Rise of the True Alpha: The Blood Moon Conduit

Chapter 2

We didn’t stop running until the city lights thinned and the smell of the harbor took over the rain. My side throbbed where a shard of glass from the shop had cut my skin, but it was the gut-level panic that really made my ribs ache. Every shadow looked like a Hunter; every distant siren sounded like they were closing in.

Tris pulled me around the corner of a closed waterfront café. We were both soaked through, our breath coming out in white plumes. She leaned back against the brick, her eyes scanning the street with a predatory stillness that made my skin crawl.

“We've almost lost them,” she said, her voice steady.

I yanked my arm free, my heart still trying to batter its way out of my ribs. “Start talking. Who was that guy? And who are you?”

She brushed wet strands of hair from her face. “My name is Tris Calder. I saw your badge in the shop. Lead Developer. You might want to hide that if you’re trying to stay hidden.” She looked at the silver briefcase I was still clutching. “I’ve been tracking that Hunter for three nights. I didn’t expect a lone wolf to be sitting in his line of fire.”

“I was having coffee.”

“With an artifact that makes you a walking target?” She rolled her eyes. “I watched you. You looked ready to bolt the second the door chimed.”

She wasn't wrong and I hated it. “Why are Hunters slumming in Seattle?”

“Because they are after whatever is in that case.” She glanced toward the sound of sirens threading through downtown, then back to me. “Walk with me, David. Unless you want SPD asking about what happened in that coffee shop.”

She knew my name. Of course, he did; she’d been watching me.

We moved along the boardwalk, shoulders almost brushing, but I kept two careful feet of space between us.

“The man was saying some nonsense about a Blood moon coming. What's that supposed to mean?”

She flinched. “Its not nonsense. It's called the selection. An event that will change things for all of us.”

Tris walked two more steps, then stopped. Her eyes locked on mine. “You’re not even worried you almost died.”

“Of course I am terrified about that,” I stammered. “Besides, what was that stuff he was trying to inject me with?”

“Silver nitrate base, mixed with aconite. One jab and even an alpha drops long enough to be cuffed in chains.” She said it flatly, like she’d seen it happen. “They’ve been testing batches on rogues. You’ve seen the news. Most of those bodies weren’t human when they died.”

My mouth went dry. “What does that have to do with me?”

“The hunter recognized you which means they'll have your face in their system before dawn.” Rain dripped from her lashes. “You triggered your wolf abilities without losing it. That kind of control is rare in a lone wolf.”

I laughed, sharp and bitter. “Control? I chain myself in a storage unit three nights a month and pray the padlock holds.”

She studied me for a long second. “It doesn't matter. The Blood Moon is in nine days. They’ll come for you before then.”

We reached the chain-link fence dividing the docks from Alaskan Way. Headlights streamed beyond it. Tris hooked her fingers through the links.

“I have a place,” she said. “It’s safe. You can crash there until we figure out our next move.”

I barked a humorless laugh. “Sorry, I'll pass. I don't trust strange ladies who stalk me in coffee shops.”

“Then keep running alone.” She pushed off the fence and started south like it didn’t matter which way I went.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. Mia again.

David, where are you?? Cops are everywhere asking about some fight at The Grind!! You know how important this is to me. Please reply.

I stared at the screen until it dimmed. My apartment was compromised. My job would be gone by morning once my manager sees the security footage. There's nothing left for me in Seattle.

I caught up to Tris in four strides. “If I go with you and this turns out to be a mistake, I’ll rat you out.”

She glanced sideways, rainwater tracing her jaw. “Noted. But I’m not the one you should worry about.”

Her truck was an old black Tacoma with Idaho plates. She drove south through empty industrial streets, until we reached a brick warehouse with blackout windows and a roll-up door tagged in faded graffiti. Inside, the space was huge, lit by dim Edison bulbs. There were gym mats, and a boxing ring at the center, Homey.

A man stepped out of the shadows, mid-thirties, dark hair, with a half-moon tattoo on his neck.

“Tris,” he said, voice gentle but firm, “tell me you didn’t bring home a stray.”

“Axel, meet David. David, Axel. He's like a father to me.”

Axel's gaze raked over me. “He looks like trouble.”

“He’s in trouble,” Tris corrected. “A hunter was in The Grind tonight. They want what he’s carrying.”

Axel's whole posture changed. “What is he carrying?”

“The prime artifact,” Tris explained. “He has it in that case. We’ve got maybe forty-eight hours before they trace him here.”

Axel's gaze dropped to the briefcase. “Upstairs. We talk about this in private.”

I followed Tris up the narrow metal stairs to the loft above, a cozy platform perched over the warehouse floor. The space was brighter than I expected: worn leather couches, plants swaying gently from macrame hangers, a record player spinning something moody. Tris shrugged out of her wet jacket and hung it on a hook.

Axel poured three fingers of bourbon into David jars. I took mine with shaking hands, hoping they didn’t notice.

“Start from the beginning,” Axel said.

So I did. Foster system, the attack at nineteen, nine years of hiding, tonight’s disaster. My voice cracked only once, when I admitted how I got the briefcase, and how I was almost out of suppressants.

Silence settled heavily in the loft.

Finally, Axel spoke. “None of us is safe here as long as he has the artifact. We have to send him away.”

“No. There's another way,” Tris said. “A blood bond with a pack. It stabilizes the shift and makes him one of us.”

“Blood bond, Tris?”

“I know,” she continued. “It's hard considering we're lone wolves, but we can't just send him out there. You know what will happen if the hunters get the artifact.”

Axel hissed, leaning back with both arms crossed. “Bellamy won't agree to it. He's the one who gets to live with the consequences.”

My heart slammed against my ribs, their words blurring at the edge of my mind. I’d read about the blood bond. A pledge of commitment to a pack. It's strict and is always initiated by an alpha.

I looked at her, speechless, then up where the loft railing framed the shadows above the warehouse floor.

A faint scrape of metal echoed from the stairs, followed by heavy footsteps climbing toward the loft.

The last step landed on the platform, and standing there was a young-man carrying two grocery bags. He was built like a fighter, dark blonde hair matted from rain, grey eyes narrowed. He was about my age, but carried himself like someone who'd been involved in too many flights. Water dripped from his jacket, pooling faintly on the worn boards beneath him.

Tris lifted her jar in a mock toast. “Speaking of the devil himself.”

I watched the young man frozen in the doorway. Every instinct screamed danger. He didn’t speak. He just stood there, staring at me with a clenched jaw.

“Hold on. He's the alpha?”

“Yes,” Tris answered. Her blue eyes held mine steady. “Bonding with him links you to our strength. This is the only way to keep you alive. After the hunters are handled, the bond can be broken, if that's what you want.”

I met the cold grey eyes again. Nothing about the way he was looking at me felt safe.

“That's enough for tonight,” Axel stood. “Guest room’s on the warehouse floor. Shower’s hot. Sleep, or don’t, but tomorrow you train with me. If you’re staying, you learn to fight like one of us.”

He left us alone with the rain drumming on the skylight and the low crackle of the record.

I clutched the David jar until my knuckles went white, eyes still on the young man.

He stared a second longer, jaw clenched, then he stormed past us to offload the bags into a cabinet in the corner.

“He doesn't look friendly.”

“Don’t take it personally,” Tris said lightly. “My brother's a hot head. You don't want to get on his bad side, trust me.”

“Your brother,” I repeated, meeting her gaze.

“Yeah,” She took a sip from her jar, eyes flicking toward him. “Bellamy hates newcomers. Let’s just say he’s got reasons to keep people at arm’s length.”

Tris finished the rest of the coffee, dropped the cup on the table, and fastened her eyes on me. “Axel's the one who runs things around here…”

“That’s usually the alpha’s job.”

Tris exhaled. “Long story. I'll explain later… But first, stay put while I get your room ready.”

“Hey, Tris. Don't leave me alone with…” She was gone before I could even finish.

I exhaled and turned, and there he was standing five feet away, arms crossed, and staring at me.

I clenched my jaw. “Hey, look.. I don't want any trouble…”

“I don't give a s**t about what you want,” he snapped, voice tight. “I don't want you here.”

“Your sister thinks differently.”

His grey eyes darkened, and he stepped closer. “You think my sister and Axel run things around here? You're wrong."

He leaned in just enough to make his point, breath steady but angry. “Tris might trust you, but I don't. You're a risk to her—to all of us. You have until tomorrow. Leave or I will make your life so miserable you will wish you died by the hands of whatever you were running from.”