Chapter 7

‘What the fuck was that?’ Poppy screamed at me through the mindlink, terror overtaking any playful tones that she usually has.

‘You heard that too?’ I felt a very small fraction of relief that she had heard some semblance of the noises that I had, reassuring me that everything was not all in my head. But then I remembered just what it was that we both had heard, and all relief left me in an instant, leaving me hollow.

The shadows that had chased us for miles through the dense forestry changed, they seemed to retreat with a few muted growls. It left an opportunity for an increased light to return to the corners of the woods that we had been unable to see before.

My stomach was churning, bile was rising to the back of my throat, burning it and rendering me mute. But a sliver of hope had started to return along with the ability to see more of Mother Nature's more scary matters, the more that the shadows retreated.

For some unknown reason, the volume of the thundering and menacing paws lessened as well, all the way down to an absolute nothing. Instead of feeling any form of comfort in the idea that whoever had been chasing us through the woods had stopped, I worried about what could be more menacing than them to have scared them away.

I still did not slow for fear of them having just dropped a further distance back from us and were trying to lull us into a false sense of safety before attempting a last-ditch attempt at finally stopping us. I also worried about the idea of us running straight into a trap of theirs. Instead, I pushed myself even harder, finding the last reserves of adrenaline in my body to fuel my frantic pace. I dread to think what it is that they planned to do to us should they indeed catch up, or how many more there were that had not given chase in the intimidating shadows.

Then the drums returned, but at a different tempo. The intense and irregular beat unsettled me only fleetingly, even though I could ascertain it to be barreling towards us. I hastily considered why I was rapidly relaxing, even though a new potential threat advanced so speedily.

Alpha Brock. It must be the Alpha and his extreme force of might; it explains why me, and Beaux were comforted by the loud and energetic rhythm that sounded like it was starting to surround us.

Both Poppy and I slowed but not fully stopping, worried that we would be stampeded if we continued at our original gait. We only stopped when many, many wolves emerged from all the shrubbery and hiding places that the wildlife provided, forming a circle around us like they were creating a protective barrier by using their furry bodies.

The pure black wolf that had led the small but fierce and menacing pack at the front was an absolute beast. He was staggering in size, towering over Beaux’s form leaving us feeling puny and intimidated, his eyes flickering between his green human ones, to his golden wolf, showing the internal struggle with his fury. As it slowly advanced towards me, its chest heaved from its sprint to find us, but I did not fear it. It was Alpha Brock, in all his furry power and glorious wolf form; Varg. A strong name for a strong wolf.

‘You guys ok? Where are the fuckers?’ I was too scared to speak, even though safety had arrived in such vast and strong numbers. It was possibly the intimidating number of gigantic, testosterone and adrenaline filled furballs in front of us stunning both Poppy and I into a terrified silence. I could tell that he and all the warriors that he had brought with him were amped up, ready and waiting to tear into a few someone’s.

It looked like Alpha Brock had brought nearly every single warrior from the pack with him. The surrounding aura of them all together in one space was crushing. Each wolf was geared up and trying to show their individual might, ready for any enemies that they could potentially face.

I could see how Alpha Brock and our warriors had never lost a fight or battle before. The power that they all exuded was impressive and had this been different circumstances then I would feel sorry for any force they reckoned with.

It felt as if I was going to empty the contents of my stomach should I even attempt to open my mouth. The potent force of our protectors not making it any easier.

As I looked around, I noticed that a small group of the wolves, perhaps eight or nine branching off from the group. Noses to the chilling ground, they disappeared into the darkness where we could no longer see them. My worry for them briefly spiked, until Alpha Brock’s gruff and manly voice spoke to me again, shocking me and distracting my mind from what I had momentarily been watching and my emotional sensitivity to the situation.

‘Olivia! Speak to me!’ The sounded panicked. He nudged me with his muzzle, urging me to speak to relieve his own worry.

‘I’m ok. Thank you for coming, I didn’t know what to do.’ I puffed out in slightly more than a whisper to him, my fear affecting my ability to speak properly. My eyes kept darting around, flitting over all the male wolves; they were getting impatient, dying to get moving again and find the threat that had invaded their home. ‘Where are they going?’ I flicked my head towards where the small group had disappeared to, to indicate who I was curious about.

‘They’re trackers, the best from Moonlight. They’ve gone to see if they can pick up a scent or trail or something. Magic can’t hide every single little detail; they’re bound to find some semblance of a trace.’

I felt a tad bit at ease, now knowing that someone would find proof that I was not just losing my marbles and running like the fucking clappers through the woods for no reason at all.

The was exertion long gone, but all the anxiety that I felt had me twitching like a motherfucker. I did not trust myself to be able to speak again, so I gave the Alpha a small nod of my wolf head to acknowledge that I had heard him.

Poppy must still be terrified. She was staying glued to my side, so close that there was barely an inch between us. She was that close, that every time I moved to flit my eyes over the warriors, my side bumped into her. But I think that the small touches were reassuring to her, because now and then she would briefly lean into me when we did knock together, keeping silent the whole time and observing the others.

‘You two go and get back. I’ll send some warriors with you but go to my office. We need to get a rundown of everything that happened to you two out here. I’m sorry, I know it’s the last thing that you want to do, but we need to do it. We need to figure out what’s going on as quick as possible.’ Alpha Brock urged me through the mindlink, momentarily letting slip some of his emotions as he did. His worry for me felt like that of what a dad would feel for his daughter.

For the first time since he arrived, I looked into the Alpha’s eyes and there I saw how much care and concern that he held for me. My eyes began to fill up, threatening to have me bawling my eyes out in front of the horde of beefed-up wolves and embarrassing the shit out of me. I watched as his eyes softened, taking in my cowering and anxious form.

The Alpha abruptly turned around to face the large group of pacing men and wolves, more than likely to mindlink some or all of them. I observed as a few of them turned to face him as he must have addressed them specifically. They were hanging onto his every word as he held their attention, just as every powerful and well-respected leader would. The few that were watching as their leader took charge and gave orders, lowered their heads in a sign of respect at the same time. It was as if he had finished speaking to them before then moving away from the group just as the trackers had done. Only these few did not disappear into the secretive shadows, but over to Poppy and me.

‘These are some of my top warriors, they’re amazing fighters. They’re going to escort you back to the pack, right up to my office so that you don’t have to worry anymore. But please, stay there until I get back.’ With that, Alpha Brock turned, and he and all the remaining wolves took off to try and find what had chased us in a formidable formation.

‘We should leave now; Alphas orders to get you back safely. I’ll lose my head if I don’t.’ One of the warriors had stepped forward, using a light attempt at humour. I was not feeling it so just glared at the fucking spanner. He became weary and unsure of how else to speak to me, so he just nervously stepped back to the others.

‘Hey Pops, you good there? You’ve gone a bit too quiet for my liking.’ I spun around to look at my still scared bestie. I started to worry for her; she was struggling with all that had happened in such a short span of time.

Turning to face me, she spoke so low through the mindlink that I barely caught what she had said. ‘I’m ok, let’s just go.’

She looked nervously towards where the Alpha and others had gone, which was the path that her and I had barely just come barreling from. I gave her a nudge with my cold and wet nose and rested my head on hers for a moment; a wolfs way to hug I suppose, to reassure her before we had to traipse through more of the betraying woods that we had not all that long ago thought was safe.

After our brief spell of comfort and feelings of safety, we started to head back. Desperate to leave, but too scared to find out if there were more ‘somethings’ lying in wait for us. The warrior wolves moved in sync with each other, continuously forming a circle of protection around us, keeping the shadows at bay whilst we gathered our wits and trotted back home.

Getting the rest of the way back took no more than ten minutes but felt like a lifetime of agonising limbo. Worry stayed with us, and I could tell that the protection detail was on edge too, twitching and responding with aggression to every fraction of sound.

We broke through the treeline in what would look like a powerful formation, protecting people of importance. But in truth, it was just two terrified females after a shitty experience. We carried on at our trot, up until the doors of the Packhouse where we had to transform back to our human selves. As wide as the hallways were, they are just not big enough to let so many large figures pass through, especially with all the wolves moving from here to there and all the extra stuff laying around everywhere in preparation for the ball later.

We all paraded completely starkers through the twists and turns needed to reach the offices on the ground floor. Ignoring all the other doors, we headed straight to the large, dark hand crafted and treated wooden doors of the Alphas office. As per usual, they were unlocked. One of the warriors delicately pushed the handle down and slowly opened one of the doors into the office, we tiptoed through the threshold into the inviting space one after the other.

As far as offices go, this one held your usual bookcases and filing cabinets, but it also had more of a relaxing space with three large black leather sofas, a coffee table and an abundance of cushions. Against one wall, there was a small bar with a random coffee machine sitting right up centre. I could see plenty of near-empty alcohol bottles on the bar thanks to a certain Alpha and the stresses of running a pack.

Whilst me and Poppy stood nervously to the side, one of the warriors went up to yet another door, just to the right as we came in. He opened it and disappeared for a few seconds, returning with blankets, shorts and t-shirts for everyone. I hurriedly dressed in the oversized clothing, grabbed a blanket and dashed to one of the few soft sofas in the room, my clothes from earlier long forgotten in the woods.

Before sitting, I wrapped the blanket around myself, drawing it right up to my chin before seating myself at the very end of the sofa and pulling my knees up to my chest. Poppy mimicked me as she sat and curled up next to my tired form. Resting my head upon my knees, I stared off into nothing, re-running the events of my lunch break though my head repeatedly, keeping myself stuck in a mental torture of panic and fear, with no doubt to everyone else in the room smelling my every emotion.

Just a few minutes after sitting, one of the male wolves that was now dressed in just a pair of low hanging shorts, approached us both with a coffee in each hand. Being trapped in my own little bubble, I had not even noticed him make them. Holding them outstretched towards Poppy and I, he had a soft look on his face, as if trying his hardest not to unsettle us anymore than we already were. I accepted mine with a mumbled thanks, nudging Pops to accept hers too and watched as she slowly but cautiously outstretched her trembling hands to accept it silently.

Now we were crashing from our adrenaline high, the warm coffee was needed and insanely welcome. The caffeine would not do us any favours later, but for now, the warmth was without doubt the best thing for us right now. We were both in shock and it was making us both feel cold and shiver uncontrollably. I do not know about Poppy, but I ached all over, all my muscles felt extremely weak and like I would never be able to move again.

I had been completely oblivious to everything since sitting. I eventually looked up and noticed that some of the men had left, probably to return to whatever they had been doing before or to go and assist the others in their search, leaving only three remaining with us in the office.

After looking around at the well-filled office with its abundance of books, I turned my attention to the parts of my arms and legs that were on show, that even now should have been covered in many wounds that were still healing, but they were not. There was no sign of even a single wound, yet alone the many that should have been there. Instead, dried mud and bits of leaves were the only proof of my fall and power-slide during my dash through the woods. I will have to discuss it later with Alpha Brock when he returns. It is not usual for an omega to heal this fast. I will wait until the time is right for it though, he has more pressing issues to deal with first.

We waited in silence for the Alpha to return, the others unsure of what to say, more than likely thinking we were too unstable and unsure of our reactions should they try anything. Pops was still silent and had not said a single word, she was not even acknowledging anyone else in the room. I was really starting to worry for her. She was usually a really happy and bubbly she-wolf, full of confidence and sass. The she-wolf that lay curled up against me staring off into space was completely different.

Half an hour had dragged by with us waiting in an awkward silence, until the door of the office was thrown open, making Poppy and myself jump, suddenly sitting up and fully alert. It was only Alpha Brock and his Beta, Pete Alloway, father to Louis, our future Beta.

The few that was left from the protection detail lowered their heads in respect to the Alpha and Beta entering the room, before filing out swiftly and closing the door behind them.

“Right, we need to have a chat about everything. We need more information.” Alpha Brock spoke as he strode over to the group of sofas that we had stayed seated on. The serious look on his tired but handsome face said that something was wrong and that this talk was going to lead to something that neither Poppy nor I wanted to hear.