Lost Alpha (6 page)

He began to shamble down the long hallway, seeing a door open at the end. He could smell several women, loads of blood and two rats in the room. He snarled and roared as another frightened scream exited the room.

It took him only a few steps to end up in the doorway, staring down on the scene before him. Three little girls and an adult woman sat huddled in one corner, tears streaming down their faces. Close to the window the rat that greeted Victor Dance was slumped over, a large pool of blood formed under his body. In the middle of the room a younger version of the dead rat had one arm around Paige’s throat while the other held a small pistol which was placed to her temple. Blood ran down her chin, her face swollen near her mouth. She was frightened and crying, trying to hold still as he threatened her.

Travis roared again, causing the women in the corner to scream in fear, and he began to try to break through the doorway, which was too small for his massive body.

“Stop right there wolf!” a voice said behind him.

He removed himself from the cracking door frame and turned, taking out part of the wall beside him, to see the vampire standing at the end of the hallway. In one hand he held the staff and in the other he held Dario by the throat.

“I believe this belongs to you,” he said, throwing the older wolf to the ground in the hallway. Travis studied his companion for a moment before seeing his sides begin to rise with labored breathing: he was alive for now.

The alpha wolf snarled and began to move forward, but the vampire held up one hand to stop him.

“I’m leaving with this,” the vampire said. “Your land is mine, wolf. You have a choice. You can chase after me and get your staff and land back, but William Jr. there will kill your pretty little mate. Or you can rescue her, but I’ll be long gone by the time you do so. If you step on your land and try to reclaim it the spirits will destroy you. The choice is yours, wolf, you can’t have both.”

Travis snarled as the wolf in him screamed to kill the vampire. It urged him to take back his territory and reestablish a dominant pack. The human was a decent mate, but she was inconsequential in the grand scheme of things. There would be other humans, taken by choice or force, to foster his pack. This one was strong willed and possessive; she would not allow him to create a diverse pack. He had to reclaim what was rightfully his.

The human part of him fought and scratched to make itself to the surface, trying to defeat the animal that threatened to dominate him. The human begged and pleaded for him to let the land go, it was just land and nothing more. Paige loved him; she was the one he wanted. His human side knew in his heart he didn’t want a diverse pack and that he didn’t need the land to be happy, all he needed was this one special woman. He had thought his feelings for her were lust and a need to mate, but now his heart was screaming at him that there was more there: love. He loved everything about Paige; she was the only woman he could ever love. He didn’t need a powerful pack behind him as long as he had this one woman to love for the rest of his life.

The lunar shifted alpha wolf roared out a powerful scream of anguish, slamming his fists into the walls beside him and shaking the entire hallway. In that instant he made his decision, the decision that would shape the rest of his life.

Chapter 9

Paige watched the doorway after Victor ran out, hoping the rats wouldn’t be enough to kill Travis. The house had shaken when the front door exploded, cluing her in to the power he held in lunar form.

She found herself excited and frightened at the same time. She didn’t know how he would act in lunar form, what it would be like to be faced with such an abomination. Travis had tried to describe it to her during a late night conversation, but it was hard for him to do. He told her he lost a lot of his humanity, and it was hard to remember a lot of what happened when he was in this form.

He had told her the old legends of werewolves attacking humans were based on wolves in lunar form that were unable to control the animal inside. She feared Travis would destroy the rats before turning his attention onto the frightened humans.

A shuffling sound in the doorway drew her vision up to a squat, greasy, little man. For all intents and purposes he looked like a younger version of William. His eyes were a wild mixture of anger and insanity as his right hand gripped the handle of a pistol so hard blood was beginning to drip from it.

“A fine mess we’ve gotten ourselves into,” he said, looking at Angie. “Right dear?”

“Go away!” she screamed. “Leave us alone!”

“That’s no way to talk to your dear husband,” William Jr. said. “Especially in front of our daughter, she doesn’t want to see mommy and daddy fight.”

“I hate you!” Janie screamed before retreating back behind Paige’s nieces.

“That hurts daddy when you say that, pumpkin,” he said, mock sadness crossing his face. “Be a good girl and shut the fuck up while daddy takes care of business.”

He quickly crossed the room, backhanding Paige across the face and taking her to the ground. The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth as she tried to get her bearings. He was on her quickly, yanking her to her feet by the hair. She tried to struggle but he brought one knee up into her back, sending pain shooting up through her spine. She was taller than this man, but he was still stronger.

“You try to fight me off again and I’m going to knock your ass out with this pistol,” he whispered into her ear.

She quit struggling as he wrapped his arm around her throat and pulled her in close. She could feel the cold end of the pistol press against her temple, effectively ending any thoughts of escape-she was trapped.

“That’s a good girl,” he purred in her ear. She could smell his foul breath wafting into her nostrils. It took everything she had not to begin retching and heaving. She held it together, choking back the bile that was forming in her throat.

“You’re not going to get away with this,” she said.

“Someone’s getting away with something,” he said, snickering into her ear.

All she could do was cry as he held her there, laughing silently right beside her face. She couldn’t see Angie or the girls, but she could hear their silent sobbing.

Just as she was about to give up hope the entire room shook and her eyes darted up from the floor to take in the sight of the monstrous werewolf bearing down on them. Fear welled up inside her as her eyes darted across his monstrous form. He was at least seven feet tall, his upper body hunched over slightly. He walked on two thick, canine back legs that didn’t seem large enough to support the mass of his upper body. The low light in the hallway framed him in shadows, but he seemed to stand out amongst them all. His head looked like that of a giant wolf, but it lacked hair in spots, making him appear close to human. His eyes remained the same orange color that she had fallen in love with; she could see Travis behind them, but they were still clouded with rage.

He started to break his way through the doorway, forcing Paige to cry even more. She knew the trigger would be pulled at any moment, William Jr. would kill her right in front of Travis or he would make Travis stop as he threatened to kill her if he came any closer.

She closed her eyes, expecting it at any moment. The moment never came, instead William Jr.’s breathing calmed and she heard a voice from somewhere outside the room, towards the end of the hallway.

She opened her eyes, hardly able to see through the blur of tears. Travis had wheeled around, his back facing them now as someone at the end of the hallway spoke to him. She could barely hear what the man was saying, but whatever it was it gave Travis pause.

The hulking wolf monster stood in the hallway, his horrific head pointed towards the ground. He turned sideways, forlornly gazing into the room like he was trying to decide something. She could definitely see Travis in his eyes now, a scared version of Travis she had never seen before.

Past him she could see Victor Dance standing at the end of the hallway, a smug and confident look on his face. In one hand he held the staff while his other hand rested behind his back. Her eyes caught something else, something brown on the ground. As the tears fell away she realized it was Dario, broken and crumpled on the hallway floor.

The next few moments seemed to drag until the end of time. The air was so thick she could barely breathe. It wasn’t just her, the girls had quit sobbing and William Jr. was holding his breath in anticipation. The only person that seemed in control of the situation was Victor, still standing confidently at the end of the hallway.

Then everything snapped back to reality. The thick air, the slow motion and the silence was all gone as Travis roared and slammed his fists into the walls beside him, sending them crashing to the floor.

He spun around barreling through the doorway. William Jr. threw her aside and lifted the pistol to defend himself, but he was too slow. Travis grabbed the hand that held the gun and pulled, ripping his arm completely off. The girls shrieked and Paige covered her face as blood splattered onto her. After she moved her arms she looked up to see Travis holding William Jr. over his head. The werewolf’s muscles popped and strained as he pulled, finally ripping the wererat in two. Blood showered the wolf’s black fur as he dropped both halves to the side.

He roared again, driving his fists into the ceiling above them. Her eyes darted out into the hallway, Dario was struggling to stand but Victor was nowhere to be seen. Travis became even more enraged when he noticed the absence of the vampire.

“Travis, stop!” Paige screamed, running up to the abomination. “Please stop!”

He snarled and leaned forward, his hot breath blowing in her face. It smelled coppery, like the blood she had tasted earlier. His eyes studied her up and down as she stood before him.

Please recognize me,
she thought.
Please.

He had obviously made the decision to save her over stopping the vampire; he had to recognize her at this point. Unfortunately the bloodlust he had from destroying the rat seemed to trigger the animal in his brain to explode back to the surface.

He flung his arms to each side, roaring in her face in the process. She took a step back and he took one forward, advancing on her and the girls.

“Travis, please,” she sobbed. “Remember me. Please remember who I am. I’m your alpha mate.”

She dropped to her knees and covered her face as the tears streamed down her face.

“I love you Travis,” she said. “I’m not afraid to admit it, I love you and I want to be with you. Please come back to me.”

She stayed on her knees, covering her face as the beast advanced on her. She expected the feeling of death to come at any moment, as she had with the gun before. For the second time that night she was spared as she felt powerful arms wrap around her and hold her tight.

“It’s okay baby girl,” Travis whispered in her ear. “I’m here for you.”

She opened her eyes to see a very bloody and naked Travis on his knees in front of her.

“You came back,” she said, fighting back tears.

“Of course I did,” he whispered. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said, wrapping her arms around him.

Together they stayed locked in love’s embrace, trying to forget the horrific ordeal they had just endured or the trouble that was still on the horizon.

Chapter 10

Everybody stood in front of the old house, looking up at the asylum that had turned the night into one of madness.

Travis turned away from the horrid rat den, taking some clothes Paige had pulled out of her back seat for him. He had already forgotten this all began when she decided to go shopping for him earlier in the day.

As he dressed, Angie and Janie reentered the house with a freshly human-shifted Dario as an escort. They were trying to gather up what they could of their lives before leaving their hellish prison for good.

He took a deep breath as he watched Paige comforting her nieces. In that moment he realized he had made the right decision, his former pack home was just land, nothing more. His territory would be wherever he decided to lay his head.

It was still dark outside; in the morning, bulldozers would be there to destroy what was left of his home. He felt a pang of sadness at the thought, but it instantly melted away when he saw Paige smiling up at him.

“Hey you,” she said, walking over to him.

“Hey you back,” he said with a smile.

“You came through for us.”

“Of course I did. I wasn’t going to let my alpha mate die.”

“Victor got away,” she said, her face drooping. “He has the staff.”

“It’s ok,” he said, putting his hands on her shoulders. “The vampire can have his oil, he can have his money and he can have his greed.”

“But your home,” she started to say.

Travis smiled and put one finger on her lips, silencing her. “The land is just that: land. It’s not what defines me or makes me who I am, not anymore.”

“But you’re an alpha without any territory,” she said, tears starting to form at the corners of her eyes. “You’re still lost.”

He chuckled and used the pad of his thumb to wipe a tear away from her cheek. “I’m not lost. My heart has found a home.”

Paige burst into tears and buried her face in his chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

He looked up to see Dario and the girls exiting the home, Dario wearing a pair of sweats he must have found inside. The girls carried two suitcases each while Dario carried something else, gas cans. He shuffled the girls out of the house before walking back into the foyer and dumping the contents of the gas can, walking backwards as it left a trail of gas to the porch. He turned to Angie who handed him a lighter. The elder wolf stared at the flame in his hands for several minutes before throwing it onto the trail, allowing it to find its way into the house.

The flames started slowly as everyone stopped in front of Paige’s car and watched. Before long the house was a towering inferno, burning away before their eyes.