Chapter 158
Dron had a lot to do in order to get ready for his journey to Tempest.
The location still hadn’t shown up on his wrist device, but he knew that she wouldn’t let him down. She’d get Gerax to push the information through.
Dron had a lot to say to that Beta when he had the chance. He had asked Gerax to make sure that Tempest didn’t do anything that would get herself hurt. Accompanying her to Skoq wasn’t exactly what Dron would consider safe. He couldn’t be too mad, though. Dron knew just how determined Tempest could be when she really wanted something.
He was sure that Gerax didn’t have much of a choice; still, he was still annoyed at the man.
Dron walked out of the small space where he’d just been questioning the man from the Utex clan. He looked around for the others of his crew but he didn’t find them right away.
He walked deeper into the town and realized that everyone was still hard at work trying to get things back to normal. He was amazed at how cohesive everyone was. There were no high alphas or poor class. No one was waiting on anyone else to come save them. The people here were doing the work on their own. It’s probably why they had survived so long. They were working together.
"Mark Chief." Verux walked up next to him, out of breath and covered in soot. He must have been helping the locals with the fire relief."
"Where is the prisoner?’ Dron quickly asked. He wasn’t sure what he was going to do with the man from the Utex clan. He surely couldn’t leave him here and he didn’t want to take him with them on their journey to get to Tempest.
"He’s secured. He passed out. We’re not going to get much information from him tonight." Verux clenched his jaw.
Dron knew it was just another setback. He would deal with it.
Dron continued to walk through the town, his eyes scanned all the damage. One by one the members of his group began to come over to him. All of them had been helping in some way. All without having to be ordered to.
These men were supposed to be the misfits, the ones the other military men didn’t want to work with. It was starting to seem as if they were the best Dron could have asked for.
"We need to make sure these buildings are structurally sound. I’m worried about a collapse." Krex started.
Dron heard the words that were coming from the other Alpha’s mouth but it was of no importance to him. Dron only had one goal in mind. How quickly he could get to Tempest and that didn’t account for him standing around here doing construction.
"No, the people here can worry about their own settlement. We have to keep moving." Dron said as he continued walking. It took him a moment to realize that everyone else had stopped.
Kraznek spoke up. "So after all you’ve learned here, you just want to leave these people to fight our battles."
"This isn’t our battle. We didn’t ask to come here. We were forced to come here unless you’ve forgotten."
"And if we weren’t forced to come here, we’d be out in the wilderness, probably fighting for our lives in a different way. They gave us shelter, food, drink. We owe more to them than to just abandon them." Kraznek’s entire body was tense.
Dron narrowed his eyes on the alpha. "I’m not abandoning them. I’m continuing the mission that was set out for us."
Kraznek scoffed, "You mean you’re running to your woman."
A loud roar exploded out of Dron and he lunged at Kraznek, his hand around the alpha’s neck before he could even blink.
The rest of the crew hissed and dropped into a fighting stance until they all realized it was Dron who they were about to attack. The leader of them all.
Dron blinked a few times and realized what he was doing. This wasn’t the time to start fighting with the same people who were supposed to be watching his back. He was already on what he thought to be an impossible mission, gathering more enemies wasn’t the way to go.
Dron squeezed his eyes shut before he finally let go of Kraznek who tumbled to the ground holding his neck and coughing.
"There is a time and a place for you to question my motives. Right now isn’t it." Dron stepped back and did his best to even his tone.
"It’s the truth? Is it not?" Verux questioned.
What point would it be for Dron to lie? Sooner than later, they would all realize what was going on.
"You’re not wrong. I do want to get to my mate. I’ve learned that she is here on Skoq, and she is going to send me her location. With that said, it’s not all a personal mission. With the information that we’ve learned from the locals and from the captive, keeping her safe has become part of what we need to do to make sure those who are responsible for burning our own land are held accountable." Dron hoped that they would all realize the truth in what he was saying.
One by one they all shrugged as if they were doing just that.
"We can’t leave tonight. Not while there is still the threat of an attack. Whether we want to believe it or not, we are the reason behind why this settlement was attacked. We are going to need these people if things go bad. We are going to need Tine." Krazek spoke still rubbing his neck but he’d gotten back up to his feet.
It was all valid.
Dron fought hard against his instincts to just run straight to Tempest. He had to be smart about this. He needed allies. As much as he could get. If he left tonight and the people in this town saw him doing so they would never truly trust him.
"You’re right. I know you’re right. We’ll stay only for tonight just to make sure the threat has past and the people here are able to recover."
"What about Tine?" Krex asked.
Dron thought about the woman, she’d put a lot of faith in him and now she was lying somewhere in a medical bay, clinging to life.
"I’ll do what I can for her but there’s no guarantee that she will wake before we have to leave. We can’t stay that long." Dron looked around at his men. They accepted what he was saying.
When no one else said anything more, Dron turned and began walking again. This time the rest of his men followed behind him. He only hoped he was giving them something honorable to follow.
He knew he had to do what was right.
Tempest would be more than put out with him if she found out that he truly had abandoned these people. He didn’t want to disappoint her like that. Suddenly, doing the right thing was easier.
"Let’s steady these buildings." He ordered, and at once his crew rushed to a home that seemed as if it were one strong breeze away from falling to the ground.
It was going to be a long night, but Dron knew it would all be worth it.
Tomorrow they would be on their way, and he would leave with no regrets.
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⏸ PAUSE■ STOP