Asmund was on his way back to the pack house after his care rounds when he heard a commotion and saw a pretty she wolf sprinting past him with a small child in its mouth. The stench of the she wolf's fear lingered behind her as she ran. Asmund growled as he sprinted towards the violence.
This was getting to be ridiculous. He reached the scene and found four of his elites standing with an unfamiliar wolf that was snarling at another of his warriors. Pinned to the ground was a mass of copper colored fur that was trembling. He saw red. He had gone beyond anger now. He had finally convinced Victoria to go for a run and this was how it ended. Everything was fading fast. He couldn't see or hear his surroundings anymore. Caldrell had taken over.
"Marcus! Stand down!" A deep voice ordered. The light brown wolf at the front of the angry group barely acknowledged that he had heard and was disregarding the order. "Alpha Asmund call off your warriors! Help me!"
"Let Luna Victoria go now." He growled the order and it was obeyed. "Victoria to me."
"Oh thank the gods." Alpha Samuel sighed in relief.
"Kill him." Caldrell ordered quietly. He watched with satisfaction as three of his warriors rushed after the fleeing wolf.
"Alpha Asmund!" Samuel shouted in surprise. Not seeing that his son was running after the she wolf and child . Asmund could see that Kyle was torn between following orders and going after the unfamiliar wolf and child.
"Kyle!" He barked making the decision for him. "There is a she wolf with a child lost somewhere close by. Secure them and bring them to the pack house." Kyle didn't even give an indication. He just took off like a bullet from a gun. "Before you say anything else, Alpha Samuel, Victoria is carrying my child. You would have reacted the same given the situation."
"Can't say I haven't killed someone for that reason." Samuel conceited the point. "But I did it myself." Samuel said as Asmund brought his hand to his head. Unsure of what was happening. He had been feeling ill lately and hadn't been able to reach Caldrell.
"Did what yourself?" He asked weakly.
"Are you okay?" Samuel asked as he caught Asmund's upper arm to steady him.
"No." Drake said as he approached. "We're dealing with some shit right now." He stopped and looked at Asmund. "Caldrell must have been pissed."
"Drake, take Victoria home. Thank you for your help, Alpha Samuel." He glanced at the ground and saw a crimson teddy bear lying in the snow. He picked it up and found that it was soaked in blood.
"What's that?" Samuel asked as he looked at the bear.
"Tallen's blood. I don't think the child was injured at all." Asmund reassured him. "Her mother seemed to be hell bent on getting her out of here."
"Glad to know that you're females understand that safety comes first."
"Never seen her before. I assume she's one of yours." Asmund said as he started for the pack house again.
"Your warriors seem to be confused about who they have to protect. Those four must have been quick to join the fight with my son."
"You're mistaken. They were backing Kyle, not Marcus. And they are four of my elites. They were assigned to guard the Luna on her run." He was growling now. "Tallen never should've touched her! DERIK!!" He shouted as he entered the pack house.
"He's out of the hospital?" Kyle said as he ushered a young woman holding the little girl tightly in her arms. She was wearing an oversized T-shirt and nothing else
"Yes. DERIK!!!"
"He took Victoria to your room." His mother whimpered softly as answer.
"Fredrick!!"
"There is no need to be yelling alpha." Fredrick answered quietly.
"My office! Now!" Asmund barked angrily at him. He knew it wasn't a coincidence that Tallen had been right where Victoria had come out of the woods. He had been sent to lye in wait for her. Perhaps she had been herded there by others. But who would they have gotten for that?
'Have to see her!' Caldrell snarled viscously. Asmund went past his office towards his room. He would meet Fredrick in his office once he saw that Victoria was safe and being cared for. He threw open the door and heard Victoria squeak in fear.
She was lying on the bed with her neck bandaged while Derik held a stethoscope to her belly. "The baby's just fine, Victoria." He reassured her after a minute. "The wounds aren't deep enough to warrant a trip to the hospital. They won't be fatal but keep an eye on them, Asmund."
"Huh." Was his only response to Derik. The man had never been one to stand on ceremony. He didn't call Asmund by title because it rendered him beholden to the pack. Something that the gamma should never be.
"Yeah yeah whatever." It had been their thing for a long time. Derik would say something to him and he would grunt or scoff. Then Derik would roll his eyes while giving what others would call a disrespectful response. Victoria looked confused and frightened as she looked from one to the other.
"It's fine, Victoria. It's an inside joke." Asmund said with a gentle smile. "Between cousins."
"Yeah. We're family. My dad is his dad's older brother." Derik smirked. "He was in the middle of the transference of power ceremony when he saw Mildred and the Gamma bond snapped into place. At the same time uncle Erik caught her scent and the rest is history."
"You're okay here Victoria. I have to go." He said tiredly. Caldrell was growling at him as he made his way back to his office. "What the fuck happened!" He demanded as he entered and slammed the door shut.