Alpha Balla': A Paranormal Shapeshifter Romance

by Angela Foxxe

  John started to leap at him, hoping he could get the drop on Keith. He might take a bullet or two to the body, but his body would heal. But he stopped the second the smell hit his nostrils. The bullets were silver. He could smell it in the gun smoke. It was a strong metallic odor that was probably imperceptible to the normal human nose, but to him, it smelled worse than burnt popcorn.

  “That’s right, cowboy. I’m prepared. Yeah, you can smell the silver, can’t you? I’m prepared to take your life. Or I could let you rot in jail for murder; I’m not sure which is more fun.”

  “Why are you doing this, Keith? You are my best friend.”

  Keith laughed. “Yeah, I admit you were fun to hang out with back in the day. But things change.”

  “What did you mean when you said you and Heather go way back?” John asked.

  Keith smiled. “We met online a few months ago. I knew immediately the moment I saw her that she was mine. I had to have her. “

  Heather started to grunt and wiggle furiously. She was almost chomping through the gag that Keith had stuffed in her mouth.

  “Okay, my dear. Apparently you have something to add,” Keith said as he ripped the gag from her mouth.

  “That is not true!” Heather said. “You pretended to be a totally different person. You lied to me from day one. As soon as I found out, I severed ties with you. I can’t believe I didn’t recognize you.”

  “Oh, that is why you shouldn’t go by a stinking picture so much. And I know you severed ties. But the person you spoke with was me. It was just a different picture. I didn’t want you to fall in love with a face; I wanted you to fall in love with the real me. I love you dearly, honey, but you can be a bit shallow. When I contacted you as myself about six months ago, you bluntly told me I was not your type.”

  “I didn’t say that; I said I didn’t think we were compatible based on our profiles.”

  “Oh, but that was just a nice way of saying you weren’t attracted to me. I get it; I’m not what most women think of as attractive.”

  Keith was a bit on the short side and had always been slightly heavy set.

  “So, all this is because you had problems meeting women? Really?” John asked. “That’s the most pathetic thing I’ve ever heard you say.”

  Keith held the knife to Heather’s throat. “Don’t tempt me.”

  “You just said how much you love her; you wouldn’t kill her.”

  “I just killed four people; can you say what I will or won’t do?”

  John had to admit, the crazy bastard had a point.

  “I told you I wasn’t interested; what makes you think you can ever really have me?” Heather asked.

  “Well, in time, you will grow to love me and to depend on me. Especially after I give you the gift,” Keith said.

  “What gift?” Heather asked. “What are you talking about? You’re insane.”

  “You see, when John here confided in me some time ago about his powers, I thought he was full of it. So I agreed to watch over him one night while he locked himself in that stupid cage. Imagine my surprise when the change really occurred right in front of me. It terrified me at first. But then I started to think about what a waste it was. John has always regretted the gift. He doesn’t deserve to have it. He locks himself up and lets his power go to waste. I think that’s beyond pathetic.”

  “It is no gift,” John said. “It’s a burden to be a monster.”

  “Well, different strokes, I guess,” Keith said. “It’s been a gift for me.”

  John’s jaw dropped open. What the hell had he said?

  “What?”

  Keith laughed. “That’s right, dumbass. After you changed, I decided to dedicate myself to studying everything I could about werewolves. I became a bit obsessed with the subject to be honest with you. It was actually a lot of fun. Finally, when I was armed with enough knowledge, I knew what I wanted. When you changed that night, I held my hand through the bars and let you bite me.”

  “What? Are you crazy?”

  “No. I’m very sane. I saw an opportunity to become something above everything and everyone, so I took it.”

  “So, all this time, you’ve been infected?”

  “I don’t see it as an infection. I see it as having the most powerful tool in the world. And yes, I’ve been in possession of it for a long time now.”

  “But how do you watch over me without transforming? That doesn’t make sense.”

  “Well, you see, when you forbid yourself to be what you are, then you lose some of the control. Basically, a werewolf who does not kill is never able to control the shift during a full moon. You have to draw human blood to satisfy the demon.”

  “The demon?”

  “Yes. Being possessed by the spirit of the wolf; it’s a form of demonic possession. It requires you to make human sacrifices or during the full moon, the demon takes over completely and you won’t have the strength to keep it at bay. I didn’t write the rules, but I do know how to play by them.”

  “I don’t believe this,” John said. “How many people have you killed?”

  “I don’t know. How many beers have you drunk in your life? Who the hell keeps track?”

  John shook his head. “You’re a monster.”

  “Yes. I am. And I embrace it. Something your cowardly ass has never had the balls to do.”

  “And you wonder why I could never care about you?” Heather said.

  Keith laughed at her comment. “You see, my dear, when I impart the gift on you, then you will be glad to have me in your life, by your side. You are going to be so confused. And old Johnny boy here will not be around to help you.”

  “So why the silver bullets?” John asked. “You afraid to face me head-on?”

  “Not at all, but keep telling yourself that, coward,” Keith said. “You see, silver is a poison to werewolves, but it is a slow-acting poison. You have to have the silver in your blood, and it takes days sometimes. And it is so painful and slow. You will wish you were dead long before your body finally kicks. It is not at all instantaneous like in the movies. I want you to suffer.”

  “Why? What did I ever do to you?” John asked.

  “You have been blessed with so many things in life that you take for granted, and you act like it is your burden to bear. You were given athletic prowess beyond mere mortal men, enhanced by the gift of the wolf, and you turned your back on it. I’m so sick of hearing you whine about how tough you have it. You have gifts that a lot of people, including me, would kill to have. You don’t deserve any of it. And the biggest thing that really sent this thing spiraling over the edge—you tried to take what is mine!”

  Keith was really getting worked up now. John wasn’t sure how far he should push the man. He might snap and kill Heather. He was unpredictable. You never could say what a crazy man might do. Keith was right about that.

  “How did so much hate build in your heart? And Heather is not yours! You lied to her; she found out and said she wasn’t interested in you.”

  “She’ll love me; she’ll have no choice,” Keith said.

  “You don’t know what love is,” Heather added. “You would know how crazy this is if you did.”

  Keith pushed Heather’s chair over. She landed on her side, still tied to the chair. John wanted to rip Keith’s lungs out right then. How dare this pig lay a hand on her?

  “Unrequited love is just love that hasn’t been fully realized yet. Right, John? You know all about that.”

  “What are you talking about now?” John asked.

  “Michelle Patton. Does that ring a bell?”

  “I didn’t care about Michelle. She was almost as crazy as you are.”

  “Oh, but she cared about you. Or at least she was obsessed with you. I’m not sure that’s the same thing, but it is all based on love. Love has so many different facets and components. But poor Michelle; she didn’t have the opportunity to pursue you before her life was cut short by you.”

  “I did not have anything to d
o with what happened to her. And you know that!” John yelled.

  Keith smiled. “Of course I know that. I know that better than anybody.”

  Keith started to giggle crazily. It sounded so psychotic. How was the man even able to pretend to be sane if this was the real him?

  “You mean…” John started. He was unable to even ask the question as the realization hit him.

  “You should have heard her screaming. It was beautiful. How quickly something so perfect looking can turn into something so revolting. When I was done with her, she didn’t resemble a human being anymore.”

  “You attacked her? Why?” John asked.

  “To get you out of the picture. I knew that you were after my woman. I was browsing through your Facebook pics one day when I stumbled upon an old picture of you with Heather. I felt like someone had punched me in the stomach. And when I realized that she was planning to meet up with you again, I had to do something. Besides, I love a good scandal. Imagine—football hero John Wild being sought in a journalist’s murder. That’s juicy.”

  “How did you know I was meeting up with him?” Heather asked.

  Keith laughed. “I’ve been following your every move for a while, sweetie.”

  “I’m going to be sick. You’re nothing but a sick pervert and a murderer.”

  “Like I said, all in the name of love.”

  “So, I take it you leaked the footage to the press, too?” John asked.

  “Yeah, I thought that would be fun. But it turned out to be a nuisance because it made me late in dealing with the Tony Janks matter. I just recently found out that he was harassing my lady. I didn’t think he would kill her, though. I even paid him off. He was a greedy bastard. Apparently, he had to make an example out of Heather, and then when he realized she was tied to you, he wanted to milk you for as much cash as possible. So, you’re welcome.”

  “You won’t get away with all of this,” John said.

  “I will never go with you, no matter what you do,” Heather said. “You will have to kill me first, or I will never stop trying to kill you.”

  “Oh, that’s rich, sweetie. But you couldn’t kill me, no matter what you did.”

  “Wanna bet?” Heather said.

  In a flash, she whipped a dagger from behind her back and sliced open Keith’s hand. He screamed in agony and dropped the gun. John recognized the dagger as the one belonging to Tony Janks. Heather must have picked it up while she was on the floor and cut her restraints with it.

  Keith backhanded Heather across the face, knocking her hard to the floor. She was unconscious, a big gash on the side of her face.

  “Bastard!” John yelled.

  John took the opportunity to lunge at Keith. He slammed into him with all of his might and ran him into the wall. He knew that the silver was burning inside of Keith’s veins, but he was crazy, and he was stronger since he’d been killing people. John did not have much time to overcome him.

  He was bringing the wolf out as much as he could, but he knew that he had to hold it back a little bit for Heather. If he allowed himself to let the full wolf take over, then he might kill her, too. He had no mind or idea of self and who he was when the wolf took over fully. He doubted that Keith was going to let himself be limited by such things. The man embraced the idea of being a monster.

  Keith responded instantly, bringing his arms upward hard and knocking John’s grasp away. He took a swipe with his mighty claw and sliced across John’s face. His body flew against the other wall with a sickening crack. The wind left his body, and his face burned where the claw marks had ripped through him. These were not healing right away. It must have been because they were caused by another werewolf. He hated the idea that even after all of his own research, there was still so much that he didn’t know. He guessed that to learn everything, you would have to be obsessed, as Keith definitely was.

  Keith was completely transformed now. He was all wolf; there was no him left. And the dagger wound didn’t seem to be slowing him down at all. It was almost as if Keith was drawing strength and power from it. He was on John in a split second, picking his body up and slamming it repeatedly on the ground. Each blow sent agony shooting through every part of his body as he was being broken.

  John knew that a werewolf could kill another werewolf. There was a supernatural component to it that made it different. He had to gain the upper hand somehow, but he could not let himself transform fully. But what choice did he have?

  Keith threw him down like a rag doll and stood over him. He let out a horrific growl that shook the walls. John felt consciousness starting to leave him as everything started to get dark. No. He wouldn’t let himself succumb to the bowels of sleep. He had to stay focused. He had to let himself heal for a second, but Keith was not about to let him do that. He was going to deliver the death blow.

  John searched his being for every last ounce of strength he had and quickly swiped at Keith’s leg, tripping him to the ground. The second Keith was off his feet, John had him wrapped up in a heavy chokehold, both arms wrapped around his neck. He twisted with all his might, trying to break Keith’s neck. He knew that he had to go for the heart. That was the only way to really kill him, even for a werewolf. He remembered that from his research, which seemed so long ago. Why had he given up trying to understand himself? Why had he given up searching for a cure?

  Keith backed up hard against the wall, repeatedly crushing John. But John held on as hard as he could, although he could tell his grip was weakening. But Keith’s neck was on the verge of breaking. He could feel the bones starting to crack. If he could do this, then Keith would be out for a few minutes at least, and he could destroy his heart.

  He wasn’t sure how much strength it would take to rip it from his chest, but if that didn’t work, he would use the dagger.

  Suddenly, John felt his body lurching forward as Keith flipped him over. He landed hard on the floor, breaking boards beneath him. Keith’s heavy foot stomped on his chest and cracked his ribcage. He could feel a bone puncturing his lungs, and he couldn’t breathe.

  Keith stomped him again and again; each time the crunch of bone grew louder. John wasn’t sure what he could do. His body was about to give out as the threat of unconsciousness loomed ever closer. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep until he healed more than anything right then. Heather’s sweet face in his mind was the only thing that was keeping him going.

  John reached up in total agony and grabbed Keith’s foot as it came down to deliver another pulverizing blow. He quickly snapped the ankle, breaking it. Keith went to the ground, screaming in agony.

  Somehow, John was able to flip himself onto Keith. The surge of adrenaline he called to spring him to action was intoxicating as it combined with the rage and self-preservation that he felt right then. He was going to destroy this thing. It went against his very nature to ever kill anyone, but some were too dangerous and too evil to be alive. There was no way that normal human justice could ever contain the madness of Keith.

  John roared with everything he had, adding to his fury and his strength. He began to deliver deadly punches to Keith’s face. Over and over again, so hard that the bones in his own hand began to break and shatter, but he didn’t care. He had to fight through the pain and destroy him.

  Keith’s head crashed into the floor behind the weight of each blow. John loved the sound. It was so satisfying to cause this bastard as much pain as he’d caused other people. He was going down. As his face became more and more bloody, Keith saw hope rising in sight finally. He was going to win this; failure was not even a remote possibility anymore.

  Keith was almost unconscious as John’s claws ripped through his face time and time again.

  The moment was now. He was ready to deliver the final blow.

  John reared back with his claw and brought it down hard on Keith’s chest right over the heart. Keith’s eyes flashed open wide as John’s claws began to penetrate.

  But Keith wasn’t done fighting. He grabbed John�
��s claw with both of his and pushed back hard. John grabbed his wrist with his other hand and put all of his weight on it trying to force his claws in deeper and deeper into Keith’s chest. He had to destroy the heart.

  Keith roared suddenly as he received an extra burst of energy from the cosmos and pushed hard, knocking John backward against the wall. He fell to the ground on his head. The world went black momentarily, and he began to feel dizzy and nauseous. His insides felt like they were being burned alive from the inside out. His body was caked with sweat, and he knew that he was almost done.

  The only way out of it was to finish the transformation. If he didn’t, then Heather was sure to die. Would a part of him still be himself enough to realize how much he loved Heather and to protect her? Or would he be just as crazed as Keith was? He couldn’t bear to do it, but he was beginning to realize that he just didn’t have a choice any longer.

  Keith was suddenly on top of him, clawing both sides of his face with left and right blows. His neck was being whiplashed back and forth, back and forth. The darkness was beginning to overtake him. He wasn’t sure he had enough presence of mind to initiate the shift any further. Maybe his body would do it anyway if he was no longer standing in the way. If he was unconscious, he might just be like that or he might shift to the full wolf.

  The pain and the damage was too severe now; he was out of energy. He had lost the fight. His body was being broken beyond repair. He might even die from the injuries. Was that possible? Did it have to be the heart? Either way, Keith was going to make damn sure that his heart was torn out and destroyed.

  Keith’s claws were starting to rip into John’s chest. He tried to will himself to fight off the attack, but the damage was too severe. He was going to be dead soon. He knew it. He could almost feel the sharpness of the claws scraping at his heart walls.

  This is it. I’m sorry, Heather. I love you so much.

  Suddenly, Keith let out a horrific roar.

  The pain and the pressure on top of John’s chest were gone. He could breathe slightly now, and the rush of oxygen to his body produced a euphoric endorphin rush, waking him slowly from his stupor. He began to gasp for air, his lungs working overtime to expand and contract quickly.