Alphas of the Steelclaw pack

ARDEN’S POV:

“So you’re saying you found a random woman at X-zone and brought her back to the packhouse?” I heard the voice of my brother, Asher asking Karl, our beta.

“Yes, Asher.”

“Cast her away! Fast!” Asher yelled, not even letting Karl say his next words.

I frowned at my brother’s ill mannered attitude.

He was being ridiculous right now.

“But Alpha Asher…..” Karl began again, and I heard Asher growl in displeasure.

I couldn't bear it any longer and I pushed the door open, the shocked expression on my brother's face was a clear indication that he wasn't expecting me.

Karl smiled as I strolled in and threw a small smile and a nod towards him.

"Have you been eavesdropping on—" Asher started to ask.

I held up my palm in the air, "Just drop it, Asher. Yes, I heard everything. The stranger stays."

Asher cocked his head to the side, as if to get a better look at my face.

"First of all, I'll choose to overlook the fact that you were listening to our conversation! And, I don't care what you feel, we can't keep her" He said.

"Karl already said she's unconscious, and the best we could do for her is to keep her here until she gets better" I explained.

He took heavy steps across the room and walked over to the window on the other end. I watched him in silence. Asher had always been a difficult person to deal with, but now, I didn't care the least if he accepted having the stranger stay at the pack house.

I refused to sit and watch him send an almost helpless person right back to the danger that Karl had just saved her from.

"Arden?" Asher called out.

"What?"

"I still insist that the stranger is taken away from our pack tomorrow morning." He said firmly.

"No!" I seethed, "We don't know how badly injured she might be, but if Karl brought her in here, then it has to be quite severe. What kind of Alphas are we if we lack common sympathy?"

"Sympathy? I call it discretion."

I lifted my shoulder in a half shrug and folded my arms across my chest without a word.

Tension hung low in the room.

Karl cleared his throat, breaking the silence.

"Alphas, the night is far gone" He said stepping between us as his eyes darted from Asher to me, "It is not right that you both argue over a woman you are yet to see.”

"What woman?" Someone curiously asked behind us.

I didn't have to look over my shoulder to check who it was. I knew it was Axel, the last one.

There was a line etched on his forehead as he came up besides me and glanced at Asher who was now sipping from a glass at the other end of the room.

"I asked, what woman are you all talking about?" He questioned again, eyeing us.

I unfolded my hands and shoved them roughly into my pockets. He noticed how tensed I was and asked.

"Are you alright?"

"I’m fine, but it is clear that someone else isn't."

Asher scowled, "Of course, I'm not. I will not watch you make the wrong decisions, just because you're damn too soft to make the hard ones"

I flared up, "Too soft?"

"What's going on?!" Axel's deep voice thundered in the room, bouncing off the walls. "What are you two yapping on about?"

"Let me explain" Karl cut in, "I was out at the X-zone earlier this evening, and I found a young lady under attack by some rogue wolves. It was a good thing that I was there, so I rescued her and—"

"Brought her home?" Axel asked with disbelief.

I sighed, "Yes, he did. Was he to leave her behind?"

Axel shot a death stare at me and ground his jaw, "Arden, I thought you knew better than this."

My lips drew back in a snarl. I could barely believe what Axel just said. Was he about to oppose me?

"Huh?"

"Asher's right. We can't accommodate her, if we are sure she isn't one of us"

"Well, I insist that we do!" I snapped as I swung around to leave the room.

"Arden!" Axel's voice boomed, just as I got to the half open door.

I halted in my tracks. Axel was the first amongst us, and despite how furious I was, I still had respect for him. I turned to face them again, but this time, I had my eyes pinned solely on Axel.

"We can't take the risks of tending to a person whose roots we know nothing of." He said with a much lighter tone.

I didn't respond.

Axel sighed, "Just as Asher has said, Karl will have to take her away by tomorrow, whether or not she is conscious"

A small gasp escaped my lips and I glared at him. Then, I took hold of myself and walked up to Axel, until I was staring into his eyes, a few inches away.

"On my way here, I overheard the maids in the hallway, talking about a half dead woman who was brought in by Karl. Why don't we give her a chance explain who she is when she's fully awake?

"And when she does, are we expected to assign her to a room?" Axel replied with his own question, not looking away from my face.

Asher let out a mirthless laugh from where he stood but I didn't pay attention to him.

"Why don't you come out clear and tell us that you're only looking for a fresh woman to fuck with, seeing as you've done it with almost every female who makes herself available to you?" Asher mocked.

I bit my tongue, in a bid to stop myself from responding to his taunts. Then, I let out a sharp breath. He was still laughing as I left the room without a word.

Karl was right! We were arguing over a woman we were yet to even see.

I was already a few feet away from my chambers when I decided to check up on the stranger. With that, I went the other way, taking long strides down the hall until I arrived at the healer's room.

The door was just being opened as I made to turn its knob. A face popped out, causing me to stagger backwards with surprise.

"Asher?" The healer asked.

I frowned. "It's Arden!"

The healer had an annoying habit of always mixing up the identity of my triplet brothers and I.

This was the completely wrong time for him to assume that I was Asher, the same man I was very angry with.

The healer nodded.

"Are you here to see her?"

I pushed past him and stepped into the room.

"How's she now?" I asked as my eyes fell on the small figure of a woman on the bed.

He opened his mouth and shut it again. I strolled to where the lady was and peered closely at her face. Dried blood was matted on her face, and there was a bandage around her head and one of her arms. Her chest laid still, it was hard to tell of she was even breathing.

A cold chill ran through me as I took in her appearance. She had been severely injured.

"Alpha Arden, the poor woman might not survive. She has lost a great deal of blood." The healer muttered, joining me by the bed.

My mouth turned dry as his words hit me.

“So…. What’s going to happen?” I asked as I ran a hand through my damp hair from walking in the snow for too long.

The HeaIer had a strange look in his eyes as he said softly and slowly. “I don’t know… only the goddess can save her now.”