The Alpha's Claim: Alpha Stephan

CHAPTER FIVE

CHAPTER 5

"Hi," he said. "I'm Claude. Stephan's brother. Is Beth here?"

Maya looked like she was going to faint. "There's two of them?" she whispered.

Claude laughed. "We're twins. Can I talk to Beth? It's important."

I came to the door. "What do you want?"

"My brother sent me. He thought you might be more comfortable talking to me. I'm the beta of the pack. Second in command."

"I don't want to talk about this anymore today."

"I get it. But there's something you need to know. Tyler went to the hospital this morning. He's saying he was attacked by a wolf. The police are investigating."

My stomach dropped. "Did Stephan—"

"No. Stephan didn't touch him after you left. But someone else did. Someone from another pack. They're trying to start trouble."

"What kind of trouble?"

"The kind that could get people killed. Humans and wolves. We need to figure out who attacked Tyler and why. And we need to keep you safe while we do it."

"Keep me safe? Why?"

Claude looked uncomfortable. "Because you're Stephan's mate. That makes you valuable. And a target."

Great. Just great. My life was a nightmare.

"There's a pack meeting tonight," Claude said. "Stephan wants you there. So everyone can meet you. So they know you're under our protection."

"I don't belong to the pack," I said.

"You will be if you accept the mate bond. But even if you don't, Stephan won't let anything happen to you."

I looked at Claude. He seemed nicer than Stephan. Warmer. But his eyes were serious.

"What if I say no?"

"Then I'll have to assign guards to watch you. Which will be a lot harder to hide from your human friends."

He had me trapped. I had no choice.

"Fine. Where and when?"

"The clearing in the woods. Nine o'clock tonight. I'll come get you."

After he left, Maya grabbed my arm. "What the hell was that about? Why does Stephan Nightshade's hot twin brother want to take you to a meeting?"

I couldn't tell her the truth. She'd think I was as crazy as Tyler.

"It's about Tyler," I said. "Since I was there last night when he freaked out. They just want to ask me some questions."

"Weird. But okay." Maya didn't look convinced but she didn't push it.

The rest of the day dragged by. I couldn't focus on anything. I kept thinking about what Claude said. That I was a target now. That other wolves wanted to hurt me.

At eight-thirty, I got dressed. I didn't know what to wear to a werewolf meeting. I went with jeans and a hoodie again. And boots in case I needed to run.

Claude showed up right at nine. "Ready?"

"Not really."

He smiled. "You'll be fine. I promise."

We walked into the woods. It was dark but Claude didn't seem to need a flashlight. He walked like he could see everything perfectly.

"Can all werewolves see in the dark?" I asked.

"Yeah. Perks of being a wolf. We're stronger and faster too. And we heal really quick."

"What about the full moon thing? Do you have to change?"

"That's a myth. We can change whenever we want. Though the full moon does make us more powerful."

We walked for about twenty minutes. Then I saw lights ahead. Lots of them. Torches.

We came into a big clearing. There had to be at least a hundred people there. All standing in a circle around a huge bonfire.

They all turned and looked at me when I walked in.

My heart started beating fast. So many of them. So many wolves.

"It's okay," Claude whispered. "They won't hurt you."

Then Stephan walked forward. He was wearing all black again. He looked powerful. Dangerous. Like a leader.

"This is Beth," he said to everyone. His voice was loud and strong. "She's my mate. She's under my protection. Anyone who touches her answers to me."

The crowd murmured. Some looked surprised. Others looked angry.

A woman stepped forward. She was older, maybe late forties. She had dark hair with silver streaks. She looked like Stephan and Claude.

"You claimed a human?" she said. "An outsider?"

"She's not fully human, mother," Stephan said. "She has wolf blood. She's latent."

His mother. This was his mom.

"That doesn't matter," another man said. He was big and mean-looking. "She wasn't raised pack. She doesn't know our ways. This is wrong."

"Victor's right," someone else said. "We can't trust her."

More people started talking. Arguing. Some defending me. Some against me.

Then Stephan growled. It was loud and scary. Everyone went quiet immediately.

"I am your Alpha," he said. "My word is law. Beth is my mate. She will be treated with respect. Is that understood?"

Everyone bowed their heads. "Yes, Alpha," they said together.

But I could see some of them still looking at me with anger. With hate.

I wasn't safe here. Even with Stephan protecting me.

Then I smelled something. Something burning. But not from the fire. Something else.

"Do you smell that?" I asked Claude.

He sniffed the air. His face went pale. "Oh no."

"What?"

"Silver. Someone brought silver."

Everyone started panicking. People were yelling and running.

"Silver's poisonous to wolves," Claude said. "It can kill us."

Then I saw smoke. A lot of smoke. Coming from all around the clearing. We were surrounded.

"It's an attack!" someone yelled.

Wolves started changing. Clothes ripping. Bodies shifting. In seconds the clearing was full of huge wolves of different colors.

Stephan ran over to me. "Stay close to me!"

But then something flew through the air. An arrow. It hit the ground right next to me. The tip was silver.

More arrows came. Wolves were howling. Some got hit and fell down screaming.

"We need to get her out of here!" Claude yelled.

Stephan was changing. His body breaking and reforming. In seconds he was a huge black wolf again.

He pushed me with his head. Trying to get me to move. To run.

But I was frozen. I couldn't move. I was too scared.

Then I heard a voice. A man's voice from the trees.

"Give us the girl and we'll let you live!"

"That's Victor!" Claude said. "From Shadow Creek Pack!"

"The girl is special," Victor yelled. "We know what she is. The prophecy spoke of her. Give her to us or watch your pack die!"

What prophecy? What was he talking about?

Stephan growled. He positioned himself in front of me. Protecting me.

Other wolves formed a circle around us. Ready to fight.

This was my fault. All of this. If I hadn't met Stephan none of this would be happening.

"I'm sorry," I whispered to him.

The black wolf looked back at me. His gold eyes were sad.

Then the arrows stopped. Everything went quiet.

"This is your last chance!" Victor yelled. "Give us the girl!"

Stephan howled. It was a battle cry.

Then everything exploded into chaos.

Wolves poured out of the trees. Gray and brown wolves. They crashed into Stephan's pack. Teeth and claws everywhere. Blood. Screaming. Howling.

I fell down trying to get away. Someone grabbed me from behind.

"Got you," a man said. He was human. Working with the wolves.

I screamed and tried to fight but he was too strong. He started dragging me toward the trees.

"Stephan!" I yelled.

The black wolf heard me. He turned and saw me being taken. His eyes went bright gold. Glowing like fire.

He ran toward me faster than anything I'd ever seen. He jumped over fighting wolves. He was coming for me.

But then another wolf tackled him. A huge gray wolf. They rolled on the ground biting and clawing.

"Stephan!" I screamed again.

The man dragged me into the trees. Away from the fire. Away from the fighting.

Away from Stephan.

"Let me go!" I kicked and punched but it didn't help.

"Stop fighting," the man said. "You're coming with us. Victor wants to meet you. You're special, girl. The one from the prophecy. You're going to change everything."

Then something happened. Something inside me broke open. Like a door I didn't know was there suddenly opened.

Heat flooded my body. My bones hurt. My skin felt like it was on fire.

"What the—" the man said. He dropped me.

I fell to the ground. My body was changing. Just like Stephan's did. I was shifting.

But I didn't know how to control it. It hurt so bad. I screamed but it came out as a howl.

My hands turned into paws. White paws. My face got longer. Teeth grew in my mouth. Huge sharp teeth.

In seconds I wasn't human anymore.

I was a wolf. A pure white wolf.

The man stared at me with his mouth open. "Impossible," he whispered. "Latent wolves can't shift without training. It takes years. Unless..."

Then I heard Stephan's voice in my head. "Beth! Where are you?"

"Stephan?" I thought back.

"You can hear me! That means you shifted! Beth, listen to me. Run. Run as fast as you can toward the school. Don't stop for anything. I'll find you."

The man reached for me. Without thinking I snapped at him. My teeth caught his arm. He screamed.

Blood filled my mouth. I let go and ran.

I was so fast. Faster than I'd ever moved in my life. The trees were a blur. I could smell everything. Hear everything. See everything even in the dark.

I ran and ran. I could hear fighting behind me. Wolves chasing me. But I was faster.

I didn't stop until I saw the lights of the school. Then I didn't know what to do. I couldn't go back to my dorm like this.

I hid in the trees and tried to change back. But I didn't know how. I was stuck.

"Please," I thought. "Please change back. Please please please."

Then I felt it. The heat again. My body shifting back. It hurt just as bad as before.

In a minute I was human again. Naked. My clothes had ripped when I changed.

I grabbed some bushes to cover myself. Now what? I couldn't walk across campus naked.

Then I heard footsteps. Someone was coming.

I held my breath and hid.

"Beth?" It was Claude. He was carrying a blanket. "I know you're here. I can smell you. It's okay. I brought clothes."

I came out slowly. He turned around while I wrapped the blanket around myself.

"You shifted," he said. He sounded amazed. "Do you know how rare that is? Latent wolves need months of training to shift. You did it in seconds."

"It hurt," I said.

"It gets easier. Is Stephan okay?"

"I don't know. Where is he?"

"Still fighting. Victor's pack retreated but they took some of our wolves with them. This is bad, Beth. Really bad."

"What prophecy were they talking about?"

Claude turned to look at me. His face was serious. "There's an old prophecy about a white wolf. A latent who can shift without training. They say she'll either save all the packs or destroy them. I think they believe you're that wolf."

"But I'm not special. I'm just me."

"Your wolf is pure white, Beth. That means you're an Ancient. A bloodline we thought was extinct. Ancients have powers other wolves don't. They can heal. They can make other wolves stronger. That's why Victor wants you."

This couldn't be happening. This had to be a dream. A nightmare.

"I want to go home," I said. "Back to my real life. Before all this."

"I'm sorry," Claude said. "But that life is gone now. Everything changed the moment you met my brother. There's no going back."

I swallowed and looked away, my hands trembling.

As much as I hated it, he was right. My old life was over.

And I had no idea what my new life would be.