Better Off Dead

The alarms blare all around our town, alerting everybody that Ferals are close to breaking down the barriers. I snarl, urging children and their mothers as well as the elderly to take shelter in the bunkers built under each house. Ashton stands by my side, the Guard all taking their positions on either side of me with Julianna and Misty on my right and left. Julianna's sleek black wolf moves closer to my right, her fur brushing mine, as Misty's lithe gray wolf mimics the motion on my left. We brace ourselves inside the wall, making sure we are close enough that no Ferals can get through us to the main territory. The guards in the towers continue firing their guns, the shots causing my sensitive ears to ring slightly. I snarl and shake my head violently to stop it. I see one of my guards, a young man in the tower, get pulled from his post by a clawed hand. I wince when I hear his screams cut off. Ok, did ANYBODY else know these fuckers could CLIMB, Ashton demands. I share a look with Misty and Julianna, their eyes wide as they each shake their head. This...this could be a problem, I reply. Before I can react, the guards are pulled one by one from their stations. We have to move. NOW, I order. Ashton nods and, accompanied by a small group of guards, runs forward, slamming his hand onto the emergency control panel to open the gates. My eyes widen when I see the Ferals outside, tearing into the guards they've plucked like apples, some still screaming. Kill them all, I order. Julianna and Misty nod before our entire group surges forward, attacking the Ferals. Julianna, Misty and I move as one unit, our wolves connected in such a way we know what the others will do. Julianna and Misty lunge for a Feral, taking it down long enough for me to rip into its chest.

I gag when its tainted blood floods my mouth, the putrid odor burning my nostrils and making my eyes water. Is it me, or do they stink more than normal, Misty asks. Julianna grunts in agreement as they move on to the next Feral.

I continue tearing through them until I'm grabbed by my back leg and flung into a nearby tree. I can't stop the cry that escapes when I hear a sickeningly dull crack. I feel anger flow through the bond and I know Misty and Julianna felt the pain. I try to get up, failing when pain shoots through my back like a flare. I collapse back to the ground, wincing when my side hits the hard dirt and probably a couple roots. I try again to stand as the Feral that threw me lumbers my way, snarling and foaming at the mouth. I force myself to my feet, shaking the haze out of my vision and swaying slightly. The Feral lunges for me, but he never makes contact. Misty's gray wolf is a blur of motion as she bowls into his side, knocking him off balance. Julianna stands by her side, both snarling as he recovers and snarls back. Ashton appears by my side, lifting me gently. A few feet away, I see Bear and Vlad both fighting, tearing through Ferals left and right as they try to get to us. Bear makes it first, taking me from Ashton gently.

"Get her home," Ashton orders. I can see Bear fighting his wolf, neither appreciating being ordered. But he nods anyway and turns, bolting with me. I growl, wiggling in his arms. "You're in no shape to fight," he says firmly. I huff, still wiggling, when we both get knocked over by a Feral sent flying by a pack member.

I force myself to my feet, body still shaking slightly from the pain in my ribs. Dickhead must have at the very least cracked a couple. I snarl, standing over Bear as he lays unconscious on the ground, while a Feral, this one smaller and clearly newer to this life, approaches. Her tail swishes dangerously as she licks her teeth, circling us slowly. I snap at her when she gets too close. To my left, I hear a yelp and see Vlad get thrown aside like a rag doll. For a brief moment, Wynter and I both consider going to him to make sure he's alright, the Claimed mate bond still there faintly. But we shake it off, planting our paws firmly in place and bracing for the small female to lunge at us. She crouches down, preparing to pounce, when the largest of the group let's out a grotesque howl. She looks at him, straightening and running off after him. He follows his group, what's left of it, after snarling at us one last time. The others all drag the dead away with them, disappearing into the brush.

I shift back finally, standing naked and exposed, and sway slightly. I lean against the nearest tree, looking down at my side and wincing when I see a gnarly purple bruise forming in my fair skin. "Sons of bitches," I mutter. Bear stirs by my feet, a groan escaping him as he slowly sits up.

I crack a weak smile as he stares at me. "See? I can fight." He rolls his eyes and picks me back up, whimpering when I gasp in pain. "Get her back inside, the doctor can have a look at her," Ashton says, handing me my inhaler. I groan, the stupid little thing mocking me. "It's either this or I have doc Matt put your ass on the nebulizer," Ashton says. His tone, and eyes, leave no room for argument as I take it grudgingly. Bear picks me up gingerly, moving to take me back to the hospital, when the wolves around us snarl. I shove my inhaler against his chest, wriggling until I drop onto the ground. I grunt when pain shoots through my body, but where it originates is beyond me. I force myself to my feet, looking around for what my pack is snarling at, before settling on a large, dusty gray wolf with dull and matted fur that slowly walks towards us on two legs, his head bowed.

I tilt my head, walking towards him. I wave the pack off when he growls, sitting criss cross in front of him. He lumbers his way towards me, his mouth foaming a little but not nearly as much as the average Feral. I stay where I am, not afraid. He won't hurt me. Instead he collapses near me, growling when one of my pack members moves too close. "Caesar?" His ears flick, drawing his attention to me. He whines softly and crawls over to me. I smile, not seeing any of the madness that was in his eyes last. "Ash, bring me a set of men's clothes please," I call out. He leaves, returning quickly and handing me the clothes. Caesar takes them, disappearing behind some nearby trees, and coming back fully dressed. Bear comes up behind me, growling when Caspor pulls me into a tight hug. I wave him off, smiling and returning the hug.

"I heard them coming but couldn't get here fast enough I'm afraid," he apologizes. I smile fondly. "You're here now, that's what matters. Have you considered my offer?" He nods, smiling. "Caesar and I have and, we both agree we would like very much to have a pack again. To belong somewhere." I smile, nodding. "Let's get you settled then and we can introduce you to the pack this evening," I say. He nods, hugging me again. Bear has enough, pulling me against him. Caesar growls lowly at him, baring his teeth. "Relax, Caesar. This is my mate, Bear." I see him fade from Caspor's eyes, relinquishing control back to him. Caspor looks at Bear carefully.

"You take care of my Little Red, young man. You won't like Caesar when he's in a foul mood." Bear growls at the threat but says nothing. Thank goddess. Caspor follows us back inside, jolting when the gates slam closed behind us. I put a soothing hand on his shoulder, looking up at him. "Relax. You're safe here. It was just the gates." He nods, furrowing his eyebrows. "I implemented a variety of different types of security in case we were attacked again." He nods again, sighing. "I met your family once. Before you were born. Your grandparents were good people. Your mother was too." I scoff at that, Wynter stirring as she gets agitated. "I don't discuss Shelly. She's better off dead. For both of us," I say flatly. He looks at me in confusion, but if he has questions, he doesn't voice them. I take him to my house, not trusting the other Rogues that are staying not to mess with him. Leading him up the stairs, I set him up in a room on the third floor. The whole area has been vacant, never really needing to be used. I give him the entirety of the floor so he is not ambushed with questions and overwhelmed with people. And so I'm on the floor between him and the pack so nobody can get to him without me knowing. I go to my office, keeping my door open for once, and stare out the window as the pack carries on with their normal routine, no indication that we just fought off what was apparently a pack of Ferals.

Many of the Rogues that have come in are trained at least in basics. Though I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, they were all after all born into a pack somewhere. But a lot of them have improved greatly since they started training with our pack. Some have even formed close bonds of friendships with my pack members and some have even found their mates. It's good to see my pack, once so weary of Rogues, so accepting and friendly towards them. That's not to say there haven't been issues. There are always issues and conflict in every plan. Thankfully they are few and far between and the Guard has been able to diffuse the situations fairly quickly. The biggest issue has been Bear and Vlad butting heads. It seems they do that more lately than they did before. Three days ago was probably the worst though.

*                                          *                                          *

Shouting and jeering draws my attention away from the group I'm watching train, pulling me over to where a crowd has formed. I walk towards them, Julianna and Ashton shouldering their ways through the crowd with me to see what's going on. I watch in horror as Daniel decks Vlad in the jaw, closing my eyes and wincing when I hear the sickening crack of his jaw being broken. When I look back to them, he's forced it back into place and it heals almost immediately, his normally calm and reserved eyes blazing. A guttural snarl rips from him unlike any I've heard before. Watching them, it's easy to see the differences in them physically. Where Vlad has a lean build with slight muscle under his taupe skin and his black hair is cropped shorter, Bear has fairer skin and a bigger muscular build. Standing five foot ten, he is a couple inches taller than Vlad, but being bigger doesn't slow him down. He was in boxing among other sports when he was younger. Vlad went through basic military training after high school, but human military training is nothing compared to the rigorous training Alphas go through to prepare for their Ascension. "Stop them, Dawn. You'll be unhappy if they harm one another," Ashton mutters from beside me. I hold up my hand to silence him, watching. "If this is what it takes for them to behave themselves so be it. Clearly Vlad still sees Bear as the human he was instead of the Alpha he is." Ashton sighs but doesn't say anything else as we watch. I watch as Bear tackles Vlad to the ground on his stomach, putting his knee between his shoulder blades and twisting his arms behind his back. "Submit and this will be over, Rogue," he spits. Vlad turns his head slightly, his eyes meeting mine. My jaw flutters and I look away. Taking a deep breath, i take a step forward, and put a soothing hand on Bear's shoulder. "That's enough my love. Infighting will get us nowhere." I feel him shake and shudder under my touch but eventually he releases Vlad, pulling me against his chest and burying his nose in my curls, inhaling deeply.

Vlad gets up, growling as he brushes himself off. "Is this what an alpha is? A hothead that beats people when they disagree," he demands. I stiffen at his words, knowing they're a jab at both me and Bear. Julianna materializes seemingly out of nowhere, glaring at Vlad. "Maybe if you wouldn't disrespect both of them, you wouldn't have been beaten," she points out. I pull back, making Bear look me in the eye. I wince when I see a cut on his forehead, reaching up to touch it lightly. "We need to have that cleaned up. Beyond that, you don't look like you even got hit once," I tease softly. A rumbling chuckle vibrates his chest as he leans down, kissing my forehead. "I'll be alright love," he whispers softly. I smile and nod, reaching up to stroke his cheek softly.

"This has to stop. All of these fights that are breaking out are counterproductive," I say turning to Julianna and Ashton. They both nod, watching me. "What would you like to do, D," Ashton asks. I bite my lip in thought, looking around at the various groups that are training. "I don't know," I admit. "But I do know we need to figure something out soon." Ashton nods. "We can post more guards. Have the guards lead the trainings. Right now you, Julianna and Misty are leading them as much as you can, but there's only three of you. The guards can lead the training and that leaves you three free to continue doing what you need to do," he offers. I look at Julianna and she shrugs, leaving it to me. "We'll give it a try," I concede. He nods and turns on his heel, probably going to let the Guard know of their new task and to break it up amongst them all.

A knock on the open door pulls me from my flashback. Turning, I see Caspor in the doorway. I smile brightly at him, ushering him inside. "What is it, Caspor?" He clears his throat and meets my eyes. A move that, from any other wolf, would be a challenge. "I would like to help train. You can put someone in charge of watching, but I want to help." I look at him, searching for any signs of him slipping. Finally, i nod and smile. "Thank you, Caspor." He smiles, nodding back. I look at the time, frowning. "I need to make a couple calls and get ready to introduce you this evening. Find Julianna, she's my beta, and let her know I've cleared you to be added to the training list as well." He nods, his face serious and solemn, before leaving. I pull my hair back, booting up my computer and signing onto my zoom account. I start a conference call with all of the alphas, with the obvious exception of Ismael.

After what seems like forever, I detest meetings of any kind, I finally close the app, standing up and stretching. Heading downstairs, Julianna stops me, a mischievous grin splitting her face. I narrow my eyes, looking at her cautiously. "What'd you do," I ask. "We just need you. Everything else is ready for his introduction." I blink, taken aback by the news. "Alright. If you say so," I reply slowly. She grabs my arm, she all but drags me outside onto the dais. I look out at my pack, all gathered together for a reason unknown to them.

I clear my throat, all murmuring that ripples through the massive crowd halting. "As you all know, we were attacked today. Everybody did well at playing their roles, be it on the front lines with me and my Nexus Number, or staying here in the bunkers with the children and elderly." I feel a collective swell of pride as my pack beams at the compliment. "That being said, for those that weren't here a few years ago, this pack burned to the ground because of Ferals. There were many casualties, among them almost the entire alpha family except myself." The pride fades into grief and confusion, the latter coming from newer or younger members that either weren't here or were too young to remember. "Our pack fell because my grandparents ruled as long as they could, my mother being unfit to rule." I continue. "Now is that any way to speak of your mother when she's missed you so much," a voice calls out. My eyes snap down, roving over the crowd for the speaker, before they all part, allowing two people to come to the front.