The Merciless Alpha(erotica)

I could sense his anger as that name went to him. “Fucking has-been Alpha Leo, screwing up everything. Why couldn’t he just die after losing his mate like everyone else? It’s all his fault, him and his brother.” He didn’t say anything for a bit. “If Ivan could have kept his dick in his pants after getting mated, there would not have been a problem here. I tried to kill that guy for you, and for the Pack.”This belongs © NôvelDra/ma.Org.

“Killing a little girl and her human mother is somehow supposed to be good for the Pack? It’s RUINED us, Todd! No Pack will touch us now.”

“The money Luna Brenda offered for her death would have kept the business solvent until spring. If the boys had finished the job down in the ravine, we’d have the money already. Alpha Leo hadn’t been recognized by the Council formally, so they’d get over that.”

I just shook my head. “They aren’t ‘getting over’ anything, Todd. The Chairman is here with his mediator and his guards. They’ve already interviewed men that were part of the attack, and they know what you did and why. Luna Brenda has confessed to offering you the money to kill an Alpha and his heir. They are going to try you in absentia, Todd. You won’t need bail, you’re better off where you are. You will have a death sentence on you in our world if you ever get out of jail.”

“They can’t do that! I’m an Alpha!”

“Not anymore, my mate. You can’t be an Alpha without at least five members, and all you have left is your family.” I let him think about that for a bit. “What kind of life will we have with you in jail? No Pack will take us, and with the company in bankruptcy, I’ll have NOTHING.”

“I’ll figure something out,” he said. “There has to be a way out of this.”

It was time to give him the offer. “I was given an offer, via the Council mediator, that would settle the human involvement in this mess and provide for our family. They want you to plead guilty to all charges, including the kidnapping, and take the prison time.”

“WHAT?” I could feel his rage over the bond; he was probably hitting or breaking something right now. I waited calmly for almost ten minutes before he came back to me. “I didn’t order the kidnapping; that is a setup.”

“I know you didn’t, and so do they, but if the FBI keeps poking around, it will lead places the Council does not want them going. You’re guilty of the four counts of attempted murder, and there’s nothing we can do about that. Talk to your attorney and get him to work out a plea deal.” I kept talking, telling him that he should say he had become obsessed with Olivia after seeing her at Wiederholt’s. He had heard of the kidnappers through some ex-cons he’d met. He’d offered ten grand upfront and ten more after delivery to bring Olivia and Vicki to him; Vicki was taken to ensure Olivia cooperated with his plans for her. He never thought they would be stupid enough to kill the grandmother. The hit and run was a target of opportunity; he’d seen Liv with Leo at Wiederholt’s that Tuesday. Leo had saved the two, and now they looked very friendly with each other. If he couldn’t have her, Leo wouldn’t either, and he could take out all three at once as they went home.

“That’s it? All I have to do is confess to enough felonies to keep me behind bars forever, and then what?”

“Then I sell off most of the company before it goes bankrupt. The mortgage on our house gets paid off, and enough debt gets cleared for the company that it has a chance to grow again.”

He didn’t say anything for a bit. “Who is buying my part of the company?”

“Leo Volkov.” If I thought he was mad before, he was worse now. It took fifteen minutes this time before he came back to me. “Most of the Welch Pack is now with him. He agreed to let us stay in the Pack, and I can keep working in the office. With the mortgage paid down, we won’t have to sell our home. All we need to do in return is for you to plead guilty.”

“No FUCKING way. Not Leo. He doesn’t get to win. I’ll die before I let that bastard have his company back. Susan, you are FORBIDDEN from having anything to do with Alpha Leo or the Miesville Pack.”

That asshole was going to ruin it all. “It’s the ONLY WAY, Todd! If we don’t grab this lifeline, you’re dead, I’m broke, and the kids and I are on the street! Is that what you want?”

“I want you to kill Leo and Vicki, Susan. Finish the job. If they die while I’m in jail, the lawyer can use that to show that I’m innocent.” I didn’t know how to respond. “It’s the only way we can be together again.”

Vicki woke up first, getting up and quietly leaving the room. My alarm went off a few minutes later; it was Monday. For the first time in years, I was going to work.

Adrienne rolled over and grabbed my phone off the side table, turning it off. “Morning,” she said.

“Good morning, love,” I replied. It had been another restful night, no nightmares or waking up. She helped me sit up, removing the arm immobilizer. I moved my shoulder around, and there was soreness but no pain. “At least I can start using this arm now,” I said.

“Keep it in the sling unless you need it out, and it will heal faster,” she said as she helped me into my scooter. “When do you change to a walking boot?”

“I have an appointment Wednesday,” I said. She went to her room to get ready while I went into the bathroom and did the same. When I got out to the table, Donna was serving pancakes and bacon to Sharkbait, Larry, Mike, and Anita. I ruffled the girl’s hair as I drove by. “Excited for the start of school,” I asked.

“Pack school!” I pulled into the open spot as Vicki told me about the classroom downstairs that had been put together. “No more bus rides!” I was happy that the new Pack would be doing homeschooling, at least for the younger pups. It was hard to teach all the classes and have all the sports and extracurricular activities in middle and high school, we sent them to public school then.

Liv and Brent came downstairs towards the end of the meal and sat down after both kissed and hugged Vicki. “The meeting with your Mom went well,” I asked.

“Better than I thought it would go,” Liv said. “Mom wants to be part of our lives again, and the two of us have made up, but it’s far from the end of the story. She has to convince Dad, and before that, she has to visit her sister in Duluth. If she doesn’t, Dad will be very upset that she lied to him.”

“Why haven’t you kept in touch with your aunt,” Larry said.

“My father has four brothers, my aunt is married to the youngest,” Liv said. “When Dad disowned me, he tried to make sure I had no one else in the family to run to. He told them that it was them or me. The only one he couldn’t control was Grandmother; she lost touch with both her daughters after taking me in.”

“That’s messed up,” I said.

“Appearances are everything to my father.”

“I’m surprised he didn’t put you in the stocks, flog you and then make you wear a scarlet A. Does anything change now that media has told everyone you are a single mom?” She shrugged her shoulders. All this because a college girl made a mistake being with a married man, then kept the baby. “I imagine she’s not going to have an easy time convincing your father to let you back in.”

“She knows. Dad is rigid in his ways. Changing his mind now would be admitting he was wrong.”

I just shook my head. I noticed Vicki had been following along with the conversation. “Will she be my Grandma?”

“She wants to see you too. I invited Grandmother to stop by the house on her way up to Duluth,” Liv said. “She should be here in an hour or so.”

I’d be gone by then. “What are you planning to tell your Mom?”

“None of the werewolf stuff, obviously. I thought I would take Mom up to the apartment and show her where Vicki and I live. Brent doesn’t have anything up there, and we won’t mention he’s living in the house. It’s hard enough knowing we’re getting married soon.”

I nodded. “All the other students will be arriving then, so we’ll get them downstairs quickly and let Sharkbait stay upstairs with you. No shifting, obviously. Vicki, you need to be careful with what you say about your school and your life here. No mentioning Packs, wolves, or shifting.”

“I know, Unky Leo. Mommy told me.”

Liv looked over at me. “What do I say about you? Or my work?”

“Work is on hold until things settle down,” I said. “As for me, I’m related through Vicki, and I’m helping you both out. It helps that I’ve known you for years.” We finished up the guys helped me out to the garage. Adrienne’s rental car was in my bay; my truck was totaled, but I hadn’t picked out a replacement yet. There wasn’t much of a point until I could drive. After I got in, they loaded the scooter in the back of the sport-utility, and we started driving towards Red Wing.

As we pulled through the fence into the parking lot of Volkov Construction, I started to get a little emotional. I remembered every aspect of this, from clearing the lot to furnishing the office. I could see a few cars here already as we parked. “Susan is here,” I said.

“Good, you have a lot of work to do in there,” Adrienne replied. That was true; when I entered the office, three Pack members were waiting with Susan for me. Luis Hernandez, who did drywall and roofing, was sitting in the corner with his McDonald’s bag. Rufus Washington was leaning against the wall; he is our plumbing supervisor. Craig Price, our Site Foreman, was at his desk next to mine, with Susan at her reception desk by the door. “Good morning, everyone,” Adrienne said as she held the door for me.