Leaving the Alpha

by Marcy Jacks

  Either that or it was because Mark's wild anger was giving him enough of a boost to keep on going, but he knew that wouldn't last long.

  Bodolf called out to him from the other side of the wolf that had control of Mark's body.

  Mark, take control, right now. You need to stop this. I don't want to hurt you.

  I know, Mark said, but he couldn't be sure if his alpha and friend even heard him.

  Not when his stupid wolf was acting like this.

  So Mark had to call on every trick he had. He had to summon all the control within him, and considering this was Davin they were both concerned about, there was a better than even chance it would take a whole lot more than what Mark had in him right now.

  Think of your mate.

  Mark was thinking of his mate. He didn't need to keep thinking about Davin if it was his terror over Davin's well-being that was going to keep him in this state.

  But, actually, maybe he did.

  You stupid wolf, listen to me. If we don't get our shit together, these sons of bitches will come after Davin. Bodolf isn't the enemy here.

  The wolf actually growled at him.

  When Mark got into this frame of mind, it was as though he and his wolf were sharing a small space, a room that could almost be used for a prison cell.

  Humans tended to wonder why shifters couldn't always control their animal halves.

  Well, when trapped in a space that small together, there were bound to be disagreements from time to time.

  Mark didn't make those rules. He just lived by them, and right now, in that teeny-ass space in his head, he got the feeling he was about to get his ass kicked by his own wolf.

  Those red eyes staring at him…yeah, this was why humans were so unnerved by that.

  He stared right back, refusing to be cowed. "We aren't doing this. Your alpha is telling you to get your ass in line. You are going to fucking do it!"

  The wolf stopped growling at him, as though it hadn't thought about the logic of that.

  Its ears suddenly stood up, the glow in the eyes diminished, and Mark knew he was getting through. He could feel his own control weaving back in with the wolf.

  Now, Bodolf's commands were starting to help rather than hinder him.

  Bodolf holding Mark tight, commanding him to get a grip on himself, combined with Mark reminding the wolf again and again that they were doing this for their mate, allowed him to take back the control he needed of his body.

  Mark inhaled a sharp breath when he had that control back.

  Bodolf seemed to sense that it was really him. He pulled back from where he'd had Mark pinned down.

  God, Mark had been so wrapped up with the wolf that he'd barely noticed he'd been slammed down like this, his belly exposed.

  If Bodolf really wanted to, it would have taken one swipe of his claws to put Mark out of commission for good.

  He supposed that made him lucky to have such a good alpha on his side.

  Bodolf cocked his head at him, as though waiting for Mark to shift back into his human form.

  Maybe you should head back.

  Mark shook out his fur, feeling better when he was aired out. No, I need to be there. To confirm it when you take them down.

  Bodolf hardly looked convinced. Stupid Seamus and Cawley came to stand on either side of him, also still in their wolf forms and also looking at him as though they worried he was about to change back into a wild, savage thing and go on a rampage.

  Bodolf is right, Cawley said. He sounded annoyed, even in Mark’s head. His eyes didn't convey too much enjoyment of the situation either. You shouldn't be here.

  I said I'm fine. You don't have to worry about it.

  He growled a little, not a good sign when he was trying to show how much control he had.

  Bodolf still didn't look too convinced. The others didn't either.

  Seamus had to stick his stupid nose into it, too. You look fine and everything, but a half second ago you looked like you wanted to skin us alive.

  He sounded as though he were having a laugh about that in his head, but it was the sort of laugh a man let off when he was nervous about something.

  Not because it was actually funny.

  Bodolf took a step forward. You want to go and be with your mate. You clearly don't want to be here, so go and be with him. You shouldn't be here when your anger could put us all in danger.

  Mark clenched his teeth, forcing back a growl before he could let it out. Is that a command from my alpha?

  Bodolf looked him right in the eye. Yes, it absolutely is.

  Fuck.

  There wasn't much of anything Mark could do against an order from his alpha. He'd just finished telling his wolf that he needed to obey, so what was he supposed to say to the creature now?

  You'd better kill them. Kill all of them, make sure they know not to come back here.

  Now Bodolf was the one to growl at him.

  My mate is a wolf soul, too. You're not the only one who wants to make sure these pricks don't come onto my territory.

  He couldn't argue with that.

  And the longer Mark stood there, the longer it would be until Bodolf, Seamus, and Cawley could get their work done.

  So, with a command from his alpha, Mark turned around and prepared himself to head back home. Maybe being with Davin right about now was the better choice. He could keep Davin in his sights, and that way he could better keep to his promise of making sure nothing happened to him.

  He wasn't three feet away from the group before shots were fired at them. Something whizzed by Mark’s ear. Through his ear. The sudden burn proved how close he'd come to getting his head blown off, and he ducked to the side for cover.

  Holy shit. So much for heading home.

  Chapter Ten

  Davin stayed close to Dex. He figured it would be better if they were paired up. At least then they wouldn't be on their own.

  But it turned out that wasn't much of a problem. They were invited to sit with other groups. Room was made for them, and most people, aside from a select few who narrowed their eyes, didn't seem to mind that Dex and Davin were among their ranks.

  Dex smiled, as though being welcomed into a number of different groups pleased him, but Davin didn't understand what was going on.

  He'd been ready to sit on his own with Dex, to secretly make fun of everyone who didn't want them there, but then he had his plans shattered by being offered a seat around the circle of chairs and old sofas in place in Bodolf's basement.

  It was a media room with an electric fireplace, but it also doubled as the shelter where the mates and underaged pack members were taken whenever there was an emergency of some sort.

  Dex had only ever been put in here one other time before, so even by his standard of living, he wasn't used to coming down here.

  A number of the omegas shook Dex's hand, they asked questions, offered advice. One of the mates had brought her knitting. She was currently trying to show one of the teen boys how to work the needles. He paid attention, though he was clearly nervous about being down here.

  A few of the other kids had brought their handheld game consoles or iPads. When three of the omegas turned on the TV, not exactly smiling and thrilled to be where they were but at least getting ready to calmly sit down and watch some hockey, it made the air around them seem a little less tense.

  Kelly stood in the corner by the bar. Her mate, Stan, was outside somewhere. As a beta, his job was to protect the omegas, even if he wasn't a warrior.

  She opened the mini fridge, pulled out a bottle of water, twisted the cap, and took the tiniest sip Davin had ever seen.

  Then, as though realizing she was being watched, Kelly slowly turned, her gaze landing on Davin.

  He looked away quickly, but he could still see the way she sneered at him from the corner of his eye.

  He didn't want to deal with that, so he ignored her.

  Eventually, Davin was able to calm down because of the general atmosphere. Some in th
e room weren't happy with Dex and Davin. Some of the people in this room clearly blamed them for what was going on outside, but ultimately, it was kind of comfortable in here.

  But then he noticed something. The people who had invited Davin and Dex into their circle to chat all seemed to have questions or comments to give to Dex. They called out for his attention, even for the most mundane of questions.

  One person asked what brand of toilet paper was in his house. That guy clearly hadn't thought through his question very well.

  And then Davin became massively disgusted.

  He'd already been wary of the inviting gesture for him and Dex to sit down when he’d worried it was just for show. Just for the sake of looking good and being nice to put on a good face.

  Well, now he knew they really did want to be that nice and welcoming to Dex, but only because he was the mate of their alpha.

  Davin tried to hide his disgust.

  Right, this was going to be the first time a lot of the people here had a good introduction to Dex. Dex had said it himself that he preferred to keep to himself lately. He was still getting used to being in a new place, a new pack, so even though he was allowed to walk around, he didn't.

  And now these people were cozying up to him when they'd treated Davin as though he carried an actual plague on his skin.

  Davin absorbed that reality. He let it settle in his stomach, feeling it there, the weight of it, and then he let it go.

  He decided he didn't care, and he wasn't about to let these people affect him anymore.

  He was done caring about what they thought.

  Why bother caring about the sort of people who didn't keep to their own principles anyway?

  "I've got to use the washroom. Be right back," Davin said, though he didn't think he would be coming back here.

  It would be abandoning Dex a little, but these people didn't seem interested in hurting him.

  If anything, they only wanted to be a little too nice to him.

  He went to the basement bathroom and washed his hands and splashed cold water on his face, staring at himself in the mirror.

  He saw Mark's reflection in there with him.

  The vision of him vanished quickly, however.

  Davin rubbed at his eyes.

  He didn't need to let the lust from his mating get out of control. This was stupid. It wasn't even a real mating heat.

  He and Mark had gone through that years ago. There was no more need for his body to be behaving like this.

  It was just because they had been separated from each other for the longest time. Living in the same house but seeming so far apart anyway.

  Davin clenched his hands around the sink, took a few calming breaths, then decided now was the time for him to get his ass back out there so he could get to work on sitting through the rest of the pack's bullshit.

  Davin stopped short when he opened the door and found Sigmund stood right there.

  He had his hand on the door handle, as though he was just getting ready to come inside.

  Davin's heart jumped. He fell back a step but then laughed. "Oh, sorry. I guess I didn't lock the door. That was good timing, right?"

  He hadn't been sitting on the toilet, but it still seemed like a lucky break to have been able to avoid having the man walk in on him.

  Sigmund smiled. “You seemed like you were having some trouble over there. The usual suspects?”

  Oh. So maybe the man wasn’t coming to use the washroom after all.

  Davin sighed. He didn’t want to reveal too much. He didn’t want anyone else in on his business. He didn’t want to look or feel weak anymore.

  “I can handle it. It just sucks.”

  Sigmund smiled again. “I just heard back from Mark. Figured you would want to know what was going on.”

  That leaping feeling in Davin’s chest kicked in. “Yeah. I want to know. I guess they’re all right if they called you. Did everything go fine? No one was injured, right?”

  “No one was injured. In fact, they think they got everyone. They’re done.”

  Davin exhaled a long breath. Nothing in the world made him happier than to hear something like that. The best kind of relief flooded him.

  It was almost high inducing.

  Then Davin had a look around the basement. The others still seemed in their state of limbo. The kids didn't seem overly concerned so long as they were playing on their new Nintendo consoles, and most of the adults were taken up in polite conversation at this point.

  No one else seemed to be celebrating the fact that the hunters had been taken care of.

  "Does anyone else know?"

  "Not yet. I'll tell them when I get the next call. It's not good to give an idea of when they might be let out of here when there could still be hunters out there. You know what I mean?"

  Davin didn't know what he meant, but he supposed Sigmund was one of the alphas who lived here. He would know how this sort of thing worked, so Davin decided to believe him.

  "Right, well, I won't tell anyone if you don't want me to."

  "Good idea." Sigmund nodded. "Bodolf just doesn't want to worry anyone. He wants everyone calm until we can determine it's for sure done and over with."

  "Right."

  Sigmund scratched at the back of his head. "Anyway, I've got your mate on the phone upstairs. He wants to talk with you."

  "He does?"

  Sigmund nodded. "I sent Dex up there a minute ago. He's the mate oft he alpha of the pack, so it's not like I can keep this from him either."

  Davin suddenly liked Sigmund, a lot. He couldn't believe there’d ever been a time when he wanted to avoid the other alphas around here.

  Not everyone in this pack was so bad.

  "Mark wants to talk to me?"

  "Yeah. He just wants to confirm you're all right."

  Funny. Davin wanted to confirm that it was Mark who was all right.

  But then again, he supposed his own mate would want to check on Davin, considering how much this stuff affected him.

  He wanted to hear Mark's voice. Wanted to assure the man that he was going to be here when Mark returned.

  So he walked to the door leading to the stairs with Sigmund.

  He had to pass by the bar for that. Kelly noted what was going on. She raised a brow. If Davin could have, he would have flipped her off right about then. Since he couldn't, he just smiled and waved.

  He was going to get to talk to his mate while she was stuck down here, not knowing what was going on.

  It was exactly the sort of petty revenge he was all right with.

  Davin practically ran up the stairs. Sigmund called out to him. "Their phone is in the sitting room."

  Davin knew where Bodolf's house phone was. He rushed over to the corner where it sat.

  He picked it up but frowned, noting the display was blank. As though the phone had turned off.

  Shit. "Sigmund, I think they hung…up."

  He looked back at the alpha, seeing more than just Sigmund standing there.

  It was him, along with a couple of the other betas who lived here.

  If the way they stood in the way of all the exits wasn't terrifying enough, it might have been the fact that, he just now realized, not all of them were betas.

  Some were humans, but not mates who lived here in the pack.

  They sure as hell weren't dressed like they lived here. They were dressed as though they were getting ready to bring in a catch.

  Hunters.

  Davin looked at Sigmund, realizing he didn't exactly know the man all that well, and he had to wonder where Dex had been taken.

  "Sigmund?"

  The alpha looked genuinely sorry, and that made it all the more terrifying.

  "Sorry, but they only want you and Dex, and then they're done with us. I won't risk anyone else getting hurt here."

  Something solidified inside of Davin's gut. He looked back at the men around him, and then he grabbed the small table the phone was sitting on and threw it at the ne
arest beta.

  It hit, but of course, it didn't do much other than bounce off when the male blocked the projectile.

  "Davin, don't do this," Sigmund begged.

  "Fuck you!"

  He was going to be as loud and troublesome as possible if it meant keeping these assholes away from him.

  No way in hell was he putting up with this.

  There was a bookshelf behind him. The men were closing in, and he grabbed the first thing his hand touched, which was a heavy bookend. It was made of stone.

  He hoped it wasn't something Bodolf treasured because he turned around and smashed it into the face of the first male to touch him.

  One of the betas, one of the men who wanted Davin out of here.

  He got the guy good upside his head, and even Davin had to wince at the thunking noise he heard.

  Which was a mistake because Sigmund grabbed the heavy bookend from Davin's hands, yanking it away from him, letting the others grab at him.

  "Hey!"

  He tried to call out for help, to yell for it as loudly as possible. Only omegas would hear him from downstairs, but maybe that would be enough. Someone might come looking for him and Dex, right?

  One of the betas stuck their hand over Davin's mouth, cutting off anything else he might have screamed out.

  He tried stomping his feet to get the attention of the people downstairs, but then his legs were grabbed and he was dragged out of the house, kicking and screaming.

  Though he couldn't scream, and he couldn't kick.

  Not again. He didn't want to do this again!

  "Put him over there with Dex. Be careful with him."

  "He's not your business anymore."

  Davin looked around. He noted Dex was on the ground. His hands were duct taped behind his back, his feet taped together, as well. His mouth taped shut.

  And he looked so damned unhappy to see Davin was getting ready to join him.

  "Just don't hurt them. There's no point. You got what you wanted."

  "Yeah, we did," said the hunter.

  Who the hell was this guy? Dex seemed to look at him in particular as though this was a bit of a problem.

  Maybe they knew each other?

  Maybe this was one of the men who had been in the camp where Dex had been held prisoner?