The Silver Guardian B. 01

A huge thank you to my editor Tex Beethoven for another amazing job and collaboration, thank you Tex you rock!!!

Book 1

Chapter 29

It was a cold Monday afternoon in October, and Dante was on patrol again. He was loping through the forest as the snow blanketed everything, turning the landscape white. Occasionally the snow would kick up around him as he focused his lupine senses on the area around him, on the alert for anything unusual. He had been patrolling for a while, and as always it was quiet and calm, with just the sounds of the forest as company.

Near the end of his circuit and near the edge of his assigned patrol area, he came across a fresh set of tracks. He leaned his muzzle in and instantly stiffened and growled. This was the scent of an unknown lycan, and there wasn't supposed to be one anywhere near their territory, let alone one this close to their compound. He considered sending out an alert, but he wanted more information first so he began tracking the unknown wolf, trying to learn more.

He had been tracking the prints for about thirty minutes when he finally caught sight of a single medium-sized brown wolf. The wind shifted, and the wolf realized Dante was nearby, and he took off. Through the Pack bond Dante alerted the others on patrol, as well as Alpha Odin and Ben, of the intruder and took off after him. He figured this was a single wolf, so his Pack and support could catch up when he had the situation under control. He had been gaining on the rogue wolf using his superior speed, and saw the wolf turn into a clearing as Dante raced after him.

He broke into the clearing and froze. He realized the enormity of his mistake in an instant, and he steeled himself for the worst. He was surrounded on all sides by 20 wolves who seemed to have been waiting for him, or at least for someone from the O'Connor Pack, to be lured here.

Dante knew how dire this was, but refused to be an easy target. He would make these interlopers work for anything they got from him. He bellowed out a roar that echoed across the mountain, and sprinted towards the closest wolf, raking his claws down his side and belly, laying him open and dropping him to the ground. Dante used all of his speed, strength and training to tear into the rest with extreme prejudice. He ripped the throat out of another, then clamped his jaws around the next wolf's neck before flowing to the next one, then smashing his shoulder into his chest of another, hearing his ribs break and the wolf go down. There were just too many however, and Dante howled in pain as a wolf lunged in from behind him and ripped into his flank with his claws. Even wounded and accumulating further wounds, he continued fighting...

***

Lily had been working with her Father on the family business like normal at this time of day. She was in the middle of a sentence when she stopped, feeling ice plunge into her veins as a sudden lance of pain and desperation struck her through the bond, overwhelming her. She fell to her knees and screamed out, "

Danteeeeee!!!!!"

Odin was out of his chair in a flash and had Lily's shoulders in his hands, staring at her intenlty, "What's wrong?! What do you know? Focus!"

Lily choked out, starting to fall apart but knowing she mustn't, not now! "He's hurt bad, and I can feel desperation and anger, but it's all so intense and mixed up! He's in trouble Daddy, we have to get to him!!!"

Odin's face paled as he listened. He barked instructions through the bond to the Enforcers and Betas that there was danger and a rogue wolf, since that's all Dante had sent before his daughter's sudden outburst. Odin looked at Lily, "Do you know where he is? Can you detect anything to help us locate him?"

Lily shook her head to try to clear it, "He's a few miles due north of the compound, but that's all I can tell. It's getting worse, and the disorientation and pain I feel from him is growing. He's in trouble, Daddy!!!!"

Odin and Lily took off and raced out of the Manor House, heading for Dante's position as fast as they could. Ben joined them before they reached the wall, and then all three were past it and running with their weapons out, ready for anything. All the other Betas and Enforcers were responding and setting up a perimeter as well as sending a group in Dante's direction, some as humans, others as wolves, but as bad luck would have it, most had been on the south side of the compound and would take precious time to reach them.

Lily suddenly stumbled and gasped before choking out, "I don't feel him anymore, the bond is blank!!!!!" She put on a fresh burst of speed as the others struggled to keep up with her in her frantic state. The snow was slowing them down, but at least they had found Dante's and the other wolf's tracks.

Too many minutes later they broke into the clearing and froze at what they found. There was blood everywhere, staining the white snow and nearly covering the ground completely. There were dead wolves everywhere, most of which had been torn open. Lily looked frantically, and finally found Dante laying on his side, covered in wounds and laying in a frighteningly large pool of blood in his wolf form. She raced to him, dropping to her knees as her hands trembled. She gasped out a breath of relief as she saw he was at least still breathing, if only very shallowly.

Odin and Ben had arrived behind her, their eyes wide. Ben made a quick sweep of the clearing's perimeter and reported back, "There are no tracks leading away from here, just towards."

Lily turned and looked at them with tears streaming down her face and a look of absolute agony in her eyes. "I don't know how, but Dante must have killed them all, but at what cost?! They nearly killed him too! We have to get him to the clinic as fast as possible, he's hurt badly, and I don't know how much blood he's lost, but it looks like it may be too much! We have to get him to some help now!!"

Dante as a wolf was too heavy for the two men to carry, but Alpha Odin told them that several more wolves were almost here, and they would be able to carry him back to the compound in just a couple minutes.

Lily ran her hands across his fur and through his muzzle and mane, trying to soothe him and reassure herself he was still alive. Her hands were soaked in blood and it was all over her clothes as well, but she didn't even notice.

Just before the other wolves reached the bloody clearing, Dante let out a pained whine and his silver eyes opened.

Lily looked into his eyes and spoke desperately to him, "Baby, you have to change back! You're hurt badly, and we have to get you to the clinic, but you're too massive to carry as a wolf. You have to change back, baby! I know it hurts, but change back and just hold on. You can't leave me Dante, I just found you and you have to stay alive for me!" Her voice broke and she broke down sobbing, as Dante's mouth lolled open and he weakly tried to lick her hand to comfort her. But Lily rejected his effort, insisting she refused to be comforted until he changed back.

When the other wolves showed up, Dante finally shifted back to his human form, but it was devastating on him. As soon as his bloody and ravaged body shifted back to his human form, he let out a blood-curdling scream that ripped through the forest before once again he passed out.

***

It was 12 hours later and the middle of the night when Dante finally opened his eyes. He blearily looked around and saw he was in a sterile room in a hospital bed, and he tried to get his bearings. The fight and carnage slammed back into him, racing through his mind as he remembered everything. He groaned and turned his head, seeing Lily just opening her eyes.

She had been resting in a chair with her shoulders and head laying on the bed, and partially on Dante. She sat up quickly, realizing he was awake and the first words out of her mouth were, "Sweetie, are you ok? Can I get you anything, are you in pain??"

Dante opened his mouth to find it dry, so he wet his lips and cleared his throat as best he could before rasping, "I'm ok Lily, I'm going to make it and I'll be ok in time, really."

Lily started tearing up, but knew she had to be strong for her mate, and she held his hand while she leaned over and gave him a gentle but lengthy kiss. She choked out, "I was so scared, Dante! When we found you, there was so much blood, and you looked so close to death! Feeling everything through the bond and seeing you like that almost broke me! You can't ever do that again, promise me that won't happen again! Swear it, my love!"

Dante sighed and closed his eyes before he responded. "I don't know the future Lily, and there was something very wrong about that many rogues being on our land waiting for me, or for whatever wolf they happened to lure in. This could be a much bigger situation than we know and I don't know what will happen. I can't promise I won't get hurt again, maybe even badly, but I will promise to do my best to stay safe and come back to you every time. You know how much I love you, and I never want to be separated from you, either!"

Lily sniffled before nodding, "I know, my love, I know. I just can't stand the thought of something happening to you, or your being taken from me. It scared me so badly when I felt your pain and desperation roll over me through the bond, and then seeing you broken and bleeding in the snow covered in blood was too much. I wouldn't survive your being taken from me. Just always do your best to come back to me, no matter what."

Dante smiled at her finally, "That I can promise, my love." They sat in silence for a minute before Dante asked, "So what happened after I passed out? I vaguely remember your telling me to change back, and the searing pain when I did, but nothing after that."

Lily responded, "After you shifted, the entire valley heard your scream of agony. It shook most of us there, it was so terrible. But several other Betas and Enforcers showed up and joined Dad and Ben. Dad had some of them deal with the remains of the wolves, and he and Ben and a few others carried you back to the compound and into the Clinic. You were far enough out, and it was awkward enough trying to carry you, that it took far longer than I wanted.

"But once we got you to the clinic, you were prepped and rushed into surgery. Your shoulder and thigh were seriously lacerated, and one of the rogue wolves must have gotten their jaw around your calf and broken the bone. You had cuts on your face, though they were minor and have mostly healed by now, and you had deep gouges across your stomach and back, and Dr. Marc says those nearly meant the end of you. Most of your body was badly damaged and torn up when we found you. But you did succeed in protecting the Pack and you had killed them all before you went under. You were in surgery to set the bones that were broken, especially your leg. I don't know how many stitches they gave you to repair the worst of the damage, and they needed to pump several liters of blood back into you to replace what you lost.

"You're going to be in bed recovering for three to five days, but according to Dr. Marc who runs the Clinic and did your surgery, and his mate the Head Nurse Maria, you should recover fully. Dr. Marc will be in to check on you in the morning unless I call for him sooner. Shall I call Him? Do you need pain meds or anything?"

Dante asked for water, but said he could deal with the pain for now; it was manageable.

Lily held the tiny cup of water as he drank from the straw, and refilled it several times as he quenched his thirst. They talked for a little longer before Dante started to nod off again. Before he did, he shifted over and with enough convincing that he would be fine, he had Lily crawl into the hospital bed and fall asleep with him in her usual spot, although she stayed off of his chest, since it was torn up and tender.

***

Dr. Marc came in with his mate serving as his nurse the next morning around 7am. He chuckled, seeing Lily cuddled up with Dante, who awakened at the sound. Dr. Marc laughed quietly, "I see your mate is nursing you back to health, so you might not even need us at this rate, hmm?"

Dante laughed softly as Lily started slowly to come awake as well, "No offense, Marc and Maria, but Lily is the best-looking nurse I've ever seen, and I know she'll be a great help as she helps me get back on my feet."

Maria smiled at him, "I'm told I can normally hold my own in just about any crowd, but she

is

a beautiful woman, and I don't blame you for your opinion at all."

Lily climbed down off the bed and sat in the chair next to it, so the professionals could examine Dante. They removed his bandages to check on the damage and see how it was healing, which gave Dante a chance to assess for the first time how he fared. Some of the wounds were still open between the stitches and looked bad, not so much the incisions from surgery of course, but all the bleeding had stopped and there were no signs of infection. He'd been badly injured before, so he could tell that within a week he would be healed and for the most part back up to snuff. But it was going to take time, even with his accelerated healing. They rewrapped him in clean bandages after gently cleaning out the worst damaged areas.

Dr. Marc said that after Dante had eaten something he would be back to administer some pain medication so Dante could rest and recover. Sleep and some loving company would be the best medicine for his recovery.

About ten minutes later later Alpha Odin and Madame Alpha Victoria walked in, with Odin carrying a large tray of food. He set it down in Dante's lap before telling him, "Abigail sends her regards and she wants me to tell you to rest up and eat lots of her food to get your strength back. She expects you back in the dining room enjoying her food very soon, or else."

Everyone laughed a bit, before Dante dug into his food with gusto. Victoria had brought a tray for Lily too, since she hadn't left his side since he'd been brought into the Clinic. Lily ate heartily as well.

Odin opened the discussion, "I'm glad to see you looking a lot better than the last time I saw you son, that was bad, really bad."

Dante paused in his eating, "Well, I

feel

lots better than I did when you last saw me, at least. We need to discuss what started this, though. How did so many rogue wolves come into our territory and what were they doing here? I'm lucky to have survived that, and another wolf may not have. What was their goal?"

Odin and Victoria looked at each other, silently communicating before he responded. "I agree those are questions we need to find answers to. They were all in wolf form and didn't have any identification on them, but for that many lycans to gather, there must have been a staging area where they left their belongings after they shifted. We'll be searching for that in the coming days, trying to get more information.

"We would normally report this to the Alpha Council, but there's something about this that I don't like. It's making me question some things, and I'm going to hold off going through channels for now. I am however, going to contact our neighboring Pack to visit them to discuss this quietly and get some balls rolling."

Dante nodded his head before he responded, "The Grand Est Pack, right?"

Lily and Victoria and Odin nodded before Odin confirmed it, "Yes, the Grand Est Pack, led by Madame Alpha Lisette Dubois and her mate Monsieur Alpha Raphael Dubois. They're very old allies and good people. We'll meet with them and try to piece together some of this puzzle.

It isn't long before the Alpha Conclave, and I'm concerned about what might happen at this year's gathering. Victoria and I have sensed some undercurrents that have been worsening and getting darker the last several conclaves. The Council President, along with a growing percentage of Alphas and their Packs, are taking more hardline approaches to many things, including interactions with humans, as well as relations between one Pack and another, and have even been hinting at changes to reduce mating age limits as well. I don't like it, and we're going to keep our eyes and ears open at this next conclave."

Dante's eyes had grown hard, hearing that there were some darker turns that much of the leadership and Packs in North America was tending towards.

Victoria spoke up at that, "We have nothing concrete right now, but this is also part of why we want Lisette and some of her wolves here for a visit: we want to shore up allies and make sure we're all on the same page, so insofar as possible we can be knowledgeably cautious.

"Today is Tuesday, and she'll be here with her entourage next Monday. You should be mostly if not fully recovered by then, so you and Lily will be present the whole time as our Alpha Heir Pair. You and Lily have the remainder of the week off, for you to heal, and for Lily to help you get around and take care of you.

"Dr. Marc told us earlier that you should be released from the clinic this evening, and Odin and I want you to spend the rest of the week in your suite recovering."

Dante had turned to look at Victoria as she spoke before he nodded to her, "Understood, Mom, I'll take some time to study up on the Grand Est Pack and our history with them while I convalesce this week. I promise to be ready to help represent the Pack on Monday."

They visited for a while longer before they left Lily and Dante. Lily spent her time almost exclusively lying next to Dante in the bed, as she desperately needed to be near him and assure herself he would be ok. Last night, even with right next to her, she'd had times where she'd awakened trembling with nightmares about all the blood and carnage her mate had endured.

During the rest of the day Lily and Dante spoke together, and Lily made it clear she was upset he hadn't waited for support, and that he'd charged into the ambush without thinking and suffered terrible consequences.

Dante admitted that he had been overconfident, hadn't focused on his senses and hadn't been paying as close attention as he should have to scents and sounds that could have warned him what he was approaching. Regardless of the cleverness of the ambush, his carelessness was what had walked him into the trap, and how dire it became. It was clear however, that he had learned frighteningly well how to fight and kill as a wolf. To take out 20 wolves alone, especially when they had set an ambush and were expecting him, was unheard of, and near legendary.

***

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