Shadow Alpha

Chapter 2

Mason

I stared at Josh as he stumbled over his words, trying to tell me about this new female that's come of age. It's a surprise she hasn't been picked up yet by a neighboring pack, but from the sounds of it, this female is something else completely. I numbly stare at Erik and Josh as they both reek of fear. What type of female would do this to my pack or to my two best warriors? It just doesn't make sense. I wasn't supposed to be getting mixed up with any more females, for the time being, not until we can handle the Nicole situation. The door slamming shut brought me back to the situation at hand.

"I have no idea how a female could have that much power," Josh stated for the fourth time, shuddering as he remembered what happened.

"Why haven't I heard of this girl before?" I asked, irritated even more.

Erik couldn't look me in the eyes. "You can't tell she's a shifter by just smelling her. In the restaurant, she looked human, smelled human, and even acted human. Her eyes though, they weren't natural once she let her guard down."

I raised an eyebrow at both of them. "If she's a shifter, then we need to find out her species. She can be a vital resource to use and have in our pack."

Erik's eye went wide. "You want her in our pack? She's extremely dangerous!"

I smirked. "That's why I want her." I sighed. "At the moment though, we need to focus on the Nicole situation."

Erik and Josh both groaned. Josh replied, "We haven't heard anything, but she hasn't been able to get out of the house until today. We should know more information tonight."

I frowned, staring at my computer with photos of Nicole speaking with a neighboring pack that's been picking off my pack's cubs lately. Being a part of my pack means strength, power, respect, and knowing that we have someone like Nicole feeding trader information to another pack means disrespect, weakness, and easy pickings. All I can think about is what went wrong with Nicole. She's a beautiful female and most of my men drool over her whenever she's in the room. Standing five feet, five inches tall with blonde hair, pretty blue eyes, and a perfect hourglass-shaped body would lead any man on, even me at times. We had all thought Nicole would be great with Josh, but she had refused the minute she had seen him. She ended up latching onto Cole, a newly appointed warrior fresh from high school. Cole was a short red-haired, brown-eyed little cub that stumbles over the air. We have no idea why Nicole got attached to him, but it happened fast, almost too fast.

I gestured to the clock, "We need to make sure everything is set in place for tonight. I don't want any mistakes. We can't afford to have anything happen."

Erik nodded, rubbing the back of his neck. "Everything is set in place. The cameras are set up and working. You should be able to access them on your phone at any given time."

I nodded, grabbing my phone. "Josh showed me earlier. I just want to make sure that everything is right. No f**k ups like last time."

Erik and Josh both flinched. Josh swallowed hard. "I know, Mason. We're trying. Without Jake or Justin here though it makes things a little difficult to cover everything."

I slammed my hands down on the desk, my phone flying across the room. "Don't give me that bullshit! They're out there picking up your pieces from the last mistake!"

Erik went silent, looking away. Josh replied, "We know, Mason. We're both thankful for them, but we're running tight parameters right now and low on men."

Erik picked up my phone and handed it to me. "If that female is the same as us, do you think we should recruit her like the others? She'll be a good asset to have."

I curled my lip. I agree with him, but he doesn't need to know that. "If you or Josh can't even handle her, there's no way anyone else could possibly take her on. We'll have to wait until we catch a break or until my brother comes back."

Josh looked a little worried. "We haven't heard from Adam in some time now. Do you think something happened to him?"

"I don't think so. I would have gotten word by now if that was the case." I rubbed my face. "Let's just focus on one thing at a time and right now, we need to focus on Nicole."

They both nodded. Josh stated, "Everything should be in place. We double-checked everything. We just have to wait until later tonight when we head out for the run."

I clicked my tongue in irritation. I was never good at waiting. It was the one thing I lacked. Before I could respond, Chad, the pack doctor came in with his clipboard. He dragged his hand through his blond hair, and I met his green eyes with my own. Chad's been with me for close to thirty years now. He was one of my close friends since high school. Chad handed me the clipboard.

"We have a request for a female, age 22, loner, to be seen as soon as possible," Chad stated with a look of amusement in his eyes.

I glanced over the charts. "Have we seen her before?"

"Yes," Chad gestured to her last visit notes. "She's the last one from the Red Sky pack. She's been having trouble sleeping, reports of migraines, loss of appetite, and reports her strength is dwelling."

I frowned, "Do you have any ideas of what could be going on?"

Chad thought for a minute. "There could be several plausible reasons for all of these symptoms, but I think this has to do with the fact she hasn't been a part of a pack close to ten years and it's wearing her down."

I handed the clipboard back to him, "Let me know how the checkup goes. I had thought we had all the females in town though."

Chad nodded, "I've seen her a few times and you've had me offer numerous times, but she always refused."

"I wonder why. She clearly needs a pack." I sighed deeply. "Let me know how it goes. Don't let her leave without fifty percent paid this time. We can't be just handing out free checkups anymore. We do need to support the pack first."

Chad nodded, "Understood." Chad turned and nodded to Josh and Erik before walking out the door.

Today isn't going as planned, but I just hope to God that tonight goes well. If it doesn't, it means there's another mole but higher up the chain.