He stood up and bared his teeth. The situation with Hector had me seeing red and I was this close to starting a fight with David, but Jericho pulled me back while Tyson and Ken tried to sootheDavid.
I wrenched my arm out of Jericho’s grip and turned my back on David. “If you don’t want to help, just say so. But this isn’t about me. It’s about my family - my omega, my daughter, and my unborn child. If you have a problem with me, I don’t give a shit. But don’t take it out onthem.”
David let out a frustrated grunt. “I’m not taking it out on you. I was justasking.”
“Okay, okay,” Ken said, holding out his hands in an attempt to calm us down. “Let’s all chill for a second.” He turned to me. “Flint, Jericho told us about this alpha, but maybe you should give us more information. That’ll help us figure out how to helpyou.”
I slumped down on one of the tables. My packmates gathered around me, listening intently. Even David had one ear turned towards me, even if he was sitting by himself with crossedarms.
“Okay. He’s a Scarlet Ridge alpha named Hector,” I explained. “He was sent by the top alpha to try and bring Charlie back to ScarletRidge.”
“But Charlie left on his own, didn’t he?” Tysonasked.
“That doesn’t matter to them,” David growled from the other table. “They think of omegas asproperty.”
“That’s stupid,” Ken muttered. “They’re living, breathingindividuals.”
“We all know that,” I said. “But Scarlet Ridge doesn’t care. Charlie told me omegas are treated like dirtthere.”
“But why do they want Charlie so badly? Don’t they know that he’s mated to you now?” Tysonasked.
“They probably didn’t know that until now,” Jericho muttered with a grimace. “After all, Flint onlyjusttold all of us that they mated. This guy - Hector - probably thought we were just harboring Charlie in the meantime. But now they have biggerproblems.”
We fellsilent.
Jericho stood up. “Anyway, I’m not gonna stand around and let some Scarlet Ridge rat keep trespassing on our territory, especially if it's to spy on Flint and hisfamily.”
“Me, too,” Ken growled. “I’ll talk to the alphas I know outside of the hunting guild. This isn’t just Flint’s problem anymore. Our security is literally beingbreached.”
“I’ll talk to my friends, too,” Tyson added. “I’ll spread the word throughout the pack as much as Ican.”
David slowly stood, slapping his hands on his knees. “I’ll rally the old forces. They might have disbanded, but they’ll never let Scarlet Ridge worm their way past our defenses and into ourpack.”
“Thanks, guys,” I murmured, looking around the room. “You’re the best friends an alpha could askfor.”
We called in the kitchen workers to help package and distribute the meat from the hunt, then we all shared a quick drink to wind down from the day’s stress. After downing a couple beers, I felt less stressed about the whole Hector situation than I did in the beginning. Now all my friends, and soon every member of the pack, would know that Scarlet Ridge wasn’t the harmless, far-away pack they all thought itwas.
I wasn’t going to let Hector or Gunner oranyoneput their hands on Charlie. He was my omega and I would fight until my last breath to protecthim.
