Page 18 of The Alpha

“Aye, I feel them,” Dallan agreed. He looked at the door in front of them and opened it.

“A basement?” Shona asked as she took his hand. “Where’s the light switch?”

“Perhaps down there,” Zara said.

Dallan put Shona behind him and started down the stairs. “Stay close, Flower.”

She did and let him lead the way.

He reached the bottom and could smell an odd scent. “Find the lights.”

“I found dem,” Kwaku said. There was a click, and the lights came on. Shona gasped. “Oh, Dallan, no.”

The four stared at the cement floor. It was littered with more than a dozen tranquilizer darts.

“Looks like they were in a hurry to get out of here. No doubt they’ll send someone to clean this up,” Dallan said. He bent to the floor and picked up a dart. “Poor Melvale. How many of these d’ye think they got into him?”

“Enough to take him,” Zara said. “And hopefully not so many that they do him harm.”

Kwaku also picked up a dart. “Dese men do not know what dey are dealing wid. If Melvale’s Alpha takes over, dey will have to keep him heavily drugged.”

“Or what?” Shona asked.

Kwaku gave her a matter of fact look. “He will kill dem.”

She gasped. “Melvale?”

Kwaku nodded. “Dey have his mate, my treasure. If dey harm her, or even so much as frighten her, he will eliminate dem.”

Shona put an arm around Dallan. “That’s horrible.”

“No, it isna,” Dallan said. “Not in this case. The Alpha side of him is controlled by pure instinct, is it no?”

“Yes, Boyeee,” Kwaku said. “Dese are bad men. Very bad. If Melvale eliminates dem, den so be it.”

“What do they want?” Shona asked.

Kwaku took on a grave look. “If my guess is right, all of us.” He stood to his full height and headed for a door on the other side of the room. It, too, was unlocked and he opened it.

“It’s the backyard of the building,” Shona stated.

“Aye, and look.” Dallan nodded at an open gate in a chain link fence that separated this yard from the next. There was another gate, and it led into an alley between two buildings that faced the next block over. He looked at the space between the buildings, and most of the backyards were separated by the same sort of chain link fencing.

“Oh, no,” Shona breathed.

Dallan took her hand and headed for the gate leading to the alley. “They must have brought him out this way.”

“To a waiting vehicle,” Shona added. She looked up at Dallan. “I have a bad feeling. A very bad one.”

“Aye, lass, as do I.” He looked at Kwaku. “They’ll no kill him, will they?”

“No, but dey will do unspeakable tings to Melvale and his mate de longer dey have dem. And if dey dink she has no value and kill her, den it is only a matter of time before Melvale dies.”

“So, they need to bond, in some way,” Shona said.

“Yes, little treasure. He must bond wid her, den mark her as his. Dat is letting nature take its course. Den de two sides of Melvale will complete de merge into one man.”

“How does this Alpha bond?” Dallan asked.

---