Page 6 of Alpha's Rise

Romi got annoyed at the offer. She didn’t need their damn help. This conversation was over. It hadn’t been her intent to intrude on their land, but they were wasting her time with idle chit-chat. “Listen, guys. I understand rules, but I’m not in the mood to play your games right now. I have somewhere to be. Either let me pass, or I’ll force my way through. Your choice.”

This isn’t the first time a man, or shifter, had disregarded her because she was a woman. Add to that, she wasn’t very intimidating from the outside looking in. For a woman, standing 5’8” was above average, but when surrounded by men who could tower her, she couldn’t blame them for not being afraid.

That was their mistake.

Their shifter instincts should have told them differently. If they landed on their ass, embarrassed, with a few broken bones, it would be their own fault.

They’d wasted enough of her time. Romi’s right foot came forward with the heel tilted up. Romi didn’t want to make any sudden movements that would cause them to feel she was a threat. Of course, she absolutely was, but they didn’t really know the full extent of who she was or what she was capable of. With just the slightest effort, she could rain hellfire down on their heads, but she didn’t want them to have any time to respond.

“Let me pass,” She warned as her voice had deepened. The sound echoed all around them as the wind shifted and moved the leaves on the trees. From the look on their faces, they finally realized something was happening. Their eyes began glowing as long claws extended from their hands and hair sprouted from their skin.

“Witch!”

“Demon!”

“What the fuck are you?”

“Call for the Alpha.”

Romi could understand their fear. When she first realized what happened to her all those years ago, she couldn’t believe it either, even though she had seen with her own eyes that men could literally turn into large wolves. Why would them seeing her change for the first time be any different?

Still, she wasn’t a wolf. She was so much more than that.

Yes, Romi hated to use her power this way, but what other choice did she have? They weren’t letting her through so she could continue on her way. If she showed her full power to them, Romi was positive they would try to keep her there. There was no way she could allow that to happen.

“I didn’t want any trouble. I just wanted to be on my way,” she said out loud, trying to get them to back off.

One of the big, hairy ass motherfuckers laughed. The sound was rough and raw from his transformed throat. “That’s not how it looks to us. Tell us what you are.”

Fuck them. They didn’t make demands of her. “No.”

Truthfully, if she was forced to explain what she was, she wasn’t sure where to even start. All she understood about the changes she’d gone through was that her powers were unlike any other. The military scientists had been trying to give her added speed and greater strength, knowing she would fight alongside otherworldly beings. Somewhere along the line, their experiments sped up her regenerative abilities; she could heal faster and last longer in battle against their enemies. That’s what they wanted for her. That’s what Romi agreed to.

The military would have preferred to keep her in, but she wanted out. Romi knew if she stayed, they’d send her on more dangerous missions despite not knowing if anything could actually hurt her. They took her through so many tests. Poked and prodded her with needles daily. Hell, they even put her in a windowless room against some men from another unit who could shift into large animals.

She tried to never think about what happened in that room.

Yes, she was trained to kill, protect, and fight for her country, but she wasn’t invincible, and what they expected her to do to those other soldiers made her sick to her stomach. Just thinking about what happened in that room that day, by her own hands, made her hate herself all over again.

She could still see their faces, the fear in their eyes as their blood seeped onto the floor. Those men had been on the brink of death because of Romi’s actions that day, but the military doctors managed to save their lives. No matter how well they healed, she knew they’d never be the same.

Romi had done that to them. All because of her fear.

In that room, she’d been afraid for her life. Her abilities and power had turned on like a switch. Things happened that day that she still didn’t understand, and she wasn’t sure if she ever would. Knowing what she was capable of was the only good that came out of the experience.

She never told them she had held herself back that day. In that room, she felt the power pulsing under her skin as if her body were overheating. It filled her head with blood-red images, carnage, destruction, and death. It took everything she had not to kill every single person. In her head, she could see them screaming in terror as they realized what was happening to them. Their eyes filled with fear and confusion. Their screams of agony cutting off as they died where they stood.

That’s when she made the decision to leave. Romi saw the writing on the wall and refused to be used as anyone’s weapon of mass destruction.

But she can’t say all of that right now. She needed these fuckers to be afraid of her because she wanted them to get out of her fucking way.

“I guess we’ll have to do this the hard way,” the one in front huffed.

A smile lifted Romi’s lips. She felt that familiar surge in her body. She hadn’t had a good fight in a long time, and she was itching to have some fun. Yes, this would delay her a bit longer, but since the doggies wanted to play, she would accommodate them.

She instinctively shifted her feet, stretched her muscles and got into a fighting stance. “Fuck you. Come any closer and I’ll separate your ugly head from your body.”

Now those words, she meant with everything inside her. Blood rushed through her veins, her eyes clouded over, and the wind started blowing her hair back.

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