by Marc Daniel
“If Lewis knows about Maxwell and Fanning, I wonder why she isn’t suspecting you,” were the Alpha’s last words before he hung up the phone.
Chapter 160
Katia was pondering the Alpha’s last statement when her office door was slammed open and Lewis marched in, followed closely by two officers in uniform. The detective walked straight to Katia’s desk and removed the small microphone she had hidden under it a few minutes earlier.
It only took a second for Katia to realize the bitch had played her like a fiddle.
“Katia Olveda, you are under arrest for obstruction of justice, complicity in the assassinations of five police officers, and complicity to kidnapping,” announced Lewis in a loud, neutral voice that contrasted sharply with the immense relief she felt inside. Executing Biörn’s idea had been a huge gambit, and she felt as if an elephant had stepped off her chest now that some of his assertions had been proven right. She knew deep inside that her visceral dislike of the assistant DA had played a significant part in her willingness to play the gambit suggested by Biörn, but no one else had to know that.
“Officer, would you please read the prisoner her rights?” she added, looking at one of the officers while the other officer handcuffed a fuming assistant DA.
If Katia’s eyes had been daggers, Samantha Lewis would have been pinned to the office back wall, dangling two feet from the ground. As it was, the detective was simply trying hard to suppress the uncontrollable smile she could feel growing by the second.
Lewis walked to Katia’s desk and, with a slightly theatrical gesture, reached for the prepaid cell phone.
“No!” exploded the assistant DA as Lewis was closing her fingers on the phone. “You can’t touch that, you need a warrant!”
“We’ll let the judge decide about that,” replied Lewis defiantly. “In the meantime, I think I’ll take it for safekeeping.”
The detective placed the cell phone into an evidence bag and, gesturing to the officers, added, “You can take her away now.”
Chapter 161
After hanging up with Katia, the Alpha walked straight to his laptop. The screen showed a street map of Houston displaying several individually colored dots. Good! At least Biörn didn’t get the memo, he thought, looking at a blue dot blinking sixty miles from his location.
Still trying to figure out how things had gone so wrong so quickly when everything had seemed to be going so well, the Alpha hurried up to the second floor. He probably had a little bit of time before the cops showed up, but it was safer to assume he didn’t.
In addition to the master bedroom, the second story harbored three guestrooms, two bathrooms, and a large open-floor family room. The Alpha walked straight to the alarm system keypad located by the door inside the master bedroom, but he didn’t enter the four-digit code used to activate the alarm. Instead, he dialed a ten-digit combination that was followed by a low popping sound. A four-foot-wide wardrobe was now standing four inches away from the bedroom wall against which it had stood an instant earlier. The left side of the wardrobe was on hinges, which allowed the Alpha to effortlessly spin the piece of furniture away from the wall to reveal a metallic door equipped with another keypad. He entered another ten-digit combination, and the greased heavy deadbolts started noiselessly sliding out of their notches to unlock the vault.
The secret chamber was the size of a small prison cell with stainless steel walls, floor and ceiling. In a corner, a toilet bowl made of the same metal constituted the only furnishing of the room. In the opposite corner, next to a plastic tray cleaned spotless of any trace of food, sat Olivia.
The Alpha’s men had picked her up half-conscious during their final raid against the Houston pack. Following the Alpha’s instructions they had brought her back to him. He had immediately noticed the woman was no longer human, her scent was unmistakable, but he had not judged it necessary to sedate her. She was just a pup… His first intent had been to tame her and eventually integrate her into his pack. That ship had sailed, however. With no time left, she was now strictly a liability. He had to get rid of her and then disappear… at least for a while.
Olivia was now fully awake and was staring at him with murderous eyes. The effects of her captivity and transformation were now mainly visible in her thin form and slightly puffy eyes
“It’s time to get out of here, Olivia,” he said in a commanding tone. Despite her hatred for the man, she got up to obey the Alpha’s order. It was nearly impossible for her to do otherwise. She could feel the Alpha male’s raw power pouring out of his mouth at every word he pronounced, and she simply could not resist the urge to submit to his will. She might have tried to resist a bit harder had she known he meant to kill her and let the alligators deal with her dismembered corpse in a bayou.
The Alpha grabbed her by the arm and pushed her out of the cell. As he did so, he caught a whiff of something that told him he had been deceived. The stench was unmistakable; he had been breathing it way too often lately not to recognize it right away.
“Good morning, Michael,” said the Alpha, still holding onto Olivia as Biörn walked into the bedroom. “I see you abandoned the phone I so graciously gave you.”
Michael gave David Starks an unreadable look. “It simply wasn’t reliable. It just seemed to attract trouble on a too regular basis.”
“It took you long enough to figure it out,” replied David condescendingly.
Olivia was trying to break free from the Alpha’s grip, but he was much too strong for her. “Let me go!” she snarled, but he simply ignored her.
“Let her go now, and I will try to not take too much pleasure in killing you,” said Michael in a voice deprived of humor.
“You threw a wrench in my plan, Michael. I’ll give you that. Seeing you here, I now have no doubt you were behind Lewis’ sudden breakthrough. Without you, she would have never suspected me in a million years.”
David was correct in that respect. Michael had been the architect of the plan, with Lewis and Sheila his mere assistants. Michael had suspected the Alpha was keeping Olivia locked up in his beach house—a secluded place, where screams would likely get drowned by the sound of crashing waves. In order to get to her safely, Michael had needed to make sure David did not feel immediately threatened by him. He had therefore called David to let him know he was suspecting Salazar to be behind it all. Salazar was such an unlikely suspect that the perspective was almost comical, but the Alpha had taken the bait. Knowing the phone David had given him was bugged with a tracking device, Michael had entrusted Sheila with it and sent her north of town, while he had started heading south towards David’s beach house.
Figuring out what to do with Katia Olveda had been a challenge. The evidence against the assistant DA had been circumstantial at best. Not nearly enough to indict her. Unless of course she were to get caught red-handed… That was when Michael had come up with the idea to enroll the help of Samantha Lewis. The plan had not been without risk. Michael knew Olivia’s life would be forfeited the minute Katia let David know the cops were onto him. Timing had to be perfect, and he had made sure of it. Michael had found the Alpha’s car parked in the driveway upon arriving at the beach house. Even from a distance the fresh scent of Olivia had been easy to detect. Once satisfied that the Alpha and his hostage were on the premises, he had given Samantha the green light to walk into the assistant DA’s office and request a warrant against David. Taking the bait, Katia had immediately called the Alpha to warn him. In the meantime Lewis, following Michael’s instructions, was letting him know his plan had succeeded. This had been his cue to enter the house.
Michael took a step towards David and his hostage, but the Alpha drew a 44-Magnum from his back and placed the barrel under Olivia’s jaw. Michael froze.
“Since you are going to kill me anyway, what stops me from killing her first?” asked David with a humorless smile.
“You count on killing her with that gun?” replied Michael skeptically. “Unless my nose is deceiving me, I
don’t believe your gun would do her much permanent harm.”
Michael had smelled the wolf on Olivia, and knew the young woman had been turned into one of his hereditary foes.
“You should not underestimate your enemy, Michael,” threatened David. “Do not make the same mistake Katia did with Lewis… I suspect my sweetheart is on her way to jail as we speak. Am I correct?”
Michael did not answer the Alpha’s question. Tears were visible in Olivia’s eyes, but he couldn’t tell whether they were caused by fear, anger, or a mixture of both. David cocked the gun’s hammer but Michael rushed him before he had a chance to pull the trigger. This was the reaction the Alpha had been expecting and turning his gun towards his enemy, he shot Michael in the chest four times before he could react. Anyone shot at close range with a 44-magnum would have been projected and nailed against the wall behind them, but Michael wasn’t just anyone and the impacts barely slowed him down.
As soon as the bullets entered his body Michael knew they weren’t ordinary ammunition. Now he understood what David had meant about underestimating the enemy. Reacting on instinct he began morphing as the poison started spreading from his punctured organs into his bloodstream.
David jumped to the side to get out of the way of the incoming hybrid monster, which was already halfway between man and bear, and simultaneously started to morph as well. An instant later, a bewildered Olivia was staring with unbelieving eyes at what looked like a clash between Titans. The sheer size of the beasts, accentuated by the comparatively small proportions of the bedroom, was already a good indication these weren’t mere animals. The way the two monsters fought each other would have convinced any remaining skeptic. The viciousness displayed by the monstrous bear and equally horrific wolf could only have originated in the beasts’ human brains.
Michael’s transformation into a bear surprised Olivia but did not shock her nearly as much as it would have a month earlier. Her threshold for awe and bewilderment had been drastically raised since she had come to grips with her new identity as a werewolf. Michael would have quickly dispatched the much weaker Alpha under normal circumstances. With the wolfsbane extract flowing in his veins, the battle was much more balanced. Olivia wished she could change into her wolf form to help Michael in his struggle, but she simply did not know how to morph voluntarily.
Suddenly, the Alpha’s jaws clenched onto the bear’s throat and for an instant it looked as if Michael wouldn’t be able to shake himself free of the wolf’s powerful bite. When he finally succeeded, the Alpha was sent flying across the room. Unfazed, the Alpha landed on his paws and was back harassing him in an instant.
Olivia could see Michael growing weaker by the minute. She was starting to fear not only for his life but also for her own. For she was certain this bear was the only thing able to prevent the Alpha from killing her the same way he had murdered her parents. Seeing the wolf slowly gaining control of the battle, Olivia decided to make a run for it and darted out of the room.
Michael’s movements appeared sluggish now. His attempts at swatting his enemy were becoming feeble and largely unsuccessful. After a while, he simply stood motionless, nose down in the middle of the room. The wolf warily circled around him at a safe distance while assessing the situation. Sensing his instant of triumph had arrived, the Alpha closed in for the kill. He was too arrogant in his approach, however, and got too close to Michael’s deadly paws. The bear suddenly lashed out at the wolf with a resurgence of vitality, tearing his throat open with razor-sharp claws. The Alpha leaped backwards, blood flowing from the deep gouge across his throat.
The Alpha knew that, given enough time, the wound would heal, but he needed to end the fight quickly if he wanted to live to see it. Michael had used the last of his strength in the surprise attack and was now ready to collapse to the ground. When the wolf jumped on his back and sank his fangs on the side of his neck, he did collapse.
The wolf was now hacking at his neck and throat with desperate efficiency, tearing off mouthfuls of muscles and broken vertebrae. David was significantly weakened by his injury and unable to carry out the task with the celerity he would have otherwise displayed, but he felt confident Michael could no longer fight back. Already celebrating his victory in his mind, the Alpha felt a mixture of surprise, disbelief and anger when the teeth of Olivia’s wolf form locked down on his throat to finish the job Michael’s claws had started.
Chapter 162
Michael had recovered his human form but was still lying motionless on the ground by the time Sheila arrived at the beach house. A beheaded David Starks, also in his human form, was lying in a pool of blood not three feet from Michael.
Michael had morphed back into his human form only to pronounce two words before passing out: “Call Sheila.” Olivia needed to be in her human form to do that, however, and it had taken her an additional fifteen minutes to successfully will her body into transforming. Her human body finally reintegrated, Olivia had found Michael’s cell phone inside a pocket of his torn-up pants and had dialed Sheila’s number.
The journalist was kneeling by Michael, her face a mask of anguish and concern. She was trying to stir him out of his unconsciousness but couldn’t get any reaction out of him.
“Is he dead?” asked Olivia as Sheila was wiping a tear from the corner of her eye.
“No. I believe he’s in a coma.” Sheila’s voice choked on the words. “I wish Ez were here,” she added to herself.
“Who’s Ez? A doctor?” asked Olivia, but Sheila simply didn’t know what to reply.
“What can we do?” asked Olivia after a minute had passed without Sheila answering her previous question.
“We need to move him,” said Sheila, trying to sound confident, but the doubt and the pain in her voice were obvious. “The cops will be here shortly and they can’t find him here. He can’t be brought to a hospital either, so we’ll have to drive him to my house.”
Olivia nodded as Sheila added, “I just don’t know how we are going to get him to my car. He’s no lightweight.”
Before the journalist could think of a solution to the problem, Olivia threw Michael over her shoulders and headed for the door.
“Let’s go,” she told Sheila who was staring at her, bemused.
Sheila was delighted when they bumped into Ezekiel on their way out, but her joy was short-lived.
“There is nothing I can do for him, my dear,” he told Sheila right away. “No one can. He is a strong lad, though; he might beat the poison and pull through this.”
The wizard’s words did not bring any comfort to Sheila.
“Why are you here then?” she asked angrily.
“Because Michael asked me to come and clean up the mess before the authorities arrive.”
Olivia was looking at the frail-looking old man in his Halloween costume with a look of utter skepticism. “Oh, really? And when did he ask you that, Merlin?” she asked, a bit too aggressively.
The wizard looked at her with a mixture of amusement and com-passion. He knew what the young woman had been through and understood her cynicism. “Let’s just say he wished it,” he responded enigmatically.
Chapter 163
The faces of the shadow pack’s now infamous members were once more occupying the entire TV screen. “How many of them do you think there were in total?” asked Sheila. “I mean Starks’ wolves? How many?”
“Hard to say,” answered Michael reflectively.
It had been almost three weeks since the police had found the body of David Starks in his beach house along with a suicide note. Ezekiel had done such a thorough job at cleaning up the mess that the detective’s suicide was never once put into question.
After four days spent in a coma, Michael had woken up on the fifth morning to find Sheila bent over him. It had taken another two weeks for him to fully recover from his ordeal, but now he was as good as new. The caliber of David’s gun had been Michael’s salvation. The 44-Magnum was so powerful that two of the bullets had simply exited
through Michael’s back, leaving only two of them to spread the poison inside his body. A smaller caliber would have probably left all four inside his body and most likely killed him. The fact the Alpha had used bullets instead of poisoned darts had also played in Michael’s favor. A dart could be quickly ripped out but it also held twice as much poison as a bullet.
“Do you think they are all werewolves?” asked Sheila, still staring at the television.
The pack had been all over the news for weeks now, except no one ever called it the shadow pack. To the media, it was the conspiracy affair. As far as the general public was concerned, David Starks had been leading a secret criminal organization in the process of slowly infiltrating governmental institutions at the highest levels. Wide disagreements were expressed in the media regarding why wolves had been used to execute Chief Deputy Sullivan and the Harrington couple, but werewolves had not been mentioned a single time as a possible expla-
nation. To everyone, including the police, the shadow pack had simply been another criminal group, sophisticated, but not unnatural in any way.
“Either wolves or wolf-wannabes,” replied Michael pensively. “It’s hard to tell. At any rate, they should be taken very seriously just in case.”
The police had found enough evidence in David’s computer to arrest Maxwell and Fleming, but Thompkins had managed to disappear into thin air. An additional three lower profile arrests had been made in conjunction with the case. The inclusion of Katia Olveda to the lot made a total of six pack members behind bars.
“What about Katia? Do you think she is a wolf?”
“I don’t know,” answered Michael, slightly irritated. “The witch brew hides the wolf scent completely. That’s why it took me so long to figure out David was a werewolf. I disliked him the first time I met him, but I simply couldn’t explain why. After Steve’s murder I just forgot about my gut feeling and started trusting the guy.”