Page 109 of The Alpha’s Heir

I’d come back for my men, but I was starting to think that maybe they’d be better off without me. I wasn’t one of them anymore, and with my father gone, what reason did I have to wear this collar device? There’d once been grand ideas of glory and fame—of the stories I could tell of my own life as I climbed through the ranks.

But now, moving through the darkened city, a different threat lingered on the horizon that made me question what I was doing. This was only the beginning. A few days from now… A week or two as supplies dwindled. It’d be a much harder patrol than it was tonight.

“It’s too quiet,” Marcus whispered, sweeping the next street with the headlights.

Corporal Jacques groaned from the back seat. “Don’t jinx us like that, Staff Sergeant.”

“I don’t care about your superstitions,” he muttered.

But he did. Or at least the Marcus I knew did. I looked back at Corporal Jacques and Corporal Yemen, seeing the two younger men huddled together much like Marcus and I had once been on a ride along like this.

“Are you okay, man?” I asked, purposefully not addressing him by rank.

Tight-lipped, he nodded.

I nodded too.

The silence stretched between us again.

“I couldn’t have told you,” Marcus whispered. “I didn’t want to risk getting anyone else in trouble.”

I laughed silently at that, knowing I’d have done the same thing. “When this is over…”

Marcus’s gaze cut to me. “This isn’t going to be over anytime soon, is it?”

Everyone in the vehicle listened in, hanging on my every word. As their leader, it would be best for me to lie to them. To spare their worries for another day and give them hope for a future to fight for.

But something had changed in the last few weeks, even before the power had been cut and we’d started to drown in this never-ending rain.

I thought about what Meg would do.

“No. It’s not.” I rubbed the back of my neck. “I’m not sure what their plan is, but I know that once this shift is over, you should set your families up somewhere safe.”

“Where is somewhere safe?” Sgt. Stone’s question hung in the stale air of the vehicle.

There’d be no going back from what I said next, yet I said it anyway, needing to protect them if it was the last thing I did. “Anywhere but Ethica or any of the other cities if things are the same everywhere. There are only enough supplies on hand to last the population about two weeks. Longer than that, and it’ll be complete anarchy.”

“Staff Sergeant?” Yemen swallowed hard, fear making his face pale. “Is it going to be longer than two weeks?”

“Don’t worry,” Staff Sgt. Marcus told him. “We stick together as a unit no matter what happens, right, LT?”

All the men looked at me, and I felt the weight settle hard on my shoulders. I wasn’t the man to protect them, not after this, but I knew how easily morale could break down. If they needed me a little longer, I’d be here.

“Right.” I nodded. “We’ll figure something out.”

There was a hiss of relief as the men started talking over one another, making plans in the back of the vehicle for an unsure future.

Marcus eyed me again, keeping his voice low. “You couldn’t have dropped that bomb a little softer? At least lubed it up first?”

“I’ve never been great with words.” Not like my dad was, or how Meg could say exactly what was on her mind and coax the demons out of mine.

I needed to get back to her.

“You’re a good lieutenant, even if you’re an asshole sometimes.” Marcus grinned at me, lighter than I’d seen him all night. “What’s the plan for your family?”

That question squeezed a fist around my heart when I thought of my dad’s empty hospital bed.

“I mean your girl,” Marcus said gently. “I assume you’ll want to get her out of here too. I know you only came back for me.”