt.", she grunted before walking away. I could turn her into something.

We went through about everyone before I got to the last one.

The others weren't anything bad but this last one about ook me off my feet.

"And what about you?", I asked the last wolf, a female, an omega.

Her dark eyes met my mismatched ones.

"I attempted to murder my Alpha."