Serving the Alpha at His Whim

Jessica-Lyn awoke with a start. Someone banged on her front door in the middle of the night. That was never a good thing. A quick check of her old alarm clock told her it was three in the morning. Groaning, she climbed out of bed and crossed her one-room cottage to the front door.

Pulling the door open she found Hannah, one of the Pack’s omegas, standing there half-dressed and panting. “You need to come. They're back. It was a slaughter. Everyone is in chaos. Your brother and Chris are missing, possibly dead. The Iron Ridge pack is everywhere.”

"What do you mean back? Back from...” That's when Jessica-Lyn’s sleep-addled brain kicked in and remembered her brother's last visit, where he ranted about wanting the land on the other side of the river. He'd complained that the Alpha of the Silver Ridge Pack would not concede the land to him. She's suggested he try buying the land, but that was a mistake. He didn't want to part with any money for it. “He attacked the Silver Ridge pack?”

"Yes, only a handful of members returned. Jessica-Lyn, they lost. I don't think we have an Alpha or Beta anymore.” No hierarchy within a pack meant no pack. If this went before NARC (North American Ruling Council) the pack that won would get the choice of absorbing the loser to recover losses. Or they could take revenge and kill them all.

The Iron Hill Pack always was small compared to other packs. The pack dwindled after her brother took control of it. He'd banished one member after another for questioning his decisions. His wrath didn’t know a limit, and he turned it on her too. She now lived alone on the edge of their pack lands. Being his sister, he could use her to form a bond between packs if he found some other Alpha that wanted to ignore the fact, she wasn't his mate.

“Damn it. I hoped he'd forget about that stupid idea. The Silver Ridge outnumber us ten to one. Let me guess. He thought he'd go in during the night and catch them off guard?”

“That's what I think. Everyone that's left is meeting at the Packhouse. I think the Silver Ridge Pack's Alpha is coming. My orders are to tell you that fleeing isn't an option. They will hunt everyone down.” Hannah's eyes never lost their big-eyed stare. Jessica-Lyn knew Hannah was in no mental state to stand up for herself.

"Fine, but I am getting dressed first before facing this.” They both knew before this; the Pack lived on borrowed time. There weren't enough members to keep a pack healthy over the long run. Most members were ageing or too young to function as a full member. Jessica-Lyn figured they might have fifty members left, if that. She didn't know the exact numbers with members dead in the attack. Hannah paced outside of Jessica-Lyn’s cabin as she got ready to find out the full consequences of her brother's ill-advised actions. He'd seized power after their father died. Their mother passed away the year before. This was normal in wolf shifter society. Shifters rarely lived long after their mate died.

Jessica-Lyn left her cabin. Hannah walked with Jessica-Lyn back towards the Pack's House. It looked like all the lights were blazing when they arrived. Sure enough, there were four dust-covered black SUVs outside of the Pack’s House. She didn't recognize the vehicles and could only assume that they belonged to the Silver Ridge Pack. Their Alpha was already here.

Jessica-Lyn could feel her stomach turn in reaction to expecting the nasty encounter that was just minutes away.

The front door lay wide open and a trail of blood led through the entrance. “Well, someone made it out alive. Let's go see if they need any medical attention.” If they lived to need attention. Jessica-Lyn stepped into the lit interior and heard shouting from further in the house. Only it was one-sided. Jessica-Lyn felt her stomach drop in reaction to that voice. Dread strangled her. Her instincts didn't want to hear his displeasure. This was the difference between an Alpha and a True Alpha. She'd never felt like this with her father or her brother.

Distracted, an unfamiliar shifter now blocked her path. His ash-blonde hair flowed over his shoulders in a mess. He needed to look down at her, to stare her down. Jessica-Lyn needed to force herself to stand her ground.

"What the hell has my idiot brother done now?” It's all she could say as questions battered at her mind.

"Got himself killed along with quite a few others. You are here for judgement in your culpability in this incident. Who are you?”

"Who are you? Sorry. Jessica-Lyn Kilian. Alpha Hector is... was my brother.”

"Where have you been?” The male was high ranking and didn’t seem impressed by her. He seemed disgusted instead.

"Sleeping. I knew nothing about this attack plan.” That wasn't true. She knew he was thinking about it. But Jessica-Lyn didn't believe he was crazy enough to act on it. They didn't have the numbers and their people didn’t have the skills. This was a nightmare.

“Sleeping. Is that what you call it. If you're his sister, why weren't you living here?”

“Hector liked his privacy, and I impeded his privacy.”

"You're not involved in your Pack’s plans?” He glared down at her with his fists on his hips above a series of weapons attached to his belt.

“The Pack’s plans? Yes. My brother's? No. I could do nothing but endure his rants. He never consulted on the finer details with me.” Jessica-Lyn was telling the truth, but this male was sure she was lying. If his facial expression was correct. “What has that man yelling? He's frightening everyone.”

“That's what happens when you are guilty of trying to slaughter the Silver Ridge Alpha.”

"What? He did what?” Knowing Hector, he'd done something stupid. It was another thing to know what he'd done. Jessica-Lyn's eyes now lowered. She needed to process the ramifications. Hannah was silent behind her, and now she felt Hannah's hand reach out to hold hers for comfort. The woman shook under his glare.

"He's been demanding your presence for the last half-hour. Where were you sleeping?” He sneered the last word. What he was inferring, she wasn't sure. But she didn't like it.

“I sleep in a cottage at the far end of Potter's Road. I walked here.” Jessica-Lyn tried hard not to flinch at the voice yelling from behind the heavy wooden doors of the study. She was sure Hannah was whimpering behind her. They hadn't moved past the front entrance, but the number of unknown shifters dressed for war was overwhelming.

“Craig, where is everyone? There's no one here. It's like a ghost town.” Another shifter said as he stepped up behind the shifter, now known as Craig. This was the Beta of the Silver Ridge Pack.

“This the Alpha's sister?” He studied her face and then Hannah's face. “Want me to escort her to the others?”

"Yeah, Gabe. That would be great. I also need to know when he's ready to see her.”

“I'll get that for you. Come on you. Everyone is in the grand meeting room.” This shifter took Hannah by her upper arm and pulled her away from Jessica-Lyn. Hannah didn't resist, but she did whimper.

"Please have a care. She's not involved in any of this.” Jessica-Lyn tried to follow them but Craig blocked her path.

“She's fine. We are just gathering everyone together to find out who is worth keeping.”

"Worth keeping? What do you mean by that?” Jessica-Lyn didn't like his words.

“I mean. Alrick understands that there will be people loyal to their Pack and those loyal to their Alpha. For the safety of all. We need to decipher who falls into which category. Weed out those loyal only to Victor.”

"What will happen to the two groups?” Jessica-Lyn didn't like the sound of this. What were they in for? How selfish could her brother be? They didn't need the land. They had more than enough land for the number of pack members.

“Alrick is ready for her now.” The shifter who took Hannah was back. The yelling had paused. Maybe he had what he wanted now. Gods, what was she getting herself into?

She didn't want this to happen. She didn't want to have to deal with him. Jessica-Lyn had no interest in changing things. They were bad enough without strangers interfering. “I gather he’s hiding in the study?”

Craig waved her through now and pointed at the study doors. These doors held not so sweet memories of one of the Pack’s enforcers dragging her before her father or brother for one imaginary slight or infraction. It was the only time her father or brother interacted with her. She had to have done one thing or another wrong for them. To lecture her about honour and duty. This would be no different. She was sure they would blame her. It appears as this was her lot in life.

Two guards stood at the doors and held them open as two others dragged one of her brother's men from the study. He was bloody and bruised. Growling and cursing. Jessica-Lyn could see the shifter silver on his hands and throat. Made from a special silver alloy, those handcuffs and collar prevented any shifter from shifting. They weren't pure silver. She wasn't familiar with the exact formula, but there's iron among other metals in it. It wasn’t the same silver used by humans in this time period. There's a claim the fae created the formula. When they created shifters, they created shifter silver to control them. Either way, the silver was impossible to escape from. Because it's impossible to shift while wearing it without injuring yourself.

Taking a deep breath as he passed her, Jessica-Lyn faced forwards and entered the study.