The Alpha Killer

Tania’s POV

He went to the refrigerator in the corner of the basement and opened the door. He removed a small vial; opening a drawer, he pulled out a syringe and filled it before putting it back in the refrigerator. I sat leaning back against the post, frozen with fear. “Your arm,” he said. Trembling, I held it out, and he injected me with whatever that was. It was cold, and I waited for the sedative, but nothing changed.

He tossed the syringe into a bin, then went back to the fridge. He pulled out a bottle of orange juice and tossed it to me, then left without a word. As hungry as I was, I practically inhaled the juice. He went back upstairs, and I could hear him in the kitchen. Some time later, the door opened and my mouth started to drool with the scent. He was carrying a paper plate; on it was a large steak, corn and a baked potato. “Eat, you’ll need your strength,” he said. He left it just inside the range I could reach, and I moved for it when he started going up the stairs again.

I’d never had to suffer, I’d never been denied anything in my life, and I’d never appreciated a meal as much as I did this one. I tore into the steak, ripping pieces away with my teeth and swallowing them. “Slow down or you’ll throw it back up, and you’ll still have to eat it,” he warned from the doorway. I swallowed, then paused to eat some corn before going back to the steak. I still ate faster than I normally would, since there were no friends to talk to and I didn’t know when he would be back.

He came back later, bringing more food, and my life fell into a routine over the next week. He’d give me a shot, followed by a big meal, then another later on. The wolfsbane worked its way out of my system, and I was able to shift again. I was disappointed when the collar remained tight, preventing me from getting free, but at least I was able to sleep and be warm in wolf form. The first time he came down the stairs and I was in my fur, he hit me with a shock. “You are to be in human form at all times when I am in this room,” he said. “Don’t do it again.”

I shifted quickly, twitching as the electric shock dissipated. He gave me the shot, then went back upstairs. I was waiting for the food to come down when I started to feel hot. I moved my hands over my arms, it was like my skin was on fire. I started to sweat, and I felt myself become aroused.

Very aroused.

He opened the door again, looking down at me as I touched myself, trying to ease the need I was feeling.

“You’re in heat, right on time,” he said. He had a small mattress in his hands and tossed it into the circle. He pulled me over with the chain, pointing down at the mattress I quickly laid down on my stomach. I groaned as he put a knee into the middle of my back, and I fought back the urge to fight him. He pulled out a pair of handcuffs and put it over one wrist, then pulled my hands up and locked them on the other side of the pole.

I lay there helpless as he went to the refrigerator and drew another shot. This one went into my thigh, and it burned. Wolfsbane. “I can’t have you shifting and hurting yourself now, can I?”

I shook my head no.

“The shot will help a little with your heat, I understand it is your first one. Do you know what happens in a heat?” I nodded, my parents had talked to my sister and I about it. Heat lasted a day or two and was designed to attract a male and bring forth pups. It didn’t happen until after you were marked, but I hadn’t been marked, I was still a virgin. My eyes got wide and I shook my head no.

“You’re not marked, because I will not mark another while my Luna lives. However, the drugs simulate the marking enough to kick off your cycle, and that is all I need.” He moved behind me, pulling me up to my knees and kneeling between my legs, forcing them aside. I kept shaking my head, my eyes begging him not to do it while my body begged him to go ahead.

When the heat finally broke, he uncuffed me and left me with the mattress and a thin blanket. “You won’t be able to shift for a few more days, and I have to make sure my heir is healthy.”

Two weeks later, a test confirmed I was pregnant. He made sure I had plenty of food and allowed me to have books as an enticement to behave.

He never touched me that way again, and in the spring, I bore him a son. He was immediately taken away. I never got a chance to touch him, and I broke down as he carried him up the stairs.

A week later, another man came into the basement, and my life took a drastic turn for the worse.

Talia Stillwater’s POV

One Week after Tania’s Disappearance

I leaned into my grandmother’s side as my parents were laid to rest in the Pack cemetery. They were placed in the same hole, their bodies wrapped in white cloth, his right hand clasped forever to her left. Unlike humans, we didn’t use caskets and we didn’t defile their bodies by trying to preserve them. Instead, they were wrapped and refrigerated until the service could occur.

I looked around through teary eyes, my Grandfather holding my other hand as we stood by the grave. My aunt and uncle, the Alphas of the Lacrosse Pack, were to our left. My sister and I were the last of my mother’s line, and since she had disappeared there had been no clues, no calls, no nothing. It was like she had vanished into thin air.

My family had kept me in LaCrosse until this morning, afraid that whoever took Talia might harm me as well. I was not allowed to go anywhere without a guard, and the adults didn’t like me out of their sight. The abduction had everyone on edge.

The oldest member of our Pack, a woman named Madelia, led the service and said the prayers committing their souls to the Moon. The service was only a few minutes long, and before I knew it, I was being led to the edge. We buried our loved ones with mementos of their lives; I held a drawing of our family I had made when I was six. It was little more than a stick figure, but it was the first art project I had brought home from school. Mom had left it on the refrigerator for over a decade. I let it fall into the grave along with my tears. “I miss you so much, Mom and Dad. I love you.”

Since Tania was missing the service, I brought Wolfy, the toy wolf she had loved so much as a little girl. When she outgrew it and wanted to toss it, Mom had grabbed it and put it in her room. “Help me find my sister, Luna,” I said as I dropped it in and looked up to the full moon above. “She loved them so much, and she didn’t get to say goodbye.”

My grandparents dropped in their mementos, then we moved next to the Elder at the head of the grave. The guests started to file by, some dropping flowers, others something more personal. Many looked up to the moon, and many tears were shed. After leaving the grave, they would shake my hand or hug me and the rest of the family before moving off to the side. The last to come by were the Alphas; two dozen had come to pay their respects to my parents, plus the American Werewolf Council.

I didn’t like the way they looked at me.

It was traditional for the Alpha to start filling in the graves with the family. I stepped forward to take the shovel out of the dirt pile next to the grave, my grandparents and my Aunt and Uncle with me. I was surprised to see Beta Todd grab a shovel, but no one else seemed to mind. I took a scoop and tossed it down on my parents.

The others followed and we made quick work of the pile. By the time we were done, I was ready to run under the stars. Pulling off my dress and kicking off my shoes, I shifted into my light tan wolf, with one white ear and a white tip to my tail. The others shifted with me, and we trotted towards the group which was also shifting in preparation for the run.

I took a deep breath, ready to give the Alpha howl to start the hunt, when Beta Todd let out a booming howl of grief. My howl joined his, followed by the Alphas. The next howl I started, and this time everyone joined in. I took off on a run, leading the mourners into the well-worn trail through the woods.

“What was THAT, Beta? I AM ALPHA.”

“Not now, Talia. The Council and the Alphas are all watching us carefully, we cannot appear to be fractured or dysfunctional in any way.” He was running on my right side, the Alpha position, and I didn’t like it a bit.

“Grandfather, the Beta should not be up here with me.”

He just chuffed, they were right behind me. “Tradition is the senior male and female wolves lead the run, he’s supposed to be up there.”

“On my LEFT,” I said with annoyance. The run was a short one, circling the small lake and returning to the Pack House. I didn’t wait for anyone, I ran up to my room and dressed in my black dress and heels.

Retuning back to the main hall, my Grandfather pulled me aside. “The Council is in the conference room, they want to talk to you.”

Finally. If they thought I was going to step aside, or give up my Alpha birthright to this Pack, they were sadly mistaken. I had talked about it with my family, they knew what I wanted and pledged to support me. “Time to claim the Pack,” I said.

“The Pack comes first, always,” he said. “Remember that.”

He led me to the door; it was MY Pack, I wasn’t going to knock on my own room. I opened the door, causing conversation to stop. The three members of the Council looked up from the papers they were reviewing, their annoyance clear on their faces. “Thank you for coming to Tomah, gentlemen,” I said as I moved to the head of the table and sat to face them.

“Your parents were fine Alphas and personal friends,” Council Chair Andreas said. “They will be missed.”

“Thank you,” I said. “I will do everything in my power to carry on their legacy as Alpha of the Tomah Pack. I appreciate your support and I look forward to working with you as I settle into my new role.”

“That’s one of the reasons we are here today,” Councilman George said.

“You aren’t able to be the Alpha here,” Councilman Ricardo finished.

My anger flared, and I started to stand up. “I have the bloodline and the hereditary right. IT IS MINE.”

Chairman Andreas just laughed at me. “I admire your determination, we all do, but you simply aren’t ready and aren’t up to the job. You are sixteen years old and female. Name the highest ranking adult male in your Pack you have defeated in a spar." I sat there, fuming. "I thought so. Given time and training, you can grow into the Luna job in a few years, but you are not an Alpha.”

“Your family cannot help. Your sister is missing, your aunt is already Luna of another Pack, and your grandparents are too old to take over a Pack again. We are here to determine what the best course forward is, not for you, but for the Tomah Pack and our kind. What you want, and what you think you deserve, isn’t that high on the list for us,” Ricardo said.

“It is never good to have the Alpha position in question, and worse to have an Alpha who cannot control the Pack or defend his position atop it. Putting you in place as Alpha would be suicide, you’d be challenged and defeated within days, then that Alpha would face challenges. Packs have fallen apart, to the point that we had to absorb the entire Pack into another to bring stability again. You don’t want that, do you Talia?” The Chairman was staring at me, his dominance rolling over me like a wave.

My wolf was strong, but it pushed me back in my chair. “Of course not, Chairman Andreas.”

“Good. We have several options, but none are optimal due to your age. Since it is two more years until you can be mated, it isn’t as easy as just finding a male by your side. We also can’t have another teenager, we need someone who can step into the Alpha position immediately,” George said.

“Someone who the Pack will respect, and will deter challenges,” Ricardo continued.

Chairman Andreas sat back and smiled. “We have spoken to the senior members of your Pack and to your family, and we are all in agreement on the path forward. It is not ideal; you will have to give up your Fated mate and be marked by the man who will be Alpha of the Pack and make you his Luna when you reach maturity.”

My heart went into my stomach; I’d always dreamed of my Fated mate, and the last thing I wanted was to give him up. “Just who is this man you’ve decided to pair me with,” I said softly.

“Beta Todd Aldridge has agreed to take you as his Mate and to take over the Alpha position permanently,” Chairman Andreas said. “The Pack is familiar with him, and he’s already performing well in the absence of your parents. The change will be seamless, and he’s strong enough to deter others from challenging for the position,” he said.

“And if I don’t agree?” My stomach was threatening to lose the dinner I’d barely eaten. Beta Todd was like an uncle to me; I’d never looked at him as a potential mate, and the thought of being intimate with him skeeved me out.

“Then we place Todd in the position after he chooses a mate, or we find a mated pair of Alpha blood who are not the direct heirs to their own Pack and ask them to take over permanently. You would be moved to the LaCrosse Pack under the guardianship of your Uncle.”

“What about my right to lead the Pack?”

Ricardo leaned forward. “The only way you lead this Pack is by agreeing to mate Beta Todd,” he said. “It’s not the worst outcome; you are still Luna, your bloodline remains in this Pack, and Todd is a strong wolf and will be a good mate to you.”

I just shook my head no, I couldn’t believe it. “I don’t…”

“We don’t need an answer immediately,” the Chairman said. “At the end of the three-day mourning period, the new Alphas will be announced. You just need to tell us your choice.”