Wolf's Pack (Wolves Next Door #3) - Auryn Hadley Page 0,180

ours had been killed, but I couldn't see faces I knew among the dead. Just strangers. Boys who'd been sent here to die. Nothing about this felt good. It felt like a betrayal of everything we were - but pack came first.

Pack always came first. It had to.

CHAPTER 55

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Ridley had burst into the clinic panting that the community center needed a doctor. Too many wolves were hurt, and more were going down. I promised I'd send her, and the girl shifted again, turning into a nearly black fox and rushing off to the trails. Within seconds, even the white tip of her tail was almost impossible to see in the darkness.

So I'd sent Bridget to save our pack. Gabby had immediately stepped up. While Elena was still in the room with that high school boy, I gave my pup the rules. She was to guard Bridget, not get in the middle of the fighting, and hold back. The last thing we needed was our doctor getting pulled away because her own guards were doing too much. Let the plan work like it had been designed.

Gabby swore she'd be good, and then they were off. Now, I had to explain to my mate that I'd just allowed her daughter - and a whole group of teenagers - to wade into the mess outside. Just to be safe, I locked the deadbolt on the doors and headed back. Evelyn and her son were talking to Mia. Surprisingly, Sampson had shown up to help. Elena had asked him to talk to the other boy, the older one, and Sampson had agreed.

But my mate was talking to the kid who went to school with her own daughter. When I reached that room, I tapped lightly and then walked in. Both heads turned to see who'd entered, and then Elena smiled. Gently, she rubbed the kid's arm.

"Jonah, this is Lane, one of the leaders of our pack. He's called a beta."

"The guys who chained us up were called betas," he said.

"Betas are the ones who serve as an extension of the leader's power," she told him. "Good leader means good betas. Bad leaders mean bad betas. Lane's a pretty good guy."

The boy huffed out a weak laugh. "Pretty big, too."

"Yeah, um, I was kinda raised by wolves," I explained. "Real ones, I mean. Being in the wrong form for so long kinda, uh... They think it had a few side effects. Like my eyes."

"They're cool," Jonah said. "Are mine going to be like that?"

"More amber," I told him. "Probably about the same as Gabby's."

He smiled. "Yeah, she's cool. Doesn't talk to anyone but the other rich kids, but she's cool."

Elena chuckled at that. "Her pack, Jonah. She's the heir to this pack's leader. Those 'rich kids' aren't all rich. They're just all wolves, like you're going to be."

He nodded. "Ok. And there's no way to stop this?"

"No," she said. "I'm sorry. Once you're infected, you get this disease, but I promise it's not a bad one to have."

"I just want to go home," the kid breathed. "My mom has to be freaking out, and she needs my help. I don't even know how long I was chained up in there. I lost count somewhere, but Mom can't afford all the bills on her own. She - "

"Shh," Elena breathed. "It's ok. For tonight, we're going to make sure you're ok. Tomorrow, we'll get in touch with your mother, ok? For now, just try to close your eyes and rest a bit. I'm sure your head is killing you."

"Thanks, Elena," he said as she stood.

I just opened the door wider, allowing her to slip past me and into the hall. The moment I closed the door, she turned, lifting her chin to look at me. "What?" she asked, knowing that I'd walked in there for some reason.

"Gabby's helping get Bridget to the wounded," I told her. "I made it clear that she's not to fight unless she can't help it. She's got all of her betas except Nikolai, and he's with his dad."

"Ian?" she asked.

Yeah, that was the problem. "No word yet, but the pack's still fighting." I cupped the side of her face. "He's a strong wolf, bunny. Stronger than he's ever let you see. Stronger than me, that's why he's the Pack Alpha and I'm not."

"But Damon's insane," she whined.

I nodded. "I know. I also know that sooner or later someone was going to try this. Wolf's Run is too obvious, and