Battle Of Alphas

CHAPTER FOUR

C R I M S O N V I L L E

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[ 7: 00 A M ]

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F R A N K’S P O V

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I sit at an open restaurant-surrounded by glass walls — with my fingers patting the table impatiently.

A beautiful morning it is. A waitress saw me a few moments ago and asked if I needed something to eat or drink because that is what most people go to a restaurant for, but that is not the case with me so I just asked her not to bother. . .

I'm here for a meeting, something more important than food at the moment. I'm here to discuss the future of Crimson Ville with an associate. I picked a table at the extreme end so I can have some privacy.

I look to the door and I see a middle-aged man with black hair and beards striding forward with such a ferocious look. An expensive leather jacket and a pair of huge black boots. He is definitely 6'4.

He walks up to my table and I just know he is the one I have been waiting for. He hits the table with the black bag he had carried all the way here and I nod.

I unzip the bag and pull it partly open to reveal what is inside, and my eyes meet the tools. Several Cases of silver bullets for the wolves, several packs of diamond bullets for the cats, and the firearms needed to get them buried in the Werewolves and the cats.

I zip it back up and look around to see if someone else's eye got in. I nod to confirm I've accessed the tools, and he takes a sit. I push the book to my right as we plan to have a proper introduction.

“Smith Shelter, tracker, Rank: Eagle, Greenevan,” he says and I hold out my hand to give him a handshake. While we hold hands, I introduce myself to him in turn.

“Frank Michael, Exterminator, Rank: Senior Exterminator, Crimson Ville,” I say to him and he nods. Our hands pull apart.

We have been working, studying the Werewolves, the Tigers, and the Panthers. We have studied them for so long from a distance, and now that we know how to hunt them down, we can finally begin what we've been trained for. We are Hunters, a group of Walkers that have the knowledge about the supernatural aspect of the earth. To the cats and the dogs, no walker knows about their species, but that's just unfortunate.

I place my hand on the table and I look around one more time to see if anyone's listening to us or seems interested in our conversation before I speak. Everyone seems to be busy minding their businesses.

“What have you got on them so far?” I say to him.

“Just like I texted you, I spotted a werewolf, a girl, middle-aged if I can guess correctly. She made her way so fast on rooftops and I saw her walk into the backyard of that café that was destroyed,” he says and my brows draw together.

“You mean Coffee-Me. Did she enter into it before it was destroyed or after?” I ask and he grinds his teeth. He seems like a man of few words and he definitely hates to explain things.

“She got in and after a while, a tiger was thrown out of the shop through the glass door and it shattered. I didn't get to see who the tiger was. They left with a car, but the girl came out 30mins later with a boy whom I assume should be in his mid twenties. And those are the two I spotted. My men are on them now,” he says.

“That was how the building got destroyed, they was a fight in there,” I say to him and he nods.

“How could this be? According to the reporter on the news, only Nathaniel Law was present there when Gareth left. Could this be that the CEO of LAW ENTERPRISES is a tiger?” I say to him underneath my breath, looking around to be sure no one hears me.

“I have no idea who Nathaniel Law is. I'm from Greenevan, not from Crimson Ville. Give me a few details and I'll have my men on him ASAP,” Smith says to me and I nod.

“Let us, first of all, discuss what we came for,” I say.

“Why don't we just do it now? We already have everything we need. What if we lose them?” I say, and he chuckles.

“I've worked as a tracker all my life. To me, it is not just to get paid, it is a legacy I have to uphold. No wolf, no panther, no Tiger can escape an Eagle's sight, so far he has laid his eyes on them. We only attack if we have them exactly where I want them to be,” he says, leaving me no option for objection. I wonder why Greenevan sent me this pompous man.

“When do you plan we attack? When do you think they'll arrive at the exact place you want them to be?” I say to him and he clasps his hands in anticipation of that moment.

“Tonight! They'll be there tonight. I've seen things Frank, I've seen things. It seems Tigers are laying an ambush for the wolves, and so I intend we cease this opportunity and use a stone to kill two beds,” He says and I narrow my gaze, considering what he has said.

“Impressive, Mr Shelter,” I say to him and he nods.

DANIEL’S POV

I open my eyes to see the morning sun spilling over the entire forest. The burn on my left arm where Nathaniel bit me is excruciating. This is how it has always been. Every single morning, the pain reaches its peak and then relieves me gradually as the sun fades off the sky. This means it gets extremely painful during the day and less painful during the night, even though I can't exactly prove why it is that way.

“Daniel!” Dana calls, and I see that she is already up. She rushes down to me, seeing that I'm clasping my hand around the place I was bitten. She kneels by me and tear up my sweater's sleeve to reveal the bite. I wince as her fingertips graze it.

“It's getting worse,” she says.

I look at it myself and my heart beat quickens. I can see that the veins surrounding that region of my arm are visibly black.

“This is not good,” I spout in fear as I look away.

“Get up. We have to get going. We should be at the camp tomorrow morning. We should be at the border by nightfall. Can you run?” She asks.

“No, no, I'm too weak to run,” I say to her.

I can shift, but running with my wolf speed will definitely drain me out. I don't think I have enough strength for that. I better walk like a walker and save my strength.

She pulls me up, puts my hand over her shoulder and helps me walk.

KATERINA’S POV

The Creed has always been the thing, something that always comes between Nathaniel and I. I've never really been obsessed over the CREED. I've always found it difficult to do what Nathaniel and his Tigers do—taking lives at random, all in the name of averting a prophecy.

I got up so early, anticipating Nathaniel's message. I know he won't call. He's probably still kinda mad about everything.

I spend the entire day checking my phone for notifications and I make sure not to stay a second without my phone. I don't want to create any more problems by not seeing his message on time.

I remain on my bed for the better half of the day, and if I'm not staring into the phone, I'm thinking about what Nathaniel is probably thinking about at the time.

I look into my phone the moment I hear a beep. I haven't heard a beep in the last 4 hours, and it makes me feel positive about it.

I swipe up, and my breath catches as I see clearly that it was Nathaniel who messaged me. I opened it and I read a message aloud to my hearing.

“A boy and a girl moving towards Craven Forest. That is where I want you to go. There should be there in an hour.”

I look at the time on my phone and I see it is 9:00 PM. This means I have to send the Panthers down there before it's 10:00 PM. I wonder what he means by where he wants me to go. I thought this was supposed to be a job for my Panthers. I never knew he wanted me to get into it.

“Do I have to go? Can't I just send my cats after them?” I send as a reply, and after waiting for quite a while, I hear my phone beep again and I swipe up to open the message.

“Are you by any means questioning me? I really hope you aren't,” He sends as a reply and I freeze immediately after reading it.

He talks to me like I'm his employee, as though I'm his secretary or something. We've come this far because I chose to let my love for him conceal every scar he leaves on me with his words.

“Freda!” I call the moment I drop my phone and the blonde-haired girl who is slightly above my age storms my room.

“Call Peter, we are going on a wolf hunt,” I say to her and she grins, rubbing her hands together.