The Alpha's Nanny

Nothing.

He entered the town and saw a handful of people sitting in a circle, their heads bowed.

Brian looked up. He was covered in dirt and blood. “Alpha?” He got to his feet.

One by one, twenty of his men and women stood. Brian was the first to come to him.

Rocko was shocked as the man threw himself into his arms, holding him. “You came back.”

“What happened?”

“Lucas, he told us we had to attack,” Brian said.

“But it was a trap. They were already waiting for us.” This came from Phillip.

He looked at the men and women.

“Where is Lucas?”

“He’s dead. He took a bullet to the head. We’ve buried him with all of our fallen. They made us all watch. We’re the only ones left.”

“Why didn’t they take you?” Rocko asked. “Where are the others?”

“Tonight, we have one chance to save them.” Brian pulled out a crumpled-up letter, handing it to him.

Rocko took the letter, scanning through it. “They’re going to release the ones they’ve taken in a hunt. You can come and fight for them, and die trying.”

“They’ve got Amber,” Brian said.

“Why did you come back? Did your precious human not like you anymore?” one of the women asked, spitting her vileness into the air.

“Winter sent me back here,” Rocko said. “She knew I needed to protect you guys. I wasn’t going to come back.”

“Would you pick a human over us?” another asked.

“I would pick Winter, yes, but she doesn’t want me to pick her over you. She wants me to stay and protect you, and that is exactly what I’m going to do, or at least try to do.” He looked down at the note and then at the town.

“They set off explosions one by one. The gas, it stopped us from being able to defend it.”

“Everything can be rebuilt, but we need to get our people back. Where was their camp?” Rocko asked. He looked at his men and women and they were afraid.

“I’m not going to expect you to help me, but I need you to tell me where it is.”

“It’s a suicide mission,” Brian said.

“Do you want to hold your loved ones again or do you want to find their corpses rotting in some field?” Rocko asked.

“Why should we trust you?” the woman asked. “You love their kind!”

“I love Winter,” he said, snarling out the words. “And I will protect the girl as if she was my own flesh. They have never raised a hand to any of you. Once all of this is over, if you want me gone as your alpha, so fucking be it. I’m not going to fight you. What I will do is protect you as my final duty to the pack and that’s it. That’s all I’ll do.”

He looked at each of them in turn. He wasn’t interested in causing arguments. All he cared about was protecting the pack once and for all.

“Now, tell me where this camp is and then I’ll figure out a plan to protect everyone.” He didn’t know if he was making false claims but even so, he was going to do everything he could to protect them.

Chapter Eleven

Rocko stared at the campground. The wolves were all banded together, tied to one another, chained to a spike. Around them were other spikes. Any sudden movement would impale them, and it would take a lot longer for them to heal.

“You see?” Brian asked.

“I see.”

He assessed the campground. There were at least fifty men, weapons all around. He noticed one of the tents was where they housed the weapons. Against them, that was their only protection.

Tapping his fingers against his thigh, he watched the humans work.

“What are you thinking, Alpha?” Brian asked.

“We’ve got a small window of opportunity here. We can either fight them right here, or we can attempt to take them out one by one tonight.”

“They won’t fight. The others,” Brian said, “they want to run and hide.”

“Of course they do. They’re afraid and they should be. This is dangerous.” Rocko pulled away and started walking back to where he’d parked his truck.

“Why did you walk away?” Brian asked. “We didn’t vote you out. None of us said a word about you leaving. Why did you?”

“You didn’t want me there.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Brian said. “You’re our alpha. You shouldn’t just walk away.”

“You were all fighting for blood. Me, I was fighting for our survival. Running off, you can see they’re ready for it. You all wanted to attack. I wasn’t going to stand in your way and you all believed my relationship with Winter was what blinded me.”

“For as long as I’ve known you, Alpha, you’ve always hated humans. Why is she any different?”

“I’ve hated those who pose a threat to us. Did you know they locked her up? She wouldn’t fight for them. She was on our side. That’s why I fought for her. She’s everything to me.”