The Falcon Ridge Series Book 1 She's Not For You
Chapter 52

(Chapter song ‘Enemy’ by Imagine Dragons)

RIVER

The shitshow of the last weekend has me on edge.

Everyone's suspect. I cannot believe the people who I thought were friends, now want me dead. How could a place like the Alliance let this happen? I'm trying so hard to hide that I know, but as I walk through the halls of the dorms, I can't help but question everyone I pass.

In my mind, they’re all Dragons. I have to get it together. It doesn't help that I'm terrified that Anna has to be out of my sight for even a minute. My wolf hates the idea. He's been scrambling around in his cage since I dropped her off at her door.

These next few weeks are going to be torture. Especially, where Zeke's involved.

I just can't believe it. Zeke and I are best friends. Were…best friends. We practically grew up together. I thought I knew him better than he knew himself. Turns out he's a fucking Dragon.

How can I be normal? How can I not lose my shit when he's around Anna? Throwing her that fake ass smile. Pretending to be her friend, when at any moment, he could ruin us both.

I'm in my room, unpacking, when a knock comes on the door.

"Hey, buddy. Have a good weekend?" A voice comes from the open doorway.

I lift my head and stare out my window. My teeth clench and my jaw ticks. I don't need to turn to know whose voice that is.

I lower my head, close my eyes and try to gain some form of composure.

I plaster on the fakest smile I can muster and turn around. "Hey. It was pretty good."

Zeke steps in further. "How's the move going? Anna settling in nicely?"

The mere mention of her name on his lips has my wolf growling. I push him down. "Yep. She's amazing. She gets along so good with my dad. Turned him into a pup." I chuckle.

"Wow. You're dad's a hardass. I'm impressed." He flashes me a smile.

I put some clothes away. "How about you?"

He nods and stuffs his hands in his pockets. “Can't complain.”

“Good.” You fucking traitor.

He furrows his brow. "You, ok? You seem... weird."

I shake my head. "Couldn't be better. My girl's ranked now, I'm totally in love and we're moving in together. I'm fan-fucking-tastic." I grab my training clipboard and walk past him, clapping his shoulder.

"Ok." Zeke eyes me. He walks out of my room, closing the door behind him.

He runs up and walks in step beside me. "You ready for a new round of recruits?"

I nod. "Ready as I'll ever be and with Anna helping, it'll make it all that much better."

Just as we walk by Anna's door, it opens. Zeke's between me and her door and Anna almost walks into him. She stops short and her eyes meet his. They're wide and I could see her swallow.

Zeke smiles. "Hey, sweetheart, we were just talking about you?"

She looked like a deer in the headlights. I shake my head to her.

She blinks and shakes her own head. She smiles. "Sorry, you scared me." She chuckles.

Zeke rubs his head. "Sorry about that. River was saying you're enjoying the pack house."

She nods and comes out of her room, shutting the door. She slips in beside me and I wrapped my arm around her. "Yeah, I am. River's parents are lovely."

"Cool. We should have dinner sometime. Like a family thing." We continue walking.

I rub my head. "These next few weekends are going to be busy with the move and the ball coming up, but we'll figure out something."

"Ok." Zeke says. "Well, catch you guys on the field.” He smiles and jogs off.

I blow out a breath. "Fuck, I want to strangle him."

Anna places her hand on my chest. "I know, but try to be cool."

I nod. "I'm trying."

She pats my chest. "I can tell.”

I drop a kiss on her head. "You ready for your first trainer session?"

She sighs. "No. I'm so nervous."

I chuckle. "Don't worry, you'll be assisting me. You won't get your own team for a while yet."

A wave of relief comes over her. "That's good."

We walk across the barrack complex toward the training.

"Hey, lovebirds." Blade comes running.

I nod toward him. "Hey, buddy. How was your weekend?"

He grins. "Awesome. Got drunk and messed with a brunette that shook the damn planet.” He lets out a deep laugh.

I laugh with him. “The hunt was good.”

He leans to me. “Oh yeah.” He grins.

I let go of Anna. "What do the new recruits look like?"

He rubs his head. "Garbage. We have a lot of work."

I throw my arm around him. "Hey. I... uh...want to run something by you later. Meet in my room after practice?" I glance back at Anna who has her arms wrapped around her. Her face filled with concern.

He arches his brow. "What about?"

"I'll tell you later. Just meet me after practice." I nod to him as my jaw goes slack.

He knows somethings up. "Ok. No problem."

"Great." I smile. I reach for Anna. "Let's go, baby girl."

Anna grabs my hand and we head off to training.

****

"I don't fucking believe it!" Blade growls as he holds the photo.

I knew I could trust Blade. He's one of the few I know who've seen the aftermath of the Dragons, being part of the crews who had to look for survivors. I had to tell him about what was going on. I needed someone other than Anna in on this. We needed more support.

I'm leaning on my dresser and Anna's beside me. "I know. I didn't believe it myself, until my dad gave me that, but then I think back. He's always hanging back in meetings, disappearing all the time. It fits."

"So, this, these fucking scumbags, are here? Now?" He throws the photo on the bed.

"Yeah." I nod.

Blade looked at Anna. "And Mike. He's part of it."

Anna shook her head. "No. He's not. He made a mistake. A massive one, but when he found out what was going on, he still came to us."

"But the fucker did sell us out. He put all of us in danger to get to you." Blade stood up. His eyes weren't full on angry, but he gave off a feeling I didn't like.

I stood in front of him. "This isn't her fault Blade. Don't dare blame her for it."

He sighed. "No. I know, but still. She's the reason the ball is a fucking target."

Anna walked over to him. "Blade. I know my relationship with Michael has caused massive problems. Blaming anyone right now, isn't going to help. We need a plan here. We need people on our side."

He wrapped a thick arm around Anna. "I'm not blaming you. I'm sorry, girl. I know this isn't your fault." He gives her a quick shake.

She smiles.

I cross my arms. "Now, right now, we don't know who to trust. So, we have to keep our heads down and our feelers out. We have to replace people that will fight with us."

Blade folds his arms. "I know Rez, Felix and Franco are on our side. They hate the Dragons just as much as I do."

Anna looks up at him. "You sure?"

He nods. "Oh yeah. All three have had run in with members. Got pretty messed up by it. They'd join the fight."

"Ok. That makes six. We need more." I say.

Blade puffs his chest. "I'll put the word out. Secretly of course. We can meet in the old complex building by the river, Friday night."

I nod. "My dad's working on the higher ups. Trying to get them flushed out. We’ll need to reach the other departments too."

Blade snatches his head. "We have friends in three of them. I'm sure a lot on the cleanup crews wouldn't dare cross over."

"Ok." I sigh. "Thanks, Blade. I knew you would be there for us."

"Til death, brother." He fists bumps me and claps my shoulder.

He leaves. Me and Anna sink onto the bed.

I lean on my knees. "God. This whole thing is just..."

Anna climbs up behind me and rubs my shoulders. "I know, babe. Maybe we should just try and get some sleep." She kisses my neck.

I blow out my frustration. "Yeah."

We get ready for bed and climb in under the covers. We stare at each other. I'm staring at her intently.

"What?" She whispered.

"I'm scared." I whisper back.

"Of what?" She traces my lips with her fingers.

"Of losing you. I’m afraid that this thing will go sideways and you'll be lost to me forever." I swallow.

"I can't say I'll never leave you, but I'll be damned if I leave you now without a fight. Just know, I love you so much and wherever I am, wherever you are, I will always be there loving you. No matter what."

"Really?" I run my finger down her cheek.

"Yeah. I'll be all around you. Hugging you. Kissing you. Just like the warm breeze." She smiles. "As long as I'm here and here..." She points to my head and my heart. "You'll never, ever be alone."

I give her a half smile. "I love you so much."

I give her the softest, warmest kiss I could.

I don't know what I'm going to do if this thing does goes sideways. If I lose Anna, I lose everything, but somehow her words bring me so much comfort. Knowing that if we were torn apart, we still have love in our hearts, makes me feel better. It makes me feel that whatever is coming for us, couldn't break down what we built.

I don't know what I'd do, but I do know this girl gives me the strength to move forward. If it's without her, I'll know she's still there. Standing proud by my side.

****

I wake up to sun beaming through my dorm room window. My eye cracks open and I blink it to adjust.

Anna is safely tucked in my arms, still sleeping. My night was fitful. Mostly dreams of Dragons attacking.

As I come into reality, the warmth of Anna's body, makes me feel safe again.

I squeeze her tight.

She stirs, shuffling her hips into me, squeezing my arms.

I kiss her neck. "Good morning, beautiful." I nuzzle her.

"Mmm...Good morning." She says in her sexy morning voice.

She spins around. "What time is it?"

"Seven." I look into the most beautiful face any man should have the pleasure of waking up to.

She groans. "Can we just stay here all day?"

I smile. "As much as I would love that, we have work."

She climbs on top of me while she kisses my face. "I don't want to." She mumbles on my lips.

I chuckle. "Neither do I, trust me." I push my growing hard-on onto her aroused core and she lets out a little moan. I bite my own lip and close my eyes. It feels so good…damn work ethic.

I sit up, wrapping my arms around her. "Come on. Duty calls."

She whines as she gets up. "Fine. Only because you're so sexy."

I laugh and give her ass a squeeze. "You're the sexy one."

I get up, throw my shirt on and walk over to her. "See you in the showers." I slap her ass and she yelps. She glares at me, rubbing her bare ass cheek. I laugh, leaving her in the room and heading to my own for clothes.

I get to the locker room and Franco’s in there.

He slides up to me as I get my stuff ready to have a shower.

"Dude, I heard." He whispers looking around.

I arch a brow. "Oh yeah?"

He nods. "Yeah. That's some bullshit right there."

I grunt in agreement.

"See you Friday." He claps my shoulder. "I've got about five others coming and I know about ten more that are on the fence about getting involved. They're nervous, but they'll come around."

I stand. "Thanks, Franco. Really."

"No, problem, man. You're the shit. I'd fight beside you any day." He smiles and leaves.

I couldn't help but feel a little empowered. Maybe this thing won't go sideways at all.

****

"How much further?" Anna pants behind me.

"Not far." I say as I move unruly brush from our path.

The old complex was abandoned years ago when the Alliance grew. It's since been tucked away in the forest all but forgotten. A perfect place to set up a resistance.

As we broke through the trees, the dilapidated outline of an arena came into view.

Back in its day, it was the training center for the Falcon Ridge wolves. A small arena that could fit 500 inside.

It's outside is covered in vines. It's lot, overgrown. The asphalt's cracked, assaulted with vegetation and trees.

Its doors are broken, but they still hung onto their hinges like a lifeline.

Inside, it had been cleaned out. Now it lays destroyed by rebellious teenagers.

We aren't teenagers though. We are angry wolves bent on saving the Unit and our people from death.

I was expecting 10 maybe 15 fighters as me and Anna walked into the arena entrance, but the place was packed.

I walked in, looking around at all the faces. They look concerned, angry, scared and worried.

Greetings of "Alphas." Came from the crowd as we slowly assessed the situation.

When I got to the center of the training floor, I slowly spun around the room. I stopped and put my hands on my hips. There had to be almost 100 wolves here.

Blade walked up to me and clapped me on the shoulder. "Every single one wants to join this fight. Every single one has been burned by a Dragon in some way or another. They're looking for blood and looking for your command."

I swallow. I was not expecting this. I nod, processing what I'm going to say. I lift my head, looking out to the curious, eager soldiers.

"You've all heard we've been compromised by Dragons." I start.

"You've all heard about the impending attack on Caledon." Heads nod and turn to their neighbors.

"I don't think I need to tell you that if we lose Caledon, we're all dead. That's it, game over." I look at all the faces.

"I need your help." I say, gravelly. "We need to stop the Dragons. Hopefully, for good. I need you all by my side. To stand up! Stand up and fight!"

"No more will our people die at the hands of them!” I walk around the giant circle. "We will live no longer live in fear!" I try to convey how serious I am to the nodding heads in the dark.

"We will save Caledon! We will save the unit! We will fight until our last dying breath!"

I walk over to Anna and cup her cheek. She leans into it. I turn back to the crowd of eyes.

"We will win." I glance back at her and turn back to them. "Because I don't know about you, but I have too much to lose. So, I need to know, will you help me?"

I scan the faces; concern filled my eyes.

Just then, Davis pops out of the crowd with Fiona in tow. "I'll help you. Losing isn't an option for me either." He turns to Fiona and smiles.

I nod appreciatively.

Felix and Rez step forward. "We're in." They fist bump each other.

Mark, Greg, Sienna, and Jacob all step forward too. "Let's kick some Dragon ass." Jacob says smashing a fist to his open palm.

Then more groups step forward.

“We're with you.” A group of three girls step forward. They’re the girls from communications. “Our head is a spy and I refuse to have our department soiled by filthy Dragons.”

I walk up to her. “What’s your name?”

Anna joins me. “River. This is Emily, Carmen and Cassie. They’re friends of mine.” She hugs Emily and tells her thanks.

“Whatever you need tech wise, you come to us.” Emily nods to me.

I smile. “Thank you.”

Soon others join the loyalty pledge.

"We're with you." Some say.

"We'll fight." Others declare.

I look to Blade. "All the way, Brother."

"I'm with you!" A voice from the entrance breaks through the crowd.

Michael stands with his hands in his pockets.

Instantly, my anger grows. What the fuck?

Anna turns from Emily. "I called him. He needs to be here. He wants to help."

He walks up to me. "If I'm going to die, it'll be by your side. Taking down as many of these son of bitches as I can."

I look into his eyes. Looking for trust. I extend a hand sideways and he takes it in a bro shake. I feel it. This is the Michael I wanted to feel. Not the liar I felt in Anna’s kitchen.

I slap his shoulder and address the crowd again. "I can't say we'll all make it out, but I can say if we go down, we go down fighting. Are you ready to fight?"

The crowd yelled "Yeah!"

"I said…Are you ready to fight?!"

"YEAH!"

"Good. Now, we need a plan. We need information. More importantly, we need secrecy. We cannot let them know we're building this army. Find others, but please, make sure it's someone you trust with your life. We don't know how many of them there are. We don't need to lose before we even start. So, go back to the unit. Keep your eyes open and be careful. We'll let you know when we meet up here again. Good night and thanks. All of you."

The crowd broke up. I was circled by a lot who wanted to say a few things and shake my hand. Some with concerns about the ball and the fight. I tried to answer as many questions as I could.

I watch Michael talk with Emily. I actually see him laugh. I kind of narrow my eyes a bit, trying to figure out what I’m seeing. Is there actually a chance for him?

As the people became less, Michael came over. He stood with his hands in his pockets. "I meant it, ya know." He said gravelly. Looking down, kicking at some rubble.

I turn to him, shoving my own hands in my pockets. "Meant what?"

He looked at me. "I'll be right beside you. I'll fight with you. You may not believe it, but I have to respect you, man. The way you act. The way you treat Anna...." He shook his head. He swallowed. "It's like I'm looking at a ghost. It's like he's here. He was the best damn friend I ever had. I never thought I'd see his kind of passion ever again. But you...." He trailed off. He turned his face away from me like he was fighting himself. He cleared his throat. “Anyway, I just wanted to say I'm sorry. I'm sure you'll always have doubts about me, but I'm gonna try my hardest to make this right. For you, Anna and David."

I clap his shoulder and give him a smile. "Thanks. I can't say all is forgiven. I'm not sure if it ever will be, but the fact that you want to try is a giant step forward. I may not be David, but maybe, in time, I can try to be." I give his shoulder a squeeze.

Michael nods.

Anna sneaks in under my arm. "Hey, you ready to head home?"

I look at Michael. "Yeah. I think we are."

He turns around, I clap him on the back and we all head out of the arena to the pack house to start working on a plan that will save us all.