Avoiding Alpha

Chapter Seventeen

“Let me past!” She yelled, pulling on her arms and fighting to be free to go to her mate. “Let me go to him! Let me see!” Not only was she terrified of the sight she would see but the emotional pain of her mate was biting deep within her and she wanted to get to him. “Move!” She yelled but they still did not let her.

                She herself was unprepared for her own reaction but her clothes ripped and when her hair touched the bottom of her back she knew she was changing. She hadn’t changed for a while and the welcome stretch of her bones and muscles was, for a second, a relief. Like stretching after strenuous exercise, changing was like the ‘cool down’ after an aerobics sessions.

                The men let go of her when she changed, they couldn’t risk her cutting them into pieces by mistake. She had no control over her limbs as they distorted and reshaped themselves and her claws were long and sharp, like blades themselves. They watched her warily as her clothes ended up ripped and shredded on the floor and she was eyeing up the gap in the trees.

                Without even thinking she lunged past them, knocking them over as her body brushed by at speed. The scene in front of her though made her glad she had changed. Had she been human she would have puked. There in front of her were bodies. Bodies of a few children but mostly adults, men and women. A few warriors were lying on the floor, some in human form, their bare and toned chest bloodied. Some were in wolf form and that made her own wolf howl at the sight of their fur matted with blood and the massive animal, the epitome of power and loyalty and family, dead.

                She walked around them all, her heart in her throat as she searched the bodies for Tim. When she didn’t spot him amongst the dead the worry faded a tiny bit and she started assessing each and every one of the children. Their chests did not move. Had she been human she would be crying by now. As it was she went over to Ray who as a large black wolf, twice her size, he was frozen in his place. Unmoving. Guilt raked his body, just as it did Tendra but for a different reason. He had left his pack and now they were dead.

“Ray?” Turner entered the clearing. “They are not all here. Breathe deeply, count the dead and think  logically - your pack are not all gone. They are in hiding. Let us go to them. Let us speak to them and ask what happened. Regain your senses Ray, what has happened has happened. Now let us deal with the consequences.”

                Turner has a single tear on his cheeks. His only weakness. His face was hard and stern and deadly, he spoke of logic and reasoning and appropriate action but the sight in front of him got him deep down as well. It upset him to see the dead but he spoke right. They couldn’t stare forever at the dead.

“They need burying.” Joshua spoke up. Crouched on the floor by one of the children he reached out to touch the little lad’s hair. It was a sandy blonde colour and the little boys face was dirty, probably from falling onto the ground.

“We’ll bury them Joshua. But let us first get Tendra to safety and check on the pack. Then we can bring supplies and bodies to take care of them. They will be sent off properly. We’ll howl tonight.”

                Logic won out, but only after another ten minutes of staring at the terrible sight in front of them was over. They could not just simply leave. They checked every single body, making sure they were dead and not just wounded. But all were gone. Never to be brought back. Tendra felt her front paws give out and she crashed to the floor as grief and guilt overpowered her.