Alpha Initiation

by Mac Flynn

  "Uh, I don't know about that," I hesitantly replied. This girl was adorable, but she tossed out the werewolf topic more easily than Luke.

  She tugged on my shirt. "But it'll be so much fun! I've been there before and the woods are really pretty!" Our little fun was interrupted by a knock on the door. Alistair opened it and the girl's mother stood in the hallway.

  "Abby, there you are!" her mother scolded her. She hurried into our compartment and swept her child into her arms. "I'm so sorry for this, my lord, but she's a very curious creature."

  Luke stood, smiled and nodded. "No trouble at all."

  "Can I stay here until we reach the Sanctuary?" Abby pleaded with her mother.

  "Certainly not, Abby! You've troubled these nice people and me long enough!"

  "Wait a second," Luke interrupted. He gestured around the room. "We'd be glad to have her with us for a night, and there's plenty of room for her to run in here."

  The mother bit her lip and her eyes glanced over our faces. "I wouldn't want her to bother you, and she's such a handful-"

  "I can be good," Abby protested.

  "Hush, naughty girl. You've troubled the lord enough," her mother scolded.

  "Are you from my district, ma'am?" Luke spoke up.

  The woman blushed and gave a lopsided curtsy with Abby still in her arms. "Yes, my lord. The name's Stewart."

  Luke raised an eyebrow. "From Huntington?" he guessed.

  Mrs. Stewart smiled and nodded. "Yes, sir. My husband is an expert tracker."

  "That's quite a distance, so I'm sure you'd be happy to have us babysit Abby for you." Mrs. Stewart did look haggled with dark patches under her eyes and her clothes wrinkled.

  Abby crossed her arms over her chest and scowled at him. "I'm not a baby!" she protested.

  "If she wouldn't be too much trouble," Mrs. Stewart hesitantly agreed.

  "None at all," Luke persisted.

  Mrs. Stewart set Abby on the ground and the little girl jumped back into my arms. "If she does get to be a handful you can bring her back. We're in the last car," the mother told us.

  "I'm sure that won't be necessary, but thank you," he replied. Mrs. Stewart cast one more reluctant glance over her little girl and left Abby in our care.

  Luke smiled and turned to Alistair. "It seems we have a guest for this short journey."

  Alistair bowed at the waist. "I will make another bed in my room," he replied.

  "No, I want to sleep with her!" Abby protested as she latched onto me.

  I smiled. "But you don't even know my name," I teased.

  Abby scrunched up her face. "I don't?" she wondered.

  I laughed and hugged her close to me. "You have to ask someone their name to learn it."

  "Oh!" Abby squirmed from my arms, and stood prim and proper in front of me. She even curtsied. "My name is Abby Stewart. What's yours?"

  I noticed Luke watch me intensely. He didn't know my last name. "Becky," I replied.

  "Becky," Abby repeated. She nodded her approval and climbed into my lap. "I like it!"

  That was the beginning of a very long night entertaining her and in turn being entertained by her. She was a curious handful, getting into our luggage and wanting to wear my clothes. I was the one stuck with most of the babysitting and the men stayed out of the way, but I couldn't help but notice that Luke watched me with a careful eye. After one particularly long stare I turned and glared at him. "What?"

  Luke smiled and shrugged. "You seem happy," he commented.

  I sniffed. "Well, Abby's a good distraction, aren't you, Abby?" I turned back to her and found she'd popped open a makeup kit Alistair had bought for me. "No, Abby, not the lipstick!"

  I was forever grateful when Abby's battery ran low around midnight, and I put her to bed on the bottom bunk in the room assigned to Luke and me. Or rather, assigned to me after I grabbed Luke's luggage and tossed it into Alistair's room. There were two bunks in each room so he still had a bed.

  "What are you doing?" Luke protested.

  I slipped into the room and closed the door most of the way so I peeked out of a crack. "Girls only, no boys allowed in that room," I replied before I slammed it shut. I turned around and found Abby's tired eyes staring at me.

  "He likes you a lot," she commented.

  I sat down on the edge of the bed and sighed. "He has a really funny way of showing it. Flowers would've worked better than kidnapping me."

  "Maybe he didn't want to lose you," Abby suggested.

  I shrugged and pulled the covers up to her chin. "You'll understand better when you grow up."

  "I guess," she murmured. She snuggled beneath the covers, but grasped my sleeve. "Can you sleep with me? Mama sleeps with me on these trips because we hit a bump once so hard I fell out."

  I laughed and nodded. "All right, but just this once."

  I slipped into my new pajamas and squished into the space between Abby and the wall. Soon we were both sleeping soundly as the train sped through the thick woods and a few small towns on its way to the strange place called Sanctuary.

  Chapter 10

  Unfortunately, we didn't sleep all night. We were awoken by a violent toss of the train as it was forced from the tracks. Abby and I screamed and latched onto each other as we tumbled with the train. Luggage spilled everywhere and the mirror toppled off the wall. We heard other screams and shouts, and a terrible noise of metal against wood and other metal. My back slammed against the wall as the entire car fell onto its side. It felt like forever, but the whole episode didn't last more than thirty seconds. Then everywhere was dark, and I heard a voice among the silence.

  "Becky! Becky!" Luke called to me.

  "We're in here!" I shouted to him. I glanced down at the shaking form in my arms. "Abby, you okay?" I whispered to my charge.

  "I-I think so," she whispered.

  I heard somebody move in the living room, and soon the door flung open. In the dim light of night I saw Luke in the doorway. "Stay still, I'll get to you," he shouted to us. He crawled along the luggage and leaned over bottom of the bunk to our little nook inside the bottom bed. "Give me your hand, Becky."

  I shook my head and shakily stood to my feet. "Get Abby first," I insisted. We passed her over, and then Luke helped me over the bottom of the bed.

  Luke led us out into the living room where the cushions and broken glass were strewn everywhere. The ceiling of the car was now the wall, and beneath our feet were the broken exterior windows and hard gravel from the railroad tracks. Above our heads was the door and hallway. The door swung on its hinges, and through the new skylight we could hear shouts and cries of fear.

  Alistair's face appeared beyond the broken glass above us. "It's not good, sir," he told Luke.

  "What happened?" Luke asked him.

  "I can't be sure yet as to the cause, but all the cars have derailed. The engine is on fire and the last few cars broke free and slid down the slope into the trees and rocks.

  My eyes widened and I tightened my grasp on Abby. I jerked my head over to Luke. "The last car!" I reminded him.

  Abigail's eyes widened. "Mama!" she screamed. She tried to free herself from my grasp, but I held tightly to her.

  "Not yet, Abby! Let the men get at your mom and dad!" I told her.

  "No! I want my Mama and Papa!" she screamed.

  Her wails were interrupted when the car beneath our feet slid a yard. Abby and I screamed, and I fell onto the sharp ground with Abby on top of me. Luke grabbed the wall and grimaced. "The car won't hold for much longer, sir," Alistair told us.

  "So we noticed," Luke replied. He helped Abby and me up. "We'll get out of here and find your parents, Abby," he told the frightened, crying girl. She nodded and calmed just a little.

  Now we had another problem. The new ceiling was a good fifteen feet above us. "How are we going to get out of here?" I asked Luke.

  "Alistair, take Abby," Luke instructed his servant.

  Alistair easily dropped through a broken window and the open
door. He took Abby in his arms, hunkered down, and jumped upward. His vertical easily cleared the distance, and the pair disappeared over the side of the overturned car. My mouth was still open when I was swept into Luke's arms. "Hold on," he instructed.

  I yelped when we flew into the air. We whipped past the walls and out into the open air. Luke landed us close beside where Alistair and Abby stood. He set me down carefully so my feet didn't go through a window, and I got my first glimpse of the area and the wreckage. The area was a rugged wilderness of trees and a sloped hillside that ascended to the left of the train and dropped down on the right side. Ahead of us was the remains of the engine, and flames shot high into the dark night sky. Beyond that was the ruins of the tracks. The thick metal bands were a tangled mess of warped steel, and I wondered how an engine could have caused such devastation.

  Behind us lay the other cars, and in the distance I could see that the final three cars were fifty yards down the slope. The cars had left a mess of broken trees and small, scattered boulders. The compartments themselves were a tangled mass of thick and warped sheets of metal. Some passengers stood on the slope above the wreck while the train's crew and other riders were down among the ruins of the final three cars.

  I didn't know how anyone could have survived that mess, but they were pulling people out of the rubble. Most of them even looked unscathed with not even a scratch across their cheeks. Abby grasped my hand and her little eyes searched the faces of the survivors. Her face lit up when Mr. and Mrs. Stewart were helped from the remains of their car, and she tugged hard on my arm as she jumped up and down. "Mama and Papa are all right!" she cried out in joy.

  "Of course they are," Luke calmly replied.

  For my part I was shocked. I thought I'd been holding the hand of an orphan. "How did they make it?" I wondered.

  "There are benefits to being a monster," Luke calmly replied. He glanced around us. "We should get off the car," he reminded us.

  I nodded and lifted Abby into my arms. The ascending slope meant the drop to the ground wasn't too far, so I hopped down and followed Alistair over to the group of forward-car survivors. Unlike my wonderful assortment of minor cuts and bruises they were just in shock. The other survivors were helped up the hill, and Abby broke from me and raced over to her shaken but healthy parents. "Mama! Papa!"

  "Abby!" her mother cried out. They raced into each others' arms and there were smiles all around.

  I glanced up at Luke and noticed he, too, wore a smile. "You like happy endings, too?" I teased him.

  Luke shook himself from his good humor and straightened his filthy pajama top. "A good deed is it's own reward, but celebrations should be for another time and place."

  "You mean because we need to get out of here?" I guessed.

  He looked to the engine and where Alistair spoke with the engineer. "Because I don't think this had anything to do with a good deed." Luke took a step toward them, but we were detained for a moment longer by the arrival of Abby and her parents.

  "Becky, look! Mama and Papa are all right!" Abby yelled at me.

  "Of course we are, Abby. A little train wreck wouldn't kill us," Mrs. Stewart scolded. I'd hate to see a big train wreck.

  Mr. Stewart stepped forward and eagerly shook both Luke and my hands. "Thank you so much for keeping her safe in your car. I don't think Abby would have got through the wreck as well as us."

  "Probably not, and we were grateful to have her company," Luke politely replied.

  "If there's anything we can do for you just name it," Mr. Stewart insisted.

  "I'll keep that in mind," Luke promised. "But if you'll excuse us." He turned away and to the engine, and I waved goodbye to Abby and followed him.

  "I'll see you at Sanctuary!" Abby called over my shoulder.

  I followed Luke over to his servant and the scraggly old engineer. "What happened?" Luke asked them.

  The engineer's face was covered in cuts and he had a dour expression. His clothes were torn from the shrapnel of the tracks, but he was otherwise healthy. "Ah don't know, me lord. We was going on as smooth as can be and I heard a small explosion. Then the whole track burst out from under us and the engine tipped over." He glanced over to the flaming engine and growled. The noise was distinctly wolfish. "If Ah ever get a hold of the rascal who done this-"

  "Then you don't think it was an accident?" Luke interrupted.

  The old man scoffed. "No accident ever started with a bang like Ah heard."

  Luke and Alistair glanced at each other, and I didn't like the looks on their faces. They knew something they didn't want to say aloud. Luke turned back to the engineer. "Has another train been called?"

  "Aye. It should get here in an hour," he replied.

  "Good. I'll tell the other passengers." Luke turned to Alistair and jerked his head toward the rails in front of the engine. Alistair nodded and went to inspect them. Then Luke glanced to me, and looked over my cuts and bruises. "You're the worse for wear," he teased.

  "That's what I get for hanging around with a psychopath. Hurt," I quipped. He reached up and brushed his hand against a nice bruise on my forehead. I winced and batted his hand away. "Stop helping the injuries. Believe me, they don't need it," I scolded him.

  "With some rest and food those should heal in a few hours. Why don't we go sit with everyone else?" he suggested.

  "About time you said something sensible," I replied. My words were mean, but I was grateful for the offer to sit down. My legs still felt like vibrating rubber and my muscles ached from the jostling and strain of the shock.

  Luke guided me over to the upper hill where sat everyone else and set me down on a nice, comfortable boulder. He knelt down and perused my person. "No broken bones? No severe internal bleeding?" he asked me.

  I snorted. "Isn't it a little late to be asking that?"

  "Better late than never."

  "I'd say now would be too late to be asking some of those things."

  "You can't blame me for fussing over you-"

  "I can blame you for a lot of things, and none of them good," I pointed out. "Besides, you don't need to fuss over me like an old hen. I feel fine, just tired."

  He smiled. "A Maker does tend to become an old hen around their progeny."

  "A what?"

  "A Maker. One who makes another of their kind, in this case a werewolf."

  I cringed. "You just had to remind me about that terrifying fact, didn't you?"

  "Is it so terrifying when you see how it helps people?" He swept his hand over the other passengers. They were unharmed, and some were already laughing about their ordeal. "This would've been much worse if they weren't werewolves."

  I sighed and wrapped my arms around myself. "I still won't trust you," I stubbornly replied.

  He smiled and patted me on the knee. "You'll learn, but could you do something for me?"

  My eyes narrowed. "What's that?" I asked him.

  "Stay."

  "Come again?"

  "Stay here. It's my duty to make sure everyone else is all right so I can't be watching you all the time," he explained to me.

  I frowned, but hunkered down on my rock. "I guess, but don't expect this old dog to learn a new trick every day."

  He chuckled. "A fitting analogy, but thank you."

  Luke stood and went over to the pockets of people along the hillside. He updated them on the coming train and made sure there were no serious injuries. A few of the train crew managed to salvage food from the wreck and that was passed around to everyone. I got a plate of biscuits speckled with gravel, but after the scare I was famished and ate them without complaint.

  Time crept by for the passengers, but the crew and Luke took the risk of rummaging through the wreck to retrieve belongings. Alistair finished his perusal of the tracks and helped with the game of hide-and-seek. Luke rejoined me at my rock, and dumped an armful of luggage and himself on the ground beside me. He looked as tired as I felt, and I had some pity on him. "You eat anything?" I asked him. He sho
ok his head and ran a hand through his messy hair. I held out what remained of my meal. "Here. No sense having you survive the wreck just to starve to death."

  Luke smiled and took a gravel-seasoned biscuit. He'd just bitten down on the crunchy goodness when a cry went up from one of the people beside us, and we glanced to where they pointed. A new train chugged up to us from the direction of our destination, and it stopped a few dozen yards down the track. A half dozen people with leather bags and stretchers in hand jumped out. They paused at the engineer, spoke to him for a few moments, and one remained to patch up the engineer while the others hurried over to us. From the stethoscopes around a few of their necks I guessed they were doctors and nurses. "Is anyone seriously injured?" the lead man asked us.

  Luke handed back the biscuit and stood. Many of the other passengers gathered around us. "Nothing serious. Most of us are just shaken."

  "So there weren't any humans aboard?" the head medic wondered.

  Luke shook his head. "None, thankfully, or you would have work."

  The medic and his team visibly relaxed, and a few of them even smiled. "That's a relief." He turned to the engine. The fire was out, but the machine was totaled. "What exactly happened?"

  "We're not sure, but we'd like to get away from here as soon as possible," Luke replied.

  "Oh, of course. This train can take you all the way to Wolverton," the man told us.

  A cheer went up from the crowd, and we carried ourselves and our luggage over to the new train. The train crew hopped out and helped us inside to soft, comfortable seats and warm food. There were two rows of two seats with an aisle between them, and Luke guided me to the center of the car. He took the seat beside me and gave me the window view, and Alistair took a position in front of us. Abby waved wildly to me from the front of the car until her mother made her sit down. I didn't realize how exhausted I was until I shut my eyes for a quick rest that stretched out into most of the day.

  Chapter 11

  The jostle of the train woke me up, and I glanced outside to see we had left the woods and entered a bustling town. The buildings here were taller and more packed together, and many of them were built in a more modern, blocky fashion. One in particular stood above the rest for its ten floors and extreme gaudiness. The builders tried to imitate the old-fashioned clapboard look, but with fake materials that made the whole thing look tacky.