Alpha’s Hybrid Cinderella
Chapter 57

The line crackled. It was terrible, trying to hear Raf properly on the other side, but who knew when we would have another chance to speak? Seventy percent of the city had been evacuated already, all the civilians taken out in trucks with only their most essential belongings. Scarlet pack werewolves alternated between fighting off the enemy and escorting civilians to safety from the shelters, and almost no one had had rest in the last forty-eight hours. Most of them were only Deltas, whether trained or not. Things wouldn't last much longer if they went on like this. But at least I could hear Raf's voice one more time before they transported her, too. She and Leon huddled by whatever landline phone they had been given since the last of the cell towers were destroyed in the last day.

"We couldn't find you!" she cried. "We took the car and drove over but they had the road blockaded. You were attacked!"

"There were rogues, yeah. And they say there were other shifters too. It's unprecedented. There hasn't been a werecat attack in decades I heard, but there's been a confirmed sighting of a lion shifter and a tiger shifter somewhere in the city." "That's insane! You have to come with us. Evan will want you to be safe, so-"

"We're already safe. We're in a safe house. Actually, it's less safe for me to leave right now, so until I can shift again and we can be on the move on all fours, he's staying behind. But eventually he's going to take me out of the city, and then he'll come back and make sure the place is cleaned up."

In our brief talk, I didn't mention he had been poisoned. I didn't mention anything of it at all. Evan had told me the existence of it was top-secret, and that since only the manor had been attacked with the toxin, it had been a simple matter of ordering that no one speak publicly of it until the ban was lifted. There was no need for anyone to panic and make things even harder to get under control.

The good news was that the toxin must have been of limited quantity. There was no reason not to use it against the Scarlet pack wolves in other locations, too, at least before the fighting had gone down and both sides began to cross over into the other's turf to fight at the tangled boundaries. But there had been only one location it was released at with no indication it would be used elsewhere.

I hoped not. It was possible they did have more of the toxin and were simply waiting for Evan to reveal himself so they could use it against him specifically, but even that meant they didn't have an unlimited quantity to use willy-nilly. It was also the reason the Scarlet pack didn't want Evan in the fighting at all, so they wouldn't have to deal with that possibility. To force the Scarlet werewolves to fight in unshifted form would mean an automatic loss. Weapons alone weren't enough to overpower the enemy shifters. "As soon as you get out, you call us, okay?" Raf said tearily. "We brought our phones with us so once we're in a place with signal, you call us and we'll come to get you."

"Okay. I will. Don't worry about me."

It was a useless thing to say. Of course she was going to worry. And of course I was going to worry too.

But Raf and Leon were being evacuated and they would be away from the fighting soon enough, and I was with Evan. There was no safer place in the world right now. Even if there was, I wanted to be nowhere else more than here.

***

The last three days had been a torment. There was no distance communication with all cell towers destroyed, and the Scarlet pack were attackers, not defenders. They had never had to defend against a siege before. I didn't know much except what little Evan explained to me, but that made perfect sense given Scarlet's reputation. Before Evan had come to power, the pack had been strong but never quite so legendary as when he became Alpha. And after that, he had spent all his time conquering other packs one by one, two by two, as fast as they could fall.

Now it was coming back to haunt them. With so many of their forces spread out, there were still Deltas stationed at other cities trying to get back to provide reinforcements. But worse than that was the inherent mistrust spreading through the sprawling pack. The original members suspected the satellite packs' loyalties, since they had been absorbed into the Scarlet but weren't originally among them. Absorbed enemy packs were also suspect.

Unity was crumbling. The Scarlet had never been so in danger before. More dangerous than the rogues and enemy shifters was the doubt infecting everyone.

Evan had to get back out there. Without the head Alpha taking proper command, this wasn't going to end well.

My fear wasn't reason enough to abandon everyone. Not truly. Evan might be willing to give them all up for me, but I had to push him forward, not chain him to myself. There were too many people depending on his leadership.

"I'm ready," I breathed. He held my hands as he stood before me, both of us stripped out of our clothes. Normally, this would be erotic, making me blush from head to toe under his watchful eyes, but nothing about the situation we were in was erotic at all. "I'll be okay, don't worry."

"Still. You shift first. If anything feels wrong or you can't shift back for some reason, you know the signal to give me."

"Yeah." I closed my eyes and willed up the energy to begin the transformation. He was so worried for me, but the doctor had drawn my blood again and determined I was clear of all traces of the toxin now that it had been over three days. If not now, then I would never get out of here. This stifling suffocation of helplessness would drown me and never let go.

And the shift came easily as snowfall.

I couldn't mind-link. Evan couldn't hear me tell him I was all right. But I could hear his thoughts and his worrying, and I sat back on my haunches to show him I was fine. In no time, he too shifted to join me, jet-black body as large as life and more powerful than I'd ever seen him.

We were going to go now, under cover of darkness and into the cold that awaited us. His men would be waiting for us to meet them at the rendezvous point, and from there, we would decide the safest route to get me out of the city. I hoped there was none. That was the only way Evan would let me stay by his side. How ironic that only a week ago, he had been desperate to keep me close so he could protect me. Now he believed only danger followed him and that staying together would bring me harm. Every move he made, something punished him for it. Every decision, every reaction, battered by the changing winds no one could predict, much less control.

My poor Evan. Whether these were the consequences of the Scarlet's transgressions or something else entirely, he was a different man from before. The weight he carried was the burden of the man he used to be, someone more cruel, someone less warm. I wished I could carry it for him. But right now, he was the only Alpha in the entire city who could still save it.

We headed out. Winter storms had moved in, two of them clashing to form a wall of cold and icy rain. There were already snowdrifts several inches deep from the last wave to hit the city in the morning, but now it would come in full force. The freezing rain had slicked the roads, and with the snow falling on top of it, there would be no using vehicles. From here on out, all our enemies would be on foot. And so would we.

Evan took the lead. I followed close behind, my white form blending in perfectly with the darkened snow that camouflaged me. Evan's black wolf pelt could do no such thing. Not that he wanted to blend in. If anyone were to see us, he wanted to draw all of the attention to himself so I could get away. He had already made me promise I would do it. The only reason I had agreed was because I knew full well he could only fight to his utmost if he didn't have to worry about protecting me, too.

But there were no enemies in the five mile run to the line. We avoided the hot spots and before long, encountered three waiting Deltas who hurried to meet us.

If I hadn't been able to eavesdrop on their mindlinking with my mindreading ability, I would never have known what they told Evan then:

We found Peelle, Alpha! He's... dead.