The Rogue Alpha

Chapter Five

Making his way to the door, Archer turned to give a short wave to the family, wincing as he watched little Alyona’s lips turn down slightly, ‘you are leaving us Alpha?’ she asked sadly.

Archer nodded, ‘yes sweetie, I have to go now, but I’m sure you’ll find your pack soon.’

The child shook her head as she gazed up at her daddy, ‘can he stay, just a little bit longer?’ she asked pleadingly.

Kurt sighed as he reached out and picked his daughter up, placing her on his lap, ‘I’m sorry angel, but Alpha has to go now, he has important business to do.’

Looking sad, Alyona buried her head into her father’s chest, her little hands gripping his shirt as she gazed dejectedly at Archer as he sighed heavily and turned toward the entrance, heading back out into the sunlight.

Trudging away from the opening, he shouldered his backpack and made his way through the thick brush, heading away without a backward glance. Reaching the edge of the tree line that surrounded the area, he stepped through, pushing the family from his mind as Axel pushed through to discuss a plan.

‘Where are we headed?’ the wolf asked with interest.

Archer shrugged, ‘I don’t really know’ he linked back, ‘I didn’t really have more of a plan than to just get out of that godawful pack and away from my father.’

Axel whimpered as the memory of their mate’s death surged forward, momentarily causing the Alpha to stumble as he gripped at his chest.

Behind him, suddenly a howl filled with desperation echoed through the air, stilling Archer’s footsteps as he turned around slowly. Another howl ripped through the silence, which was enough to have him dropping his rucksack, racing back the way he had come, Axel pushing to take control as he shifted mid stride.

Hurtling back toward the cave, he found a medium-sized brown wolf standing in the entrance, blocking the way as three warriors that he recognised as Black Opal members growled at him fiercely.

Skidding to a stop, Archer raised his head and growled warningly, watching with pleasure as the three warriors flattened their ears, shivering from the command in his voice. He may have renounced the pack, but they still couldn’t shake off his blood connection to their Alpha.

The brown wolf looked over at him pleadingly, Axel nodding sharply as he advanced on the three wolves menacingly, his eyes glittering dangerously. The warriors immediately bared their necks, bowing down to him as the leader shifted back to human form, ‘Alpha, we have been searching for you, Alpha Jack is demanding your return. We caught your scent from the stream and have been tracking you. Did this Rogue take you?’ he asked, glaring at Kurt, who growled angrily back.

Arthur shifted into his human form, glaring down at the warrior who averted his gaze from the young Alpha’s penetrative gaze, ‘do I look like a Rogue or anyone else for that matter could take me against my will?’ he spat.

‘No Alpha, of course not, I apologise’ the warrior whimpered, keeping his eyes on the floor.

Archer took a step closer to the three, making them cower, ‘I left because I wanted to and I shall not be returning’ he said forcefully, ‘you will return to Black Opal and tell my father that, also let him know that if he sends further men after me, I will kill them.’

The leader gave Archer a pleading look, ‘Alpha, please, your father . . ‘ he started.

‘Is not here, Warrior, which means that I am in charge. You can either return to him with my message or I can kill the three of you with my bare hands, make your choice’ Archer replied coldly.

The two wolves took a step back as the young Alpha’s aura washed over them, ‘ Yes sir’ their spokesman said, before shifting and leading the others back into the woods.

Kurt shifted back, dropping to his knees, ‘thank you Alpha, they were threatening my family. I could not have taken them alone.’

Archer nodded, as he pulled the man to his feet, ‘get your family’ he said urgently, ‘we need to move, they will come back and they will kill you all, you cannot stay here.’

Kurt hurried back into the cave, emerging moments later with his family, his body now clothed and a rucksack on his back, as he held out a shirt to Archer sheepishly. ‘Apologies Alpha, but I don’t have anything in your size really’ he muttered.

Archer took the shirt gratefully, pushing his arms through the sleeves but leaving it unbuttoned as it wouldn’t stretch around his muscular form. ‘Follow me’ he ground out, setting off back the way he had come, entering the tree line and snatching up his bag, dragging out some clean clothes and putting them on.

Once dressed, the Alpha led the way, the small family following behind him, Kurt keeping a tight hold on his children’s hands as his wife clutched their baby son to her chest.

After an hour of walking, Alyona started to fuss, her parents trying to shush her with furtive glances at the Alpha, whose attention was on the surrounding forest.

‘My feet hurt daddy’ the little girl whimpered, tripping over a root in the ground and stumbling forward.

‘I know baby, but we need to keep moving’ Kurt whispered sadly, trying to cajole his daughter.

Letting out a sigh, Archer stopped, turning back to the group who halted behind him, Alyona immediately sinking to the ground and clutching her knees to her chest.

‘Come here, Alyona’ he said gruffly, holding out his hand to the little girl who hesitantly reached out to him.

Kurt started to protest, ‘Alpha, I’m sorry, she’s only little’ he said fervently, making to grab his child.

Archer shook his head, staring the man down until he submitted before helping the little girl to her feet. Placing his hands under her armpits, he lifted her easily and sat her on his shoulders, one leg dangling down either side of his face. ‘You hold on tight to my hair OK little one?’ he ordered sternly.

‘Yes Alpha’ the little girl responded tiredly as she gripped his jet black hair in her tiny fists.

‘Still not your Alpha’ Archer sighed as he started to move again.

Alyona giggled, ‘ Yes you are, we are with you, so that makes us your pack, right? So, you are our Alpha’ she argued before laying her head on Archer’s hair with a sigh. ‘I like being in your pack, Alpha, you are a nice Alpha, you take care of us, thank you for accepting us, we’ve looked for a home for a long long time.’

Archer glanced over at Kurt who was trying to cover his amusement, the older man holding up his hands in surrender, ‘out of the mouths of babes Alpha’ he said, with a respectful bow.

Rolling his eyes, Archer faced forward, holding on to Alyona’s legs so that she wouldn’t fall, soon hearing tiny snores coming from above him where the little girl had fallen asleep to the movement of his body as he walked.

‘Alpha, where are we going?’ Levi asked after a while.

Archer glanced down at him, ‘I am not your . . . you know what? Never mind’ he growled in defeat. ‘At the minute I don’t know, I’m just trying to put as much distance between us and my father’s men as possible’ he muttered.

The small group ventured into a human settlement, Archer leading the way to a café and ushering everyone inside. Removing Alyona from his shoulders, he carried her still sleeping form into the establishment where they sat at a large round table, the little girl curling up in Archer’s lap.

A young human waitress appeared beside them; her long hair wound up in a tight bun that was held in place with two pencils.

‘Afternoon’ the female bubbled happily, taking in their tired expressions, ‘wow you guy looks like you’ve been through the mill’ she added with a frown, ‘how about I start you off with some good strong coffee and maybe a milkshake each for the two little ones?’

Levi’s face lit up excitedly as Kurt and Anya fidgeted uncomfortably. Glancing at the pair, Archer flicked his gaze back to the server with a curt nod, ‘that sounds excellent’ he agreed.

The young woman crouched down beside Levi and smiled brightly, ‘so what flavour milkshake do you want young man?’ she asked. ‘We have banana, strawberry, chocolate, vanilla or our extra special toffee chunk crunch that comes topped with whipped cream and chocolate sauce’ with a conspiratorial wink.

Levi’s eyes widened, ‘can I have the toffee cream one’ he whispered, looking over at Archer hopefully.

The Alpha nodded with a grin, ‘make it two, as I’m sure the sleeping beauty here will want one when she wakes up.'

Jumping up, the waitress rushed off to get their order as Kurt’s gaze flickered from Archer’s to the table, ‘you didn’t have to do that, Alpha, the children are used to going without’ he mumbled.

Archer shook his head firmly, ‘I thought that you were my pack, Kurt? At least until you find a real pack to live with, so, as your temporary Alpha, it is my job to take care of you and make sure you have everything you need.’

The Rogue’s lips tilted up slightly as he nodded, ‘yes Alpha’ he whispered, before reaching out for the menu that Archer was now holding out to him and reading over it.

Archer turned to Levi, ‘so young man, what do you think you and Alyona will want for lunch?’ he asked softly.

Levi frowned as he looked over the pictures carefully before pointing at the stack of pancakes excitedly.

Archer nodded, ‘a fine choice for a growing wolf’ he agreed, looking over his own menu as he subconsciously shifted the little she wolf on his lap to make her more comfortable.

Soon the waitress was back, balancing a large tray on her palm that was stacked with coffee pots, mugs and two huge milkshakes that had the little boy squealing loud enough that he woke his sister.

Alyona rubbed her eyes as her bottom lip stuck out, a grumpy expression on her face. Realising she was sitting on something, she looked up at the broad chest that she had been curled into until she found Archer’s face, who was looking down at her in amusement.

Smiling widely, the child hugged Archer tightly, ‘thank you for the ride, Alpha’ she said loudly before her brother pulled on her sleeve, bringing her attention to the milkshakes, his own grin widening as Alyona’s mouth dropped into a small O of shock. ‘Is that for me?’ she asked hesitantly, looking back up at Archer who nodded happily.

‘Yes sweetie, that is all for you’ he replied gruffly.

Clapping her hands, the little girl slipped from his lap and clambered into the seat next to her brother, who carefully pushed the milkshake toward her, holding the bottom of the glass as she sipped through the straw.

Turning back to the waitress, Archer placed an order for everyone’s food, the young woman jotting down the requests on her notepad before heading back to the kitchen again.

Anya pulled her shawl around her body so that she could feed Georgio as they waited, glancing up at Archer once her baby was latched, and quietly asked, ‘so where do we go from here Alpha?’

Archer leaned back in his chair heavily, rubbing his temples slowly as he thought before answering, ‘I think I need to leave the country, my father will pursue us all until I’m out of reach.’