The Alpha's Desire 5 (6 page)

Chapter Six

It hadn’t taken long for word to come in via the vampire’s police contacts that Daniel’s pack was stirring up trouble at a camp ground just outside the city. The police were doing their best to get as many campers as possible to safety to prevent the innocent from getting hurt, not wanting any more deaths in the pointless war.

The police knew they themselves were no match for the pack. Their job was to keep him there while trying to save as many human lives as possible until the vampires and Royal werewolves got there.  By the time we did, we scrambled from the SUVs, each going in our designated directions based on the reports coming through the police radio as to where the pack was, what they were doing according to Nira’s plan, but more importantly, what Daniel was up to.

Those deemed the distractions went first, gathering the attention of some of Daniel’s pack who were in the woods, leaving him with only a few of his key men in the cabin with him. Nira, Lex and I along with two other vampires, crouched down behind a thick patch of trees to wait. Lex and I shifted to werewolf form to utilize our pack mentality, as well as our night vision, increased ability to smell, and such, giving us as much advantage as we could.

Listening, we approached the cabin that Daniel and his pack seemed to be partying in. According to the police, only a few campers had been trapped inside, teased with fear and then tortured before the cops got the rest out of the other cabins in the area. The police had then stayed low, letting them think the cabin their spoils of war so they would celebrate, stay, until the werewolves and vampires could get there.

Luckily the plan had worked. A perk we hadn’t expected was the knowledge we had of the area. These woods were stomping grounds for paranormal types given the density of the trees and the proximity of the few cabins. No longer a hot spot, even in the summer, there were often very few humans here, and they didn’t question sounds in the woods at night.

I, on the other hand had known this summer retreat as a girl. I’d spent a few weeks here my last summer with my mother. Memories came flooding back even though I’d tried to dam them up. I didn’t need that mucking up my concentration at the moment. Though images of my mother frolicking with me in the lake, feeding the ducks, and taking long walks in the woods brought only that sort of heartbreaking joy, bittersweet, I didn’t have time for the luxury of it right now. I promised myself that I’d bring Lex back here when it was all over, share some of my memories of my mother, my childhood with him once all was safe again.

For now, I had to focus, to listen and smell, to get my bearings on my prey. The scents of food and drink overpowered, came to me first. The strong scent of raw meat beginning to spoil already filled my snout. My stomach grumbled again as my instincts to feed kicked in. As a human and werewolf, I could identify other scents as well, knowing the scent of fresh bread, baked goods, along with sugary drinks and beer. Noises came as well as they trashed the current cabin they were in. Cans opened and sprayed just as glass was broken.

It sounded like a frat party gone wrong without the loud and obnoxious music. They had the laughter down, though not drunk and goofy but maniacal. I doubted they ate or drank anything, as more I could hear them just tossing stuff and shouting nonsense about it. Anyone who saw them would have believed them drunk or high. Cupboards were emptied, I knew by the sound of cans hitting a wooden floor and someone making a pathetic joke about beans. That was followed by the splintering of wood as furniture was broken, and another ass of a wolf in human form told someone to sit there. When another said no thank you, a window shattered leaving me to assume the broken couch had gone out it.

I began to utilize my great bond with the Royal werewolf named Josh. This connection had come as a shock to me when it first materialized, but now, I had need of it. He came through loud and clear despite the ruckus. Reading his emotional reactions, I could almost read his thoughts, like Lex could with me. With my magic and his, given his Royal birth as well, Josh and I had an almost psychic connection. At times, I got flashes of what he could see, what he could smell, and more.

On the island, no one could actually explain why the connection happened, but it wasn’t uncommon between the Royals either with no reason or rhyme as to why it happened between two of us or any of the others for that matter. I’d been told that in a magical world, some things couldn’t be explained, some had to just be accepted with a leap of faith. A strong belief in one’s self, in one’s abilities helped in getting to that point of acceptance. A scientist type could never handle my powers, as most of it was with no answer as to the why or the how of it.

Josh had volunteered to go as part of one of the bait teams, as they’d been referring to them. He’d gone in the group that would distract the men left around Daniel. At some point I concentrated so hard on my connection to him that it was as if I’d fallen into a trance. I’d done so before, well had be led to, in trying to connect to Lex in the last battle, to use our connection to locate him. This time the trance hadn’t taken special crystals or candles or coaching. I’d managed it all on my own. Of course, what had been on that island to block up my chakras? Here, now, I remained clear still, making it easier to use my abilities.

Flashes came to me of images Josh saw. All had shifted at this point. He must have given how clear the images were of trees zooming by, a rodent scurrying off to get out of his way. At some point I could smell Daniel, so, that meant Daniel could also smell Josh. The clash would come soon, and I had to be ready.

My nerves grew, making my wolf heart pound in my chest even as it prepared for battle, the beats so loud they thumped in my ears, making it harder to hear what I really needed to. My paws scuffed at the dry, brittle and brown grass underneath me with New York having a dry summer this year. I clawed at the earth, felt the dirt crumble like powder between the pads of my claws. Lex nuzzled against me, his snout rubbing my neck attempting to gain my attention. His concern came through loud and clear. Looking up at him, I noticed Nira standing over him also giving me a tight look of concern.

I didn’t know how any of them got used to putting themselves, but more importantly our loved ones, at risk in these sorts of situations. Nira had said before life was viewed different by the vampires, as it was a second chance to live again, and their mission to help the prime reason for that. It made them basically fearless.

For the wolves, though we lived longer, very different, more intense lives I was finding out, still, they clung to those they loved, as blood relations and as pack. They had to have some fear, yet, there was also something primal in them I’d noticed that gave them all that alpha quality of being unbeatable. Basically, they believed in themselves, their abilities as wolves, and that went a long way to seeing them through these situations. I supposed once me and my wolf meshed more it would come to me too. That didn’t help me right now though, in this very tense minute just before I had to spring into action.

Finally, I got a glimpse of the cabin. Daniel, no longer in a black suit as I’d always seen him before, stood there in worn-out, torn up jeans and a band t-shirt. His darker good looks came through more this way, made him more of the bad boy type most girls went for, thought rotten to the core, diseased even, was not a turn on. Still human though, like before, he stood there surrounded by his true werewolves already turned having heard the others coming. About a dozen of them poised, necks out flat, ears back, ready to pounce with their four paws on mounds of trash they’d created out of someone’s property. Tornadoes had nothing on these hooligans. There were even holes in the walls of the cabin, and not a single window or door had made it through the storm.

Daniel had a cocky grin on his face as Josh and his bait team approached. He had a glass bottle of some sort of amber liquid like whiskey in his hand. Even as he watched Josh and the others approach, the cocky son of a bitch took a swig before he threw the bottle down to shatter over his shoes. To be seeing so much of this so clear perplexed me, but I attempted to go with it, just be grateful for the added advantage. Being in a trance and aware of that fact unsettled me, but it all blended in with the rest of my nerves until my body seemed to buzz, my fur standing on end like someone had rubbed a giant balloon over me.

Even as a wolf I held my breath, waited for the next flash to come so I knew what was going on, and could eventually inform the others, who though I couldn’t see I still was very aware of their ever faithful presence beside me. While the plan had been for us to wait for a distress call from the Royal wolves, I liked better getting to see firsthand, to have some control over when I would rush through the woods. The first glimpse I’d gotten at Daniel along with the snarling wolves around him, and all four of my legs had tensed to take off at full speed ahead.

I waited though. Forced my body to stick to the plan. As before, I wouldn’t endanger anyone by being rash based on my emotions still being new to this world, in good times and bad. A brief image of Daniel fluttered in and out of my mind. The images I was getting were no longer coming in as clear as they had been just a moment ago. I tried not to question it, to stay in the moment, in the trance, keeping the connection with Josh despite the rising of fear like a tidal wave crashing through my body. The anger in Josh came through loud and clear until it churned up my own. His brawny fearlessness, his courage, and his need for blood gripped me, made my wolf pant, dripping drool onto my front paws.

If any part of me had not been tense, it was now, as I got the words Daniel spoke to Josh screeching through my mind.

“Well, Josh, isn’t it?” Daniel said. “I know who you are, the youngest of the Royal werewolves. So nice of you to join our party. We’d hoped you’d come. Let me be the first to welcome you, and to warn you that I do intend to have my revenge, not only on Lex and Christina, but on everyone they know, everyone they love. By the end of the night, you will all be dead but one, and her, I will finally have in my clutches.”

I shuddered at the voice, void of any emotions this time. Daniel had been a passionate speaker before, with touches of anger deepening his voice when I’d come in contact with him when he’d attacked me at my own apartment over seven months ago. Now, he had changed, become jaded by his anger maybe, until no emotions were there at all, making him ruthless and heartless. A deadly combination as we’d heard. Josh took a more offensive pose, ready to pounce, though I knew he would resist the urge to attack him and lead Daniel’s wolves away as planned.

“I will have my retribution for all the suffering they have caused me. This is their fault,” he continued. “All I wanted was to use Christina to build magic for my own kind, to make the lives of those who painfully shift as true werewolves easier. Instead, those wolves died. You have all brought this on yourselves by thinking yourselves better than us. You know, I’d initially planned to use Christina and then release her. Now, I will use her, abuse her, and finally after she begs for it, maybe kill her when she becomes useless to me.”

He had definitely twisted all of that around, I thought, the words spat out by my brain. If he’d asked nicely in the first place, rather than attacking and threatening and even killing and torturing to get it, one of the Royals would have agreed to help him. You can’t demand things and just expect to get them. It totally evaded his demented way of thinking to have thought to just ask nicely, send a message. He was all the bad parts of an alpha with no redeeming qualities at all at this point.

Daniel, with an exaggerated swing of his hand like a dagger cutting the air, commanded his wolves to kill Josh and the others sent in for distraction, working right into our plan. I came out of my trance not dazed or wobbly, but ready to go. The distress call from Josh sounded through the trees as he and his bait team led those true werewolves commanded to kill on a chase. At the same time I cried out that we needed to go. My paws dug into the hard, dry earth without waiting, moving as fast as my four legs could carry me, leading my group without thought to the dangers I raced toward.

My fears turned to some sort of exhilaration, maybe the thrill of the hunt, as the wind I created with my speed whistled in my ears. I’d never gotten to this speed before, not even when trying during training to see how fast I could run. A hunting instinct kicked in I guessed as my mouth salivated more with each step I took. With my head straight out ahead of me, ears back, I felt my teeth start to show, the chill of the night air rushing across them. A low growl began deep in my stomach, vibrating as I raced on, dodging trees, leaping brush, with great agility. The closer I got, the more I picked up on his scent myself. My tail had actually started to wag, not in happiness, but a show of my excitement.

The instinctual emotions didn’t make a whole lot of sense to my human brain still functioning inside the wolf, but they felt right to my animal. There was no arguing, no time to think it all out anyway. I’d never been in anything but simulated attack mode with animals on the island, so this chase was all new to me, and all too real with an honest bad guy if ever I’d met one as my destination, my prey. By the time we reached the cabin, Daniel still stood on the porch kicking at something, some part of the rubble he’d created as he sent off rounds of curses mixed with angry words of having his revenge.