by Eva Brandt
Werewolf society is structured in hierarchical ranks. The most common rankings are Alphas, Betas, and Omegas.
Alphas are the leaders of each individual pack. They are the dominant males and typically very protective of the packs they are in charge of. They are said to possess a special ability that allows them to communicate with their underlings through a long distance form of telepathy.
Betas act as the right hands and primary enforcers of the Alphas. In diplomatic settings, this role appears to extend to secretarial and security duties. It’s unclear what other roles they have while in the actual pack. Many have speculated that the role is often sexual, and some Betas are dominant wolves who fail to take leadership of the pack. It is not unusual for Alphas to use their position and assert their superiority over their fellows in a sexual way.
This dynamic is particularly present in the third known category of wolves. The Omegas are the outcasts of the pack, the weaker link, the lower ranking members. They serve the others sexually and are the last to feed from prey. It is very rare for an Omega to be introduced to human society.
- Lauren Carr, “Inhuman Societal Structures,” First Edition, Arlington House Publishers, 1978 -
* * *
Byron
I’d been afraid of this. When Imogen had told us that the vampire had bitten her, I’d feared this would be the end result. Human hunters could be as violent as demons against perceived threats, and they showed no mercy in battle. They couldn’t afford to.
But on some level, the brutality of the attack still took me aback. At the beginning of the battle, Alan Lee had been very worried about his sister. How had that changed so easily?
It wasn’t a question I could answer and honestly, even if I’d been able to, I wouldn’t have cared. Because as far as I was concerned, the hunters had made a huge mistake. They’d attacked my soulmate.
I’d known that she belonged to me from the moment our eyes had met. I’d seen my heart in her gaze, just like Xander must have. The sheer concept that they wanted to harm her infuriated me. When Ulysses had told us the truth, I’d wanted to eviscerate them on the spot. Ulysses’s presence and soothing aura had kept me from lashing out.
But everything changed when Imogen made that horrible comment, when the undead reemerged, and when the hunters attacked.
It was chaos, three sides fighting each other, blindly trying to destroy every person they didn’t perceive as ‘on their team’. Even if we were supposedly allies, the hunters turned on us too. Alan Lee tried to shoot Xander, who was closest to them now. But that didn’t work. Xander turned back into his human form, and the bullet missed him. Then, he grabbed a nearby undead, using its body as an impromptu meat shield against the next shots.
I didn’t bother with that approach. I went directly on the offense. The undead closest to me received the brunt of my anger as I savagely tore into each and every one of the creatures.
A little behind me, Ulysses was doing the same, all the while trying to get them to back off by using his aura. And maybe it would have worked. Xander, Ulysses, and I could have fought off the small group of hunters and undead.
There was just one problem. Imogen was still in the line of fire and she was in shock. She wasn’t doing anything to protect herself. To make matters worse, this was still Imogen’s family and I doubted she wanted us to disembowel them, even if that was exactly what they’d been planning to do to her.
A ghoul reached her when I was distracted by one of the hunters. It clawed at her arm and jumped on top of her. She was still unresponsive, but Xander was there in seconds, killing the creature before it could harm her further.
But our problems were nowhere near over. It looked like more and more undead were coming out of the woodwork and even some demons had stayed behind. “Ulysses, get her out of here!” Xander snarled. “Byron, cover him.”
I complied. Ulysses was more than capable of handling himself, but we’d all been so distracted by the issue with Imogen that we hadn’t paid as much attention to the leftover creatures. I didn’t want to leave Xander, but I trusted my Alpha, and we had other people here in the compound that could help us. Leland and the others were nearby. Ulysses’s squad was probably close too. They’d come help.
Ulysses had already shifted into his human form and grabbed Imogen, draping her over his shoulder. We ran like hell, without looking back.
We were halfway to the exit when we ran into Sandra and Gypsy. At one point, their two squads had met up. “Ulysses?” Gypsy asked. “What…?”
“There’s no time,” Ulysses replied. “Xander instructed us to take this woman out of here. She’s the injured huntress.”
Technically, we could have asked the other werewolves to do that, but the idea of abandoning Imogen while she was at her most vulnerable turned my stomach. She was my soulmate and she needed me. Xander would be able to hold his own against the humans and the undead, but Imogen was fighting a different battle.
Fortunately, the others didn’t question us. They prioritized and rushed off to track down our Alpha. It was no coincidence. I could hear Xander’s call in my head. “Come to me. Now.”
They couldn’t have resisted it if they’d tried. Ulysses and I were the only ones who retreated, leaving the compound.
From there, we found our way to the rest of our attack group. Ulysses had told Leland to retreat with the wounded, and he’d done so, taking refuge in our previous gathering spot. He had listened, and when we got there, we found him talking to field healer, Veronica. Veronica was Gypsy’s mother and had been the official pack Omega before Ulysses had come along. She’d happily stepped aside when it had become obvious she didn’t have his gift to soothe people. But she still did her very best to help us in other ways and she’d taught Ulysses everything she knew.
The moment she saw us, her eyes widened and she went white. “Ulysses! Byron! What happened?”
“Long story,” Ulysses replied. “Don’t worry. Xander and the others are wrapping things up at the compound. He ordered us to make sure the kidnapped huntress is safe.”
As he spoke, he set Imogen down. Imogen blinked at us almost sleepily, as if she couldn’t process what was happening.
Leland chose this exact moment to be a complete asshole. “Well, she’s safe now. Shouldn’t we be taking her to her own kind? Why does she have to be here?”
There were so many answers to that question. The best one was, “Because she’s our soulmate.”
Leland and Veronica wouldn’t be about it, since they were part of a generation that still believed werewolves shouldn’t mate outside their own species. I wasn’t ashamed of her, but I still hesitated, not wanting to reveal the truth until I talked it over with Xander and Ulysses.
Ulysses hadn’t said anything so far, but he didn’t have to. Omegas were naturally selfless. That was their true defining feature, an amazing ability of self-sacrifice that other shifters just didn’t have. But when he’d left Xander behind in the compound, there had been no sign of that. Like me, he’d focused on Imogen. She was his soulmate too, I knew it. But I didn’t dare to bring it up, not yet.
“Are you saying the hunters are better healers?” I asked instead, shifting into my human form. “We’re perfectly capable of taking care of one human, especially when our Alpha requested it.”
Glowering at him, I stressed the word ‘Alpha’, making it clear that I didn’t appreciate him questioning Xander’s command at a time like this. It worked and he quickly abandoned his protests. “Yes, of course. I’ll… I’ll go check up on the others.”
He shuffled away before I could say anything else. Veronica stayed and approached Imogen. “Hello, dear,” she said with a tiny smile. “I hope you’re not too taken aback by that little incident. We’re all on the edge because of the fight.”
“It’s fine,” Imogen replied weakly. “I don’t mean to question your Alpha, but your friend is not wrong to be concerned. I… I shouldn’t be here. I’m not human anymore.”
&nbs
p; Veronica’s breath caught as she finally understood what we hadn’t told her—the true reason for Imogen’s presence. Her aura danced around her, the agitated strands of her emotions threatening to make me lash out.
It wasn’t necessary. Ulysses narrowed his eyes and pushed back. His aura was far more powerful and suffocated Veronica’s with ease. “Maybe you’re not human, Imogen,” he said, “but you should receive treatment for your injuries. Even if you have an advanced healing factor now, you could be at risk.”
The practicality of the comment did what empty reassurances could not. Imogen’s eyes became a little clearer and she nodded. “Yes, of course. I understand.”
“Come with me then,” he said with a warm smile, offering her his hand.
After a small moment of hesitation, she took it. Ulysses guided her away, toward a small copse of trees where he practically hid her.
I watched them go in silence, wanting nothing more but to join them. But I couldn’t, not without drawing more attention to her than we already had.
Then again, maybe that was already a lost battle. “She’s more than just a human, isn’t she?” Veronica asked. “She’s important.”
I didn’t bother denying it. “Yes, but you’ll have to wait for the Alpha to explain.”
She agreed, although something in her stance told me the battle wasn’t over yet. Once Xander came back, a new fight was waiting for us, and this time, it would be with our own people.
* * *
Xander
The final confrontation at the compound was an absolute mess. When I told Xander and Ulysses to get my beautiful soulmate out of there, I’d been prepared to have quite a battle on my hands. But as long as she was safe, I didn’t mind it. It took a lot to kill a werewolf Alpha and the group of hunters and random undead just wouldn’t be able to do it.
After my reinforcements arrived, it was over very quickly. Gypsy was obviously upset, because she tore into the vampires even more savagely than she usually did. So did Sandra—although in her case, it wasn’t in the least bit surprising.
Once the final undead creatures were defeated, I sent Sandra to look around the compound and see if there was anyone left behind or any other humans who had been taken captive. Meanwhile, I directed my full attention to Alan Lee.
When I’d first spoken to him, he’d struck me as a determined man. I hadn’t liked him, and his attitude toward me and my pack had annoyed me, but even so, I’d gotten the feeling that he was trustworthy—insofar as any human was trustworthy, at least. I hadn’t expected things to take this turn.
My first instinct was to kill him right then and there. He’d attacked my mate. He deserved to die.
I grabbed him and pinned him to the ground, my claws nudging his jugular. Just a twitch of my fingers, and it would all be over.
He didn’t seem afraid. “You can get rid of me, werewolf, but that won’t change anything. It won’t change the curse you’ll bring upon yourself.”
“Curse,” I repeated. “What the fuck are you talking about?”
“Come now,” he said with an almost hysterical laugh. “You’ve seen her earlier. Surely you must have realized what she is now.”
“She’s your sister,” I told him. “You turned on her in the blink of an eye. It’s disgusting.”
“I disagree,” he replied. “But go ahead, kill me. Let’s see what happens then.”
I tightened my hold on his windpipe. He began to have trouble breathing, to the point of going a little purple.
If he didn’t die on the spot, it was just because I wanted him to feel the same fear and pain she had. And then, I couldn’t finish the job.
Sandra walked up to me and cleared her throat. “Alpha… The PHP.”
The words washed over me like ice water. Fuck. Right. In my anger, I’d completely forgotten about our agreement with the humans. The balance between us was already very fragile. Anything could shatter it, and a preeminent Alpha figure killing a hunter would jeopardize decades of diplomatic efforts.
Taking a deep breath, I slowly released him. It was the hardest thing I’d ever done and every inch of me protested the action. But I reminded myself that Imogen was alive and well, safe with Byron and Ulysses. There would be time aplenty to get even with her family.
For unknown reasons, humans seemed to believe that werewolves were incapable of stealth. That couldn’t have been further from the truth. There was a reason why so many of the rogue hunter squads had been killed in the mid 20th century. Contrary to popular belief, wolves were often stealth hunters.
I could and would use human killing methods to destroy the enemy of my soulmate. But not yet.
I got up, directing my attention toward my pack members yet again. There had been injuries, but no dead.
“All right, wrap it up, people,” I told them. “Time to go home.”
The others were more than willing to follow that command. But Lee abandoned all ideas of self-preservation and stopped us. “Wait! What are you going to do about Imogen?”
The words sounded rough and raspy, his vocal cords having suffered some damage from my attack. It was the only thing that kept me from mauling him.
“That’s none of your business,” I told him. “You’ve forfeited any right you might have had when it comes to Imogen.
“Now, I’d advise you to vacate the premises as soon as possible. In five minutes, there will be nothing left of this place but rubble.”
He looked like he wanted to say something else, but I didn’t want to hear it. If I stayed there any longer, I would break the PHP. Besides, my pack and my soulmate needed me, and that was more important than one idiotic, mouthy hunter.
We all grabbed a few of the bodies of the undead and spread out through the compound one last time. The clean-up was always the most difficult part of our expeditions to destroy undead bases. Because we were shifters, we couldn’t take much equipment along and carrying bombs just wasn’t practical.
Fortunately, we were very good at improvising. This particular compound was already on the cusp of exploding due to demon interference. All we had to do was give it a final nudge.
When we threw the undead into the demonic fire already starting to spread, the results were immediate. The undead didn’t wake, but the fire flared brighter, responding to the dark magic that had animated the creature.
We repeated the process several times. It didn’t take us long for the whole place to be ablaze.
Once I was sure everything was in order, we left the compound. I felt my team’s eyes on me as we made our way through the forest. They didn’t ask me what the confrontation with the humans had been about. They knew better than to question me when the mission was technically still not over.
The damage control team was already arriving. The witch coven nearby would be in charge of containing the fire and making sure the problem wouldn’t escalate.
We ran into five robed figures just outside. Four of them wore white, while the fifth wore black. “Alpha Brooks,” the black-clad witch said. “Thank you for wiping out this source of filth.”
“I assure you it was my pleasure,” I said distractedly. I didn’t have the time and patience to exchange pleasantries with the coven mother. “I’d leave the rest in your capable hands, Mother Dora.”
She must have realized I wasn’t interested in a conversation, because she nodded. “Until we meet again, may the Powers guide you on your path.”
I thanked her one last time and then headed out into the forest. It didn’t take us long to get to the encampment of the wounded. Ulysses and Imogen were nowhere to be seen, but Byron was waiting for me at the very edge, looking anxious.
“Welcome back, Alpha,” he told me. “Did everything go well?”
What he actually wanted to know was whether I’d killed the human or not. I decided that was a conversation we needed to have in private. “Yes. No dead, and those creatures have been destroyed. The rest can be dealt with later.”
His eyes flickered with
a savage light, but he didn’t argue with me. We were still not completely safe, not until we returned to our pack lands.
By now, roughly half of our wounded had been healed, so we were able to move out within ten minutes. Ulysses showed up too. He was carrying a sleeping Imogen. Apparently, at one point since their arrival, she’d fallen asleep.
“Is she okay?” I mouthed at him.
Ulysses pressed his lips together in displeasure. “She will be. We’ll make sure.”
That wasn’t very encouraging, but I accepted it anyway. On the bright side, Ulysses was holding her very protectively, and I suspected he and I were in the same situation—and that she was his soulmate too.
We had a good chance of making things work. Hopefully. As long as it was what Imogen wanted.
A dark voice nudged at the back of my mind, reminding me of something I’d been conveniently ignoring. “And why should she want you? She’s a huntress. She and her family might have agreed to work with you, but she’s been taught to hate paranormals.”
Yes, but soulmate bonds were more powerful than anything in the world. Besides, I had no intention of pushing her. I knew she was still in shock. We’d be as patient as she needed.
Like Ulysses had said, we’d make sure she would be all right.
With that thought in mind, I guided my attack force back toward our pack home. It wasn’t very far from here. It took us less than an hour to get there, and that was just because we had wounded and we couldn’t force them to move as quickly as usual.
Our pack home was hidden underground, in a massive cave. The cave tunnels and formations had room for everyone in the union to take shelter, and the witches had helped us secure the place against damage and discomfort.
As soon as we arrived, activity exploded in the cave. All the remaining injured were taken to our healing chambers, Imogen included. As for me, I had other things to worry about.
Taking a deep breath, I forced myself to remain completely calm. I sought out a specific set of minds and sent out a clear message. “Meet me in the Alpha’s Hall. It’s urgent.”