Page 15 of Alpha Scorned

“And whose fucking fault is that, asshole?” Stone snapped, his eyes glowing purple.

My lip curled in a snarl, my nostrils flaring. “Mine. I realise that. And don’t worry, I know we have a job to do, and I will make sure it’s done to the best of my ability. That said, I need to be able to bounce ideas off someone who has my back. Right now, Rawson doesn’t, and if things go completely wrong for me, and my wolf can’t handle being near Selina, you will have to drive a knife into my heart.”

“That’s bullshit,” stated Rawson. “Youarestrong enough to deal with this. And that challenge is separate from this situation. You are our brother; all you have to do is pull your head out of your arse, and keep your shit together, and we will have your back.”

I don’t fucking think so.My eyes conveyed my thoughts. But I was aware we had a stranger in the room with us and we’d already revealed enough conflict between us.

“Enough. Zander, take my right. Robin, my left.” Keeping my face cold, I stared at Rawson and then Stone. “You two can either help me, or stay the fuck out of my way. Lionel, you are Zander’s stand in if I need anyone.”

“Sure,” said the blonde haired male. He sat back in his chair, looking relaxed, but his eyes were sharp, taking in our faces and our movements. Lionel was a predator, a lion who watched and observed and would only expend the energy to strike when it was necessary and he knew he would win.

I changed my focus to Robin. Her eyes lit with interest and she ran her tongue over her bottom lip. My dick didn’t stir. I had no interest in her, not really, Not even for a quick fuck. Pleasure and pain had been my highs of choice, but I hadn’t a hope in hell of anything distracting me from the pain of seeing Selina and Devon again. Ignoring her obvious interest, I concentrated on the real reason I was here. “Tell me everything you know about the disappearances. Leave nothing out.”

Robin nodded, but she still held my gaze. “Of course, Alpha. Perhaps you’d like some coffee or food before we start? It’s been a long journey for you. I’m happy to sort that out.”

I bit back my irritation at her lack of compliance, and pushed some power into my gaze. “No. We ate on the plane. Details. Now.” I was being an arse, but I couldn’t bring myself to care about her opinion of me. I wanted to get this situation resolved and get the fuck away from Selina.

Robin frowned, but held her tongue, and sensibly dropped her gaze. “The first shifter went missing four weeks ago. He was a guard patrolling the border of the western territory. Guards are required to check in with each other every twelve hours, and change back every forty-eight hours to make contact with our ops center via the satellite phones in the guard huts. He didn’t, so we went looking for him. At first, we thought he’d either had an accident or was sick, but there was no sign of him and no scent to follow. It was at the hut but didn’t go anywhere. It was like he’d disappeared into thin air. Three weeks ago, two more guards went missing, then two weeks ago, we had four more guards on different borders disappear. When they didn’t check in, Shane took our strongest alphas and went to hunt for them. That was the last we heard from him.” The volume of her voice ebbed and she looked down at the table. Her shame tainted the air. “I didn’t know how to handle it. If I’d sent more people out to search for them, they might have fallen victim to whatever was happening. Our pack was already more vulnerable with our Alpha gone. We have plenty of alphas and betas in the pack, but not all of them are trained to fight, and we have vulnerable omegas living here. Ones that have chosen to come to our pack because their previous lives were rough on them. Most have been subjected to abuse, which is why they’re here. We respect our omegas, and treat them with care. Everyone here can contribute to pack life somehow.” Guilt etched her features. “Sending any more alphas out without knowing if they’d come back, would have left the pack at risk. I had no idea if the town might be attacked by whatever was taking our strongest.” She met my gaze before looking at the others. She was a strong Beta, verging on an alpha, but her inexperience showed in her indecision.

“It’s fine,” I reassured her, scenting her mix of emotions in the air. “You did the right thing in asking for help.”

Her lips pressed together, and she held my gaze briefly before looking over my shoulder as a subordinate wolf should. “I hope so, Alpha, because this is my pack. I would fight anyone who threatened it—even you, if I had to.”

I fixed my gaze on her face and pushed out a bit of reassurance and strength. She swallowed hard.

“You won’t have to. My brothers are just being anxious pricks.”

“So you’re not unstable?” she asked, her gaze flicking to my face.

I grinned, though it wasn’t driven by humour. “I like you, Robin. You’re a straight talking woman. Don’t worry, I'll keep your pack safe, as will my brothers.”

“Good. Glad you’re not unstable.”

I chuckled. “Oh, I didn’t say that. Now tell me about the pack. I’ll want to interview the last person who spoke to Shane. I also want to address the pack and tell them I’m their new Alpha for the foreseeable future, anyway. I expect there’ll be a challenge or two, so we need to get that out of the way before I can move on with finding Shane.”

Robin nodded. “Of course. I can call a pack meeting in the great cave. When would you like to do that?”

“Tomorrow night. Let the rumour mill circulate a bit first. Let the gossip start, and, hopefully, more of the pack will attend the meeting.”

“Okay.” Robin leaned back in her chair and let her gaze rest on my face. She was all business now. “Do you intend to kill anyone who challenges you?”

I shrugged. “Not unless I have to. But I don’t have the time or the inclination to be diplomatic, and I intend to make that clear.”

Her disagreement was written all over her face, but I didn’t care. There were still alphas living here who had been inmates at the prison, which meant they’d either remember I was a killer, or they were already vicious enough to try and take power for themselves. “It’s shifter law, Robin, you know that. Any challenger to an Alpha’s position can be killed without recourse.”

“I know. But I’m worried about the younger alphas who don’t know who you are.”

I gave her an evil grin. “Well, if they don’t, they soon will. Hopefully the rumours that fly around in the next twenty four hours will dissuade them from acting recklessly.”

“Maybe,” she said, but she didn’t look convinced. “Or maybe they’ll want to prove themselves.”

The last thing I wanted was difficulty with the pack; I wasn’t here to permanently take over Shane’s position. I just wanted as little interference in my investigation as possible. “How about, in the interest of diplomacy, I agree to not rip their heads off?”

She nodded, but didn’t smile. “Fine. But I already know some of the more arrogant and stupid young males will try and prove themselves against you.”

Lionel snorted. “Then they deserve an ass-kicking. They need to learn who to respect.”

Stone and Rawson nodded in agreement.

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