Finding The Alpha

Chapter Three:

By time I had reached a place that I deemed safe to transform it was already dark and the moon hung gently in the sky, glinting a mystical silver that lit up the darkness. I felt the raw chill of the blistering wind, sending goosebumps over my arms. I was ready to muster up the murky evilness of the wolf. I hadn't transformed since I let the beast take full control and I was afraid to relive through the memories of what I'd done. Usually, people who let the wolf take full control either turned full rogue and never regained their human side back so they stayed a wolf forever. Or they’d regain their human self back but they would never be able to muster up the courage to change back, scared of letting go again and seeing what they had done last time.

I had no choice though, if I was to save Shane’s ass and get back to a normal life, I had to embrace what I’d done, accept it and move on from it, yet I couldn’t help but wonder had I killed people? Well, that was a fairly obvious question, the wolf must have had to murder to escape, because why go to all that trouble to capture me, if they were going to let me go without a fight?

I threw off my clothes, placing the Warrior pack’s coin on the ground beside and with taut muscles and a deep breath, I braced myself. My bones cracked, the crunching sound filled the cool, night air. I was in the woods, standing in the middle of a clearing, surrounded by pine trees. Slivers of moonlight shone through the gaps, igniting the shadows that lurked around me like savage beasts.

Dead, barren grass littered the floor and shimmering flowers hung limply from their stems. The world became darker as all four black paws smashed to the ground. Memories flooded in, a tidal wave of emotion hit, the most brutal killings forcing their way to the front of my mind. Heads flew, razor sharp teeth bit into the flesh of unsuspecting humans. I whined and hid my face under my paws. Quivers of hatred and pain shook my body as I winced at what the wolf inside me had done, both of us were ashamed of our actions, but we were consoled by the fact that we didn’t do it out of choice, there was no other way and these humans were more savage than we could ever be.

Yet, I had still done this. I was a monster. The onslaught of memories wouldn't stop and I yearned to switch back to my human form. Screams, bullets, terror. Fear.

Then, silence.

The images stopped, the humans faded and all that was left was the sour taste of guilt. Nothing could do justice for my actions. Nonetheless, I had to keep going otherwise what was the point of wasting human life?

With that thought, Shane's head flashed in my mind, and suddenly the killings didn't seem so bad because I had done this for someone that I loved. The words 'I love Shane' crashed about in my mind, bumping into each other chaotically in my mind. I had finally admitted the truth to myself. His perfectly sculpted face shone brightly in my mind, it was the only thing keeping me sane. I wished I had realised my true feelings for him sooner rather than tricking myself into thinking that it wasn’t true because the mate bond was forcing us together.

Those electrifying blue eyes that had once made me turn in fear, now kept me attached to the ground. I used to run my fingers through his black shaggy hair, and even in my wolf form, the same feeling I got when I did it, tingled through my blood. Cheekbones worthy enough to slay the Gods, sufficient enough for me to trace as he slept soundly beside me. His lanky body deceived everyone, for he did not look strong, but he would always be strong enough to protect me and, now, it was my turn to protect him. I longed to have him beside me and the feeling only pushed my passion to get to The Howlers.

I threw my head back and howled. For Shane. For myself. For the past I didn't know and for the future I was certain to make a reality.

I was coming for Shane. I just knew there had to be a way to connect with him through the mate bond. Regretfully, I had to travel back to Locksley. I knew one person there who would be willing to help in the efforts to find Shane; Jess – but she wouldn’t be at all happy with the circumstances that came with my return. The healer in Jess's pack, Lucinda, seemed to know quite a lot about mates and I was willing to bet that if anyone knew a way for me to gain a connection to Shane, it would be her.

With a new sense of determination, I heaved myself up, huffed out a breath before picking up the coin with my teeth ,and pumped my legs, the trees around me became a blur of brown and green as I headed for Locksley.

By the time I arrived in front of the shabby, decrepit building I once called home, it was mid-afternoon. I hadn’t meant to come here, I had meant to head straight for the pack, but something had pulled me here and I didn’t know why.

It looked like no one had been here for months, which was probably true. After I'd left, Derek had probably turned rogue and found himself some lackeys to lead in a futile attempt to rid himself of my 'unworthy' presence. Dropping the coin I had held in my mouth for the whole of the journey here, I shifted back into my human form, leaving the coin where it was for now. It would be safe whilst I looked around the cabin.

Creaking open the door to my old home, I gasped with shock. The place had been trashed, there were scratch marks all over the wall, all the mirrors had been shattered, little pieces of glass littering the floor. Furniture had been torn apart, rags of clothing were haphazardly strewn across the floor – the place was a mess. The door to my room and the door to the small bathroom had both been smashed into tiny pieces and from a quick glance I saw that the contents of both rooms had also been completely destroyed.

Walking across the room closely, I went into Derek’s small room, I had never entered it before. His bed had been broke in two, the art deco wall paper was peeling off the wall in big chunks and the midnight blue carpet had been ripped up and left in tatters. It was like an angered wolf had transformed in here. Perhaps this was Derek’s doing after I’d left him and freed myself from being his play doll.

The small mahogany bedside cabinet was mostly still intact, its door hanging off limply but the lamp on top of it was completely destroyed. I crouched down and opened the door of the cabinet further, as I did I felt it give way and break off from its hinges. Throwing it to the side, with the other mess in the room, I began to take things off the shelves. There was lots of money, crinkled and old. There were a few packets of cigarettes, some empty and some full. It was mostly just useless trinkets.

I was about to leave when something caught my eye. Pushed into the furthest corner of the cabinet was a small black box. I pulled it out of the cabinet, fingering its soft surface, on the surface of the box was a faded gold circle.

I opened the box and nearly fell back when I saw the contents. Laying in a circular groove in plush red velvet was a golden coin, with jagged edges and a shining smooth surface. Gulping, I took the coin from the box and turned it over. There it was – a large black wolf howling up at the full moon. With shaking hands I dropped the coin back into the box and left the cabinet. I couldn’t believe Derek owned one of these coins, what did it mean? Was he apart of this human group that wanted to destroy us, why else would he have a coin? These coins were given to humans, not werewolves. Wolves had no use for trinkets or gold.

I slipped the coin I had left outside into the box with Derek’s coin and shifted back into my wolf, picking up the box like I had the coin. It was now even more important to get to The Howlers. I focused my mind back to six months ago, when I'd never met Shane, when all I ever wanted was to be free, when life was crappy, but I was content. I traced the steps I first took, sprinted past the quaint cottage I spent my first night of freedom in and came to a halt in the mossy field in front of Shane's house.

With a feverish fastness that I had never possessed, I changed back into my human form, grabbed the black box and sprinted to the door. I was naked, but that was the last thing on my mind. In fact, it wasn't on my mind at all, really.

"Jess!" I screamed, banging on the glass doors. The sun was slowly setting and the twilight haze was slightly worrying. Jess's petite figure came into view, her blonde hair was pulled into a high ponytail that bounced as she walked. Her face, with all its perfect angles, held a scowl that I knew was aimed specifically at me. She thrust open the glass doors, and purposefully stood in the way of inside. The slight breeze rustled the baggy purple dress she was wearing. It was inlaid with tiny daisies and she accentuated it with a brown belt around her waist

"Skylar? Aren’t you supposed to be moving in with Shane?" she asked.

"Look, Jess, we don't have time for this! Shane's missing!" I screeched. Jess's face paled and she moved aside instantly to grant me access to her home. The inside had changed a lot. It seemed that Jess had decided to redecorate with her new status as second Alpha. The doors now had pale pink floral curtains, the floor was now a lime green and all the furniture was draped in a furry purple blanket. Her colour coordination really was bizarre but I didn’t have time to discuss this with her, it would have to wait until a later stage.

"What do you mean? Missing how?" There was a frantic panic to her voice so I explained to Jess what had happened as quickly as I could. I told her what I'd done, how I'd escaped and where I'd been for the past two days.

"You let your wolf take full control?" she asked, "that takes a lot of courage, not a lot of people are able to do that and come back sane, it was a risk you shouldn't have taken," she reprimanded me. I scowled at her and bit back the sarcastic remark that was ready to crawl out of my mouth. I had to keep telling myself that there was no time for quarrelling, not if I wanted to find Shane,

"Whatever. I need to speak to Lucinda and Derek. It's important."

"I can get Lucinda here in a few moments - after you've put on some clothes, of course. The, uh, only slight problem is... is that Derek is no longer here," Jess whispered cringing softly.

"Not here? Not here?! Where is he?" I demanded, panic ensuing within me.

"He escaped just after you'd left, don't ask me how - I don't know, and neither does anyone else, before you even think about throwing your weight around and interrogating some poor soul."

Jess left the room quickly and shortly returned with a white dress for me to wear - one identical to her purple dress. I threw the material on without much effort and trapped my foot impatiently, waiting for Lucinda.

Before she arrived, I grabbed Jess’s arm. “Jess, have you heard of the Warrior pack?” I asked her, chewing on my bottom lip.

“Of course I have, but they’re just a myth.”

I shook my head and thrust the box in her hand. “Open it,” I said bluntly. Jess furrowed her eyebrows and opened the box, as she did she gasped silently and glanced back at me. “Where did you find these?”

“I found the first one at that café in Erie. I found the other amongst Derek’s things about half an hour ago. Listen to me Jess, the woman in the café seemed to be saying that there a group of humans that still believe in this myth and they’re hunting down werewolves as we speak. If this is true then they could have been the ones that caught me and Shane and that means trouble, big trouble. I could be wrong, but we can’t let anyone know about this, okay? I don’t want to cause a panic or a war.”

Jess nodded silently and left the room, presumably to hide the box from prying eyes. When she came back, she wasn’t alone – Lucinda was by her side. The woman's old face brought hope to my sinking heart. Her greying hair sat in a bun on top of her sharp, angular face. She wore simple white clothing - her work's uniform. "Skylar!" she exclaimed, "how wonderful to see you!"

"You too," I said, smiling pleasantly and embracing her fiercely. "But, I'm not here for a catch up, I need to know if there's a way to connect to Shane through the mate bond, we were separated by some hunters and I don't know where I should begin looking to find him. Is it possible?" Our eyes met, and hers softened, a small, sad smile on her face.

“Well yes,” she said, clasping her hands together as her face became grave. “But it’s not without risk as you may have already guessed. The mate bond is a fragile thing in essence and messing with it can sometimes have disastrous consequences and often it can cancel out the mate bond altogether and there’s no way to get it back.”

I leaned back against the sofa that was behind me. “I can’t just do nothing, I have to try no matter what the risk is. We’re running out of time, what if they kill Shane? It’s a risk I’ve got to take, I’d rather no mate bond than no Shane. So, I’ll do it. Are you willing to help me, Lucinda?”

She smiled softly back at me, a warmth glowed in her eyes as she opened her mouth to reply, "of course I will."