“Hey, bro,” said Dunne. “Chill out dude, Ashton was just asking. No need for all the hostility.”
“Sorry… But I’ve just been trudging through vines and weeds all night long and I’m a little edgy. So what happened after I left? I was so busy chasing David that I completely forgot about you guys.”
And then Kahn took a good look at the three men standing in front of him and realized that they’d had a really bad night too. Dunne had a black eye, Erik looked pretty rough and Ashton looked as though he had been ganged up on too. All of them were splattered with blood here and there, were covered in gashes and cuts, had bruised knuckles, busted noses… and so much for Ashton’s expensive suit. It now looked like something you would have bought at Goodwill to wear for Halloween.
“So, you guys heard anything else?” He asked. “What about the councilwoman? Do you know where Ryder is?”
“Diddly and squat, that’s exactly what we know that’s new concerning Ryder,” said Erik shortly. “But the councilwoman, don’t worry about her. Ashton found a trusted friend to get her immediate medical treatment and she is being watched over by a small security team of trusted allies even as we speak.”
“So then, I guess we need to figure this out … I have no idea where to start. Do we need to find David… Or do we need to find out what happened to the Alpha exactly… does that sound about right?” asked Kahn.
“We will need to split up so that each one of us can fulfill an objective,” said Ashton. “There’s no way we can do it all quickly if we stay together.”
“I completely agree,” said Erik.
“I don’t know guys,” said Dunne. “I think we would be safer if we stayed together. I mean, just look at us!”
“Dunne, big guy, I would like nothing more than for us to stay together… but we need to act fast to get everything back under control before chaos begins to rain down upon us all like a spring storm on a warm Georgia day. And once that starts we may never be able to make it end. That is my main fear… So here is what I think we should do, and gentlemen, let me know if you disagree with me or not.” Ashton went on.
“Due to our enhanced speed and abilities, and I in no way mean to play down your abilities Kahn, but I think Dunne should hunt for David. They have known each other since childhood and I do not think that David would do anything to harm Dunne. That being said, Dunne… you will need to be exceedingly careful because David is injured and not exactly himself. Plus, right now he does not know who is friend or foe, so you’ll need to be very careful in how you approach him. Can you do that?”
Dunne looked at Ashton and smiled that big goofy smile of his as he agreed to Ashton’s requests with a big thumb’s up.
“Erik,” said Ashton looking directly into Erik’s eyes, “I would like you to be my eyes and ears back at the pack lair and to find out exactly what happened to the Alpha for me. You are very accustomed to dealing with things of a political nature and I think you would have no problem finding out exactly what happened, who was involved, who did what to whom, etc., etc. And if there are scents or anything else, you will have no problem analyzing that data either. Can you do that for me?”
Erik nodded his head in agreement.
“Lastly…” said Ashton looking over to Kahn, “I would like you to assist me in finding the lovely seductress, Ryder. Can you help me do that?”
“Of course I will,” responded Kahn, “instantly aware of the trust Ashton was placing in him.
“And thanks to the wonders of modern technology gentlemen, we can converse with each other the findings we receive as the day progresses. So… we all understand our jobs then… is that correct?” Ashton asked, looking from one man to the next for any sign of acceptance or disapproval.
Dunne said, “You got it.”
Erik replied, “Of course.”
Lastly Kahn agreed, “Certainly, Ashton. We will find the bitch!”
And with that one last comment all the men laughed heartily and hugged briefly before they all dispersed, going their separate ways to fill the duties that Ashton had entrusted to them all.
Book 3: The Alpha’s a Bitch: Rise Of The Pack Princess Chapter 17
Erik was the first to begin his task assigned to him by Ashton. By the time he had gotten back to the camp all hell had broken loose. Complete chaos filled the arena and it seemed no one knew what was really going on. Erik grabbed up three different men as he walked into the camp asking them what had happened and he got three different answers, none of which made any sense. People were wandering about, almost as if in a trance, however it wasn’t a slow wandering but just the opposite. These people almost acted as if they couldn’t get to where they were going fast enough even though they didn’t know what they would do once they got there.
“Where is the Alpha?” Asked Erik of the next men he came in contact with.
“Haven’t seen him,” said the scraggly old man.
“Well how about David or Ryder? Has anyone seen them?” Asked Erik. “What about any of the other elders – who is in charge?”
The scraggly old man just shrugged his shoulders in response to Erik’s questions and kept moving along as if he had a mission, trying to keep up with all the other people in the camp. Erik didn’t know what to do other than try to find the Alpha or any of the other Elders himself. So that’s what he tried to do, he began searching from tent to tent and from house to house looking for someone in charge.
~~~~~
At the same time Dunne was just beginning his search for David. Now Dunne was many things, and many people considered him slow or dimwitted (which really didn’t bother him), but when he came to hunting, he was a genius. Only moments after Ashton, Kahn and Erik had left, Dunne had already grabbed his oversized canteen, a small first aid kit, his beloved Beretta 96A1 and a few clips and tossed them all into a small backpack which he threw over his shoulder just before he took off jogging into the woods in search of David.
~~~~~
And as for Kahn and Ashton, they were pulled over on the side of the road only a few miles away trying to decide what to do next. Trying to think like Ryder might prove a little harder than what they had initially thought. And as far as they were concerned, they knew nothing of Simon at this moment or how he and his clan were intertwined in the plot against their family and the Council. So in many ways they were already way out of their league because there were so many unknown variables and so many background subplots of which they knew nothing about.
~~~~~
Back in the packs lair, Erik was busily searching from house to house trying to find a friendly face or at least someone who knew what was going on. He had been here for a few minutes now and everything still seemed as chaotic as when he first entered the small village. He stopped for a moment and took the time to look around the camp, really look at the camp, and then he saw a dark blur off in the distance.
Strange, he thought to himself. And just then it dawned on him, Wasn’t Ryder wearing a black body suit last night?
“Yes… yes she was!” He said out loud excitedly as he rushed off in the direction of dark blur.
Sure enough, Erik’s amazing vision was correct – the blur that he saw was Ryder. By the time he had reached the house he saw Ryder enter, he peeked inside a side window and saw her talking to some strange men he’d never seen before. He knew they were wolves instinctively, and he knew they didn’t belong to this pack, but where were they from?
In an instant he pulled out his cell phone and made a call to Ashton as he clung to the side of the house. “Ash,” Erik whispered, “I’m here at the camp and it’s complete chaos. But something strange has happened – Ryder just showed up out of no where and she is here with some strange wolves. Get here as fast as you can.”
On the other end of the line Ashton heard a click followed by silence. “Dammit!” He said.
“What is it? Who was that?” Asked Kahn.
“It was Erik and he is at the camp… and he just saw Ryder!”
“Ryder…” Said Khan. “What the hell is she doing there? Is he sure it’s her?”
“Positive. And we need to get there as fast as we can!” Ashton said as he cranked the car, slammed it into drive and roared off in a 180, smoke and rocks firing off in all directions, steering the car back into the same direction they had just left. “Erik may be in danger too so we must get there as fast as we can.”
Book 3: The Alpha’s a Bitch: Rise Of The Pack Princess Chapter 18
Eric, afraid Ryder would leave before Ashton and Kahn got there, decided against his best judgment to confront her and the strange wolves hoping he could make her stay long enough for backup to arrive. Quietly and quickly he moved to the rear of the small cabin and found the back door to be unlocked. In a split second he was inside listening to the quiet conversation in the next room.
Though he couldn’t understand what they were saying, he could tell there was a distinctly female voice and at least three, maybe more, male voices. Ryder didn’t flinch when Eric entered the room. She simply stood her ground and smiled. The strange wolves with her weren’t quite so quiet as they immediately began to launch themselves at the intruder.
“Wait, guys,” she said, “he’s a friend. Don’t hurt him… at least not yet.”
Instead, in an instant she appeared at his side, grabbed his arms, flipping him over her head as she delivered a blow straight to Erik’s heart, sending him sailing back through the air, crashing his back against a bookcase near the front door. He hit the ground with a thud, and slumped over onto the floor.
Now, with Erik out cold, two of Simon’s men suddenly appeared on both sides of him as they each grabbed one of his arms, and started pulling. Erik woke instantly to the strain.
“Argh,” Erik screamed in pain as the wolves tried to stretch his arms off. “No… Argh… Ryderrrrrr…….”
His cries were long and excruciating and he started screaming for help after the first pull. The men were powerful, much stronger than he could have imagined. His screams continued throughout the torture.
Just then Ryder walked over and stood in front of him while the two men held him in place, she asked, “Erik, Erik, Erik… do you know… do you even care… why today you will die?”
He sniffed once and said, “Someday I will, Ryder… but not today.” Low, with a snarling confidence trembling in his voice, he replied, looking her right in the eye.
Her professionally coiffed eyebrows sank until her eyes were barely visible. She raised a clawed hand behind her head preparing to strike him then changed her mind and called one of the other men over to take her place as she left the room, perhaps overcome by all the violence. Just as the new guy set up to swing the right wolf dropped to the ground. His head was bleeding from a hole right between the eyes.
That gave Erik all the advantage he needed before the real fighting got started. Left wolf still had hold of his arm. Erik grabbed his wrist, launched toward leftie and brought him in closer. He and leftie connected as he bit into the side of his neck. His eyes immediately lit up, blood red. Now he had an intense burst of adrenaline, and he bit even harder into his flesh.
Just as he awoke from his daydream, the real nightmare began. Two more wolves stepped into the battle like they arrived on a bolt of lightning. One was in front of him. He whipped around to see another with his hands out. He had claws too. They were both growling at him now. They all had fangs and claws. Then suddenly the sounds of gun shots filled the air – the two new wolves were now on the floor bleeding from a new hole in their head, right alongside the other guy.
But where were the bullets coming from?
Seconds later Erik realized he was now alone, excluding the corpses all around him. Ryder was long gone – instinctively he knew that. Her smell had disappeared to the point of almost nothing. But where did she go?
So he got up and brushed himself off, noticing the books that surrounded him which had been disturbed in the brawl. These were not normal books – these were bound copies of pack business dating from hundreds of years ago. He picked up one and leafed through a few pages before he realized that only one person would have need of this sort of information – the Alpha. He was in the Alpha’s home!
But where was the Alpha?
Erik continued looking through the home for clues of his whereabouts to make sure he was indeed in the Alpha’s lair – or somewhere else all together. Pictures covered the walls, filled with the likenesses of many he had never seen before – and then he saw someone familiar. A face he hadn’t seen since childhood – it was the Alpha’s long dead wife, who had died giving birth to the Alpha’s twins long ago, Ryder and David. Yes, he was in the Alpha’s home. But where was the Alpha? David or Ryder either for that matter?
So he continued looking through the small home hoping to find the Alpha alive. No one in the kitchen… no one in the bedroom… the only room left was the bath except maybe a closet or two – so Erik looked there next. He didn’t think this home had a basement judging from his recollection of the stonework as he crouched down by it earlier when he had made his phone call to Ashton.
At first glance, he saw no one in the bathroom. Then just as he was about to leave the room he noticed that the shower curtain was hanging kind of oddly. Almost as if it had been ripped down then put back up in a hurry but some of the rings had been missed when rehanging it. Erik’s heart started to pound in his ears just as he headed back to the shower. Just as his hand reached out for the curtain someone yelled his name outside. It was Ashton! He had finally made it.
“I’m in here brother!” he called out to him.
In seconds Ashton, followed by Kahn, entered the tiny bathroom and hugged the badly bruised Erik.
“Well, I hope the other guy looks worse,” said Kahn, trying to lighten the moment.
“Judging from the men in the living room, I would have to say that is indeed correct,” added Ashton, smiling.
“I don’t know what to tell you, it all happened so fast,” Erik began. “One minute Ryder was here with those new guys out there – and just when she acted like she was going to rip me a new one she left me with those guys, then pop, pop, pop, they’re all dead and she’s gone.”
“Strange… this all gets stranger by the minute,” Ashton thought out loud. “But have you found any word of the Alpha?”
“Not yet, but this is his house. I had already searched a few of the rooms and was just checking in here when you guys showed up.”
“So let us finish going through the house here and maybe we will find information that will lead us to the Alpha,” Ashton said, as he pulled back the shower curtain in one theatrical gesture.
And there in the tub, was the body of the Alpha, one bullet hole in the head just like the guys out in the living room, it even looked to be the same caliber size, slumped over to the side as though he were in mid dream. It was as though he hadn’t even put up a fight.
Book 3: The Alpha’s a Bitch: Rise Of The Pack Princess Chapter 19
Dunne was still looking for David. Hours had passed by this time and he was completely unaware of the discovery by Kahn, Erik and Ashton. As it were, he was completely immersed in the hunt. His cell phone was turned to vibrate so as not to let his whereabouts be known in the event he did find David as he was creeping around the forest. He had already found several resting places along the way that David stopped at, but still seemed to be several hours behind him at the least.
Standing alone in the forest he decided to take a break for a few moments and pulled off his backpack. He unzipped the zipper and pulled out his canteen of water as he looked about. He opened it and took a couple of swigs, enjoying the moment out here in the forest. He couldn’t remember the last time he’d been out on the hunt like this but he was really enjoying himself anyway. When they were kids, he and his cousins used to play hunt the Wolf all the time. That was always his favorite game.
And now here he was, hunting for his cousin David in real-life. He really hoped that Erik an
d Ashton were having better luck than he was. He thought about giving them a call but decided against it – he figured that if they found out anything they would let him know soon enough, completely forgetting that his phone was on vibrate. “May as well take a piss while I’m here,” he said to no one in particular, as he unzipped his jeans. Afterward he packed up his canteen, zipped up his backpack and slipped it back over his burly shoulders as he set off again in the search for David.
~~~~~~~~~~
David had no idea what was going on. He was about 10 miles away from Dunne, curled up in some small cave he had found, fast asleep. Which was exactly what he needed, especially after being hit by two cars just the night before. The last one had really tagged him good and he was still a little bit groggy even with his super healing powers. It was a good thing that he was a werewolf – a normal human being would have never been able to withstand such abuse.
When he found this little cave about an hour ago he considered it to be a blessing in disguise, exactly what he needed to give him that extra time to heal and to maybe figure out what to do next. He knew he was being followed, though he didn’t really understand why, but he knew it was in his best interest to stay hidden until he was completely healed so that he could take care of himself and be able to stand up to any opponents in a fight if necessary. But he wasn’t thinking about any of that right now – he was consumed in a dream where he was being followed by strange ghostly figures.
~~~~~~~~~~
With curtains drawn, Erik, Ashton and Kahn were busy back at the Alpha’s cabin trying to decipher the evidence as other members of the clan traveled to and fro around the complex. Thankfully, so far none had tried to enter the Alpha’s home. They had come to the conclusion that it seemed the same weapon was used in all the murders based on the size of the bullet hole in the victim’s and that the same person had committed all these atrocities. And that the person who did all this knew all the victims – or at least most of them.
The Alpha's a Bitch: Rise Of The Pack Princess Complete: A Paranormal Werewolf Romance Page 12
