"Your damn fool pride is gonna put you in an early grave," Brandon growled. “And how’s that going to help the pack?” He didn’t wait for an answer before storming away and leaving the curtain half-open in his wake.
Only a few heartbeats later, I could feel the pack bond brushing against my awareness again. I prepared myself for another go-round with Brandon about doing the right thing by the pack, no matter the cost to myself. I breathed a sigh of relief when Charlie strode into my cubicle instead.
He glanced behind him before returning his attention to me. "Brandon seemed to be in kind of a hurry on his way out."
"Yeah, I'm pretty sure I pissed him off." I shrugged, not giving a fuck that Brandon was upset. I was disappointed in my so-called best friend's inability to put the safety of the pack before anything else. Before everything else.
"What happened?" Charlie cocked his head, studying me.
"He asked me to screw the pack in order to protect myself.. He wants me to concede to Maddox." I was so angry I could just about have spit in his face.
"He should know better," Charlie growled. I nodded my agreement and he paced closer to the bed. "Forget him. How are you feeling?"
"Sore and exhausted, but more than that I'm worried about our pack. I hope they discharge me soon. I know the slash was pretty bad and I got a dozen or so stitches, but I've gotta get out of here."
Charlie smiled and sat down on the edge of my bed, tracing his finger gently around the tape holding the IV in my hand. "That's how I know you're ready for what you have to do." He leaned down and brushed a kiss against my forehead, but pulled back quickly. We stared at each other, wide-eyed and uncertain of how to react to what he'd just done.
It was completely unexpected. But not at all unwelcome. Though now was not the time to allow myself to become distracted by the attraction I’d always felt toward Charlie. An attraction I’d been loath to admit to when he’d seemed determined to challenge me at every turn not too long ago. I liked his kiss much better than his previous curtness.
He stood and cleared his throat, picking at an imaginary piece of lint on his t-shirt. "I hope they release you soon, Lucy. You're the only one who can lead this pack."
Before I could respond, he hurried out, closing the curtain behind him.
What he’d said wasn’t true. I had no doubt that Charlie could lead the pack if necessary. But I appreciated his faith in me. Too bad Brandon didn’t share it.
At least I knew Charlie had my back.
Chapter 14
"Well, I guess that slash wasn't as deep as Dr. Evans thought it was when he stitched you up last night," the doctor on call said as he studied my side. "I think you're good to be released, but you'll need to take it easy for a week or two, okay?"
I nodded, knowing it was a lie. I couldn't afford to rest for a week or two with the way things were going for my pack. Luckily, it shouldn’t be necessary with how fast shifters heal. Unfortunately, I couldn’t even afford the couple days it would take for the knife wound to close.
After the doctor walked out to get my discharge paperwork, I called Charlie.
"They're discharging me from the hospital. Can you set up a pack meeting and come get me?"
"Absolutely. I'll be there in just a few." Charlie's voice sent waves of reassurance flowing over me and I sighed with relief as I hung up the phone.
I was anxious to get out of this place and start taking steps to ensure my pack’s safety. I didn’t trust Maddox not to try something else to seize control of the Blackburn pack.
I was more than ready to leave the hospital the moment I caught sight of Charlie.
“Hey. Thanks for coming to pick me up,” I said as I made a beeline toward the exit.
He reversed direction and fell into step beside me. “No problem.”
I winced at the piercing, bright afternoon sunlight when I walked out the hospital doors and Charlie helped me into his truck. I wished I had sunglasses, but I was forced to just squint against the glare instead.
"How are you feeling?" He put the truck in drive and pulled away from the hospital, then turned out onto Hand Avenue.
I pressed my palm against my stitched-up wound and sucked in my breath with a pained hiss. "I'm not worried about me. I'm worried about our pack. Brandon said Maddox is coming back with the full force of his coyote pack, and we need to be prepared for that."
"Or at least as prepared as we can be," Charlie chimed in.
Yeah, I agreed silently. Would it be enough? I’d have to make sure it was.
I shifted my gaze to Charlie, but he was focused on the road, not looking at me. "Where are we meeting everyone?"
"Your house, but we're picking up some food on the way there. I figure everyone could use some nutrition while we prepare, and I'm kind of craving a hot dog with chili and queso from that place just off the square."
My empty stomach growled in agreement. "That actually sounds amazing, except I want one with baked beans on it, too."
Charlie pulled into a parking spot in front of the hot dog place. I started to get out of the truck so I could help him carry everyone's food back out to the car, but he wouldn't allow it. "You wait here. I don't want you straining those stitches."
He hopped out of the truck and I caught myself eyeing his backside as he jogged to the storefront and walked in. I could look at that view all day and never get bored. Although I might not be able to stop myself from doing more than just looking. I shook my head and bit my lip.
You don't have time to be distracted right now, I thought. Though it was hard to banish all thoughts of Charlie and the way he affected me.
When we got to my house, Charlie pulled straight out back to the barn where most of the pack was already waiting and everyone helped to unload the food.
"Best hot dogs in Bay Minette," Dalton said as he lifted two arm-loads of bags out of the back of Charlie's truck.
Charlie came around to help me down. Even though it wasn’t strictly necessary, I didn’t refuse his assistance.
I glanced around the yard and noticed that one wolf was conspicuously absent. "Is there a reason Brandon isn't here?" I mumbled to Charlie under my breath.
"He was still sulking about your so-called attitude at the hospital, so I sent him on patrol. I hope that's okay."
"Fine by me." If anyone had attitude at the hospital, it had been Brandon, and I wasn’t in the mood to deal with it again right now.
The pack gathered in the barn to talk strategy while we ate.
"What are your priorities right now?" Eli asked, his face grave.
To take out the coyote pack, to put them down permanently, if necessary. "I think we all know that Maddox isn't through making trouble here."
Everyone nodded and murmured their agreement.
They were all looking to me for answers. I was their Alpha now, since none of the other wolves had stepped forward to challenge me for the right. And Maddox’s mockery of a challenge had been invalidated the moment he’d pulled a weapon on me during the fight.
My gaze swept over the gathered pack members. "We need to prepare as best we can for what we know is coming." Unfortunately if wouldn’t be easy, since we didn’t know exactly what the coyotes were planning or when they would strike.
That meant we had to consider every angle and try to find a way to combat any attack they might try to launch against us. And that left a lot of possibilities.
Preparing for all eventualities would take quite a bit of time—time we probably didn’t have. I doubted that Maddox would wait long to make his next move. In fact, I expected that it would happen very soon. The coyotes would want to take advantage of the fact that I was hurt, striking while they believed I was in a weakened position, before I had a chance to heal. They would use any underhanded tactics they could, no matter how reprehensible.
I pushed my food away, my appetite suddenly gone. "My first priority right now is to hide all of our children and ensure their safety. I don't think Maddox and his coyotes wo
uld hesitate for even one second to use the children against us, or worse."
The next day, we were ready and waiting for Maddox and his pack to return. All of the children had been safely squirreled away, staying with friends or relatives well outside the Blackburn pack territory.
I stood in my father's kitchen, staring out the back window at the barn, where most of our forces were waiting for the coming fight.
"We're ready," Charlie murmured beside me.
"I think we are. We’re prepared to meet them on their own terms." Which meant that the rules no longer applied.
The coyotes didn’t deserve restraint from us. Not when they’d proved they were incapable of it themselves.
Even the elders agreed that the time for playing fair was past. Maddox and his pack certainly weren't going to. They didn't seem to have any concept of honor.
"I want you to do something for me," Charlie whispered. He twined his fingers with mine, but didn't look at me.
"What's that?" I murmured, rubbing my thumb against his.
"Before you start arguing, please, hear me out.” His eyes met mine and he waited until I nodded. “You're our Alpha and you're injured right now. I'm not asking this because I don't think you're a capable fighter. I'm not asking for the stupid, selfish reasons Brandon was asking this of you. I'm asking you to please lock yourself down in here and stay out of the fight because an injured Alpha is a distraction. All we'll be able to worry about is if you're going to reopen your wound or worse. If we're thinking about that, we won't be able to fight effectively."
I stiffened at his words. I wanted to snatch my hand out of his gentle grasp. I wanted to be angry. I wanted to give him the same lecture I gave Brandon. Unfortunately for me, what Charlie was saying actually made sense.
Still, I didn't want to make that kind of promise. I tapped my thumb against his in a nervous rhythm as I considered what to say. Could I say anything that wouldn't be an outright lie? Probably not.
"You're probably right," I blew out a frustrated sigh. "I certainly don't want you guys to have to worry about me when protecting the pack against the coyotes is the most important thing to focus on here. I don’t want to distract you guys by trying to lead the fight despite being wounded."
"Good," Charlie nodded, giving my hand a gentle squeeze.
But that doesn’t mean I’ll stay out of the fight completely.
I slid a sideways glance at him and my stomach twisted. He’d taken what I said as a promise that I wouldn't join the fight, and I let him think that. Guilt nagged at me and I shifted my gaze to stare out the window again as he brushed a quick kiss against my temple and strode to the door.
"Lock up behind me," was all he said as he stepped outside.
"Stay safe out there." My heart plummeted to my feet and a wave of nausea hit me. The door clicked closed behind Charlie, and I watched him jog out the open gate in the back fence and to the barn. "If you don't, I'm coming after you," I vowed, voicing a promise I actually intended to keep.
I wouldn’t stay inside and watch while Charlie was hurt or killed. While anyone else was hurt or killed either. The coyotes wouldn’t be allowed to harm another wolf in my pack, not if I could help it.
The first of the coyotes started filtering out of the trees behind the barn, already shifted and out for blood.
A flash of pride seared through me as every member of my pack shifted at once and moved to engage the coyotes without hesitation. I warred with myself, watching them through the window as they worked to flank the incoming coyotes. Everywhere, fur and teeth clashed, but I knew my pack had a good chance of winning, even with Maddox's increased numbers.
We were well and truly prepared for them, and even had a guerilla unit lying in wait to ambush them from the rear as they rushed us. I had absolute faith that they could win this battle without me.
I couldn't, however, stay out of the fight forever. I certainly couldn't do it when I saw that Charlie was in trouble. Four coyotes had him surrounded and pinned against the side of the barn. He had nowhere to go, and even he would have difficulty with four to one odds. That I couldn't abide. I couldn't imagine managing the pack without his support and guidance. But more than that, I didn’t want to imagine my life without him in it. Even if he suddenly switched back to giving me a hard time.
I refused to leave him to the coyotes’ mercy. They didn’t get to decide if Charlie lived or died. Because I knew which one they would choose, and I couldn’t accept that.
I moved toward the back door, implied promises and stitches be damned.
Chapter 15
I didn't know how shifting would affect my stitches. I didn't have time to care. All I could think about was getting to Charlie to help him even up the odds. Not for me, but for the pack. I didn't think we could function well without his instincts and guidance. Hell, I knew I couldn't. I needed a strong Beta at my side, and I didn’t want anyone else in that role but Charlie.
I snatched open the back door that I hadn’t bothered to lock, snapped it shut behind me, and shifted before I finished running across the porch. My side burned and felt a little tight. I was obviously straining the stiches, but I ignored it. I could always be stitched back up if I reopened the wound, and a little pain didn't matter. Preserving Charlie for the good of my pack, that's what mattered.
I hit an outlying coyote who'd been cut off from the rest of the pack, determined to take him out as quickly as possible. Hell, it wasn't even personal anymore. It was that he was between Charlie and me. I snapped out with my teeth and latched onto his back leg, easily snapping the bone. He yelped and started limping away the moment I released him. One of my wolves snapped his head up and eyed the retreating coyote as though he intended to go after the injured shifter.
I could sense that the wolf was contemplating going in for the kill. I stared into his eyes and tried my best to communicate through the pack bond.
Stay close. Don't separate from the pack. He won't get far. Stick with handling the uninjured coyotes around us for now. We need to incapacite as many as we can to decrease their numbers. We can handle the injured one later.
The wolf bobbed his head once, and I took that to mean he understood what I was saying. I sprang past him, fighting my way to Charlie, who looked as though he was in serious trouble now. I put down anything and anyone who dared get in my way and hit full-force into one of the four coyotes surrounding Charlie. My open jaws crashed down around its hock in a crushing bite. It yelped and skittered away on three good legs, while the other three coyotes surrounding Charlie turned on me.
I didn't need the pack bond to tell me that Charlie was pissed and feeling more than a little betrayed that I hadn’t stayed in the house. The look in his eyes said that well enough on its own. Still, he didn't hesitate to take advantage of the coyotes turning their backs on him to come at me. He attacked from behind while I kept pushing from the front, trapping the three coyotes between us.
Teamwork, bitches, I thought as we overpowered the group that had been surrounding him. They scattered like flies off a disturbed corpse, leaving Charlie free to rejoin the rest of the wolves nearby.
I refused to leave his side. I would not abandon him. I would not abandon my pack.
We used a sort of unified strategy the coyotes just couldn't seem to wrap their heads around. Evidently, their every-man-for-himself mentality even applied within their own pack. They didn’t fight together. At least not in a coordinated effort, although more than one coyote had gone after the same wolf, like they had with Charlie, since there were more of them than us. But even with the coyotes’ greater numbers, we were inflicting more damage on them than they were on us. Pride flooded every fiber of my being as I watched Maddox and his remaining coyotes retreat from our territory, with tails literally tucked between their legs.
I knew they would probably be back. It was too much to hope that Maddox would decide to give up so easily. Though a large number of his coyotes had been injured, it wouldn’t be long until they we
re healed.
But they were gone for now.
As everyone started shifting back to their human forms, I was startled to see just how livid Charlie was with me. His skin flushed red, his fists clenching at his sides as he stared at me.
I shifted back, slowly and painfully as the reminder of the wound in my side took its toll. The prickly sutures itched like all hell as they popped back out of my skin. I winced at the sensation.
"You lied to me," Charlie growled, visibly shaking with barely leashed rage.
Now probably wasn’t a good time to point out that I hadn’t actually lied. I couldn’t seem to stop myself, however. I opened my mouth to argue with him, but Brandon butted in out of nowhere.
"She obviously came out here just to save you, Charlie! You should be grateful, not acting like a total asshole about it."
Charlie turned to glare at Brandon. "She gave me her word.” His glare shifted back to me. “Then she broke it in a completely reckless, stupid move."
Before I could say a word to defend myself, Charlie spun on his heel and stomped off toward his truck.
Tears stung my eyes as I stared at his retreating back. Honestly, I'd expected him to be a little more grateful because his situation had seemed insanely dire when I made the snap decision to save him. Maybe he didn’t want to admit that he’d actually needed my help. Except Charlie wasn’t usually one of those guys.
I had expected him to be a little bit pissed off at me, but not this level of anger.
I pinched the bridge of my nose as I fought off sudden tears and a churning feeling in my stomach. I jumped when Charlie’s door slammed shut and the whole truck rocked with the force of it. With a small, hopeless shake of my head, I started trudging toward my house as Charlie drove away fast, sending bits of grass and dirt flying out from beneath his tires.
Possessing the Alpha: A Wolf Shifter Romance (Southern Shifters Saga Book 1) Page 9
