Savior Alpha

Dear Readers,

Here is the next installment of the McKenna/Winters pack.

Enjoy,

KemMyst

**********************

Nick returned to the compound with Lorna, Grant, and Rose. He was happy to note the bodies had been removed although they could still smell blood in the air.

Darkness was falling. They went inside to the smell of food and Emily sitting at the table, crying.

"Em, sweetie, is she...?"

Emily sniffed, wiping away tears. "No, Dad. At least, I don't think so. They got her there alive. There hasn't been another call."

Lorna put her arms around her love. "OK, that's good, right?"

Emily sniffed again and nodded. "Why still so upset?"

"I've never been scared to be here before. They ruined it. And she still might die."

Rose tugged on Emily's sleeve. "Nick says we'll see mama tomorrow. She can tell you it's OK."

Emily smiled down at Rose and picked her up. "Are you hungry, honey?" Rose nodded vigorously. "OK. Let's eat."

The meal was a little quiet and everyone, at least the adults, glanced at the phone occasionally. The kids were starting to get tired. "Grant, you should go to bed."

"Aw, dad."

"Go on. We're off to the McKenna compound. You'll see your Mom and Evan and have a lot of other pups to play with. The sooner you go to sleep, the sooner you can see them."

"OK." Grant trotted off to bed.

"Rose can sleep with us tonight." Nick nodded.

"Get everything cleaned up and ready. Tomorrow we abandon the compound for a while."

Lorna was startled. "How long?"

"I don't know."

Nick took to his bedroom. Lorna began cleaning up. Rose was falling asleep in Emily's lap. Em's eyes were a little unfocused as she stroked Rose's hair. Lorna's question was quiet. "What did you see, Em?"

*****

Ethan was left alone with Evan and Anne in the Medical Lab. Ethan picked up his son and Evan touched his mother's face. Ethan hugged him.

"I'm proud of you, Evan. You remembered what we talked about and got the help we needed."

Evan twisted in his father's arms and looked at his mother, lying unconscious on the table. "Is mama gonna die?"

Ethan closed his eyes momentarily. "I... She's strong, Evan. She'll fight to stay with us." A pause. "Why don't you go down and get something to eat?"

"OK, Daddy."

"OK. Kiss your mother and head on down." He held Evan so that he could give Anne a little kiss. Ethan then set him down and he scampered off to the smell of food.

Now alone with Anne, he looked her over. Alana had the IV going, her ripped up arm was now elevated and covered in stitches, the long slash on her belly, some butterfly bandages on the gash on her face. He put one hand to her face and one on her belly. "Oh, god, wife. Don't leave me." He kissed her. "I love you."

*****

"When I came back I heard noises and smelled blood. I snuck up on the compound, to see what was going on."

Lorna took her shoulder. "The first thing I saw was two men holding Ethan down."

"I moved up a little further and saw Anne and two dead wolves on the ground. And there was one more facing her." Lorna squeezed her shoulder then picked Rose up.

"Ethan struggled, as the wolf facing Anne was called over to keep him down. Two of them traded places so that a different wolf went to challenge Anne."

They went to their bedroom. "Lor, they were Matlins."

"Anne was tired, after all, she'd already fought and killed two of them. When the new wolf faced Anne, I heard Ethan yell to her. The last thing he said was 'This is my father, reborn.' I tried to think of how to help. When the fight started I ran at the men holding Ethan down and knocked them over. Ethan told me to run. One of them chased me and the other went for him."

"Oh, sweetheart." They sat on the edge of the bed with Rose.

"I ran into Callum, Eddy, and the others and Eddy and William took care of the one who came after me. Eddy told me to stay there, and they went down to the fight."

"I heard Anne howl, and went back. The others were howling too."

Rose was curled up on the bed and Lorna had her arms around Em. "They were all dead."

"How badly are they hurt?"

"Ethan just has some minor wounds. Anne's in bad shape."

"Oh, Em. What's going to happen to us now?"

"It'll be alright, love." Emily stroked her mate's hair, kissed her.

Rose whimpered. "Poor Rosie."

"OK. Sleep now. We've got a couple things to do before we leave in the morning."

Lorna and Emily laid on the bed, one to either side of Rose. Keyed up, thoughts racing, it was difficult to get to sleep.

"Em?"

"Yes, Lorna?" Emily reached for Lorna's hand and squeezed lightly. "You were very brave. You may have saved them."

Nick was having difficulty sleeping without his wife. His mind was also in high gear. He, Beth, and their boy could go back to McKenna without a lot of trouble. But, would Callum accept Emily and Lorna, if it came to that?

*****

Ethan had thought the threats were over. He had been so wrong. There had been no challenges for some time but there were obviously still those who saw a female leader as a threat to their society. He could easily forget she wasn't born wolf, but the others couldn't, and it rankled.

She had been one of them for over twenty-five years, and still she wasn't. There were those who would never accept her as one of them. She wasn't pure blood and, therefore, was inferior. Her strength, her wisdom, no contribution she made to their society would sway them.

They'd never truly be safe.

Should they just give it up as a bad idea and move back in with the McKennas? Would Callum accept them back? What would happen to Emily and Lorna? Would any other pack take them? Allow them to be what they were? They couldn't stay at the compound alone. Someone would get the bright idea of making two young lovelies sex slaves or would simply rape and kill them. And it was Lorna who had given them back their children.

Anne would never stand for any of this he knew. She'd count it as a failure and so would the members of the council. Obviously females weren't suited to lead; this would be their proof.

Emma was sent up with a tray as Ethan held Anne's good hand and continued to muse. Ethan looked at her. This was another of Anne's children, a young woman now, about thirteen. Soon to discover her powers as female.

She set the tray down beside him and looked at her mother. "Beth says you have to eat something." She didn't take her eyes off Anne.

"I'm sorry, Emma."

Emma had long, light brown hair and her father's blue eyes. "You aren't responsible for this."

"Not entirely. But, if I had just let her go, if I had only... ...she would never have had to go through the challenges."

"No. As I understand it, she probably would have died if it weren't for you. I've had my mother another three years."

"My family has done some terrible things, and, unfortunately, your mother has taken some of the worst of it."

Emma smiled as she touched Anne's cheek. "This is my mother's way, and she will have her way, as stubborn as she is. There's not much that will stop her. You know that."

She looked at him and he raised his eyes to her. "After Dad died.... Well. Ethan, you made Mom smile again, made her happy. Remember that."

She left the room, turning briefly in the doorway. "Eat."

He smiled briefly, definitely Anne's daughter with, seemingly, a wisdom beyond her years.

He nibbled a bit at the food that had been left but really wasn't hungry.

He listened to her breathing and heartbeat, looked at the IV bag, noted the bandage on her forearm turning red in spots. She was pale now. Not as bad as when the boys were born but still, pale.

Should he have fought harder to be Alpha? This challenge would never have come. At least, not like this. He would have turned Emily and Lorna away; his inherent bias easily came to the fore with them. She had no such misgivings. They were no threat, had contributed to the pack, and it had been Lorna who had found the children.

Beth and Nick? Beth wished to be close to her friend, not necessarily him.

They all went to her, however, when issues arose early on. He had felt like a fifth wheel. But she consulted with him, asked his opinion, and rarely made major decisions without him. When things needed to be done quickly, though, she decided and dispensed orders accordingly.

He knew she had deferred to Devon but McKenna had been a well established pack. And he had heard of what happened when Ian almost killed him, how she took control. It was innate. Beth had said it. She was an Alpha female. And she had not been happy in her son's pack anymore.

He gusted a big sigh. He had to stop second guessing. The decision had been made. What was done, was done.

He touched her face again. "Anne. Love. Few could have done as well as you did today." A kiss. "I know you're tired, but you need to fight for just a little bit longer for us. For Evan. For Rose. For me." He touched her belly. "For Diana. For our next little girl."

"But Anne, listen to me. If you need to let her go..." he paused and closed his eyes "...I understand."

"I'm here with you. I'm not leaving. Rose will be here soon."

He sat beside her, hand on hers. Watching. Waiting. Hoping.

Beth came back upstairs and walked into the room. She looked at the barely touched tray of food, then to Ethan and Anne.

"Can we move her into a bedroom or something?"

"That's really not a good idea. We need to keep a close eye on her and be able to respond quickly if something happens. Best to keep her here."

"OK." He looked at her. "You don't have to stay up with me, with us. Why don't you go to sleep?"

"I won't be able to sleep without Nick and Grant anyway."

They sat, quietly, immersed in their own thoughts, watching her. After a time, Beth broke the silence. "You know she went after you." Ethan looked at her, a little puzzled. "When you left here, it took her a few weeks to get over the fact that you'd walked away, but she went looking for you in town."

He smiled sadly at the memory. "I know. Rick, the bartender, told me when I went back to town that next year."

"She was so happy, so hopeful when Callum let her use the truck. I hoped she would find you. But she came back and said you were gone. She didn't cry, didn't get upset. I think she just accepted then that you'd gone out of her life for good."

"Callum didn't tell her, did he?" Beth shook her head. "I told him I'd probably move in there. I'd denied my wolf too long."

"That rascal. He probably thought you'd meet up by accident at some point."

"You believed we'd end up together, didn't you?"

"I'd known her for twenty years. She's still told us little of what her life was like before she was brought into the pack but I knew her well enough. And then I began to learn about you. In some ways you remind me of Devon but there are definite differences between you. I thought you were a good match for each other and, it turns out, I was right. You've been good for her, Ethan."

He sighed, his eyes getting a little wet. "I don't think I could stand to live the rest of my life without her. Beth, I'm afraid."

Beth patted his shoulder, a sad little smile on her own face, wordlessly acknowledging their fears.

After a few more moments, he quietly spoke again. "I should have fought harder to be Alpha, to take this burden from her. It's because of her that all these challenges have happened."

"And if you had, what would be the result? The pack would not be what it is today. There probably wouldn't even be a pack and that, in itself, you know would have been dangerous for both of you."

"Bad feelings remain as a result of your abandonment of the Matlin pack." He winced at her words, but it was true. "And she has not inured herself to your former pack and family. Some could have easily gotten it into their heads to attack a lone pair of wolves, kill you, rape and take her, and kill the children. Lorna could be dead, and Emily with her. Perhaps it could be better, but it could also be much worse."

"And, if you had gotten her to submit to you as Alpha, what would she be? Certainly not our Anne."

He choked up, smiled sadly and nodded.

They were both asleep in their chairs when Alana came in to spell Beth.

The IV exhausted, she touched Ethan's shoulder. He started, and looked up at her, his heart thudding.

"What's wrong?" His attention quickly shifted to Anne.

"Shh. Nothing. I'm just taking out the IV. We've got her blood volume back up so we can remove it now." Ethan moved aside, watching Alana remove the needle. "Hold here." Ethan held a piece of gauze over the puncture as Alana took care of the bag and needle. Returning to her mother's side, she checked under the gauze, then taped it down. She then took Ethan's hand and covered Anne's with it. Alana then moved around, checking her eyes, listening to her heartbeat and breathing. She then checked the wound on Anne's side. Alana checked her mother's left hand and felt for a pulse. She then removed the wrapping from her forearm and looked at the wound, the stitches, the swelling.

Alana retrieved more gauze and rewrapped the arm, placing it back on the pad that kept it elevated. The hide covering her had slipped to the floor and he bent down to retrieve it. As he came back up he found Alana had the stethoscope on her belly. He looked at her, expectantly. She looked back to him. "Sounds good." He looked relieved.

"Ethan? Have you ever heard the heartbeat?"

"No."

"Would you like to?"

He hesitated. He'd love to hear it, but how would he feel if he lost her? But then, Anne, having carried her in her belly would feel so much worse. He exhaled. "Yes."

Alana transferred the earpieces and Ethan closed his eyes and listened to the rapid, steady beat. He whispered. "It's so fast."

"A lot of changes going on that her little heart is keeping up with.'

His eyes got wet. "Thank you."

Alana then gently woke Beth and sent her down to her temporary sleeping quarters. She then checked through their supplies and settled in a chair with a text.

Ethan watched Anne a bit further and then his eyes closed again.

*****

The Winters pack woke to another day. A day of change, a day of fear. No one knew for certain if Anne would survive, if the pack would survive.

They all had grown comfortable there, had put time and effort into maintaining and upgrading. It was their home.

Nick knew that, if worst came to worst, he and Beth would likely return to the McKenna pack. What Ethan would do, what with Evan and Rose so young, he wasn't sure. But his daughter, and her mate, her love, what would become of them?

Rose stretched and yawned. She woke abruptly. The smells were wrong. Female, but wrong. "Mama?"

"Shh, sweetie. We're going to see her today."

Emily rose, stretched, and kissed Lorna quickly before they went out into the common room. As they began a simple breakfast Nick and Grant emerged.

"We need to clean up and lock tight before we leave."

"How long do you think we'll be gone?"

"I hope not more than a few days."

"What should we take with us?"

"Not much. Certainly not more than you can carry. We should split the load. I'll bring for me, Beth, and Grant."

"I'll take Anne and Rose."

"That leaves Ethan and Evan."

Nick went out to check the outbuildings and outer utilities as Em and Lorna took care of the inside. Emily checked the hydroponic system and the small garden. Lorna straightened up the bedrooms.

Grant and Rose tried to grab things to take on their visit. Rose was getting antsy. "When can we go?"

"Soon, honey, we're almost ready." Lorna looked down at Rose's collection. "Rosie, you can't take all that."

"But, Lorna..." in that child's whine that all of them knew.

"Three things, Rose. Pick three."

Nick, Emily, and Lorna grabbed bags containing some of their possessions and, walking outside, took one last look at the cabin before starting off for the McKenna compound.

*****

The McKenna pack greeted the new day as they normally did, with one exception. Related, as she was, to a large portion of the McKenna pack, many of them wondered and worried about her. Anne remained unconscious, with her husband by her side.

The women were taking turns looking after her. Sandra brought her little boy. Anne hadn't yet met her latest grandson. This was her sixth grandchild and another was on the way. She had left quite a legacy with Devon McKenna. He could only hope to have the same chance.

People came in. To see her. To visit.

He watched the parade of bodies as he formulated a plan. The next new moon meeting was coming soon. And he intended to have it out with Dylan or the council. Challenges were one thing, but this kind of infighting was potentially as damaging to their kind as the virus had been.

If she died he was taking it out of someone's hide.

Eddy had knocked together a cot that Ethan could shove up against her table, so that he could sleep beside her, as he could not be persuaded to leave, except to go to the bathroom or wash up. Meals were brought to him. He ate sparingly.

He watched her, for any sign of waking, for any sign she was getting worse. Beth and the others continued to confirm status quo.

*****

Nick, Emily, Lorna, Grant, and Rose approached the McKenna compound, a little unsure of their reception.

Abigail, Gwen, and Shawna were outside, watching the youngest pups. Amanda and Alicia were off to one side, teaching some of the slightly older pups.

It is Sam who spotted them first and called out to those in the yard. Evan ran out to greet his sister. He had a chance to give her a quick sniff and a lick before the other pups ran over to meet the new arrivals. Rose squeaked and hid behind Evan, a little overwhelmed by all the attention.

Alicia greeted the adults and led them into the cabin. They stopped inside the common room. "You could leave your things here for the moment. What would you like to do first? We've made up rooms for you all."

"How is she?"

"Alive but unconscious. She's held her own through the night. She threatened to miscarry but we were able to stop it. Ethan hasn't left her side."

"We'd like to see them first and then get settled, if that's alright."

"Certainly."

"Do you know where Beth is?"

"I believe she's taking another turn with Anne. I'm sure she'll be glad to see you all."

"Thank you, Alicia. We know the way."

Having left the pups to play with their peers, the three remaining adults of the Winters pack went up the stairs to see the others.

Nick entered the Medical lab and greeted his mate. He kissed her and folded her into his arms. She turned her face into his chest and cried a little as he stroked her back. "Hey, baby, it'll be alright."

Emily moved to stand behind Ethan. Looking at Anne, she put a hand on his shoulder. Ethan looked up at her. "How is she doing?"

His voice was rough and he looked tired. "She's alive. More than that, I don't know. She hasn't woken."

Emily looked at her a little more closely. "It doesn't look so bad."

Ethan's voice showed some fear, and some irritation. "Maybe not, but it's easy to forget she wasn't born wolf."

Lorna stood in the doorway, not entering the room. Her eyes were wide, as were her nostrils.

Emily turned and noticed her standing there. "Sweetheart? What is it?"

Lorna turned and walked briskly back to the common room.

After playing with the other pups and curling up for a nap for a bit, Rose was brought up to Medical to see her mother.

She ran into her father's arms. "Daddy! Can we stay here a while?"

"For a little while, sweetie. We'll go back when your mother is better." He gave his daughter a kiss as she twisted in his arms. She gets quiet.

"Oh. I'm sorry, daddy. I didn't know mama was asleep."

"It's alright, honey. You won't wake her."