Alpha vs Alpha

by Channing Sheffield

  I knew his plans, felt his pain and heartache. He’d already suffered a lifetime after losing the one person who would’ve loved him unconditionally from the moment he was conceived. My ignorance and stupidity—my ego—trashed his pride and he’d given up on caring. He’d given up on us. He’d given up on love, even when I loved him unconditionally, too.

  No way would I let him carry out his mission. So many depended on Blade’s support, his expertise, and his caring ways, and I was one of them. I needed him more than ever. I wanted—needed—his love more than I’ve ever thought I’d want a lover in my life, and he needed me.

  Taking in every scent, watching every trace of passage left behind, snow, dead leaves, and brittle tree branches crunched under my padded paws as I raced onward. I had to hurry. The stillness in the air had changed to a brisk breeze. Hundreds of scents saturated my nostrils.

  I came to an abrupt halt five minutes later. Blade was close. Up ahead, I sensed him, sensed his trepidation, and then saw him. Human form, spellbound, unmoving. The ache burrowing through my chest and heart ceased to exist. I’d found my mate! Alive, but stiff with anxiety.

  Not only Blade stood among the trees. Someone else was hidden from my view, someone whose scent was indistinct or not there at all.

  Blocking my thoughts, I crouched low, ears flattened, and crept forward, ducking under branches, placing each paw delicately on damp soil. The downwind breeze was a godsend, kept me undetectable.

  “Then do it,” Blade snapped. “Do what you came for. Do it now. Get it over with.”

  “Oh, I will, once you sign your estate over to me, dear brother.”

  I recognized the voice. Come to think about it, Walker’s voice was similar to Blade’s—deep, commanding. After all that Blade had done for him, protected him, cared for him!

  The Were’s arm shot out, tossed pen and paper to the ground.

  “I can’t sign,” Blade declared, shaking his head. “There are people who’ll need care. Our brother, Walker, included.”

  “I don’t give a damn about him or anyone else.”

  Ah, shit. Another sib. A greedy sib. A murderous one to boot.

  Blade sighed his usual noise. “My attorneys cannot and will not accept a filthy sheet of paper without witnessing my signature, Marcos. You’ll have to take me to them. And I’ll only sign the document if Walker, together with any other siblings, and the Villere community are cared for.”

  “What’s the point? Did you ever meet Sophie, our sister? She was murdered six years ago.”

  “No.” Despair etched Blade’s face, and his tortured whisper sent a twinge of heart-wrenching agony through me.

  “Fact is, I don’t think she ever went feral. I believe she was the gentlest and the most trusting of us all. Silly female. She died in a well-orchestrated accident.”

  My mate’s low, menacing growl reached my ears.

  I seriously wished Saba was here. She’d shred this shithead into hamburger meat.

  “Any others—if there are any other siblings—who come forth will die too. Crazy-assed Walker is next. Never could reason with the fool. I really did try. Brainwashing, you see. He fought hard for thirty-some odd years, trying to keep his memory intact. The facial scars were a result of an old, military tactic. Waterboarding. The fucker took my eye out the second I thought to trust him.”

  Good for Walker. Obviously, this no-good bastard had no regard for life. Zero love for family, a sentiment Blade and I treasured.

  You deserved it, you filthy asshole. Marcos didn’t respond indignantly, which meant, only I heard Blade’s retort.

  “Alas, I’ll inherit what took you decades to accomplish. Do you know how long I’ve waited for this moment, Blade? Do you know I’ve watched you, planned this day for nearly forty long years? Every time you returned to New Orleans, I sensed you. Found you. Loathed you, and you had no idea how close to you Walker and I really were. Across the street or tables away, Walker in the exclusive restaurant’s kitchen where we were employed. Me in a menial, busboy position. Do you hear me, brother? Where. I. Was. Employed!”

  The cacophony of forest voices ended abruptly when Blade’s challenger no longer spoke in moderated tones. Startled birds fluttered away, rodents scattered, and not too far away, an elk herd bolted, hooves pounding the ground.

  “I had nothing but suffering,” the murderer went on, “when you had everything. I deserve, no, I’m taking what you worked so tirelessly to acquire.”

  Lunacy had also passed from their mage forefather down through the ages and, it seemed, Blade and, possibly, their deceased sister were the only truly sane members of the family. On the other hand Walker had been rehabilitated, seemed stable. Just maybe, this guy was the only littermate suffering psychosis.

  “The finest lifestyle,” he continued in a whisper. “The finest everything.”

  “Why didn’t you come to me?” Blade asked quietly, staring at the ground, genuine concern in his voice. “I would’ve helped you, taken good care of you.”

  “Look at me when you talk, dammit! I told you I was born deaf,” Marcos shouted, tapping his ear.

  Blade repeated his words.

  “And I tried to take care of you. Problem was, the worthless shifter community couldn’t put two and two together and come up with four. They should’ve pinned the crimes on you, the logical suspect. They were more afraid of the Villere name than anything. Sign the paper, Blade, you’ve wasted too much of my time already. I’ll take care of me—have so for ninety-eight damn years—with our money.”

  “Marcos, no one can prove—”

  “I can prove anything,” he barked. “Everything. Your good buddy, Drake, handed over the only information I needed. DNA tests. Humans can’t resist the lure of money any more than he can.”

  Despicable...I’d heard enough. Then, Marcos raised his pistol, aimed the barrel toward Blade’s head. Less than twenty feet separated the brothers, too close for Blade to outrun a speeding bullet. An icy chill raced up my spine, raised my hackles. I’d kill the bastard before the first shot went off.

  Still crouched, I inched forward, kept focused on my prey standing behind a barren evergreen, and I slithered right. Every muscle in my body twitched in anticipation, my heart thundering in my chest as I found my footing. My target: Marcos’s extended arm.

  “Then shoot me, you sadistic bastard, and get it over with! I don’t have one reason to live anyway.”

  You do have a reason. My love for you. Don’t do this, Blade.

  Hearing my plea, I knew he’d respond. He had to.

  Blade? Don’t…

  “If it’s the way you want it, brother dearest,” Marcos said, sneering, easing closer to his target. And me.

  Oh, shit. I looked from one to the other. Mirror images. Same hair coloring, except Marcos’s dark mane cascaded down to his waist. Same complexion and chiseled features. Eyes? I had no idea. Marcos wore a pirate’s patch over his left eye, the right I couldn’t see. The same powerful build made for a tough adversary.

  I had no choice. I had to go for it.

  “A minor setback worth defeating,” Marcos continued. “I’ll contest your will and, in the end, I’ll win. Not only will I enjoy your money, I’ll also fuck your mate.”

  Bullshit. I pounced.

  “No!” Blade’s hellacious roar echoed off adjoining mountains, stretched across valleys.

  Too late. The shot went off, despite my best intentions.

  I sank my fangs deeply into Marcos’s throat, tried to crush his larynx. I couldn’t hang on, my jaws went slack. He tossed me aside like the ragdoll I’d instantly become.

  When my body slammed to the ground, blood gushed from the gunshot wound, matting fur, soaking grasses around me. I knew my life was slipping away when I shifted to human then to wolf again. I couldn’t maintain human form.

  The bullet lodged in my heart burned bad. Even attempting to whimper, pain lanced through my torso and spilled over to all extremities.

  On the preci
pice of taking my last breath, I kept my eyes pinned to Blade, to the mate I loved so damn much, and committed his many faces, including Were, to memory.

  The battle was wicked, brutally one-sided, but swift. Alphas always kicked littermates’ asses. Always, when discipline was the answer. Werewolf Blade tore his brother to shreds, piece by insane piece. Scavenger brunch.

  I smiled to myself. My mate was as ferocious when furious as he was during hot-blooded sex. I hoped to take every intimate thought with me to the other side of forever. We’d shared a short-lived, meaningful love for each other.

  My breaths grew labored, shallower. Slower. I didn’t have long and I wanted to say a few last words to Blade. I forced a transformation. It hurt like hell. No doubt, humans and wolves were equally fragile in death.

  Blade sank to his knees beside me, tears shining in his eyes, racing down his cheeks. I thought I felt every hot drop as it mixed with the blood on my chest. I couldn’t be sure.

  I’d only seen a grown man cry once, and it was my father at a bad moment in our lives. I couldn’t hold my own tears back at the time, couldn’t hold them at bay now.

  I tried to lift my hand to stroke his damp cheek, to soothe him. Couldn’t. He folded mine between his hands and kissed my fingers.

  “Why, Hamm? Why did you come? You weren’t supposed to be here.”

  We both knew why. “Love. Did I-I tell you how m-much I love you?” Those moments, ones I wanted to hang on to, had already faded from my mind.

  “Don’t. Don’t say it now. I felt love in your kisses and...and the way you looked at me. Words are…” His voice faltered. “Words are just words, invented by humans. Wolves share an altogether different reality.”

  Evasive was his middle name. “Never?” I whispered. “I never said I love you?”

  He wouldn’t lie to save his wolf skin, and Blade shook his head. The straw that broke… Now I knew why his wounds—the ones I had inflicted—went so damn deep. I had been cruel and unforgiving in every way. Making matters worse, I had demanded expressions of love from Blade, but I’d stupidly omitted saying the words myself. I’d committed so many wrongs when nearly everything he’d done in life showed compassion, understanding, strength, and, the best part, love for all who earned his respect and loyalty. A class act few beings could replicate or surpass.

  “I love you, Blade, more than anyone.”

  Hearing his sobs, feeling his agony, racked my heart with unbearable pain. I closed my eyes, begging the wolf goddess to keep me conscious and coherent a little while longer. “Tell m-my family—”

  “I can’t let you leave them. Not like this. They love you too much, and you have so much love to give them.”

  He always thought of me. For twenty-six long years. “And all the love I wanted to give to you,” I replied, which set off another round of gut-wrenching sobs. My eyes fluttered open. The image of Blade blurred, whether from tears or impending death, I didn’t know. “Y-you can’t s-stop the inevitable.”

  He wiped the back of his hand over his eyes. “I can try. There might be a way to keep you alive. I have to try, Hamm. If it works or not, I’ll have my people take you home.”

  “I-I am home. I’ll al-always be at home anywhere, as long…as long as I’m w-with you. Promise me you’ll meet m-my family.” He shook his head. “Promise.”

  Blade finally agreed.

  “C-can you keep us to-together until then? I want my f-family to see us together, to see how…h-how much we mean to each other, how g-good we love.”

  “I’ll do my damndest if it kills me.” I watched his hands hover over my chest. I so wanted to feel his heated touch one more time. Damn shame that numbness had settled in throughout my body.

  “H-How?” His blood was potent, but I doubt its strength was powerful enough to heal my heart with a silver bullet lodged inside the chamber, frying it to ashes.

  “I’ll find a way.”

  His forefather’s legacy, magic? Another curious word invented by humans. Magi handiwork? Were there really miraculous feats to be held?

  I was slowly shifting back to my wolf skin for the last time, no way to stop the transformation. Shifting was an automatic phenomenon when dying, in case humans found us before our kin retrieved the carcass. To humans, wolves were inconsequential animals when destroyed. For us, only those species—whether captured shifter or human—who willfully and wrongfully committed heinous crimes against society, were left to scavengers. Innocents who lost their lives on our lands were respectfully delivered to their rightful authorities.

  Which label did I fall under? I had innocently loved…I was in love?...loved someone and, without an ounce of guilt, I had willfully attempted to kill. Why would I murder my lover? Then, there was…my concentration was slipping by the wayside…Johnny…or was it…Sandy or…a cousin or uncle maybe…who I’d hurt somehow. My thoughts were scattering, the memory loss causing distress. Who were the people I once knew?

  “Close your eyes and grit your teeth. I’ll try not to hurt you too much, Hamm.”

  Who was Hamm? I wondered as darkness closed in, a horrible pain lancing through my chest, consciousness drifting through the darkest chasm.

  11

  The sky was bright and clear over the spectacular Rocky Mountains. Sparkling snow covered trees, bushes, and grounds all around. Ribbons of smoke funneled through several chimneys, tainting the air and tickling sensitive nostrils. Few shifter families needed additional heat during the severest winters. Many used their fireplace simply to defrost or roast meats.

  In the distance, young pups frolicked, pranced, and chased each other through powdery snow, the echo of the yips easily heard. Cute little buggers. They’d tire themselves, race home, and fall into deep, restful sleep eventually.

  Behind the wood cabin on the corner, a pair of watchful wolves skulked ominously about, scrutinizing playtime and the surrounding area with heightened senses. More were surely stationed around the community. Friends, relatives, and patrol units guarded the young and vulnerable all hours of the day and night. Wolves were fiercely protective.

  I turned at the sound of rustling sheets and smiled at my mate. My mate. I loved the hell out of him. “Hi.”

  “Good morning. How do you feel?” Blade asked.

  “Great, like every new day at dawn. Like every day I set eyes on you.”

  I swaggered toward the bed, sat beside my lifelong partner, and planted a smooch on his kissable lips. Loved his lips, his handsome face, his muscled body. Blade’s hands were smooth and teasing as they roamed over my bare chest, then he cupped the back of my head and pulled me in for another soul-stealing kiss, which sent heat flaring straight to my cock as it always would.

  “Mom’s cooking pancakes and sausages for breakfast. That is, if you’re hungry for food.”

  “Actually, I can tell Chef Walker has taken over kitchen detail. Calas, elk and pork sausage, ham, grits with red-eye gravy or cheese, potatoes o’Walker, and fried apples. Oh, and his specialty eggs soufflé. Probably because he doesn’t have all of the ingredients for Sardou.”

  Sausage patties or links? Blade had the most sensitive nose of anyone.

  “On the other hand,” he continued, grinning, his nose twitching, “I also smell lust in the air.”

  We’d lost a week’s worth of loving due to my tenuous condition. For three days, unconsciousness, Blade’s potent blood, and his inherited magic had kept my body pain-free while healing. Somehow, and Blade had skirted specifics, he’d extracted or neutralized the silver torturing my physical being into rapid deterioration. I did expire…briefly…he’d said, but he’d breathed life back into my lungs and restarted my heart. I’d owe him greatly for a lifetime.

  “You owe me nothing, Hamm. Being with you, loving you, and knowing you love me is all I have ever asked for. I, the devil werewolf, have been granted a lifetime of happiness.”

  “Devil?” I burst out laughing.

  Mom said my runt sister had threatened to eviscerate both Blade and
Walker when we arrived on their doorstep. Wish I could’ve experienced teleporting while conscious. And watched my sister flip completely out when she saw her bloodied, comatose brother. Blade’s magic calmed Kasey and my entire family, even the rest of the Fairchild pack, as well as taming Walker’s schizoid reaction. Blade was phenomenal—a unique and remarkable, caring species—to say the least and this “devil” werewolf belonged to me.

  No, it was I, Hamilton Fairchild, who had been granted the perfect mate for a lifetime of happiness.

  The second I sneaked my fingers under the sheet, Blade’s cell phone rang. Damn.

  “Yes?” He listened for a few seconds then wrapped his fingers over the mouthpiece. “Saba. News on the missing wolves.”

  I waited anxiously because I’d failed to complete my job. Had the three wolves survived? Or was Marcos the worst serial killer our kind has ever seen? Actually, other than flipping out during the full moon, I hadn’t heard exactly what werewolves were known for. Someday, not too far into the future, I’d have a sit-down with the love of my life and learn specifics.

  “Uh-huh...Uh-huh…Uh-huh…”

  One more bland acknowledgement, I’d snatch the phone from his hand.

  “Uh-huh.” Blade snagged my wrist. Damn, he was fast. “Obrigado, bebê. Vê-lo em poucos dias.” Then he let my wrist free.

  Instantly pissed, it took honest effort not to grind my teeth down to the fucking roots. Pou-whatever sounded like pussy to me. I’d be damned if he’d jump the Brazilian’s bones and not his mate’s.

  “Get over it, Hamilton. I’ve been trying to learn Portuguese almost fourteen years, and Saba was right. She said: His ass’ll get tight if you say a single word in my language. She knows you too well. I simply replied with: Thank you and see you in a few days. I can hear her outrageous laughter.”

  He probably could. “I heard the word baby in there.” When Blade rolled his eyes, my jaw went slack from showing outright jealousy. Have a little confidence in yourself, Hamilton. I nudged my hand under the sheet again, inched toward the static heat drawing me closer.