The Culling

To say that the king was surprised and worried would be a great understatement. One of his strongest packs had fallen into the enemies hands. But he pushed that to the back of his mind. His main worry right now was Phoebe. Almost an hour ago, his son and the three guards that had been sent with him, had shown up. They all told him the same story, Phoebe left them in the car after sensing that something was wrong. And then she commanded that Major Green get the Prince to safety without one thought as to her well-being.

The king had seen that his son was still a little upset about having to leave the woman behind, but there was nothing either man could do. As a guard, the only command that Phoebe would listen to ultimately was that of her king. Currently, King Stone and Captain Taggart were headed to Red Cliff to get Phoebe. They had no idea that she was waiting for her brother to wake up, so she could assess the damage the rogue alpha had done to him.

I glared at the doctor that stood at the foot of my bed. “What do you mean I can’t get up?” The doctor just stared at the young woman. “Exactly that ma’am, you’ve lost a lot of blood. Even with our enhanced healing abilities, it would take another day for you to be completely healed...” He came to a stop when I growled at him and ripped the iv from my hand. “I’m fine now. I have to see my brother. Have you looked at him?”

“I have. He’s sleeping right now. It’s my best guess that by tomorrow, everything in his system should be back to normal, unless...”

I didn’t like the sound of that. “Unless what doc?”

“Unless he remains a rogue, if he doesn’t find a new pack soon, he’ll be twice as hard to handle.” After the doctor left my room, I quickly removed the hospital gown and slipped into my clothes. The fresh scent of lavender told me that someone had washed them.

Leaving the room, I quickly found the exit and started looking around. The faint scent trail of my brother soon led me to a tall, dark looking building that instantly me where the cells were. Opening the door, I stepped inside and came face to face with a very familiar man. “Beta Geoffrey,” I said as I quickly gave a quick bow of my head. “Rivers.” He replied.

“What can I do for you today?”

“I’m here to see the man that was found with me, please.” My soft voice brought his eyes from the papers in his hand up to rest on my face. Recognition settled over him instantly. “Follow me please.” I didn’t speak as the two of us began to walk down several flights of stairs.

“Our doctor was here yesterday. I’ve never seen anything like it in my life.” Suddenly, as we drew closer to the lower level, I heard my brother’s voice yelling. “I demand to know why I’m being held here as a prisoner. I’ll have you know that I’m the Beta of First Death, and if you do not release me at once, my alpha will see this as an act of war.”

“Oh for the love of the goddess, shut up.” The Beta of Red Cliff muttered under his breath and I chuckled. Lincoln heard the noise and he froze. “Who’s there?”

“I’m the Beta of Red Cliff and my name’s Geoffrey. And this is...”

“Phoebe,” Lincoln spoke when he saw his sister. His eyes lit up. My eyes thoroughly searched his until I was satisfied. There was no hint of red in them. “What is the last thing you remember Lincoln?”

A look of confusion settled over him, but he searched his memories. “It was the day after The Culling and I had just gotten back to the pack house. The alpha was on the east side of the territory dealing with trespassers. I could hear yelling and fighting heading towards the pack house, so I rushed outside. Just as I reached the tree line, something slammed into my head, and then I wake up here.”

Lincoln turned his eyes back to his sister. “What am I doing here Phoebe? And why are you here as well?” I let out a deep sigh. “There’s no easy way to tell you, Lincoln, so I’ll just say it. First Death has fallen into the hands of rogues. I was accompanying my charge onto the territory whenever I noticed that something was wrong. Death hung in the air.

“So, I exited the car and made the others take my charge back to our land. You and I fought, and that’s when I saw that First Death had fallen. The alpha came out of the house, but it wasn’t the alpha I remembered. This was a strange man, and he was a rogue.” A look of horror was etched on Lincoln’s face.

“I fought you? I didn’t hurt you did I?” Geoffrey went to tell Lincoln the truth, of how bad both of them had been when they were found, but I glared at him. “No, you didn’t hurt me, Lincoln. I managed to knock you out and escape with you. There was no way that I was going to leave you behind with rogues.” As I spoke, Lincoln slowly shook his head. Before his eyes, snippets of images flashed quickly. Some of the faces he knew, but most of them were strangers to him.

Image after image, Lincoln’s heart fell further. He had no memories of the things he was seeing be done, but deep inside he knew that they had happened. His blood ran cold. Suddenly, a man ran into the room. “Beta, the King is here. He’s requesting that his pack member be returned to him.”

Geoffrey looked at the woman beside him. “I’m not leaving without my brother.” He sighed softly but unlocked the cell. Slowly, Lincoln stepped out and before he could blink, I threw her arms around him.

Pulling away quickly, I motioned for him to follow me as I made my way out of the prison. Once I was outside, I instantly spotted the king and captain. The men followed me as I quickly walked towards the waiting group. When I was before them, I bowed my head deeply.

Lincoln watched as his sister spoke softly to the king, who would often glance towards the Beta. Finally, the king nodded at Phoebe who stood up. Then, both turned and made their way towards him. “Lincoln Rivers, I am offering you a place among my Warriors. I realize that it’s different from your birthright, but you’ll belong to my pack, and you’ll have your sister near.”

“I accept,” Lincoln spoke quickly. He had seen the spark in his sister’s eyes. He wasn’t leaving her again. After thanking the Alpha of Red Cliff for taking care of the two wolves, the four of them loaded up and were quickly on theirs way back to the king’s land.

I hadn’t missed the glances between the Captain and the King, and I knew that for a few days at least, I’d have light duty. Even though I wanted to protest, they had already made their decision, and I knew better than to argue against it.