The Lost Alpha

Bane

ANDY

I woke up to knocking on my door. I threw the blankets off and pulled a sweatshirt over my head before I opened it.

“Can I help you?” I asked the man standing there. He was holding a large box that I couldn’t see into.

“I’m from the pack IT Department.” He told me. “I’m here to set up your computer and camera.”

“What computer?” I furrowed my brow in confusion.

“Alpha Morris said to make sure you could video into all your classes.” The IT man explained. “So, I set everything up, and now I just need to set up the computer in here.” He motioned towards a desk.

“Wait, no.” I held up my hand to stop him. To stop everything. “I didn’t ask for this.”

“You want to attend your classes, don’t you?” He asked. “This is what Alpha Morris set up for you.”

I almost started yelling, but I realized that this man was just doing what he was told to do. There was no point in getting mad at him. Instead, I nodded and stepped aside to let him in.

While he worked, I grabbed clothes and got in the shower. By the time I had dried off and gotten dressed, he was gone, and everything was set up and waiting with a list of directions sitting next to the mouse.

I sighed and rolled my eyes at the entire situation. Alpha Morris was dead set on my staying here, that much was obvious. Maybe he was doing it to protect me, or maybe he was trying to force my decision. Whichever it was, I would have to set some boundaries.

I looked away from the computer set up and moved over to the mirror, and that’s when I saw it. The white streak in my hair. I leaned closer to the mirror, picking at the white hair. It wasn’t a lot, maybe about half an inch wide, fading as it ran towards the back of my head.

“What is this?” I asked Faolan. It hadn’t been there before last night. And the only thing different about last night was my shifting.

“The mark of the moon.” She answered, as if I was supposed to know what that meant.

“I need a few more words than that.”

“You have been marked by the moon.”

“Rearranging words is not helping.” I sighed, running my hands through my hair to see how the streak fell.

“It’s the mark of the moon goddess.” Faolan tried again. “Given only to true descendants of Selene on their first full moon shift. It’s the beginning of your powers. It’s the beginning of our journey together.”

“Is that why you wanted to shift last night?” I asked angrily. “To force this?”

“No, we shifted last night because you needed a break, and I needed to run. The rest of it I was not expecting.”

“So, you had no idea that this moon marking would happen?” I asked.

“Until last night, it’s been a legend. A myth. Not something that has happened in recent history.” Faolan explained. “I had no idea it would actually happen.”

I sighed again. My life was turning into a series of sighs and uncertainties. I raked my hands through my hair and pulled it into a ponytail. I studied the white streak skeptically. I guess I could dye it if it didn’t sit right with me.

“I don’t think that’ll work.” Faolan commented. “It’s on me, so it’s on you.”

“Great.” I muttered out loud. Nothing I could do about it now.

I spent the next few days concentrating on classes and papers for the end of the semester. Alpha Morris had sent someone over to my house, to Douglas Wesson’s house, to get more clothes and my textbooks and notes. I avoided people. I stayed in my room. I barely replied to text messages. Mandy and Mia had been asking me every day to go to lunch and I had been stalling as much as possible.

I even kept Michael at arm’s length. I knew if I saw him, if we shared a bed again, that things would cross that line. We would have s*x, and I would be marked and then . . . and then everything would be over. Decision made.

So, I focused on school. I focused on my plan for the future, and I would continue to until I couldn’t anymore.

Wednesday morning, I woke up and stared at the walls of my room. I couldn’t sit in here any longer. I grabbed a pair of skinny jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt and got dressed. I glanced in the mirror at my pulled back hair and grimaced. I still wasn’t sure about the white streak. I found my baseball cap and pulled it on over my hair, hiding it until I could get used to it.

I slipped on a pair of Converse, grabbed a book, and headed downstairs. I didn’t have any classes until after lunch, and I needed a change of scenery, but still needed to give people a reason to not talk to me. Not that it worked.

I was sitting in a window seat in the sunroom, peacefully reading when I felt someone looking at me.

“So, you’ve finally emerged from the darkness.”

I looked up to find Grant standing over me.

“I needed some time to myself.” I sighed, putting my book down. “Plus, I had classes and papers and apparently Alpha Morris wants me to start with a personal trainer.” I grimaced.

“Well, now I’ve got something else to add to your list of worries.” Grant pushed my feet off the window seat and sat next to me.

“What now?”

“Your father is asking to speak with you.”

“Alpha Morris is not my father.” I scoffed.

“I’m not talking about Alpha Morris.” Grant bent his head to make me look at him. “I’m talking about the man downstairs.”

“He wants to talk to me?” I asked. Grant nodded. “Why?”

“I don’t know. That’s a question you’ll have to ask him, if you want.”

“I have a lot of questions, but I don’t know if I’m ready to hear the answers.” I looked down at my hands. “On one side, he raised me and taught me, and gave me everything I could have ever wanted.”

“But?”

“But he also lied to me for my entire life. I never knew anything about being a werewolf, or him being a werewolf. I grew up knowing nothing of what was going to happen to me.” I looked back at Grant. “What does Alpha Morris say about it?”

“He said that he can neither force nor stop you from doing it. If you want.”

“That’s helpful.” I rolled my eyes. “When?”

“Now. If you want.”

“Why do you keep saying ‘if you want’?” I snapped.

“Because the decision is yours.” Grant said calmly. “And I know people have been saying that a lot to you recently, but the decision of whether or not to talk to him is entirely yours. Yes, we go. No, we forget about it.”

“It’s that easy.” I said sarcastically. “Yes or no to talk to the man who was my father.”

“It is that easy.” Grant put his hand on mine. “And in my opinion, you’ve only heard one side of the story. This is your chance to hear his and decide which you want to believe.”

I rolled this over in my head. He was right. There was a saying – there are three sides to every story. I had only heard Alpha Morris’ side. Maybe I should give my father the benefit of the doubt.

“Okay.” I sighed. “Show me.”

Grant stood and waited for me to slip my feet back into my sneakers. When I was ready, he led me out to the front foyer to a side door. I had, of course, seen the door before, but never really thought much of it.

We went through that door and down a set of steps, and then another, and another to a long hallway with a door at the end. There were no windows, only lights lining the ceiling. And judging by the cooler temperature, we were below ground. We went through the door to another short hallway. There was guard standing outside a heavy metal door. I had to stop. I had to remind myself to breath. Grant looked at me questioningly.

“He’s been neutralized with regular wolfsbane. And is chained. He can’t hurt you.”

“He would never hurt me.” I mumbled, staring at the door.

“I’m sure you’re right. But we can’t take any chances right now.”

I nodded and Grant nodded to the guard who opened the door and allowed us through. The door closed heavily behind me.

In front of me, on the floor, sat the man I knew as Douglas Wesson. He was dirty, and his hair was a mess, but he looked no worse for wear. I could still smell his bitter aftershave, or what I was coming to realize was his scent.

“You came.” He looked up at me and smiled that same smile he always gave me.

“I did.” I responded. “I wanted to hear what you had to say.”

“Well, that depends on what you want to know, kiddo.” The word made me flinch.

“Don’t call me that.” I told him. “I came here because I want to know your side of the story.”

“At least they haven’t brainwashed you just yet. You always were smarter than the average person.”

“I just want the facts. Not flattery.” I picked my head up and steeled my nerves for what was about to come. “And the first thing I want to know is your real name.”

“I go by Bane.” He told me. “But I assume you’ve spoken with Morris.”

“Alpha Morris.” Grant corrected. But Bane acted as though he wasn’t even there.

“And that he gave you some story about how I kidnapped Mariana.”

“Something like that.” I nodded. “But as I said, I want to hear your side of things.”

Bane studied me for a moment as if asking himself if I was being genuine. Finally, he nodded and started to speak.

“Mariana and I were in love. We had been dating for years before we got our wolves. She may have been Morris’ fated mate, but I was her chosen one.” Bane spoke with an air of superiority to his voice. As if he were boasting about the relationship with my mother. “Morris didn’t want to hear what we had to say. He refused to hear Mariana’s rejection of him. And when she pushed away his advances, he forced himself on her.”

“That’s not true.” Grant growled.

“What would you know, pup?” Bane growled back. “You were only a baby back then. Not even walking.”

“How do you know that?” I asked Bane.

“I was a part of this pack. I was important in this pack. Until I was kicked out for avenging what happened to Mariana.” Bane spat out. “But I came back and got her. I saved her from the torture Morris and this pack was putting her through. And together, we made plans.”

“What plans?” I asked. It was taking everything I had to keep myself calm. A part of me was growing angry and I wanted to lash out at everyone.

“Help me, Faolan.”

“I’m trying. I don’t know where this is coming from.”

Bane hadn’t responded yet but was looking at me curiously.

“What plans?” I asked again, a bit louder. Bane continued, but with a little grin on his lips.

“Mariana was a powerful wolf. So powerful it scared some people. And despite not wanting Morris, the mate bond still existed and alone, she couldn’t use those powers against him.” Bane told us. “We found a witch and she told us she could transfer Mariana’s powers to me. We agreed, and we would take out all the Alphas, starting with Morris. She would be free. All wolves would be free.”

“But it didn’t work.”

“No. It didn’t.” Bane’s eyes turned to fire as he got to this part of his story.

“How did she die?” I asked.

“Mariana realized she was pregnant. I didn’t care what happened to the baby because it was Morris’ child. But Mariana felt differently. She didn’t want to do anything to cause you harm. It was a stupid decision because that’s what led to her death. We waited until after you were born, and then returned to the witch. We tried to transfer her powers, but they weren’t just her powers anymore.” Bane’s glare intensified. “They were your powers now. The ritual was too much on her already weakened body and she died. Right there in front of me. She died, because of you.”

“And yet you still took me in. Raised me.” I said.

“Because you had her powers.” Bane growled. “I just had to wait for them to surface. And then I could take those powers and kill you like I wanted to do from the start.”

“You never loved me.” I said quietly. “You never told me I was a werewolf, and you never loved me.”

“I loved you for what you could give me. I just had to be patient. I just had to wait for the right time. And I was almost there, but you,” he turned to glare at Grant. “You just had to interfere. Just like your father, you couldn’t just mind your own business.”

“Andy is not only of my pack, but of my family.” Grant stepped forward, placing himself between Bane and me. “And now that I found her, I will protect her from rogue scum like you.”

The next moment seemed to happen in slow motion. We, or I, hadn’t realized that Bane was slowly shifting position while he told his story. He had somehow slipped out of his chains and with Grant between us, he leapt.

Grant immediately moved into a defensive stance, ready to block Bane from me. But I couldn’t let that happen. He was still injured from the night of the full moon. I couldn’t let him take another injury on my part.

All the anger that I had been suppressing, all the frustration and aggravation bubbled quickly to the surface. The five days of being here and not being allowed out. The not knowing who to listen to or what to believe. The not being able to be with Michael the way my wolf, and my body, were wanting and pulling us to be. It all came flowing to the surface at once.

“No!” I yelled, letting it all out with one word. And instantly, everything in front of me froze for a split second, and then Bane flew back against the wall, crashing against the cement.

The door flew open, and the guard ran in, quickly taking in the scene.

“Wolfsbane!” Grant told him, running forward and rechaining a semi-conscious Bane. “I want him sedated!”

“More will come.” Bane mumbled. “There are others who agree with me.” His eyes opened slightly, but he was looking back at me. “You will never be safe.”

I stepped closer to him. I wanted to make sure he heard me clearly.

“I am not afraid. Thanks to you I was raised to never let anyone scare me. And that includes you.” I told him, making sure my words were succinct. “This ends here.”

“That’s what you think.” Bane grinned at me, blood dripping out the corner of his mouth. “But I know something you don’t.”

Grant and I stood still and silent, waiting for him to say what that something was. But the only thing Bane did was pass out