Rise of the Alpha (The Rise Series Book 1)

by Helen Dhanoya

  His chuckle filled the room, as I flipped the light on and headed to my bathroom with Nathan on my heels.

  After the shower, I quickly dressed and brushed my wet hair. Pulling it into a high ponytail, I went into my bedroom and grabbed two pairs of socks, one for me and the other for Nathan. Handing it to him, he smiled, kissing the top of my head before sitting down beside me. Nathan wore a gray t-shirt and a pair of basketball shorts.

  I smiled, putting my sneakers on before standing back up.

  Out of the bedroom, I almost ran into Ellen, who had just hopped out of the shower herself. Her hair glistened from the water. She smelled like raspberries. She smiled at me, following me down the stairs, where the aroma of waffles, sausage, and eggs made our stom- achs growl with hunger.

  I pulled my phone out of my back pocket and checked the time— 4:30 a.m.—just enough time to quickly eat a little and head out for the two-hour training session.

  As I took my seat, the Omega setting my plate down in front of me, I heard laughter coming from the stairs. I looked to see Nathan and Wyatt talking lowly, laughing hard about whatever it was they were speaking about.

  I smiled, shaking my head. I honestly hadn’t expected those two to hit it off so quickly. I knew the rest of the pack wouldn’t be as accepting, but it would come with time.

  They took their seats, with Nathan beside me and Wyatt next to his mother. Wyatt wore a pair of black jeans and a white undershirt, his white hair wet from a shower and his face clean-shaven.

  Once the Omega set the plates in front of them, I spoke as they started to dive into their food. “We have at least ten minutes before we need to leave, but don’t choke on your food, please. I don’t really want to do the Heimlich maneuver before training,” I joked, cutting into my own plate of food. The room filled with nervousness. It was not what I had expected.

  Everyone had stopped eating to listen; their nervousness evaporated once they realized I was joking. I burst out laughing, causing everyone to join in.

  Once the laughter died down, I thanked the Omega as she began to clean up the dishes.

  “No problem, Alpha. It’s my pleasure.” She smiled; it was warm and I could tell she enjoyed the job.

  As everyone left the house, I grabbed my purse and told the Omega to lock up on her way out. I left a couple of twenty-dollar bills on the table beside the front door with a note for her.

  Nathan, Ellen, and Wyatt had waited for me beside Nathan’s Jeep.

  I smiled at them, Nathan holding a hand out to me. “Remind me when all this shit with the kidnapper is over, that I need to look over the salaries of all the pack members. I know for sure that the Omegas need to be paid more.”

  Nathan nodded in agreement, before releasing my hand and turning to Ellen and Wyatt. “I was going to shift and run there. Would you two like to join me?”

  Wyatt looked ecstatic. “Hell yeah, man! What about you, Dahlia?” He looked at me, a smile on his face. It was strange compared to his regular blank expression but it was a nice change.

  My eyes darkened and my face grew hot. “I, uh...”

  Nathan spoke up for me, gently resting a hand on the small of my back for comfort. “She’s a late bloomer. Her wolf hasn’t made her grand entrance yet, so let’s just make our way to the pack’s gymnasium. She’ll take the Jeep.”

  Wyatt stared at me, remaining silent at Nathan’s response, before turning and shifting. It was over in a matter of seconds. My eyes widened, taking in the massive hybrid. He stood a good six and a half feet tall, his powerful muscles flexing under his fur, with his paws the size of my face. His fur was short, spotted with dark brown patches. His tail was long, with a fuzzy patch at the end. His eyes were a mix of blue and brown, like a muddy lake. He was fascinating. I knew he would help the pack a lot.

  “Beautiful, isn’t he?” Ellen smiled, chuckling as she looked at me with my eyes wide and my jaw dropped.

  I nodded before Nathan took me into a hug, whispering, “I know that was a sensitive subject. I’m sorry.”

  “It’s fine, no harm done.” We broke the hug, as Nathan gently brushed his lips against mine, stepping back and shifting himself. He gave me a wolfy grin, licking my cheek, and padded over to Wyatt. Nathan was large, he wasn’t an Alpha, but compared to Wyatt, he was average.

  I giggled, turning to Ellen. “Ready? We need to get going.”

  She nodded, rounding the Jeep as I unlocked it. We climbed in. I grabbed the key from the middle console, placing it into the ignition and starting the engine. It rumbled to life; there was a satisfaction about the sounds an engine made.

  Nathan and Wyatt turned toward the front yard as I backed out of the driveway and headed down the street, with them hot on my tail.

  PULLING into the parking lot of the gymnasium, Nathan and Wyatt stopped beside us, still in their animal forms. There were a couple of cars parked, all belonging to the younger wolves. There were about fifteen people here altogether, not including us. Most had shifted, cautiously watching the large hybrid as I climbed out of the Jeep, closely followed by Nathan, Ellen and Wyatt.

  When the younger wolves spotted Wyatt, they immediately looked scared. It was a normal reaction, especially since some of them couldn’t shift yet. One of the older wolves shifted, teeth bared and ready to fight. He was brave, but stupid, I’ll give him that.

  I rolled my eyes, sighing. Here we go. I gave the older wolf a look, baring my own teeth with a growl before nudging with my head for him to back down. He didn’t hesitate to do it, but I knew he wanted to question me.

  “Before any of you get the wrong idea,” I said, waving a hand toward Ellen and Wyatt. “These two are the newest members of the pack. This is Ellen.” I motioned to her, where she smiled warmly and said hello.

  I pointed to the large hybrid who walked over to stand beside me.

  “This is Wyatt; he’s going to be training with us and showing us what strengths hybrids have. He is the first known jaguar-wolf hybrid.”

  Whispers and gasps spread across the group.

  I sighed, placing my hands on my hips before continuing, “We have two days before this meeting. We will be training most of the next two days. I want no bickering, or fighting. This training may save your life and the lives of your pack members. Just remember, we do this together.”

  I saw the nods from the crowd; smiles formed and cheers broke out.

  “Now.” I stretched my muscles. “Let’s begin with a five-mile run around the gym.”

  WE HAD STOPPED the sparring sessions just before 11 a.m. As soon as I went to sit down, Nathan informed me that my phone was ringing.

  I lightly jogged to the back of the vehicle, quickly unlocking it and opening the hatch. I dug through my purse, finally finding my phone. The ringer showed Liam.

  I swiped the screen, wiping sweat from my forehead. “Hello?” “Dahlia, come to the hospital.” He sounded urgent and rushed. “What’s going on?” I turned to lean against the bumper of the Jeep, my hand tucked under my other arm.

  I watched Nathan jog over to me; the sweat that dripped from him made me drool. I shook my head, a smile on my face, lightly sucking in the drool from my lip before he reached me and could notice.

  Liam talked slowly, his tone suddenly turning serious. “Your grandfather woke up about ten minutes ago. He’s been asking for you. I don’t know how long he’ll be awake, so please hurry over. I’ll let the patrols know to let you through. See you soon.”

  With that, we hung up.

  I was excited but sad at the same time. My heart broke slightly, knowing we hadn’t found any new information or clues to where Grandma was. I hoped the meeting with this person enlightened that.

  I grabbed my purse from the back, slamming the hatch shut and moving to the driver’s door.

  I looked at Nathan, who stared at me with concern in his eyes. “I’m coming with you. By the sounds of it, we don’t have time to argue.”

  I shrugged, turning back to my warriors, who all stared
at me, having overheard our conversation no doubt, waiting for a response. “Training is over for now. You may go about your day. I want updates on everyone’s progress by the end of the day. No excuses.”

  “Yes, Alpha.”

  With that, I jumped in the driver’s seat, with Nathan barely making it into the vehicle before I sped off toward the highway.

  It took me about a total of ten minutes to reach Liam’s territory, thanks to the speed I was driving.

  I had Nathan on edge the whole way, but he didn’t say anything which I was honestly grateful for. Once we reached the gate, the guards opened it up for us.

  They nodded to us as we drove past.

  Instead of speeding, I went slow, making sure to watch for any unsuspecting children running in the road. Accidentally hitting a child with my Beta’s vehicle was not on my list of “ways to piss Liam off.”

  We drove past the pack village, the main house, and toward the hospital. I parked in the closest empty space I could find.

  I quickly climbed out, locking the door and slamming it shut. Nathan scrambled out, scurrying off to catch up with me. “Baby, please slow down,” he huffed, gently taking my hand and forcing me to slow down. “You’re going to run into someone.”

  I growled at him but didn’t say anything, or even look at him.

  I gripped Nathan’s hand tightly, worry picking at me as I began to think of what to say to Grandpa. I was scared, nervous and utterly defeated as I got closer to the hospital doors.

  My stomach tossed and turned, the anxiety moving through my body. Eva paced back and forth in my head; she was right underneath the surface, ready to jump out at any moment, matching my own nervousness and anxiety.

  “It’ll be fine,” Nathan reassured me, as we headed inside and straight to the elevators.

  Nodding to the nurses as we passed by, Nathan pressed the button, the elevator gladly chimed in response. Seconds later, the doors opened, letting the nurses from inside rush past us.

  Inside, I pressed the number 2 button and watched as the elevator doors closed.

  As we lifted up, everything seemed to move in slow motion.

  My head started to spin while my stomach felt like it was doing back flips and was ready to come up any second. My vision became blurry and my body suddenly felt like it was about to break in half. The pain was excruciating and came out of nowhere.

  I felt my body begin to fall. Nathan noticed, trying to help me stable myself.

  “Don’t touch me,” I growled harshly. It surprised both of us.

  He backed off quickly, hands up in defense as the elevator came to a stop and the doors opened to reveal Liam standing in front of it, waiting for us.

  Liam’s eyes sharpened when he saw me like he knew exactly what was happening. “Come on, we’ve got to get her to an empty room.”

  Nathan stared at me, then back at him like he was crazy.

  Before Nathan could do anything, Liam came to me, grabbing me in a way that made it so I couldn’t struggle against him. I just growled loudly as he practically dragged me to an empty room at the end of the hall.

  Nathan quickly followed.

  I suddenly became blind; everything was dark. My senses were cloudy and I could only hear small, indescribable words that seemed to envelop me. I tried to talk, but nothing came out. It was like my voice had gone. I rolled and tossed on the floor, frantically trying to do what I could to ease the pain. I curled up in a ball, as if that would calm my rearranging bones and somehow make me feel at ease. It did nothing but increase the pain as I felt I was really being torn apart.

  My hands changed to paws, my fingernails grew long, pointed and sharp. I hunched over, feeling my back extend. I grunted and roared as my face grew longer and my mouth and nose changed to a long snout.

  My hair changed to fur, but all I knew next was darkness. It felt like hours before I opened my eyes again.

  I blinked a couple of times to get used to my new eyesight. The room looked twice as big, light flooding in from the large window in front of me. The curtains swayed with the light breeze that came in through the open window.

  I twitched my nose, wrinkling it from all the sudden chemicals from the cleaning agents, which made my head spin slightly.

  I shook my head looking down at my front paws. Beautiful black fur covered them. I was amazed I wasn’t in pieces right now. I wanted to figure out why this had happened so suddenly, especially when I hadn’t shifted at all when I was eighteen, let alone in the last two years.

  I moved my front paws a little. My body was stiff, who knew how long I’d been laying here. With shaky paws, I slowly stood.

  After falling twice, the third time was the charm. I was pretty sure I bruised something but if I had, it had already healed.

  Fully standing, I shook my thick coat of fur. It felt heavy.

  I stretched my stiff bones, trying out my tail. It swished behind me. The door crept open, causing my ears to twitch before I made a full three-hundred-and-sixty-degree circle to face it. My lips pulled back to show my fangs.

  Liam and Nathan stood in the doorway. It was awkward because they both were big men. Nathan’s scent suddenly filled my nose, and it made me sneeze. It smelled of asphalt.

  I was surprised when I realized I stood to their chests. Noticing Nathan’s wide eyes and hung open jaw, I gave a wolfy chuckle, but it came out more like a growl.

  How long was I out? I asked, hoping he could hear me in his mind.

  “Roughly forty-five minutes. You’re beautiful, Dahlia, but I was not expecting a female wolf to be this huge. Your fur is thick and as dark as night.” He spoke, squeezing through the doorway past Liam, moving slowly toward me. The closer he got, the worse the asphalt smell increased and I wanted to vomit, but I held it back.

  Liam’s serious expression evaporated as he burst out laughing. “She’s an Alpha, Nathan. She’s going to be huge. The Alpha male is the only one bigger than she is, besides maybe a hybrid.”

  Nathan inched toward me, reaching out a hand to ruffle the fur on top of my head.

  “It’s so soft.” He continued to rub my head, a laugh booming in his chest.

  I gave him a death glare, a low growl rumbling from my chest. I am not a puppy.

  He looked amused but with a slight tang of fear in his eyes, making him hold his hands up in defense. “I’m sorry, Dahlia.”

  I am both Dahlia and Eva. My body currently is Eva’s. I want to go see my grandfather, so hurry up and take me to him. If you don’t, I’ll break down these walls to get to him.

  Nathan’s eyes widened again, as he quickly took his hand from my head, slowly backing off toward Liam. “Okay, let’s go.”

  Liam smiled, nodding at me before waving to me to follow him. “You did good, kid.”

  Walking to the door, eyes searched everything in front of me. It was so different from my human eyes; I was enthralled by everything. Around me, everything was sparkly clean, the chemicals stirred in the air, with the scent of blood and medicine now filling my nose.

  It was like everything that was hidden from my human eyes, I could see now. I padded out of the room and into the hallway, following Liam, where everyone stopped what they were doing. Everyone’s eyes flooded to me, with smiles and gaping jaws.

  “Alpha.” Nurses and doctors bowed their heads as I passed by them.

  After that, they scurried back to work. Liam stopped in front of room 213, waiting for me to catch up. Nathan walked behind me, his demeanor slightly saddened.

  Liam opened the door, letting me go in first.

  The scent of the woods, after a spring rain, flooded my nostrils. It calmed me, letting my muscles relax as I turned my gaze to Grandpa, who was sitting up, enjoying his lunch a nurse had brought in.

  When he saw me, his eyes lit up, and he smiled brightly. “Dahlia! I see you’ve finally shifted. You look just like your father.”

  I stopped at his bed, reaching out to lick his hand as he held it out to let me sniff him. How are you
doing, Grandpa? I’ve been so worried.

  His gaze softened, his smile slowly dying. “I’m dying, dear. There’s no way around that. Your grandmother would be proud of how far you’ve come. I know I am. I love seeing your growth and your determination to move forward. Your pack is grateful to have you. I’m sorry I’ve worried you. I try not to.”

  A sudden cry, more of a whine, came from me. I’m sorry I haven’t found Grandma yet. I’m doing my best to find her. I won’t stop until I do, and whoever took her, I will take his life with my own hands. You can be sure of that.

  He nodded, his eyes becoming watery. I hated seeing him cry; it broke my heart.

  He quickly wiped his eyes, shaking his head like his mind was running a hundred miles a second with his thoughts. “But I wanted to see you because I’ve been having some strange dreams lately. It’s the same dream playing over and over when I close my eyes.”

  I furrowed my eyebrows as best I could in wolf form. I’m sure it looked funny, but this was serious. I remembered a few years ago when Grandma would have a “dream” and she’d race out to find that Grandpa had collapsed on the ground and vice versa. It was like a mate’s suffering played in one another’s minds when they were apart or when they were in danger.

  Knots formed in my stomach, dreading what he had to say.

  He took a shaky breath, continuing while staring at me with sadness in his eyes, “The first thing I see is darkness. Then it becomes bright with something that looks like sparks from a welder’s fume plume. It was like they were welding together a cage, but when I reached out to touch the bars, I instantly pulled back, the metal burning me. I also noticed I’m missing a finger.”

  My stomach did a twist and turn when I realized I had Grandma’s finger in my house. But I couldn’t tell him that; it would crush him.

  I moved closer, resting my head against his thigh, letting him know he could continue. His voice was low and hoarse. “I keep hearing shouting, and I see fighting, but I can’t tell where I am. It’s always dark, and they give me barely any food. Just enough to keep me alive. But when I think everything is over, a man walks in and laughs. It’s the ugliest laugh I have ever heard. His smile is sinister, and the only thing he mentions.” He moves my head to where I can look him in the eyes. “Is you.”