Red's Alphas

by M H Soars

  Chapter 29

  Red

  I blindly cross the street without looking for incoming traffic, adrenaline and fear mixing in my veins. Tires screech, followed by the sound of a loud horn. Somebody yells at me, but I don’t acknowledge them. I have to find Tristan. I must look like a deranged woman, running across the peaceful square like the devil is after me. Just as I reach the other side, about to play chicken with traffic again, Tristan exits Zeke’s Sweet Treats.

  I call out his name so loudly he looks startled. He glances at the street before crossing it with long strides. Worry creases his features by the time he’s standing in front of me. “What happened?”

  “I met one of the hunters.”

  His eyebrows meet his hairline before his expression turns into one of fury. “Where?”

  “At the diner. Kenya introduced me to him. He just moved to Crimson Hollow. His name is Martin and he has a tattoo of a raven on his neck, just like the hunters in the forest.”

  Tristan grabs my arms, squeezing them a little as he peers intently into my eyes. “Go back to my apartment and wait for me there.”

  “What? No! I’m coming with you.”

  “Please, Amelia. Do as I say. Things have just gotten a helluva lot more complicated and dangerous.”

  “I don’t care. If I’m in the middle of this mess, I have the right to know all the details.”

  “And I don’t want to worry about your safety more than I already do,” Tristan shouts, making me wince. His eyes soften while he cups my cheek gently, in stark contrast to his outburst of a second ago. “Please, Red. Do this for me.”

  Something shifts inside of my chest, and my resolve begins to crumble. It’s not his touch that’s doing it, but the way Tristan’s voice broke just now. His tough-guy armor cracked a little, and he didn’t try to hide it.

  “Fine. I’ll wait for you at your place. Please be careful.”

  Tristan’s eyes flash with ember while he watches me as if in wonder. I don’t know what to make of that stare. I’m so used to contemptuous glances from him. I don’t have time to react before he slides his hand to the back of my head, pulling my face to his for a crushing kiss. His tongue darts inside my mouth urgently, demanding, leaving me completely breathless. He eases back just as fast, his chest rising and falling rapidly. My head is a little fuzzy, so it’s no surprise I remain rooted to the spot, dazedly watching Tristan stride away across the square toward the diner.

  It takes me a minute to realize that he totally manipulated the hell out of me. Fuck! Now that we’re mated, does he have some sort of influence over me? Clenching my jaw hard, I have every intention of following him, but my legs give out from under me as a crushing headache hits me out of nowhere. Holding my head between my hands, I grunt in pain as another warning comes to me. Billy and Rochelle, surrounded by hunters and vicious wolves. My entire body begins to shake, and the ache in my gums tells me I’m about to shift. Frantically shaking my head, I take in my surroundings, my sight already changing to the wolf’s. Damn it! There are way too many people here; I can’t shift into a wolf in broad daylight, but I’m not sure if I can stop it from happening.

  I spot a cluster of shrubbery a few yards away. If I can get to it in time, it will offer enough cover. But my legs won’t cooperate anymore; I can’t stand. So I get on my hands and knees and crawl. My joints snap, my muscles beginning to stretch. If anyone glances in my direction, they will see something grotesque—me in mid-shift. Making terribly slow progress, I finally reach the protection of the shrubs, finalizing the shift.

  My muscles are coiled tight with tension. The wolf is ready to sprint toward those in need, but I must act with caution. The sight of a wolf running in the middle of town will surely cause a commotion, and the last thing I want is the citizens of Crimson Hollow to think they have a wolf problem. I slowly stick my head out until I find the quickest route out of the busy square. If I run fast enough, people might mistake me for a random dog.

  The booming voice of someone speaking on a megaphone echoes in the square. I glance toward the sound, finding Zeke Rogers, the bakery owner, dressed in the most outrageous unicorn costume ever, calling out for people to try a free sample of cake. The crowd in the square flocks to the front of his shop. His perfectly timed appearance just gave me the opening I need to make a run for it. I prepare to bolt when his gaze finds mine from all the way across the street. Then he winks at me.

  The imp is helping me, but there’s not time to dwell on how he knew I needed help. My wolf has had enough with delays, and it takes over. My paws hit the soft grass fast and hard, and my surroundings turn into a blur. I don’t stop for traffic, but weave between cars like a mad speeding bullet, aiming for the dark alley between two shops. It leads to a flight of narrow stairs. At the top, it opens to a residential street. The mountain and the forest are right behind the row of quaint little houses. I don’t stop until I leave the human world behind and enter wolf’s territory. Letting my senses lead the way, I go where the pull is taking me. I don’t get any more visions of Billy and Rochelle, but I know with the dead certainty that I’m going in the right direction.

  I can’t keep track of the time, but the sound of fighting eventually reaches my ears. Propelled by the noise, I manage to run faster, until I’m in the thick of the battle. A dark-clad hunter is taking aim, but the noise of my paw snapping a twig makes him turn around. He’s not fast enough to avoid my attack, though. Snarling, I leap through the air, aiming my sharp teeth at the soft spot between his neck and shoulder. The impact sends us barreling to the ground, and I’m suddenly trapped in the wolf’s blood lust. Muscles are torn, the metallic taste of blood filling my mouth. I don’t stop the vicious attack until the man quits moving under me.

  “Red, over here!” Rochelle’s voice echoes in my head. I lift my face and sniff the air, catching her scent almost right away.

  Running to her location, I dodge bullets that zip too close past me. I jump over a boulder, landing hard on the slippery ground on the other side. When I lose traction, I begin to slide down the incline until my rear paws gain leverage. Not too far from where I stand, Rochelle and Billy are surrounded by three wolves. They’re moving in circles, taunting my pack members until they’re ready for the attack.

  I barrel forward, ready to take on all three wolves at the same time if necessary. I’m not sure where this bravery is coming from, especially since I caved when Lyria and her friends picked on me during my first run. These wolves are bigger and sound much more savage than my pack’s beta.

  “We’re with you. You can do this.” The voice I recognize as the one belonging to the great wolf sounds in my mind. It could be my imagination, but it gives me confidence and determination. Even if I die today, I won’t let my friends perish.

  I tackle the wolf closest to me, catching him in mid-jump. We roll on the ground several times, snarling and trying to get a bite of each other, until I manage to clamp my jaw around the soft tissue of his shoulder. The beast lets out a whine, but the wound I inflicted does nothing to weaken him. He dislodges me before sinking his teeth into my back. I shake from side to side, bucking and kicking until I dislodge the wolf, who hits a boulder nearby. The blow slows him down, and I take that opportunity to glance in Rochelle and Billy’s direction.

  Billy is having trouble fending off one of the wolves. Rochelle jumps in between the two, engaging the enemy to take her on instead. Billy moves out of the way. He’s limping, and I catch a whiff of his blood.

  “Go back to the compound, Billy. Get some help!” I send the thought out, hoping I can get through to him.

  Glancing in my direction, he shakes his head. “I can’t leave you two alone.”

  I feel a presence behind me, turning to find the spirit of the great wolf shimmering in the distance. This time, it hadn’t used twigs and rocks to take shape. “We’ll not interfere,” it says in my head. “You need to win this fight on your own.”

  The wolf I was fighting before stands again;
he’ll be on me in the next moment. With the last second I have left before I’m jumped, I shout at Billy again. “Go, you, fool. Go!”

  I’m not sure if he heeded to my command before I have to deal with the crazed wolf coming my way. Only this time, he brought a friend, a darker and meaner-looking wolf. A jagged gray scar runs from the middle of this forehead down to where his left eye should be. When he peels his lips back to growl at me, rose-tinted saliva drips from his foul mouth. It’s blood, either from Rochelle or Billy.

  Red-hot fury bursts through my veins, and I feel a surge of energy erupt from the ground, spreading through my limbs. “How dare you attack my wolves.” I take a step forward, my muscles coiled tightly, ready to spring into action.

  I hear static in my head, then a faint but constant command. The voice is robotic, and it repeats the same thing over and over again. Maim, don’t kill.

  There’s no time to dwell on who that could be. I attack, seeing nothing but fur, limbs, and my mark—the soft skin of my enemy’s neck. I slash without mercy, shaking my head from side to side, until his body becomes limp. I don’t have the luxury to rejoice in my victory before I’m shoved hard against the boulder nearby, and the scarred wolf is on me. He goes for my exposed side, biting so hard the pain almost makes me faint. I don’t whimper. Instead, I howl before using the little bit of strength left in me to push him off.

  I sense them before I hear them howling in the distance. Dante, Tristan, and Samuel, plus the other wolves in the pack. The enemy wolf retreats right before a gunshot echoes in the forest, and Rochelle falls to the ground with a whimper.

  “No!” I jump to my paws, but my legs are unsteady and fold with the first step I take.

  A hunter comes running down the hill. He stops next to Rochelle’s limp form, then hoists her body over his shoulder. He pauses to glance in my direction. Even though he’s wearing a ski mask, I recognize his dark gaze. It’s Martin. He must have left the diner soon after I did. He narrows his eyes as if in recognition as well, then bolts up the rise. He’s followed by his minions, the scarred dark wolf and the second one who was fighting Rochelle.

  I want to give chase, so I rise again and will my legs to move. The howling gets louder and louder, until Dante’s panicked voice explodes into my mind. “Red! Where are you?”

  “Don’t worry about me. He’s getting away, and he took Rochelle with him.”

  Dante’s wolf breaks through the woods, a blur of white fur, but instead of going after the hunter and Rochelle, he barrels my way.

  “What are you doing? Go after the bad guy!”

  “You’re hurt.”

  Samuel and Tristan follow close behind. Suddenly, they’re surrounding me. Fuckers. “Stop fussing over me. Go after Martin. He has Rochelle.”

  My command falls on deaf ears. It’s like they can’t even hear me.

  “I asked you to stay in my apartment,” Tristan grumbles before he licks the wound on my shoulder.

  I shove him off. “I’m going after Rochelle.”

  Limping, I follow the scent of the enemy wolves, but I don’t get far. Another threat appears, blocking my way. The pack’s alpha. He doesn’t attempt to speak to my mind…

  He simply attacks.

  Chapter 30

  Samuel

  I’m frozen to the ground as I watch my father, the great alpha, attack Red out of the blue. She got hurt defending members of our—his—pack, and he attacked her. He attacked my mate. The shackles of submission that bind me to him break at that precise moment. It’s one thing to disobey his orders; it’s quite another to no longer recognize him as the highest-ranked wolf in the pack. And that’s exactly what happens to me. I jump on his back, tackling him off Red, who had curled into herself to protect her vital spots.

  Howling resonates all around me, but I can’t discern individuals in that call, nor can I tell who is with me or against me in this fight for power. As it should be, my mind is blocked to my father’s invasion. He can no longer enter it, not even by force.

  I’m not sure if I caught him by surprise or not, but he’s on to me. Trying to overpower me with his muscles, he jumps as he bites, pushing me to the ground. If I fall, he’ll show no mercy and quickly end this fight. That’s what happens when a beta challenges the alpha. There’s no greater betrayal, so the only possible outcome is death.

  I manage to keep upright, but Dad’s claws have left their mark on my side. The wound stings, but it’s nothing compared to what’ll happen if I falter and let him sink his teeth into me. My human side wants to check on Red, see if she’s okay, except if lose concentration now, it’s game over for me.

  We keep at the dance of attack and retreat, circling each other until one of us makes a fatal mistake. Dad finally gets tired of it, faking an attack to the left only to jump at the last minute to the right, trying to grab a hold of me. I was prepared for it. He’d taught me that move when I was little, and I came to see it as one of his trademark attacks. Few wolves are fast enough to switch course last minute, though, and I barely escape unscathed this time. Dad loses momentum. I take the opportunity to hit him with a clawed paw, scratching him on the side. Throwing his head back, he howls in pain, then he turns on me with so much hatred in his gaze that he resembles a rabid wolf, a rogue.

  Realization hits me then. Dad is somehow being controlled, just like that rogue wolf who attacked Red was. But how? I don’t see anything protruding from the back of his head. My moment of hesitation is my doom. Dad barrels into me, sending me careening across the ground until I reach a patch of rocks. Pain explodes up my spine, and then nothing. I can’t feel my legs. Can’t move. All I can do is watch Dad stalk me, teeth bared and growling. This is it. He’s going to end me.

  A blur collides with him—another wolf—and it only takes a moment to recognize Dante. Dad forgets about me to take care of his other traitorous son, but it seems that whatever is controlling the alpha has also equipped him with more than his normal strength. He’s stronger than us, but he’s not showing any signs that the fight with me has affected him at all. Then Tristan joins the fray, attacking Dad without holding back. The scene is vicious and heartbreaking. Sadness takes over me. That’s not our father. It’s something else, but to the wolves, it doesn’t matter. I feel a nudge on my side, swinging my muzzle around to see Red. She’s still in wolf form, covered in blood.

  “Are you okay?” she asks.

  “No.” The sound of a loud whine makes me shiver, and I hide my face under my paws. My wolf has weakened, and that has allowed my human emotions to take over. “I can’t look.”

  Red rests her jaw over my head. “Me neither. I’m so sorry, Sam.”

  The sound of fighting abruptly stops. Without raising my head, I ask, “Is it over?”

  “Yes.”

  One by one, the members of the pack begin to howl, until the sound combines into one voice—one harmony. It’s the mourning signal. Removing the paw covering my eyes, I survey the battleground. Dad is lying on his side, not moving. His pelt is covered in blood, but there’s a slow rise and fall to his chest. He’s not dead, and my heart jumps at the knowledge. Scanning farther, I take in the condition of my brothers. They’ve sustained wounds, but they’re standing upright, unlike me.

  Tristan glances in my direction, his gaze falling on Red first before switching to me. “We couldn’t kill him, Sam. We simply couldn’t.”

  His statement is loaded with meaning. It’s clear now that Anthony Wolfe is no longer fit to be alpha, but without a clear victor from the challenge, who will take his place?

  Chapter 31

  Dante

  The reality of what my brothers and I just did doesn’t hit me until Mom changes back into human, kneels next to our father, and cries in gasping sobs. An immense sense of guilt presses against my chest, almost caving it in. But when I saw our father attacking Red, reason fled from my mind. True, Sam reacted first, but it was only Tristan keeping me in place that prevented me from joining the fight. When Dad hurt Sam badl
y, Tristan finally let me go. We both finished what our younger brother had started.

  Tristan had the opportunity to end it all. He’d had Dad by his throat; all he’d had to do was sink his teeth deeper and slash the skin open. If he’d done so, he’d have been the new alpha, but he couldn’t go through with it. Because of that, the pack now has no leader. Mom, as the female alpha, could take on the role, but it wouldn’t be long until some young pup challenged her authority or tried to force her into mating.

  Red leaves Sam’s side, trotting with a limp to where Mom is standing. Lyria lets out a growl, leaping into Red’s path. She’s daring her to take another step farther. I want to move in front of Red, protect her from the pack’s beta, but now is not the time to play the bonded male role. Sinking my paws deeper into the ground, I lock my muscles tight and fight the instinct. A quick glimpse in Tristan’s direction tells me he’s fighting the same battle.

  Despite her injuries, Red bares her teeth, taking a step forward. The fur on her back is standing on end. She won’t submit to Lyria. Pride fills my chest; Red has finally stepped into the role she was born for. She snarls at Lyria, inching forward a little more, unafraid of the beta.

  They stay locked in that aggressive stance for a moment until Lyria retreats, an outcome I wasn’t expecting. Maybe she smelled Tristan’s scent all over Red, then figured out he and Red are mated. How long until the enforcer and the rest of the pack discovers Red is mated to all three of us? I can’t imagine that going well. Lyria returns to the group of enforcers, still eyeing Red with hatred, but for now, I don’t have to worry about her.

  Mom turns to me. “We need to get your father back to the infirmary as soon as possible.”

  I’d nod if I was human. As a wolf, I simply do what she asked and shift back. I won’t be able to carry Dad otherwise. My body is scratched and bleeding in several places. Dad got me good a few times. If Tristan hadn’t joined the fight as well, I’d be in similar shape to Sam—hurt so badly I couldn’t get up.