Shadow Alpha

Bo I quickly zipped around my bedroom, grabbing my homework and stuffing it inside my backpack. My roommate had already left a few hours ago and I couldn't believe she hadn't woken me up. She knew I had an important test this morning and if I didn't hurry to class, there was no way I was going to make it. Pushing the migraine away as much as I could, I skipped breakfast and ran at half speed out of the dorm room and across the college's lawn to my first class. I don't know why, but this migraine has been bothering me for three days now and I've noticed I've been more tired lately. I couldn't focus on that now though, I needed to focus on my class. Professor Kitt was just about to shut the door to the lecture room as I ran forward. His dark blue eyes danced with amusement as he watched me approach. He pushed back his short choppy blond hair out of his eyes and straightened his posture. "Aren't you cutting it close, Miss Carter?" Professor Kitt's asked, smirking as I hurried through the doors. Breathing heavily, I replied, "I'm on time though, and that's what counts." I quickly hurried to my seat before he could reply with something else. Professor Kitt was known for changing his mind when he wanted. Sitting next to Brittany, another female shifter, I turned my attention to Professor Kitt as he went into a fifteen-minute lecture about the human body and the nervous system before finally handing out the midterm. I glanced nervously at the clock. Midterms take close to two hours if you take your time and finish it properly and hope for a good grade. I work early today, and I can't be late, not again. Wincing at the lights above me, I quickly got to work on my midterm, quietly reminding myself to make an appointment with the pack doctor from the Black Pack in town. Brittany, the girl I'm sitting next to in class, is from the Black Pack. I can't say for the higher-ups, the omegas and betas are pretty nice. They take care of their own, even when they might not be from their own pack. I'm not sure if that's something their Alpha ingrained in them or if that's just how they are as an individual. Either way, I know there are several lone shifters in this town that are thankful the pack still cares to some degree about their won. Forty-five minutes later, I'm the first one done. Nervously standing in front of Professor Kitt's desk, I handed over my midterm to him. He raised an eyebrow at me and looked through the pages, making sure it was all filled out. "I'm surprised you finished first, Miss Carter. That's not like you." Setting down the paper in front of both of us, "Are you sure you wish to turn it in like this?" I nodded, yanking my backpack over my shoulders. "Yes. I don't have time to stay the full two hours, unfortunately." Professor Kitt stared at me for a minute before nodding, "Very well. You should know your grade by this afternoon." I didn't notice him follow me outside the classroom, but I barely took a step outside when someone yanked on my arm. I glanced by, stunned by the strength of someone who can stop me. Professor Kitt was there, a hard look in his eyes. Something stirred inside of me, and I smashed it. I wasn't sure what that feeling was, but it wasn't nice. My shield went up and I regret not realizing it was down sooner rather than later. Professor Kitt quickly let go of me and gave me a reassuring smile, "Sorry about that, Miss Carter," he rubbed his hand on his pants nervously, "I noticed that you're not acting like your usual self and I'm concerned. You've worked hard to get this far, and I don't want you regretting anything." That feeling arose inside of me again and this time, it tingled throughout my body. What is that? "I promise you that I'm not regretting anything." Professor Kitt's glanced back at the classroom; the door being propped open by his foot. "I just want to make sure that you know what you're doing. I know it's hard growing up...different." 'Different'? Does he know somehow? The feeling inside of me felt heavier somehow. "I'm not too sure what you mean by that." He sighed and smiled at me. "Being a shifter isn't a bad thing, Bo, especially when you have a support of a pack, but we both know you don't have that at the moment." I hesitantly took a step back, confused. "I still don't understand how you know that." He smelled human and acted like one. He hasn't shown any signs of being from the Beyond or the demonic realm, so who or rather, what is he? Professor Kitt's sighed again and ran his hand through his hair. "I have a mutual friend that's been concerned. I've been concerned as well. You've been stressed lately, and it's been showing in your work." A gash of hatred washed over me. "It shouldn't be showing at all. I have a 4.0 GPA and I haven't missed a test or got a bad grade at all." I pulled back my anger from showing, but this feeling, it was unnatural and kept growing stronger. "I have to get back to class, but trust me on this," He stood in the doorway for a moment, his eyes never leaving mine. "You haven't been neglecting your grades, but your writing style has changed and so has your tone. Just remember what you're really here for, Bo." With that, he closed the door behind him, and I was left standing there shocked. I knew that Professor Kitt was interested in his students' lives, but I didn't think he was knowledgeable about shifters, or anything related to our kind. Most humans choose to ignore our existence, or they just don't know at all. I'll have to figure this out later. I was going to be late to work if I keep stalling. I turned and quickly made my way off the school grounds. I took the city bus to Sam's Place, a restaurant about fifteen minutes from work. Being a waitress isn't ideal, but it does pay the bills. Shyanne was waiting for me as I sprinted in through the back exit. Standing five foot, seven inches, with pretty strawberry blonde hair and bright blue eyes, she threw me my apron and as I put it on, she stuffed my backpack and coat into my locker, clocking me in as well. This was our usual routine and it worked. A part of me hated the fact that I had to rely on her, but we've created a bond. She also belongs to the Black Pack, but she doesn't seem like someone close to the higher-ups, so I can't imagine it's her who's been concerned. Grabbing my notepad and pen, I got to work taking orders, falling into line once again like I always do. Everything was going great until a group of men walked in. Their scent was unlike anything I'd ever smelt before. They were nicely dressed, all in half suits, with no coats and no ties, like they just walked out of a gangster movie or something. Most of them had their sleeves rolled up, revealing scars of all shapes and sizes covering them. They all had the same short black hair except one of them had long hair like it's been long overdue for a haircut, but it works with his straight jawline and dark green eyes. Shyanne had stiffened and everyone that was working had noticed how strange she was acting. Shyanne walked up to their table, and I completely pushed her out of my mind, knowing she can handle anything. I was pouring coffee for another table when Shyanne approached with a terrified look in her eyes. "I... I don't think... I can take that table." Shyanne looked away like she was ashamed. I smiled at her. "I'll take the table. Don't worry about it." I gestured to the coffee. "Take these to table four and then table eight needs a refile of orange juice." Shyanne nodded and quickly walked away with coffee in her hands. I turned to a new page in my notepad and walked over to table seven. I was on evens and Shyanne was supposed to take the odd tables, but sometimes when certain customers come in, it's easier for me to take them. Shyanne can handle the small fries when it comes to shifters, vampires, and all sorts of nonhuman beings, but sometimes, the ones who are higher up on the food chain tend to get her nerves wrecked. That happens to most betas and omegas though, when they encounter the first line to the Alpha. As I approached the table, their scent filled my nose again and that's when I detected it. A part of their scent was almost the same as Shyanne's, only a part of it though. The other part was strong and filled with dominance like they were asserting themselves in the restaurant without even lifting a finger. I plastered a smile on my face and stopped in front of the table. "Hello, gentleman. Do you know what you like to drink?" I asked, my voice flat and monotoned so they can't pick up anything. They all turned their gazes towards me, a few surprised looks. The one with the long hair didn't look at all surprised or even confused, but more annoyed than anything. They gave me their drink orders and I quickly got to work. Shyanne kept giving me glances as I put together their order. She shouldn't worry so much, but she doesn't exactly know that I can take care of myself. I hurried back over to the table, and I noticed that the one with the long hair was coming back in front outside, an angry look on his face. I was setting the drinks down when he walked over, slid into the booth, and muttered something in another language to the others. Something was almost familiar about it like I knew exactly what he was saying, but I couldn't put it into words. One of the men nodded and then glanced at me, smiling at me. "Could we get the other waitress please?" He asked, a serious look on his face. "It's important." I hesitated, unsure of what was going on. "Unfortunately, she can't. If there's something wrong with anything I did, I can get my manager for you." The man with the long hair hissed at me and grabbed my wrist, yanking me towards him. "Grab the other waitress now or I'll hurt you and everyone else in this place. Got it?" His voice was harsh and thick with an accent of some sort. He dug his fingernails into my wrist causing blood to drip down onto the table. Rage overwhelmed me and I quickly switched. I grabbed his hand with my other hand and slammed him by his throat back against the booth's cushion. His face showed the terror in his eyes as he met my eyes. I could only imagine what he was seeing. I've never seen myself in this state before, but I knew with just one look, I could kill anyone. I have control now, but when my abilities first started to show through, I caused a lot of pain and a lot of... deaths. I dug my fingernails into his neck, resisting the urge to dig deeper. "You don't come in here and make requests like that!" I slammed him again against the cushion, releasing him as he bounced off the cushion. I went back to normal and plastered a smile back on my face. "Either order something to eat or get out." All of them looked shocked and terrified. I'm used to this reaction now, but they had such dominance that I thought they would have handled this better. I guess even the higher-ups can't handle me. I should have figured that no pack in their right minds would want someone like me, someone who can fly off the handle at any given moment. The men paid for their drinks and quickly left the restaurant. Shyanne looked thankful but kept her distance from me. I knew she saw the whole thing, so I knew our bond or whatever we had would be broken. I decided the best thing for me to do is keep my head down for the rest of the evening and just bust it out. I was on break when I got a phone notification. It was from my school. It had to be the midterm results from today. I stepped outside and opened up the notification. Relief swept over me, and I was able to relax some. I got ninety-three percent on the midterm. I knew I wasn't going to get a perfect hundred percent, but I was thinking around eighty percent. At least I knew my grades were hurting and I'm going in the right direction. I spent the rest of the break scrolling through f*******: and then got back to work. It was around ten-thirty am when I finally got back to the dorm. Shyanne had left before I got done restocking my tables. It was going to be hard facing her tomorrow, but today was necessary. My roommate was already asleep when I unlocked the door. Relocking it, I set my belongings down, undressing to the bare minimum, and crawled into bed. I was right about Shyanne. She wouldn't even look my way. She wasn't even waiting for me when I got into work today either. This was going horribly. Maybe I really did overstep. The whole evening was in silence unless Shyanne had to speak to me regarding a customer. The evening blurred into taking orders, trying not to upset Shyanne, and still being able to keep my cool. Soon enough, I was locking back the exit when I heard something behind me. Making sure the door was locked, I turned and scanned the trees. I didn't see anything, but that means there's nothing there. There are those of us that can find their presence and scents from others. I walked around the building, ignoring the noise when I quickly sidestepped someone, but not the hand that slammed me into the wall of the restaurant. I controlled my anger, but grabbed the wrist, digging my nails into it. "Let me go!" I asked harshly, trying to push the person away. A cold laugh told me I was in the presence of someone who was either as strong as me or stronger. "You were the one who gave Erik trouble?" Another laugh bubbled out of him. I focused my vision and a man with blond hair stood before me. He was huge though, like a mountain of muscle. When he met my eyes, I got an uneasy feeling from how brown they were. It was like they were a sinking pit that never stops falling. I struggled against his hand and dropped me, allowing me to breathe, but he pressed his hand against my shoulder, telling me he wasn't done with me yet. "So, tell me," He chuckled, "How did you get Erik and his boys to run away with their tails between their legs?" Controlling the anger inside of me, I answered. "I showed them something scary." He scoffed. "What could possibly be so scary that they wouldn't even come back with me?" He pointed to himself with a smug look, "I'm one of the best warriors in the pack and I'm considered to be one of the meanest." I laughed and he slammed me against the wall by my shoulder. "What's so funny, hmm?" Allowing some of my walls to fall, I felt my dominance come to me. "I'm considered to be one of the meanest as well." I grabbed his hand on my shoulder and snapped it with ease. His howls echoed off the walls in the alley. I grabbed him by his broad shoulders and slammed him against the wall, an indent forming from his body. I grabbed his jaw and made him look at me as my hand went around his throat, nails digging in. "Erik and his boys learned a lesson yesterday on how to treat a woman." He whimpered as I lifted him off the ground, his feet dangling in the air as my body grew in size. "Don't ever think you and your pathetic pack are the meanest or deadliest ones around." I squeezed his throat and some blood spilled out from his lips. "Make sure to tell Shyanne I said hi." Dropping him on the ground, I grabbed my backpack and hurried towards the bus station. I didn't need to be f*****g around with some stupid pack, especially not the one who I make doctor appointments with.