Hudson cut out of school, heading back to the pack house, his thoughts in turmoil. Slamming to a stop outside of the pack, he headed inside, straight to his father’s office.
Reaching the familiar door, he raised his hand, hesitating for a second before knocking.
‘Come in’ came his father’s voice from the other side. Pushing open the door, he stepped inside, fisting his palms by his sides to stop himself from fidgeting.
‘Son’ Alpha Carlton greeted, placing his pen down on the table, on top of some paperwork he had been signing. ‘What brings you here? School isn’t over yet.’
Hudson moved toward the desk, taking a seat opposite his father as he tried to work out what to say. ‘I . . uh, I heard something today’ he started earnestly. ‘I think the pack might be attacked.’
Carlton stiffened at his words, ‘where did you hear that?’ he asked sternly, ‘we are at peace with all packs in the area, most are our allies.
The young Alpha nodded, ‘yes, I know, it may be nothing, but I thought I should at least warn you so you could increase guards at the boundary?’
Carlton nodded, frowning deeply, ‘did this person you overheard say when? Did you recognise them? The pack that they were from? As you know, even the threat of attack from an Ally would lead to a war between us.’
Hudson tried to keep his face neutral, ‘I didn’t see who it was’ he replied, ‘didn’t recognise the voice, they came into the bathroom while I was in there, left before I got out of the stall.’
The Alpha sighed, rubbing his forehead, ‘this could just be a kid spouting rubbish to garner some respect’ he started.
Hudson nodded, ‘I did think that too dad, but do we really want to treat a threat to the pack's security, even if it came from a student, like it’s nothing? Would it hurt us to add some more warriors to the border on Saturday night?’
Carlton eyed him, ‘they mentioned Saturday? The night of that party you kids are going to Clover pack?’ The Alpha laughed at his son’s shocked face, ‘Please son, don’t think that I or Alpha Robert are unaware of the get together his son has planned whilst he’s away with his Luna. There have been extra patrols stationed around the Alpha’s house since he left.’
The young Alpha swallowed his surprise, ‘how did you get to hear about it?’ he asked.
The Alpha smiled, ‘common courtesy son, as soon as Robert caught wind of this party, he let all of the Alphas in the alliance know. He is well aware that most, if not all of our children of age will attend and that we would want the opportunity to place our own guards on our wayward offspring.’
Hudson’s eyes narrowed, ‘you planned to send guards to follow me?’ he demanded, forgetting momentarily why he was here.
Carlton shook his head with an amused smile, ‘no son, I know you can hold your own and that Garrett is more than man enough to watch your ass, but Alpha Jared in particular, he would not want his daughter sneaking off to a party full of unmated wolves without protection.’
Hudson snorted, ‘Is that for her protection or for the unmated males?’ he asked with a snigger. Alpha Jared of the red storm pack, had an eighteen year old daughter, Opal. She was a force to be reckoned with and few would challenge her willingly. Highly trained, she showed no mercy, putting most Alpha males on their asses before they got close to her.
Hudson had been slightly disappointed when she wasn’t his mate. Only slightly, as he doubted she’d accept a role of Luna, the girl was all Alpha and wanted her place as head of the pack.
Growing stern again, Carlton returned to the conversation that had brought his son into his office, ‘so Saturday?’ he confirmed.
Hudson nodded slowly, ‘I think so, the guy was unsure whether it would be Saturday night or early Sunday morning so upping patrols on the shift change, Saturday, would be best.’
The Alpha nodded as his eyes glazed, mind linking the lead warrior with the order. His eyes clearing, he gave his son a reassuring smile, ‘you did the right thing son’ he said. ‘You heard something and you acted in the best interest of the pack immediately, you’ll make a good Alpha some day.’
Hudson swallowed thickly, he wasn’t sure he’d make a good Alpha at all, he’d already watched his pack die twice and not be able to change it, maybe this time would be different, he could only hope.
Standing up, he bade his father goodbye and left the office, heading downstairs and out into the grounds deciding his wolf needed to stretch and relax as he’d been anxious since the other Alpha had threatened them.
Moving to the tree line, he threw up his mind block to the pack, so no-one but his father could disturb him. Stripping out of his clothes, he placed them in a pile under a tree before shifting into his huge black wolf. Harvey shook out his fur, lifting his head to sniff the air before jumping forward, and taking off through the foliage.
The wolf increased his speed, their surroundings turning into a blur as he whipped through the forest not seeming to have a destination in mind. He ran for well over an hour before reaching a small river in the top corner of their territory that cut through the ground separating a small sliver of land from the rest.
Dropping down beside it, Harvey took a long drink as he panted heavily. Taking his fill, he settled onto his stomach, head on his paws as he studied the area around him.
In front of him, the water rippled in the slight breeze that ruffled his fur, the sounds of the leaves rustling and insects crawling through the undergrowth the only sounds reaching him.
Closing his eyes, Harvey sighed deeply, the sounds of the forest lulling him to sleep.
Startling awake, the wolf blinked at the darkened sky that he could just make out through the canopy of trees above him.
‘How long were we asleep?’ he asked Hudson, who stretched out in his mind, yawning.
‘No idea, what woke you?’ he replied groggily.
Harvey frowned, ‘not sure’ he growled, ‘something feels weird’ he said uncertainly.
‘Let’s head back to the pack’ Hudson offered, ‘just to put your mind at rest, though you know if it was something terrible, the warriors would have notified us.’
The wolf nodded as he stood up, stretching his limbs before heading back the way he had come, cutting through their vast territory toward the pack house.
He smelt it long before he heard the growls of wolves, the scent of burning wood. Bursting through the trees, Harvey balked at the sight in front of him, their home aflame as numerous wolves fought in front of it.
Bright orange flames licked up the outside of the building, black smoke billowing from the downstairs windows. The heat from the inferno bathed the surrounding area, making it hard to breath as the wind blew the acrid smoke over the fighters.
‘No! It’s not Sunday!’ Hudson yelled in his wolf’s mind as they watched their pack members being ripped apart by the same pack as before, Quinn’s pack.
Snapping out of his daze, Harvey jumped into the fray, ripping through wolves as he fought his way to the front where he could hear the terrified screams of Omegas and low ranking she wolves coming from inside the burning building.
Realising his block was still up, Hudson pulled it down whilst his wolf fought, his mind filling with cries for help from the pack warriors, they’d been calling out to him and couldn’t get through.
Pushing down the guilt, Hudson urged his wolf on, to protect his pack, they couldn’t die again.
‘Alpha!’ came the voice of the lead warrior as Harvey dragged a brown wolf to the ground that had been clawing the back of one of Shadow Rock pack’s wolves, ripping his neck out with ease.
‘What?’ he snapped back, already looking for his next opponent.
‘Tilly’ that was all he needed to hear before the teenager’s gaze swung to the burning building ahead.
‘Where is she?’ he demanded, fear gripping him.
‘She’s in there Alpha, the Luna . . she went back in, neither have come out’ the warrior replied, his voice strained.
Shaking off a wolf that had lunged at him whilst he was distracted, Harvey jumped over a pair of dueling wolves, digging into the dirt and racing for the pack house.
‘Alpha! You need to stay here!’ came the panicked cry of the lead warrior, but Hudson ignored him, his mother and sister were inside the building, and he had to get to them.
Racing toward the front door, he slammed through the broken double entrance, skidding on his paws on the polished wooden floor. He could hear screams coming from the safe room that was hidden underneath the kitchen, you couldn’t open the door from inside, and everyone who had made it there were trapped.
Rushing toward the kitchen, Hudson shifted back into his human form, coughing from the smoke as his eyes watered and the hairs on his body singed from the heat.
Dragging the door to the pantry open, he reached up and released the hidden lever that swung an entire row of shelves aside to reveal the solid metal door.
Moving to the scanner beside the door, he pressed his finger to the pad, releasing the lock and allowing him to pull the door open.
Terrified wolves gazed at him as he stepped aside and waved them out, ‘cover your mouths, go out the back door, head to the woods and hide’ he yelled at them.
Obeying his order, the Omegas and she wolves rushed to the kitchen door, throwing it open and bolting for the tree line without looking back. One of the male Omega’s stopped just shy of the door, turning back to Hudson before stripping his shirt off and throwing it to the Alpha.
Grabbing it, Hudson nodded his thanks, tying it around his face, he shifted back into Harvey, the wolf more equipped to deal with the heat and fire than he was.
Heading back out into the entrance, he raced up the stairs, howling loudly, calling out to his sister as he raced for the Alpha floor.
Panic was building in his chest with each set of stairs he ran up, avoiding falling debris from the floors above and gritting his teeth through the pain as the fire bit into his fur, burning his flesh.
‘Tilly!’ Hudson yelled through the mind link, ‘Mum?’
Nothing but silence greeted him as he reached the Alpha floor and started to search the rooms for them. Entering Tilly’s room his gaze swept around the area, taking in her pile of cuddly animals on her bed that she refused to sleep without. The wardrobe propped open with the mounds of clothes that she’d been told to put away which meant shove in the cupboard in seven year old speak.
‘Tilly?’ he mind linked as Harvey howled, nothing.
Checking the bathroom, they moved on to the next room, a large guest room for high ranking visitors, again coming up empty. Next was Hudson’s room, the place exactly how he had left it though now it was thick with smoke and ash.
As he moved on to his father’s office, a pain ripped through him, howls echoing up from the grounds. He knew instantly what it meant as his connection to his father broke, the Alpha was dead.
Forcing himself forward on shaky legs, Harvey checked the office, the library, and three more spare rooms before he reached the Alpha suite. Pushing open the door, he was struggling against the smoke inhalation and the pain of the loss of his Alpha, his wolf form barely able to move as Harvey fell forward onto the carpet.
Forcing a shift, Hudson crawled into the room on his hands and knees, moving around the room until he spotted a leg sticking out from behind the bed.
Moving toward it, he choked back a sob when he came face to face with his mother’s lifeless body, her arms wrapped around his sister who was clinging to her.
‘T . .Tilly?’ he croaked out, reaching for her tentatively.
The tiny she wolf’s shoulder twitched, a minute movement but enough to fill him with relief, she was alive. Grabbing her, he pulled her from their mother, wrapping his arms around her as she gulped, her face covered in dirt and tears. ‘She . . she said daddy would come’ she whimpered, ‘she promised, then it hurt and mummy stopped moving.’
Hudson nodded, holding his sister tightly, he knew what had happened, already weakened by the smoke and fighting, his mother had been unable to survive her mate’s death.
‘We need to get out of here, OK Tilly bear?’ he said softly, brushing her dirty hair from her face.
Tilly nodded, ‘OK’ she agreed, clinging to him as tightly as she could.
Glancing back at the door, the Alpha could already see that the way was blocked even before a loud crash told him that the stairs had collapsed, trapping them on the top floor of the pack house.
Looking around the room, his gaze fell on the window looking out over the territory. Without thinking, he moved toward it, pushing the window wide as he tried to breathe.
Sitting on the window sill, he leaned out, his legs still inside as he gripped Tilly tightly, his gaze finding hers. ‘Listen to me Tilly’ he ordered, ‘I want you to move your arms and grip my shoulders OK? Don’t let go, that’s an Alpha order, you are not allowed to let go of me until we are on the ground.’
The little girl’s eyes were wide with fear as she nodded. Hudson smiled at her, leaning further back, wrapping his arms around her protectively as he cradled her head into his chest.
‘I love you Tilly bear’ he whispered before he overbalanced and fell toward the ground, praying that his own body would protect his sister from the impact.
The last thing he felt in his life, was the impact of his body hitting an unyielding surface, his skull crushing from being slammed into the ground with force. It was only moments, before he was gone, no time to acknowledge the pain, not even knowing if his sister had survived, before he was dead.