Little Red Riding Hood

Chapter 29 A Helping Hand

Winter's Pov

Smiling softly at Troy, I motion for him to sit in the chair by Jeremy's side, which he gratefully does. Looking at the eccentric nurse, I grin at him and tell him,"I thank you for taking the time to help me save my friend's mate. If you had not shown up when you did, I don't know what would have happened." Walking over to him I give him a quick hug, glancing at his name tag,"Hopefully, I see you again Tyler. You really know what you're talking about, don't you? And those bags under your eyes are a tell-tale sign that you are tired. Go take a break, you deserve it." The disbelief that graced his face was adorable, his face burning a bright red as he mumbled a small thank you and darted out of the room. Just as the door closed, I felt two strong arms encase me in a tight hug as unwanted tears fell from their eyes. Turning around and returning the hug, I hear muffled thank you's falling from Troy's lips. We stood there for what felt like hours, both of us reveling in the much-needed comfort after the long day we had. Pulling away from the hug, I begin to wipe away the tears that stain his face. 

Troy huffs and half-heartedly tries to shake my hand off his face but quickly decides that fighting me over this isn't worth it and allows me to help him. After I finish fussing over him, he tries to speak but is interrupted by my mother frantically mind-linking with me. Throwing him an apologetic look, I dash to the room my mother told me to go to. As I push the door open, I see Alex laying in a bed that is next to a forebodingly empty one. Walking past it, I glance at the name tag and almost break down into tears, my father's name is on the paper with an arrival and death time. The tears that try to escape are roughly brushed away as I clench my eyes tightly to fight them away. Once I am positive that I will not cry, I walk to Alex's bed, his sad smile hurting me even more. Within seconds, he is sobbing into my chest and telling me things that he had wished to tell my father, but will never get to because he's gone. My hands clench him in a tight hug, hoping that my mental state can withstand the loss of my own father. Soon his sobs quiet, leaving me to smile sadly at him. Pushing myself to not break in front of him, I decide and to sit in the chair by his bed, trying to muster some things to ask him. Finally, after many tries, I push out a few words in hopes of finding answers, "What happened when I didn't make it to him." 

His knowing smile settles my nerves, as though he knows what to say to keep me from breaking down. "Your father was trying to protect you from being stabbed in the back when an Orc jumped from the rooftops and threw him into the ground. The scoundrel decided to grab its' club and beat him to death, the blunt force trauma ended up killing him due to how much internal damage he received. But, when all hope was lost, you appeared like a beacon of light and killed every Orc that had the gall to stick around. We thought you had given your life to allow the tribe to survive, we mourned for you and your father all of yesterday." The look of confusion gracing my face made him launch into an explanation. "The battle occurred almost two days ago at around noon and lasted until almost six. You ended the battle by using your powers to kill the remaining forces of powerful Orcs and proceeded to sacrifice yourself for the greater good of the tribe. Once the battle had ended, people came from their safe areas to search for the wounded that could be saved. We didn't get to everyone, although we gathered every wounded person we could until the infirmary was filled to its max capacity. We tried to get to you but Chase would growl at us to leave you alone, otherwise, we might accidentally kill you by dropping hundreds of pounds of Orc bodies on top of you. This led us to leave you trapped in the tomb of bodies until you awoke or died. Yesterday, in the late afternoon, your father passed away and told me to pass the duty of Alpha onto you, as it should be, and that I must find a valuable Beta by your ceremony. He also told me, with his dying breath, that he loved you so much and that you made him proud on the battlefield, he believed that you were ready to take the responsibility as Alpha even though you are not of age. The only exception to the Alpha Age Law is if the active Alpha at the time dies in battle and leaves their spouse to fend for themselves with an almost of age heir, the Law is essentially nullified if these conditions are met. Your mother spoke to me last night and told me how she cannot run this tribe at one of her lowest moment. She knew that you would be better than her if you ended up surviving the trauma of what happened. I do agree with her, in part because the one thing that kept her grounded, is now gone. You have the rest of your life to come up from this, your mother, however, doesn't have the strength to continue on. She is alive right now because she wanted to make sure that you were still alive." The sullen smile that graced his face was bittersweet as he patted me on the shoulder.