Alpha (4 page)

Fred thought about mentioning he’d only come back to escape evil
skinheads, but James’s mouth felt so nice.

“Eww, get a room,” Kyle said.

James never moved. “This is a room.”

“Well, I’m hungry and you’re blocking the food. Angel here is
hungry too, aren’t you?” Kyle said.

Kyle had changed his clothes and looked less panicked. Angel
stood beside him with his hands in his pant pockets, subtly positioning himself
in front of Kyle.

Interesting.

“I could eat,” Angel said.

James frowned but moved away, letting Fred free. Kyle got
leftover barbeque out of the fridge and heated it up in the microwave. While
Fred and Angel sat, Kyle took some carrots and sliced them into delicate curls
before putting them on a plate.

“This isn’t a hotel. We don’t eat fancy carrot curls,” James
said.

Kyle whistled as he continued to make sandwiches. He put a plate
in front of Angel and Fred. He raised his eyebrow at James until he, too, sat
down. Only then did Kyle give him a plate and fix one for himself.

Fred’s face was frozen as he tried to contain his smile.
Big
bad wolf is afraid of the little twink.

Kyle didn’t seem to mind that the wolves ate as though they
hadn’t had a meal in months.

“So, mates? That’s like soulmates, right?” Kyle asked.

“From what I remember, a wolf mates for life,” Fred said. There
were a few mated couples in the pack and he’d always envied the connection they
had.

James ate and watched the two as they spoke.

“He can’t cheat on you?”

Fred shrugged. “I don’t know much about it other than it’s
supposed to be like marriage.”

James wiped his mouth. “It’s different from marriage. Once I
mate you properly, I can’t be physical with anyone else. My wolf wouldn’t let
me.”

“Oh, so it’s only the wolf then?” Fred said.

James reached across the table to take Fred’s hand. “You know
it’s not only the wolf who wants you.”

Kyle sighed. “Y’all are sickening. Really.”

“The pack isn’t going to like this. They already hate me,” Fred
said.

James shook his head. “There are only a few like Thomas who hate
beyond sense. I can protect you.”

“I’m a man just like you. I can take care of myself,” Fred said.

Kyle coughed. “Redneck skinheads.”

“That was different! There were too many of them!”

“Honey, you got a strong man who wants to love you like forever
and you’re bitching about it? Remember Harold? He ran out on me one afternoon
because he thought someone was robbing the house. Turned out to be a mailman. Who
was very cute, by the way,” Kyle said.

Fred knew that Kyle had invited that mailman in for an “extra
delivery”. He’d dumped him two weeks later. Kyle never did stay with one man
too long. He seemed to be doing his best to act bratty for Angel though. And
Angel tried, but not too hard, to stop watching the smaller man. Fred thought
it was cute.

“I just want to feel safe,” Fred said. “No matter where I go,
conflict comes after.”

James got up and hugged him tightly. “Then we’ll go together.
I’ll leave pack.”

“What the hell?” Angel yelled. “You can’t leave us. There’s no
one strong enough to take your place. Well, except Gavin, but he’s a lunatic.”

James bared his teeth. “None of your business.”

Fred put a hand on James’s arm. “He’s right though. The pack
works because you’re a good man. A strong man.”

“I’m not giving you up,” James said.

“I don’t want to leave.”

“Then don’t,” James said.

Angel poked Kyle in the arm until he left with him. Fred thought
it was nice they wanted to give them privacy, but this was an argument neither
side would win.

“I’ll stay,” Fred said. “But I don’t want to cause chaos. And no
more of these secret meetings with women. Or men. Or badgers.”

James rubbed his chin. “Don’t know any badgers. Could get one,
but they’re mean as hell.”

Fred laughed.

The next
day Fred’s father agreed to let him help in the clinic as long as he didn’t do
any heavy lifting. Fred wanted to be out of the house. He always felt like eyes
were watching him there and it was difficult to sleep.

The
clinic was about a mile from the main house. Fred’s father lived in a small two
bedroom flat behind the clinic so he was always on call. Fred smiled as he
smelled the familiar scent of antiseptic and alcohol when he entered through
the front door. There was no real receptionist. Sometimes Fred would volunteer,
but it looked like he hadn’t been replaced. Patients signed in at the front or
called ahead for emergencies. Fred’s father didn’t have much experience with
surgery, but wolves usually healed so quickly that surgery was unnecessary.

“So the
wolf let the lamb go?” his father asked when he saw Fred.

Fred
flushed. “He wasn’t happy about it, but I told him I was going stir crazy.”

His
father patted his shoulder. “He loves you.”

“I don’t
know about that,” Fred said. “He says we’re mates. That’s not the same as love.
I don’t know how he can mate a human. I’m not a wolf.”

“That
wolf has followed you ever since we first came here. I think he’s always known.
Not sure about the human part, but James doesn’t lie. If he says it’s so, it’s
so,” his father said.

Fred
spent the next two hours helping his father with a trickle of patients. Some of
the younger wolves complained of pain, but Fred didn’t see any wounds. He
grinned when he noticed each child got a lollipop after the exam. The tricky
wolves just wanted candy.

After
another hour, Fred’s father told him to leave.

“You’ve
been here long enough. You need to go and rest,” he said.

“Can’t I
stay in your house?” Fred asked.

His
father sighed. “You’re not going to solve anything staying with me, son.”

His
father’s cell phone rang before Fred could reply. Doc’s face went white as soon
as he picked it up.

“We need
stretchers,” he said. “There’s been an attack.”

“On who?!”
Fred exclaimed. The Moon Creek pack was strong. There had been a few skirmishes
with other packs in the past few years but nothing major. His father’s face
said it was different this time.

Doc
didn’t answer. He got his medical bag and Fred trailed him. Doc had a 4X4 he
used for house calls in the forest. He got in the front and Fred got in the
back. Doc didn’t argue about him coming, which both relieved and worried Fred.

How bad
could it be?

 They
rode towards the property line where Fred had crossed before. Fred saw bodies
on the ground. Too many bodies. They were all in contorted poses and Fred could
smell gasoline or something burning.

Doc
stopped beside one, taking his bag with him.

“Check on
the others. I need vital signs and triage,” he said.

Fred
nodded dumbly. It was Gavin down there. His face was all torn up, but Fred
recognized his crooked nose. What could do that to a wolf?

He saw a
few others in the same shape and tried to make sure they were all breathing.
With wolves, that was most important. Everything else could heal. He carried a
small dart gun along with medical supplies and his father did the same.
Sometimes wolves didn’t recognize those that wanted to help them and had to be
put to sleep. Doc had developed a tranquilizer that worked for a little while
on wolves. Not long, but it was enough contain and treat them.

Fred
looked for James but didn’t find him. None of the wolves could speak much past
grunts. He found Angel after he’d treated two more wolves. Angel was half naked
and had deep claw marks on his chest that oozed blood.

“What
happened?” he asked.

Angel
coughed as Fred brought some water to his mouth and tended to his chest wound.

“Other
pack attacked. Alpha called us to protect. Cubs.”

“Where is
he?” Fred asked. “Where is James?”

Angel
shook his head. “Fought with that big bastard. They ambushed us.”

“Fred!”

Fred
looked up to see Kyle running towards him. Kyle knelt next to Angel, stroking
his hair.

“How’d
you get here so fast?” Fred asked.

“Saw you
moving on your GPS, wanted to make sure you weren’t running again. Turned out a
lot of other people were coming this way so I hopped in the back of a truck.”

“Is he
okay?” Kyle asked.

“I think
he’ll be fine,” Fred said. “Wolves heal fast.”

Kyle
helped Fred as he worked to stabilize Angel, refusing the leave the wolf’s side
despite Fred’s warning that Angel could bite. He left the two after making sure
Angel was stable. He wanted to run until he found James but there were more
patients to look at. He was numb to the smell of blood and the sight of torn
flesh. More than a half dozen wolves were sprawled out, wounded and unable to
move. The wolves who could move helped Fred and his father.

He
finally found James in human form near the body of a large wolf. The wolf’s
throat was an open gash and there was a pool of blood under its body.

“James?”

James
didn’t respond. Fred shook him before taking a long breath and bringing his
shaking fingers to James’s throat. He felt a rush of relief when he found a
pulse.

“You
better live James or I’ll kill you.”

“Such a
romantic,” James muttered.

Fred
stroked James’s chin. “Can you stand?”

James
nodded. Fred had to help him up but he stood. The wolf on the ground thrashed
as if making one more effort to attack. Fred calmly shot it with his
tranquilizer gun, hoping it would die soon.

“Cruel,”
James said.

“I want
him to suffer a while longer. He almost killed you.”

Fred
pushed James forward little by little.

“What is
this about a pack attacking? I thought you weren’t at war with anyone.”

“Wasn’t
war. Bomb,” James said. His breath came out in wheezing gasps as Fred helped
him back to where his father had parked his truck. He found that it was full of
bodies and there was no room for James. Fortunately, there were more cars now.
More people to help. Fred’s father was still busy tending to Gavin, and Fred noticed
that Kyle and Angel were gone.

Fred
demanded access to one of the trucks so he could load James in the back. James
tried to protest, but Fred kept shouting until James closed his eyes and did as
he was told.

James
looked so pale. Fred had held his hand the whole way home. When they arrived, some
of the wolves helped Fred get James into his bed.

“Stain,”
James said. He was oozing blood from his wounds, yet already they looked
better. Fred got out the spare bag his father left at the pack house. He could
do this. He could sew James up. He’d helped his father many times. The thread
was meant to dissolve to compensate for the wolves’ healing.

“Never
mind the stain. You’re going to have to be very still and very quiet or I’ll
sob over you and infect you with human tears.”

James
closed his eyes and smiled. “Drama.”

Fred was
worried that he wasn’t speaking in complete sentences. He knew that meant James
was in a lot more pain than he was admitting.

“Can we
at least try Dad’s pain shot? I know it works sometimes.”

James
shook his head then grimaced.

Fred
cursed under his breath, put on gloves, and then got to work. James never
passed out as the needle went through his flesh, though Fred felt like passing
out a few times. When James was mostly closed up and the bleeding had stopped,
Fred bathed his unresisting body and pulled the covers up above this shoulders.

He
thought James was asleep, but when he tried to leave, James opened his eyes.

“Stay,”
he said quietly.

Fred sat
on the chair near his bed and watched him sleep.