THE ALPHA’S ADDICTION

When Derek and Curtis got to the pack, everywhere was deserted. Darting their eyes around as they walked across some houses, they couldn’t see a single soul.

“What do you think happened?” Curtis asked, slightly scared for the lives of his pack members, his sister and his mother too.

“I don’t know.” Derek replied, bewildered too. When he had left in search of Curtis, he had been sure that they were on the winning side of the fight. So what happened after he had left? Where was everyone? Why was everywhere deserted this way?

Getting to the centre of the pack, they saw the heap of burnt bodies of some people.

“Mind link your sister now!” Derek said sharply, while adjusting the girl which laid limp in his hands.

Curtis obliged, without wasting time, mindlinking Maya immediately.

“Maya…” He called, his heart in his mouth, as he still darted his eyes around the pack, very alert.

“Curtis..” She called back, after a while, relief in her voice. Curtis sighed in relief too, as he heard his sister’s voice. For a second, when she had hesitated to pick up his call, he had thought something had happened to her.

“Where are you? How are you doing? Did you meet Derek? How is he? Is he there with you?” She asked off, causing Curtis to smile, and nod at Derek who has been staring at him, hoping for a sigh that his sister was alive.

Derek breathed out in relief, having understood Curtis’ sign, happy that his cousin was alive.

“Curtis.. answer me.” She said exasperatedly through the link.

“We are both fine.” Curtis replied. “We are at the centre of the pack. Where’s everyone?” He asked, voicing out the question that was foremost on the mind of Derek and him.

“We are at the great hall. The injured are in the pack’s hospital. We have twelve dead people.” She replied, and Curtis soughed. They had lost twelve people.

“Any ideas on which pack orchestrated this assault?” He asked angrily, walking already towards the great hall, with Derek following him, step by step.

“Yes. Come and meet me first. We need to talk. And about those burnt bodies, they are not ours, but of them. We killed them all.” She stated vehemently, a small satisfaction in her voice.

“That’s better. I’m coming with Derek. But we will have to stop at the clinic first to drop a wounded girl.” He said.

” Girl? What girl?” She queried.

“I don’t know. She said her name is Penny. She must be from the Faugers Pack.” He answered, taking a diversion off the straight course to the great hall, to another path, a shorter route to the clinic.

*****

The clinic, a small blue bungalow with two whitewashed doors, was overflowing with injured pack members, both from the Faugers Pack and the Wind Winders Pack.

Derek, having already checked on his pack members through the mind link, was satisfied that none of them had been too injured enough to land in the clinic.

He walked steadily with the girl in his arms, behind Curtis who shoved a path for them to walk through the crowd of people in the clinic.

One of the attendants rushed up to them, having observed that the both were of the Alpha lineage, since the both reeked of the Alpha’s aura.

“What happened to her?” The female attendant asked; a question which Derek found silly.

Of course the fight had happened. What else? He thought.

“We found her in the forest. She must have been trying to escape from the onslaught, although not before taking a blow to her leg.” He replied rather, before handing her over to one of the male attendants who had come to stand beside the woman, have taking cognizance of the frail girl that might not be able to stand.

“Okay, thank you for bringing her along.” The woman replied, and Derek nodded before walking out with Curtis who had standing there the whole time, not really interested in their conversation, but in the array of the wounded people in the clinic, the array of his wounded pack members. He needed to see his father. He knew that the latter would know something about it. After all, he had been the one to invite the members of the Faugers Pack to the party for no apparent reason.

***

A meeting was going on in the great hall. Derek and Curtis could hear the shouts, and whispers, the agreements and disagreements and resolutions happening all at once.

Well, one thought that he alone could hear, and not the other.

Until a voice within the great hall suggested that they should form a treaty with their attackers.

“Stupid coward.”

“Dumb Headed Idiot.”

They both said simultaneously, before looking at each other, and laughing out afterwards, their sorrow forgotten for a second.

“Didn’t know you had a good hearing, more than the normal werewolf.” Derek said.

“Yeah, me too. Didn’t think that you had it in you too. I think it runs in our lineage.” Curtis replied, a short smile on his face.

“Well, it’s also good that we are thinking alike too.” Derek mentioned, referring to their simultaneous similar outburst when the speaker in the hall had suggested treaty with their attackers.

” Yeah, I think the man is stupid. I know that the Alpha of Faugers’ Pack would soon be here. He wouldn’t like to talk treaty with his attackers.” Curtis stated, and Derek nodded in understanding.

“This is not good.” He said, putting his hands in his front trousers’ pockets.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.

“It would be an incentive to the war that is already brewing. We should be teaming up, not fighting one another. If the Alpha of the Faugers’ Pack comes here and hears of the treaty, he might turn against your pack. Although Treaty isn’t much of a bad option, but we have to know the attacking pack and their reasons for this assault. Only then, would we know the right measure to take.” He opined.

“Yeah. You’re right. Let’s meet Maya first. We can discuss the possibilities and the way forward.” Curtis said, as they stood right outside the great hall, peering into the large room filed with much number of people.