The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

“There is more to consider than just your position,” Todd said. “You own 70% of Volkov Construction; I own 15%, the rest is owned by other Pack members and Catherine’s parents. If I kill you now, what happens to the company?”

“Whatever my will states,” I said. “If I remember right, half goes to Catherine’s parents and siblings, the other half to my younger brother.”

“And that leaves me with a minority stake in a company that is 90% Pack. I want the company, and I don’t want to fight six other people to get full control of it.”

I hadn’t been to a job site in months, and Todd had been running things for over a year now. “I’ll have my lawyer come up with a price, and you and whoever else wants in, you go get a loan and buy me out. One transaction, you take my whole interest for yourself.”Copyright by Nôv/elDrama.Org.

“I was hoping you’d say that,” he said. “Here’s my offer.” He handed me a legal paper, a cash offer for my share in the company, and a certified check for 1. 9 million dollars.

I handed the check back. “I’ll talk to my lawyer today. What else?”

“I have to fight you for the Pack, Alpha Leo. If I don’t fight, then I will appear weak a the Summit, and I could be challenged. I need a good fight, but a fight that you lose.”

“Kill me,” I said. “You kill a man with an Alpha mantle, and that should buy you respect, even if the Mantle can’t pass to you.”

He shook his head. “Do you think you were the only person who Catherine got a promise out of?” He shook his head. “I swore to her that I would not kill you or let you kill yourself. I swore on the Moon, Leo.”

“Then what is your big plan?”

“The sale goes through, and the challenge is set for tomorrow night. You invite your brother, your in-laws, and the surrounding Alphas. I want lots of witnesses to the fight,” he said. “You and I put on a good show, you yield to me, and I show mercy to you and let you live.”

“You’d banish me from the Pack,” I said.

“Yes. It’s the only way I can have the Pack and my honor.”

“Banishment.” It was a bitter pill to swallow. I would not be allowed contact with any Pack member; if they saw me, they would have to turn away and ignore me. I would not be allowed on their lands, and would not be welcome at runs or other events. The isolation would eventually drive my weakened wolf mad, forcing the other Alphas to put me down before I became a danger to everyone.

“You’d have money from the sale, your house and your life,” Todd said. “Retire, move south, anything. Give to charities, maybe do volunteer work. Drink yourself to death. Spend stacks of money on strippers, and snort fistfuls of cocaine. Do whatever you want, Leo, because you no longer will be responsible for this Pack.”

“Fine.” If I wanted, I could always pick a fight later and get myself killed. Lone wolves were dangerous, lone wolves with the Alpha Mantle were dangerous AND unpredictable. Most Packs were run by glorified Betas who couldn’t beat a bloodline Alpha in a fight; they’d set their whole pack upon me before I could utter the words of a challenge. “I’ll talk to my lawyer and get back to you.”

It was surprisingly easy to withdraw from Pack life. The sale of my company went through that night, and the challenge notifications were made immediately after. I called Catherine’s parents and Alpha Doug Winters, their eldest son and current Winona Pack Alpha, and informed them of the challenge. They weren’t happy with my Beta, but they would be in my corner. Larry agreed to be my second.

The challenge was held in the woods behind my house. Larry and Donna were worried about me; I’d barely talked to them since the funeral. I’d lost weight, and I looked like hell. “Don’t do this, step down,” Donna begged me. “Let me ask Doug to take you in.”

I refused. I stripped and handed my clothes to Larry, keeping up the show. “Cremate me and mix my ashes with hers if I lose,” I told him.

The LaCrosse Alpha was the referee for the challenge, which was in wolf form. The circle was lined with bales of hay, about forty feet across. Once the fight began, only the referee and the doctor would be allowed in. I shifted into my wolf, shaking out my thick grey fur. Todd waited on the other side, his wolf mostly black and not as tall. “Fight is for the Alpha position at Welch Pack. You fight to the death or submission. If you submit, your life is in the hands of the victor.” Both of us nodded our heads. “Begin.”

I moved to the middle, hackles up, a rumbling growl deep in my chest. I was an Alpha, and this was MY pack to lose. Todd attacked, faking a leap for my throat before slicing at my rear flank instead. I caught him along the back before he got clear.

The battle went on for twenty minutes; I didn’t have to fake much, because I’d trained Todd well. I just had to be a split-second late on my attacks or in my defense, and the injuries started to mount. Both of us were bloody, and I was breathing hard. I pressed an attack, overextending myself, and found myself on the ground. Todd wasted no time, grabbing me by the throat and shaking. Blood poured into his mouth as his teeth clamped over me.

I stilled, lifting my neck and exposing my stomach to him.

I submitted, and in doing so, I lost my Pack. Todd let go of my neck, then reared back and howled in triumph before shifting. I lay there, bleeding into the snow, waiting to hear my fate. Todd returned to his human form as the Pack cheered their new Alpha. “What say you regarding Leo Volkov,” the referee said.

“Leo Volkov is banished from the Welch Pack. No member may speak to or interact with him from this day forward,” he said. “Bring me the silver knife.”

I had shifted back, the doctor holding bandages over the worst of my wounds. I was helped to my feet, where Todd grabbed my hair. He used the knife to make two parallel cuts on my left cheek, the mark of a wolf banished from his Pack. It would tell any werewolf I met that I was not to be trusted.

The others all left as Larry and Donna helped me back to my house. Donna stitched me up before I asked them to leave. “I’m sorry,” I said. “I wish things had gone differently.”

“You can survive this,” Donna said. “When you need us, just call. You’re family, we won’t turn you away.”

“I’ll be fine,” I said. Both of us knew that wasn’t the case.

The good news was that as a banished former Alpha, I didn’t have to attend the summit. The last thing I wanted was to be in the scratch and sniff lines.

****

Present Day

The cavalry arrived in a convoy of six trucks and SUV’s, led by my new Betas. Mike parked his F-150 in front of the last door to the garage, while the others backed in near the pole barn. I waited for them at the front door, Larry and Donna waiting behind me.

Mike was carrying a few large bags, while Anita had a backpack and a rolling suitcase. “Is that all your stuff,” I teased.

“Hardly. When we got the call, we grabbed what we would need for a week or so. We’ll get the rest when it calms down around here.,” Anita said.

The others had come prepared; I saw rifle cases, winter gear, and sleeping bags with their bags of clothes. Six men, four women. “Come on in,” I said. “It’s going to be tight for a while.” The dozen people filed into the house, removing their boots and leaving them by the door. I sent Mike and Anita down to their room in the basement while the others gathered around. “How many mated pairs are here?”

Three couples raised their hands. “You will have rooms, the rest of you will bunk where you can on the couches or floor downstairs. There are two bathrooms downstairs and one on this level; we have to share, so don’t make a mess of it. You two,” I pointed at a young couple.

“Craig and Connie,” he said.

“You will take the guest room on this level when the guests are out of it. Leave your bags here. You two couples, you’ll be in the guest rooms downstairs. Put your gear away and be back here in five minutes,” I said.

They all dispersed. “You’re starting to sound like an Alpha again,” Larry told me.

“I need to BE an Alpha again,” I said. “It’s only going to get worse. We can’t avoid the shitstorm in the press and on television from an attempted child kidnapping and murder. Their names will get out, and the ones after her will be even MORE desperate to get her.”

“I’m more interested in why they tried to kidnap both of them,” Donna said. “They were already in the house, waiting for you. They didn’t wake up Vicki until Liv got home, and Natalie must have been dead already. Vicki said she didn’t see her as they were taking her out of their apartment.”

Larry shook his head. “If they wanted the mantle, all they had to do was kill Vicki, and it passes on to their next child! Why kill Natalie, and why wait around to capture Liv too? It’s a huge risk to take, waiting around like that.”

“Maybe Brenda wanted to kill Vicki, then kill the woman who stole the mantle herself? Could that bitch be so heartless to want to do it herself,” I wondered to myself?

Larry put his hand on my shoulder. “If they hadn’t, you’d have lost Vicki.”

“It’s not like they told me why they were kidnapping us,” a voice said from behind me. Liv was in the hall, looking tired but angry. She moved to me, wrapping her arms around me as she hugged tight to my chest.

“How long were you listening,” I asked.

“Long enough. You tried to warn me, and I didn’t listen. Now my grandmother is dead, and my daughter is traumatized.”

“We’ve got company,” I said. I turned Liv until she was at my side, her hand gripping mine. The room rapidly filled with the new arrivals. I waited until they had all returned, then had them sit where they could. I couldn’t help but notice one of the young men had wide eyes, his nose up, and he worked his way around the room towards us. “Everyone, this is Liv Andersen. Liv is a friend of mine; she and her daughter, Vicki, are the ones you have all come to protect.”

“Thank you all for coming,” Liv added. “I don’t know why you need so many,” she said to me.

“It’s not over,” I said. “Last night, two werewolves from the Stillwater Pack entered their home and murdered her grandmother. I managed to stop the kidnapping, and the pair who did it died at the scene. The people behind this are likely John and Brenda Petersen of the Marengo Lakes Pack.”

One of the volunteers looked at me in shock. “Your brother?”

“My brother got Liv pregnant within a month of getting mated. Her daughter carries the Alpha Mantle that John received when he mated Brenda; as long as she lives, their Pack will not have it.”