Haunted by the Sins of the Mother

Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Zander- 2 years later.

The plague. The Pandemic, whatever you’d like to call it. It hit our pack hard. Not just the Dark Moon, the Blood-Moon too. All the packs were hurt, but ours the most. The years of my father allowing the old and the sick to take refuge within our walls had made us a large pack in numbers but comprised of a high number of elders. So, when we got sick, many of the old ones died.  Usually, us werewolves could recover from illness within a day or two. But this illness, derived from animals, affected us differently than just human sickness did. We lost great numbers. In the matter of months, our pack had been cut in half.

Like everyone, we waited for medication and vaccines. But being a bigger and stronger race, we needed twice the supply as humans to protect ourselves.  Vaccines went to packs that could bribe public health officials. We had money. We did what we had to do. I’m not proud, but I did what I did for the good of my pack.

But also, this caused prosperity, in a way. With fewer mouths to feed, our food supply was plentiful. The young were able to concentrate on growing and producing food. Our produce warehouse was full. We had milk, bread, and cheeses. While many other packs did not. 

If you asked nicely, I would help. I might make you grovel first, but eventually I would cave. I wasn’t cruel, I was fair. But no one would ever call me kind. I ruled hard. I was much stronger and stern than my father was.

***

A loud commotion was heard from outside. I gritted my teeth and went back to the ledger books. I knew my Beta, Dylan, would handle it. 

A few minutes later, there was a knock on my office door. 

“WHAT?!” I yelled, while throwing a fist down on my desktop. I hated interruptions while trying to figure out this accounting bullshit.

The door opened. Dylan shoved a teen into the room. He may have been 15, if that. There were other guards behind them. 

“We caught this one stealing from our warehouse. He says he’s from the Solstice Pack.  What do you want to do with him?” Dylan asked.

I looked the boy over. He was scrawny, underfed for sure. I stood and approached him.  “Solstice, huh? That’s far from here. What brought you to us?” 

“Food, duh!” 

I grabbed his face with my hand and squeezed him. “Don’t be cocky with me.” I thrust his face away. Dlyan had him by one arm, a guard had another, but the teen still managed to turn and spit in my face.

I stopped and, without hesitating, I punched him in the stomach. 

The boy doubled over. He’d have gone down if it weren’t for Dylan holding him upright.

“If you’d asked, I would have helped you. But you didn’t. You stole from me. You crossed me. And now you’ll learn a hard lesson. NO ONE CROSSES ME!” I was angry. This boy would be an example. No one steals from the Dark Moon. No one.

I punched him again. He heaved and blood flew out of his mouth. I grabbed his hair, jerking his head up so he was looking at me. “Now, you’ve gone and made me angry. So, you’ll set an example.”  Not letting go of his hair, I snarled at Dylan. “Death to this one. But not right away. Make him suffer first. But him in the cells. The same one my mother used…the one with electric bars.” Dylan just nodded.

I looked back at the boy. “Now, your smart mouth had better stay shut. If I hear you screaming, your death will be a slow one.” It was my turn. I spat in his face. “No one steals from Alpha Williams, do you understand?!” I growled. 

The boy said nothing, but stared at me defiantly, and jerked his chin higher. He had a set of balls on him, that’s for sure. 

“Answer me!” I roared. I was not going to take any insolence, especially from some scrawny teen.  I gut punched him again. He went to his knees, spewing more blood. “DO.YOU.UNDERTAND?” I gritted through my teeth. 

The boy nodded. 

“I told you to speak!” I kicked the boy in the head, knocking him unconscious. I sighed. The boy needed to be taught a lesson. 

“Take him away. Get someone in here immediately to clean up this mess!  And Dylan…”

Dylan looked at me. 

“I don’t want to be bothered again. Is that understood?”

“Yes, Alpha.” Dylan said as he dragged the boy away. 

I side stepped the blood on the floor, went to the bathroom and washed my hands and face. I then plopped back down at my desk to crunch more numbers. I wanted my Pack to succeed. I would do whatever it took to do it.