Alphas United: The Battle Before the War

Chapter 11

Zac’s Point of View

I just waved Lauren, the kids and a convoy of women, seniors and children off, followed by a large group of warriors that will escort them to Jack's pack and return. Lauren hates the idea of me fighting, but she understands the importance of it. It doesn’t stop her from worrying though, and that always leaves a nasty feeling inside of me. Given that we don’t really know what we’re up against, it’s a little more nerve-wracking for her. We don't have much to go on, just have the ramblings of Jacques. Twelve hundred apparently but maybe they have more than that now? Maybe they have more than us? I take great comfort in the fact that Jack and I train our guys hard. Jack is the best, and he trained me. Together we trained our packs. Even if we are a little outnumbered, which I doubt we would be, we’re skilled fighters. 

I curious to see what this hogan looks like. He thinks he deserves to be king, so he must think he’s something special. I’m sure I’ll find out soon. 

Soon Jack and his warriors show up. 

“Hey, Jack,” I wave, and walk over to his vehicle and Lev and Kyle are jumping out too. 

We all greet each other and take a few minutes to chat amongst our group of friends. Julien is chatting up Jack, while Jos is chatting with Lev’s mate, Britt, and Kyle and I are catching up. I used to be Jack’s beta, and Kyle is Jack’s gamma. We spent years working together, and we grew up together. He’s also mated to Lauren’s best friend, Sadie, so we still see a lot of each other. 

“How’s Sadie?” I ask. 

“She’s great! She’s glad to finally be finished with school, and she loves working as a nurse,” he smiles. He looks around, looking to see if anyone’s watching. Then he motions me off to the side.

“What’s up?” I press as we separate ourselves from the packs. 

Joy consumes his whole face, and he looks like he can’t contain it. “I know Sadie is probably telling Lauren now. We’re keeping it a secret for a little while, just to be safe… but Sadie’s pregnant,” he beams.

“Holy s**t! Congratulations man! That’s awesome,” I say and pull him in to give him a big hug, with a couple of shoulder slaps. 

“Thanks, dude. We’ve been wanting kids for a while, but she was serious about completing her studies first,” he explains. 

“I get it. I’m pumped for you guys, and I know Lauren is going to flip. She’ll be so excited.”

I look around and it wasn’t just Jack, me and our group socializing. Everyone is congregated. My pack genuinely likes Jack’s, and we get along seamlessly. That makes me proud. Our pride doesn’t get between our relationships. We aren’t so guided by power and greed that we've lost sight of the friendships we have with one another. This is the world I want to raise my kids in. Filled with love and support instead of greed and bitterness. 

We all headed to the packhouse kitchen after we were done catching up, and grabbed some dinner. The kitchen staff made a ton of food. They served over 1400. 

When everyone was fed, we all gathered outside and Alicia and her group of 13 elders show up to go over the logistics of our attack. Of the 13, there were 8 women and 5 men. Alicia, Myrtle, Panna, Jill, Christina, Sonya, Freya, Piper and Felix, Jessop, Tripp, Tyler and Matt. All were wearing long white cloaks with hoods. I wonder if the cloaks serve a purpose aside from standing out like a sore thumb. Do they do anything? Are they magical or just a fashion statement?

“Why don’t you take about 800 with you, coming in from the front, and we’ll flank from the side?” Jack suggests. 

“Yeah, that works,” I nod. 

“We can separate into two groups as well,” Alicia states, all the while not taking her eyes off of Jack. I know the ladies go crazy for Jack, and it seems Alicia isn’t any different, even though she’s got a good 15 years on him. Lexi wouldn’t like her staring so intently, but Jack seems oblivious. I didn’t think Alicia would act this way, it’s kinda surprising. Especially not at a time like this. 

Jack’s charms are irresistible, I guess. I mask my laugh, and I look at the other witches to see if they notice how their leader is acting. Not surprisingly, they’re doing the same thing. I look at the warlocks, and they're staring at him too. What the f**k? 

“Everything okay?” I ask Alicia, but she ignores me, attention remaining on Jack. Suddenly Jack seems to be aware of the attention he is getting. All the witches and warlocks can’t take their eyes off of him.

“What?” he asks, looking annoyed.

“Who's your witch? Or Warlock? Why didn’t you bring them?” She asks, looking at Jack.

One of his brows raises in confusion. “I don’t have any witches,” he states plainly. Alicia’s head tilts to the side studying him. “But I-” Alicia starts but she’s cut off by Paul, my beta.

“We need to get going, if we want to do this at dusk like planned,” he reminds.

“Right, let’s go,” I say, and give Jack’s pat on the shoulder. I see the witches all looking at each other now. They may not have mind link, but they are definitely saying something to one another with the way they’re looking at each other. Or maybe they do? Whatever it is, I have no idea. It doesn’t matter right now, either. I don’t care. 

---

My group of 800 are moving into position and I’ve got Julien and Kyle beside me. We planned to get into position, and when we’re concealed, and ready, Jack and his group of 600 will get in position from the south. We didn’t want too much movement so we planned to come in separately. Jack and his group of 600 are about 6-700 feet back, waiting for me to give Kyle the signal, to mind link Jack, to move forward. 

Then we’ll wait until dusk and attack. As we move closer, I suddenly see a figure in front of me, then another. My eyes scan the forest and there are guys everywhere. Hogan’s guys. We’re still quite far away from where they are supposed to be camped out. This isn’t going as planned.

In an instant, I went from seeing silent figures appear in the dusk, to chaos. What the f**k?

Hogan’s Point of View

I lay in my double cot in my tent. I needed to release some tension and Sandy, as usual, was ready and willing. I lost my mate a year and a half ago and Sandy has been a regular warm body ever since. She’s cute, she has big t**s, and she takes it anywhere I want to give it to her. She’s more fun than my mate was in bed, but Natalia was gorgeous. The most beautiful woman I had ever seen with long golden curls and her eyes were such a deep grey they sometimes looked almost purple.

 On top of her beauty, she was loyal to me. Sandy would f**k anyone if she thought it would benefit her. I’ll enjoy her for now, but I know that if I’m successful and I’m able to bring my mate back to life, I’m going to have to kill Sandy. She’d never shut her mouth, and she’d only hurt Natalia. She’s the spiteful type, she’d take way too much pleasure in hurting her. 

“Baby, why don’t you put a pup in me. You need an heir,” she says seductively, as she leans in and nips at my ear. 

“No,” I state and sit up. I grab my shirt off the floor and start pulling it over my shoulder when I have a mind link coming though.

-Donnie just got a hold of me. We’ve got movement sir. About 2 KM’s away an army of men were spotted. All our kind. They are headed in our direction.- Ollie, my beta mind links me. 

Ha! Perfect. The fight is coming to me. Let’s get this over with. I can’t f*****g wait to get my revenge. 

I throw on my jeans and walk outside.

“WARRIORS! THEY ARE COMING FOR US! PREPARE FOR BATTLE,” I yell. 

We’re in their territory, so we need to see them coming long before they want to be seen. I send more of my warriors; scattered farther away from our camp, all around us. I had my witches hide their scents, so they would be undetectable from up in the trees. Wherever they attack from, I’ll be ready, and we’ll catch them off guard. 

---

Within a half-hour, I’ve got a mind link coming in. 

-We have a lot of warriors approaching. I’m not sure how many, it’s hard to say with them scattered and in the dark how many. I think we have more though,- One of my warriors tells me. 

-From which direction?”-

-Coming in towards the main entrance, but not using the road.-

-Got it.-

I send out a mass mind-link to my warriors, sending almost all of them to the main entrance, but to spread out. When they try to sneak in, they’ll be caught off guard, and we’ll overrun them. 

 I don't know how many pack members Zac has or how skilled they are, but I’m not worried about it. My warriors are tough, and we have been successful in every raid, fight and take over we’ve fought in. I feel my adrenaline pumping, coursing through my veins. The excitement I feel when I fight is a high that nothing can compare to. I live for this, and I don’t shy away from a fight. It’s one of the reasons my warriors respect me and fear me. They’ve seen me in action and they know what I’m capable of.