The Alpha

Chapter 7

Despite further protests from Will and Jo, I find myself creeping through an empty street. Jo is at the

shelter, keeping an eye on everything. Will had wanted to come along, but I told him it was better if I

went alone. The more people involved the harder it is to be stealthy. And that's not something I can

afford right now.

Trash and debris line the unused sidewalk. Cars sit idly, unused and forgotten after years of having no

owner. Stray dogs dig through a mess at the corner of another alley, one looking up at me and

growling. My wolf instantly shines her aura through and the dog whimpers and runs off. I can't help but

to think of the differences between Crescent City and The Scourge. The inner parts of the city have

shiny new buildings and streets lined with fancy modern cars. Ruins have been cleared out to make

room for everything new. But here is the exact opposite. Everything is old, rusted, in disrepair.

After a few more blocks, I arrive at an old brick building that is still mostly standing. Ray and the

members of his gang took this place as their own. They didn't want to share space with the rest of the

packless, probably so no one would witness all their illegal activities. Even though we don't have any

sort of justice system in The Scourge most of us still have morals and wouldn't willingly let Ray cause

too much trouble. If he really did kill those wolves, he would certainly be kicked out of the territory or

executed. Rogues have it much worse than packless. They aren't allowed anywhere near the Crescent

Moon territory. They have nowhere to call home and no one to turn to.

I use my enhanced hearing and sense of smell to see if there is anyone present. As soon as I deem it

is safe to do so, I enter the building, careful to not let the old screen door slam behind me. I slowly and

cautiously move up the steps one at a time, keeping close to the wall and stepping over all the trip Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

hazards that litter the floor. Following my nose, I find his room on the fourth floor. The room has a bed,

a small kitchen, and a single bath. Some necessities seem to have been left behind, but the space is in

complete disarray and smells like rotting food and dirty clothes. My nose wrinkles in disgust as my eyes

take in the room. Luckily, Ray is still nowhere to be seen.

Very carefully, I begin picking through the piles of stuff scattered all over the floor. I dig through drawers

and every other nook and cranny I come across. When I get to his nightstand I find a scrap of leather

with a white crescent moon on it. My fingers brush against what looks like dried blood and I lightly sniff

at it. The metallic scent tells me that my assumption is correct. I look around before folding the piece of

leather and sticking it in my pocket for safekeeping. Ray always seemed like the type of person to keep

trophies, always looking for a reason to brag. I knew that he would have had some sort of memento if

he was guilty and I'm glad I'm right. Now I need to figure out what to do with the information. It certainly

wouldn't be the smartest thing to confront him on my own. But I also don't want to include members of

the Crescent Moon Pack.

After searching for another ten minutes or so, I decide I should get out of here. I wish that I could mind-

link with other packless. That would make things so much easier. I could have had people on the

lookout to see if Ray and his thugs came back. Unfortunately, wolves can only mind-link with members

of their pack and since we are packless we can't do it at all. I have heard of rare instances where

wolves from different packs were able to mind-link, but it was because their bond had been so strong or

they had once belonged to the same pack.

I sneak down the steps and begin the trek back to the shelter. Suddenly, I hear the crunch of footsteps

coming toward me and I instantly freeze as I go on the alert. The smell of earth, sandalwood, and

whiskey floats through the air causing the hairs on the back of my neck to stand on end. Shit. "Get out

now Scarlet! Run!" my wolf urges, but it's too late.

Ray is standing only a yard ahead of me. His hands are stuffed in his pockets and he has a cocksure

smirk on his face. "Well well well, what do I have here? To what do I owe the pleasure beautiful?" he

asks as he strolls closer to me, my body tensing as though ready for him to pounce.

"Not that it's any of your business Ray, but I just needed some fresh air," I respond as I try to sidestep

him.

"I find that pretty hard to believe. You never come around my part of town," he insists, continuing his

slow strut up to me.

"Yes, well I needed a change of scenery and I heard you hadn't been around."

"Indeed. But neither have you. Last thing I heard, you were stabbed in the gut," he remarks, now

standing right in front of me. His stale breath making my nose scrunch in distaste. "And now here you

are. Looking as fine as ever." He reaches out and slips his hand under the hem of my shirt, brushing

his fingers over the spot where I had been stabbed. I quickly swat away his hand and take a step back

before speaking.

"What's it to you anyway? Just get out of the way Ray. Jo is expecting me to help with dinner."

I go to push passed him and he suddenly snatches my wrist, bringing it up to his face. He closes his

eyes and inhales deeply. When his eyes open, his gaze hardens suspiciously at me and he jerks me

towards him, smelling my ear and neck. His closeness is making me feel nauseous and I take a slow,

unsteady breath, trying to calm myself. "You were in my room," he states in a low growl. "What were

you doing there?" I shrug and try to back away, but his grip tightens on my wrist causing me to grimace.

"Answer me Scarlet." He twists harder, forcing a whimper to escape my lips and he smiles viciously. He

likes that he's causing me pain.

"Damn it Ray! Let go of me! I was just curious okay!"

He glares at me for a moment before his hand reaches into my pocket and pulls out the leather scrap.

He grins triumphantly as he holds it up for me to see. "Did a little snooping I see. And what did you

find?"

I angrily yank myself away and take a step back. "You're the reason the Crescent Moon Pack attacked

us. You're the reason innocent packless died. Why Ray? Why did you kill those men?" I question

angrily.

He sneers at me. "Maybe because they deserved it. Maybe I just felt like it," he seethes as his lips twist

in disgust. "Maybe because I recognized one of the assholes I've had run-ins with before and wanted a

bit of revenge."

"You're insane," I spit at him. "You killed those men! You murdered them! And for what? One of them

hurt your pride once or twice? Grow the hell up Ray! You are not going to get away with this. Not this

time," I state bravely though my body is itching to make a run for it. Even my wolf is begging me to get

the heck out of here.

"Oh yeah? And who's going to stop me princess? You?" he scoffs.

"Why not?" I question defensively.

He lets out a big guffaw that makes my face heat with anger. "Alright honey. Let's see what you got," he

states as he gestures with his hands to come at him. I know it's a bad idea. He's just trying to get me

worked up. I growl in frustration.

"I think I'll let the others decide what to do with you," I spit.

"Too late for that now sugar," he teases before suddenly swinging at me.

I quickly raise my arm to block before he swings with the opposite arm, connecting with the same spot

where I had been stabbed a week and a half ago. Luckily, the spot is already healed from the previous

wound since enhanced healing abilities comes with being a werewolf. I stumble back and dodge

another blow. He is swinging at me in such quick succession that I have to use everything I got just to

keep from getting hit again. Suddenly, he kicks out his leg causing me to fall backwards before he

straddles my hips. His fingers elongate into large claws as he swipes at my chest, tearing my top in two

and leaving a long gash across my skin. I cry out in pain before managing to block another attack.

His eyes darken as he looks down at me and the next thing I know he has grabbed my wrists and has

pinned them above my head. I buck my hips and squirm underneath him as I try to free myself, but it is

to no avail. He leans down so that his lips are next to my ear as he begins to speak softly to me, "Has

anyone ever told you how heavenly you smell? I think I may want to have some fun with you before I

kill you..." Without any other warning he licks my neck with a deep, throaty moan.

My eyes widen as I realize what he is saying, fear and disgust immediately bubbling up inside of me.

"GET OFF!" I yell and a burst of white light shoves him off me. For a moment, I lie there in shock. What

the hell just happened? Did I do that? I shoot up into a sitting position and my head swivels around to

see if there is anyone else around, but it is still just me and Ray. Unfortunately, my confusion allows

him a moment to jump on me again and he backhands my cheek so hard that black spots begin

dancing in my vision. I groan in agony and he hits me again. He has the upper hand and I can't seem

to summon enough strength to get out from under him. I don't know what to do as I blink my eyes trying

to rid them of the stars that I'm seeing. I'm too disoriented to call my wolf forward so I do the only thing I

can think of. "Will.... Help me..." I try to mind-link, hoping to Goddess that it will work. I've never tried it

since I've never really needed the ability before. But now I'm desperate.

"Scar? Where are you? What's wrong?"

"Ray.... Outside Ray's. He caught me..." I manage to get out as I feel Ray's hands beginning to paw at

my exposed flesh and I let out a whimper as I use my last bit of strength to try to fight him off.

I manage to free one of my hands from his grip and swiftly jab at his eyes. He wails and tumbles off of

me. Quickly, I turn onto my stomach and pull myself away from him, struggling to force myself into an

upright position. My hair is roughly yanked back and I claw at the ground, trying to reach some sort of

weapon, some way out of this. His body climbs onto me, pinning me to the ground as he flips me to my

back once more. His meaty hand wraps around my throat and I struggle to breathe. Suddenly, I hear

the pounding of several footsteps and Ray goes flying backwards before blood sprays everywhere.

It happened so fast that it takes a moment for my eyes to adjust to understand what just transpired.

From my position on the ground I see Ethan standing over me, his eyes black from his wolf that is

clearly raging inside of him. He is breathing heavily as he tries to calm himself and his fists are

clenched tightly at his sides. About a dozen men are surrounding him including the one that I know of

as Alex. Ray's body lies on the ground and his head is a few feet away, the crimson of his blood

splattered around us.

"Scarlet!" I hear Will's voice behind me before he's helping me up and pulling me into his arms. I

squeeze him tightly and bury my face in his shoulder, vaguely registering the low growling sound that is

coming from my mate. Will's hands run soothingly up and down my back as he quietly shushes me as

though trying to calm a baby.

"Drake, Leo, clean up this mess," Ethan barks. I'm assuming he is referring to Ray's body. I'm too

shaken up to bother looking back at him. Not to mention I'm not ready to face whatever his reaction

might be. He is probably furious with me for running off and disobeying him. And then he finds me with

the man he had been looking for. What if he throws me in the dungeons again? I don't know if I can

handle that. Not now. Not after everything I've been through lately. "Scarlet. Come," Ethan orders from

behind me.

I don't let Will go as I turn to look over my shoulder. Ethan's whole body is tense and his eyes are black

with anger. Turning back to Will, he kisses me lightly on the forehead. "You don't have to go with him if

you'd don't want to," he whispers softly to me.

My gaze travels to Ethan once more as I internally debate. I'm scared to go back with him. I'm sure he

is furious with me and I have no idea how severe the consequences will be. And he clearly heard Will's

words because he somehow looks even more enraged now. His body seems to be vibrating with the

effort he is putting into trying to stay calm. There is no way he would let me stay here without him. And I

don't want him and Will fighting because of me. I let out a sigh as my focus returns to Will. "It's okay. I'll

be fine," I assure him before smiling and tapping a finger to my temple. "And I'll keep in touch."

He grins back at me and nods. "I'm going to hold you to that."

"You better."

I finally let go of him and pull the tattered remains of my shirt closed as I hesitantly walk over to Ethan.

He instantly takes off his black leather jacket and throws it over my shoulders before his hands come

up and lightly cup my face as he looks over my injuries, causing a tingling sensation everywhere his

fingers touch. I know my face must be black and blue and I definitely have a split lip. He gently pushes

my hair back from my face as he looks into my eyes, his gaze softening. Warmth fills me up. How can

he treat me so poorly and then look at me with so much love? Suddenly, he bends down and scoops

me up bridal-style before he turns to carry me away, his entourage flanking us all the way to his SUV. I

bury my face against him and close my eyes, wondering if I'll be sent back to the dungeons.