Ain't No Alpha No More

Black River Falls Alpha John’s POV

Tomah, Wisconsin

We met in the parking lot of a McDonalds in Tomah, three vehicles from my Pack filled with warriors were ready to go. Alpha Richard and his warriors from the Black River Falls Pack were ready as well.

The plan was simple; surround, then the Alphas go and arrest.

We decided to go in at sunset, hoping to catch the Pack at the end of their day. The long shadows would help hide our men as they surrounded the territory. If an alarm was raised, the women and children would be close to the safe room, and only the patrols would be out. “Remember to order them to stand down, no force except in self-defense,” I said to everyone. “This is an arrest, not a war.”

The drive only took fifteen minutes, exiting the freeway and following the roads along the north side until we were about a mile from the territory line. We pulled over to the side of the road near some trees, waiting for the coast to be clear before most of the men shifted and ran off into the woods. It took fifteen minutes for them to make their way into position. “All men in position, Alpha,” my Beta reported.

I called Alpha Richard on his cellphone and he reported the same. He was going to stay at the south entrance, ready to drive anywhere to provide backup. “Two minutes to enter the territory,” I said as I gave the order to drive forward. I hung up the phone and looked out from the passenger seat of my Expedition. My driver and two escorts were armed with pistols for the worst case event, silver shackles and tranquilizer guns if needed. There was a chain across the road, PRIVATE PROPERTY- NO TRESSPASSING and NO HUNTING signs along a fence on each side, all the things to keep the humans away. I could see a camera pointed at the entrance from the shed by the side of the road.

It wasn’t a normal shed, I’d been here before and the rusted sheet steel exterior covered a reinforced concrete and steel fighting position and guard post. My driver honked the horn as I got out, and a young man in shorts and a John Deere T-shirt came out from behind the shed. He sniffed, picking up we were wolves and then he recognized me. “Alpha, I wasn’t aware you were coming,” he said as he hurried over to the chain. He quickly linked someone. “The Beta welcomes you and your men to the Tomah Pack.”

“The Beta? Where is Alpha Todd?”

“Gone, sir. He left about five hours ago, didn’t say where. The Luna and their son are with them. They are too far away to link, and he’s not answering his cellphone.”

Crap. Someone must have tipped him off. “Take me to the Alpha’s office and have the Beta call the Pack together, I need to address them all urgently.”

“Yes, Alpha.” He unhooked the chain and moved it aside as I got back in. I left the other men in place for now but called Alpha Richard back and asked him to meet me at the Pack House.

It didn’t take long to arrive, and the whole Pack was walking towards the dining hall. The Beta couple was waiting for me. “Alpha John, welcome to the Tomah Pack.”

“This isn’t a social call, Beta Mendez,” I said. I’d worked with him before, he was a good man, a cousin of the Council Chief Enforcer. His mate Maria stood next to him. I handed him the arrest warrant. “I’m here to arrest Alpha Todd on orders of the Council.”

He looked shocked as he read the warrant. “He kidnapped Tania Stillwater?”

“Yes. Do you know where he is?”

He shook his head. “No sir. The Alphas left this afternoon, said they would be back after dinner but haven’t returned. I tried contacting them but they aren’t responding.”

“Let’s go to his office,” I said. I didn’t hold out much hope, but maybe he left a clue. Alpha Richard pulled up and joined us as we were walking in.

When he opened the office, we could see drawers left open and the wall safe was as well. Looking inside, there were legal papers only. “Anything missing?”

“Yes sir. About a hundred thousand in cash, and the bank books and bearer bonds for the Pack.” He looked dejected. “Shit, he’s going to clean out the Pack accounts!”

“He already did if he’s been gone that long,” I said. “Do you have access to the online accounts?”

“No sir, the Alphas had that.” I felt for him, it would be tough to overcome such a financial loss along with the news coming their way. “Gather the Pack, I’ll be down in a minute.”

He and his mate left, leaving Richard and I alone. “Someone tipped him off,” I said. “He’s long gone.”

“Yeah. We better call the Chairman.” We used the phone on the desk to call the Council, putting it up on speaker. “Chairman Wolfe, it’s Alpha John and Alpha Richard. We’re at the Tomah Pack, and Alpha Todd and his Luna are gone. They cleaned out the Pack safe hours ago and are not responding to calls or link,” I said. We discussed it for a few minutes, then we got down to the actions.

“Alpha John, what do you recommend for control of the Pack until I can get enforcers there?”

“I can stay here with some of my men,” I said. “Provide some stability and guidance until the Council decides what they want to do.”

A voice came from the background, I recognized it as the Lead Enforcer for the Council. “Mr. Chairman, the Beta of that Pack is my cousin, he joined the Pack after the alleged kidnapping, so he wasn’t involved. He’s strong enough to hold the Pack together through this.”

“He is a good man,” I agreed. “I have no objection. Do you want us to start a search of the area?”

“No, he’s nowhere close by now. Inform the Pack of the warrant and direct them to notify Beta Mendez of any contact with the Alpha pair, or any information regarding their whereabouts. We’re wrapping up things in Colorado, Alpha Justin is missing too.”

What a clusterfuck. “I understand, sir. I need to go brief the Tomah Pack now, if you have the information you need.”

“I do. I’m calling a videoconference of all North American alphas in an hour. You two and Beta Mendez can call in from there, then you can return home.” He ended the call.

“Come on, let’s let them know.” We walked out and down to the mess hall, which was in a near riot by now. “The Beta must have let them know why a warrant is out on their Alpha.”

It was true; the pain and loss of that day over four years ago was still fresh, and finding out their Alpha may have kidnapped Tania was a shock. I held up my hands, and they quieted. “First off, does anyone have any information as to where the Alpha pair are right now?” That was a no from the silence. “All right, I don’t have a lot of details, but I do want you to see what Tania said happened. I don’t recommend any children see this.” While the children were taken out, I worked with the Beta to get the video file so it could play on the big projection screen they used for movie nights.

There were gasps of horror and relief as Tania’s face came on the screen. Many were crying as she went into her story, and when she told what happened that day you could have heard a pin drop. I could smell the anger in the room; she was one of their own and was loved by them all. Seeing her this way, older, scarred and sickly, it turned their stomachs. A few had to run for garbage cans as she described her rape. The news of her son raised the anger to a fever pitch.

Not only was their Alpha daughter alive, she had a son, a son who was a bloodline heir to lead the Tomah Pack.

“What happened to Talia,” one of the men asked. “That bastard drove her out of here, and we let him.”

“She’s the one who rescued Tania. I don’t have all the details, I just know that Tania’s wolf was killed and she was being held as a sex slave by a crime family in Texas.” The Pack exploded in rage again at that. Having your wolf taken away was a fate worse than death for a werewolf, you would spend the rest of your days missing half of yourself.

It was time to wrap this up before the videoconference. “I don’t have anything more now, but I understand your anger. Your Beta is going to join us and all North American Alphas to discuss this, plus the disappearance of Alpha Justin of Copper Mountain. They will find no refuge in any Pack, and we WILL bring them to justice.”

“WE WANT THEIR BLOOD ON OUR TEETH,” a man in the back shouted.

“LET THE ALPHA KILLER DO IT,” another answered.

“We have to catch them first. If you want to help, do what you can to find them.” The three of us walked out of the room, leaving them to process what they had just learned.

Back in the Alpha’s office, the Beta logged us onto the secure server that the Council used for the videoconference. We watched as the Alphas joined, and Chairman Wolfe ran though what they knew so far. There was shock and outrage at the actions of the missing Alphas. “In addition to the two Alphas, the search for the Alpha Killer continues. Talia Stillwater remains at large, and we have confirmed by scent and video that she kidnapped Luna Rhoda and her son Phillip.”

“IT WASN’T HER SON,” Alpha Clark of the La Crosse Pack said. He had arrived late to the conference and glared at the camera. “Phillip is Tania’s son, stolen from her at birth. Talia rescued her nephew just like she rescued Tania, while the Council refused to even investigate her kidnapping properly.”

“This isn’t the time to revisit the past, Alpha Clark, we have problems now,” Chairman Wolfe said.

“It’s never too late. I gave you the information you needed to get the warrants on Justin and Todd, because we wanted to do this properly and legally. Beta Mendez, how long ago did you Alpha flee?”

“About six hours ago, sir.”

“Within hours of me informing the Council of the evidence against them, both Alphas disappear. I wanted to trust the Council, but I can see now that it was a mistake. The Council failed the Tomah Pack when they pushed Talia out of the way when their parents were killed. You failed Tania when you failed to take her disappearance seriously and didn’t do a real investigation. Now you’ve failed us again. Three strikes and you’re out, Mr. Chairman. My family and my Pack is handling this ourselves.”

“You can’t do this,” the Chairman said as he stood up and leaned on the desk. “The Council was formed for dealing with problems like this in a civil and effective manner!”

“How’s that working for you, Mr. Chairman? Alphas, does it give you a warm fuzzy to know that the Council is on the job, or are you wondering what else they’ve covered up? We’re doing just fine on our own. Tania has been reunited with her son and is safe in the proverbial undisclosed location. Talia has captured Alpha Justin and Luna Rhoda, and they will face MY justice in MY pack.”

“YOU have them?”

“The Alpha Killer will not be denied blood. They have committed offenses were against my family or on my land. Under Pack law, their punishment is my decision alone. I will not turn them over, nor will I allow the Council or anyone else on my land to take them.”

“This is outrageous,” one of the Alphas said.

Alpha Clark just glared at him. “I. DON’T. CARE. The Alpha Killer has sworn a blood vow to take her vengeance on those who hurt her sister and killed her parents. She WILL get it, and I will make sure of it. You couldn’t stop her before, and you won’t stop her now. My advice? Stay on your Pack lands and stay the hell out of her way, because she is in NO mood to suffer fools. Luna herself won’t be able to help you if you aid or shelter Alpha Todd, and she finds out.”

A bunch of them started talking over each other, and the Chairman finally muted the microphones to stop it. “Alpha Clark, where is Alpha Justin Heranus now?”

He just smiled. “He ain’t no Alpha no more, Sir.”