Alphy's Challenge

by Tigertalez

  An explosion of glass and wood shot around them, sending fragments sliding across the hardwood floors. The twins screamed and cried. Reese and Havana were fast picking up the tots and sheltering them, but all Gale could do was stand where she was, in a near state of shock, covering her ears with her hands. Men thundered through the door and windows. She felt a breeze as Ryker sped by her at an inhuman speed.

  She heard Ryker hiss, baring his fangs, as he stopped in front of one intruder and stabbed his elongated fingernails into the man’s chest right where his heart would have been. Gale shut her eyes and looked away. She heard more shouting and gurgling, and three thunderous roars that shocked her enough to look up.

  The twins were in Paul’s lap with her mother sheltering them all. Filling the rest of the living space were three giant Kodiak bears. Now she knew why the space was so open, as the bears crowded the large space. Gale dove for the seat with her mother and siblings. She watched as the three bears and a fast lethal vampire attacked the intruders.

  Ryker’s eyes were entirely red, and his elongated fingernails were dripping with blood. Gale saw one of the enforcers on the floor, already dead, his sightless eyes staring open at the ceiling with four deep slashes torn in his neck, down his chest, feeding the growing pool of blood he lay in. Smoke filled the area, causing them to cough, and she tasted the metallic tang of blood in the air. The final enforcer, the main instigator, came into view, and Gale closed her eyes and turned away as one bear lunged at his throat. She heard a gurgled grunt and tried to not picture what just happened to him. Soon, the chaos quieted, leaving only the sounds of the screaming tots. She looked up. Nine men lay dead or dying in giant pools of blood on the floor. Above them stood Ryker, covered in blood and a feral look on his face, and Betty, Havana, and Reese … naked. Gale gasped, slammed her eyes shut, and turned her head.

  “Enzo? Yes, we were attacked, but I’m sorry to tell you there aren’t any prisoners.”

  Gale heard Ryker speaking into his cell. He said it so matter of factly that it made her stomach sick. She couldn’t hear what was said on the other side of the phone.

  “Ok, got it. Oh! I’ll hold you to that.”

  Gale heard Betty’s voice. “Reese, keep your skin on, just in case more come. You, too, Havana, better safe than sorry.”

  Gale cringed when she heard bones and ligaments popping. It sounded so painful.

  “OK, I’m dressed. Gale, why don’t you help me clean up this glass?” Gale felt fur rub against her leg and looked up. A huge brown bear snout sniffed in her face taking in her scent. It poked past her and did quick little sniffs and puffs against the twins. Gale was frozen in place. Alphy had said he couldn’t hurt her, but he’d never said anything about the others.

  The tots stopped crying and started to giggle with the wet nose tickling their sides. They threw themselves at the bear and proceeded to use the giant bear as a jungle-gym.

  “Come on, girls. They won’t hurt you. They are just as cognizant in their bear forms as they are in the human forms,” said Betty.

  Gale’s mother was the first one to get up, but Gale still didn’t want to get up until she saw the pain her brother was in. She leaped up and away from him. She stood there for a second until Betty shoved a broom in her face, “Snap out of it, girl. We need ya, and we don’t want those tots getting cut on the glass.”

  Gale shook her shock and went to work.

  ****

  Alphy heard the phone call Enzo took. He had expected the other alpha would try as much, but it still pissed the ever loving hell out of him.

  “That might not be his only attempt, so keep your senses sharp,” Alphy told them. They nodded, so turning, he stepped into the arena and made his way to the middle of. “Alpha David.” Everyone hushed. “You have attacked my family, twice now.”

  Alpha David interrupted. “I object! That first day at the hotel was a complete misunderstanding. We did not know you were here or we would have respected your territory.”

  Alphy continued, “I was not counting that encounter. You sent your enforcers to kidnap my mate, my sister, and my mate’s mother,”

  Again, David interrupted. “Lies! I did no such thing. I had no knowledge of the goings on of my enforcers.”

  Alphy raised a brow. “Who said it was your enforcers? Then you knew they were still in the area? You knew it was your enforcers and not rogues or perhaps another from your herd?”

  David sputtered, and Alphy heard a few of the other alphas show distaste in David’s direction. Good. He was losing support.

  Alphy, again, continued. “Your three enforcers attacked them, with the help of two human thugs.” He paused to hear the round of gasps. The representative from the council was particularly interested. To risk exposure to humans incurred a severe penalty. “I still hold the two humans, who will be given over to the council, who as you see,” he pointed out the eagle shifter elder and his escort, “is here today.”

  “The second attempt,” Alphy turned his full attention back to David, “was just moments ago, no doubt to try to persuade me to lose to you. Oh don’t worry, the intruders’ bodies, which include two of your enforcers, are still there to identify them.”

  David’s face turned dark red, and several more alphas distanced themselves from him. Alphy had no illusions that they may be good alphas, because they weren’t. He believed they were just saving their own hides. “Is that why you invited these other alphas? Did they agree to help you? The attackers weren’t all elk, so who else helped you?”

  Ryker didn’t tell him they weren’t all elk. Alphy had only guessed, but figured he didn’t have anything to lose. Either David would deny his involvment, or maybe even hang himself with a slip like “I didn’t send any others”. In any case, it would send a message to the other alphas, and all in front of the council! Alphy almost smiled at how well that part played out.

  As Alphy expected and prepared for, the other alpha shifted and charged. Alphy easily dove out of the way. The rack on the alpha was pretty impressive, but Alphy had a lot of training with dodging sharp objects. He had to remember to stay clear of the sharp hooves, too. Those weren’t anything to take lightly. Alphy waited until the alpha took and missed another pass. Giving into his bear, he quickly took on his bear form. In the matter of a second, goosebumps formed over Alphy’s enlarging form and fur replaced smooth flesh. The change was too fast to hear the bones and ligaments over the clod of the elk’s hooves and the shouting bystanders. He was full size and ready by the time David had turned and charged. David wasn’t a bright fellow. He didn’t particularly look before he charged because when he saw Alphy had changed, he panicked and tried to stop. However, it was too late, and Alphy did the same thing he had done the other enforcer, rearing up and coming down to latch his jaws on the alpha’s neck. He didn’t hesitate to rip it out, knowing the kill was justified. The shifter world was a brutal place. It had to be to keep safe from the humans, or from each other.

  Alphy bellowed out his victory at the other alphas around him. He was challenging them to just try to test his limits, but Alphy knew he didn’t have any. The other alphas must have felt it, too, as they were quickly headed back to the vehicles and leaving little dust clouds where their wheels sped with their impatience.

  Alphy turned to the councilman and shifted. After putting on some sweats he had brought earlier, Alphy approached the eagle shifter, Tyler Ghost. The other man stood and stepped forward. He extended his hand. “Alpha Ralph, your bear is the most impressive one I have ever seen. You handled yourself well, and under the circumstances, that’s equally impressive.” Alphy took the councilman’s hand and shook it. Tyler had a good strong grip, and even though he didn’t look older than his early forties, Alphy knew this shifter was far older than that. “I look forward seeing you rebuild this sleuth, or pack, as someone had emphasized.”

  “Thank you, Councilman Ghost, and thank you for coming. And you.” Alphy quickly gave a quick nod of recognition to the coven leader,
Raymond Kazmet. “You are both invited to our pack house for a celebratory dinner.”

  Tyler perked up. “Delightful! I am eager to meet the woman I spoke to, a Miss Betty.”

  Alphy smiled. “Yes, my great-aunt. She was the one who kept the territory all these years, until I came to claim it.”

  “Smart woman, that one. We’ll head over there now.” The councilman led his two bodyguards and assistant over to a vehicle, and they climbed in.

  Alphy turned to the coven leader, Raymond. Raymond held out his hand to Alphy, who gladly took it. “I would love to stay, but I’m afraid it won’t be for too long, I have an early meeting tomorrow. I’m very glad to see it worked out so well for you here. I’ve been speaking with Ryker. He had high praises for you, and I’m surprised to see they weren’t exaggerated.”

  They walked together over to Raymond’s car. He also had brought a small escort, but they had brought their own vehicles and were now standing by them waiting to follow their leader.

  “You may like to know I have spoken to the clutch we protect. There are only three of them, but they are interested in joining you and helping you build. They do have some questions for you, and they are waiting on me to report if you are trustworthy enough, which answer I can assure you, is positive.”

  “Thank you, Ray. Let’s head to the house and we can discuss it further. We are eager to get some buildings started, and our overzealous doctor—”

  Not too far away, they heard Seamus sing out, “I can hear you.”

  Alphy and Ray chuckled, and Alphy continued. “He is eager to get a paranormal hospital going.”

  Ray’s eyes widened. “Really? I would be most interested in that. I wondered what Seamus was about, when he asked for all that equipment.”

  “Truly. We are still working on drawing up the plans, and as I said before, we still need some homes built, but we have been working it out.”

  Watching Ray and his entourage drive out of the clearing, Alphy ordered everyone to head back to the house. They signaled the others and departed the area, leaving the bloody corpse of the ex-alpha where it lay.

  Chapter Thirteen

  Alphy could see the mess from the attack as he and his inner circle approached the house. On his right stood Raymond surrounded by his entourage next to his vehicle, speaking to his coven. Not seeing Tyler, Alphy continued towards the house. Before he could step onto the porch, Gale appeared through the splintered doorway. Her face lit up at seeing him, and she ran across the space and launched herself into his ready arms. Alphy had no problems catching his mate. He’d been worried sick about her, and even though he was told she was all right, it still didn’t sit well with his bear. Now that he held her, he felt a large part of himself reassured that she really was all right.

  Keeping his mate locked in his arms, Alphy climbed the steps and walked into the entryway of the house. He was further shocked at the scene before him. Councilman Tyler had Betty against the wall, kissing her like his next breath depended on it.

  Alphy stepped aside to allow Tom through. He’d been anxious to get to his mate, too. Tom seemed to be just as curious as Alphy was about the tongue-dueling couple, and he slowed just a bit as he passed them, staring at them until he was past.

  Enzo and the others followed through the door. A crooked smile played over Enzo’s lips. “Huh, didn’t see that one coming.”

  Kace drawled, “Aw, man, what about the feast?”

  Slate huffed an amused grunt. “She is the feast, for Tyler anyway.”

  “Wow, they’re still going at it.” Ryker’s voice sounded nearby, but Alphy couldn’t quite see him with his buddies in the way. “He didn’t even say hello before swallowing her up like that.”

  Seamus snickered. “You’d think they’d need to come up for air by now.”

  Gale giggled. “We’ve tried to stop them, or interrupt them, but it’s like nothing else exists. Isn’t it sweet?”

  “Not when you can smell it. Their pheromones are so thick they’re giving me an uncomfortable headache,” said Ryker.

  “Yeah, me, too,” Kace said.

  Seamus rolled his eyes. “Not that head, you horn-dog.”

  Slate interrupted. “No, I would say dickhead was a more appropriate name to call him.”

  Alphy rolled his eyes. “All right, that’s enough.” Alphy finally placed his mate on her feet, but keeping a hold of her hand, walked up to the vigorous couple. “Mister Ghost, Betty.” Alphy projected his voice, and after he repeated it one more time, the couple slowly became aware of their surroundings.

  They were both breathing pretty hard, but Alphy noted Betty’s face tint pink as she looked around at the audience. Alphy turned to the others and barked an order. “Kace, take who you need and fix the doors and windows. Ryker, I want those accounts frozen like we discussed.” After everyone dispersed, he faced the councilman who was watching Betty’s retreating form. “Something I need to know, Councilman Tyler?”

  After Betty was no longer visible, Tyler answered, “She’s my mate.” His voice was a bit breathy, and Alphy recognized the subtle shift he made to readjust his dick. Still looking in the direction Betty had gone, he continued. “I was beginning to think I would never meet her, and here she is.” Tyler shook himself and turned to face Alphy. “I apologize. As soon as I scented her, I was completely overcome by instinct, and once I saw her …” Tyler didn’t finish, and Alphy didn’t need him to.

  “Congratulations,” he said, smiling at the shorter man.

  Gale peeked around him. “Yes, congratulations.”

  “Thank you, both of you. I guess you’re going to be seeing a lot more of me. Uh, I hope you don’t have a problem with that.”

  Alphy shook his head. “Actually, I’m really happy for you both. Just don’t expect me to give up my alpha position.”

  Tyler shook his head. “In order to do that, I would need to give up my seat on the council and I would need to challenge you. I don’t have the will for the first or the strength for the second. That does remind me, though. You are now the alpha to David’s herd. You’ll need to take it over as soon as possible.”

  Alphy groaned. “I’ve been thinking about that. I think I know what I’m going to do.”

  “I’m curious to what it is. I gather then that you are staying here permanently?”

  “Definitely. This is my home, and my bear refuses to hear of anything else.”

  “Well then, let’s go sit down and talk while your men are fixing the house and my mate is finishing up the feast.”

  Alphy noticed the delight the councilman had at referring to his “mate”. Right as they were about to make their way into the living room, coven leader Raymond entered the house. “Alphy, I have news when you’re ready to hear it.”

  Alphy pulled Gale onto his lap and situated her as the others got comfortable. She didn’t fight him or argue or even suggest going anywhere else, so he assumed she really needed to be with him right now and he had to admit to himself that he couldn’t let of her right now either.

  “Raymond, what’s your news?” the councilman asked.

  “I’ve spoken to my second, and he has learned there are two other members of my coven who are interested in learning carpentry. They have heard you are welcoming the gargoyles and have inquired if they can also join. They are quite young but respectable.”

  Alphy felt Gale tense slightly as he nodded at the news. “I’d like to look into that. I’m sure Kace wouldn’t mind teaching his trade. He’s done it before. When are they thinking of coming up here?”

  “That will depend entirely on you. They will need more time to pack, I’m afraid, than the gargoyles, but not much. They are still living with their parents.”

  Gale wiggled slightly and fidgeted, Alphy guessed it was from learning of another kind of paranormal. “Something on your mind, honey-bear?”

  Gale’s eyes darted around before she leaned in and whispered, “Gargoyles? Real gargoyles? They’re real?”

  Alph
y refrained from chuckling at his mate’s eager innocence. “Yes. And they really do turn to stone during the day.”

  The sounds of electrical tools sounded through the room as they were interrupted by Connie. “Excuse me, alpha.” She waited from him to signal for her to continue. Alphy gave her a nod. “We needed to know if we were to make a plate for the two prisoners.”

  Tyler interrupted. “Oh, forgive me, I’ve forgotten to mention I had my assistant organize a team to come and collect them. He’s in the barn with them, I believe. They shouldn’t take too long. I had a team nearby in town. You did mention when we briefly talked earlier, that you wanted to turn them over to the council. Am I right?”

  “Yes, thank you.” Turning back to Gale’s mother, Alphy offered her a smile. “I guess that means no plate for them.”

  The group started to discuss the paranormal hospital idea, drawing in Seamus to ask him more questions. It wasn’t long before Tyler’s assistant entered and stood by his employer’s side. The assistant wasn’t a small man. He had a well-defined muscular body. Alphy didn’t doubt that he doubled as another bodyguard for the councilman. His black hair was professionally trimmed and styled, and his face was clean shaven. He stood just a few inches shorter than Alphy. The man leaned over and whispered something to Tyler. Alphy watched the interaction. Tyler seemed slightly surprised by whatever it was he just heard.

  Turning back to Alphy, Tyler elaborated on what he just learned. “Alpha Ralph, my assistant has just informed me the prisoners have been taken into custody. You are no longer responsible for them. Also, he has told me of news about the herd. It seems they don’t have a shifter doctor, so there could most certainly be sick, and undoubtedly injured.”

  Seamus stiffened and looked expectantly at Alphy. “Then I need to ask that I travel with you to the herd. When are we leaving?”

  Alphy raised a brow at Seamus. That didn’t sound like a request. Seamus’s gaze was stead as he stared the alpha in the eyes. An ache started to make itself known in the back of Alphy’s skull. Seamus was one of the few who could give him such a challenging look without actually challenging his bear. But he just knew the compulsive perfectionist was going to want to take everything they had. “I don’t know. I still have some other things to finish up around here. A week maybe?” Alphy sighed and rubbed his temple.