Alphess: An Angel of Death

Rescue & Recovery

The idea of Titan being the Alpha of my home pack made me want to storm into that ballroom right now. The idea of that bully touching and mating with my little sister almost let me do it. My wolf was right there with me, pushing to the surface. I felt my claws elongating, I knew my eyes were flickering from human and brown to wolf and yellow. I drew in a few deep breaths, re-centering myself. That would do nothing but get me killed. I had to think about this logically.

            “How could that pig forsake his mate for another?” I snarled.

            The boy shrugged. “Guess Abigail doesn’t put out enough for him.”

            I launched myself to my feet, coming closer to him and shoving him into the wall. “Do. Not. Speak about her like that,” I said through gritted teeth.

            “Calm down, Hayden. I’m on your side.”

            “How do you know who I am?”

            “I’d never forget you, Hayden. I may not be able to smell you right now, but I recognize your voice. You saved my life too many times to count when we were kids, princess.”

            It clicked then. This was Ajax, the omega that I’d stood up against Titan for. Time had really done well for him. He still looked like he was growing into his body, but he was attractive and had filled out from when we were young. Gone was his wobbly insecurity, replaced with a wry outlook and sharp tongue. He was cool and collected, even in the face of a threat. My curiosity piqued even more over his eyes. What had happened to him? What had Titan finally been able to do? I didn’t have time to ask or think about it – I heard a noise from somewhere inside and I immediately left Ajax and went back to the girl, hauling her out of the kennel.

            “We’re leaving,” I said to him. “Can I trust you?”

            He shrugged. “Sure.” He had his head c****d as he listened for the noise. “I probably won’t live very long to tell the tale when they get here.”

            “So come with us.” I didn’t think about it before I said it. I probably should have, but something in me knew I could trust him.

            He scoffed. “Are you kidding me? Rouge life doesn’t suit a blind wolf.”

            “You don’t have to be a rouge, Ajax. Join me. My pack will welcome you.”

            He raised an eyebrow. “Well now who is full of surprises.”

            “I can explain it all later. Right now, we have to move.” I gave the girl a little shove. “Get going,” I told her. She hesitated before running east. I looked back at Ajax. “Up to you.”

            “What are we waiting for?” he said.

            I smiled softly at him before we both phased and started running. My mind was still spinning with the information Ajax had given me. My family, save little Abigail, was dead. And Abigail may be going through something right now even worse than death – being mated to Titan and having to live with him f*****g other women. Legend has it that that kind of pain was excruciating. Every time your mate lay with another, it would be like your own body was on fire and being stabbed with hundreds of needles all at the same time. I wanted him dead for what he was doing to my sister. I wanted to turn around, march back into that ballroom, and rip off his head. But if he was truly Alpha, with all the trimmings, I’d have to manage to do that eight times without being killed seven times myself. I was already down a life gifted to me from the Moon Goddess, and if I knew anything about Titan it was that he would have someone else do a lot of his dirty work before he lifted a finger. Meaning, there was a good chance he had all of his. And a huge pack to back him up. Me flying off the rails was out of the question. It wouldn’t just be my life on the line – I had the girls to think about, and now Ajax and all of our terrified refugees. I’d have to put Titan on the back burner for now and return to that later.

            I also had a hard time wrapping my head around Ajax being blind. What had happened to him that was so horrible, so permanent to leave him unable to heal his eyes? What could even do that to a wolf? And why had Titan (presumably) done it to him? What had Ajax done to deserve it, or had he just been the unfortunate scapegoat for Titan’s rage? It did make me wonder if bringing Ajax with us was safe. Could I really trust him? Was he really working for Titan, and he would turn on me the first chance he got? I didn’t know, and I figured I’d have to wait to find out anyway.

            Taryn, we’ve picked up a stray. We’re coming in hot.

            A stray? Came the reply from my beta.

            I’ll explain when we’re all out of the hot zone, eh?

            Fine, fine. All of the girls made it to Nora and Vanessa. We’re just waiting on you.

            Sasha? You ready?

            Locked and loaded, boss. I heard Sasha’s voice now in my head. I could smell Taryn by now and I swung my head around to look for her, seeing her crouched low in the grass. She popped up when she saw me, bounding over. She glanced curiously at Ajax, fixated on his eyes for a moment, and then looked back at me.

            A stray, huh? Looks more like another charity case, Taryn scoffed at me.

            I snorted, ears pinning to my head. He’s from the Olympia Pack. Just…give me time later to explain. I doubt he’ll harm any of us in any way.

            She just swished her tail as a response. I turned to Ajax and gave him a nudge on the shoulder to let him know we were heading off again before I turned and started heading for the gardens.

            Nora, Vanessa. Start loading the girls, I said.

            You got it.

            A short run later and we came upon the big white van. I could see a flash of red hair that would be Sasha in the driver’s seat and heard the shuffle of feet as Nora and Vanessa ushered the refugees into the car. Taryn hung back a few hundred yards, prowling back and forth on a look out. I took a quick glance around before phasing back to human so I could speak to Ajax.

            “Ajax, I’m going to need you to go with them.”

            He shifted back too once realizing I was human again. His shifting was a lot smoother than I remember. “But I can help you. I’m not weak and starving.”

            “I realize that, but this is a calculated, well-oiled plan here. Please just get in the van and listen to Sasha and whomever else from my pack. Help the girls stay calm.”

            He let out a growl of displeasure before turning and marching toward the van. For a blind wolf, he really did get along well. Guess his nose really did much of the work for him; lucky he was a werewolf. I was about to shift back when I heard a shrill bark come from Nora. I darted around the van, expecting to see that Ajax had turned on me and maybe attacked her. Instead, I found the woman staring slack-jawed at Ajax, her purple-blue eyes blown wide. Ajax had frozen in place too and he was sniffing intently at the air towards the dark-haired woman in front of him. It was Nora to speak first, coming forward and throwing her arms around Ajax.

            “Mate!” she yipped. Oh, God…not again. First Jaime and Sasha, now them? Time to start calling this pack Cupid’s Pack instead.

            Ajax scooped Nora into his gangly arms and swung her in a circle, laughing. “Mate!” he replied before planting a big kiss on her lips.

            I sighed, coming closer. “Break it up, you two. They’ll be plenty of time for that later. We have to move.”

            Nora looked at me, her cheeks reddening with embarrassment. “S-Sorry, Alphess.”

            “Just get in the van.”

            She nodded, grabbing Ajax by the hand and dragging him into the vehicle. I looked at Vanessa and we shared an exasperated glance before she climbed aboard too. I pat the back of the van and Sasha took off down the road. I phased back and went to meet up with Taryn. We watched the hotel for a moment before we each darted off a different way. Me to tail the van, her to catch up with Lydia waiting at the forest’s edge. Now my mind was really buzzing. Guess with this new discovery between Nora and Ajax, it was much less likely Ajax would do anything to put my pack in jeopardy. It would mean risking Nora’s life, and the mate-bond would squelch that idea. But still…was Ajax now a fugitive? Would Titan want him back too, or would he let him go easily?

-x-

            The rest of the plan went off without a hitch. I followed the van to be sure it reached the hand-off to Jaime, then continued to follow the now-empty van that Sasha drove around the city aimlessly. It was meant to be a distraction as Jaime got the van full of refugees to Lydia and Taryn. They’d get them to our safe house and Sasha and I would join the entire pack by midnight. There were search parties around the hotel, but the scents disappeared within the garden and made it nearly impossible to track any of the girls. It appeared we were in the clear, at least for now.

            Sasha and I finally made our way back to the safehouse, riding together in the white van. It wasn’t really much of a place at all, just a big warehouse in a small town northeast of Anchorage. It was run by an elderly gentleman named Tom that Taryn had befriended few years ago. He helped us house the girls and gather supplies for them until they found permanent places to go. It was the underground, werewolf version of a women’s shelter. I knocked on the back door three times, and Sasha another two.

            “I’m not expecting a delivery,” came the answer on the other side of the door. The voice was rickety and scratchy – Tom.

            I racked my brain for the right response to let him know who we were. He changed his phrase every so often, so if anyone was listening they wouldn’t catch on that it was an exchange of passwords. “We’re a day early.”

            Tom cracked open the door, eyeing us suspiciously before he recognized us and let us both in. He locked the door again behind us and led us down the back hall. “How was the night?” he asked us.

            “Not bad,” I replied. “How are they?”

            “Shaken up, but thankful for a place to rest. Just waiting on you now.”

            I nodded, passing through the swinging silver doors and out onto the main floor. It was covered in big piles of shrink-wrapped boxes and a couple forklifts. Only a few lights were on, coming from camping lanterns encircling the wolves. Like I said, it wasn’t much but it was safe. Sasha split away from me to go rejoin Jaime and the rest of my pack along the edge of the room.

 I saw the dozen of refugees all piled on cots and sleeping bags, looking apprehensive. They turned toward me when they caught my scent for the first time. Some of them started to cry, leaning on their neighbor for support. Some quickly averted their gazes. I approached the ragged group and crouched down in front of them.

            “Ladies,” I addressed, waiting for them to all turn their gaze (teary or not) to me again. “My name is Hayden. Some of you may have heard of me – I am the Alphess of a band of rouges and refugees. Some call us the Slaughter Pack; some call me the Devil, or the Harbinger of Death. But I’m not here to hurt you – I’m here to help you. The Auction is a disgusting, degrading practice that needs to be stopped. If that can’t happen from the inside out, then I will stop it myself every time. You are safe here and will be safe under my protection. I want you all to get rest. Tomorrow, we will discuss everything else. Are there any pressing questions?”

            A shaky hand was raised into the air from one of the girls sitting in the back. “A-Are….are we part of your pack now? I…I couldn’t kill anyone like you did.”

            I smiled softly, hoping that it softened how I looked to them. “Don’t worry. You have no obligations to kill anyone. My hope is to find you all new packs that will welcome you and treat you well. Rest easy, ladies.” I got back to my feet, heading towards my pack. I heard them all rustling around and by the time I looked back at them, they were all settled down and ready to sleep. I looked at Taryn. “I’ll take first watch.”

            She nodded. “Wake me up in a few hours.”

            I took up roost on the top of one of the shorter piles of boxes, eyes scanning the dark warehouse. The light in Tom’s office went out a moment later and Taryn turned off a majority of the lanterns to let the girls sleep. It would be a long next few weeks, but this is what we spent our time preparing for. They needed us, and I wasn’t going to let them down.