Prologue: Friday July 15, 2016 Pt. 3

I hold back a yelp as I take my first steps away from the tree. The young man he called Parker quickly gets on my other side, helping me wrap my arm around his shoulders. 

“Ready?” He asks as he wraps his arm across my back to my hip. 

“Yes sir.” I confirm quietly. 

“Can I ask you some questions, Alpha?” 

I attempt to distract myself from the growing pain my injuries are causing me. 

“Sure.” I’m relieved that he’s agreed. 

“Based on the conversations I heard with your beta, you’re the alpha’s son.” 

“Not much of a question but yes, I am Alpha Black’s oldest son. My name is Damian.” 

I take several shallow breaths as the two of them try to match my slowed speed. 

“Why are you afraid that he’s going to put a hurting on you for what you’ve done to me?” 

I get straight to the point as I don’t know how long it will take for Alpha Black to get to us. 

“I don’t know how he knew about your presence but he used the link to listen to what you had to say and he yelled through the link to stop my attack.” 

“Your pack is rumored to be merciless. That trespassers disappear and are never heard from again. I’ve always assumed that meant that you kill them on site.” 

“Honestly sir, so did I. We are trained to be merciless.” 

“You’re dad has never encouraged killing anyone Day, just fight until submission.” Parker adds in when Damian falls silent. 

“Well no matter what is taught, he wasn’t happy when I told him I threw you against the tree. He said that if I attacked you without provocation, without letting you explain why you were here and the attack resulted in broken bones, he will be seeing my bare ass in his office. The number of times that I will not be able to sit for three days will be determined by your injuries.” 

He sighs hard as he stops. I look around me to find that the clearing of the forest is now twice what it was. 

“Would you like to sit down while we wait for my dad? We have boulders placed at random intervals that we often use as chairs. Parker, do we have any water stored underground?” 

“I don’t think we created any in this area.” He shakes his head. 

“We may want to think about creating one if we’re going to be getting trespassers again.” 

We all look up as the voice of the alpha is joined by the steady sound of the mule’s engine. He pulls up and turns perpendicular to the road about ten feet from where we stand. Damian and Parker resume their gentle push to get me walking again, unfortunately it’s not without several yelps coming out of me. It only takes a few agonizing steps to get to the two seater. Damian moves out from under me first giving me the space I need to sit before Parker backs away as well. 

“Did you bring anything with you?” Alpha Black asks. 

“I had a backpack with me. I think it flew off when he tumbled with me in wolf form.” 

He nods before looking at the two men before me. 

“Damian, you are to go back to where you first attacked him and find his backpack.” 

“But dad, it’s after midnight and we have training in the morning.” 

The young alpha whines. 

“You attacked him unprovoked. I know we are rumored to be merciless but that's only towards those who are an obvious threat. All of you have been thoroughly trained not to initiate the aggression but to respond to it. Your training doesn’t start until ten. Shift into your wolf, use his heightened sense of smell and sight to find the pack. You will not return home until it’s found and you are expected at training on time. Your crew may help but they are not mandated to do so. I taught you better than this and this is only the beginning of a hard lesson on how you interact with trespassers. You secure them as a prisoner and report them to me. Understood?” 

“Yes sir.” 

His voice is clear but quiet as he steps away from the mule. Alpha Black waits until he’s certain his son is far enough away before backing up and turning away from the group. I hang on tightly as he runs the mule quickly through the woods several miles before popping out into a large area of cleared land. The beauty of his land escapes me as he increases his speed now that we’re on flat land. It's another minute or two before we pull up to the back side of the mansion. I have to blink several times in order to adjust to the bright lights common in the medical bay of the pack house. 

“Good evening.” 

I’m greeted by the female holding the door open as a second male, shorter than the alpha steps outside. 

“Although I guess it’s not going as planned if you ended up needing emergency care.” 

She finishes as the other male starts helping me out of the mule. 

“There’s a wheelchair just inside the door, Pat. Day threw him into a tree so I don’t want him walking a lot until we know how much damage has been done.” 

“Yes sir.” 

Pat responds as I attempt to get out of the mule. My first attempt is a failure as I end up yelping and screaming in pain before I can get back on my feet after the short ride. 

“Sit for a minute.” He comments with his hand on my shoulder. “Talk to me, tell me what help you need from me.” 

I nod slowly as I gather a plan for standing up. 

“I’m ready to try again. Step back so I’ve got space to get my feet on the ground. I need a hand or arm to grab a hold of.” 

To my surprise he does both without question and with a few hard yelps, I’m back on my feet slowly walking in the back door to Crimson Dawn’s medical wing.