The Alphas' Legacy (Alpha Eyes: Book 3)

Chapter 43

Van

They'd been running for an hour with another two hours to go before they reached the border. Even moving at their fastest speed, their territory was big and the pack house was strategically located in the middle. It took a bit to reach the outermost border where the skirmish had occurred. In general, the territory was divided into rings, where were further divided into wedges with patrol teams assigned to each. Only rare events called teams from the center out to the border.

"Spill."

Van blinked as Stitch nudged him as they ran. "Spill what?"

Stitch rolled his eyes. "You've had a goofy grin on your face since we left the house. And we all saw that hug you gave Zoey. So spill... What happened?"

The other guys fell into a tight circle, all within hearing range. Now it was Van's turn to roll his eyes.

"What? Are we in grammar school again that you want to know the gossip on the girl I like?" he scoffed.

"So you admit that you like her?" Snuff tossed over his shoulder. Bug and Goggles instantly snickered at the question.

"Guys, give me and Van a minute. Okay?" Stitch warned. "I need him to be serious, and your childish questions won't help."

Snuff threw a big of a snarl back at Stitch, but still motioned for the "little brothers" to follow him ahead. Stitch and Van slowed their pace half a step to put more distance between themselves and the trio. Once the latter was a reasonable distance ahead but still in sight, Stitch nudged Van again.

"Seriously... spill."

Van couldn't help but grin now. "I kissed her."

"Look at you, dude! How'd she respond? Favorably, I hope."

Van shrugged. "I didn't give her much time to respond, but I definitely caught her off-guard. She said she wasn't used to being kissed like that."

"With the heir to Midnight as her mate, I'm not surprised," Stitch muttered. "So did you kiss her again? Help her get used to it?"

"It wasn't the time." Van shook his head. "I told her it was the first of more to come."

Stitch actually stumbled a step. "Who is this smooth-talking guy, and what has he done with my best friend?"

Van gave him a playful shove to the side. "All right. All right. Stop it. I'm still me."

They hurried to catch up with the others and launched into a game plan for when they arrived at the border. Thankfully they all understood the need to focus on what was ahead.

Two hours later, as they neared the location they'd been told, Snuff and Bug went ahead to scout the situation. The rest of them slowed down and fanned out. Something tingled in the air, and it put Van on edge.

"Tell me what you see, Snuff," he said into his comms.

"Nothing yet, Boss," was the answer. "No broken branches... no blood... no signs of a skirmish at all."

Stitch: "Maybe it was on the other side of the border."

Van: "Our people would never cross the border for a skirmish, not even if they were provoked. We must be missing something."

Bug: "I don't know, Boss. Something doesn't feel right here."

Goggles: "I agree. If Blood Creek is looking for a reason to draw us out, an ambush would be a good way to start their war."

Van: "My dad wouldn't send us out with false intel. They've got to be somewhere nearby."

They continued forward, searching for any sign of their patrol or the injured members of Blood Creek. Despite the tightening knot in his stomach, Van didn't believe they were walking into an ambush. Something was certainly off, but he couldn't imagine that even Blood Creek would be so foolish as to try to attack the lycans.

Snuff: "Found the skirmish site. Two clicks to your east."

In a couple minutes, the whole team had flanked the site. Aside from a mess of broken and bushes, there was also several blood splatters on tree, rocks, and leaves.

Snuff pulled a mid-sized pouch out of his pack while Bug stood by as his watch. Goggles scanned the trees overhead. Van and Stitch set off towards the border a few hundred yards off. If people had been injured, they would have retreated to their side of the border. That's where a weak alpha's son would wait to make demands of his enemy.

"We have blood from two packs," Snuff confirmed through the comms. "There's more from Blood Creek, but definitely some from ours."

"Couldn't have been more than two or three people," Bug added, "otherwise they would have left bodies rather than blood."

Van caught a glimpse of movement up ahead. Tapping Stitch on the shoulder, he raised two fingers, pointed ahead and then off to the side. The well-trained soldier that he was, Stitch veered off to approach from the east. The pair of them slowly converged on the place where Van had seen the movement.

Five wolves awaited them: the two patrols, and three Blood Creek fighters. All bore various wounds, but no one seemed close to death's door. It only took Van a moment to find the leader. Those with an alpha bloodline were never hard to pick out in a group.

With a nasty-looking gash dripping blood from his temple, the future alpha of Blood Creek stepped forward with a sneering grin on his face.

"I didn't expect that the elite of the military elite would come to fetch their petty patrol officers," he drawled. "I'm honored."

Van bit back the growl in his throat. The scum certainly knew how to smear a hard-earned title. Blood Creek was known for inciting packs into fights with half-truths and insults. Unfortunately for them, Van and his team were essentially deaf to such low-handed tactics.

"You know you're outnumbered now," Van announced. "And you're dangerously close to crossing into lycan territory. Do you want to risk your friends here by pushing your agenda?"

His opponent cocked a bloodied eyebrow. "Are you so sure that I'm outnumbered?"

"He's bluffing, Boss," Goggles announced through the comms. "They only have four more guys, and two of them are now tied up with me and Snuff. I got an eye in the sky, and there's no other heat signatures."

"This punk is getting on my nerves," Snuff growled. "I got flying flares. Let's kick these guys to the curb, get out guys, and head back."

Van took a slow breath and glanced at his guys. They'd each sustained usual defense wounds, but nothing that concerned him. They slowly blinked four times: a wounded patrol signal that they were down but could still fight. Van blinked twice in rapid succession: he understood and would keep them out of the fight if possible.

"You know my team's reputation," he said to the Blood Creek heir. "It doesn't matter how many people you think you have hidden. We will still beat you. The question you need to answer is: how wounded do you want to be when you get home?"

All three Blood Creek wolves snarled. Van would have smiled but he didn't want to escalate the situation. These guys were one comment away from erupting. It was their move to start the fight or retreat. If they were smart, they'd do the latter.

"You underestimate me," the challenger snarled, "just like everyone else!"

Van grit his teeth. So they would have their fight.