The Alphas helping hand - If I ever catch you

Chapter two

Elliot POV

„BAAAAANNNGG!“ The Rouge goes flying against the basement wall. Growling at the poor excuse of a wolf in front of me, I step closer to pick him up by his scruff once again.

“Answer the question! Why the f**k, did you and your little pack of dirty motherf**kers cross my territory and try to attack my patrol?!“. The rogue just glares at me.

“Nothing? No: please don’t kill me. Any other excuses?“ I look at him, a crooked grin forming on my face.

“Really? Nothing to say? Alright, then, lads. Slow and painful death by skinning and burning alive it is.“, as I clap my hands, two of my men step closer, bloodlust in their eyes. Same for all of us, I think to myself.

“Wait!!“, the intruder croaks when the first piece of skin is peeled off his upper arm. Then, catching his breath, he looks at me.

“We were helping a powerful friend out with some private business. Nothing that concerns you or any member of your pack, bastard.“, he mutters.

“He wanted us to check on an old friend of his, help him out with a…surprise.“

He turns to me with a glint in his eye.

“Maybe you will meet him after all. He is planning on coming here in a short while. An extraordinary friend that he has there.“

I snort at his last words.

“Well, thanks. I will make sure to welcome him. That will be all. Cut his head off now.“, turning to leave, I pat one of my men on the shoulder.

“You bastard!!! You said you would let me go if I told you why we came!“

His screams echo in the almost empty basement.

“I did no such thing. “, smiling, I turn back to him.

“Don’t put words in my mouth. I'm kind of allergic to that."

“MOTHERF**KER!! He will come for you and all that wealth that you think you earned. One of my men is still out there to pay a visit to that friend of the master, and he will report everything to him. F**K YOU! He—

I cut him off by ripping his carotid artery to shreds, the claws on my right hand extended. With a gurgle, he goes down.

“Take out the trash. And send a patrol out to look for the stray. He can’t have gotten that far.“

All I achieved, I did without help. After taking over by force, tearing down my father and his poor excuse of a Luna, I revamped the whole operation. Instead of focusing on fifteen different trades, we only deal in real estate development and a little investment baking on the side now. I did that.

And that’s not to sound c**ky. Even if, why shouldn’t I be proud of my achievements? Without ever graduating college, I got my pack of about 5000 wolves to master up the net worth of a small country to support ourselves and finance a lifestyle I see fit for myself and my family. A chosen family, that is. After I overthrew my father, he and his mate left, and since my mother took her own life when I was just a boy, there was only me remaining. So my Beta, my Gammas, and the rest of them became my family. It’s not a sob story, really, just what happens sometimes.

I give the blood splatter on my shirt a deadly glare. Great, now I have to change no thanks to that little rat and his friends who chose to cross my territory unannounced and attack my men.

‚Motherf**ker’, my wolf, Gideon, growls.

He enjoys bloodshed as much as I do.

Sadly, I can’t let him enjoy this kill because we have an important client coming over in half an hour to pitch one of our development projects to. Seeing business partners live together as well might seem weird to some, but in the end, they all end up not caring. We get some good food into them. Get them drunk somewhere.

Loose tongues and hazy minds help my business, and I don’t mind it if people think it is stooping low.

When I reach my room, I tear off my shirt, strip my pants off and get into the bathroom. Staring at my own steel-grey eyes in the mirror, I let out a low growl when I see the bastard’s skin and blood platter reach even my hair. Don’t appreciate that at all. I step into the shower and, shortly after, sense a presence in the room. Sure enough, Layne is behind me a few seconds later, scratching my back. Butt-naked, might I add.

“What are you doing here?“

My tone is harsh. Probably harsher than it needs to be.

But her sneaking in pisses me off. Sure, I sleep with her most nights of the week. I got urges too, only a man. However, that doesn’t mean that I want her around 24/7 or that I appreciate an ambush. Us f**king is supposed to be on my terms, and lately, she seems to forget that more often than not. Guess it’s time to cut her loose.

I gave up two years ago. After an eight-year-long search for my mate out of obligation, I had enough. Well, you can’t really call it “giving up.” then, right? After seeing what unfolded between my parents, I never saw the point in having a mate anyway. So what was I going to wait for? It didn’t happen till my 26th Birthday. Probably won’t ever happen, I thought to myself, returning from yet another mating ball without my fated one.

Since then, I have been rotating she-wolfs to pass the time and get the pent-up energy out. Nobody comments on it. They all thought and still think it is a phase… that I am heartbroken because I didn’t find my mate. That I grew to like this lifestyle never crossed their minds. I don’t see why I would change it. Before Layne, there have been many others over the years. Who cares, really? As long as they remember their place (which is under me in any way, you can see that term) we are good.

“Come on, babe!! I missed you.“, she pouts while trying to grope my butt, her other hand sneaking around to my member. I grab her wrist tightly.

“What the f**k did I say about terms of endearment? Don’t use them. Now get out of my shower and don’t come back here unless I call on you. I am a little busy right now for dealing with your bullsh*t.“

With that, I spin around, grab her waist and shove her out of the shower. Even though Gideon protests, I keep my distance and continue to rinse off the rogue’s blood.

“Whatever you say, Alpha.“, she mutters between gridded teeth.

After she storms out of the bathroom, I lean my head against the wall and let the water run down my spine.

Once I am out of the shower, it’s already past six. So I throw on a dress shirt, rolling up my sleeves. My tattoos are on full display now. I put on some slacks and am lacing up my boots when my Beta Kyle steps in, wearing a dark grey suit.

“I see you are once again going for: 'P**s off, old businessman.' “, he waves his hand in the air as if reading off a billboard.

“Combat boots and dress pants, really? Why not roll down the sleeves, at least? Do you want an old white man to have a heart attack in your office?“, he sighs and grins.

Kyle has known me since we were both pups. He is three years older than me and my best friend. And even though I'm almost thirty, Kyle is my voice of reason sometimes. After graduating from business school, he threw himself into work at our company, and I couldn’t ask for a more skilled CFO.

Having the picture-perfect family with his mate Heather is another thing he has done right. At least, that is how most wolves would see it.

“I'm not going to please those old, saggy business friends of yours by conforming to a dress code that makes absolutely no sense to me. And hey: I'm halfway there. The collar is high, and you can barely see the neck tattoos. That should be enough to show my good will. Also, I paid good money for these.“, I point to my inked forearm.

“And I'll not cover them for anybody if I don’t feel like it. It’s not like Lincoln, and his cohorts can find a better pitch somewhere else. Plus, I know you'll always have my back. Rolled up sleeves or not.“

I wink at him.

I don’t lack awareness of how c**ky and arrogant I sound, not wanting to make an effort to dress “appropriately. “ Childish even. But I just don’t give a f**k. My financial success and the raving reviews from previous clients should speak for themselves. Take it or leave it.

‚There is no blood on our shirt to alert the wussies. We already aim to please.‘, Gideon growls unhappily.

‚Shut it! ‘, I bark at him.

I know when it counts, Kyle will pester me, and Heather will be all up my ass. But, given he just shakes his head and shrugs it off, I guess I am right. Once again.

:::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

The meeting has been going on for hours. After the stuffy businessman that Kyle invited took apart the offered contracts in detail, I finally got out the oldest whisky from the bar in my office. Maybe I might have been more excited about that than any of them. When the grandpops of the group left later in the evening, three dudes our age stayed behind... and without the werewolf genes that help us avoid being wasted, they were gone pretty fast.

Julius and Ace, my Gammas, kept refilling their glasses, and Kyle smirked when one of them toasted and almost fell over backward. It got a lot more serious when Heather came in, who forcefully fed them a casserole, mashed potatoes, and peas and made them drink water. So none of them would hurl in my office, and the liquor could get soaked up a little. Partypooper! We had a bet going!

Kyle and I are just discussing the best strategy to get them out of the house, without interrupting them too harshly, when one of them shouts: “WE SHOULD GO OUT!! “, and the rest of the group agrees vigorously.

“HELL YEAH! “

“Mr. Lincoln, I don’t know if that’s the best idea. We already celebrated the deal, so grateful for your support. But what about your wife, isn’t she waiting for you?“, Kyle tries to reason with the man, given he told us earlier, his wife was 8 months pregnant and waiting up for him.

“Come on!!! We wanna *hick* get a *hick* beer with our Hardy-Boy here...“, Lincoln’s partner slurs his speech hard, and I swear there is some spit coming my way.

“My name is Hartgrave, Mr. Colten. “, I say icily. Kyle shoots me a wary glance.

“OOHHHHH so serious, the little man *hick*, right? Get over yourself, let’s hit someplace close! “.

My fists clench. Little man. I'm at least a foot taller than him. And I could easily pick him up and throw him out the window. Plus, we are the same age. And I will look this young a lot longer than you, motherf**ker.

“Ok, sure. Why not.“, a muscle in my jaw twitches dangerously when I say that.

‚We can handle them, you don’t have to come ‘, Kyle mind-links me.

Sometimes, I'm more than thankful for that form of communication. I usually let my Beta and Gammas take care of our guests. Sure, I will sit in on every meeting, but I don’t accompany them to get the poor creatures wasted.

‚Oh, I will. This “Hardy-Boy “ will show those morons that business is the only trade in which they can even try aspiring to measure up.‘.

Gideon huffs in frustration.

He gets pissed off so quickly, and our short-fuse is legendary, even amongst our own. Guess only bears are worse than us at holding back the beast. They often go rogue, sometimes even full-on psycho. This is probably the reason why their packs are small, and they are rare in general.

‚As you wish, Alpha ‘, it sounds back through the mind-link.

Ace and Julius are quick to bring around the cars, usher in our guests, and speed off in the direction of the highway, where their favorite bar is located.

“Great selection of college-p***y, “as they say. Stepping outside, I inhale deeply. Nothing better than a clear sky over Maryland. Kyle and I make our way over to the Jaguar parked in the driveway, and as soon as the doors close, I speed off.

It doesn’t take me long to catch up with them. Together we enter the parking lot of the “Dine-Bar. “

“Looks ... kinda.. *hick*...shabby.“, one of our clients’ slurs, getting out of the car.

“Better on the inside, way better.“, Julius winks at him.

The three suited-up morons stagger towards the bouncer, who just gives them a brief once over and waves at them to continue.

“Be a dime and get us seven beers.“, I hear one shout at the staff inside. I feel Gideon stir, his nose in the air, ears all alert. What’s up with him right now?, I think to myself.

As Ace goes to pass the bouncer, the guy grabs his arm. The man’s eyes turn a vibrant amber, and the stench of bear is seeping my way. Speak of the devil.

“I thought, I told you not to come here anymore, dog. You and your pack are not welcome here. None of you. Go chase some she-wolfs around your compound. “, the bear growls.

“Oh, come on, Fuzzy. Just coz we made a few college girls cry?“, Julius mocks.

“Not like they didn’t ask for it. “, Ace chimes in, ripping his arm from the bouncer’s grasp.

“F**k off and take those drunk idiots in there with you.“, is all the guy can press out between clenched teeth.

“I don’t appreciate the tone. And get your hands off my men.“

I let out my Alpha voice, and even my pack members flinch for a millisecond. However, the mountain of a man guarding the door doesn’t seem fazed at all. Instead, his head snaps up to look at me.

“Well, I don’t appreciate the waitresses being groped, and customers chased through the woods, oh mighty Alpha. Get those morons under control. “

In a split second, I'm in front of him, my hand on his neck. The diner door comes off its hinges when I slam the bear against it.

“Say that again. “, I growl. The bear pants. And I don’t see his leg coming.

With a loud cracking sound, it connects to my rib cage and knocks the wind out of me for a second. I grunt, my fangs elongate, and my claws come out. I let go of his neck, pushing him away from me. Julius and Ace jump forward, but the bear is faster. Gripping the foldable chair next to the entrance, he launches at them, breaking it over their heads. Only one of the legs remains in his hand, and he uses it to cut Kyle, as my Beta tries to jump him. A howl, and my friend is on the ground, holding his leg with a pained expression on his face. And I can hear the skin around his wound sizzle. What the actual f**k!!!

Silver. The bear is trying to poison my Beta using a silver-coded chair leg! And he must have dipped it in wolfsbane, judging by Kyle’s cross-eyed look and how much that wound is bleeding. Pushing off the ground hard, I launch myself at the bald motherf**ker. I tackle him to the ground and give him a well-placed right hook. His head snaps back. I push his arms down with my knees, my hands pressing on his throat. And again, I underestimate his speed and strength. He is flailing the hand holding his make-shift knife around, trying to push it into my right side. I dodge it by an inch. Gideon lets out a roar, and claws connect to the bear’s arm, ripping the shirt and skin to shreds. He howls, bringing his weapon up again with a lot more force, using the fact that I let go of his arm when I set out to claw at him. He lets out a grunt before the metal in his hand slashes across my stomach, entering it briefly at the end. F**k that hurts.

This time I fall off him with my hands clutching my wounded abdomen. With a growl, the other shifter wants to get up but is held down by Julius and Ace, finally getting a better hold of his arms and subduing him. I roll on my back, still pressing at the bleeding gash in my stomach.

Fire searing in my veins, Gideon’s angry howls sounding far away. Courtesy of the wolfsbane. Weakening my wolf and intercepting my healing, hands the bleeding. Kyle comes hobbling over, his face contorted in pain. “Stop this, Fuzzy. “, Ace pants, holding on to the arm of the trashing bear.

Everything around me is blurry, and I feel like I’m freezing. Blood loss. And my attacker seems to have gotten me good. But, of course, our fight didn’t go unnoticed. So the last thing I see is a middle-aged man with a baseball bat coming out of the diner. Then everything goes black.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

There is something soft under my head, and someone is applying pressure to my wound over my shirt. It’s not comfortable, but I can handle it. My eyes are still closed, and, for some reason, I can’t seem to open them. My head is pounding, and my body feels like it is on fire from the wolfsbane.

‚Gideon’, I call out but only get a soft huff. Guess he is still there.

‚Of course I am.‘, he grunts. Darkness around me, I focus on the muffled voices.

“...got him good. We have to clean the wound and stop that bleed. At least his pulse is somewhat stable even though he is tachycardic. He is lucky that the weapon missed the major arteries. Instead, it graced the liver and just seems to have left a deeper wound in the surrounding tissue. His wolf is strong and already slowly starting to heal him “, a calm female voice says quietly.

I don’t know that voice, but the clear sound soothes Gideon and sends shivers down my spine. Was that the wolfsbane?

“I still think we should have called an ambulance. DO you even know what you are doing?“, another female voice quakes somewhere further off to the side, and I hear someone scoff and stomp away, a bell chiming a few seconds later.

“No ambulance! We just have to get him into the car.“

Kyle sounds impatient, and frustration is seeping through every one of his words when he calls out after them.

“You won’t get very far with your Alpha in the state he is in.“, the voice I first heard states quietly.

And then the faint scent of lavender hits me. Something is off about it, though. Why is it so muted? It’s enough to make the pain, which still has a grip on my body, go down. I try to put a finger on what is happening when I register the hair on my right arm standing up as someone seems to lean closer. And... sniff my wound? What the hell?

“Wolfsbane.“

It’s not more than a whisper, and I can feel the person next to me get up, steps retreating, and it sounds like they are rushing away from the scene.

Wait, are they a wolf?

'They must be, idiot.', I think to myself. They mentioned my wolf earlier.

‚Why can’t I smell them more clearly?', Gideon sounds a little more prominent in my head.

‚Welcome back, boy.‘

But he just wags his tail and continues sniffing the air for that hint of lavender. And then there is a short silence, the pain in my stomach raging havoc.

“Hey, where did you go?!“, Kyle shouts.

But I can already hear steps returning to my right. I feel the person sit back down next to me, my jacket being pushed away and a few buttons on my shirt undone. The cold breeze touches my skin when it is lifted, and I jolt up at the pain of someone pressing something on my wound with a lot more pressure than before.

“F**K!!“, I roar, my eyes fly open, and I try to push back, but they just hold on more firmly.

My gaze flares up and meets a woman in a yellow uniform, crouched over my abdomen, applying pressure on a piece of gauze with a weird-smelling green paste on it.

“WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING? HANDS OFF.“, I grunt. But she just ignores me.

“Alpha.“, relief is audible in Kyle’s voice.

“How are you feeling?“

“Like sh**.“, I hiss. The woman hunched over my abdomen doesn’t flinch, doesn’t even look up. Instead, she just continues to press the gauze on my wound.

“Your wound is bleeding badly because of the wolfsbane, Alpha. That it was a silver weapon is not helping either. I have to put pressure on it and let the paste sink in to stop the bleed and help your wolf heal you faster. Sorry.“, I hear her clipped answer.

“What’s on that thing anyway?“, Ace asks, scrunching his nose as he sniffs in the direction of the piece of white tissue she is clutching.

“A paste of myrrh and some other herbs. Family recipe. Draws the wolfsbane right out and counteracts the silver.“

I can’t take my eyes off her, as she answers Ace’s question, still not looking up.

‚Kind of disrespectful. Look up!’, Gideon yaps. I just shake my head at him, but I have to agree. It is sort of rude. And for some reason, I feel the urge to see her face.

“You’re lucky she has that stuff in her locker.“, someone growls from a little further away. The bear. I clench my jaw. My head snaps up to him. So does everybody else’s gaze. Well, except one that is.

“I always carry it on me. However, I didn’t know you had your chair coated in silver and dipped in wolfsbane, Dane.“, she presses out between clenched teeth.

And then, finally, even she looks up. Her eyes search for the bear, leaning casually against the diner’s wall, holding what looks like a brown table cloth to his arm. Her hair falls back at the motion of her head, and I get a glimpse of her side profile.

‚Well, finally.‘, Gideon sounds pleased.

High cheekbones, straight nose, pouty upper lip. The girl hisses in disapproval, clearly angry. But I don’t see her eyes flashing… Why don’t I see her eyes flashing?

“Good thing then, I never touched that precious tiny deathtrap of yours, huh?“, she barks at the bear, finally turning to me after. The biggest, deep brown doe eyes I have ever seen meet mine.

‚Wow! Damn, those would put Bambi to shame.’

‚Shut up.‘, I try putting Gideon in his place but trail off looking at her.

She clears her throat. “Alpha?“

I nod my head, letting her know I'm listening, and force a blank expression on my face. Then, after giving me a weird glance, she opens her mouth again.

“Your pulse is getting stronger, more steady. The paste is working already, I just need you to apply some more pressure to the wound on your way home, and it should be fine. And if I can advise you: go see the pack doctor immediately once you reach, take it easy the next 2 days. Both you and your Beta. “

She nods towards Kyle, pressing a similar piece of gauze to his thigh, hunched over next to me. And then she places my hand on the gauze covering my wound. Getting up slowly, she dusts off her mustard yellow uniform. Even after her hand left mine, I feel like I have just been electrocuted slightly. There is a buzz traveling up my arm, humming in my bones. I follow the length of her bare legs with my eyes. Half is covered by her work clothes.

They do a terrible job at hiding her curves. I can see the dip of her hip, and she obviously works out if you believe the toned, lean look of her arms and legs. Taking a step back, she crosses her arms in front of her chest as if to hide.

‚We already saw all we needed to see ‘, Gideon laughs. I look away smoothly.

“Thank you.“, I nod curtly and groan, trying to get into a more comfortable position on the ground. Or should I just stand? It can’t hurt to try, right? Ace gives me a hand, and I stand up, clenching my jaw. Still feel somewhat lightheaded. But I can handle it. Gideon is doing his best to heal me, and that stuff is doing its job as well, I guess.

“You ain’t really thinking, I’mma let you boys leave after chasing out all my customers and scaring my staff half to death?“

The mustache guy with the baseball bat is back again.

Gideon stirs in me, and my fists clench. Ace taps my arm and shakes his head. Mustache Guy tries to puff out his chest and steps in front of Kyle, who got into a standing position right after I did.

“You ain’t going anywhere.“, he spits.

“I think you want to give that another thought, good man.“

Kyle waves a thick bundle of money in front of the guy’s face.

“For your troubles. And if you are ever looking to sell...“, he puts his card on top.

“Give me a call, and we will pay you an excellent price for it.“

The man drops his baseball bat, collects the money, and starts to speak. But then he seems to decide against it and just waves his hand dismissively. Then, grunting and mumbling something about newly rich f**kers, he enters his diner, passing a waitress storming out. Her pinkish hair flying behind her, she stops in front of the woman, who is still hugging herself, looking alert.

“I don’t know what kind of weird sh** you are on, but this is not right. This guy needs a hospital. His wound is way too deep. She doesn’t know what she is talking about.“, she turns to me, pointing at the brown-eyed stranger with a disgusted look. “Dane definitely reached your gut with how deep he cut you.“, she emphasizes.

Well, he did… but thanks to my wolf, it can’t be that deep any longer. Now that the wolfsbane is no longer an issue.

“Go see an actual doctor, not some skittish freak trying to be a Good Samaritan.“

She flashes me her best seductive smile. I just scoff.

At her last words, the girl she is bad-mouthing clenches her hands. Then, with her fists next to her body, she steps forward.

“The wound to his abdomen is a laceration of the skin. It didn’t enter deeply through the abdominal wall. He should get it cleaned, and I would say a few stitches will be necessary to close up the cut... depending on your technique, it can be more than 5 to help it heal more smoothly and get a thinner scar. As for you: Go home, Mindy. Sounded like Sal is going to close up for tonight anyway.“

The girl called Mindy storms past the “good Samaritan“ towards a Toyota, which is one of the two cars still in the parking lot beside our black ones.

“F**k you, weirdo.“ As she reaches the car, she slams the door shut and drives off at an ungodly speed.