Chapter 52: Henry’s Regret.
Harold.
I come awake confused. I don’t immediately know where I am or why there is so much noise in my head. There’s a lot of pressure in my mind.
‘Wake up, Harold. Our pup needs us.’
‘Conrad? You’re awake?’
Yes, but not very strong, although that lady doctor is making me stronger quickly, just like she said she would. You need to get up. Henry needs us.’
‘Why? What’s happening?’
The pack is being attacked by Alphas Simon and Quinton. Both Alphas are here in the hospital and our son is protecting Warren’s mate!
Yara? Why?’ I ask, trying to make my brain and my body work. I push myself up to a sitting position and wait until the room stops spinning.
‘It was Alpha Warren’s way to keep him out of the battle, but I’m sure he didn’t know that two Alphas would come for his Luna.’
I hear howling outside, the painful cry on a wolf losing their mate.
‘What is that?’ I ask my wolf as I carefully put my feet onto the floor.
I’m not sure. Those aren’t our pack members,’ he says. I carefully take a step, ripping the hospital gown off of me as I move toward the door.
“Come with me Yara, or I’ll kill the pup.” Anger and fear, unlike anything I’ve felt in a long time, flow through me, burning off whatever has me sedated. No one is killing my pup today.
‘Dad?’
‘I’m here son. Where are you?’
‘Waiting room. There are two Alphas here.’
‘T heard. What are you doing?’
‘Alpha Warren left me in charge of protecting his Luna. She’s here. They both want her dad. I’m not sure I can hold them both off.’
I’m coming,’ I say, quietly opening the door to my hospital room just as I hear several more howls of pain go up nearby.
As I step out, I see Alpha Quinton shift and race from the hospital. I’ve only taken a few steps when I hear the howl of the hunt. They aren’t my warriors, so they must be Warren’s.
I carefully make my way toward Simon, who has his back to me. He’s so focused on Yara, that he hasn’t even realized that I’m coming up behind him. He’s walking toward one of my warriors who was being treated by Yara, Savannah, and Rebecca. I see the two women huddled in a corner.
They’ve pulled two of my injured warriors with them, but one is standing on one leg, his second leg injured and unable to hold his weight.
‘I’m coming, Garrett. I won’t let Alpha Simon kill you,’ I tell my warrior.
He’s put himself in front of the other injured warriors and the nurses.
I probably could have killed Simon if Henry hadn’t given me away. The moment I step into his line of sight, Henry’s eyes flicker to me and Simon spins quickly, his claws slashing down my arm.
“NO!” Henry yells.
Conrad snarls angrily as our pup rushes toward us and Simon turns, lifting his arm to slash at him. I rake my claws down Simon’s back, just as we hear the howls of wolves all around us. Simon screams before shifting and racing out of the hospital.
I reach out and pull my son to me just as the hospital fills with snarling, snapping wolves. Warren POV.
The moment Yara’s panicked voice screamed in my head, I knew she was in trouble. Arric quickly kills the wolf in front of us, as I open the mind link to Bradley.
‘Alpha, both Alphas are here.’
‘Yara?’ I ask, turning to rush back to her.
‘Behind me.’
Henry?’
‘In front of me,’ he growls. I know he’d pull the pup behind him too if he could, but Henry is an Alpha and Bradley’s job is to protect Yara.
I’m on my way,’ I say, opening the mind link to all my warriors.
‘To the pack hospital! Your Luna is under attack!’
I hear wolves begin howling in pain and I know that Charlie has reached Quinton’s pack. It’s only a matter
of time before Quinton realizes what is happening and races home. I want him and Simon dead, but Yara is my biggest concern.
I slice through another warrior, realizing that all the warriors left around us are Simon’s. I guess Quinton and Simon didn’t come to any sort of agreement. That works in my favor. Divide and conquer.
I see a large wolf racing away from the hospital and based on the size, I’m guessing it’s Quinton. Since
I’m still connected to Bradley, I know that Simon is still in the hospital and I’m not willing to risk Yara to get
to Quinton. I need to get Yara safe, and I need to get Charlie on the phone and tell him to get out of the
pack. Quinton is heading home and I need my Beta and our warriors out of there.
I howl the attack as I rush into the hospital. I hear Simon scream a moment before he shifts and races out the back. I don’t follow him, I turn, seeing Yara tucked securely behind Bradley and I shift and rush to her, pulling her into my arms.
“Are you okay? Are you hurt?” I ask her, looking around quickly as my warriors come rushing in, snarling and ready for a fight.
“Find Simon. Kill him!” I yell and they take off running.
I see Harold on the floor, holding on to Henry. He’s got a terrible wound on his arm. I can see the bone from here.
“I’m okay, Warren. Bradley and Henry protected me,” Yara says. Her heart is beating as fast as mine. “I need to check Harold. You, back on a gurney,” she says to a warrior who is standing in front of two gurneys, Savannah, and Rebecca.
“Get Charlie on the phone,” I say to Bradley as I lead Yara to where Harold is crouched.
My eyes are everywhere, waiting for someone, anyone to come for my mate again.
“Thank you, Henry. Thank you for protecting my mate,” I say to him as he stands.
“They attacked our injured warriors outside. That’s how they got in,” he tells me.
“Let’s get some of your warriors to get the injured inside so we can get them bandaged up,” I say as Bradley hands me the phone..
“Charlie, Quinton’s on his way back. Get out of there.”
“We’re already on our way home, Alpha. We have his pup and his Luna,” he tells me.
“Perfect. Double the patrols when you get home. He’ll come for them,” I say before hanging up and handing the phone back to Bradley.
I look at Harold. “Yara, how is he?”
“HE can answer for himself,” Harold grumbles, making me smile. “How are my warriors?” he asks.
I turn back to Henry. “Did any of them die? I don’t have a link, so I wasn’t sure.”
“No. Some bad injuries, but no one died,” he says.
“Good. Are they still fighting with Simon’s warriors?” I ask. I watch as both Henry’s and Harold’s eyes go unfocused.
Harold looks at his son, letting him answer.
“They’ve killed most of Simon’s warriors. Some escaped, but most are dead,” he says.
“Savannah, I need you to stitch this. There aren’t any broken bones, but the gashes are deep. You’re lucky you didn’t lose the arm, Alpha Harold,” Yara says to him.
“It was my fault,” Henry says.
“No, it was mine,” Harold says, but I focus on Henry and I can feel his regret. He’s not going to believe his father who is obviously injured because of something he did or didn’t do.
“How so?” I ask Henry.
“I didn’t stay focused on Alpha Simon. When I saw dad coming up behind him, my eyes moved to him. It was just a moment, but…”
“But it was enough that Simon knew someone was behind him,” I say.
He nods. I crouch down in front of him. Harold has done a great job of raising his son. I already like Henry a lot and I look forward to the day when he and I can create an alliance together.
“How old are you Henry?” I ask him.
“Thirteen, Alpha.”
“Thirteen. That’s pretty young to be protecting a Luna, a warrior, standing up to two Alphas and somehow trying to make sure that your eyes don’t give you away. I think you did very well. Your father isn’t going to lose his arm. I didn’t lose my Luna. And you didn’t lose any warriors. Today is a win. In times of war, you take every win you can get,” I say, even as my warriors let me know that Simon escaped them. ‘Come back. Let’s make sure the borders are secure, and we need to help clean up the dead,’ I tell them.
“Thanks, Alpha,” Henry says.
I’m about to respond when I hear Yara mumbling behind me.
“My friggin ovaries are working overtime to produce eggs with you acting like the damn father of the year.’ I feel hot desire and excitement run through me as I sit up straight and look at my mate over my shoulder. “What was that?” I ask