Rise of the Alpha (The Rise Series Book 1)

by Helen Dhanoya

  “Yeah!” I was surprised by the amount of excitement everyone had.

  “Quiet down.” My Beta waved a hand, hushing everyone before turning to me. Nodding, he spoke, “Alpha, the floor is yours.”

  I gulped, drowning my nerves and standing tall. “Thank you, Beta. I am grateful for this opportunity to lead and guide you. I know the last few days have been hectic, and unfortunately, it’ll only increase in the coming weeks. I know each and every one of you has something to add to this pack and we wouldn’t be the same without each of you. Our enemies won’t know what’s coming for them.”

  I raised my fist in the air, getting whoops and yeahs from the crowd, as the pack began to shift to their wolf forms and howl into the night air.

  The echoes shook the earth. I smiled widely.

  This was my pack. We might have been small, but we’d tango with the best of them. I knew the training in the next week we’d have to endure would be rigorous, but tonight was about the pack.

  As I watched the evening pass by, my thoughts went to nothing but worry for my pack. I hoped and prayed the Gods blessed us with the strength to defeat whoever this new enemy was.

  CHAPTER 6

  DAHLIA

  WE HAD A week to prepare for whatever this “meeting” was. Just thinking about it gave me the chills. I wasn’t going in alone; that’d be the dumb decision. It was dangerous for the entire pack and me. All I knew was every warrior I had, including myself, had days to prepare.

  We had a strict schedule to keep. Between the early morning hours of training, meetings with the Elders, and trying to keep every- thing in order, there was barely any time to sleep.

  I raked my mind every night, trying to remember where the fuck I had met this stranger. For the life of me, I had no idea, but every- thing around this stranger was fuzzy. The more I thought about it, the worse my headache would be. There was something strange going on here. I had to get to the bottom of this before anyone else got hurt.

  Nathan hadn’t slept since we learned the new information. He had been there since the sun went down, barely stopping to feed himself, with stacks of books and papers littered everywhere. It was a mess.

  We had moved his belongings to my grandparents’ house, that way we didn’t have to travel far from the pack. We had turned the spare bedroom into our office.

  I rolled over in bed, sleep deciding to elude me tonight. Hopping out of bed, I headed into the bathroom for a quick shower to warm and wake me up. Out of the shower, I checked the time—1 a.m. I dressed in a pair of shorts and a t-shirt of Nathan’s. It was way too big, but it calmed my nerves.

  Walking out of the bedroom, I headed to the kitchen, filling the coffee machine with water for a fresh batch. Its aroma filled the air, making my mouth water.

  I poured the steaming black liquid into two mugs. Placing the pot back into the machine, I stirred in cream and sugar in each cup. Picking up the cups, I headed to the office.

  The office door was slightly cracked; a thin line of light flowed into the hallway as I gently pushed it open, and it made quite a bit of creaking noises.

  It caused Nathan to look up from the desk. When his eyes locked with mine, I saw the shimmer of love and appreciation flash in his eyes. A small smile danced on his lips. His usually clean-shaven face dotted with stubble, he had bags under his eyes, and he looked exhausted. His body slumped from the lack of sleep. I knew he needed a break.

  “Here,” I said, handing him the mug of steaming coffee. I leaned against the desk, standing next to him as he took a sip. Nathan’s rough features softened as he sat back in his chair, sighing heavily.

  I set my cup down, taking his from him, before straddling him in the chair. I put my hands flat on his chest as he placed his own on my waist.

  He gave a small smile, studying my face. “What is it my beautiful girlfriend is trying to do?” He playfully nipped at my lip.

  I tilted my head, smirking. “I’m making you get out of this damn chair to get some sleep. Show me what to do, and I’ll take over. I’m the Alpha; I need to be doing this.” I lightly pressed my index finger into his chest, emphasizing my point. “Not you.”

  His smile disappeared. “I don’t want you to be overwhelmed.”

  The next thing I knew, I did the unexpected. I slapped him, not too hard but not gently either. It surprisingly left a red mark, which instantly healed thanks to his wolf. “Shut up! You’re killing yourself! You don’t even spend time with me,” I threw my hands up. “You barely eat!”

  He huffed, holding his hand to his cheek, shock in his eyes as he looked at me. “Well—”

  I hold my hand up, giving him a look. He immediately shut up. “No, that’s an order. Tell me what the fuck to do, and you get the hell out of my sight. You better be in that bed when I come back.”

  He gave a half-smile, helping me off of him, before standing himself. Sitting at the desk, I enjoyed how his scent invaded my nostrils. I breathed it in, taking a moment to close my eyes and let the smell take over me. Opening my eyes, Nathan looked down at me in confusion. I smiled, letting him know there wasn’t a problem.

  He cleared his throat, beginning his explanation, “This first pile is the pack’s financial status. I’ll let you look over that. You can write down any ideas you have to lessen the costs of everything. We’re in pretty big debt right now. We need to budget until we can get back up on our feet effectively. The stack of books here.” He points to the looming pile of books at the left corner of the desk. “Is everything to do with the history of these people. They haven’t had an Alpha before, so this is new for them.”

  He opened a drawer, handing me a large file, stuffed full. “This concerns the pack members’ disagreements with each other. We need to resolve them before they come back to bite us in the ass.” He placed the file in front of me, my head feeling like it would explode already, before pointing to another stack of folders and notebooks. “Liam had these delivered yesterday. It holds every meeting between the Alphas for the last twenty years. They might prove to be useful. It also should house some meetings where your father was involved.”

  Upon hearing something about my father, I perked up. I hadn’t known anything about my father being Alpha before, so this was new.

  I had hoped he had some information stashed in there to help me deal with this new enemy of ours.

  I had no clue who this enemy was, but he had my grandmother. Just thinking about it made my blood run hot, my body temperature rising fast. I shook my head, just as Nathan had stopped talking, looking at me with concern in his eyes.

  I shrugged my shoulders, getting up. “I’m fine, just lost in my thoughts.”

  I waved him away, practically shoving him from the room with his coffee in his hand.

  He stopped at the doorway, turning around to swiftly kiss me on the forehead. “Don’t stay up too late. Come cuddle with me later.”

  I smiled, closing the door as I heard his footsteps turn the corner and into our bedroom. Back at the desk, I sighed as I heard the shower turn on.

  I eyed everything before me, trying to decide where to start first.

  I moved the large file, placing it back into the drawer Nathan had gotten it from.

  Wanting to do the Alpha meetings first, I reluctantly went and found the finances instead. Reading through the first pages of the documents, my eyes widened. My mind swam as I tried to process this new information.

  I fumed, talking to myself. “How the hell are these people already forty-thousand in debt? I’ll have to schedule a meeting with every household representative as soon as possible and cut this shit in half. No more reckless spending.”

  After going through everything with the finances, I wrote up a new document to be shown to the pack in the meeting tomorrow. Signing the bottom of the document, I mind-linked them. Tomorrow, we’ll be holding a meeting with all the Elders and house representa- tives. There will be no bullshit excuses. This is a direct order. Be ready by 10 a.m.

  I heard a b
unch of “Yes, Alpha” before the mind-link went silent again. Trying to calm myself, I placed the documents in the middle drawer, before my curiosity took over.

  I got up, moving around the desk before grabbing all the files for the Alpha meetings.

  Sitting back down again, I started going through them one by one. Finding nothing of interest in the first two notebooks, I yawned as I opened the third one. Something dropped from the cover. It fell to the floor.

  I left the notebook open, on top of the others, bending down to pick up the paper. As I opened it, I realized it was a newspaper arti- cle. My heart stopped, tears threatening to fall as I read over the article briefly. It was about the accident six years ago.

  The article was titled: The devastating murder of Alpha Miller and his mate while their only child barely hung onto her own life. Published: 2014

  I began to read through the article. It read that someone had blown the tires out on the front end of the vehicle, causing it to wreck and roll a few feet away. It said whoever attacked them had immedi- ately left the scene, having taken the bullets from the bodies of the girl’s parents, so no evidence had been collected. The girl had cuts on her face, hands, abdomen, and legs. The wound on her face had broken her nose, having left a huge bruise.

  I skipped down to the bottom, where it said that the investigation was still ongoing and that they hadn’t had any luck finding the culprit. The painful memories I had stashed away a long time ago started reeling through my mind, making my head hurt and my eyes water.

  At the bottom of the article, someone had written a few notes, saying to call them and left a phone number. I had no idea who it could be, but I picked up my phone and dialed the number. I wasn’t set on anyone answering, since it was close to 2 a.m. now.

  After three rings, I was about to hang up when I heard a voice. “Hello?”

  It was an older woman, her voice like silk through the other end of the line. “Hello, Alpha Miller. I’m glad you called. I assume you have some free time on your hands?”

  I was suspicious, furrowing my eyebrows. “Who is this?”

  The woman laughed; it was a hearty one. “My apologies, Alpha. My name is Ellen, Ellen Rivera. I was your mother’s best friend way before you were born. I also know the organization that did this to them. Do you have some time tomorrow afternoon to meet me?”

  “Sure, let’s say 5 p.m.?”

  She seemed to approve. “That works. How about we do a little picnic in the park?”

  That sounded even sketchier, but if I wanted to find out more information about the organization and my parents, I had to go. “That’s fine. See you then.”

  With that, I hung up. What the hell did I just agree to do?

  THE NEXT DAY flew by. The meeting with the Elders and the family representatives went surprisingly well. They had listened intently and asked questions as to what they could do better. That made me happy that everyone was, for the most part, on board.

  After the afternoon meetings, I pulled Nathan aside, into our bedroom, closing the door behind me before I turned to face him.

  He looked confused, hands on his hips as he studied me, trying to figure out my plan. “What’s going on? Everything okay?”

  I nodded, trying to figure out what to say. “Everything is fine, but I was going over that news article covering my parents’ deaths. There was a number at the bottom.” I shrug. “So, I called it.”

  Nathan looked unamused, a frown appearing on his handsome face; his hands clenched into fists as they dropped to his side. “Why the hell would you call it? They could be a serial killer for all you know. You need to be careful.”

  I looked at him, rolling my eyes. “Well, when I dialed it, I found out it was my mother’s best friend. Her name is Ellen Rivera. I don’t know anything about her, so I want you to tag along. I don’t trust her. But just in case something goes wrong, you’ll be by my side.”

  He thought for a moment, sighing in defeat at my words. “Well, I see your point. I’ll tag along, but only in wolf form. She doesn’t need to know my identity, other than me being your Beta. What time does it start?” He raised an eyebrow.

  I checked my phone for the time. “We have an hour. She set the location at the park in town. I guess it’s the best place to be if anything goes wrong. I’ll also have a couple warriors walking around the park just in case. I’ll gather them now, and then we’ll head out.”

  He nodded, leaning down and kissing my forehead, causing me to giggle. “Let me gather the warriors. You prepare yourself for the meeting, you take the longest.”

  I shook my head, pretending to be offended by his remark but I smiled to let him know I was playing. “Fine.”

  After fifteen minutes, we all stood outside of my house.

  Nathan had chosen Olivia, Tristan and an older wolf, named Judah. I nodded at them, before I instructed them to shift and head to the park, but told them once they got there, making sure they hid clothing nearby, to shift back and act like they were enjoying the weather. I then reminded them that I’d mind- link them when we were ready.

  They nodded, shifting into their wolf forms. Olivia shifted into a beautiful red-brown wolf, with gray eyes. Tristan was white with amber eyes and Judah was a dark gray with light blue eyes. The boys were twice the size of Olivia, but what she lacked in power, she had the speed.

  They headed off, as I unlocked Nathan’s Jeep. I moved over to the passenger’s side, where Nathan shifted himself. He stood as tall as me, with brown-gray fur and the same emerald eyes.

  I giggled when he reached his head over, plastering a saliva-filled tongue up my cheek. It was scratchy but I didn’t mind as I patted his head, before wiping my cheek on my sleeve and opening the passenger side door.

  He jumped up gracefully, maneuvering himself in the back of the vehicle, where he laid down with his head on his paws. He barely fit. I’m sure it was uncomfortable but he kept his eyes on me as I placed my purse on the passenger’s seat before closing the door behind me and rounding the car. In the driver’s seat, I turned the engine on. It rumbled to life as I shifted gears and backed out of the driveway.

  The park was only a twenty-minute drive from the house. Park- ing, I climb out of the Jeep, grabbing my bag from the passenger’s seat before I slung the strap over my shoulder. I opened the door and pulled the seat up to let Nathan squeeze through the tight spot. Surprisingly, he fit.

  Jumping down next to me, he stretched his cramped muscles and shook his brown-gray fur, sending little hairs everywhere. It made me laugh and dust myself off as he cautiously looked around, surveying the area as I closed the Jeep’s door and locked the vehicle.

  When he spotted our warriors, he turned back to me, blinking once.

  We made our way toward the middle of the park, as I looked around, inspecting every person I found. There were couples with younger kids, enjoying the afternoon air and watching their kids play on the playground, with older couples relaxing on the park benches and a few others doing laps or yoga.

  The park wasn’t packed, which was a relief. If something was to go down, we wouldn’t have much of a problem maneuvering.

  As I looked around one more time, I found an older woman, striding toward us, with a blanket tucked under her arm and a basket in the other. She wore her blonde, streaked with gray strands, hair in a loose bun. Her face barely showing signs of aging, you could hardly tell she was older. She wore a faded pair of jeans with a bright purple blouse, and a gold necklace hung around her neck.

  That’s when I noticed the larger man making his way behind her. He towered over her. His facial expression was blank. He wore a white t-shirt and a pair of black jeans. He was in his twenties, but he had hair as white as snow. He took the basket and the blanket away from her, his gaze coming back to land on Nathan, who growled and moved his way in front of me; clearly, we both saw a threat in this new player.

  They moved closer, but stopped a few feet away. The woman held her hands up in defense with a smile on her face.
The man, however, just stared at us with his eyes as black as night. I knew his wolf was close to the surface. I knew all the tell-tale signs of some- one’s wolf making an attempt to emerge and join in the fight. But, if the Gods permitted it, no fight would happen tonight.

  The woman noticed the man’s reaction, quickly elbowing him in the side, causing him to wince. He shot her an icy glance, muttering something under his breath, before setting the items down and following the women’s movements with his hands in the air. He didn’t smile though.

  The woman looked at me, a friendly grin spread across her face as she spoke. “Good evening, Alpha Dahlia. I see you didn’t come alone. I wouldn’t have either.”

  She pointed to the man. “This is my son, Wyatt. He’s accompanying me for a while. I see you brought a few wolves with you. Smart move—”

  Nathan cut her off by growling loudly, making her take a step back, his teeth bared. I placed my hand gently on his shoulder, causing him to look back at me. His emerald eyes held slight confusion, but he blinked to let me know he understood.

  I nodded at him, turning back to the woman and her son. “Ellen, I assume?”

  She nodded, hands still up cautiously. “That’s right.”

  I cleared my throat. “Well, I’ll fill you in on everything that has happened in the last two weeks. It’ll help you understand why we’re taking the precautions we are.”

  I patted Nathan’s head. “This is my Beta, Nathan. He didn’t want me to come alone. But enough of the formalities, let’s set up and begin.”

  As Ellen set up the sandwiches and the drinks, I explained to her everything that had happened the last two weeks. From being chosen as the next Alpha, to Grandma getting kidnapped and Grandpa becoming sick. I showed her the pictures of the two boxes this myste- rious individual had shipped to me.