“What about your elders? Don’t they have direct access to the Alpha King, they should have called for help.”
Tyler huffs a laugh. “Those idiots were more concerned with their titles and being in the Alpha King’s presence than actually doing their job. They spent almost no time in our pack or with pack members. Our Alpha was kind of a joke. He wasn’t a bad guy, but he was mated to the former Alpha’s only daughter and took the title. He wasn’t made to be an Alpha. I’m sure the Elders chose him for her. I think they actually ran the pack through the Alpha and Luna. The leaders were very concerned with making the pack bigger and more prominent. I was little when the Luna’s father died, so I don’t know if he was the same way or if it got bad after my alpha was chosen as the Luna’s mate.”
He stops to take a breath. If he is acting, he is really good at this. I really feel bad for him and his pack.
“From what I heard, the Elders fled the minute the attack happened, leaving the Alpha and Luna to defend themselves, which of course they couldn’t, and are holed up with the Alpha King now. For all we know they are the reason our pack was attacked or they planned the attack themselves to try and get the Alpha King’s attention. Who knows. Either way a lot of innocent people died or were captured or worse and no one did a thing about it.” That scary angry look is back. He is out for vengeance, I just wonder if he is aware or not.
“What was the name of your pack?” I’m kind of afraid of what his answer is going to be.
“Former name, Midnight sun. Currently, they are part of the Shadow Pack.” My heart stops.
A loud growl and string of curses go off in my head from Osiston and Nickolas who have been listening in. It takes everything in me to stay present with Tyler while they are shouting instructions to the whole team and the warriors back home. The noise is giving me a headache, but I can’t shut them out. They need this information first hand, right now.
“I’m so sorry that happened to your pack. Is the whole group we ran with last night from your old pack?”
“Nah, Mike, Robbie and I left as soon as we could. The new Alpha is ruthless and cruel. He stopped all contact with the outside and his warriors use corporal punishment if you don’t fall in line. All the men were forced into an army. Any women that were left were taken somewhere else. I never saw any of them again. We had to get out, but no pack wanted a bunch of deserters, we tried, so we are here on our own.” He shrugs.
“Well, I am skipping classes today, and you look like you could use a workout of your own. How about we hit the gym again and this time you will actually get to use equipment.” I stood up and held out my hand to him. He just stared at me like I was crazy. “What?!”
“I just told you that my pack was attacked, my sister was killed, and my two friends and I escaped leaving everyone else behind essentially deserting them and you want to take me to go workout?”
I smile at him. “Yep, that was a load of heavy and when things get too heavy I workout and I am taking you with me. Now let’s go pay for our food, I am going to need an extra minute to change back into my workout stuff. It’s going to be like putting on a wetsuit.” I wink at him and he just chuckles as he gets up to follow me to the register by the door.
We walk back to the gym and I can feel how close Osiston is. I don’t think Tyler is a problem, but I do feel better knowing someone is close. I don’t trust Tyler, but at the same time if even half his story is true, I want to help bring whoever is the problem to justice. Tyler is right, innocent people are getting hurt and dying for someone’s sick desire to have power.
We workout for a couple more hours and stop by the diner again to grab food to go this time. We settled in the middle of campus on one of the sprawling lawns that has benches dotted along the perimeter. The day is actually nice and calm. Not warm, but comfortable enough, the snow is melting and the sun is shining making everything a little brighter.
