The Guardian Alpha (6 page)

CHAPTER TEN

Jay sagged into his recliner, a beer in one hand and the papers from the library in the other. Exhaustion tickled at his thoughts while anxiety churned his stomach. Tomorrow was the full moon. It was the expected date of the Crystal Ridge attack. Jay swallowed, knowing tomorrow he would see Kristi again – under less than ideal circumstances. He couldn't very well complain. Their “circumstances” were his fault. If he hadn't left, if he hadn't tried to force an alliance, he could still be among the pack, blissful and unaware.

Well, until Gavin chose to attack the town.

Jay screwed his eyes shut, clenching them tight against the sudden glare of his lamps. His head pulsed with a migraine and, hastily, he took a swig of his beer. Groaning, he leaned his head back against his chair. There would have been no way out. Whatever he chose, the pack was bound to attack Goldbridge.

He couldn't justify his selfish desires to stay with Kristi if others would die. He couldn't then and he couldn't now. Jay heaved a heavy sigh, cracking his eyes open. His gaze didn't focus on anything in his trailer, though. Staring into the distance, his mind laced together an image of Kristi: her smile—which he probably wouldn't see again—and her warm, yellow eyes. Of course, he was bound to see her tomorrow, but her features would be twisted with rage, betrayal, and hatred. A hot burn clawed at the back of his eyes.

A sudden knock resounded on his front door, jolting him from his chair. He bound over to the door, his brain foggy from drinking. He imagined Kristi on the other side of the door, demanding to speak to him, to offer a solution at the very last second. That was her style.

As Jay flung the door open, he tried to quash down his sudden embarrassment. One of the Nameless Sentinels stood on the other side of the door, wide-eyed and worried. Clearing the mortification from his throat, Jay grumbled, “Yeah?”

“Marie Humbold was seen leaving with a member of the Crystal Ridge pack, sir.” The messenger wrung his hands together in concern.

“Shit,” Jay cursed and the messenger scuttled back a step, as if Jay would smack him for the news. Jay turned away and sighed. It had to be Thad visiting Marie. He couldn't imagine anyone else poking around the enemy's turf, especially with the battle tomorrow. Suspicions twitched along his synapses. He spun back to the messenger to demand, “Where were they heading?”

“T-to- the East, sir,” stuttered the messenger, shoulders hunched to his ears.

“All right. I'll handle this,” Jay said as he plunked his beer down on the closest table. He gripped the papers tightly in his hand. The messenger scuttled to the side as Jay made his way over the threshold. “No one else follow me, understood?”

“Yes sir,” he nodded erratically, relieved to be relinquished of responsibility. The young man scurried off into the night before Jay finished locking his door.

With the man gone, Jay turned his nose to the wind. He closed his eyes, inhaling deeply. He found their scent to the west, which was as much as Jay expected. Before darting off into the night, though, Jay rounded his trailer. Opening the trim into the crawl space, he drew out a bag. Hefting the backpack to his back, he sniffed the air once more, before ducking into the forest.

CHAPTER ELEVEN

Kristi made her way through the corridors, her wet hair soaking the clothes along her back. She had just managed to make it back to her room when three figures peeled away from some shadows.

“Alpha Kristi, we want to talk to you!” Hazel, her arm fully healed and free of its sling, stepped forward. Her eyes were bright with determination and eyebrows lowered. Lily and Vera stood behind her, similar looks of resolve. All three girls had their arms crossed. Seriousness radiated out from them.

“Girls,” Kristi managed to find a smile, despite the exhaustion and irritation swarming her mind. Her gaze flickered back and forth between the girls, curiosity nipping at her thoughts. “What's on your minds?”

“About the plan for tomorrow,” started Vera. The pup's voice held a sharp edge Kristi had never heard her use before. Kristi listed her head to the side, her curiosity doubling.

Lily finished Vera's statement, “We think it's a bad idea.”

“And why do you think that?” Kristi asked, the smile still plastered on her face. The warmth dimmed a few degrees as she struggled with inner displeasure. Three pups were going to tell her how to run the pack? She knew three kids who were getting too big for their britches. A part of Kristi, though, wanted to hear the girls out. After all, they were the future of Crystal Ridge and they should feel appreciated – even if they wanted to posit their opinions on a matter too complex for them to understand.

“We went into Goldbridge on our own, Alpha Kristi.” Hazel's voice hardened, her gaze hot with challenge. Kristi resisted the urge to thin her lips. Hazel insisted, “It wasn't their fault.”

“You still got hurt due to their incompetence.” Kristi's hands planted on her hips. She squared her stance and her shoulders, preparing for a debate.

“Well, I don't know about that,” admitted Hazel, averting her gaze. Her bright eyes didn't dally from Kristi's face for long. “But they did everything to make me better!”

Vera stepped forward, her arm going around Hazel's shoulders. “We couldn't leave until Hazel was healed.”

“And Jay made sure we were well taken care of!” Lily followed Vera's actions, stepping up next to Hazel and taking her hand. The three drew strength from each other. They knew Kristi wouldn’t hurt them nor exile them. Though, the bitter part of Kristi was very, very tempted to prove them wrong.

“Girls, I don't expect you to understand,” she sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose. Deep-seated disgust roiled inside her. Long-ago taught hate simmered and snapped through her thoughts. Goldbridge deserved no credit. All of their decisions were based in greed and selfishness. “Goldbridge took that land two hundred years ago. It is rightfully ours and we shouldn't have to compromise to get it back.”

“Two hundred years ago is a long time, Alpha Kristi,” Hazel countered. She pursed her lips and crossed her arms.

“Yeah, families have been born, raised, and died there!” Vera's exclamation rang through the corridors. Members glanced their way, all curious eyes and ears. However, one annoyed glare from Kristi sent them running. Vera wasn't as easily deterred, though. “The original jerks are long gone!”

Kristi narrowed her eyes, her smile finally draining off her face. Vexation coiled into her thoughts as indignity heightened. Her words came out clipped and cold, “Are you three saying we shouldn't want our sacred land back?”

“No,” Hazel shook her head roughly. She pinned Kristi with a soft, “But there has to be a way we can compromise, so we can live together without fighting.”

Kristi snorted and rolled her eyes in a very un-alpha fashion. She shook her head as she muttered, “I think you've been hanging around Jay too much.”

“That might be true,” muttered Lily, averting her gaze, “But at least he doesn't want to hurt anyone.”

Kristi jerked at Lily's words. A heated flush clawed across her cheeks as pain throbbed through her heart. The temperature plummeted to subzero temperatures and the three pups shivered under Kristi's stare. Her voice dropped into a low hiss, “He hurt
me
, Lily.”

Silence fell, thick and heavy, among the four of them. No one else ventured down the corridor, as if sensing the negative energy. The girls shifted uneasily, exchanging glances between each other.

“Thank you, girls, for your concerns,” she crisply remarked. She fought against the sneer that coiled beneath her lips. Instead, Kristi forced herself to give the three pups a thin smile. The girls winced at her expression, but she ignored it. “I have to get to bed, though. Big day tomorrow.” She didn't give the kids a second glance. Kristi spun on her heel and marched into her room. The three girls stared after her and she could hear their displeasure sizzle along their thoughts. None of them muttered, though, lest Kristi heard them. They would understand her position…one day. She wasted no time and put the boulder in place against the hide.

Once safely enclosed in her room, though, Kristi gasped. She swallowed down air and pain arced through her thoughts. Tears burned at the back of her eyes and she slid to her knees.
Even the pups sided with Jay.
Something broke inside her solid emotional wall. Her hands dug into her hair as a conflict waged inside her head.

Pain, bitterness, and demands collided against responsibility and consideration. Her brain felt as if it were tearing in two. A thin whine left her lips, stifled by her resolve to keep others from hearing. Her eyes swung around her room, landing on her bed of pelts.

Sleep. That's what she needed. After a good night's rest, she'd feel better. The whole pack was exhausted from their training and hard work. She, especially, needed to get a rest. Tomorrow, the alphas would lead the Crystal Ridge pack into battle.

As Kristi crawled to her bed, exhaustion weighing down her eyelids, a small thought chimed at the back of her head. Tomorrow, her Mate would die.

She swallowed down more tears as the thought stuck to her head. She willed herself to sleep as she curled up on the pelts. Soon, tiredness crept along her body, forcing her muscles to relax and her mind to go blank.

Before she fell asleep, Jay crossed her. It'd be nice if they could meet before the battle tomorrow evening – just one last time.

CHAPTER TWELVE

After an hour of tracking, Jay finally stumbled upon Marie and Thad. They had paused by the river to fill their canteens before delving farther into the forest. As Jay burst from the underbrush, the other two stared at him with wide, shocked eyes.

“Jay,” gasped Marie. Her eyebrows tilted upward in distress. He could see the cogs turning in their heads. They had taken great pains to cover their tracks. Too bad Jay had more experience. In the silence, the river burbled loudly. Somewhere in the distance, bats chattered. Overhead, the mostly-fully moon watched them.

“Marie, Thad.” He nodded to both of them, fighting off his proud grin. It had been a long time since he needed to track anything smarter than an elk. He forced a serious look to pinch across his face. “What are you two doing?”

“We're not going back.” Marie's hands clenched as she squared her stance. She dug her heels into the sand. Her eyes flared with purpose as she growled, “We're not going to watch Goldbridge and Crystal Ridge tear each other apart.”

Jay listed his head to the side, fighting the grin that so badly wanted to spread over his lips. “Why go together?”

Thad's lips thinned and his eyes flickered to Marie. She bit her bottom lip, uncomfortable and awkward under Jay's penetrating gaze. Neither could meet Jay's eye. He already knew the answer, though. “You two,” Jay breathed, shaking his head. A smile curled across his lips, though it wasn't one hundred percent genuine. His face felt tired and achy, as if a smile were a transgression against his whole body. It was almost a relief that fond amusement still existed in his head. Marie and Thad finally met his eyes, out of pure curiosity, and he laughed, “You're not very discreet.”

“Yeah, well,” Thad pinked at his cheeks, “Neither were you and Kristi.”

“What do you two plan to do?”

“Run. Find somewhere we can live.”

“And you can't do that here.”

“No, not with this fight that's brewing.”

Jay nodded his head, understanding the two on every level. Running away, he and Kristi had been tempted by that prospect, though, they both had bigger parts to play. Thad and Marie could easily disappear without too much problem. The weight of the backpack suddenly brought Jay back to the present. “There's something I'd like you both to take with you.”

As Jay knelt down and unzipped the bag, Marie and Thad skirted closer. They peered into the bag as he held it open. Old tomes crammed into the back, nearly splitting the seams.

“What are those?” Thad's eyebrows lowered in uncertainty.

“Archived documents from the Goldbridge Public Library,”

Marie crouched down and jostled a book from the bag. She held it between her hands, her fingers running along the divots of the cover design. Her fingers trailed over the bits of paper Jay used as bookmarks. She glanced questioningly up at Jay and he nodded. With the encouragement, Marie flipped the book open, her eyes scanning the pages. Her brows furrowed as she flipped page after page.

Thad knelt beside her, softly asking, “What is it?”

“This has to do with Goldbridge and Crystal Ridge,” Marie answered, flipping back to the first page. She pointed to the parchment, “This is the original pact and this,” she flipped to later in the book, “is the original boundaries of the town and the pack.”

Thad narrowed his eyes as he regarded the map. “I thought Goldbridge had just stolen the land, though.”

“Goldbridge and Crystal Ridge had an agreement, fifty years before the conflict,” answered Jay, suddenly realizing how dry his throat had become. Both Marie and Thad turned surprised gazes at him. He motioned to the other books still huddled in the bag. “They lived in relative peace for those fifty years until a mayor decided to develop sacred land. Thanks to his politics, the townspeople ran the Crystal Ridge pack from the area.”

Marie's gaze hardened and her lips twisted into a frown. “Why didn't you bring this to Mayor Stone's attention?”

“I tried, but she didn't want to hear it,” Jay grunted, shaking his head. His gaze flickered between Marie and Thad, trying to recall if they had been present for the last incident. “The last meeting ended with Crystal Ridge basically declaring war.”

Thad shook his head, muttering under his breath, “I don't know why Alpha Selene did that.”

“Hazel had been harmed and Kristi was, undoubtedly, chomping at the bit to pain Goldbridge in a bad light,” Jay replied, his tone one of understanding. “Alpha Selene was under a lot of pressure.”

“Still,” grumbled Thad, though Jay could sense softness in his voice.

“It is what it is. Time is running out.” Jay glanced up to the sky, gauging the time by the moon's progression. There was still plenty of time, but the longer he stayed with Marie and Thad, the greater the risk of detection. He turned his gaze back to the other two. “I'd like you both to take these books. Keep them safe.”

Marie's eyes widened, the moon catching her crystalline eyes in her shock. She gasped, lowering her voice even more as she held the book close to her chest. “You stole these from the library?”

“For safety. Whether Goldbridge or Crystal Ridge wins, these books ran the risk of being destroyed,” He lifted the book from Marie's loosened grasp. Turning his gaze to the book, his fingers stroked the cover. Quietly, Jay murmured, “They may, one day, bring peace to both sides of this fight.”

“We're running away, Jay. We will not be returning!” Marie's desperation made her voice crack. Jay glanced up at her, watching the strain play over her face. She didn't want to leave. His gaze flickered to Thad. A similar pinch tugged at his expression. Neither wanted to leave, but neither saw a way to be together with the conflict. Jay's heart ached, understanding their desires.

“Maybe, somewhere down the line, you'll journey through, again.” Jay mused in an unaffected, lighthearted way. He turned his gaze away, letting the words sink into their thoughts. He replaced the book in the bag, shoving it in amongst the others. In the silence, the zipper loudly hissed.

As one, all three stood straight. Jay heaved the bag up, proffering it to the two. Thad and Marie eyed the bag, surreptitiously. Wariness glittered in their eyes. Both were wondering about the potential consequences, if one side or the other should catch them.

Jay didn't want to pressure them, but he shook the bag. The books would be safe with them; he knew it. “I wouldn't ask you two if I thought it could get either of you killed.”

Thad met Jay's eye first. Their gazes locked, the young man's eyebrows furrowed. He sought sincerity and truth in Jay's eyes, much like when Jay had required a horse. Thad nodded once, his jaw set in determination, and raised his hand to the bag's strap. Thad relieved Jay of his burden.

“Thank you, again.” Jay flashed Thad a smile as the young man shouldered the bag. Swinging his gaze to Marie, his eyebrows twitched upward a little, “Take care. Both of you.”

As one, Marie and Thad nodded. Before anything else could be said or done, howls lit through the air. They looked to the sky, honing in on the yowls. They weren't lycan warbles, just resident coyotes calling over the air. But it served as a reminder.

With great hesitation, the three exchanged final nods and smiles. Marie and Thad took off, down the riverbank before sloshing in the water and doubling back. Before they crossed his path again, Jay took off into the night. Together, he knew, Marie and Thad would be fine. Jay smiled to himself in relief. At least one couple could have a happy ending.