The Alpha Legacy Boxed Set 1-7

by Holly Hook

  At last, the speaker beeps and the guy comes back. Her father, maybe? "She says she's busy right now and can't see anyone."

  "I wanted to congratulate her on getting through the play," I say. "And I wanted to warn her about something." Pushing out the first sentence is torture.

  The man sighs as the radio crackles. "I'll ask her again, but if she doesn't want to see anyone, she doesn't want to see anyone." He's annoyed, but at me or Olivia or both of us, I can't tell.

  "Maybe we need to catch her before school tomorrow," Cayden says.

  "She won't want to see the two of us together," I say. "You've seen the looks she's given us."

  "I think she's calmed down these past two weeks," Cayden says. "Olivia will get over it."

  "She says she can see you for a few minutes," the man says. "But you have to make it quick."

  The gate clicks and one of the iron doors swings open.

  "I'll go alone," I say.

  Cayden opens his mouth to protest, but closes it. He's the alpha, and a part of him wants to assert that. A powerful look dominates his eyes as if he wants to challenge me. Do werewolves change when they become alpha? I'm getting already that even Noble Wolves aren't perfect, just like regular people aren't perfect. Can power corrupt their heads?

  But I'll wonder about that later. I step onto the Bertrams' property. I've been here before a few times, back in the sixth grade when Olivia threw a pool party for me, Ellie, Sarah, and a few girls who made props for the eighth grade play. But the place doesn't seem as well-kept. Some shrubs have crazy shoots when before, the Bertrams kept them in perfect squares, diamonds, and even stars. The fountain in front of the house no longer spews water. Instead, it's a pond with bugs jumping around on it. Algae covers half the fountain that used to be so clear you could make out the marble pattern on the bottom. The place carries a musty smell, different from the Savage Wolves, but a sad scent.

  Olivia opens the front door before I get there. First, she lifts her eyebrow like she can't believe I'm stepping up to her house. She smells like her usual self: copious amounts of makeup. That's the first scent that reaches me. Then, without trying, I pick up a salty scent. Appropriate.

  "Brie?" Olivia asks, keeping her hand on the door.

  "Hey," I say, waving and trying to keep friendly. "Thanks for taking the lead back a few weeks ago. I'm glad you could make it work."

  Olivia looks around the yard as if she expects a prank from the whole theater crowd. I follow her gaze without meaning to and find that Cayden's stayed out of sight. I'm on my own for this.

  Olivia still hates me and now I'm on her turf. I squint, trying to see if she's wearing the pendant.

  But since lunch, she's taken it off.

  Bad. It means she's going out with Matt.

  I stop on the steps of the porch, standing between the stone lions. "You were much better at playing Belle than me," I say, hating myself more with each word. But I think of what could happen at the Spooktacular Dance—things I don't even wish on Matthew. The only way I'll reach Olivia is to nudge the conversation in the right direction and stoke her ego. "Noah said you did well."

  "He's kind of klutzy," she blurts. Then Olivia turns her gaze to the door—anything but me—and shifts back into the darkness of her house. I smell the plaster of her cast. And the bottom right leg of her jeans bulges, betraying that she's still wearing it.

  "I danced with him, too. He wasn't that bad," I say. "Noah's a nice guy. He's worried about you. That made me wonder if you wanted to hang out with us sometime. You know, we miss having you around. We had fun back in junior high. Remember that?" If I can get her to open, I can convince her to save her humanity.

  Olivia's eyes soften, but only for less than a second. Does a trace of her old self still exist? But then her gaze hardens, and she sneers at me. "We were immature brats back in junior high," she says. "We have nothing in common anymore."

  I expect a sneer and I'm ready to defend my position. "We all like theater. You used to like our stupid sense of humor. Don't you want to hang out with people you don't feel you have to impress?"

  "Who do you think I'm trying to impress?"

  "Those girls you sit with at lunch?" I ask. "They want you to date a loser like Matthew just because he has a new car?" They—and he—must be the reason she took off the one thing that can save her.

  "Were you spying on us?" She narrows her eyes with hatred.

  "I heard them talking in the hall today. No spying needed. They gossip about everyone. Trust me. Matthew's landing on the sex offender registry someday. There are other guys out there who are much better even if they don't have fancy cars. Do you know what he tried to do a few weeks ago before school? He threatened to--"

  "So you're trying to get me to ask Noah out," Olivia said. "He's not brave enough to do it himself." As she speaks, she thrusts her hand into her pocket. Without my meaning to, she's just connected the pendant to him.

  I listen. That's the faint sound of metal on metal.

  A silver chain?

  Has Olivia kept it even after caving to her so-called friends? The noise doesn't match the jingle of keys or change. I expect her to take it out and throw it. Slam the door in my face.

  But she doesn't. The noise isn't meant for me. She has no clue I can hear it.

  "Are you the one who talked to my mother last night?" she asks.

  "Talked to your mother?" I put on a confused face.

  "Quit acting," Olivia says. "You're trying to set me up for something, aren't you?"

  "We don't want to see you hang with the wrong crowd," I say. "Matthew's bad news. He doesn't even like us theater people--"

  "I'm not like the rest of you," Olivia shouts. "You know nothing about me. Get off my property before I call the cops!"

  She slams the door, leaving her rage in its wake.

  I stare at the door for what feels like minutes when it reality only a few seconds pass.

  "Typical," I grumble.

  But she didn't throw the silver chain. Olivia might still have it.

  She's still going out with Matthew. Olivia will take stupid selfies in his BMW and go with him to the dance. He's the type who would get her super drunk afterwards and go to town.

  And she might turn into a Savage Wolf and infect or kill him.

  For Noah's sake, I don't want either to happen.

  "Brie," Cayden whispers from the gate. Though he's forty or fifty feet back, I can hear him. "Come on. We don't want the police involved."

  I join him outside the gate which closes the moment I step onto the sidewalk. "What a brat," I grumble.

  Cayden wraps his arm around me. I can lean into him and he'll never fall. "I heard the whole thing. We'll find another way," he says. "One way, or another."

  "She still has the pendant, but she's refusing to wear it now. Matthew and her stupid friends must have told her to take it off. We can't let her go to the dance."

  "I know. It might be up to the pack to kidnap her. But, if it turns out she's okay, then the best we get are criminal charges. We can't hold someone against their will."

  "And then we leave Breck," I say.

  Cayden looks at me, dead serious. "And none of us can go to prison. Humans will realize so-called monsters are among them. Even centuries ago, they fought us with bows and pitchforks. Today, it would be a thousand times worse. Regular people wouldn't tell the difference between Noble Wolves and Savage Wolves."

  I let out a breath. Cayden speaks through grit teeth. He speeds his gait, scuffing his feet on the pavement for the first time I've seen. He walks like an angry animal.

  And how can I blame him? He's spent his life in isolation and in hiding. I'm feeling the strain of this new life, too.

  "Cayden, calm down."

  He breathes out. "I'm trying."

  "I know you're under pressure."

  "To say the least."

  "There must be a way to not have to kill or drive Olivia out."

  "Deal with it, Brie. We'll do th
is the old-fashioned way. We tried, but we can't fix that girl's problems." Cayden pulls away and stalks ahead.

  "Cayden, I know you're mad about Wyatt," I say, keeping my voice low since we walk past a row of large houses. "Olivia has done nothing but be a brat. And how can we do this the old-fashioned way when she's riding to the dance in a BMW with a hand up her skirt? Humans will see her transform."

  "I'll figure it out."

  "Let me help. I know Olivia and Noah better than you."

  Cayden whirls. "It's clear she won't let you help her. And we'll stop her before she hurts someone. That's final."

  I ball my fists. "You're not acting like yourself."

  "Things are different now."

  "You know, if you act like this, you'll drive everyone away all over again. Is that what you want?"

  Cayden's eyes soften and he drops his shoulders. "No. But I have all this decision-making to do now. I'm sorry, Brie, but the tradition exists for a reason. Even your aunt will tell you that. I consider you and everyone else my equals, but right now...right now I have to be in charge."

  His words sweep over me, powerful. It's the alpha's influence. I should listen.

  But I won't. The rebellious streak refuses to die, no matter how many angry looks Cayden or any other alpha gives me.

  "Fine," I say. "I'll stand aside, let Olivia turn, and then she can infect twenty more people which will force us to leave our home. And she can get more people killed."

  I regret my words the second they leave my mouth.

  A growl rises from Cayden's throat. His eyes flash with anger. I've never seen him like this before.

  One threatens to emerge from mine. We stare each other down.

  Am I challenging him?

  "I've got to get out of here," he says at last, bounding down the road. He cuts across a yard, darts uphill, and vanishes into the tree line.

  Chapter Seven

  I linger on the street, among quiet, large houses of people who work long hours to keep their properties. Cayden's scent vanishes from the air.

  With him gone, I can't even say I'm sorry.

  I let my anger stop that. Now I understand why werewolf culture is violent.

  And maybe why I've seen no Wolves older than middle age.

  And most of all why my father and Aunt May wanted to get out.

  No sign of Cayden comes back as I walk and eye the tree line. I hate to trespass across yards to find him, but the more I wait, the more I realize I'm either going to chase him or go to his house. This is our territory and I shouldn't fear going into the woods, but Cayden's changes alarm me.

  So I leave him alone as he wanted and head to his house, which is on my street. Even walking at a fast pace, the roads loop in a way so I take around fifteen minutes to get to the Lowe cabin. Why am I coming here? Everly will just tell me that my job is to shut up and do what the alpha says. But Remo might be more open. It's not as if I've talked to the guy a lot. For being such a big guy, he's quiet.

  Everly opens the door as I walk down the long driveway and through the weed-choked lawn that hasn't seen a lawnmower in years. She sits on the barrel beside the door of the large cabin and waits for me to reach her.

  "Where's Cayden?" she asks.

  "He's having a hard time dealing with the Wyatt thing," I say. "I think he needed some alone time. And there's something else. Every time I suggest a way to stop Olivia from hurting people, he gets angry." I know why he's acting this way. But the way he growled at me reminds me of how he made that dog submit in Sterling Grocery.

  A part of him wanted me to submit and go along with the plan, and my new nature should tell me to go along, but I won't. Even now, I feel different from the rest of the pack.

  Everly swallows. Her gaze isn't as cold as I expect. "I know you're new to this, Brie. It sometimes takes time to adjust. Remo didn't want to listen to our father when he first turned."

  "When was he turned?" I sniff the air for any sign of him.

  As if detecting what I'm doing, Everly faces the surrounding woods. Birds chirp, telling me no predators are in the area.

  "Remo doesn't like to talk about it," she says.

  "He's quiet."

  "His story's dark. Turning him was the only way to save his life. Turned werewolves have trouble accepting the culture and the rules at first, but you'll get used to it." Everly's hazel eyes harden. Now she's giving me the coldness I expect, using it to hide everything else. "And we're not used to taking people in."

  "I can see that. Do you think Cayden will ever feel better? Less angry?"

  Everly sits on the barrel. "He needs to forgive himself. He told Wyatt not to follow him into the woods on that day. It's not as if he dragged our brother out there and made him fight."

  "I need to tell him that," I say. "Where's Remo?" He seems to be the calmest one in the bunch.

  "He's been taking off," Everly says. "With him, who knows? I bet he joined the science club. I'm not very happy about that."

  "Remo deserves to have a life and invent stuff if he wants. You said he's super smart. Why not use it?"

  "He was in the robotics club at his old school," Everly tells me. "And the Savage Wolves found him there. And you know how they like to bait us into fights. We had to move before they could go after the kids he was hanging out with. Our whole family's moved three times in the past five years. I'd like to stop."

  "Where did you live before?" I ask.

  The wind ruffles all the trees, and the faint smell of Cayden reaches me. He's somewhere to the right, deep in the woods, though not close enough for me to hear yet. His scent's faint, like it's run through five or six filters of pine needles, but he's out there.

  "Nova Scotia," Everly says. "Small town. Surrounded by forest. A perfect home. We moved there after saving Remo's life and taking him in. Then the Baltic Wolves followed. They're an old pack of Savage Wolves, too. The first members came from the Baltics somewhere and they've lasted centuries, splitting into different packs along the way. It was them who...never mind." She gets up to go inside.

  "You still don't like talking much," I say, stopping her. "So why do the Savage Wolves hate Noble Wolves? Aren't they...aren't we the same?"

  "Maybe thousands of years ago," Everly says. "Most of this is legend. Savage Wolves feel like they're the purest werewolves, closest to nature. They're also the ones who hold the biggest grudges against humans, because humans hunted all werewolves in the past. Savages see Nobles as traitors because we teamed up with hunters at times."

  I think of the Hunter side of my family. Aunt May mentioned my parents, a hunter and a Noble Wolf, teamed up to eliminate another pack of Savages in the area. The generations before them did the same.

  "So we're facing werewolf racism," I say.

  "In a way." She turns her gaze from the faded, gray deck. "To Savage Wolves, we're corrupted. A threat to the species. Some Noble Wolves have even stopped transforming to blend into human life. Like your father. To them, our existence means that our kind could one day go extinct."

  I shudder. "So they hunt us."

  Everly lifts an eyebrow. "Yes. And they won't stop until we're gone. This is why I agree that Cayden's idea about dealing with Olivia with force is the best one we have. Like it or not, even we Nobles have to kill. And so do you. With most human Hunters now gone, we're the only thing standing between mankind and the Savage Wolves who would terrorize and destroy them."

  * * * * *

  Everly's words hang with me as I enter the woods behind the Lowe property, searching for Cayden now that he's had an hour alone. They settle in my gut as I think of the battle again, and how an ancient instinct took over and helped me fight. In wolf form I had no qualms about using claws and teeth. It came natural. And I know without thinking too much it'll happen again.

  Cayden's scent first blows from the west, and then the north as the wind shifts direction. His pure smell strengthens as I follow it around trees, over boulders, and at last, uphill. I realize halfway up the hill
he's sitting at the elevated clearing where we fought the Baltic Wolves twice, and where half of his family died at their claws and teeth for the crime of protecting Breck and its people.

  He sits on a boulder, chin on his upturned knees and facing away from me. Cayden remains silent, one ear always listening. I pause at the edge of the clearing. He's facing the spot where Wyatt fell, gaze not moving, and I'm not sure if he senses I'm there at first. Even though my feet are graceful and make little noise, he should still be able to detect my footsteps.

  Since he doesn't make a move, I sense he's had enough time alone.

  "Hey." I sit on the boulder beside him. "Forgive yourself, okay? And I'm sorry I'm being difficult."

  Cayden doesn't look at me for seconds, and I worry I've overstepped his boundary when he speaks. "I should, but I can't. And I know you don't want to hurt Olivia."

  The light's fading now. The sky's overcast, leaving us in gloom. "I don't. But I know I will if I have to and that scares me. Look at what I did before." My thoughts turn to Noah and how devastated he'll be if Olivia leaves town or worse, dies. "Will she want to exterminate us if she becomes a Savage Wolf?"

  "Maybe not at first," Cayden says, "but their hatred is poison. It infects people just like their bites can. She'll find her community soon enough."

  "So Everly was right," I say. "I don't think you're the first Noble Wolves to hide here. My dad's side of the family did. Maybe others. Why are there so many Wolves in Breck?"

  "My father might have known, but he wouldn't tell us everything. He said Breck was a last haven and probably our last chance."

  "I know what that's like," I say, scooting to Cayden so our thighs touch. "My Aunt May doesn't tell me much, either. Then again, she blended in with human society her entire life. I think my family's got a lot of secrets." My chest hurts as I think of all the relatives I never got to meet, human or otherwise.

  "Well, I can't ask my parents why we moved here to Breck," Cayden says.

  He speaks as if someone's holding a knife in his heart.