The Alpha's War/Soul Mate - Book 2

Part 47

"Sandheeya! Where is your father?" Jena asks after shifting mid-air in her last jump into the base camp.

From the side, someone passes her a simple knee long shirt, and she uses the ties in her midsection to make it a better fit.

"War room, up in the trees."

"Do I have to be a cat to get there or..."

"Follow me. We also have ladders and catwalks between the trees."

"Really? I can't see a thing."

"That's exactly the point."

"I see. Lead the way."

They quickly climb a rope ladder that drops from one of the trees, heading for the central chamber, which also doubles as a war room and a council chamber according to the needs of the pride.

Two large cats, obviously male, since they were in their human form move to block Jena's way. One look from Sandheeya however, and both of them step aside. Whether Alastair's mate also told them something over their pride link, Jena can't really say.

"Alpha Abbigor!"

"Alpha Jena, perhaps you should be with your men. They are getting restless."

"I strongly believe, since we are basically allied now, through your daughter and my Gamma, that I should participate in this meeting. We've also had experience in dealing with the warhogs. Though I will first listen to everything you forest dwellers have to say."

"Alpha! Are you and Alastair all right? We've been suddenly surrounded by the cats and..."

"Calm down. Sit quietly. Alastair will join you shortly. Mentally prepare yourselves for a warhog fight. Your training over the last 5 years may just be put to use today. Alastair, you got that?"

"Yes, Alpha, almost there."

"Cooperate with the cats if they ask you to do something."

"Understood."

"Alpha Jena, thank you. It appears your men have calmed down."

"Let's drop the Alpha for expedience sake. Explaining to them what was happening would have helped. Thank you for trying to protect them."

"That obvious?"

"I would have done the same with a foreign delegation, even if it was just the security detail. Why not move them up into the trees. Much less to worry about then."

"Your idea has merits. Will you..."

"Already told them to cooperate."

"Thank you!"

"I understand you have a plan?"

Abbigor throws a look to her daughter and she holds his gaze for a second before lowering her eyes. The Alpha sighs.

"Guess it couldn't be helped. We do. But it's only meant for a total of 60 warhogs. We have a clearing here, with a pit at the end of it, only it's hard to see until the last moment," Abbigor says pointing to the map on the table, "on this side, there is a large rock, unclimbable, and the other side has only high trees. Any number above 20, because up to 20 we would just pick them up from any trees as soon as they entered, so any number above 20, we lure them this way with a number of warriors. We have a long tree trunk above the pit leading to the other side. 3 of those warhogs could walk on it side by side and we can have 60 of them on it at the same time, far enough away from the edge to be able to pull the tree away with them on it and then just drop it into the pit. But..."

"But there are more than 60. And they will be able to react. And you also know how strong they are. You are afraid the ones left on solid ground will be able to prevent you from pulling the tree."

"Afraid is a strong word. But, yes, that is my concern."

"Have you ever tested this plan?"

"Never had to. The number of warhogs to enter the forest never went past 20."

"Yet you had a plan ready anyway. Commendable. I'm assuming then you've never had to fight them?"

"Why would we? Our blowpipes are good enough for the job."

"So you can kill them?"

"Unfortunately, not. Our usual poison, the setrak, doesn't seem to affect them. But we usually use the sleeping darts to put them down then go in and finish the job while they sleep. We can't, however, put 89 warhogs to sleep simultaneously."

"Why?"

"Each of them needs 3 darts to drop. There is no way we can shoot almost 270 sleeping darts simultaneously hitting 89 warhogs, each of them 3 times and each of them in the appropriate body areas to affect them."

"You also do not have 270 warriors available for the job."

"How did you... never mind, too late for games. This group is... I'm worried."

Silence follows Alpha Abbigor's statement, with all the cats adopting unreadable stances. But Jena can almost taste the fear in the air around them, not from the Alpha, but from his men.

Of course, if their Alpha, the one who is supposed to have all the ideas and solutions is worried, things must be dire indeed, and his pride members know it. My respect to them for not showing it, though. I wonder how I could tell what they are feeling since there is no physical indication.

*A.N.: A bit longer than usual and also since things are about to happen, let's revive the Friday challenge:

435 votes now. and I'm giving you a really low target: 500 votes total for this book and I'm updating again as soon as that happens. 600 and I'll update again. Common, show me you want to read about the fight and how they solve the situation as much as I want to write it!

As always, the update will come on Wednesday as usual if the goals aren't met.