Page 33 of Unexpected Alpha's Claim

I pressed down, managing to keep his mouth away from my throat. He thrashed and landed a double kick to my stomach, which sounded like a couple of fists banging into a hard surface. It did nothing to discourage me. Nothing would take my mind off my objective.

Rolling until I was back on top, I looked at him, his reddish fur was soaked in rainwater with chunks of dirt tangled in amongst his fur. A fast thrust of my snout forced him out of my view.

Brad’s head was glued back to the mud, his eyes remaining open as my fangs pressed through his fur. Piercing his skin, I sank my teeth deeper. I jerked my head right and left as I felt and tasted his blood coating my teeth and tongue. I clamped harder and his agonizing yips rose above the sound of the rain. He spread his back legs and more of his blood flooded my mouth. Streams of the red substance trailed down either side of his neck but the rain washed it away almost as fast as it flowed. Vapors from his last breath left his nostrils.

“No!”

The high-pitched, feminine voice distracted me and made me look up. Kayla and Siobhan were outside, wrapped together in a blue and a red blanket standing a short distance from the front door. Kayla had pressed her wrist to her mouth, tears pooling in her eyes.

Then Brad made one final whimper and breathed his last. Siobhan didn’t show any emotion whatsoever. Glancing at her fallen Alpha first, she then raised her gaze to me.

“We’ll notify the pack,” Siobhan said, her voice as empty as Brad’s lifeless body.

No need for that. It was nothing I couldn’t take care of. Standing over the dead body of the Alpha, I eased my head back. Forks of lightning continued to leave their traces through the clouds in the sky as I shut my eyes. A powerful howl rose from my throat and spread throughout the valley. It’s echoes satisfying to my ears, I howled for the second time, to confirm my first message to my people. Brad Grayson was no longer the ruler of our land.

22

RAUL

Freedom.

This simple concept dominated my beast’s thoughts. He didn’t think much. The wolf’s actions were dictated by instinct. Standing over Brad’s lifeless form though, he was ecstatic. Striding through the trees, free of the burden of his former Alpha, he felt like a nine-year-old running about in a massive front yard. He didn’t have to answer to anyone anymore. Nobody would dare insult him unless they had a death wish. No one else would make decisions for him.Hewould make the rules.

All four cabins were dark when I got back home. No surprises there. My siblings had been away. Sam and Ray were in Shandaken, while Nora was on a flight back from Miami. Shedding the wolf’s cloak, I put on my brightest smile and walked up the stairs. I was in charge now. Neither Monica nor I would have to look over our shoulders. We wouldn’t have to worry about rules, who made them or why.

Yet, time went by, and the road down below remained empty. Sam and Ray did not show up. Over an hour later, I was stilllooking out my window, worriedly hoping to see them or their cars, but to no avail. I hated waiting and concern moderated my joy.

I stalked down the stairs and yanked the front door open. I didn’t have a plan, only a vague notion of doing something. Going to look for them or something. Anything would be better than sitting here and feeling helpless. Had something happened to them?

As soon as I stepped through the door, I saw them standing there on the porch. Sam’s expression was grim, but Ray was grinning from ear to ear.

“Yeah, baby!” Ray cheered, taking a big step towards me. The next thing I knew, his arms were around my back. “I knew you’d do it.”

“Congratulations,” Sam said, but his voice and manner were both subdued.

“What, Sam?” I asked.

He shrugged, looking off to one side as he shook his head.

“Look, what you did didn’t go down well with some of the pack members,” he said. “I stopped at Joe’s to get a feel for how this was going down. Most of them are happy with Brad’s demise, but not all of them. You’re going to have to convince the ones who are not.”

I nodded understanding but couldn’t keep my disappointment from mounting. Brad was a fucking tool. I’d thought every member of the pack would be thankful his reign was over. That wasn’t the case but if I’m going to be taking over as Alpha then it’s on me to fix it.

“I’ll get my coat,” I said.

I hadn’t expected Sammy to be cheerful, but I was sure he’d understand even if he wasn’t happy with it. Sam was more of a “don’t rock the boat” kind of guy, but I’d gone along for as long as I could. Monica had changed everything for me. Taking out Brad was the least of the things I would do for my chance to be with her.

Unfortunately, though, this wasn’t only about my brother. It was easy to assume that there were a handful of idiots who liked things the way they had been. Perhaps they enjoyed having a tyrant as their leader. Or maybe they had worked out their own special deals with him, deals that ensured they were left alone. Whatever it was it didn’t matter because now it was all my problem. That’s the weight that came with being the Alpha. I had to think about the good of all the pack. Something that Brad never bothered to do.

I followed Sam to his truck, muttering curses under my breath. Those people didn’t make sense to me anyway. I knew I didn’t have Brad’s experience as a leader, but I also lacked something he’d had in even greater quantity. A big, fat egotistical streak that was as wide as the mountains were long. And, unlike him, I was prepared to listen to them and to help them out for a change.

As soon as we pulled into the parking lot ofJoe’sI understood what Sam had meant. More often than not, there were around ten to twelve cars at the bar. My fight against Brad had changed this. There were fifty or so cars and pickup trucks filling the lot to almost full.

Sam drove to one of the last spots left and parked. We got out and strode to the bar. The smell of so many bodies packed inside filled my nose. Anticipation tried to rise, but the wolf devouredthat. I was Alpha. No one could question me, no matter if I was willing to listen or not.

As I walked into the bar it only took one glance to see that my people were divided. It disappointed me to see this, but the situation was what it was. At the far side of the bar a group of ten shifters were cornered by a much larger group.

Staying true to their nature, the smaller group was shouting and gesturing, not intimidated by the fact that they were outnumbered. I couldn’t stand to watch it and rushed forward, ignoring my brother’s calls. Fuck that. I hadn’t confronted Brad just to see them turn on one another.

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