Mellisa's POV
"Lenny! Lenny!" I scream through the mindlink, but she's gone silent.
"Dad! Mom!" I screamed, but got no reply at all.
"Baby!" I tried calling out Gift.
I took a sharp turn towards the pack border and my paws hit the ground. I zoom past the blurry trees.
"Mellisa!" Adam pushes through the barriers in my mind. His black wolf materialises by me.
I ignore him completely, I can't deal with his shit right now.
"What's wrong?" He asks, despite my silence. I still don't answer him.
"Mellisa," Fred's sharp voice cuts through my mind. "Where are you headed?" He asks to follow us along with Aiden.
"They've been poisoned with gas," I utter with pain.
What if they're all dead, I'd never forgive myself.
"Warriors, follow! The bunker has been attacked with gas, proceed with caution." Aiden orders through the pack's mindlink.
Countless paws hit the bare forest floor, we all have family and friends in the bunker.
A frustrated growl resounds through the mindlink "My kids aren't answering, Alpha." Mason, an older warrior says.
"Alpha, the attackers are gone, but we can't break the bunker door down. No one is answering inside." Nelly, an archer says.
"Shit, just stay in the trees in case they're still lurking around. Keep watch and keep me posted till we get there," I order, increasing my pace if possible.
Tears trickled down my face, my emotions took the best of me.
"We're almost there, Alpha. I can see the bunker." Aiden mutters through my mind.
"I'm here for you, Mellisa, even if you push me away." Adam says quietly through the mindlink.
I gave him a short glance just as we arrived at the clearing.
I ran straight at the bunker and hit it hard, it made a huge dent on the door.
"Careful, Alpha." Nelly and other archers whisper at the back of my mind still in the tree tops.
I push back and go back again but a black ball of fur speeds past me and hits the door and goes down in seconds.
Pools of smoke emmit from the bunker, "Stay back, all of you," I say.
The stillness from the bunker makes my bones go stiff. I brace myself and approach the bunker.
"Please protect them moon goddess," I whisper softly in my head.
A few warriors were being held back by others because they wanted to walk right in.
A hard sack bag gets thrown in my face from inside. I catch the bag between my teeth.
My brows furrow in confusion. "Alpha, get the masks on and help me." A muffled feminine voice resounds from inside.
My blood pumps in my veins.
I send through the pack's mindlink, "Someone is alive," I throw the bag in the clearing, tearing it open with my teeth.
"Aiden, Fred, Mason and Nelly. Shift, pick one mask and as many as you can help me."
I pick one and head to the trees, the others in tow.
A thought goes through my mind and I heave a sigh.
"Adam, please help." I shut the mindlink immediately. Putting on a random large shirt and shorts and placing the mask.
Well, that was so hard but he's an Alpha. It's the least thing to do, it would be wrong for me to call warriors but not him.
I rush towards the bunker. Countless foaming motionless bodies littered the bunker.
"Alpha, place it on them. They're not dead, they just took in too much gas." Layla, Aiden's kid sister mutters while placing a mask on an Elder.
"Okay," I get to work soon after, the others arrive following suit.
"Begin to pull them out," I ordered out loud. Fred carries my baby in his arms and places him gently outside.
"Rush them to the pack clinic," I say through the mindlink to the other warriors outside.
Soon enough everyone was taken to safety. We stepped outside taking off the masks.
A dainty figure walks past me with her head down, "Layla?" I call out in exhaustion. She pauses abruptly and spins to face me.
"Yes, Alpha." She whispers timidly, her red hair covering her face slightly.
I approach her and place an arm on her shoulders. "Thank you so much, I don't know what we would have done without you."
She smiled sweetly, her cheeks reddened slightly. "It was nothing, Alpha. They're my family too."
"Is Gift okay?" She asks, with a bit of worry.
"Yes, one of the pack doctors cleared him all thanks to you."
I gave her a long look, "How did you get those masks and why?"
She plays around with her fingers nervously. "You know I spend a lot of time alone so it helps me find things. I found these things in metal cases in the basement of the bunker earlier. But I was able to make some adjustments to make it better."
"Well thank you, my nerdy girl," I say ruffling her hair. She shoots me a playful glare.
"Now I'm grateful I paid for that college degree for you, it's rather handy."
"Baby, are you okay?" My father's hard voice resounds round the clearing. He approaches me with long strides holding my sleeping baby Gift, to his chest.
"Sir, you're not supposed to be up yet." A lanky pack doctor hardly keeps up with him.
"That's hardly a problem. I need to make sure my family is doing fine."
"Just take plenty of rest after." The doctor resigns and rushes towards other wounded pack members littered round the clearing.
I rush towards him and jump atop him, making him release a grunt.
"You're not so little anymore, sweetie."
"I miss you, Dad. I was so scared, thinking I had lost you guys."
He chuckles slightly, "You won't get rid of me so easily."
"Mom, I can't breathe." Gift's muffled voice breaks me from my little moment and I pull back slightly.
"I'm so glad you're okay, little devil." Tears trickled down my eyes as I held him close.
"Me too, Mama. I wuas so scared." He answered me close.
I peer at my Dad who was busy assessing the happenings around us.
"No attack has been this severe. Maybe probably since the great war."
That statement peaks my interest, "Speaking, about the Great War. What was it like, Dad?"
"Well there aren't a lot of books about it. But the war was caused by a greedy brother in the Royal bloodlines."
"I know I've heard this before but I want you to tell me once more."
"Well, there was once a Royal family overseeing the whole packs in Meldova. But the younger brother Morbuis wanted the throne though it wasn't his to have. It caused a rift in the packs. He was able to wipe out his brother's entire household but the armies were able to kill him on his coronation day."
"And some say his offspring will rise again and cause chaos." I finished for him.
"Yes, because his wife was able to flee with his abandoned child and disappeared completely."
"Do you know about the gas masks in the bunker?"
My Dad's eyes widened in surprise. "Yes, I completely forgot about them. Well they were used in order to keep us safe from gas which was used to annihilate entire packs."
"Well, Layla even made some improvements on them and that's what saved everyone."
"I'm so proud of my best friend's children. I will definitely tell them on our next call since they're on vacation." Dad says with pride.
"Something doesn't seem right though, how did they find the bunker? It's made more like a camouflage. How did they figure it out?"
"Aiden," I call out using the mindlink.
"Yes, Alpha."
"Please go with our best trackers and check pack grounds to see if you can find any clues."
"Yes Alpha."
"Baby!" A shrill feminine voice breaks through the clearing.
I roll my eyes in annoyance, it's no one else but Diana.
Surprisingly she disappeared when we needed her to fight alongside the warriors and was instead in the bunker.
Her heels dig into the ground as she rushes towards Adam who had bandages round his chest and was leaning on a tree.
"You're hurt! That incompetent wench couldn't even keep us safe."
A low growl pushes past my lips. The ingrate I'm trying to help is talking about me.
"I told you we weren't safe here, you didn't listen. Now look, in less than a month we have been attacked."
Adam places his fingers on his forehead and heaves a sigh.
"I have a headache, Diana. Can you keep it down?"
She looks around embarrassed at how he dismissed her.
She sniffs the air and adds her volume. "You smell like a woman. You were messing around with her right?"
"As if," I utter lowly with resentment. I barely tolerated him today.
He then gently pulls her off towards the opposite direction.
"Alpha," Aiden calls out, approaching me swiftly.
"We have a problem."
My heart drops at this. "What did you find?"
"It would seem that it is an inside job!" He says gritting his teeth.