Being Alpha_Olde Town Pack

by Katie Salidas

  “No. But I can write down anything you find.” Fallon looked around the room and then sighed. “Well, I could if there were anything to write on.”

  “I know. It’s big and pretty, but missing the comforts of home. Just keep talking. That’s helpful.”

  “Sure. So I spoke with Yanira. She says Tito is not dealing with Leif nor was he dealing with Charles. In fact, she said he hated Charles.”

  “So why was he so keen to defend?” Emma carefully rolled each limb, inspecting them to see if there were any bruises, marks, or clues to what had brought down the Alpha wolf.

  “He’s a stickler for rules,” Fallon answered matter-of-factly.

  Finding nothing special on the arms, she rolled Regina’s body side to side to look at her back and hips. “And you believe Yanira?”

  “I have no reason not to at the moment. But still, we keep things close to our chest, especially now with a killer on the loose.”

  “Found it!” Emma almost shouted.

  “What?” Fallon jumped to her feet.

  “There.” Emma pointed to a tiny mark almost invisible on the corpse’s upper butt cheek, hardly more than a pinprick, with the ghost of a bruise around it. “That means someone injected her with poison.”

  “What did they give her?” Fallon asked the million-dollar question.

  “That’s going to take a bit more investigating,” Emma answered. “But this gives us more to go on.” She remembered the empty syringe she’d found in Leif’s cell, and that sent her mind on a crazy downward spiral of conspiracy theories. Leif had looked like crap and had limped into the room at dinner, but other than his appearance, he hadn’t shown any signs of being drugged. Now she wished she’d given him more than a cursory glance back then. She’d taken for granted that he was sleeping off effects of some drug he’d been administered. But what if it had all been part of an elaborate plan?

  “You’re too quiet.” Fallon reached out and touched her shoulder. “I’ve seen that look before.”

  “We need to find the Tweedles!” She breathed the nickname in a panicked breath.

  “Why?”

  “Because I think they’re working for Leif!” It all made sense. Why would someone intentionally sign a logbook if they were planning on killing Leif? That little detail had bothered her since she’d noticed it. She had entered a guarded area where her face was on camera. She’d entered a code that presumably had only been given to a select few. And she signed herself in. But why go down there in the first place? To gloat, maybe?

  “You’re going to have to start making sense soon, lady.” Fallon glared at Emma.

  “Back at the reception, Brady and I were sent down to get the paperwork on Leif. But someone had been there before us, and we thought they had drugged Leif or given him a sedative.”

  “And you waited how long to tell someone about this?” Fallon’s annoyance began to show.

  “I told Aiden. And I’m willing to bet Brady did too.”

  “But you didn’t tell me.”

  “Sorry. I probably should have.”

  “Who else knows?”

  Emma shrugged. “Everyone left afterwards, and I went back to my room. I guess I assumed that Aiden would do the Alpha thing and share the info with Ace.”

  “Does Ace know?”

  She shrugged again. “I don’t think so. He didn’t mention knowing anything.”

  Fallon let out a breath. “Okay, so you think it was Regina who went down there.”

  “It was a woman, according to the guard on duty. And presumably her Tweedles,” Emma said.

  “And?” Fallon asked.

  “I found an empty syringe, and Leif appeared to be sleeping. I just assumed he’d been given a sedative. But now I’m not so sure. I think he was just playing us, and had the Tweedles dose her with something.”

  “So we’re just making assumptions at this point,” Fallon said. “Let’s get this info to the right people so it can be proven. Video surveillance is tight around here. If something went down, it will be on camera.”

  23

  Aeson Silverman

  “Just got the word on Regina’s bodyguards.” Jay jumped to his feet and began walking toward the door. “We’d better have a look.” His tone had all the excitement of a man heading for the gallows, hanging any hopes of a signed confession of guilt or an end to the mystery of who poisoned Regina.

  Ace ground his teeth and reluctantly followed his brother. Regina and her entourage had been assigned suites in the west wing, farthest away from all the others. He’d known she would be trouble, but nothing could have prepared him for what her presence had wrought.

  A familiar coppery tang wafted toward them even before they reached the doorway to Regina’s suite, and any lingering hope Ace held for a resolution to the mystery of her death choked under the noxious odors of bile and blood that greeted them on arrival.

  Two of Jay’s security team stood outside the room, holding their noses against the stench, their faces a professional mask of neutrality barely covering disgust. It was a credit to them that neither had abandoned their post, though the look in their eyes begged for someone to tell them to leave.

  “What happened here?” Ace demanded, as he came up to the first of the two guards.

  “We came to investigate as we were told.” With his hands trembling as if struggling to control his emotions, the guard breathed slowly. He gulped and nodded his head toward the open doorway. “There was a fight going on. The two...We tried to stop them. Richard...” His voice cracked.

  The name spurred Ace into action. Everyone in the pack was his to command and protect, but Richard had been his mentor, and had held the title of Enforcer during David Silverman’s reign as Alpha. The man was supposed to be unstoppable. Ace had to see for himself. Pushing past the trembling guard, he stepped into the doorway.

  Death had laid claim to Regina’s room, marking every inch as its own. Blood splattered across the walls like a signature of occupancy. The remains of what was once a wolf lay shredded on the ruined bed. Another figure – he assumed it had been Regina’s other bodyguard – was splayed on the carpet with his throat open and blood oozing out around him in an ever-growing pool.

  To his left, Richard lay in a crumpled heap, his chest barely rising and falling; but that was enough to confirm life.

  Fighting back the bile in his stomach, Ace shouted, “Get Emma here now. Bring medical supplies!”

  Anger burned like fire in Ace’s veins. War had found its way into his very home, when he and his pack had agreed to serve as agents of peace and neutrality. Now, one of his own might pay the price for a fight others had started.

  Seething as he allowed himself to take full stock of the room, he nearly snapped his own brother’s hand when he felt the fingers touch his shoulder.

  “Emma’s on her way,” Jay spoke in a whisper. “I sent a message and let the guards go to accompany her.”

  Whether or not his brother felt the same rage, Ace couldn’t be sure, but one thing was certain: their pack could no longer remain neutral. “We need to find Vivian and Orion and ensure their safety.” Ace desperately tried to control the growl in his voice as he gave the order. “We will not let our people suffer another loss.”

  “Already on it. They’ve been called to your office,” Jay replied. “We will get to the bottom of this.”

  Jay’s soothing voice could do nothing to calm Ace’s burning rage.

  Emma arrived quickly, panting as if she had run the entire way. Her bag in one already gloved hand, she looked ready to work.

  “Three victims inside,” Ace began to say. “Be warned–”

  “I’ve seen blood before,” Emma responded, without an ounce of hesitation. She stepped past Ace and took stock of the room.

  Her presence had a calming effect on his anger, which even his own brother had not been able to quell. A consummate professional in every sense of the word, she neither shied away from the blood nor paused to compose herself before
zeroing in on Richard and dropping to her knees as she began to inspect him.

  Unraveling his heap of a body, she laid him out as gently as possible on the ground.

  Ace watched in awe as she listened to his chest, felt for his pulse, and appeared to ignore all manner of bodily fluids she either knelt in or had to touch as she went about her work. “He’s still alive.” She whipped open her bag and grabbed a small pen light.

  Those words were a bolster to Ace’s spirit. He stepped forward into the room. “Can I assist at all?”

  “Slow pulse, loss of consciousness...” Emma pushed open the unconscious wolf’s eyelids and flashed them with her light. “Blown pupil,” she mumbled to herself, as she threw her light aside. “Shit!” She dug into her bag.

  “What does that mean?”

  “Probable intracranial hematoma.” She sounded as if she were hoping it wasn’t that, but the worried look in her eye confirmed it.

  “For those of us in the room without a medical degree?” Ace asked, hoping it wasn’t as bad as it sounded.

  “He took a massive blow to the head.” She continued to dig around, looking more frantic by the second. “The pressure in his skull is increasing. He’s not really conscious right now, thank the gods. But if I don’t relieve the pressure soon, he’ll go brain dead, and the rest will follow.”

  “Tell me what to do,” Ace demanded, desperate to help in any way he could.

  “How’s your stomach?” Emma’s tone conveyed an unspoken warning he wished he could heed. But this was Richard who lay dying. No matter how disgusting the procedure, he’d have to muster up the courage to do what was needed to help.

  “I’m good. Just tell me what I need to do.”

  If a hand mixer and a power drill had somehow managed to reproduce, the dangerous combination they created might look just like the shiny silver weapon Emma produced from her medical bag. “You’re going to have to hold his head very still.”

  Holy shit! What had he just agreed to? It was all he could do to hold back the chunks in his throat as he imagined all manner of terrible uses for a tool of that sort. “Okay.” His voice cracked as he knelt down next to her. “Whatever you have to do, just do it.”

  Emma jammed a big plastic guard in Richard’s mouth as if he were gearing up to play football. Too bad he hadn’t had a helmet too. That would have been handy before the tackling he’d gotten. Wolves were made of stronger stuff than this. Whatever had hit him, it had to have had the force of a Mack truck to take down a fighter of his caliber. Then again, one look around the room spoke to the utter horror that must have gone on.

  “I’m going to need you to act as a brace for his body. I need him completely immobilized for this. You’re going to have to make sure everything, including his head, is still.”

  Ace positioned himself over Richard’s body, straddling his chest and letting the weight of his legs hold down Richards’s arms. Awkward didn’t even begin to touch how weird this position felt, but it gave him the freedom to reach out and hold Richard’s head. “Like this?”

  Emma nodded. “Now, make sure to keep him still. There may be some involuntary moving. His muscles might jerk in reflex.”

  Ace did as instructed and held perfectly still as Emma began to do her thing. She took her time feeling around one side of Richard’s head, as if searching for something specific. “Remember – if he moves, stop him.”

  Emma worked quickly, positioning herself near his head, and after a bit more prodding, located a spot above his ear. She took a razor to his scalp and quickly cleared away the hair. Her movements flowed effortlessly as she swabbed liquid over the freshly shaven spot and then took out a small blade and sliced a neat line into Richard’s head. Ace meant to hold Richard’s head still, but he found himself squeamishly jerking his own sideways as she began her work.

  “Keep him still,” Emma warned, as she took the curious device and applied it to Richard’s head. Truly a master focused on her work, it was only when she began drilling into his skull that Emma gave the slightest appearance of discomfort. Even then, the emotion evaporated as steely-eyed determination set her to the task of boring a hole into Richard’s head.

  Ace had said his stomach was up to the challenge, but the sound of metal scraping against bone and the wet sloshing of liquid accompanying it threatened to make him puke. Ace breathed slowly, concentrating on the task at hand, holding Richard’s head still at all cost, understanding now the true danger of what might happen if he failed.

  The drilling took ages, or so it seemed. Every second passed by agonizingly slow.

  “I think I got it,” Emma said, as she set down her drill and went to work with a tiny hook to widen the hole.

  The drill had been excruciating to hear, but the chipping away of bone with her instrument seemed somehow worse.

  Ace dared a look, not sure what he expected to see. Blood poured from the spot where Emma had been working, bringing with it globular chunks of what must have been causing the problem. He clung to his friend, choking back breaths to keep control.

  “Just a few more minutes and you can let him rest.” Emma spoke calmly, with not even the slightest waiver in her voice.

  Ace could not hold back the tension in his. “What will happen to him? Is he okay?”

  “If I’ve done my job right, the pressure should release, and he should regain consciousness. He’s not out of the woods yet, though. We have to get him to shift. If he can do that, he’ll recover.”

  “If not?” Ace asked hesitantly.

  “Death is still a possibility. Or he may live as a vegetable for the rest of his life.”

  Only a doctor could manage that level of emotional detachment delivering such a sentence. Ace’s temper threatened to flare up. This wasn’t just any wolf; it was his friend. But reason tempered his emotions before he made a fool of himself. Emma had done what she could. That demanded sincere appreciation.

  Emma knelt down eye-level with him. “I’m sorry. I know this isn’t what you want to hear.”

  “Thank you,” he whispered, fearing that anything louder might sound angry.

  Richard began to twitch and moan.

  “What do I do?” Ace panicked.

  “Get off him and let him breathe,” Emma directed, as she reached to remove the mouth guard she’d placed before they’d started.

  This was the moment of truth, Ace thought to himself. He knelt next to Richard on the ground, sending up a silent prayer for his recovery.

  His moans grew to loud grunts, and Richard’s eyes fluttered open. Ace immediately noticed the mismatched pupils, one abnormally larger than the other. Richard’s twitching limbs began to flail.

  “You need to shift,” Emma shouted, squatting down further to lock eyes with him. “What’s his name?”

  “Richard.”

  Emma placed her hands on either side of his face. “Richard.” Loud and dominant, she ordered: “Shift to your wolf, now!”

  Feeling as helpless as anyone could, Ace sat on his heels watching, praying, and hoping.

  “You’re his Alpha. Order him,” Emma commanded.

  Ace locked eyes with Richard. “Shift now. Call up your wolf!”

  Heart pounding, he waited, never breaking eye contact as Richard’s body twisted and contorted. The injured wolf foamed at the mouth as the most guttural sounds worked their way up his windpipe.

  His orders became pleas. “Shift, dammit! Where is your wolf?”

  Tiny hairs sprouted on Richard’s face. His pupils contracted into small dots, allowing the golden amber of his irises to shine brightly against the white of his eyes.

  “It’s working!” Ace breathed a loud sigh of relief and backed off just enough to allow room for the body to begin shifting.

  More slowly than normal, and with painful moans that morphed into howls, Richard took on the shaggy form of his mottled wolf. The old dog sat on his haunches, panting from the effort after the transformation was complete.

  “I’m going to take
a quick look at you, Richard.” Emma spoke loudly, still keeping her eyes locked with his. “You’ve taken some really nasty damage. I want you to remain a wolf for a few hours before shifting back. You need to let your body rest. Do you understand?”

  Richard the wolf yipped and allowed Emma to begin her checkup.

  Ace stood, his knees wobbling from stress more than the position he’d been in. “Thank the gods you’re okay, old man.” He addressed the wolf. “Emma is going to make sure you’re fit to be moved. I need to step outside, if you don’t mind.” They weren’t out of the woods yet. Their problems had increased tenfold in the space of a few hours, and he still needed to ensure the safety of the other members of his council.

  Ace excused himself and walked outside, expecting to see his brother standing guard, but found only one of wolves who’d been assigned there. “Where’s Jay?” he asked.

  “He returned to the office. He said he’d meet you there.”

  “How long ago did he leave?” There shouldn’t have been any suspicion when dealing with his own people, but recent events had him questioning everything. Worse yet, his brother alone, second son or not, was still in potential danger. One Alpha dead. Two of Regina’s guards dead. And one of his own nearly killed. The odds were not in their favor.

  Ace needed his brother more than anything at that moment. He poked his head back into the room. “How quickly can you and Richard be on the move?”

  Emma turned, looking shocked for the first time since she’d arrived. “He needs to rest.”

  “Not in here, he doesn’t. How about if I carry him?” Ace offered.

  Emma nodded and picked up her bag and tools. “You have a place I can disinfect? Or do you want me to wander the halls like this?”

  One look at her and anyone would think she was a serial killer: covered head to toe in blood and gore, carrying a medieval skull drill. If anyone saw her walking through the halls, they would know something was up. As it was, only his people knew what happened. And for the moment, he needed to keep it that way. “Yeah. Let’s both clean what we can in the adjoining bathroom. But do it quickly. We need to be on the move. We’re not safe here.”