Healing The Alpha Collection (18 page)

"I am sorry, alpha," she said. "We didn't think it was our place to interfere. We watch, but it isn't our place to fight. The Dawnguard fights."

"Not even the Dawnguard fought on this night," Hawk said, feeling the anger begin to rise inside him. "They hid in their homes, just as my pack did. They tucked their tails and waited for someone to save them. Is that what wolves are supposed to do? Do we hide when our territory is threatened and hope that someone stronger will come along to protect us? No! We fight for what is ours and we fight for it to the death."

"Alpha, I…" Raptor said.

Hawk stuck his hand up to shut her mouth. This pack was a joke; all the packs were a joke. They each had a specific purpose, but none of them fulfilled it when push came to shove. Sure, the Skyvale pack could keep an eye out around town for suspicious activity and report it when it came up, but for the most part they were glorified voyeurs. They were no better than a pervert watching his newlywed neighbors from the front lawn. He would not be turning over control of the Skyvale pack today, not today and not ever.

"Is this all we are? Scared little watchers who hide out and refuse to interfere? What good is a wolf with wings if it refuses to swoop in out of the night and strike terror into its enemy's heart? What good is keen vision if it's only used to watch and not protect? I can't bear to look at any of you. You have disappointed me too much."

"But, alpha…" Raptor said.

"I have one more task for all you," he said, looking at them sternly. "When you hear what I am going to do, you can choose to accept my task or not. I really don't care. Aster has requested that we spread the word about a meeting at the gymnasium tonight. Wolves only, no humans allowed."

"We can do that, alpha," Raptor said with a renewed enthusiasm in her voice that almost made him change his mind.

"There is an angry mob outside City Hall. Blend in with them, spread the word and make sure they know what's happening."

"What else is required of us, alpha?" she asked.

"Nothing," he said. "This is the last thing I will ever require of you. I'm leaving Bucklin tonight…forever."

He let the words sink in for a moment as he watched the color drain from his betas' faces. They clearly hadn't been expecting him to say this and each of them looked like he had stabbed them right in the stomach.

"You can't leave us," a tall, skinny beta named Avery said. "We're your pack."

"Not anymore," Hawk said. "I'm through with pack life. I am sorry if this hurts any of you, but I will not participate in this farce of a town any longer. I'm done with Bucklin and I'm done watching. Tonight I will leave you forever, and if anyone follows me, they will not like what happens to them."

"But…" Avery and Raptor said at the same time.

"You have a task. Do it now!"

All of his betas snapped to attention and began to move, preparing to spread the word to the rest of the pack that wasn't a part of the mob.

As Raptor reached the end of his sidewalk she turned and looked back at him with a single tear rolling down one cheek. "I'll miss you, alpha. Please take care of yourself."

"I always have and I always will. Be good, Raptor."

She smiled sadly one more time and then took off, disappearing into the neighborhood. She was very good, probably the most worthy successor for his position as alpha, but Bucklin didn't need a watcher anymore. Bucklin needed a damn therapist to heal it. Hawk wasn't that person and he never would be. There was someone who needed him above all else—Ciara. She was always at the forefront of his mind and she needed his help in repairing her life more than Bucklin would ever need him.

As he walked into his house he looked around at the destroyed mess that used to be his entryway. It looked like there had been a battle here, although no bodies littered the entryway.

"I'm glad I don't have to clean up this mess," Hawk said as he sighed and looked upstairs. He was going to pack light and grab just a few things before going on his way, but as he stepped over the broken glass that had once been a part of his life he shuddered and took a deep breath.

Without another word he went and grabbed the broom, then casually swept up the broken glass and bits of furniture that had once been his furniture and windows. After that he carried the broken furniture to the curb and stacked it neatly for the trash collectors to pick up. Then he entered the garage and found some old boards he'd kept from a prior project. He used them to board up the front window and the broken back door. After that he ran some water in the mop bucket and mopped up the dirty boot prints that remained from his kidnapping the night before.

When all of that was done, his house was back to normal and ready for anyone else who wanted it. All he had to do now was pack and he could be on his way.

Instead, Hawk found himself sitting on the stairs and staring out the front door at the afternoon sun. He didn't know how long he stared out in a daze, but by the time he finally snapped to, the sun had begun to dip in the sky as it prepared for late afternoon.

"All I have to do is pack," he muttered.

Chapter 23

Leena sat in the press box at the top of the high school gymnasium. She was pretty sure she didn't want to be down on the court where all the citizens of Bucklin could see her. Some of them surely had seen her body running with Satan's Angels the night before. She feared the retribution some of them might come up with. Alone, these wolves were cowards, but together they were an angry mob prone to irrational outbursts and attacks. Not even Aster could save her from their brunt if they moved on her like an angry tidal wave.

Luckily nobody had seen her hiding in the press box yet. The citizens of Bucklin had all milled in and continued their discontent as they filled the stands and spilled out onto the court in front of the small stage Aster had set up. Aster, Rowan and Thorn sat on the stage with Beorn standing just behind it with Rain.

Leena smiled when she saw Rain standing there with her arms wrapped around Beorn's thick, hairy waist. She had known Beorn before she had been taken and had always liked the grumpy bear. He deserved happiness and it looked like he had found it. Every time she looked at Rain she couldn't help but smile. It was still unbelievable to her that of all the people in the world, her brother and Aster had been able to raise an eight-year-old girl to adulthood. She was irrational and impulsive, as most young women are, but she also had a keen eye, a sharp mind and a strong heart. She had definitely picked up on the best qualities of Rowan and Aster, even if she had inherited their temper too.

Conspicuous by his absence was Hawk. The lanky alpha was nowhere to be found on the stage. Aster and Rowan didn't appear too broken up over it; Aster was standing at a podium glaring at the angry crowd. Unfortunately, they wouldn't calm down and let him speak. They sounded more like an angry hornet's nest than a collection of wolves.

What has this town come to?
Leena thought.
It's just a pissed-off mob with nowhere to channel their anger.

Leena could feel something bad in the pit of her stomach. There was nothing Aster could say to calm the town down. They were pissed that violence had come to their doorstep.

We're wolves,
she thought.
Violence is a part of our lives. Have they forgotten so much about the old ways?

Leena had never lived through the old days, but she had been told plenty by her father about her grandfather's generation. It had been a brutal time: kill or be killed. The strongest survived and the alpha mated with everyone in the pack. She was happy that some of those days were behind them, but at the same time she missed the ability to just shift and be free.

"Can I have your attention?" Aster asked into the microphone, drawing her back to the scene unfolding on the gym floor. "If you would all just calm down…"

Rowan was trying his best to keep angry townspeople from getting too close to the stage, but for the most part they weren't backing away. It was a mob mentality and they wanted blood rather than soothing words.

"Everyone step down and shut the fuck up!" Aster screamed. "I am your alpha and I am telling you all to be quiet!"

That caught the attention of a lot of the crowd, but there was still a section in a rabble-rousing mood who wouldn't listen to any reason.

Finally Aster lost his cool and just began to talk over the crowd to try to get control of them.

"If you don't want to listen, that's fine, but I'm going to talk anyway! Yes, there was an incident in our little town over the weekend. Yes, we were attacked. That's all true. We were attacked again by Satan's Angels. They came suddenly and captured our alphas, rendering us all useless. I was able to fight many of them off, but even I was captured."

Some people in the crowd had begun to listen.

"However, I was able to defeat the demon Abaddon in mortal combat and drive the invaders from our city. Yes, there was a pack who betrayed us and joined up with them…"

"We want their heads!" one person screamed and he was suddenly joined by a cavalcade of agreement.

"Everyone hold on!" Aster said, putting his hands up. "I'm not sure that pack did anything wrong."

This brought silence to the crowd as every eye turned towards Aster and every ear opened to listen. He had to be very careful with what he said next; the room was a powder keg.

"We've lost our way," Aster said. "It's true. We were once werewolves, the fiercest and baddest shifters on the planet. Nobody fucked with a pack of wolves: not bears, not cats, nobody. Many would choose suicide rather than face a pissed-off alpha wolf and his betas. But what the hell happened? I'm seriously asking. Because last night all of your territories were threatened. And what did you do? You hid in your homes like scared puppy dogs. You refused to stand up and defend your territory. Hell, the Bloodmoon pack has been without an alpha for over two weeks and nobody has stepped up to take his place. The packs are a joke right now. Nobody follows their alpha except for a select few. If you all want to be humans, that's fine. You can be humans, but I'm not. I'm not a goddamn human and I won't ever be human. I'm a wolf and I'm damn proud of it."

The crowd was beginning to stir. Some appeared to be ashamed of themselves, others were nodding their heads in silent agreement with Aster's proclamation, and still others were angrily pointing and getting ready to shout disagreement.

Aster shocked everyone by moving the podium out of the way and peeling his clothes off. Each piece of his suit fell to the ground as he revealed every inch of his chiseled, muscled body. His heavy manhood fell between his legs, on display for everyone, men, women and children alike, to see. Even though the situation was tense and things could go awry at any moment, Leena couldn't peel her eyes away. That was her mate up there and he looked damn good. She wanted to feel her tongue run over every inch of that muscled body. Each hard-edged line was another place for her to explore, all the way down to the thick rod swinging between his legs.

She was snapped back to attention by the scene unfolding on the stage. Rowan and Thorn had joined Aster in peeling their clothes off and revealing their naked bodies to the crowd. The crowd was dumbfounded as Beorn and Rain stepped up on the stage and did the same, removing every last inch of clothing, right down to jewelry and hair ties.

"This is what we are," Aster said. "We are wolves. We aren't meant to wear human clothes unless we're interacting with humans. We aren't meant to live in cities like humans unless we're interacting with humans. Many of you have human mates, and that's okay. If the human chooses to live amongst the wolves, they will be welcomed. But we will no longer live like the humans. I am leaving Bucklin forever and returning to our ancestral home. I will not live like a human anymore. Who's with me?"

Aster and his crew stood on the stage looking at the crowd, which was now completely dumbfounded. Slowly wolves began to stand and walk to the stage, taking their clothes off as they walked onto the stage. Soon there were at least a dozen naked wolves standing on the stage with Aster. Many more began to pour forward, removing their clothes and joining the powerful alpha in a show of solidarity.

Leena could feel a tear coming to her eyes as she watched the only people who mattered in her life bending the will of the angry mob and forcing them to make a tough decision about their own lives. Through the sting of tears Leena stood up, pulled her clothes off and exited the press box. The people around her fell into a hushed silence as the naked beauty made her way down the bleachers, heading for the stage.

Aster looked over and caught her eye, smiling as he took in all of her beauty. This was it: she was making her final show of solidarity with her mate. There were whispers all around as several members of the crowd realized who she was. The whispers weren't angry; many of them didn't even know that she had been with Satan's Angels.

"That's Leena. She's Luke's daughter, the one who was kidnapped by Abaddon."

"They got her back. I'll be damned."

The whispers continued as she pushed her way through the crowd and walked onto the stage, put her arm around her mate and smiled at the crowd. More wolves joined them. So many appeared that they couldn't even fit on the stage anymore. The overflow spilled out onto the floor around them. In the end about thirty percent of the town had joined them on and around the stage.

"Very well," Aster said into the microphone. "We'll all meet at the five packs meeting place at this time tomorrow. That's when we'll move on from our human lives and return to our roots."

"What about the rest of us?" someone in the crowd yelled.

"You're human," Aster said. "You figure it out. We're wolves; we have better things to do."

With those words he dropped the microphone on the stage and shifted into his powerful wolf form, leading the rest of his army in doing so. The human wolves who remained all stood dumbfounded as a procession of hundreds of wolves exited the gymnasium.