Rise of the Alpha

by Jessica Snow

  "Have I only been here that long?" Melanie asked, surprised. Three weeks, and so much had changed for her.

  "I know. What I meant was, that means that for us at least, our control of our wolf nature is at it's maximum. And, as I said before, I work with some people who are trying to clean up this corrupt city."

  "Yes, and...?"

  "I've found it easier to just let him ramble, Sister. He gets around to it eventually."

  "Yes, but I'm hungry, and I don't want to wait until breakfast."

  "I understand. Don't worry, we can raid the pantry later if need be."

  Keith rolled his eyes as the two most important women in his life shared a bonding moment between them. Most Alphas would not tolerate such banter, even from family, but he had learned that it made his family stronger. "As I was saying, I have been in contact with some people who can help us. Tomorrow is a perfect opportunity for us to do some cleaning."

  "Cleaning of what?" Melanie asked, excitement filling her veins as she anticipated what Keith was going to say next.

  "How would you two like tomorrow night, to go hunting with me?"

  "And what are we hunting, dear Brother?"

  "The corrupt cops who almost killed Melanie here, and framed her for murder."

  Kim and Keith fell silent, both turning their eyes to Melanie. She grinned her own feral grin, feeling for the first time her own primal nature coming to the forefront. She may not be a werewolf, but she could be a hunter. "I'm in."

  "Then tomorrow night, we hunt."

  Chapter 9

  Melanie woke up early that morning, her eyes flashing open even before the sun had crested the horizon. Keith had told her, tonight was the night. Rolling over, she saw the still sleeping form of her Mate and smiled. It was the first time she had ever woken up earlier than him, and she relished in the chance to watch his sleeping face. When awake, Keith was handsome, powerful, and his face radiated intelligence to go with his power. But sleeping, he looked much more innocent, at peace with the entire world. While his powerful jawline and rugged features would never allow him to be termed "baby-faced," Melanie could see the younger man he once was.

  Leaning over gently, Melanie kissed Keith's cheek softly before rolling out of bed. She never could sleep before a big operation, and knew that the only way she would be able to rest at all this afternoon would be to get up now, and stop fighting her body's call for action. Running her hand through her shoulder length hair, she rubbed briskly before shaking it out. She would bathe herself later, before going out that night. For now, it was time to get herself ready for the day.

  Melanie went out into the central living room and was slightly surprised to find Kimberly there already, gazing into the remains of last night's fire. "Good morning, Sister," Mel said, intentionally choosing Kimberly's favorite form of address. "What are you doing up so early?"

  Kimberly looked over at Melanie, and Melanie was immediately worried. She had never seen fear in Kim's eyes before, yet here she sat, obviously terrified. Melanie rushed over, vaulting the back of the couch in order to land right next to her. "Kimberly, what's wrong?"

  Kimberly reached out and blindly grasped Melanie's hands, worry creasing her smooth, flawless features. "I'm scared, Sister."

  "Why?" Melanie asked, squeezing Kimberly's hands reassuringly. "Keith intimated that you have gone into action before."

  "Yes, but only solo hunts," Kimberly replied nervously. "I've never had to hunt while also caring to be part of a team or having other responsibilities."

  Melanie sat back, suspicious. "Other responsibilities? Such as taking care of a poor simple human woman?"

  Kimberly bit her lip, and Melanie could tell she was afraid of offending her. Finally, Kimberly nodded barely, confirming the question. Melanie felt a flash of anger but buried it. It was probably true, Kimberly and Keith both had physical strengths and abilities that far outstripped hers. But that didn't mean she couldn't carry her own share of whatever load happened tonight. Placing her fingers under Kimberly's chin, she lifted the beautiful face until Kim's amber eyes were staring into Melanie's own blues. "Kimberly, you don’t have to concern yourself with protecting me tonight."

  "But your baby...."

  "Is a week into gestation, if I even am pregnant. Now, considering how much Keith and I have made love over the past few days, I'd say it's a damn good chance, I know I'm in the right time frame of my cycle to become pregnant. But you don’t have to concern yourself about me. I'm a five-year cop, and I can handle myself."

  "I know. I saw what you did in The War Zone."

  "You were observing me?"

  "Part of my duties as Alpha Female would be to protect Keith's Mates, werewolf or human. When you left the other night I followed you on the rooftop, making sure to stay hidden. I wanted to respect your privacy as much as possible."

  "How did you keep up? I took a taxi from the Towers to The War Zone."

  "Werewolves can run very fast, especially in wolf form. I partially changed, and could keep up pretty easily."

  Mel sat back, her mind whirling with images of Kim running like some comic book super-heroine. Finally, she shrugged, accepting Kimberly's self-appointed role as her guardian. "I guess, but still, I don't need you worrying about tonight. I will wear body armor, and can take care of myself. Besides, I have something new to look forward to."

  "What?"

  "I want to see you change tonight if you don't mind. I bet you are one beautiful wolf."

  Kimberly blushed, and then hugged Melanie. "Thank you, Sister. Now, let's get our day started before Keith wakes up. He will still go into his work this morning, so we can have all day to prepare ourselves."

  The rest of the morning and afternoon was spent in preparation. First, Melanie and Kimberly used Kim's tablet to access the police database, which earned a glance from Mel. "You know, this is highly illegal that you have a password to this."

  "You'd be surprised what pies I have my fingers in," Kimberly said, brushing a lock of hair behind her ear. "You'll understand why later."

  After hacking in, Kim sent a bogus e-mail to all four surviving members of the hit squad that had been on Melanie's trail, pretending to be an informant who had information about a Triad operation that the group would be interested in. Next, Kimberly backed into the personnel files of each of the four men, while Melanie briefed her.

  "Lieutenant Brandon Yankowitz," Mel began, as the man's face came up on the tablet screen. Kim squinted at the low-resolution image for a moment, before shaking her head.

  "Hold on. I want to use a bigger screen for this."

  Melanie looked around, perplexed. She had never seen anything that looked like a television in the central living room before and had actually grown used to the lack of electronic geegaws in her daily life. She was surprised when Kim punched a few well-concealed buttons next to one of the bookshelves, and an entire section of wall retracted to reveal a large flat panel screen. "I only use it when Keith isn't around," Kimberly said, smiling. "He's totally into the organic, as you probably figured out, but I love my computer gadgets, and this makes things so much easier."

  "All right, so where was I?" Melanie said as Kim tapped her tablet a few times. The images from the tablet transferred up to the screen, and the Lieutenant's face became much larger. "Lieutenant Brandon Yankowitz. Second in charge of the precinct, really an old school cop. For a while, I suspected he was taking orders from the Captain in charge, but in the end, I thought different. He reports to someone, I just never figured out who."

  "He's a silberjager," Kim interjected. "He reports to a whole different chain of command."

  "Keith used that word before," Mel said, recalling her first morning she awoke in the Lockwood Towers. "What does it mean?"

  "I've told you that Clan politics are complex," Kimberly said, her eyes burning with hatred towards the image on the screen. "Part of it is that in addition to normal inter-werewolf conflicts, our kind has been hunted since the dawn of recorded histor
y by various fanatical groups of humans. One such group is known as the Silver Bringers. Your more conspiracy minded humans called them the Illuminati. It made sense really since Silver is a very shiny, light reflecting metal."

  "You mean they aren't just fodder for the tin-foil hat wearing nut cases?"

  "Yes and no," Kim continued. "They do exist, just not to take over the world or form one world government or the typical stories. Founded by the Roman Church shortly after the fall of Rome, the Silver Bringers believe that it was our kind who betrayed the Western Roman Empire to barbarism and have led a holy war against us ever since. Their agents are involved in many areas of government, politics, and power, not for world domination, but to find and eradicate us. One of the types of field agents is called a silberjager, or Silver Hunter. He's a field assassin, and often we find them working in law enforcement and military in order to use the legal firepower granted these groups for their own aims.

  Keith and I have known about Yankowitz's role for a while. We were hesitant to move against him, however, knowing that if he died under suspicious circumstances it might alert the rest of the Silver Bringer hierarchy."

  "Is it safe to do so tonight?"

  "It doesn't matter now," Kim said, somberly. "He saw Keith rescue you. He knows we are in the city, as he's probably suspected for years. It's time to take him out of the picture."

  "Okay. Well, next we have Sergeant Mathew 'Teo' Blanco. Italian-American, and proud of it. He's the sergeant in charge of the district SWAT team and one vicious son of a bitch. Even before I was transferred to the Southside, stories of his team kicking ass and taking few prisoners were department-wide. He violates every rule in the book, but because of his connections, the local press cast him as some sort of tough guy hero cop. He's as dirty as they come, though."

  "Next, SWAT officers Tyrone Holdings and Roger Maxwell. Tweedledee and Tweedledum, neither of them is all that smart, but they're good guns, and they take orders well from Blanco. They're his attack dogs; if he wants something really nasty done but he doesn't want to do it himself, they are the ones who usually do it. Don't sell these two short, though, they're both super tough and quick on the trigger."

  After completing the briefing, Kimberly helped Mel with what she had been looking forward to least, changing her hair. While it wasn't full on plastic surgery, with a new hair color and some stage makeup, they were sure Melanie could at least go out without arousing suspicious looks again. They had planned this for days, even before the hunt, and Melanie had kept putting it off. She closed her eyes the entire time in the bathroom, while Kimberly applied the color. "Are you going to tell me what you bought even?" she asked, as Kim hummed to herself.

  "No," Kimberly replied with a chuckle. "You said you didn't want to know when I asked days ago, and I am not telling you until I am finished. Now keep your eyes closed, you promised."

  After letting the dye set according to directions, Kimberly helped Mel wash her hair in the sink before blow drying it. Finally, Kimberly brushed out her hair and tapped Melanie on the shoulder nervously. "Go ahead, open your eyes."

  Mel opened and saw a beautiful stranger staring back at her. Her former blonde locks were gone, and while Melanie had thought that was her best color, she was floored by the job Kimberly had done. Her hair was now a flaming auburn streaked with black, almost a variation of Kimberly and Keith's hair, red where theirs was brown. Melanie looked deeply at her face surrounded by the unfamiliar hair and ran her fingers through it one time. "It's amazing, Sister," Melanie finally said, smiling. "I look like one of the Clan now."

  "You are part of the Clan," Kimberly replied, ruffling Melanie's hair. "And now I truly have a little sister to call Sister around here."

  "Well then, big sis, let's finish getting ready before Keith gets home. Where is he, anyway?"

  "He's obtaining the toys we get to play with tonight," Kimberly explained. "While I am sure you are confident with your Glock, if we are going to take on four fully armed police officers, I prefer to have a bit more."

  "Me too."

  Chapter 10

  "Are you ready?"

  Melanie could feel Keith's voice in her head, and was glad that she shared a form of communication with her Mate that didn't require any speaking at all. With just a bit of concentration, she thought out her reply. "In position, ready for the trap."

  Fifty meters down the dark alley, Melanie could see their four targets looking around, waiting for a Triad representative that was never going to come. Blanco and his men were in full SWAT regalia, while the Lieutenant was still wearing his normal duty wear, a simple off the rack suit that screamed of cheapness. Melanie looked up to the rooftops, where she knew Keith was waiting. Meanwhile, on the other side of the alley, she knew Kimberly was waiting to close the jaws of the trap. She waited until the count of ten, then stepped out of the doorway she was in. She brought her Steyr AUG rifle to her shoulder, before calling out to the four men. "Drop 'em, boys," she called. "If I don't see weapons on the ground in three seconds, you're all dead men."

  All four corrupt cops whirled to face Melanie, with Holdings and Maxwell jerking their SWAT MP7's up. Melanie squeezed her trigger once, sending a burst into the ground in front of them. "Drop it, I said. Blanco, if your boys don't listen, you're going to be looking for some new pit bulls for your team."

  "I know that voice," the Lieutenant called back, keeping his hands clearly out to his sides. "Richter, is that you?"

  "Damn right."

  "Huh, woulda thought you'd be dog food by now. Or more likely dog shit."

  "Not at all, Lieutenant. I've had a wonderful past couple of weeks. Met some really interesting people who said they want to meet you."

  She could see the Lieutenant flinch at the innuendo. "You just keep those freaks away from me," he said, his eyes immediately darting around.

  "Turn yourselves in and confess, and they won't ever have to come out to play," Melanie replied, only feeling a small twinge of guilt at the lie. She knew that there was no way Keith or Kimberly would let these dirty cops leave the alleyway.

  Blanco had stood next to the Lieutenant the whole time, confused about what the hell he and Richter were talking about. He wasn't in on the werewolf situation and thought that Richter was just rescued by some crazy guy playing Batman that night. "Fuck this," he muttered, reaching for his sidearm. He was fast, and his body was partially hidden behind Maxwell's, so Melanie didn't see him until he was already drawn, and the SWAT officer put two rounds in her chest.

  Melanie felt like she had been hit with a sledgehammer. Her body armor held, the extra trauma plates absorbing the fatal energy, but she was still knocked back, breathless. She staggered to her knees, but before Blanco or his men could fire again, the night was pierced with two bone-chilling, yet oddly melodious howls. Keith and Kimberly were in the fight now, and they were in full wolf mode.

  In the dark half light of the alleyway, Melanie couldn't see much, except for two huge shapes, each at least eight feet tall, one falling from the rooftop, the other bounding down the alleyway at a deceptively quick speed. Blanco and his men froze at the sight of Keith dropping onto a nearby parked car, crushing the roof like a soda can and setting off the car alarm. The Lieutenant, however, had known what to expect and immediately reached for his own sidearm. With one bound and sweep of his massive paw, Keith swatted the two-hundred-pound cop through the air to crash against the brick wall on the other side of the alley.

  Recognizing their immediate threat, Maxwell and Holdings wheeled their sights onto Keith, who had turned to face them. His eyes were luminescent yellow, and the two fear stricken officers could hear the deep-throated growl rumbling in Keith's throat. Unfortunately for them, their attention was so drawn on Keith that they didn't see Kimberly until it was too late, as the female Alpha cleared the last bound, her teeth bared in a snarl that opened into a roar as she bit deeply into Maxwell's neck, decapitating the man with one snap of her jaws. Whirling, she grabbed Holdings and threw h
im head first into the brick wall behind her, his neck broken by the impact.

  The whole time, Mathew "Teo" Blanco stood in utter fear. His grandmother, a crazy old bat from the northern parts of the old country, had filled his childhood with old wives tales, especially of the lycanthropes. Werewolves had terrified him as a child because of it, and to see his childhood nightmare descend from the sky and kill two of his best men in less than two seconds was too much. He felt his bladder go as he pissed himself, sinking to his knees in abject fear. His mind flooded with panic, and all he could do was watch as Keith stalked towards him. As he looked into the Alpha Male's eyes, Teo realized there was just one thing he could do. He closed his eyes and begged forgiveness from God. It had been a decade since he had seen the inside of a church, and he wasn't sure if anyone would even listen, but he begged anyway.

  Keith paused in front of the stinking, babbling human, unsure. The stench of his urine soaked pants, combined with the rich coppery smell of blood from the other bodies, permeated the alleyway, making it hard to think. His inner nature screamed for the kill, for him to take his prey and devour. But the part of him he kept locked away during his changes, the part that allowed him to love Melanie, stayed his hand. He gazed at Blanco once more, before disdainfully swatting the man in the head, knocking him unconscious. He would let Melanie decide his fate.

  Keith turned, and saw Kimberly already down the alleyway, helping Melanie up. Kim was already turning back into her human form to assist, and Keith dismissed them as he knew Melanie was uninjured. Instead, he focused his senses back on the silberjager, who he had hit earlier. Darting his eyes around, he could not see the man, the braying car alarm was disrupting his hearing, and the rich smells of blood and piss were not letting Keith track him by scent either. Where the hell was he?

  Suddenly, Melanie pulled her Steyr gun to her shoulder and fired. Keith instinctively flattened himself down at the sound, his ears and shoulders lying as flat as possible. He could feel the bullet travel through his fur, just over his shoulder, where it impacted Yankowitz, who had been sneaking up behind him. Keith kicked backward, catching him in the stomach and driving him back into the brick wall. The silver knife he was carrying in his hand dropped to the pavement, and Yankowitz fell face first to the asphalt, dead.