Alcateia - The Alpha's Nightmare

CHAPTER 1 - XANDER

New York was never a pleasant city to a wolf’s nose, but today is specially disgusting. The gases from the thousands of vehicles penetrate my nostrils and fill my lungs with their toxic aura. I cough in an attempt to get rid of the burning sensation, but it’s impossible.

Frowning, I notice deep notes of iron on the air. It’s like… blood. I look around me. Hundreds of humans cross the streets, to busy to stop or smile. With my eyes shining, their grey color like the edge of a steel sword, I try to find the owner of that bloody. That’s when I see a woman, sitting in a dark corner, curling up with a pained expression. It’s a homeless lady, probably in her thirties. I immediately understand the reason of her smell.

Quickly dodging the other pedestrians, searching for my wallet in the interior pocket of my dark blazer, I approach the woman. As I squat in front of her, a pair of scared brown eyes find mine. She probably has been through a lot. New York streets are no place for a lady. I smile and then look at my wallet. I have one hundred dollars and some cents. I give the woman all the money.

“Take care of you”, I said softly, my voice sounding like some cat’s purr.

Tears start running through the woman’s cheeks. “I cannot repay you, sir… I cannot accept this…”, she says, trying to give me back the money.

I hold her hands between mine, squeezing them gently. “I’m rich. My shoes are worth way more than the money I gave. If I have so much, why should I keep it all to me? Why shouldn’t I share a little bit with you?”

“But, sir…”, the woman looks shocked.

“Here”, I said, lending her a card. “If you want a job, go to that address and show the card.”

Sobbing, the woman accepts the card and the money, thanking me non-stopping.

“What’s your name?”, I ask while getting up.

“Anna Brown”, her voice sounds hopeful.

I smile and nod. “See you soon, Ms. Brown”, and turn my back to the woman.

As I walk, a smile starts to gain form in my face. This is the main reason why I left Montana for good. People say only cold-hearted people go after money. I do not agree. I mean, my father was a cold-hearted, selfish, son of a gun. He even left my mother for some beautiful model that could be his daughter and tried to exclude me from his inheritance; fortunately for me, he died before being able to change any document and I ended up as the owner and CEO of the OldBlack Group. I’m not like him. Soon as I put my hands on his money, I tried to help as much people as possible. I’m still trying, even if not everyone deserves others help. But that doesn’t matter to me.

I sight as I arrived to the huge, glass looking, building. Talking to the security guys was a tall man, with luscious blonde curls, piercing blue eyes and athletic figure, wearing a extremely expensive suit. Frowning, I contemplate Kai for a few more minutes.

This f*****g i***t…

“Oh, Xander! I was waiting for you! My sist-“

“No!”, I cut with a growl. My wolf showing all his anger.

“C’mon, Xander! You too are perfect for each –“, he keeps trying, following my steps through the inside of the building.

“I don’t want your sister as my half, Kai”, we stop in front of the elevator and I press the button. Noticing that Kai is still by my side, I give him a sour look.

Visibly amused, he smiles at me and I can notice how every she-wolf around us starts to blush and giggle. Kai Bennet is my best friend, my side-kick, my beta. I know him since we were fifteen, but I still getting admire of how much attention he gets from women. I must be honest; I get attention too. But him? Too much. A total panties-dropper.

“She’s hot as me. You know her for a long time. She’s your secretary. And-“

“And she’s not my half”, I say with an icy tone.

The elevator opens and we enter with other two women; she-wolves. The biggest part of my employees are members from the Endless Night pack. In that small space with me and Kai, the women smile and great us with a “Alpha, Beta”. Kai and I smile and nod, saying no word.

Even silent, we were still fighting through our eyes. Using the mirrors that covered the elevator, my silver eyes with a harsh look crossed Kai’s, that were playful, as usual. In moments like that one, the difference between us was shocking and my roots undeniable.

I am taller than my friend, six foot three tall. My eyes are silver, yes, but all my skin has a brownish tone and my hair, cut at shoulder length, straight and shiny, has a deep black color. If that wasn’t enough, my facial traits are pure Native American traits, revealing my Cheyenne blood. And my body, well, I’m the owner of a strong athletic, muscular, look.

I’m quite scary, to be honest. Even my suit it’s all black. While Kai exhales happiness and rainbows.

We walk out the elevator and enter my office. A huge glass window covered all the wall behind my desk, while black bookshelves covered the sides. I sat down on my leather chair, before Kai’s amused look. He stood in the middle of the office, over the glossy white floor, his arms crossed and his face glowing with a huge smile.

“You’re stubborn asshole”, he said.  I ignored him, opening my laptop and preparing myself to read a hundred of e-mails. “You could be so happy with Mia. Why keep going after that stupid dream?”

Not saying a word, I look up and stab him with my eyes. He raises his arms in a surrender gesture.

“Yes, Alpha. I’ll shut up. It’s your life”.

Fuck yeah, it was my life. s*x with Mia was amazing. She was an incredible woman, but, as myself, she was hunting for her true half. For her beloved wolf. As every human, we, werewolves, have soulmates. The difference is that we can identify them, while humans can’t. Our hearts beat harder, our blood starts to burn, an unhuman desire takes control of our bodies and a deep feeling of protection and loyalty awakens inside us. That’s the beauty of a soulmate. A deep, pure and animalistic love. Mia wanted that. And I want that too. Since I saw my mother’s heart being broken in a thousand pieces that I wanted to find my half. I’m not my father. I will love my half; I’ll be loyal to her until the day I die… and I’ll make sure she does the same.  

Kai finally decides to take one of the sits in front of me. That playful look leaves his face and gives place to a sinister gaze that makes me shiver. I close the laptop immediately, feeling the tension of my Beta.

“What’s wrong?”

Kai sighs, looking away. “I received a call from the Alpha of the Media Noche pack”, my body freezes with his words. I can feel my face getting pale. “The Lune Blanche pack helped the Nozarus’ vampires capturing one hundred and seventy-one humans. Including kids. They’re all dead. They made some sort of ritual, some satanic s**t… In the end, every werewolf from the Lune Blanche pack ended up trapped in their wolf form and it seems like… they lost their humanity… Beasts, they were turned into monsters. They attacked a village on the Pyrenees, killed every soul, included dogs. They broke every rule of the Alcateia. Spain and France treated the case as a simple wolf attack and the police forces hunted the Lune Blanche pack. Xander…” he leans forward towards my desk. “Last month the Nozarus killed three packs in Portugal, two in Spain and the Alpha from the Red Rose pack, in England. Now this.”

I lean against the back of my chair, swallowing. Regret shakes my guts. I had been so busy between meetings and two deals worth of billions of dollars that I didn’t give enough attention to the European situation.

“It’s all the same, isn’t it, Kai?”, I ask with a very low voice. “They attracted all of them the same way. With some sort of a deal…”

Kai shakes his head.

“Yes. But what deal, my friend…?”

I look at his eyes. They’re scared as mine. I let a furious growl escape, hitting the desk with my closed fists.

“That’s what I would like to know”.

Someone nocks at the door. In few seconds, Mia was with us, her beautiful face extremely serious and her golden curls falling free.

“Alpha, we’ve a problem”, her voice was cold as ice and extremely formal. I hold my breath. “The vampires from the Brotherhood of the Eternal Blood started the work here. Eternal Moon and Silver Lining packs have been extinguished.”

Mia’s voice fell over us like an axe, cutting with cold each inch of our flesh.

“But that’s not all. The Black Hill’s pack has been attacked too. We don’t know where they’re… Or what exactly happen… but we found two bodies…”

I get up the chair, sweating covering my body.

“My mother!?”, I ask.

Mia looks down, sadness in her face and a single tear escaping from one of her blue eyes.

“I’m so sorry, Alpha… There’s no much left of her…”

Everything goes black. I hear some screams far away, but I can’t breathe and the strength has left my body. For a moment I remember the last time my mother called me, asking when I was going to be a good son and visit her. I felt tears painting my face, and that’s the last thing I remember.

*** 

The Black Hills pack had been extinguished. My mother was dead. I look at a big old oak. I decided to bury her under the tree. I had no tears on me left to cry. I’m just a ghost of a man.

I press the palms of my hands against the tree bark. Above me, the clouds cover the sun, but there was no sign of rain. And the wind howled louder than any wolf ever could. Alone with my memories and pain, I remember everything she told me. A sudden cold shakes my body, but it does not come from the weather. That’s how soul pain works. It freezes you from inside. Dries your soul and guts. I trembled and, in seconds, I discover that, after all, I still have some tears in me. I’m sobbing like a little kid.     

“I’m so sorry, mom… I’m so sorry…”

I fall down on my knees, sobbing and screaming. My mother, the only creature I ever truly loved, was dead. The reality was finally hitting me. I spent so much time using my father’s money, working on his business, turning it into mine. I went away to reclaim a pack and follow my destiny as an Alpha. I helped so many people. But, in the end, I forgot the most important thing in this world: my mother. My true love. I didn’t visit her. I waste all the time we had. And now… now it’s too late…

I feel a chain of wind surround my body. I look around. A layer of green grass spreads across the plain, under the shade of a half dozen scattered trees. There’s no one there but me. Suddenly, I feel it in the air. It’s her smell, her lovely smell. My mom’s perfume. But it’s impossible! I saw her body… or what was left of him. It smelled like death. But I could feel it in the air! YES! It was my mother’s perfume!

I get up, running around like a crazy man. Searching for her under every tree. Then I saw, far away, her wolf. A beautiful black wolf with gentle dark eyes. She’s speaking to my head and heart. “I’m proud”, she says. “Don’t cry. It’s okay. Mom is proud”.  

My body starts to tear apart my clothes. In seconds, I’m a huge black wolf with silver eyes. I start running after my mother, but, when I reach her… she disappears into particles of golden light. As a wolf, I whimper and howl. I know she wanted to bring me peace, but that would be a thing I would never have again.

I will live with this eternal regret in my heart.