Aura

The Alpha Returns Part 2

Davis tightened his grip on the wheel the further into pack lands we drove. His taught muscles radiated tension. My mother and I exchanged a troubled glance, maybe I should've pushed for my mom to stay behind. Davis seemed less confidant by his lack of foresight than before.

Too soon, the car parked at the base of a mountain. Jagged rocks splintered from the obtrusive structure, seeming more ominous than Mother Nature intended. The deeper into pack lands we wondered, the more a dismal threat seeped into my bones. Sunny sky had clouded over within the last hour of the drive. A quick glance at the clock on the dash assured me we weren't too late, it was only 11:45am. Davis had said the High Alpha would arrive at noon. This gave him fifteen minutes to warn the pack. We exited the vehicle and walked alongside the wolves.

With a silent gesture from Davis, each wolf dispersed into the dimly lit trees. They were his secret soldiers, ready to prove themselves loyal to the pack. My confidence wasn't with them, but with Nash and Davis. Davis led our trio directly to the werewolves. Thia was unfolding blankets outside along with five other men. Their eyes widened in shock and one paled at the sight of Davis. The man closest to Thia stumbled away shouting 'intruders' in their dialect. My mother's head tilted not understanding Nitaditi, their human speak.

Every member gathered within minutes, some more hostile than the curious. One expression ranged in ferocity between each pack member, deep distress.

Davis held his arms out wide, an inviting gesture. His tone was soothing and pacified a few of the pack instantly. Fear melted from their expressions.

My mother tugged on my sleeve and whispered, even though I'm sure everyone could hear us if they wanted to. "What is he saying?"

Oh, that's right she didn't know their language. I whispered back while continuing my search for Nash. "He's telling them a great threat is coming. I'm not sure what some of his words mean though, battle or war maybe?" I listened to Davis plead for the pack to leave. My mouth formed an 'o' as I pieced together his sentences and guessed their meaning. "He's telling them to leave or die." I didn't hear the High Alpha's name within his words though. Was he saying he would kill his old pack if they didn't come with him? It was harsh but I thought about his side. He had just exposed himself and if word got out the consequences could carry to my mother and I.

After his speech, statues stood in the pack's place. No one dared to breathe or speak. I stepped closer to Davis and murmured close to his ear. "You know what you're doing right? Your vision?" I let the question hang between us. His vision, no matter how dim, showed him this moment, right? He had to know the two choices they would make.

"What vision?" He threw the words carelessly over his shoulder for everyone to hear. A lump of fear engorged in my throat. My breaths were shallow as I backed into my mother's waiting arms. He said before his vision showed the red door of his home, but he didn't elaborate on anything else. Were his premonitions so narrow he could only make out one detail? My eyes wildly searched for Nash but instead focused on Seth's rage. Crap.

Seth stalked forward, a red tint traveled from the base of his neck upward. His mouth opened and finger rose accusingly to Davis. "I mourned you. We all did." Seth's arms opened outward to signal the pack. The two men who acted as Seth's bodyguards when I was with them stepped forward. Their faces ticked to the side as if holding back their eminent change.

"And for that I am deeply sorry. But I will not apologize for staying alive for just a little longer."

Every wolf, even my mother, held their nose to the air and sniffed the gentle breeze. "I declare the Daughters Protection Law. Move Rosa, remember the red door."

"You're not our Alpha!" Someone from the back yelled. Davis pushed us toward the pack. The men parted as my mother clung to me.

"I declare the same. Thia, Tuk, Taki, and Nim get Hannah and go to my home."

"No!" Davis boomed using a tone I hadn't heard from him before, authoritative. "My daughter knows where to go." I could feel their eyes judge me in a new light. They honored me when they believed Davis was dead. Now that I had shown up with him and a partially changed human, his mate and my mother, I could only imagine the betrayal they felt. Thia linked arms with me and Tuk and Taki pushed us forward. Nim followed further behind with a scowl.

We stopped at a humble house made of boulders and mud, the crown of the building covered in branches. A small chimney puffed smoke out the side. Tuck and Taki disappeared inside for a moment and returned carrying a beautiful young woman. Her hair had natural highlights ranging from blond to white. This must be Hannah, the woman who had been changed and the only one known to survive. She looked almost my age, but from Davis's story she had to be older than my mother.

The women looked to me for support. I nearly face palmed my stupidity. Davis had said to hide in his house with the red door, he pushed us in the right direction, but he never explained how to get there. Not all homes were clustered together; some could be as far away as two miles. I explained to Thia we needed to hide in the house with the red door. It took longer than it should to get across since both of us spoke in broken languages. Her eyes questioned my sanity as I repeated my request. Thia lead the way further from the pack's eyes.

My mother fingered the gun tucked away; her nerves were showing in her sweaty palms. I jerked my head to the side in a warning. My eyes hopefully conveyed, only in an emergency. We all jumped at the deafening howl. The pack was out of sight, yet we still wondered further away. A substantial home came into view, it blended in with the trees and wrapped around a large trunk growing seemingly in the middle of the house. The faded red door glared back, taunting me. Once I stepped through, how would I find the courage to leave these women behind to warn Nash?

One by one, we followed Thia inside. Before closing the door and cutting off our faint and only light, we searched for the trap door. Unlike the cabins from the southern pack lands, these floors were partially rocked and half wooden. The trap door's seems blended effortlessly into the flooring. We wedged our nails in between and pulled. Some nails broke, but the effort wasn't wasted. As the last of us squatted down under the floorboards, Tuk closed the red door and followed suit. The hidden door closed, sealing us in. Darkness clouded our vision and we held each other for comfort. Taki began to weep in hushed and heartbreaking sobs. My strong mother, always too suborn to admit her weakness, trembled in my arms.

Time was irrelevant, seconds could have been minutes or hours, but we wouldn't have known the difference. I attempted to slide closer to the entry, but the narrow hole was big enough for three bodies not seven.

Thia hushed us as we listened for any sign of an intruder. Only Davis knew where we had gone, the others could only guess. I couldn't hear anything, but with their heightened senses something had deeply troubled them. Taki muffled her cries, with her hands or her mother's shoulder I assumed. It didn't take long for my ears to pick up what had them so terrified. The sound was so muffled under the ground it took my brain a minute to understand what I was hearing.

The fight had started, and it was just outsidethe house.