Alpha

by Kim Faulks

  A sound echoed from the closed cupboard, like claws on the inside of the door. My finger squeezed as I wrenched my boot up and kicked. The door slammed open, movement darted. I squeezed the trigger. The gun kicked a second before a boom ripped through the room. Bits of brown fur scattered across the room. Beady black eyes stared at me. A rat…Jesus it was just a fucking rat.

  Steps echoed through the hall. I swung my sight to the sound as X burst into the room, white fangs glistening, claws poised with one hand, steel glinted in the other, the tomahawk ready sink deep. But it was the feral, murderous glint in her eyes that pinned me where I stood.

  For a second—only a split second I was filled with fear.

  She scanned the room, lingering at the shredded body of the rat before she found me once more. “I thought…thought…”

  I dropped the muzzle toward the floor. “Jesus, X. I could’ve shot you. I could’ve.”

  She sucked in a trembling breath and stared at the gun in my hand.

  I wouldn’t have. I knew it before I spoke the words. I couldn’t hurt her, even to save my own damn life. “Come here.”

  The light splashed against the ceiling as I reached for her, and in that second a shadow rose up behind her. Claws poised ready to kill. Its focus on X.

  No!

  I wrenched my hand up. The gun trained on the sweep of her body and then moved higher as I squeezed the trigger. I never heard the blast, only the boom of my heart as I leapt and drove her to the ground underneath me.

  The shadow slammed against the wall and a shriek followed, loud, torturous. The thing hit the floor with a brutal thud. Flashes of light revealed the young shifter. Wide eyes glowed silver as he clawed the floor.

  But he wasn’t going anywhere, and he wasn't the one I wanted.

  I stared through the hole in the young shifter’s neck to the floor below. White canines shone as I swept the light across his body. I knew him, saw him the day he joined from an older pack…so what the Hell was he doing here?

  “Alpha!” X screamed behind me.

  I climbed to my feet and stepped closer. “Where are they?”

  Blood splattered the floor as he tried to speak. Fear and disgust reared. I dropped to my knees and grasped his shirt. Cloth ripped as I heaved him over to his back. “Tell me! Where the fuck are they?”

  He shook his head. Silver seeped into black in his gaze. I clenched his shirt and dragged him from the floor. “No you fucking don’t.”

  I yanked his body forward, shaking him. His hand slipped and hit the floor.

  “He’s gone, Alpha.”

  I jerked my head toward her voice. She stared at the body in my hands. The rounds were silver lined, ready to annihilate any shifter. I never thought I’d have to use them. I opened my hands and he slipped from my grasp to hit the floor.

  “He’s gone,” she whispered, moving close.

  She gripped my arm, wrenching me from the sight. I stared into her eyes still seeing the shadow behind her. The vacuum of that moment punctured and air rushed into my lungs.

  I found the shifter once more, now seeing him for the first time. His glazed eyes stared into nothing. Fangs glistened from his open mouth. I shoved up from the floor and stared at the rest of the hallway. “I have to clear…I have to…”

  I pushed away, bringing up my gun as I knocked down door after door, scanning the corners, waiting to blow away any threat to her life, until I stood in the empty hall and stared at her.

  She was safe. She was okay. I crossed the distance and slipped my gun into my holster. I skimmed her arms and reached for her face. Gentle pressure turned her head this way and the other. I swiped her cheek, wiping away the crimson splatter.

  “You’re okay…you’re okay,” I whispered and pulled her against me.

  Her muffled words melted into my chest. I held her with one hand and reached for my holster with the other. Goddamn stubborn woman. The shifter gave me nothing. This place gave me nothing. I relaxed my grip and for a second she stood there with her face pressed against my chest, until she finally pulled away.

  “The body in the living room?”

  She nodded. “That was him.”

  “His head?”

  She flinched and shook her head.

  “Stay behind me,” I growled and made my way back to where the body lay.

  I shone the torch across the room. Blood splashed against the walls. The slick heaviest on the floor. I stared at the tracks from my boots and then the smaller outline of a sneaker.

  My focus drifted to X’s shoes. Blood splashed across the fronts and the outsides as though she bathed in the mess. Not bathed, but did this. My focus drifted up to the jagged opening of his neck.

  I swept the light across the room finding a place in the corner that was just as bloody.

  “That’s where he was…the Vampire.”

  I took a step closer. “Vampire?”

  “They were torturing him for information. They wanted the location of the babies, Alpha, and they were killing him to get it.”

  A fist closed around my stomach. “Did they get what they wanted?”

  “No, they didn’t.”

  I stepped closer, focusing on the dark stains—still fresh. “They could still be close.”

  The thought took hold. I turned back to the thick congealed mess around the bodies. There were more prints skirting around the edges. I moved closer and dropped to my knees.

  There…the outline of a boot was unmistakable under the bright beam, and there… The more I looked, the more I saw, moving around the outside and then trailed off to the kitchen.

  I rose from the floor and followed the trail.

  “Alpha?”

  Her steps echoed behind me as I pushed through the door. I knew what I was looking for now. I swept the light across the ground, following the trail around the other side of the cabin.

  The forest loomed dark and deadly. “They’ve gone to ground.”

  “No,” X whispered. “You’re not going in there, Alpha.”

  I turned to her. Fear transformed her perfect face, bouncing shadows across her cheek with the dull glow of the light.

  “If the Vampire hasn’t told them, then it’s only a matter of time. I have to do this, X. It’s not just about my job anymore. Joslyn’s babies won't last long, not out here, and the doc, she could already be dead.”

  I lifted my gaze to the forest. “This has to end. For you, for the babies…and I can stop it.”

  “You go in there and you’ll never come back out.” Her voice had a frigid chill. “Are you listening to me? You’ll die in there.”

  I forced a smile and turned back to her. “You’re underestimating me.”

  But the truth was in her dark eyes. She knew what was out there, better than I ever could. I licked my lips. “I have to try.”

  “Then call Gunny, call Ace. Wait for them.”

  I shook my head. Gunny was too far away, driving across the hills, searching for a bead on the trail. She was a damn bloodhound; once she started, she’d never stop. Dead or alive, she’d find those babies.

  Fresh faces replaced hers. I had five good men ready to fight right here. I swallowed hard. I’d be sending them to their deaths, but without them I’d be dead myself. “I’ll make a call. I can’t promise anything. I won’t ask my men to die for me.” I dropped my gaze to the tracks. “But I’ll tell them what we’re up against and if they still want to follow me in there, then we’ll hunt.”

  “Make the call, Alpha, and hurry.”

  I reached for my phone. The first call was to the one person I’d come to depend on. I swiped the screen and pressed the Senator’s number.

  His voice filled my ear. “Alpha?”

  “We have a problem…” I explained what we were up against. He grew quiet as I recounted the Vampire and the one chance we had to find the babies.

  “Is he alive…this Vampire?”

  “Yes.” I lifted my gaze to X standing beside the cottage. “I believe he i
s.”

  “Then call your men, Alpha, and let honor and commitment fall where they may.”

  I thumbed through the numbers and pressed the button for Lindsay.

  He answered on the fourth ring. “Boss.”

  A television blared in the background in an epitome of a lonely existence, and I hated myself even more. I was asking for more than any man should and even now, I knew what his answer would be.

  I gave him as much information as I could and listened while he grew quiet. “I’m in, Alpha. You know I’m in, this is what we’ve been training for. I’ll call the others.”

  My pulse surged. “Wait. I…I want their choice to be their own. There’s no command, no pressure. If we do this, it has to be on their own. I won’t…won’t ask this of them.”

  “They’ll come, Boss. I know they will. You’ve been the one to open our eyes, and we can see it—we can see this is where the real fight is. Hang tight, I’ll call the boys now.”

  I ended the call and stared at the green backlight as it died. My chest tightened like a damn fist. I thumbed through the numbers, pressing the one I added hours ago, the one that said…Dad.

  “Son?”

  I recounted the shit ton of trouble I was in, knowing in my heart my father wanted to war with these bastards as much as I did.

  “I’ll be there,” he answered. “Wait for me son, don’t go in alone.”

  I ended the call, paced, waiting for the buzz. Don’t call…don’t call… And as the seconds passed the phone remained silent.

  A surge of happiness filled me. No one else was coming. They weighed up the options and saw this for what it was…a goddamn death sentence. They had no reason to lay their lives on the line—they had no dog in this fight—no reason to…

  The phone buzzed in my hand—bright green became my world, waiting for me to ship and answer. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t…

  “Alpha, these are your men. They have your back, whether you want that burden, or not.” Her voice carved through my fears. “So, let them be the kind of men you know they are, and answer the goddamn phone.”

  I headed for my car and pulled the bag from the back seat. Night vision goggles went to my hip. I tucked grenades and fresh clips anywhere else I could fit them and carried the rest of my weapons to drop them inches from where X waited.

  I dragged my thumb across the screen and lifted the handset to my ear.

  A gunning engine roared in the background. “We’re all in, Boss. Hang tight, we’re on our way.”

  I swallowed and tried to find the words. “Bring everything. Arm yourselves to the goddamn teeth.”

  “Always are,” he sniggered. “Wait for us, we’re coming.”

  I ended the call and found her in the dark with her arms crossed over her chest, the tomahawk dangling from her waist. “They care about you. They look up to you.”

  “I can’t let anything happen to them, X. I can’t lose someone, not again…”

  She moved fast and soundless, closing in to slide her hands along my arms. “Then we won’t let that happen. We stick together.”

  “They could be long gone,” I voiced the thought.

  “So why would they leave one of their own behind? They’re out there, Alpha. I can feel them watching, waiting. They think we’ll come on our own.”

  “Five men won’t be enough. If I had my team, we might’ve stood a chance. But these men are untested.”

  Headlights bathed her face in a yellow hue.

  “Have faith, Alpha. I have. I believe in you, and you need to believe in them,” she finished.

  The four-wheel drive pulled up behind mine, and was followed with another. The thud of car doors followed. I turned to X and nodded. That connection we shared rushed to the surface, filling me with a hum. Something happened between us, something that changed me to my core.

  She dropped her hands and stepped away as the murmur of voices filled the night.

  “Boss,” Lindsay called striding toward me.

  He glanced to X, narrowed his gaze and reached for his gun.

  I took a step, blocking his view. “X is with me.”

  The other men closed in, glancing at me, and then found X at my back. I caught their eyes widening. No matter how long they lived here, they still saw a threat. They were like the thousands of my kind I met; they still saw danger.

  Movement came from my left as X took a slow step forward. “My name is X. I’m the reason you’re here.”

  Lindsay jerked his gaze to me.

  “Not the only reason, but you need to know what you’re getting into. These…” I glanced to X “…low-life pieces of shit have taken lives. I have proof that they killed a Presidential Advisor, and I believe Major General Philip Kava is one of these men. It’s a fucking web. A goddamn shit show of a web. They want to kill and torture. Make no mistake this is just one step in their ladder. They’re no longer coming, men…they’re already here.”

  I saw the doubt, and that was all I needed. This wasn’t just about wolves anymore, this was a show of force—one that would make men flinch—and that was how they’d win. The glint came from my left.

  My heart sped as he slipped from the shadows, moving without a sound. I motioned to the graying man dressed in black and growled. “You don’t believe me then ask my father.”

  Lindsay winced and turned his head. “You told us your father was dead.”

  “I was,” Dad answered. “For a very long time, it was the only way to keep my family safe.”

  He turned to me, and found X at my side. His lips curled, a glimmer of approval crossed his face before he turned to the men. “But now it’s time to fight for all of us. They’re taking children, young girls like…X once was, and I can tell you now”—he took a step to stand beside me—“I won’t be that man. Not the kind who turns a blind eye to atrocities like this. I’m with you son, all the way.”

  He pulled a gun from the waistband of his jeans, and even in his shaking hand, I felt a surge of pride.

  “There are two bodies in that house. Two wolves that came after X…I won’t let there be a third,” I answered, meeting their eyes. “I won’t ask any of you to stay. You’re free to leave.”

  I broke their gazes, turning to the forest and pulling the night vision headset from my waist. “X, can you track them?”

  She stilled. “Yes.”

  A heat of silence filled the air before Lindsay spoke. “Fuck that, you need us. You’re just too goddamn stubborn to say so.”

  My damn knees were weak, but I never turned my head as my team surrounded me. Relief flooded me as I settled the goggles over my head.

  “Lead the way, X,” growled Lindsay and palmed his Sig Sauer. “Let’s put these bastards down.”

  She reached for her hip and grabbed the hatchet. The weapon moved like it was an extension of her arm, swirling to land blade side up in her hand. And for a second she was in my backyard dancing with that damn stick all over again…

  Ayita, the echo resounded. I love it, but what does it mean?

  First to dance, the memory answered, as X raised the weapon in front of me, took one look at the forest, and then lunged.

  She was across the road before I blinked, dragging her weapon high as she plunged into the shadows.

  “You just gonna stand there and stare?” my father growled, drawing my focus, and then jerked his head toward the woods. “Or are you going after her?”

  My men waited for me to react, until with a surge of desire I growled and drove my heels into the ground. Thunder sounded as I raced across the blacktop. Low-lying branches whipped my face and neck.

  The steady throb of her pulse resounded in my ears as she sped through the trees. I dropped my head, protecting my eyes, and forged ahead, leaving the others behind until she slowed.

  I fumbled for the button on my headset and my world was bathed in green. X scanned left and right, raising her head to sniff the air. The silver glint in her eyes flared like a spotlight. My team crashed through
the trees behind me.

  “They’re here,” she growled and spun toward the darkness. “They’re waiting for us.”

  She stilled, focusing on a blur on my right. I lifted my weapon, trailing her stare. My heart slammed against the confines of my chest, something didn't feel right—something that had been nagging in the back of my mind since she whispered, I killed someone, and now they’re coming for us.

  I counted the minutes since I found X in the house. My body hummed, drawing my focus to her mere feet away. It had to be forty—fifty minutes, tops. So why were they still here? Why hadn’t they come as they promised?

  “Wait. Stop,” she commanded, dragging the frigid air deeper into her lungs. “There’s something else here…it’s not wolf.”

  The dark blur gathered form, filling the spaces between one towering pine tree and the next. The darkness grew, shifting, rolling, stalking forward.

  “Get out of here, Alpha.” X whipped her head toward me. Her eyes glinted in the green hue as she screamed. “Run!”

  I couldn’t move, impaled where I stood as a chill licked along my spine…midnight beasts, just like dad said…

  The wolves hadn’t come, because they were waiting for reinforcements.

  I spun as a movement came from my left. A sickening brunt of flesh on flesh echoed through the air. Screams followed. The inky blur split into three, to surround us on all sides. I wrenched my head to my men.

  Panic reared.

  Jared stood in the beast’s path, scanning the night—watching for danger.

  But danger was coming for him.

  X moved faster than I could follow, hatched raised. Her battle cry cleaved the night. She swung, slicing the shadow with one move and wrenched the weapon backwards, ramming the curved spike into the blur.

  The beast let out a roar and spun, claws shone in the dark. The darkness dropped my man and swung toward her. Green eyes glinted as X rose like death itself and turned. She danced, sweeping the weapon in an arc along the ground before she sank the steel deep.

  In this moment, the world stilled. I’d watched her perform the same move with that damn stick—a stick that could almost feel like a…

  Tomahawk.

  She handled the weapon better than any skilled warrior I’d seen. My heart slowed, morphing into an echo of two beats…mine and hers.