Alpha’s Bane

by Renee Rose

  The room is silent. Alpha Green looks thoughtful, Sheridan’s dad is incensed. But no one will speak until an alpha does.

  Garrett steps up and claps a hand on Sheridan’s shoulder. “She’s right. When Fight Club was first set up, I was skeptical. But since it opened, we’ve had less pack violence, both between our members and with other animals. Any shifter with a grievance can go let out steam. And because it’s not claimed by the pack, we’re not responsible to arbitrate or reimburse any deaths.”

  Sheridan looks back at her cousin and he jerks his chin up in approval before dropping his hand.

  “But it’s not safe,” Sheridan’s dad says. “Any human could walk in there. The authorities are watching closely.”

  “So we move it. Or we fly under the radar for a few months. Human fights only. The concept remains. It’s a good one.” Garrett folds his arms over his chest, facing his father. “I don’t like the vampires there any more than you do. But Frangelico isn’t going anywhere. And he didn’t come in and start a war right away. He seems to be willing to deal.”

  “Sheridan, I’m surprised at you,” Sheridan’s dad says. Sheridan flinches but doesn’t cower. “I expected you to think more responsibly about things.”

  “Hey,” Garrett intervenes. “You sent her to scope the situation. Either you trust her or you don’t.”

  Garrett’s dad’s eyebrows go up, and the two stare at each other for a moment. Alpha Green breaks away first, not lowering his gaze. He looks almost proud. “It’s up to you, son. It’s your territory. Phoenix will back you.”

  “Fight Club stays open,” Garrett commands. A shout of victory goes up. Someone claps me on the back.

  “We’re not done yet,” Tank growls. “We need to solve the crime. Get it sorted with the vampires. Time is running out.”

  He and Garrett start giving out orders. Sheridan steps down, becomes one with the crowd. Probably hiding from her dad. I don’t blame her. It took guts for her to stand up to her father.

  She’ll be leaving, and it’s for the best. She deserves a good life, one I can’t give her.

  On that thought, I hit the exit. Time to get on my bike and ride, clear my head. If by the time I get back, Sheridan’s gone, I’ll know where I stand. At least I’ll have the fight club to focus on. And Mr. Green’s face, the moment his precious little girl grew up and called him on his shit.

  “Robson,” someone snarls behind me and I whirl.

  Lance Green prowls up, his eyes shifter bright. “Stay away from my daughter.”

  I stare down at him. Why was I ever intimidated by this guy? I can just pack up my mom and have her move. She’ll probably be better off in Tucson anyway, away from those snotty wolves.

  Mr. Green growls, “If you try to keep her here, I will end you and your pathetic little club. Do you hear me?”

  “No.”

  A vein practically leaps off his forehead. “What?”

  “I said no. Listen, graybeard. Sheridan’s an adult. She makes her own decisions. She made it pretty clear in there, but if you won’t accept it, that’s between you and her. I know you want to protect her, but if you think you threatening me is gonna work this time, you got another think coming.”

  “You can’t talk to me this way, you mangy—”

  “Shut it.” I stab my finger into the older wolf’s shoulder. He may have seniority, but I’m bigger and stronger and taller and completely done. “Sheridan makes her own decisions. I know she has a good life in Phoenix, and I’m not gonna push her to give it all up for me. But I’m done kowtowing to you. I rolled over once. I’m not going to do it again.” I spin on my boot and stride to my bike.

  “How dare you talk to me—”

  I growl at him and he stops in his tracks a few feet away. “It’s over. You want to fight it out, get on the schedule at the club. I fight most Fridays.” I start my bike and the engine’s roar rips the air between us. “And one more thing. I hear you threatened my mother again or go after her job at the brewery, I’ll challenge you for dominance.” He whitens at that. A dominance fight would upset the balance of the Phoenix pack, but I don’t care. About time someone knocked him off his pedestal and put his shady dealings on display. “I don’t care how many I have to fight to do it. I’m young and tough and I might just win.” With that, I hit the gas and speed outta there, not bothering to look back.

  * * *

  Sheridan

  Garrett is about to wrap up his alpha speech when I see my dad leave, following Trey. That can’t mean anything good. I push my way to the exit, hurrying to the parking lot in time to hear Trey shouting my name.

  “Sheridan makes her own decisions. I know she has a good life in Phoenix, and I’m not gonna push her to give it all up for me.” He jabs his finger into my dad’s chest again. “But I’m done kowtowing to you. I rolled over once. I’m not going to do it again.”

  What the heck? What does Trey mean? I bite my tongue, hugging the wall.

  My father looks insulted, huffing and puffing something as Trey walks away, but Trey is having none of it.

  “It’s over. You want to fight it out, get on the schedule at the club. I fight most Fridays.” Trey’s bike cuts on. I jump from the shadows, ready to hustle over and get to the bottom of things, when Trey’s shouted words stop me cold.

  “And one more thing. I hear you threatened my mother again or go after her job at the brewery…” The rest of what he says is drowned out by the rushing in my ears.

  My father threatened his mother. That’s why Trey cheated. That’s why he broke things off. That’s why he’s getting away again.

  “Stop,” I shout, but too late. Trey’s gone, his bike growling up the road. He doesn’t look back. I wouldn’t, if I were him. What have we Greens ever given him but heartache? “No.” I kick a rock against the wall. It’s not satisfying enough. “Fuck,” I spit. That’s better.

  “Sheridan.” My dad turns, both stern and placating, ready with another lecture. I can see it on his face.

  I am not in the mood. “What the fucking fuck?” I shriek at him.

  He jerks back. “See here, young lady—”

  “You threatened his mother?” Bootsteps at my back tell me we’re no longer alone.

  “Cuz?” Garrett’s voice barely penetrates. I stalk forward, fists balled. I’m not going to hit my father, but he’s about to get a piece of my mind.

  “Sheridan—” my dad starts.

  “I don’t believe you. I got good grades and followed all the rules, and what do you do? You go after my high school boyfriend? Not only that, but his family? What the fuck is wrong with you?”

  My dad steps forward and I push him back. “Leave Trey alone. And his mother! You don’t abuse your power in the pack to tell me who to date! You don’t tell me who to date at all. Or mate, for that matter.” I yank back my shirt collar to show Trey’s mark.

  “Sheridan,” someone else says. Alpha Green. I should act submissive and listen to him, but I’m done acting. Real Sheridan is in the house and she is not hiding. I’m as alpha as the rest of them, if I want to be.

  “I’m done. I hereby withdraw from the Wolf Ridge pack.” As soon as I’m finished saying the words, I feel something crack inside me, like the pack bonds were hit by a hammer and shattered.

  “Sheridan,” my dad says, alarmed. “You can’t—”

  “You can’t stop me,” I snarl and stalk towards my Mercedes. Not quite the exit I wanted, driving off in a car my dad gave me, but whatever. I pay insurance and put gas in it; it’s mine.

  “Where will you go?” Alpha Green calls. I know he felt the backwash of the blow to my pack bonds.

  “Anywhere but Wolf Ridge. Other than that, I don’t know.” Actually, I do know. I’m going to go pack my things, and call Trey and beg him to take me back. I’ll hang out at the fight club. Sleep on the stoop if I have to. Well, there was just a dead body on the stoop, so maybe not that.

  I throw the car into gear and peel out of there, and don’t l
ook back. Garrett and his pack probably don’t want me, but it doesn’t matter.

  Only Trey matters. I belong to him. Trey is my pack, and my home.

  * * *

  Trey

  I roar up the highway, heading out of town. Fuck Tucson anyway.

  Something tells me to pull over, so I do. There’s no danger around, so I don’t know what my wolf is telling me, but I pull out my phone and scroll through old messages. There are a bunch from Sheridan, most of them asking me to call back. I listen to each, trying to decipher the meaning behind her words. She sounds crisp and professional, not desperate or weepy. But that’s Sheridan. She’s not about to lose it over a guy. Maybe what we have was really just her reliving her youth, sowing wild oats.

  She came out here to do a job, and the job is done. There’s really nothing for her here, except me. But I don’t count. I can’t give her the life she’s meant to live.

  “Fuck,” I mutter. I’m tempted to toss the phone, but some instinct stills my head. My wolf is hoping she’ll call us or something.

  I slump on my bike. I’d give anything to have her call. I can stop myself from claiming her, if I stay away long enough for her to leave, but if she calls and chooses me, I’m hers.

  I’ve always been hers.

  * * *

  Sheridan

  The first thing I do when I get home is throw the damn quote calendar in the trash. Wisdom is nice and all, but it’s time I went with my gut.

  My next call is to Garrett. He answers on the first ring. “Cuz?”

  “I’m requesting asylum with your pack.”

  “I figured this was coming.” He sighs. The voices and commotion in the background fades. A door shuts and his voice comes in clearer. “How long?”

  “I don’t know. Just...give me a couple of days to get my stuff together. Your pack probably won’t be happy with me staying. Not after I got them all kicked out of Phoenix.” I took a deep breath. “Garrett, I’m so sorry about that… about betraying you and the others. I was just so scared someone was going to get into real trouble, get hurt all over stupid drugs but…” I pause, knowing this wasn’t the first time I’d apologized, but it would be the first time I’d told the complete truth. “When Trey broke up with me, I thought I’d die, but then when he took up with Kaylee… something inside me broke… I broke. I just go so mad. I know that doesn’t excuse what I did, but—”

  “Maybe not,” Garrett says slowly. “And I won’t lie and say we weren’t really hurt… we were. But maybe it wasn’t just you. Maybe everything happened as it did because of the fates. If you hadn’t betrayed us, we wouldn’t have been kicked out of the pack. If we weren’t banned, we wouldn’t have come to Tucson and formed a new pack. Our own pack. Most of our members have good lives here. Better, one might argue, than the scraps they would’ve had to fight over in Phoenix. But that doesn’t mean they’ll forgive you as easily as I did. If you try to join my pack, they won’t make it easy on ya.”

  “I know. I deserve it.”

  “Tell you what, kid. You got asylum as long as you need. As long as you’re on our turf, no one messes with you. But to join our pack you need a sponsor.”

  “Sponsor?”

  “Yeah. And there’s only one who I trust to look out for you.”

  Trey. My heart leaps up, only to plummet. “He’s not talking to me.”

  “You stood up to your father and mine tonight. Not to mention handling meets with the vampires. If Trey wants you in, I could use you.”

  “Thanks, Cuz.” We end the call and I let the phone drop. Now I just need to find Trey and grovel. And for that I need the right outfit…

  There’s a strange scratching on the window, a figure moving in the shadows. I rip the curtain aside and glare at the creepy vampire beyond the glass.

  “Nero.” I knew it. Yep, there’s his black car is parked at the curb.

  “Hello, little wolf.” He draws his nails down the window and I grit my teeth at the horrible sound. I close the curtain, and open my desk drawer, drawing out a little surprise I have ready.

  When I open the door, Nero is waiting.

  He pushes back the silky blond curtain of his hair, licking his lips. His fangs flash as he caresses the air between him and me, as if there’s a solid wall keeping him from crossing the threshold. “Little wolf, little wolf, let me come in.”

  “Not by the hair of my chinny chin chin,” I say, and have an idea. “But if you tell me who left the dead body at Fight Club, I’ll come out to you.”

  Nero raises a brow. “Why do you wish to know?”

  “I’m impressed,” I lie. “Lucius is so old he’s practically all powerful. Whoever dares to disobey him must be very strong.”

  “Oh I am, lady wolf. I will show you how strong.”

  I cock my head to the side. “So it was you?”

  “Yes,” he hisses.

  “Why?”

  “Frangelico is old, but he has forgotten his purpose. Vampires are made to rule. Me and my brethren, we keep the old ways.”

  “Brethren?” Dang, there were more of them flouting Lucius’ rules. They hadn’t done much yet, but they were probably only beginning.

  “Soon you will know. The world will know.” Nero licks his lips. Did I ever think he was hot? “Now come out, little wolf.”

  “Okay. But first”—I twitch aside my bathrobe sleeve, and raise the Glock I bought after I took out a frat boy—“say hello to my little friend,” I quote, and aim for the vampire’s crotch.

  * * *

  Trey

  The call comes in right as I’m about to pack up and ride back. Sheridan’s number scrolls across the screen as if I’ve conjured it. In my rush to answer, I almost drop the phone.

  “Trey?” Sheridan’s voice wavers, just a little, and I’m on my feet, muscles tight and ready to fight.

  “What’s wrong, sweetheart?” If her father yelled at her, so help me...

  “I have a...leech problem.”

  I kick up my bike’s kickstand before she’s gotten half her explanation out. “Where are you?”

  “At the casita.”

  “Stay there. Stay put.”

  “I’ve got it mostly under control, I just—”

  “Do as I say,” I order, and roll out.

  I break a speed record getting back to Sheridan’s place. My motorcycle races through the old barrio, pulling in behind a black sedan that smells of vampire.

  Sheridan’s sitting on the stoop in a bathrobe, her eyes vacant.

  I go to one knee. “You okay?

  “Yeah.” She forces a smile.

  “What happened?”

  “I had a visitor.” She nods to the dark car parked on the street in front of her house. “I shot him.” Twitching aside a fold of her bathrobe, she uncovers a gun with an extended muzzle.

  “Whoa.” I hold out my hand. I want to know what the hell happened, but Sheridan’s acting so weird, probably best to go slow. I pick the pistol up and examine it. It smells funny.

  “And no one called the cops?” I glance around but all the houses are dark and silent. No one is squinting through the blinds at their neighbor in a bathrobe, which is good, because they’d also see a big scary biker carrying arms.

  “I had a suppressor.”

  “I can’t believe this.”

  She shrugs. “Speak softly and carry a big gun.”

  “All right. Where’s the body?”

  “Secured. It’s Nero.”

  “You shot a vampire?” Come to think of it, the gun smells like garlic.

  “And staked him halfway. It won’t keep him down forever, but it’ll buy us some time.”

  “For what?”

  She rises and shakes her hair out of her pony tail. “I need to dress, and then I need an escort.”

  “Escort?” I blurt. This is all going too fast.

  “Yeah.” She pauses on the threshold. “He confessed to killing the fight club victim, so we need to deliver him to Frangelico.”

>   Before she can disappear into the house, I catch her hand. There’s no time, but I have to say something. “Wait. Sheridan. You’re really okay?”

  “I was in shock a little. But now I’m fine. You’re here.” She pecks me on the lips. Again, she starts to go and I tug her back.

  “There isn’t time to discuss this now,” I tell her. “But when you were in danger you called me.”

  “Yes.”

  “You chose me.”

  Her expression softens. “Yes.”

  I kiss her, and let her go. “Go change. Fast. We’ll talk later.”

  She grins and disappears, my little vampire huntress.

  Chapter Fifteen

  Present

  Trey

  We pull up to Club Toxic an hour before dawn. Frangelico approaches, wearing a tux and opera gloves. I would roll my eyes, but Sheridan is dressed to match, in a red dress that’s all poofy and spreads out in a two-foot radius, rustling as she walks. I’m gonna pull off all the frilly shit later, see if the bodice can survive without it. Her tits look amazing.

  I clear my throat as the king approaches, flanked by two burly guys. I swallow, wondering if Grizz is working here now that it’s out he’s on their payroll. I’ll never admit how much it hurt to find out he was a traitor. My chest is tight just thinking about it. At least he’s not here now.

  Frangelico snaps his fingers and his guards stop in their tracks, letting Frangelico close the distance between us alone.

  “No lieutenants this time?” I ask casually.

  Frangelico shows his fangs, either smiling or threatening me. Probably both. “You will find, wolf, that I am capable of defending myself.”

  “Not tonight,” Sheridan declares. “We don’t want a fight.”

  “Very well,” Lucius bows to her. She curtsies in return, and I roll my eyes. Stupid leeches, always going for this old-fashioned bullshit. I can tell the vampire king is eating it up, though, and step closer to Sheridan.