BirthSign (La Patron, The Alpha's Alpha)

by Addae, Sydney

  Tyrese got his first full glimpse of Lyrill. The brochures and internet did not do it justice. Breathtaking flowers exploded with every color imaginable and a few he had never seen. The grounds were lush with shrubbery, vines and trees. The fragrance was an incredible collection from the Goddess’ own garden, it was that wonderful. He had been so caught up in the beauty before him, he did not see Miriam until she walked across the stage toward him, a silent plea in her eyes.

  Perhaps it was the beauty of the place or his pleasure in being so close to nature, but he turned to the crowd and nodded. She smiled as if he had crowned her Queen of England. He inhaled again and stopped breathing.

  No…no…no, it couldn’t be… not here. Not now… His palms moistened. His wolf howled sensing the scent that had driven him berserk days before. With ironclad determination, he held onto his wolf, turned and scanned the crowd, ignoring the Prime Minister’s smile. Let the old fool think what he wanted, Tyrese needed to be sure. His gaze landed on a woman holding a camera, his wolf leapt and he felt her wolf respond. Her open-mouthed gaze and then narrowed eye stare assured him she was indeed his mate and she was not only surprised, she was pissed.

  The shit just got real. They would need to alter their plans to include her. He had no idea how or why she was half-way around the world holding a camera but she would be leaving with him.

  He continued looking so the Prime Minister would have no idea what just happened. The worst thing anyone could do was come between mates and he knew the man would be stupid enough to use his mate as a bargaining chip.

  “What happened?” Tyrone asked, sensing his distress.

  “My mate is here, at the ceremony. She’s a full-blood.”

  “Congrats, man,” Tyrone said after a gasp.

  “Shit,” Silas said at the same time.

  “What?” Tyrone asked.

  “Do not, I repeat, do not touch the princess. Your mate will not be able to control her wolf if she sees you with another woman. If she allows you to stand close to the princess that is as much as she can allow. Her wolf will attack no matter what the human part of her wants. Full-bloods do not have the same measure of control in this area as half-breeds. Asia’s team just landed. I am sending them to Lyrill now rather than wait until tonight.”

  “Why?” Tyrone asked, confused.

  “If you saw a man touching Rose’s arm what would you do?” Silas asked into the quiet.

  “I’d try to kill the bastard.”

  “Exactly, just because Rese and his mate have not completed mating does not mean they are not mated. She is his and he is hers, period. She will attack or die trying and then Rese will fight to protect her. Plus there is the mating itch...they will try to fuck all the time until the mating is complete. It will make the escape... more difficult.”

  “Yeah, my wolf is not happy that I am here and she is there. I feel her confusion, her wolf’s not happy either,” Tyrese said counting the total number of full-blood guards. There were a dozen. If he shifted into his hybrid he could flatten them like bowling pins. But what if they shot him again with whatever they’d used before. He told Rone of his concern and Silas promised he would take care of anything they shot at him. The best case scenario would be to wait for Asia. But the way his wolf snarled and snapped to break free to answer the call of his mate, he doubted they would make it.

  The Prime Minister droned on and on, Tyrese barely paid attention. He heard voices speaking and ignored them while calming his beast. The Prime Minister smiled at him and waved to the crowd.

  “I present Prince Tyrese and Princess Miriam.” The crowd clapped wildly while Tyrese frowned, what the hell was the old man talking about. He was no prince. The Prime Minister ushered the two of them to walk forward toward the crowd.

  Tyrese refused to move. Miriam’s eyes flashed hatred at him, but she remained by his side. A metal barrel dug into his side. Tyrese told Silas to get ready. He looked over his shoulder at the full-blood and shrugged. He did not move. The bastard stabbed him with a needle. Tyrese turned so fast, grabbed the man’s arm, twisted and broke it with a loud snap. When he turned the crowd saw the needle sticking out of his side and gasped. Everyone except his mate. She screamed like a banshee and jumped from the balcony onto the stage.

  He spun and got his first good look at her. She was slim but not skinny, the dress she wore made her dark complexion glow. Even though her dark brown eyes snapped fire, and she looked as though she would break the guard in half, she was beautiful. She stalked up to him and snatched the needle from his side and threw it across the stage. It all happened so fast it took the full-bloods a moment to react.

  “Who are you?” Miriam asked looking at his mate in confusion. The rest of the bridal party stepped back and left the stage through a side door as the crowd pushed closer to see what was happening.

  “Excuse me,” Tyrese said to his mate. He turned sideways, stared at the Prime Minister and spit out the poison his minions had just administered. “When will you learn? You may own these bitches, but you will never own me.” He turned and walked to the front of the platform, his mate moved behind him.

  “I am no prince. Your princess and her father kidnapped me from a fake mission to be here today. I am not staying. They are deceitful and I don’t deal with those who lie and cheat. What you just saw was them attempting to drug me to do what they want me to do. I am done.”

  The Prime Minister sputtered in rage and tried to run forward, but the Ambassador had the guards stop him. No one spoke. A lone clap started in the balcony. Tyrese glanced up and saw a cartoonish looking man staring down.

  “Frances…Frances LaRue.” He waved. “So glad someone spoke up and explained what was going on, it was obvious things weren’t right. If you are not the prince, why did you just agree to it in the ceremony?”

  Tyrese straightened. “I did not.”

  “Well, someone sounding like you just did… did they use a tape? Did anyone else hear him agree to become prince?”

  “No, I didn’t hear anything,” someone said from the other side of the stage. “I thought it was strange he wasn’t paying Miriam any attention, she’s the prettiest one of the bunch.”

  There were murmurs of agreement. The crowd grew restless. Tyrese turned and realized the stage had been cleared. A guard tugged on his mate’s arm. He did not think, he jumped forward and fell on the full-blood’s back. His mate rolled away and ran toward the crowd, but did not leave the platform. The crowd grew silent as the full-blood roared and ran at him.

  Tyrese reared back and hit the guard in the chest so hard the wolf flew back against the stone wall. The sound of breaking bones could be heard over the gasps of the crowd. Two guards ran out of the room, in partial shifts, claws bared. Tyrese pulled on Tyrone’s energy and ran in a tight circle around the guards so fast it was a blur. One guard kicked out, missed him and wound up falling on his back. Tyrese slammed into the other wolf knocking him across the platform into the stone wall where his head split like a coconut.

  The crowd gasped and groaned at the gruesome sight. Tyrone pummeled the other wolf like a punching bag. When the wolf collapsed, Tyrese twisted his head and snapped his neck. Up until now, he’d been fair, reasonable. Bastards touched his mate; they’d die for that shit.

  He hadn’t caught his breath when two more full-blood guards ran at him. These two split up, one in front, one behind. He glanced at his mate, read her pride and concern. The first emotion fed his ego, the other was baseless. He would always protect her, and would prove it.

  He spun, jumped and kicked the guard behind him under his chin. The move had been so fast and unexpected the guard flew into the crowd. They moved and he landed on the pavement. Tyrese turned to the other guard and noticed two more had joined the remaining one. He smiled and drew a little more of Tyrone’s energy. His wolf howled to be free, but Silas did not want the world to see how different his hybrid was, it was not time.

  The three came at him together and he jumped higher,
meeting the wolf who had leapt forward in the air with a punch in the face stopping his momentum. That wolf flew back and hit the floor. Tyrese fell to the ground, grabbed another guard by the throat and spun him around in time to receive the punishing blow from the third guard. The wolf in his hand crumpled from the hit. Tyrese threw him aside and dodged the next punch.

  This guard continued throwing punches, a few of them connected, stunning him a bit. Out the corner of his eye, he saw the blue dress.

  “My mate is watching.”

  “Okay, do whatever you need to do,” Silas said, understanding the need to prove himself worthy of his woman.

  Tyrese released some of his hybrid’s strength and blocked the next punch. He reared back and hit the guard in the nose with enough force; the man’s bones broke through his skin. He stumbled backward and fell. Tyrese looked for the two other guards. They stood on the other side and ran at him.

  He waited until they were almost to him, opened his arms and caught them as if they were baseballs. He slammed their backs together. The door opened again and he saw the guard’s uniform. He held the two guards tight and ran toward the opening, hurling the guard back inside. They wanted to play…he would play, but not in front of the humans.

  That was forbidden.

  Chapter 13

  Asia watched the driver maneuver the vehicle through the rough, bumpy terrain before reaching a clearing where three tents blended into the scenery. She glanced at her three silent partners, their energy raced up her arms like a thousand marching ants. Their calm facades were just that, fake. The four of them were ready for action in whatever form it took, here and in Lyrill.

  The vehicle stopped. She jumped out and grabbed her bag. Everyone else did the same and followed the driver toward a tent near the edge of the circle. He hadn’t said much and didn’t speak now as he stepped aside and allowed them to enter first. He walked in last.

  All four of them snapped to attention and saluted the officer.

  “At ease… welcome to hell. I’m Captain Browning,” the man said without looking up at them. “We have a cluster-fuck situation here. I don’t know who is running this…” He exhaled and looked up meeting their eyes. “We need to snatch a target who will probably kill us on sight.” He pointed to the man standing near the exit, their driver. Angus glanced at the man. She didn’t bother. No need to look at a dead man.

  “So they sent in new faces to do the job. Right now I have eyes here. The ceremony is taking place, but being the fools that they are, the sons of bitches overplayed their hand and tried to drug our target in daylight in front of everyone.” He glanced at them. “He did not like it and they are fighting as we speak.”

  Asia tensed and glanced at Angus. Had La Patron spoke to him about the situation? Mistress was her only link and no one mentioned this development to her.

  “We don’t have orders to interfere yet, but this will turn into a blood bath if we cannot stop those fools. Our target is not the average soldier. He will not stop until he feels avenged. It’s how he was trained.”

  “We are rescuing one of our own, Sir?” Leon asked.

  The captain’s deeply tanned skin turned ruddy. “Yes…yes we are, it may be the last thing we do but we will get him out of there.”

  Leon nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

  “How many are in the field, Sir?”

  The captain, straightened. “One, Caleb is my eyes and Patrick here is the marksman. We lost the others in our team a couple of days ago. That’s why they sent you so we can finish the job and go home.”

  Asia glance at Angus and nodded. He stepped forward, placed his hand on the captain while Brix leaned back and touched Patrick. Within moments the transformations were complete and they changed clothes again. Asia dragged the captain’s body to one of the empty tents while Angus got acclimated in his new role. She found a long blanket and covered the officer to make it appear as if he were asleep. Brix did the same with Patrick while Leon checked their supplies. Despite what she thought of the Captain, he was simply a soldier doing his job and was caught in the middle of command. A puppet like she had been so many times. For this last job he probably won’t ever get recognition since he wasn’t officially here, the whole situation sucked.

  Leon whistled. She turned to see what he found. “Look at this, someone in the military bought drugs from Liege labs. These chemicals will knock a rhinoceros on his ass. I bet this is how they took Tyrese out.”

  Asia looked at the vials and her stomach rolled. What the fuck were they doing with this bullshit here? Was everyone connected? “Is this some type of conspiracy?”

  “Probably not. But we need to move, the fight just went inside and Caleb can no longer tell what’s going on. Who’s on Caleb?”

  Asia took a few darts and motioned for everyone else to do the same. They would not leave this for the military to use on them later. It was only a matter of time before reinforcements came to this camp.

  “I am,” Leon said as they all moved to the jeep.

  “We’re on the move Caleb. Do not move until we arrive,” Angus said, sounding like the captain.

  Angus nodded and they made their way to the connection point. Asia had wondered how the military accessed the country when tight security measures were in effect. She smelled the dead before they reached the large tree. Because of the rugged terrain, they couldn’t go any further in the jeep, they parked, grabbed their weapons and ran the rest of the way following Angus’ lead. It didn’t take long to locate Caleb, although he was well-hidden. Leon crouched next to him and touched his shoulder. The next moment, Caleb was gone. Rather than waste time burying his body, they rolled him over, took off his jacket and left him to the elements.

  Weapons drawn they crept into town. Once they cleared the boundary line, they headed for the main square where the ceremony had been held. Asia stiffened, braced her legs and jumped as a full-blood ran at her. The four of them spread out as ten or more full-bloods came at them en masse.

  Her blood sang as she kicked the first wolf, who’d attacked, in the gut so hard he flew backward, and knock two others down. She spun, her foot lashed out as she caught the next wolf under his chin and snapped his neck. The battle didn’t take long; the full-bloods had no idea the kind of wolves they had run up against.

  She grabbed the last wolf around the neck, drug him beneath a shade tree and took his identity. After changing into the guard uniform, she read his memories. “They keep Tyrese locked up in the castle. There were thirty wolves on the premises. He took out ten…” she counted the bodies littering the ground. “We just took out twelve. But more are on the way.”

  Angus nodded. “We should’ve taken on their bodies, but I need to monitor the military involvement, I don’t believe for one second Browning’s team is the only one on the ground. They would never leave themselves wide open like this. Big brother is somewhere close watching. So hide before you morph, and no shifting into wolf form. No need for them to salivate over our equipment.”

  Asia agreed and raced ahead. She ran into two more wolves and took them back to the soldiers who appeared surprised for a second before they drug them away and took their identities. Angus lay on the ground near the vehicle so he could monitor the military while Asia, Brix and Leon headed toward the platform at a jog.

  “The ceremony is over, please return to your homes,” the security guard said in a megaphone, the loud noise hurt her ears. The crowd mumbled their displeasure, but moved slowly in the opposite direction.

  “How could they take a prince against his will? It’s obvious he’s a foreigner,” someone said.

  “Yes…yes of course he is, but he is a fighter, did you see him throw all of the big security guards off and then proceed to beat them so fast they couldn’t hit back. It was delightful. I hope we have similar entertainment at the next crowning ceremony.”

  Asia shook her head as she moved through the crowd, her mind on Tyrese and his rescue. She sensed more wolves headed in her direction, but ke
pt moving. Someone rifled through her mind and she knew the pack Alpha had arrived. Damn. She did not want to deal with pack politics.

  “Yosef, come with me. The rest of you form a barrier around the stage, no one in and no one out.

  Asia recognized she was Yosef and followed the Alpha onto the stage and through a door. The room was a ramshackle mess. Not one piece of furniture remained upright. In the corner of the room Tyrese stooped on his haunches. Next to him a young, black female stood holding a bottle of water in one hand and a camera in the other. Asia frowned but followed the Alpha to the tall man who stood on the opposite side of the room. She checked Yosef’s memories, this man was the Prime Minister and the Alpha was Milque, the one Silas told them to watch out for. His reputation as an Alpha with no scruples had preceded him.

  “This will cost you. Are you willing to pay for his extermination?”

  Asia tensed.

  “Yes…yes, I am tired of playing with him. He has caused me nothing but trouble since he was brought here.”

  “Why not release him?” the Alpha asked.

  The Prime Minister’s jaw tensed and his nostrils flared. “He ruined my ceremony and made my daughter cry. No man…or monster lives who does that.”

  The Alpha straightened. His eyes darkened. His shoulders expanded, bruising the seams of his leather jacket. She was sure they’d rip apart. “Monster?” His voice sounded silky smooth. “Is that why you refused me as a candidate for prince and brought in another…monster?”

  The prime minister blanched and swallowed hard. There were few human guards in the room, even so they were no match for the full-bloods. The Prime Minister’s eyes darted all over the room, everywhere but at the Alpha who asked him a question.