Page 1 of A Secret Baby By the Alpha

Chapter 1 - Colson

The Sparkle Hollow pack was on the move again. For the third time this month, a transport was heading between their sleepy little town and the reclusive Moonstone pack. It was suspicious behavior, and I was determined to get to the bottom of it. Which was why I found myself sitting in a dark sedan with the other alphas of the Dark Alpha group in the dead of night.

“It still doesn’t make sense,” Julian said. “They don’t even have an active alliance. What can they possibly be sending to each other? And why so frequently? And in secret?”

“If I knew the answers to your questions, we wouldn’t be doing surveillance out here, would we, Wentworth?” I sighed in displeasure at Alpha Julian Wentworth’s verbal barrage. We had been watching the road for hours now, and hardly a moment had passed when it was quiet. “Just focus, okay? If our scout’s information is right, they should be heading through here any minute.”

Julian opened his mouth to say something else, but with a glance from Alpha Axel Vitali, he seemed to change his mind. Of all the alphas in our uneasy coalition, Axel was the one I felt the most kinship with. I rolled my eyes in the rearview mirror and saw him muffle a laugh behind his hand. Julian had been irritating to all of us from the get-go, but he was still a part of the group.

In lieu of speaking, the young alpha began to drum his fingers on the car door. I pinched the bridge of my nose in irritation and reminded myself that we were on the same side here. As much as his quirks irritated me, the services of the Dark Alpha group were necessary.

I had only been a member of the group for a few months. I had Franco Stone to thank for that. The presence of his violent, cursed pack had caused too many problems that I couldn’t ignore. Alpha Franco had assured me that their presence near our town wouldn’t cause me any problems, but I didn’t trust him—especially after he tried to erase his wrongdoings by rebranding the Forsaken Shadows pack as the Redeeming Light pack.

I scoffed at the memory of receiving his invitation to “celebrate” with him and their allies. Having a strong pack like Sparkle Hollow at my doorstep had hardly been grounds for jubilation. Especially considering my history with them. I couldn’t take that risk without having some serious firepower behind me.

Which is where the Dark Alphas came in. It had been Axel who initially approached me and offered his pack’s services to keep my pack and lands safe from interference. They had even gone so far as to help me expand my territory somewhat. It wasn’t an alliance, necessarily. Each of us knew that the ties that bound us together were weak. But at least for now, it was in my pack’s best interests to keep them intact.

“You sure you want to interrupt whatever this shipment is?” Julian interjected.

“Yes,” I replied simply.

Sooner or later, Sparkle Hollow would know about me. It was of paramount importance for that to happen on my own terms. What I needed was to get as much leverage as possible first. Intercepting this transport was the first step in seeing what exactly we were up against.

“I see headlights,” Axel said. “Let’s go.”

We got out of the car quietly, signaling to our companions to get out of their vehicles as well. All six alphas were present tonight, as well as a dozen of our strongest shifters.

“You remember what we discussed,” I reminded the other alphas as we watched two pairs of headlights come ever closer to our concealed position.

“Kaleb will pretend to be injured on the road. As soon as they stop, the rest of us will jump into action. If we’re quick, we should have control of the vehicles in less than a minute from when they engage their brakes,” Axel recited.

“Just remember—we don’t want to incur the wrath of Sparkle Hollow just yet,” I said. “So if any of them are a member of Lex’s pack, leave them alive.”

“Yeah, yeah, we got it, Alpha Goody-Two-Shoes,” Alpha Gage said derisively. “But as long as they’re not from Sparkle Hollow, they’re fair game. I’ve been itching for a chance to wet my teeth on some shifters.”

“Didn’t you just do that this morning?” Kaleb asked. He had positioned himself in the road and sat down, taking a position of helplessness as he grabbed his leg in a feigned injury.

Gage grinned in a wide, manic smile. “Yeah, but that washoursago.”

I gritted my teeth and held back a retort. Killing pawns in the larger game of enhancing our packs’ territories was no issue for me. What I did take issue with was the joyous tone Gage Desmond always used when he talked about murder.

We take the good with the bad,my wolf pointed out.Focus. We need to stop this transport.

You’re right, Orin.

The headlights from the lead car flashed across Kaleb, and a loud screech met our ears as they engaged their brakes. The silver four-door came to a stop about ten feet from him, and the matching cargo van behind it swerved to the side to avoid rear-ending the rest of their contingent. The driver’s side windows of both vehicles rolled down as the dust from their abrupt stop settled.

“You alright, man?” a voice called from the car’s open window.

“Nah, I think my leg is broken,” Kaleb said, pointing at it. “I’ve been waiting for over an hour, and you’re the first person to come by. Think you can give me a hand?”

The sound of car doors unlocking was immediately followed by growls and roars as we all converged on their location with our fangs bared. Within seconds, the four men had been completely decimated.

“Come on, that one was mine!” Gage whined, pointing at the dead shifter by Kaleb’s feet.

“You snooze, you lose,” he quipped back, wiping blood from his palms.

I ignored them and headed to the back of the cargo van with Axel. This was why we were here—for the shipment. Violence was merely a means to an end for me.

---