Red

"I don't like this, Red."

Henry dropped the report, pages scattering across his desk as he folded his head into his hands. The motion made him look younger than normal. Sometimes it was easy to forget that they were the same age. Only twenty-six but Henry was prone to shouldering the weight of the entire pack on his back and there were days that Red looked at his Alpha and saw an old man. Someone whose eyes were much too heavy and stressed for how old he truly was.

Red collapsed onto the couch. "Me either. But I checked again this morning and the hole has definitely gotten larger. Lehna reached out and said that she's messaged some of the other faerie Courts. She's just waiting on responses now but she has no idea why it would be breaking down unless it was an intentional hit."

"So, what you're saying is that we should be readying for some kind of attack? From who? We haven't made any enemies recently that I'm aware of."

"None on my radar either. I checked in with Monroe earlier. She's going to send out some feelers to other packs. See if any of them have experienced the same. It'd be nice to know if we're dealing with something broad-scale or if it's an isolated incident."

"Good. That's good. How are our warriors looking?"

Red hesitated. The truth was that it had been too long since any of them had seen any sort of action. There had been no inter-pack conflicts in over a decade and the end of the Shadow World War – which saw beings of all kinds pitted against each other for territory and hunting rights – had been centuries ago. They were a strong pack but not the strongest out there. A happy medium, like Goldilocks and the Three Bears. Not too weak, not too strong.

But now Red was worried that the lack of conflict and strength was going to be a severe hindrance. It was the first time in his life he'd felt that kind of fear.

"Green," he said at last. "Most of them are young. Haven't seen any kind of fighting before. The older guys remember what it was like when there was the intense conflict with those rogue bands but we haven't had to deal with them in a few decades, long before our time in charge. Our most experienced warriors are the ones like us who fought at the Creek."

A senseless, bloody battle. The first Red had ever been a part of. It had taken place a nearly decade prior when Red and Henry had been sixteen. Henry's father – Adrian – had still been the Alpha when he'd grabbed the two of them and towed them out to the Alder Creek pack in California. They'd been dealing with a vampire problem and had requested aid. Adrian had consented, bringing along two dozen warriors, his son, and Red.

Though Henry and Red had been brought along only to witness and learn, eventually being charged with guarding those who could not fight, they had found themselves in the thick of the fighting when the Alder Creek's Alpha was slain.

Without thinking, they'd plunged into the fray. Red had trained for years for that moment but he would never forget the tang of blood in his mouth, the snarling fury that boiled the blood in his veins, as he'd fought and guarded Henry against meeting the same fate as the dead Alpha.

In the years that had followed, even after Henry had been named Alpha, the Sanguis Ridge Pack continued to send aid wherever it was asked, but always cautiously. Volunteer fighters only. That courtesy extended to Red as well, in spite of his Lead Warrior status, but he'd never been one to back away from a fight. He'd always gone and stood tall and proud, leading as was his job.

"Some of them have done the little scrimmages that you've sent us to but those have been few and far between. We've been at peace for almost too long. If this comes to something serious then we could be at a disadvantage."

Henry swore, loud and crude, and then turned his eyes back on Red. "Something doesn't feel right. I've had a bad feeling gnawing at me for the past few days and I think it must be connected to this."

"We'll figure it out," Red promised.

"I know we will. I just hope it's not too late when we do."

Red felt the burden on Henry then. The desire, the intrinsic need to keep the pack safe. If he were being completely honest, Red had felt the unrest as well. Something just felt off. He'd been checking over his shoulder near-constantly for the past week, half-expecting to see that the wall had collapsed and they were under attack.

"How's Lucy doing?" Red asked. To change the subject to something better. Lighter.

Not all, but some lightness returned to Henry's eyes. "Good. We went to see Amanda at the clinic yesterday to check on the baby's progress. Everything is perfect. Nice and healthy."

"Glad to hear it. I bet Amanda is just as excited as you two."

"You're telling me. She was gushing the entire time about how happy she is to be an 'auntie' again."

Red smiled. Lucy and Amanda were sisters, two years apart. When Lucy had Mated with Henry and officially taken over as the Luna, Amanda had stepped up to be the Heir Apparent as Lead Healer to the pack beneath the guidance of their father.

"Any idea on the gender yet?" Red asked.

Now, Henry beamed. "It's a boy. Annalise is all excited. She wants to help us paint the nursery."

"You've got the future little Alpha on your hands. That's exciting, man."

Henry just shrugged. "We'll see."

Red cocked his head. "Meaning?"

"Annalise has some teeth on her. She's young still but she's pretty dominant over most of the kids. Even those twice her age. Could be some Alpha in her, too."

Red tried to picture it, the little spitfire running the pack. It wasn't a hard image to conjure up. Annalise, twenty years down the road, leading the pack like her father. A bold move by Henry, for females were rarely chosen, but Henry had always loved to spit on tradition.

Like when he'd appointed Monroe as Beta. It had made plenty of people mad but Henry hadn't even batted an eye. Monroe had more than proved her worth in the years since but there were always those in other packs that weren't as welcoming to her. Those who liked the Old Ways where females were designated to child-rearing rather than leading.

"Well, no matter which of your offspring end up taking your place, I'm sure we ought to be utterly terrified of the havoc they're going to wreck."

Henry laughed. "Why? I bet my father thought the same about us but we haven't done that badly for ourselves."

"Give us time. I'm sure we'll figure out some grand scheme to utterly terrorize the world." Red smiled. "How are your parents doing? They coming home for a visit anytime soon?"

"I was talking to my dad the other day. They're going to come for an extended stay when the baby is born. Help us with having a newborn and a soon-to-be eight-year-old and running the pack all at the same time. Lucy's parents are a great help, obviously, but Dwayne has his hands full at the clinic so that just leaves Beth as the resident available grandparent."

"Isn't Dwayne going to be retiring soon? Amanda's practically running the clinic these days."

Henry nodded. "He and I were just talking about that actually. He and Beth are going to take a vacation next year and that'll be his big retirement present. Go visit my parents in Germany, do some world travelling. He's earned it."

Red groaned. "Don't I know it? That man has patched me up more times than I can count."

"Me too."

A soft knock echoed at the closed door. It opened a crack and Monroe stuck her head in. "Hey," she said.

"Come on in," Henry said. "We're just chatting."

The door opened wider and she stepped inside with her Mate, Toby Vega, at her heels. He was one of Red's warriors – a talented fighter who was responsible for leading one of the flanks and a good man. Red had always liked Toby. He had a calm head, was rational, and excelled at training the younger wolves.

Toby dropped onto the seat next to Red and pushed his hand through his close-cropped dark hair as Monroe perched on the arm of the couch beside him. "I was at the wall. That hole isn't looking good."

"Do you think it's grown again since the other day?" Henry asked, leaning forward.

Red had gone for a perimeter run earlier that morning and had shown a memory to the other warriors in their wolf skin at the time. They'd seen the size of the hole as Red had seen it before he'd gone to speak to Lehna about it and he'd brief them about his theories – warning them to be on their toes.

A pause as Toby considered. "No, I think it's about the same as what you showed us this morning. But it's definitely big enough for someone to squeeze through. I was wondering if we should station a patrol unit there until we figure out how to repair it."

Red and Henry shared a brief look.

"How severe do you think this problem is?" Red asked carefully. "I'd like to hear an outside voice. Do you think we need a patrol unit there?"

"Well, that's not really my call."

"Your opinion then," Henry pressed.

Toby ran a hand over his jaw. "Maybe? I don't think we know enough about the situation to really decide. We're fairly secluded out here and not much news reaches us unless we go into Denver. There aren't many vampires in the city but if that's your running theory, then maybe we need to send a few wolves there to scope it out. See if they've heard anything."

Monroe said, "It may not be the bloodsuckers, though. We all know that Kassius Thorne has been aching to extend his territory. Venenum Silvas is the only pack close enough that could gain anything if we were wiped off the map."

Red leaned forward, elbows bracing on his knees. He thought of what Monroe was saying. There was some merit to the thought. Venenum Silvas was based near Colorado Springs and was the only other pack in the state. If they could take Sanguis Ridge out of the equation, Alpha Thorne's territory would grow substantially.

The only thing that had held them at bay for so long was Henry's father. Henry was still young and fairly untested as an Alpha. There were sure to be some packs that thought they could take advantage of his youth.

But none of them knew Henry as Red did. He knew that no matter what the other packs may try, Sanguis Ridge would be the one who walked away from that fight. Even with their inexperienced fighters, Red had trained them thoroughly. And even if he hadn't, there would be nothing that would stop him and Henry from defending their people and their land.

No one – no one – would take his home away. Not after what he'd endured to find it.

So, if Kassius was planning on launching an assault, it was something that would be useful to know.

"But why would Kassius expend the effort into taking the wall down when he and his wolves could pass right through it?" Henry asked. "The wall only keeps other species out. All wolves can pass through it regardless of allegiance."

"Maybe he's allied with the vampires," Toby suggested. "Inter-pack wars are not looked highly upon by the Wolfswächter. They're too likely to draw the attention of the humans. They'd be sure to send a unit from Germany to take care of the issue. If the Wolfswächter tried to interfere with vampires, the situation would get more complex. The vamps would send people from their Grand Coven and things would get ugly. Kassius might be more willing to let us fight it out with the vampires to see who won before figuring out his next move."

Henry frowned, lines of agitation marking his face.

Red said, "Lehna tried asking around but she's learned nothing else about the wall. They've been dealing with some hunter problems."

"What kind of problems?" Monroe asked, sitting a little straighter.

"Nothing out of the ordinary really. A few overzealous hunter bands are targeting fae. But they seem to be going after the fae that are causing problems so the faeries aren't too concerned but they're also not pleased about the hunters' involvement."

Toby looked interested. "What happened?"

Red shrugged. "A few pixies in L.A. were killed last week and some Fae have gone missing recently. Lehna told me that the pixies were targeting human kids. Apparently, the humans were starting to think that they had a serial killer on their hands so the hunters stepped in. The fae were about to send their own people so they're glad that they didn't have to waste their own fighters but..."

"But no one wants hunters interfering in their affairs," Toby said, whistling through his teeth.

"Exactly."

Henry loosed a breath and his brow furrowed as he thought things through. "Okay," he said at last. "We're going to treat this as a serious issue. Something doesn't feel right. I don't know what it is but...something is coming. Until we get this resolved, I want round-the-clock perimeter patrols. Red, you're going to set that up."

Red nodded to let his Alpha know that he'd heard and understood.

"Monroe, you and Toby are to go to Venenum Silvas. I want you to watch them for a few days. Go into their pack if you need to. Tell Thorne that you're there for an ally meeting or to invite him to some party we're going to throw. I don't care what you have to say but get me some god-damned information about whether or not they're preparing to launch an assault at us."

"Yes, sir," Monroe and Toby said in unison. Monroe added, "We'll leave tonight. Now."

"Good. Let us know as soon as you get intel."

"Of course."

Monroe rose to her feet, Toby following steadily behind her. Red had always thought them a well-matched pair. Though, he supposed, Mates were supposed to be. Toby had never been jealous of the strength Monroe had. He'd never let the fact that she was Beta and he was a warrior beneath her rank to impact their relationship the way others may have.

Red knew many males who would rather die before allowing a female to rank above them. Even if that person was their own Mate. None in his pack but it was relatively common in others.

As the door swung shut behind Monroe and Toby, Henry slumped in his chair and said, "It's times like these where I wish that my father was still in charge. I can't help but feel as if I'm missing something important, Red."

"You're doing exactly what he would have done, Henry. We're going to get this sorted. I swear. We're going to figure out what the hell is happening."

Henry smiled but it didn't quite reach his eyes. Red smiled back but he knew that he was wearing the exact same expression as his Alpha.

***

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