The Alpha Killer

Talia’s POV

Second night after her parent’s funeral

I couldn’t sleep. My mind would just not shut down and let me rest, it was like a ride that wouldn’t stop even when you got sick and begged for it to stop. My mind kept replaying things.

My family and friends had rallied around me, and we were all hurting from the events of the past week. The reaction to the Council’s edict, requiring me to be marked and eventually mated to Beta Todd, was mixed. For the adults like my grandparents and uncles, it was a pragmatic way to save the Pack and maintain my bloodline in the Alpha position. “We all have to make sacrifices for the greater good,” my Grandfather had told me after I left that meeting. “The Pack will be in an uproar without it, and may not survive. Mating your Beta is not the worst outcome here. Having you killed and someone taking over is.”

“All we have to do is hold on for a few years! Give me a chance to search for my true mate, the man who is supposed to be by my side at the head of this Pack,” I begged.

“Your parents wanted that more than anything, but that won’t happen now. We have to play the hand we are dealt, not the hand we want.” He pulled me into a hug. “I spoke with the Council members before you did, I even tried to push for Grandma and I taking over, but we’re old and weak now. Putting me as Alpha makes the Pack vulnerable, and you could end up dead if the new Alpha sees you as a threat to his reign.

“And what about Tania? Who is going to search for her if the Alpha is not willing to find her? ”Grandma pulled me into her side. “It’s a hard lesson, but the Pack does come first, always. You will be marked, you have until you are eighteen before you are mated and a full Luna, but everyone will know that is your destiny. We will help you with the transition, I will teach you the things your mother was planning to show you as you became an adult. Now come on, we need to eat dinner, and we can’t insult the Council by being late.”

The dinner itself was an ordeal. Everyone talked around me, treating Todd like the Alpha while I was no more than decoration, a trophy for the winner to hoist. If I brought up concerns about Tania, they were brushed off by old men saying everything possible was being done, and I just had to be patient. Anytime something regarding my Pack came up, Todd would talk over me.

I’d had enough and excused myself before dessert was served. My best friends, Erica and Michelle, ran after me as I left. They could see I was about to explode and followed me onto the porch where I pulled off my clothes and shifted. I led them on a chase along the trails, ending at the beach area when my sister had disappeared from. I let out a long, mournful howl as my friends sat by me to lend me comfort. “I miss her so much,” I said.

Erica nudged me with his muzzle. “We all do, and we’re so sorry, Talia. We were all having such a good time and then she just wasn’t here. No one suspected anything until much later.”

“Something just isn’t right about her disappearance,” Michelle said. “She didn’t take clothes, a phone, not even a towel. We searched for ten minutes or so before we called Beta Todd, and there were no other scents around. She just got up and walked away, and the scent disappeared at the road.”

“Was she seeing anyone? Did she say anything to her friends?”

“Nothing, and we’ve been racking our brains to think of anything that could help.”

I showed them the meeting I had with the Council and the ultimatum I was given, and they were shaking with rage by the end. “Those bastards,” Michelle sent. “They expect you to give up your future to keep your title? What about what the Pack wants? I don't want Todd as Alpha, I want you.”

“The Council refuses to consider me as Alpha because of my age, and my Uncle and Grandfather agree with them. By Luna, why couldn’t I be eighteen? If I was closer to mating age, I could just find my true mate and everything would be like it should be,” I said. “If I let Todd mark me, I’m giving my true mate up forever. Something about Todd just isn’t right, and I don’t even like him, much less love him.”

“What are you going to do, Talia?”

I got up and walked down to the lake, looking across at the moonlight rising over the waters. I loved my Pack, I loved this land, and I didn’t love Todd. “I don’t know.”

“Hey, I spotted a tub of Rocky Road ice cream in the freezer,” Michelle said. “I say we grab it and some spoons and watch chick flicks until we fall asleep. Nothing is going to happen tonight anyway, it’s still the mourning period.T omorrow night is when Beta Todd is being installed as Alpha.”

We had binged on ice cream and snacks, and my friends had finally fallen asleep about two. It was now three in the morning and I couldn’t sleep. I opened the door, walking out into the hallway of the Alpha wing. There had to be more food downstairs.

The light was on in the Alpha’s office, and I could hear voices. Stopping by the door which had not fully closed, I could hear Beta Todd laughing with Chairman Andreas. “Things will work out for the best here, Beta. I know it grates to give up looking for your fated, but it’s been decades for you with no success. You’ll be a good Alpha, and she will eventually be a strong Luna for you. It doesn’t hurt that she’s a hot little number.”

“Stubborn little princess, more like. Her father spoiled her, letting her think she was more than what she is.”

“And that is?”

“Attractive arm candy and a capable pup producer,” Beta Todd said. “Don’t worry, I have two years to correct her attitude before she is mated, and I will take advantage of every day. She will be a perfect Luna when I am done; meek, caring and absolutely obedient to her Alpha.”

There was the clink of glasses, then two tumblers hitting the desk. “When you mark her, she will go into heat, and she might have one or two more before she is of age. How will you handle that?”

“Just because I can’t fully mate her doesn’t mean I can’t have fun with her,” he said. “There are skills she will have to learn quickly to meet my expectations.”

“It will be easier to control her once she is marked and the bond starts to work its magic,” Andreas said. “Women are weak and easily controlled by the bond because deep down their wolves want to be dominated by a strong male. They talk about independence and equality, but deep down they want to be overpowered, pinned to the bed and pounded until they can’t walk straight.”

“I’ll do that soon enough,” he said. “What should I do about Tania?”

“She’s gone, and from everything I’ve seen she left on her own. No one smelled any wolves outside the Pack anywhere in the territory, and there were no signs of struggle. She ran off with a rogue. End the search and wait for her to return when it goes bad, and it always goes bad.”

“You’re right. She was an impulsive little bitch.”

I had heard enough, and I turned and moved quietly back to my room before they could know I was there. My mind was reeling with the news, but one thing was clear in my mind. I’d cut his nuts off before I allowed a man like that to mark me.

I walked back to my room, crawled into bed next to my friends, and fell asleep trying to come up with a plan.

I woke up late the morning of the third day after the funeral, knowing tonight at sundown would be the end of the traditional mourning period for an Alpha. Michelle was our early riser, and she had gone down to the kitchen and brought back breakfast for us all. I was starving and ate a lot despite the nervousness of the day. “What happened last night,” Michelle asked as she placed the trolley by the door. “You seem distant this morning, and I know you didn’t sleep well. I woke when you came back to bed.”

“I don’t know what to do,” I said as we sat together on my bed. I took their hands and used the bond to replay the conversation I overheard.

“That bastard,” Erica said. “That stuck-up caveman BASTARD!”

“Like you are going to just roll over, bake cookies and pop out pups for him,” Michelle said. “You are Alpha blood, not him.”

“It doesn’t seem to matter to them or my family, all they see is my age and my lack of a dick.” Harsh, but true. If I was a sixteen-year-old male, they would let me be Alpha, they would just make sure I had a good support structure and mentoring. Why was it so different for me? I had been raised to run a Pack, while Todd just executed his Alpha’s wishes.

We didn’t come up with anything, so I went to the only people I thought I could trust. I knocked on the door of my grandparent’s room, and they opened it and pulled me into a hug. “Grandfather, I have a problem and I need your help,” I said. “I can’t allow myself to be marked by Beta Todd. Not after last night.”

He looked at me and just nodded. “Can I bring your aunt and uncle into this discussion?”

“Yes, it might affect them too.”

A few minutes later, we were all together in the sitting area of the guest room they had been given. “Last night I learned some things I was not meant to know,” I said. I had us all hold hands, and using the family bond, I was able to share my recollection of the conversation. When I ended the memory and lowered my hands, I could feel the tension in the room.

“That son-of-a-BITCH,” my Grandfather said. “I trusted him.”

“I did too, until last night. They have no intention of looking for Tania, and he has no intention of giving me any say in the running of the Pack. I may as well not be Alpha because he’s just using me for my bloodline.”

My Aunt pulled me into a hug. “We will find your sister, even if your Alpha doesn’t. We know her, she wouldn’t run off like this. Someone had to take her, and we’ll find her.”

“Thank you,” I said. “What should I do about tonight? The Council is going to install Todd as Alpha, and they expect him to mark me in front of the Pack as his mate. I can’t let that happen.” Tears started to flow. “I don’t love him, and I won’t be his toy. My mate is out there somewhere, and I want HIM.”

“I know, baby,” my Grandma said.

We talked for about twenty minutes before it was time to decide. “So I have three options,” I said.

“The simplest one is to leave with us, today, before the ceremony,” my Uncle said. “You join our Pack, reach mating age and find your mate. You go to his Pack when you find him, at whatever rank he is.”

“And give up the Tomah pack and my bloodline’s Alpha right to the Pack.” I didn’t like it.

“Yes, but the Council’s plan to put the Beta in place depends on him mating you for stability. If you don’t do it, we can push for the Alpha position to be put to competition. Eligible Alpha blood members would gather and compete, with the winner granted the job. Beta Todd would be hard pressed to win against such a field.”

“Option two,” I said. “I tell the Council that the Alpha position is mine by line of succession, and that if someone wants to challenge me, they can do so.”

“Beta Todd will certainly challenge you, and some other Pack members might as well. If you survive, there are bound to be challenges from outside the Pack as well. There are no female Alphas who are not widowed, and even those lose power quickly.” My Uncle never sugar-coated things for me.

“And with my fighting skills, I won’t survive, or at minimum I will be exiled.” Alpha challenges were normally to the death, but no challenger was ever allowed to stay in the Pack after losing.

I chose the third option. For better or worse, I was Alpha right now, and it was time to use that.

I called the senior Pack members to my office, a little pissed that it smelled more like Todd now than my parents. Beta Todd was notably absent. “Should I get the Beta,” my Theta and head of the guards, Nicholas, asked me.

“No but have a vehicle and two warriors stationed outside the Pack House, we’ll be needing it.” I sat in my father’s chair. The other members were the junior Beta Victoria, who was in charge of the Pack House and facilities, and Delta Jacob, who was in charge of training the young ones. “What I show you next is not to be shared to anyone outside this room without my permission,” I said, bringing my Alpha power to the forefront.

“Of course, Alpha,” they all replied. I showed them the conversation from last night, but only the part where they talked about abandoning the search for Tania. I could feel their anger; she was a Pack member, and no one else believed she had run off.

“I cannot allow the Council to install Beta Todd as Alpha of my pack, nor take him as a mate, when he cares so little for my family and a fellow Pack member. We are family, and we don’t give up on family, ever,” I said. “For the crime of abandonment of a Pack member, I will be expelling Beta Todd from the Pack. Bring him to the car,” I said.

“Alpha, is that wise,” Beta Victoria said. “The Council is still here, and we all know they plan to make him Alpha.”

“They can’t confirm him as Alpha if he isn’t Pack,” I said. “And I will never mate with that vile man. If the Council thinks I am going to roll over and play submissive mate to someone they choose for me, they don’t me and they don’t know this Pack. When I explain to everyone what is going on, the Pack will support me. My family has guided this Pack for centuries, and it won’t stop now. Get the Beta, and bring him to the front of the Pack House.”

“Yes, Alpha,” the Gamma and Delta said as they walked out.

I gave them a few minutes to find him before sending a broadcast over the link. “Wolves of the Tomah Pack, meet in front of the Pack House immediately. Attendance is mandatory for any member not on duty.”

I walked out of the office, Beta Victoria walking behind me, and my family and friends joined me at the staircase. We walked out to find Beta Todd standing by the car, flanked by the Delta and Gamma. “What is the meaning of this,” Todd said.

“Beta Todd has decided to abandon the search for Tania Stillwater, leaving a Pack Mate in the clutches of whoever took her. I will not abide such behavior from one of my Betas. Beta Todd is hereby stripped of rank and is expelled from the Tomah Pack. Warriors, take him away,” I said.

He didn’t move, and the Delta and Gamma didn’t make him. He stared at me, meeting my eyes in challenge, but I wasn’t backing down. “You don’t have the authority to expel me from the Pack,” he sneered. “You’re a spoiled bitch who’s never had to fight for a thing in her life. This Pack will never accept a young, weak and stupid female such as yourself as their Alpha, nor will the Council or other Packs,” he said.

“I… AM… ALPHA,” I growled out. Some of the Pack members submitted, but less than half.

He looked around and smirked. “Then I challenge you for the Alpha position,” Beta Todd said. He looked over at the Council members who nodded their assent; if I wasn’t going to go along with their plan, they would put their man in anyway.

“The CIRCLE,” I said as I walked down the steps. The Pack stepped aside, letting us pass as we went to the dirt and grass circle behind the large garage building where we held challenges.

“You lost your gambit, you need to yield before he kills you,” my Uncle sent to me. “We will take you in.”

“I have to do this, win or lose,” I said. I was still mad at how it had gone down, people I thought would be loyal to me were more loyal to Beta Todd. He was seen as “alpha-like” while I was just a girl, and that fed my anger.

I shed my clothes and shifted into my light tan and white wolf as we reached the circle. I paced back and forth, watching him as he peeled off his clothing and handed it to the Gamma before shifting to his black and tan wolf. I should have known he would alert the Council, and they probably said something to Pack members before I did. The betrayal left a bitter taste in my mouth.

The Chairman walked into the ring. “Since the position of Alpha of the Tomah Pack has not been established by the Council or by combat, this challenge is for the position. As with all challenges, it is to death or submission, with the fate of the loser solely at the discretion of the winner. No one is to interfere with the challenge and leaving the circle will result in forfeiture of the challenge and death. May Luna’s will be done.” He left the circle, and it was on.

My wolf was large for a bitch, three feet tall at the shoulder and a hundred and twenty pounds. I was fast and agile, but I was at a distinct experience and size disadvantage. Beta Todd’s wolf was almost a foot taller, plus he had almost a hundred pounds on me. “Any advice, uncle?”

“Stay away, use your speed and try to bleed him enough to weaken him,” he said. “Don’t let it turn into a wrestling match or it’s over.”

I growled at him, and he raised his hackles and growled back. “I will enjoy the taste of your blood and your submission,” he taunted.

“Bite me,” I responded.

“That was the plan, but I don’t think I want you anymore. I can have my pick of far more beautiful and capable she-wolves than you.”

I attacked first, dashing in and raking my right front claw across his right haunch before he could spin away. He lunged after me, and I quickly changed direction, but his teeth caught just above my tail and he slashed my skin open. The Pack howled at the blood we had drawn, wolves loved a good fight.

I darted away, using the space in the circle to avoid him. He stayed in the center, letting me tire myself out. We traded slashes and bites, and soon both of us had coats soaked in blood. The difference was that the blood loss was affecting my speed more than his strength.

I was losing.

I darted in again, using a move he had seen before, but this time when he turned and leaped after me I reversed and put my shoulder low onto his. He wasn’t ready for that, and he tumbled over me onto his back. I followed quick as lightning, my jaws going for his throat. I got a good grip, biting down hard and shaking to try and rip the chunk out.

He lowered his head, keeping me from moving the bite upwards from its current point high on his chest. It was too low to kill him, too far from his spine, and it left me vulnerable to counterattack. His back claws raked down my chest and stomach, opening up long slices. I shifted my body, but the damage was building fast and I was starting to lose blood rapidly. If I held on, I’d be disemboweled in a few moments.

I let go, and he was up on his feet in an instant. I backed away, my stomach bleeding and making movement difficult. He pushed his advantage, charging me and this time I couldn’t get out of the way soon enough. He knocked me onto my back, and as I rolled away, he jumped on top of me with his teeth around the back of my neck.

The wounds and blood loss had sapped my strength, and as his teeth pushed deeper into my neck and my face was pushed into the dirt, I made my peace with death. “Submit,” he demanded.

“No.” I expected him to shake his head and snap my neck, but instead he just kept up the pressure. “Just kill me so I can haunt your ass for the rest of your life.”

“The Pack will not appreciate their Alpha killing a female who hasn’t reached maturity,” he said with a sigh before broadcasting to the Pack and assembled wolves. “Talia Stillwater is cast out from the Tomah Pack and is made rogue. No one may speak of her or assist her in any way, or they will face treason charges. Any Pack who takes her in will face the wrath of the Tomah Pack.”

I blacked out.

It was daylight when I woke again, weak and incredibly sore, somewhere outside Pack territory in the woods. It took me ten minutes to get up on my paws, another ten to limp to a nearby stream and take a drink.

I had no money, no clothing and no Pack. My life would never be the same.