Chapter 8

SASHA

The day has been slow and quiet. I’ve spent most of it reviewing my current patient’s recovery and assessing care plans.

In this peaceful pack, there aren’t many injuries to tend to. Usually, I’m dealing with broken bones from tree falls or minor car accidents.

And by accident, I don’t mean a massive pileup. I’m talking about a small fender bender and someone complaining about a bit of whiplash.

As for werewolves, we don’t often deal with illnesses or diseases. There might be the occasional case of something serious, but it’s pretty rare.

The pack doesn’t have any wars or conflicts brewing, so my role here is pretty straightforward. It’s nice not having to worry about major incidents or life-or-death situations.

Everything is calm and quiet when I receive a mind-link from Livi. “I’m sorry. I love you.”

~That’s strange,~ I think to myself.

~Livi has never linked me while I’ve been at work before.~

~What could she be sorry for?~

Before I have the chance to ask, Callum’s office door slams open. His face is eerily calm, despite the stress I can see lurking in his eyes.

“Nurses and surgeons, please scrub up. We need all hands on deck!” he orders, waving everyone down to get their attention.

“Nurses, get the operating room ready for surgery and prepare to assist the surgeons; I need an anesthetist on hand to prepare for general anesthesia.

“We have a severe head trauma case on the way. Nineteen-year-old female, Amber, assaulted at the college by another student. She took a brutal blow to her head and has lost a lot of blood.”

My stomach drops; this can’t have anything to do with Livi’s strange link…could it?

Nurses and surgeons start to hustle, preparing everything as quickly as they can. Every second counts.

“Doctors, I need you to prepare for a potential blood transfusion. Gather O+ blood bags. We may also need to consider a medically induced coma, depending on the severity of the injury.”

I rush to our blood bank, grabbing a few bags and prepping for a transfusion, trying to help out where I can.

The hospital doors burst open. A young girl is rushed in on a stretcher. Her once beautiful blond hair is now matted with thick, red blood.

Bruises and deep burns mar her slender arms and legs.

~Who could have done this? How did this happen?~

Holding the girl’s hand and running alongside the stretcher is Alpha Max.

He kisses her hand and assures her everything will be okay as she is rushed into the OR. His gaze follows her until the OR doors slam shut.

His face is a mask of worry and something else I can’t identify.

Callum walks over to him and places a hand on his shoulder.

“I’m sorry about Amber. We will give her the best possible care we can,” he promises.

“I don’t doubt it,” Alpha Max responds.

“What happened, Alpha?”

“Alleged hybrid attack,” the alpha answers. His eyes flicker to me momentarily.

The look confirms what I already knew in my gut. Livi.

I gasp, my hands flying to my mouth. I let out a whimper, tears filling my eyes.

~What will they do to her?~

“There is a video circulating online. I must go before this becomes a larger issue. Please keep me informed.” The alpha walks past me, giving me a polite nod as he leaves.

ALPHA MAX

Ever since yesterday’s sparring session, my dreams and thoughts have been filled with…her. Her lying beneath me, squirming, completely at my mercy.

Her large chestnut eyes looking up at me. The way her breath hitched as I took in her sweet scent. Granted, it was impulsive on my part, but it was also irresistible.

The scent that filled my nostrils was too sweet to resist, I was like a moth to a flame.

Her plump lips pouted ever so slightly as I pulled myself away. Goddess, she looked beautiful, almost ethereal.

My thoughts were in turmoil, always circling back to her…to Olive. I don’t know what intrigued me most about this creature.

The way she isolated herself as a lone wolf the moment she joined the pack, the way she fought to hide her abilities, or even the way she was able to take down my head warrior in less than a minute.

Why hide such impressive skills?

She did it swiftly and without mercy on purpose. She wanted me to see her strength, wanted to prove herself. She wanted me to see her as she is…powerful.

I wanted the same thing. I knew Amber was a sore spot for her. I’m not blind and I know Amber. She is a bitch.

She’s horrible to most of the pack, let alone someone like Olive who is so strikingly different.

Not just her tantalizing scent and abilities, but how she could’ve used said abilities a thousand times over and put Amber in her place, yet she chooses not to.

She is powerful, yet gentle, a hidden gem.

She looked at me with fear when I revealed I knew her secret—that she could disobey my orders—but it only added to my curiosity about her genetic makeup.

She chose to hide, to pretend to be a submissive wolf, yet her wolf was stirring in displeasure. As alpha, I could feel it. She wanted out… She is no submissive wolf.

I have been going through her files over and over, looking for the slightest clue to this mystery, but I just kept coming up with more questions.

~How can a beta’s granddaughter hold such power?~

~Why is she hiding?~

~WHAT is she hiding?~

~Why is her scent so different from other she-wolves?~

~What is she?~

~How has this gone unnoticed for so long?~

~Who is her father?~

Unfortunately, someone had gone to great lengths to cover up this information, but I was going to make it my mission to uncover the truth.

I’m amazed that she has spent ~months~ in other packs and not so much as a peep from her. She has been here only ~days~ and already we have discovered that there is more to the girl.

I find myself wondering if they’ll flee to another pack now that they know.

~No, I can’t let that happen. I can’t let her leave. I need to handle this delicately so she doesn’t bolt. I need her to stay. With me.~

There’s something about her sweet scent that stirs me.

Suddenly, I’m overwhelmed with mind-links from dozens of students. They’re filled with panic and fear. I try to decipher them, fearing a pack attack, but I can only make out a few words.

~“Freak… Monster… Amber… Dead.”~

My face turns pale.

~Amber.~

~What happened?~

Fearing the worst, I mind-link the school staff to get Amber to the hospital, letting them know I’ll meet them there.

I bolt out of the pack house, racing to the hospital as another mind-link comes through from my beta, James.

~“Alpha, there’s been an incident at the school. A student attacked Amber…”~ He pauses, seemingly unsure of how to continue.

~“What else!?”~ I press.

~“There’s a video online of the incident. The attacker is a hybrid,”~ he says cautiously.

~Olive. It has to be.~

~“Confiscate all student phones, download all media from today, delete the files on their devices, and then return them.~

~I want to search their phones for videos of the incident. I’ll deal with that mess when I get back, but first I need to be with Amber.”~

~“Of course, my alpha.”~

When I arrive at the hospital, Amber is about to be rushed in. Her hair is a tangled mess of red gore and blood. Burns cover her slender body. Her skin is gray and cold. She looks lifeless.

Taking a closer look at her head, I see the damage. The wound is deep. The area around the wound looks dented, almost caved in.

I listen closely to her chest; a faint flutter of her heartbeat is still there.

~There’s hope.~

As Amber is whisked away, I kiss her hand and watch her disappear into the operating room.

Even though Amber can be a real pain in my ass, and we don’t always see eye to eye, she’s my little sister. I’m supposed to protect her.

Callum comes to assure me that she’ll receive the best care. I can tell from Olive’s mother’s reaction that she’s figured out who the attacker is.

The worry in her eyes tells me she’s concerned about her daughter’s safety, if not from me, then from others.

The truth is, I’m not sure I can help her at this point.

I need to see all the evidence and piece together what happened and why. She doesn’t strike me as someone who would just snap, but then again, I barely know her.

I return to the pack house, heading straight for Beta James’s office.

He’s well built and pale-skinned, which contrasts with his raven black hair and blue eyes. He stands as I enter. He’s tall, a good six foot two, although I’m slightly taller at six foot three.

“What have you found so far?” I ask.

“Not much yet, Alpha. We’re struggling to take down the original video. Each time we take it down, it pops up somewhere else. It’s going viral.”

~Damn! I can’t have this getting out; it could lead to an investigation right on our doorstep.~

“Show me the video,” I growl.

“A warning. It’s pretty shocking,” he cautions.

“Show. Me. The. Video,” I insist.

Beta James taps away at his computer until an image comes to life. Olive is standing, shoulders raised, head tucked in, a metal tray clanging behind her by her feet.

Amber is standing a distance from her, her bitch face on, arms crossed, telling Olive she can’t leave until she says so.

~Ah, it’s starting to make more sense.~

Olive seems to have a faint glow about her, or am I imagining things?

Olive becomes more and more visibly angry. The cafeteria is dark now. Rumbling noises can be heard from above… Is that a storm?

I didn’t hear any storms at the pack house. It’s been sunny all day, barely a cloud in sight.

~Definitely supernatural.~

Amber stalks toward Olive like she’s her prey, glaring at her, hurling insults. Olive remains rooted to the spot, seething.

~SLAP!~ The sound silences all the whispers in the cafeteria.

Devil’s wings burst from Olive and bright green flames explode from her body. Her eyes are glowing ominously. I can hear lightning striking the school.

~Is that Olive’s doing?~

Amber has dropped to her knees, begging for forgiveness as if the Goddess herself has just been revealed to be Olive, but it’s too late.

The flames burst from Olive, batting Amber away as if she’s nothing more than a fly.

I can hear the crack of Amber hitting the wall, although she was flung too fast for the person filming to keep up.

~Oh, Amber, why did you have to push her? Why couldn’t you just leave her alone?~

~Where are you, Olive?~

I mind-link the pack trackers and send them to work finding Olive. Despite my feelings toward her, I need to detain her. I need her home.

My wolf is pacing anxiously, knowing she’s gone. I need to understand what led to this.

***

It’s been seventy-two hours, and there’s still no sign of Olive. My best trackers have been searching for her around the clock. They can track her scent into the forest, but then, POOF, she vanishes.

I’m growing more and more frustrated as the hours and days tick by. The only information I can get from her mom is that she’s in contact, but she doesn’t know where her daughter is.

I believe her completely. She’s a wreck, a shell of a woman. Her eyes are ringed with red from crying nonstop.

Amber has been put into a medically induced coma until she fully recovers. She suffered a severe skull fracture, broken ribs, and a broken arm.

Her burns healed quickly, and thanks to our healing abilities, she won’t have any scars—which I’m sure Amber will be pleased about.

I’ve been watching videos of the incident nonstop, all from different angles and different times. We haven’t been able to contain the video. It’s spreading worldwide at this point.

I can only hope the council doesn’t take notice, or even worse…the Alpha King.

There were videos taken before the incident, showing girls laughing and joking around. In the background, you can see Olive picking up her tray of food.

Amber, the bully I now recognize her to be, douses Olive with her food and drink. But Olive tries to walk away, to avoid the confrontation.

“Alpha, may I speak freely?” Beta James asks for permission.

“Go ahead, James. Say what’s on your mind.”

“From what I can see, Amber was the one stirring the pot. Even though Olive caused a lot of damage, she tried to defuse the situation by walking away,” he says honestly.

I can’t help but smile. “James, this is why you’re my beta. You’re always straight with me, even when you’re worried about how I’ll react. I appreciate that.” I give him a friendly smack on the back.

“Thank you, Alpha. That means a lot.” He grins.

“I’m with you on this. Yes, Amber is my sister, but she kept pushing an unknown wolf until she snapped. And that wolf turned out to be a powerful hybrid.”

I return to my quarters and try to mind-link Olive again. But she’s put up a mental block, preventing me from reaching her.

~“Olive…please, if you can hear me. You’re not in trouble. I saw what happened and it wasn’t your fault. Please…let me know you’re safe. I want to help you…to protect you.”~

But all I get is silence.