The Possessive Alpha
Chapter 106

DAMON POV

*************PRESENT DAY***********

“WHERE THE f**k IS SHE?!?!” Slade’s animalistic roar tears through the house, my eyes completely black, the claws already extending, and fur sprouting from my arms as I rip my office door off its hinges. Throwing it behind me without a care for Andrew or Matt standing there. Thankfully, they’re quick, ducking out of the way before it hits either of them.

“Alpha…” Andrew says, his words calming but not what Slade wants to hear as we spin to face him, our canines extending as the shift starts to take over as much as I try to contain it until I find my father.

“Step away, Beta,” Slade growls bitterly, “I have no quarrel with you, but I won’t hesitate to kill you if you try to stop me from finding my Luna.”

“Never, Alpha,” Andrew says while throwing up his hands, his neck turning up in submission. Matt, following his lead, says, “we want to find our Luna too, Alpha.”

“THEN STAY THE f**k OUT OF MY WAY!” Slade roars one last time before turning on my heel and walking out the door. I thunder down the hallway, Omegas scurrying away from me when they see my partially transformed body stomping towards them.

“CHARLES!!!” Slade calls his name, our anger so intense my b***d is boiling and burning my skin, begging me to finish the transformation, but that’s not happening when I don’t have my father’s neck in my grip. I don’t care that he is my b***d; I warned him that trying to deceive me would result in his death. “CHARLES!!” I roar louder, practically shaking the whole damn house.

‘Outside, Alpha,’ Matt’s voice rings through my head; turning to look at him, I can feel the foam starting to form in my mouth as my breathing gets heavier, my entire body shaking from the anger coursing through my body. Matt nods toward the window looking over my mother’s garden to find her, my father, and Councilmember Simon chatting peacefully.

Seeing their inner peace does nothing to calm the fire raging in my chest, the fury pushing me only to see red as my vision blurs with a vermillion hue. Slade is on the verge of turning feral ready to destroy anyone who stands in our way regardless of their connection to us, and I agree with him.

As the three stand talking without a care in the world, I watch my body partially transform through the window, looking like some deformed horror movie character. The heat from Andrew and Matt’s concerned stares is starting to irritate me as much as watching my mother smile and laugh like nothing is wrong like my heart isn’t being ripped to shreds because of their decisions.

Seeing my mother’s calmness over the entire situation is the straw that breaks the camel’s back. The once vermillion hue blurring my vision becomes b***d red as my feet launch me through the window, the glass shattering around me. I barely acknowledge as the glass slices through my skin or the b***d dripping off my body as Slade’s four paws land in the grass.

Running full speed at my parents, I don’t hide the pissed-off Alpha energy as I barrel towards my father, who has thrown my mother behind him in a protective manner. His hands are up as my aura pulses around the three of them, trying to strangle them into submission. ‘What did you do, Charles?’ Slade’s voice invades his mindlink, demanding answers. ‘We had a f*****g deal!’ He snaps, bearing his teeth, and snapping at my father, who has his hands raised.

‘What are you talking about?’ My father’s voice rings through my head, an apparent fear in his words as he wobbles through his explanation, ‘I gave you the file.’

A roar escapes me as a paw swats out, my claw slicing through his sensitive human flesh with ease, while my mother screams in fear behind him as his Beta and Gamma run up to drag her away to safety. Andrew and Matt flank my sides, adding their energies to mine. As the ruling leaders through combat, we are stronger than them, more potent than if the reigns were handed to us.

‘STOP f*****g LYING!’ Slade shouts through the link, my father wincing at the intrusion of my paw to his face, ‘there was nothing in that file, Charles, except some bullshit letter; where the f**k is Elle?’ Hearing my question, my father’s demeanor changed as he lowered his hands, barring his neck in submission. His actions are a puzzle.

Saying aloud, so everyone can hear, kneeling to his knees while I continue growling at him, “Son, I swear the file I handed you was the one I kept hidden. I had no intention of deceiving you. I want to be done with this whole situation. I want you and Slade to have happiness. I would never keep you from what is yours, and that’s why I agreed to this whole catastrophe. You have to believe me. Cynthia made us believe this would be the only way, but I am beginning to think she scammed us all because it’s been one disaster after another.”

The emotions are rolling off my father screaming submission and sincerity. I cannot scent deceit or lies in his words while Slade continues to roll them around, finding the hidden agendas in the subtext. I stare at the man who has taught me everything I know, on his knees submitting to me fully. My mother weeps to the side while the world slows into nothing.

A movement to my side catches my attention as my father’s speech begins to sink in. Snapping to my side, I witness Beta Simon trying to back away slowly, as if he is trying to remove himself from this situation, sniffing the air; I smell the subtle fear rolling off of him as he tries his hardest to mask it. But it’s there, clinging to him like a blanket of shame.

Growling while stalking toward him, Andrew and Matt moved in sync with me, the three of us needing no mindlink to move as a team. The years of training together let us proceed as one towards our enemy as we entrap him, my father standing, his anger mixing with mine as he storms forward.

“What the f**k did you do, Simon?” My father storms forward beside me, “what the f**k did you do?!”

“What I had to!” Simon hisses, “Cynthia didn’t only f**k with your lives, okay? She did the same to me! My mate died because of her bullshit, but I will always protect the bloodline of my original pack.” His words hold conviction as he stares into my eyes, “But I am also protecting New Moon, and you have to trust me.”

With a nod to Matt, he wastes no time grappling the Beta to the ground, his father jumping into the fold to slap on the silver-lined cuffs he always has on hand. Studying the Beta, I notice his reaction to the cuffs seems forced, not how any wolf typically acts when encountering the metal.

Without further instruction, they start dragging him away toward the cells for questioning. I begin to trot along behind them when a link starts knocking at the forefront of my mind; opening it, Trent’s voice comes through with a hint of panic in his words, “Alpha, I think you need to come to the security office. Now.” As my newfound power starts to settle in, so does my men’s as we replace my father’s men as leaders and protectors of the pack.

‘I’ll be there soon,’ I respond before closing the link and opening one between Andrew and Matt, ‘Put him in the cells, but do nothing until I get there. If anyone’s going to torture him, it’ll be me.’ At my words, I notice the momentary look of guilt that passes over Andrew’s face before remembering himself and accepting his responsibilities as my Beta. I know he is internally conflicted about hurting Theo’s father, but I never doubt his loyalty to the pack or his Luna.

‘Andrew, shift and come with me,’ I tell him before running off in the direction of the security office, not bothering to wait for him as my paws thundered in the direction of the main security outpost. It’s not long before I hear Demetri’s paws thundering behind me.

As I race through the territory, gaining concerned looks from other pack members, Andrew’s voice rings through my voice, asking a question I have been too afraid to ask myself. ‘Alpha, what did the Luna’s letter mean? Do you think there is any truth to it?’

‘Goddess, I hope not; I hope she trusted me enough to tell me at least more than that,’ I reply, my voice somber, while Slade whines in my mind, pacing to bury the sting of being left behind.

‘I do too,’ Andrew mutters, hurt lacing his voice, and I realize I wasn’t the only one betrayed by this deceit. Matt and Andrew probably have as much to be hurt about as I do, although they’d never admit it.

‘I don’t blame any of them for doing what they did,’ Matt includes, startling me slightly as I continue onward, forgetting that I still had the mindlink open between us. ‘Any of us would have made the same f*****g choices if it was our pack, and to lie to ourselves saying we would have done otherwise is bullshit.’

‘You’re telling me you’re not pissed?’ Andrew asks while his voice is going dark with anger. ‘That Charity has lived next door to you since she moved here, didn’t bother to tell you anything about their plans.’

‘f**k yeah, I’m pissed,’ Matt growls, ‘but that doesn’t change the fact that we all would have done the same f*****g thing. I am proud of Charity for sticking by her Luna, our Luna, and keeping her safe. It’s what a Gamma does.”

‘You can’t be serious,’ Andrew hisses through the link, anger starting to lace through his energy, ‘you’re standing beside their bullshit?’

‘Come off your high horse, Beta.’ Matt growls, taking an unexpected stance; I’d thought he’d be as feral as me, nuts to get Charity home safely, but he’s as cool as a cucumber. If he hadn’t said he was pissed, I would have thought him unbothered by the whole situation.

‘You cannot deny we would have made the same damn decisions without Elle’s opinion or say if the roles were reversed,’ Matt continues berating us through mindlink in a manner befitting a general. ‘She is a goddamn Luna Born, with her pack and people to care for. You two aren’t confirmed mates. So get your head out of your damn a*s and figure out what Trent wants.’

Matt finishes his rant, leaving Andrew and me in silence, cutting off the mindlink as we close in on the building to find a warrior standing by with a change of clothes. ‘Alpha, Beta,’ he says, handing them to us after we shift, quickly slipping on the sweats.

With a nod, we enter the building, but I can’t forget Matt’s scolding, knowing deep in my gut I would have made the same choices. I would have expected my men to follow my orders, and I wouldn’t have told Elle a damn thing to keep her safe. I think that makes the heartache so much worse knowing that if I was in her shoes, I would have made the same decisions no matter how stupid.

Based on the sigh that leaves Andrew’s lips, I know Matt’s words are having a similar effect on him, but I say nothing as I cross into the tiny office filled with monitors. “What do you got for me, Trent?” I ask as I cross my arms over my chest, eyes flicking between the screens.

“Well, I was looking through the security cameras in the week leading up to the ball,” Trent explains as he starts clicking on the keys to bring up a file of saved video feed, “when an encrypted message came through with deleted clips.”

“Clips of what?” I ask as Slade stills, paying attention to what Trent has to tell me, “Jonah scoping the territory on the night of Elle’s first shift, with enhanced audio. Video of her leaving the territory to meet with a rogue known as Xander Stiles, formally known as Alexander General, the firstborn son of Alpha Gregory General of the Willowa Pack in Oregon.”

“What the f**k would Elle want with a rogue?” I grit through clenched teeth, a possessive growl emanating from my chest rumbling through the room. To not include me is one thing, but to ask a f*****g rogue? What the f**k is she thinking?

“I did some digging into this rogue Alpha,’ Trent continues, “his father is abusive and old school, killing off both his fated and chosen mate when they disappointed him. Going rogue at thirteen, Xander has cultivated quite a reputation for his collective of rogues, whispers of “Robin Hood,” however the press has been calling the collective the Black Shadow pack. However within the council they have a special code name for the Xander; Moon Shade.

“Why would they have a code name for this rogue?” Andrew asks the same thing I am thinking, the council would nickname this collective? It’s uncommon for them to invest that much energy into a rogue collective unless violent…

“Apparently, he is highly skilled at infiltration, and dismantling packs,” Trent explains turning in his chair to face me, “his collective reveals very little about their identity. I had to call in more favors than I have to get the information I did. He only works with outsiders he trusts one-hundred percent and sufficient evidence condemning a specific pack or person.”

As Trent’s continues talking one of the screens changes scenery catching my eye a few men standing close enough to the camera to be seen but not close enough to make facial features just out of range of our territory line. What the f**k is happening? f**k sakes Goddess, can’t I catch a goddamn break?

“Trent who they f**k are they?” I demand to know, pointing at the screen of the men obviously scouting my lands for something particular.

“Jesus f**k,” Andrew sighs, and it’s like I can read his mind because I am thinking the same thing. Sensing the annoyance in my words Trent takes a gulp of air. Nerves suddenly springing forth from as he pulls up the same feed on every screen in the office, only for me to realize they are all different areas outside of our borders.

“Did you know they were there the whole f*****g time?” I growl, my eyes flicking between the different screens crammed into the room attempting to count the number of men slowly starting to surround the pack’s borders trying to taunt me.

“Yes, Alpha,” Trent says, turning his neck in precaution, as he continues explaining, “Until you became Alpha we were banned from this area and in the last few hours I uncovered a lot. I thought finding the Luna was of the utmost it priority.”

“Well, who the f**k are they then?” Andrew demands, as he leans in closer trying to determine any distinguishable features among the men in the videos. “The rogues?”

“No,” Trent says with the shake of his head, “it’s the council’s elite warriors.”