Chapter 5 A Long Night

Alpha Connor

I heard my phone ring and checked the time on my clock at my bedside table. It was past midnight. I rubbed my eyes and switched on my bedside lamp. It must be important if someone needs me as this late hour.

I look at my cellphone and see it was a call coming from one of my pack members who works at 911. Oh, Goddess. This usually means someone's gotten into an accident.

"Tom, what is it this time?" I sit up on my bed hoping it isn't anything bad.

"Alpha Connor, I just got a very disturbing phone call from a woman driving through Salty Moon forest," I hear him say, his voice laced with panic.

"And?"

"She said she hit someone, but when she went out to check she couldn't find a body. She was certain it was a person, but since she couldn't find anyone, she assumed it to be a deer instead."

"So, what's so disturbing about that? Don't you get calls like that everytime? She probably was drunk," I try to reason with him. I just wanted to go back to sleep.

"Alpha, I can assure you she wasn't drunk. She was very apologetic. I instructed her to return to her car where it was safe and I told her I would stay on until she did. Unfortunately, I heard a man's voice and her screaming after. The last words she had said was, "Help me." It was very faint, but I could hear it. I sent dispatch to the area. I called you, Alpha, so you can check."

"Any information on the caller?" I asked, scratching my head in frustration. Damn, why do these things have to happen in the middle of the night?

"The number is registered to an Amy Margaret Williams. She's an ER nurse at Brick County Hospital. I just called the hospital to ask for information about her and Alpha...she's pregnant." I heard the sadness in Tom's voice. A nurse who saved lives was now asking someone to save her life. Life's ironies.

"Don't worry, Tom. I'll get to the bottom of this. I'll send some men out to look for her. I'll also go out and check." I try to comfort Tom. He seemed to feel guilty he couldn't be much help to the lady.

"I sent dispatch out, Alpha. The Sheriff should be in the area soon. Thank you, Alpha." Tom hangs up and I couldn't help feel what he was feeling right now...dread.

I was just about to put my coat on when my phone started ringing. Thinking it was Tom again, I grab it from my bedside table, but was surprised to see it was coming from an unknown number. I answer, wondering who would be calling this time of night.

"Hello, Alpha Connor of The Night Walker Forest Pack?" A man asked. He sounded like someone of authority. What is it this time?

"Yes. Who's calling?"

"Alpha Connor, I am Alpha Lucas Lockwood of the Lotus Pack. I understand your territory overlaps Salty Moon forest. I was wondering if a woman, in her mid-twenties and pregnant has passed through there?" Alpha Lucas Lockwood! Why would the richest Alpha of the states of New York and New Jersey be calling me asking for the lady? There's more to this that I had actually anticipated.

"I'm not sure if she's the same woman, but I just got a phone call from one of my pack members who works as an operator for 911. He said a woman called saying she might have hit someone, but couldn't find a body and said she assumed it might have been a deer. He also said he heard a man's voice and a scream after he had told her to get back in her car." I pause, not sure if I should say more. I didn't know what his business was with the nurse. For all I know, he was the one who put a target on her head. "I have my men already scouting the area. I'm about to leave myself and head on over."

"Can you give me an update on the identity of the woman? She's a good friend. A nurse. She helped my brother when he needed medical attention." His explanation was short and didn't answer all the questions forming in my head. This nurse was important somehow. I better get going and find her before anything happens to her.

"Sure, will do, Alpha Lucas."

"Thank you, Alpha Connor." He hangs up. I enter his number into my contacts so if he calls again, I know it's him.

My Beta was already waiting for me downstairs of the pack house with the pickup parked outside. I nod at him and we both exit the house to find the nurse who seems to be very important.

"Cold night out, Alpha." My Beta says. "So who are we looking for?"

"A pregnant nurse. Did you wake up the Doc?"

"Yeah, she's headed out to the highway so, are all the men. Shouldn't be hard to find. If the sheriff is already there, we'll get to her." My Beta seemed optimistic. Unfortunately, I didn't share the same sentiments. I hope the Moon Goddess was on our side tonight. I didn't want the death of a pregnant nurse on my conscience.

It's a fifteen minute drive to the highway that goes through Salty Moon forest and the highway itself was almost 15 miles long.

I saw the Sheriff car's flashing lights about 6 miles into the highway. Beside it was an ambulance. Some of my men were already there making sure the area was safe. We parked on the side of the road and jumped out. The Sheriff and his deputy had their heads hung low, meaning it wasn't good news.

"Sheriff, how is she?" I shake his hands. He was also a pack member so, I knew he wouldn't beat around the bush.

"Looks like a rogue attack. Bit out a chunk of her throat and she bled out. The Doc and the EMTs are handling her now." He nods his head towards the stretcher the EMTs were lifting into the ambulance.

"She's alive?" It was more of a rhetorical question to convince myself.

"Alpha, she has the scent of wolf on her." The Sheriff's answer stunned me. I thought she was human.

The ambulance backs up to head to the nearest trauma hospital. Its sirens blare and echoes throughout the forest. If anyone was watching out there, they knew she wasn't dead yet.

The Doc comes running towards me wiping her blood stained hands. "Alpha, I'm going to the hospital. The woman she's human, but the child she carries, is wolf." That explains the scent. I remember Lucas Lockwood calling me awhile ago knowing she was pregnant. Could it possibly be his child?

"She went into labor during the attack. I'm going to help the doctors at the hospital save both lives."

"I'm coming too. I don't feel right about this. Some of you men, help the Sheriff make sure the forest is clear of rogues. I need a handful of you to escort me and the Doc to the hospital. Now!"

My Beta and I were about to enter the pickup when we hear a crash up ahead and see a blaze of smoke. Damn, another one?! The Doc stops her car looking ahead knowing there was someone else of need of help.

"Doc, head to the hospital with the men. We'll get there as soon as we're done here." The Doc nods her head and speeds away. The Sheriff was already on his radio asking for dispatch. This was going to be a long night.

My Beta and I have had some medical training when we were enlisted in the army. The pick-up we were in was stashed with medical supplies in case of emergencies. We could keep the victims stable until the ambulance arrives.

There were two cars when we arrived at the scene. One car was in flames after it hit a tree. The other car had its doors open with no one inside.

The Sheriff and his deputy took out their fire extinguishers and put out the fire engulfing the expensive car. The Lockwood name flashed through my head.

After the fire was extinguished, we went to check if there were any survivors. We saw two burnt men in the front of the car, while another was seated in the back.

"Check for any identification on the men so we could notify next of kin." I instruct. I was praying it wasn't Lockwood. This would put a strain on future alliances.

The Sheriff checks and fishes out a wallet from the man in the back. It was burnt and only had a driver's license. No credit cards, no cash.

"It says here...his name is Lucas Brent Lockwood."

I shake my head, put my hands to my waist and kick the snow in anger. There is never a happy ending when you need one.