The Alpha Enforcer and His Dancing Warrior

Voice of the Forgotten Pt. 3

            Valentina was setting people on fire left and right. Lux and his brothers were putting up a hell of a fight along with their warriors. Wave after wave of rouges kept coming. Cory’s wolf….and I was pretty sure it was Chason and Fowler that made it to me. I took out my handgun and shot ten of the twenty wolves that were engaging with Lux. He turned and shot me a smirk. I sighed. His wolf would be as flirty as he was. I took out a knife and began to kill rogues with that. Lux shifted back, “Melanie how many god damn rogues are coming?!” I winced, “A few more waves.” Unless...I baited Alpha Ezra. I looked at Fowler, “I’m pretty sure you’re Fowler.” He nodded. I told him, “Ask the trackers if they found what I asked about.” I probably could...but who had the time for them to freak out that I was talking to them? Not me...that’s who. Fowler nodded. Then shifted back, “They found three.” I nodded, “That will be all there is. You’re going to hate this so…..sorry?” Fowler sighed, “Of course. Be careful muffin Luna. Your wound may have healed, but Alpha Alexander WILL smell your blood in this field…..we are already f****d. You also do not sound even remotely sorry about whatever it is you are going to do.” I snorted, “Xander will be more upset with me than you in a minute so….it’s ok.” Cory shifted back, “Did anyone else hate the sound of that?” I smiled, “Remember I make you delicious muffins.” Both snorted at me as I walked to the edge of our fighting line. Freya linked, “Mate is here.” Great. 

            I yelled at Ezra challenging him. I goaded him by using his name and not his title. He wasn’t an Alpha in my opinion anyway. I told him Black Mountain had cut off his means to escape. He was dead in the water. My dad screamed my name. I wanted to wince, but I knew where Ezra was. I was not going to show him an ounce of weakness. Freya sighed, “Ezra is not moving to accept.” I wanted to groan. I could get him moving. I challenged him. He was going to send his pack in without him along with the rest of the rogues. Ezra finally stepped forward. That was his pride. He stared away from me. I quickly glanced towards what he was looking at. Freya growled in my head. Ezra was looking at my dad. My eyes were drawn away from them by Valentina’s stance. It made me do a double take. I whispered, “Val?” She answered, “He’s mine.” I looked across to who she was staring at. I smirked, “That’s Julian Conners.” Valentina wiped a tear away. Julian was staring at her as if she hung the moon. Ezra accepted my challenge, drawing my attention back to him. Then the moron added to the death. Freya snorted, “He can’t do that. He didn’t issue the challenge.” I sighed, “I’m aware.” Ezra sent his pack out with the remaining rogues. I ran at him while he was distracted. I knocked him to the ground. We both did a roll to get back onto our feet. He tried to shift and couldn’t. I laughed, “Your wolf doesn’t agree with you, does he? That’s the problem with shoving your wolf down with magic. They fight back when they can. 

            He simply glared at me. I decided to make him angrier. I told him, “You can’t change the challenge to a fight to the death. As an Alpha, and mind you….I know you make crap up in your pack….combined with the fact you can’t beat me in a fight let alone kill me; however, the fact remains I issued the challenge. You moron. I set the rules.” Ezra snarled, “I’ll finally hurt your dad in the way I wanted. He will watch you die...or at least he will think he does.” I snorted, “Always good to announce you’re planning to fake my death near so many people with superior hearing. Honestly….how are you still in charge of your pack? Did ALL your brain cells die in the last five minutes? I didn’t tackle you that hard.” Ezra growled at me then raised his voice, “The undergrounds miss you, and all the money you make them.” Asshole. I snorted, “I’m sure they do.” I looked around seeing if now was the time for the rest of the warriors to attack. His pack was in the thick of it with the remaining rouges. I yelled, ‘BLACK MOUNTAIN ATTACK!”

             The rest of the warriors stormed out of their hiding places surrounding his pack. Ezra snarled at me. I smiled and asked him, “You didn’t think I only brought fifty warriors with me did you? That would be a strategic error….I don’t make those.” Freya linked, “His Beta is sneaking up on us.” I snorted, “I know.” I kicked out behind me and the Beta went down on his knee with a knife in his hand. Freya sighed, “Wolfsbane…..Is this pack full of idiots? Ezra knows that doesn’t work on us.” Fowler jumped on the Beta with Chason and Cory. They ripped him apart. I snorted, “You can tell your Gamma to give up before he starts trying to sneak up on me, Ezra. He might live that way. Seriously, do you just have to break every rule? Is that your thing?” I punched him in the face. I heard a gun being loaded. Ezra snorted, “You’ll go down either way.” He tried to grab me. I yelled, “EVERYONE DOWN!” I ducked under Ezra’s legs and dove behind a large boulder. 

            Several shots hit the rock. I yelled, “ SERIOUSLY?! ARE YOU AN i***t?! IT’S A BOULDER! BULLET DON’T PIERCE BOULDERS!” Lux’s wolf snorted, but he was still fighting. I took out my gun and shot back into the tree line at those firing. I killed a few of the shooters before I saw the red dot...it was aimed at Alpha Theo this time. I closed my eyes, “For the love of god.” I took off towards him. I tackled his wolf and the shot hit the rogue he’d been fighting instead of him. I rolled onto my feet. Valentina threw me my rifle. I quickly aimed it and took out two more shooters. A warlock came out of the tree line moving towards us. Valentina went to the ground screaming in pain. Julian was snarling. I realized no one was popping. How was the warlock stopping that? I threw the rifle at him. His reflexes had him catching it. I was running full speed at him. I grabbed the gun and used it to flip over him and pulled the gun with me snapping his neck with my momentum and the gun. Valentina stopped screaming. I asked her, “Are you ok?” She nodded. I told her, “Find the coven members here. Somehow they are stopping the fairies from popping inside the circle. They are fighting their way in from the outside, but they should be able to pop. Paige is here. Shimmer to her and go find the coven.” Valentina nodded and shimmered away. Julian growled in anger. 

            Freya took over and ducked. A rock flew at my head. I snorted, “Really Ezra? A rock? What’s next, dirt or sand in my eyes?” He growled at me, “You disrespectful b***h!” I smiled as I heard several growls and a roar of anger. No need to figure out the roar….it was Xander. I heard people screaming in pain. So Xander could use his powers, just not pop. I told Ezra, “I suppose being a b***h is better than being a jerk who doesn’t know how to do anything but make people fear him. You don’t hold a single person’s respect. You are terrible at your job. I’ll go out on a limb and say your wolf hates your guts.” Freya linked, “His wolf does hate him.” I continued, “Your people aren’t really yours. You use fear to rule and they hate you.” Ezra snorted, “I don’t need their respect or love. I rule my way.” I smiled, “Not much longer you don’t.” I ran at him again. He was a good fighter, but nowhere near as good as me or Xander. I headbutted him in the face. He ripped the top of my shirt on the back of my collar. I froze for a second. With my vest on only the whip marks would show. I barely dodged his punch. I heard several growls of anger. I snarled, “Bastard!” Freya linked, “It’s just the top of our back. They can only see a few of the marks. None of the words” I knew that. I flew at Ezra furiously. They’d know there was more. I flipped him over my knee and slammed his back onto it, breaking it.

            I grabbed him by the neck into a headlock and yelled to his pack, “Rivers End Pack! ENOUGH!” Everyone paused. I kept talking, “STOP fighting for this pathetic piece of garbage who calls himself an Alpha! He does NOTHING for you! He is ONLY fighting because I challenged him. He even ignored the rules of the challenge to try and kidnap me while he planned to leave you here to die. He had an escape plan that my pack cut off. Some of you know me. You know me as Ashley Griffen the voice of the forgotten packs. My REAL name is Melanie McAlister, daughter of former Beta Drake and Sam McAlister from Red Run. Ezra is NOT a man to follow. He has raised you like lambs to the slaughter. You are nowhere near prepared to take on Alpha Theo or any of his allied packs. You are BARELY trained in combat because this i***t doesn’t want you to have the ability to overthrow him. The time to stand IS NOW! You have been complacent far too long. That time is over. Stand up for your daughters, your sisters, your mothers, your nieces, your cousins, your friends who this man treats like an object to be auctioned off. Do this for your mates who you were forced to mark because this man said so. The mates who stood before you crying begging you to do something to help them. While you had no choice but to mark them or watch your family and hers die. Do this for your mates who you had to WATCH as your Alpha r***d THEM on the first day of their heats after you’d marked them while he sedated you. You were powerless to stop him from hurting your mates for the second time.”

            Several of his pack members were looking around at each other. I threw Ezra to the side and kept talking, “Stop following an Alpha who doesn’t know the meaning of the word. A true Alpha protects his people. A true Alpha knows that a pack is family, and it’s his JOB to protect them from everything. He is not to sell them to another wolf, or send them to hunters to die. He’s not to forcing his people to mark someone as their mate. That’s a personal choice, and it should be up to the couple in question. Speaking out against what is wrong is NOT subject to demotion and beatings. Having punishing fields is not normal. You HAVE a pack member who is the leader I’m describing. He’s been protecting you all along. He’s been training behind his father’s back with me.” I nodded to Crush and he smirked in response. I knew he’d tell Virgil to come now. I told them, “So stand down because you are NOT a lamb….you are a wolf and the time has come to reclaim that! Stand with your true Alpha. Alpha Tao.” Virgil and Tao shimmered beside me. I nodded to both of them. Xander popped to Tao and then reached for me and pulled me into him. Julian popped to Valentina the second her and Paige shimmered in and he declared her his. Xander stuck his face into the crook of my neck and inhaled deeply. I told Tao, “It’s your pack now, Alpha Tao.” He nodded. I tapped my cheek. Virgil laughed, “I’m off again. The demon shimmering express is at your service.” 

            Xander linked me, “Where did you send him?” I answered, “To get Tao’s mate. They’ve been apart long enough.” Xander gripped me tightly and linked, “I thought I explained before that we fight together.” I answered, “I couldn’t be in Red Run. It made me sick. I needed to get to Alpha Theo.” I could tell he didn’t like my answer, but there was solid logic to what I said. Tao addressed his pack, “You all know me. You know I wasn’t here because my sperm donor ordered thirty of his men to silver me and throw me in the dungeons so I could not help you. You know my mother has Alpha blood, and that’s why my sperm donor keeps her locked away in the dungeons along with her mate, my dad. We have no quarrel with these people. We never did. The Ducant Alpha deserved everything he got. Hell, if it were me….I’d have tortured the fucker for years. We have suffered as a pack long enough. We have been put down long enough. I know many of you are bitter over those you have lost, but I’m here to tell you…...Since I turned sixteen and I met Melanie…..those you thought you had lost are not truly lost to you. We merely placed them in other packs to keep them safe. I promise you, I will work with those packs to bring our people home; however, if they found their mate or wish to stay where they are….then I will get you in touch with them. I won't force anyone. That card has been played enough in our pack history. As your Alpha, I’m telling you to stand down. My sperm donor’s reign of terror is over. I have already overthrown him in our territory. Those he left behind to protect the pack either submitted to me, or they were killed. Let me show you how to be a real pack. Let me show you the way a true Alpha should be. Before I met Melanie, my mother would tell me stories about how to be a true Alpha. I always intended to fight for you all. You have always been my pack in my heart. Let me bring us into the light, and out of the dark.” 

            Several older members came forward. One went to his knee and the rest followed. The one spoke, “I submit to my true Alpha. Alpha Tao of Rivers End.” All the pack who had been fighting came forward except three. Tao walked over to them, “You can challenge me now. I think all of us knew….I wouldn’t accept you even if you’d lied and said you submitted to me.” They charged Tao. I rolled my eyes. He easily killed them and walked back over to our group. He smiled at me, “I guess that went about as well as it could.” I laughed, “It’s still not complete….there is one thing missing.” He frowned, “What?” Virgil shimmered in with Talia. Tao growled, “MINE!” Talia cried, “TAO!” She ran at him and he grabbed her, crushing her to him. I said, “It didn’t really feel like a complete moment without your Luna.” Talia’s family ran over. They cried, “You didn’t lie, Alpha Tao. You really saved her. My little girl.” Xander asked out loud, “Why would just one member from your family be given to hunters?” Talia’s dad turned around, “Because she was Tao’s fated mate. The Alpha didn’t think she was good enough for his son.” Tao growled, “She will be my Luna. I did not spend almost two years staying away from her and refusing to marry my sperm donor’s picture options to be apart from her for a second longer.” Cassie popped in and walked up to us with EJ. She said, “I can go with you to make sure you don’t have any outliers, Alpha Tao. My mate was keeping me up to date on what was happening here.” 

            Haley and Eric popped to us. Eric said, “Your mom and I will go, princess.” I linked Xander, “Why couldn’t Cassie go?” Xander answered, “She’s pregnant.” I smiled and linked, “Really?” He nodded tensely. I smiled at Cayden and mouthed, “Congratulations.” He nodded back to me. EJ spoke, “We will send warriors to assist you in taking over. We will also need to have meetings with you; however, one of our future Luna’s vouches for you.” Valentina spoke softly, “I’ll speak for Tao as well. He’s a good guy.” Paige, Avery, and Addison spoke up for him one after the other. Cassie asked Tao, “Do you truly want to be a good Alpha to your pack?” Tao answered, “Yes. I’d been training even though my sperm donor wouldn’t let me. I watched Alpha Alexander’s videos in secret and trained when I could. I planned to challenge him once I had enough people loyal to me. Mel, Talia, and I had a plan for next year, but I’m not upset about this change in plan at all.” I smiled, “I’m so happy for both of you.” Talia hugged me, “We couldn't have done this without you.” Tao added, “No, we couldn't. I’d have lost my s**t and challenged Ezra then and there when he said Talia would be in the east fields the next day. We all knew what that meant. I might have lost the challenge, and Talia would be gone.” Xander added, “That’s what you think he wanted, isn’t it? You think he thought you might be planning to overthrow him.” I said, “That’s exactly what he thought. He had no idea Tao and I knew each other. He told Booker his plans….and I overheard them.” My friends all gave me a look. 

            I shrugged at them. I wasn’t about to say I’d overheard the conversation while I was in the hole. That was not necessarily information to give right now. I tried to walk over to Addison but Xander refused to let me go. I told Addison, “Congratulations….sister in law.” Addison laughed, “Thank you. I always knew we were meant to be sisters.” I told her, “You guys should get back to your celebration. No one gets to take this day from you.” Lux spoke, “I agree. We can handle this. Red Run, we appreciate you coming to our assistance, and we won’t forget it. Go celebrate your lead warrior’s marriage.” I smiled at Lux. Xander growled a little. Crush kissed Virgil. When they pulled apart Virgil said, “Let’s help them get back to the party…..that we are joining! We always planned to make the party Ads.” Addison laughed, “Of course you did. Virgil never misses a party.” Virgil laughed, “Damn straight I don’t.” My family was staring at me. I told them, “Go. It’s a happy day. I’d come if I could. We can talk later. This is about Jason and Addison. They deserve the happy moment.” They begrudgingly nodded. My dad came over and hugged me. I linked him, “We can talk about it later, dad. Enjoy the party.” There were tears in his eyes. Guilt was all over his face. I linked him, “It’s not your fault.” He didn’t believe me, but he left with the Red Run group. Alpha Peter stayed behind. I was sure my dad asked him to.

            Alpha Theo spoke, “Thank you Melanie….without your warning Mae and Anne would be gone. So would Lux.” Lux smiled, “A few seconds before a shot is fired at my head is always a good heads up…..I wouldn’t complain if it were minutes though.” I rolled my eyes, “You’re welcome Lux.” He smiled, “I knew you liked me.” I snorted, “I told you both you and your dad I liked you guys.” Xander snarled and turned me around. He slammed his lips onto mine. Lux laughed. I pulled back, “As friends….I guess I should add as friends. You’re the only one for me, Xander.” His eyes were blazing. Julian spoke in a strained voice, “EJ…” EJ laughed, “I’m surprised you’re still here, little brother. Go home with your mate. We’ve got this.” Julian and Valentina were gone in the next second. Sierra squealed, “She’s with us now too! This is so great!” I laughed, “Something tells me all the moving she did into her apartment today was for nothing. At least she’s related to her landlord now…..She’s going to need out of her lease.” Xander snorted, “That would be you, big brother.” EJ smirked, “I’m sure she’s already out of it and the paperwork just needs her signature.” Xander snapped the bodies away. Alpha Theo sighed, “We have a few injuries. It would be much worse….it’s all thanks to all of you, mainly Melanie and the help she brought.” Xander asked, “Does anyone need to be healed?” Ezra groaned, “Me.” Xander snarled and punched him in the head. Knocking him back out.

            Alpha Theo tried not to laugh, “I assume you’d like to hold him in your pack?” EJ said, “We would.” Alpha Theo smiled, “As long as I get to speak with him….I have no problem with that. I owe your Luna the life of my mate, and children….not to mention my own. It’s a small thing to do.” I added, “Their Gamma is injured over there…..If I’m not mistaken Lux took him down.” Lux smirked, “I did.” Alpha Theo nodded, “We can hold him along with the other survivors who fought us. The wolves you had guarding Melanie killed the Beta already.” I snorted, “He broke the rules of the challenge. I’m not surprised they killed him.” Xander gripped me tighter. They talked over more details. Alpha Theo’s pack began to come outside. Lux wiggled his eyebrows and whispered, “Boys….we are getting we almost died s*x tonight. Who is excited?” I snorted, “You did not almost die. It was completely under control. I don’t let my friends get attacked like that. Or die. That’s not a thing.” Lux smiled, “Shh…..it was still a fight….and I did almost die. Don’t ruin this for me.” I rolled my eyes, “Nothing could ruin it for you.” His brother snorted, “She’s right.” 

            We left a few warriors with them and we popped back home. Xander blew off the group that wanted to talk to us....or me. Mostly me. He popped us to our room and nodded to the bathroom as he spoke, “You can shower first. I know some of that blood is yours, and I can’t focus knowing you got hurt.” I gulped, “It was to save Mae. It was just a bite to the arm.” Xander gritting his teeth. He kissed me and whispered, “Please Lovebug….just go take a shower.” I nodded and darted into the bathroom, closing the door. I turned around. You could only see one whip mark scar. So at least that was something. I quickly took everything off and scrubbed myself in the shower. I grabbed Xander’s hoodie and threw it on. I walked out and he kissed my forehead. He said, “I’ll take a quick shower too.” He was still trying to calm himself down. I laid down on the bed. My eyes were fluttering closed. I guess fighting a massive battle was tiring….along with magic making me ill from going home. Xander walked out and stopped short. He climbed into bed and pulled me into him, “Sleep, Mel.” I yawned, “No, you want to talk.” Xander kissed the side of my head, “I do, but you need sleep. It’s been….an eventful day. We will just take a little nap.” I nodded, “Ok. I love you, Xander.” He choked up and replied, “God, Mel. I love you so damn much.”