My Warrior, My Mate

Chapter 5

Alpha Marcus' Pov

I was sitting in my office rubbing my temples. I had a massive headache from all the pack issues I was facing.

I got a call the other day about a possible threat from the West Lake pack. We recently had been on good terms but Rick, the alpha, was going crazy trying to protect his Luna.

I couldn't blame him. If I was in his shoes and I felt Nancy was in danger I would be just as bad, if not worse. However, I was the third party in this situation and could see things differently which is why I refused to let him interrogate a prisoner of mine who had been locked up for years.

He called a week ago and told me that he had encountered some issues with some rogues. Although we weren't close he felt I should be informed just in case this was a massive upsurge. Since we were two of the strongest packs in the country we usually tried to keep each other informed in case a group of rogues plotted against us. Rogues would do anything for revenge and with packs as large as ours there was sure to be one person in the pack that pissed them off. It had most certainly happened in the past an as an alpha you could never be too cautious.

I thanked him and that was the last I heard from him until a few days ago. Apparently he believed that that Justin, a rogue we caught seven years ago, was somehow connected to the rogues who were after his mate.

I didn't believe it but I still interrogated him myself. He told me he had nothing to do with it and I believed him. Justin was a good guy. The only reason I kept him prisoner was because he had committed a crime in another territory before he was caught.  He challenged an alpha's authority which was against the law. It turned out the alpha was deranged and ended up destroying his entire pack before he was finally killed. But by law I couldn't free Justin until at least fifteen years had passed and I had to be willing to accept him into my pack.

After I interrogated him I called Rick to let him know that I didn't think Justin was a threat. He was furious and wanted to come over and interrogate him himself. I asked him why he felt so strongly about it and he said that his mate knew some of the same rogues as Justin and that Justin secretly wanted her or knew the guy who was after her.

I told him that Justin said he never met her and that the people they had in common were people he met in passing. The story seemed accurate because when I found Justin he had only been rogue for a few weeks. Rick argued that that was no excuse and that he could have been working with the rogues prior.

I told explained to him although I understood his situation I would not allow him to come in and harm my prisoner. I knew how things could spiral put of control when an alpha was protecting his mate and I didn't want Justin severely beaten or dead. He was still young and hadn't found his mate yet. I didn't want his injury or death on my conscious. Especially when Rick had no real proof.

Rick accused me of working with Justin and said I probably wanted to overthrow his pack and let Justin mate his Luna. I told him he was out of his mind. He went silent and told me to be ready for a war and hung up.

I don't take threats lightly especially not from someone like Rick. I didn't want to alarm my pack but I had to protect them which is why I started the extra training sessions. Ryland was strong which is why I chose him as gamma. I knew with him doing the training we would be well prepared. I just hoped things wouldn't get to that point.

Ryland's Pov

I left Marilyn to go train the male pack members. They would be first in line to fight in case of a war so I always started with them first.

I had them do hand to hand combat first and then work with a select few weapons. Only when I was satisfied would I allow them to do a thirty mile run. Once they were finished the females would be next. I worked with all the ones willing to fight that weren't pregnant. Last would be the basic training which included the young ones who were newly shifted and the non fighting females who weren't expecting. Everyone had to know the basics regardless of their status.

Because the sessions were extended I was training almost ten hours only taking breaks to eat. I had some help but it was still a lot of work. Bishop joined me for most of the sessions when he wasn't on patrol. Although we didn't voice it we were both thinking the same thing. Alpha Marcus was keeping something from us.