Shadow of The Wolf Ch. 03

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"Where are the pups?" Rance asked the twins with brows raised. "This is the first time that the mansion is quiet; it's kind of eerie."

"Damian thought it prudent to keep them out of the mansion for now. He believes that the Alpha Regina might need some time to acclimate herself to pack life. It could be a disaster if one eager pup showed obeisance and offended her with his or her exuberance," Luc replied quietly.

"Also, we thought that we would give your wolf some time to adjust to being mated. As the alpha and the strongest, Damian thought to err on the side of caution for now in case you got overly aggressive and possessive," Troy said.

"He is a wise guy," Rance muttered, amused. He needed to thank Damian for his foresight. He really did not know how his wolf would react to other males near Alex. He remembered last night when he was on his mate hunt. He knew then that his wolf would have torn apart any male near her. He was beyond reasoning.

He took the time to look inside himself and gauge his wolf's disposition in the light of day. It was remarkable to see his wolf curled on its side content and happy and seemingly willing to let his human side take dominance for now. He took stock of himself and was amazed at the marked difference in him. The sharp aggressiveness that had lurked beneath his skin for years after his parents' death was curiously absent. It seemed mating had calmed his raging beast. Rance walked toward the stairs in hope of finding Damian and getting the Alphas still in the estate assembled.

"Should we remain here for your mate, Rance?" asked Luc.

"No. My mate -- whose name is Alexandra by the way -- is sleeping right now. Besides which, I do not want her to think that she is a prisoner here. She probably won't be up until later. I need both of you for the briefing we will have with the Alphas. Luc, find Damian and inform the Alphas that we will convene in the main conference room in fifteen minutes. Troy, I want you to make sure that no one gets access inside the mansion except for the staff. Also, have them prepare refreshment for the meeting. Tell them to bring food to my suite too, but not to disturb their Alpha Regina," He instructed as he continued downstairs trailed by the twins. Rance's mind already preoccupied with pack business and the reasons for the killings.

"What about the Council?" asked Luc. "They have voiced the desire to be introduced to your mate today."

"They will just have to wait for the formal presentation. I did not get the chance to talk to her about pack life yet. Once I managed to talk with her about everything then she will be presented to them. I do not want to add more pressure and stress on top of her being mated to an alpha shifter." Rance responded seriously. "What they need to know at the moment is that she was human when I claimed her. I need not explain that she should be given time to be gradually introduced to pack life and indoctrinated on pack politics."

******

The quiet thud of a door closing followed closely by soft tinkling of cutlery and hushed giggling pulled Alex from her deep sleep. She purposefully kept her eyes closed orienting herself to her surroundings. The events of the night rushed through her mind's eye. Alpha Rex. Alpha Regina. Claimed. Mated. Weres. The words kept repeating in her head. She needed to get out of here. She regulated her breathing to keep the people in the room from knowing that she was awake. She closely followed their movements by listening carefully.

"She has red hair," whispered a girl's voice. She could not see what Alex looked like since she was lying on her side and her hair cover most of her face.

"Katherine, that's enough!" hushed an older woman's voice. "See to the bathroom and make sure everything is tidied up over there. We do not want to give a bad impression to our Alpha Regina. Go on, I will clean up in here. And do be quiet, our Regina needs her rest after last night's mating," she said in a quiet voice.

"Yes, mother," the girl answered in a cowed tone. "I am just curious what she looks like. Everyone in the kitchen will ask me once we leave the bedroom."

"They will see her soon enough. They just have to wait for the formal presentation like the rest of the pack."

At least they were not curious enough to look under the sheet. That would be so humiliating. No one had seen her naked body except her -- and now Rance.

Alex waited impatiently for the duo to finish cleaning up and leave the room. Finally, she heard the door open and close. She opened one eye slowly, trying to see if anybody was in the room with her. When she was certain that she was alone, she scrambled out of bed and immediately hunted around for her clothes.

"Dumb, dumb, dumb, Alex" she muttered to herself. She should have awakened before the staff came to clean up, now she could not find a trace of her dress or her thong. She wrapped herself in the sheet as she went to the double doors and locked them. Don't want to flash anybody while I look for something to wear, she thought. As she turned towards the bedroom, she saw that the females had placed a tray of food on one of the tables in the sitting room. Her stomach grumbled as the smell of food tickled her nose. She clutched her protesting stomach and wondered if she had time to spare to eat before hitting the road. Making up her mind that it was bad to waste good food, she went to the table and perused the tray's offering.

There was a delicious smelling omelet loaded with ham, cheese, onions and tomato and a crusty croissant with butter on a plate. A large bowl of various cut fruits was on one side of the tray. A tall glass of juice and a steaming cup of coffee waited on the side with several fruit tartlets. An elaborate arrangement of pink tulips and roses were in a vase by the tray. I could get used to such service, she whimsically thought.

She sat down and started to eat while keeping an ear out for any sound of footsteps outside the door. Before long, she had consumed most of the food and was finishing her meal with a cup of coffee. She was surprised that she had eaten so much because she usually did not eat breakfast. She got up and went to bathroom to clean up and hunt for some clothes in the bedroom closet.

She opened one of the closet doors and walked in to look for anything that would fit her and was astounded at the number of suits hanging in the closet. Rance must be really rich and important. By the looks of it, they were all custom made and from exclusive brands. Not that she know anything about high-end fashion. I doubt if there are any ready-made suits that would fit him anyway, she thought with amusement.

She opened several drawers, looking for any casual clothes that she could borrow. She found a dress shirt and a pair of jeans and hoped they would fit. The shirt was big and reached almost to her knees, the sleeves was so long that she needed to fold them several times. The jeans' legs were long, which she could fold to fit her, but the problem was the waist. Rance was big, but very lean. The jeans waist wouldn't even close because of her hips and butt, so she hunted for any elasticized pants. After going through all of the drawers, she finally lucked out and found an old, but clean pair of sweat pants at the back of the closet. She hurriedly put them on and encountered the same problem with the length of the pant legs. She was tempted to cut them short, but then she would have to look for a pair of scissors, and she didn't want to waste more time, as it was.

She just wanted to get out of there and be able to assimilate everything that happened; To have time to think about what Rance told her last night, or rather, this morning. She put on her shoes and looked for her purse. She remembered dropping it at the foot of the bed when Rance grabbed her arms last night. She went down on her knees and peered under the bed. Luckily the purse was just where she thought it was. The contents were scattered on the floor, it must have opened when she dropped it earlier. She shoved everything inside and noticed that she had several missed call on her cellphone from Pam.

She tried calling Pam right away, not wanting her friend to worry further, but her calls went directly to voice mail. She left Pam a brief message telling her she was fine and on her way home. And then called a cab company and instructed them to pick her up at the gate of the estate.

Alex then went to the door, and attentively listened before slowly opening it. Everything was quiet and nobody was around so she slowly descended the stairs, tiptoed across the hall and walked out of the mansion.

It was a mile or so hike to get to the gate. As she trudged on the winding driveway, she could not help but look longingly back and see if by some miracle responding to her inner conflict about her cowardly escape, Rance had someone following her. The driveway remained empty, as empty as she felt. She put more distance between her and Rance. Determinedly, she marched forward, ignoring the gnawing emptiness inside her. She breathed deep and took stock of her circumstance. Her behavior and her actions with Rance were so unlike her. She couldn't understand how she placidly accepted his explanations without getting enraged at his machinations to get her mated to him. She was no pushover, but the surreal situation revealed her innate weakness when it came to Rance.

About halfway to the gate she felt a prickle of unease, the hair on the back of her stood on end. She tried to shrug it off thinking she was getting paranoid, but the feeling of dread persisted. There was something unnatural with the stillness of the surrounding trees. It was too quiet and eerie. She shivered as she felt the feeling of wrongness continue. Suddenly, she sensed malevolent intent pressed all around her. In her head she screamed "run!" Unexplained terror had her in its grip. Her heart pounded hard as adrenaline surged through her, triggering the fight or flight impulse. The forested area surrounding the winding driveway seemed to pulse with malicious glee. She hastened her pace, jogging and almost running in an effort to escape the feeling of evil stalking her.

As she rounded the final bend, she was relieved to see the cab waiting at the end of the drive. Alex jumped in hastily and gave the driver her address. As the cab pulled out, she looked behind her again, trying to see who or what stalked her. No one was there. "Must be my imagination on overdrive," she thought as she shivered. She shook off the remnants of terror she felt.

The sound of life settled around the forested driveway as Alex's cab drove away. The usual sound of nature resumed its cadence of teeming life; birds chirped on the trees screeching their mating call, squirrels squeaking playfully as they jumped from tree to tree. The sound of animals frolicking was abruptly cut off as a menacing growl preceded the rustling of the bushes at the edge of the thick trees that lined the gate. A pair of hate-filled amber eyes brightly glowed in the gloom as they watched the cab drive away with the Alpha Regina.

******

The conference room was brimming with testosterone. The alphas of different species sat around the long table flanked by their enforcers who stood by the walls. They had just finished viewing the video presentation of the slayings. Tension resonated inside the room. Quiet momentary reigned as everyone digested what the aftermath of the horrendous crime would do to the tenuous peace among the shifter communities. Already, the families of the slain weres cried for justice. Although they dared not voice outright the suspicion that a rival were species have committed the butcheries, it was evident in their eyes and attitude. One thing was very clear to everyone in the room though; It was imperative they find the were or weres responsible, or the relative peace they had for the past thirty years would start breaking down.

"Obviously someone is trying to undermine the treaty,"Annawon, the Bear Alpha observed quietly. "For them to dump the bodies on our clan," he nodded towards Dominic, "his pride," and nodded at Rance, "and your pack territory, sends a clear message to me."

"I arrived at the same conclusion my friend." Dominic agreed. "They are not very subtle with their ploy to make us believe that our people have killed each other in retaliation. It's no secret that we three are the greatest proponents of the peace treaty." He looked at each alpha present at the table. Each stoic face showed strained alertness. Everyone was on edge. "What say you?" he asked the rest of the alphas. As of now, only the wolves, panthers, and bears had been attacked. They could not wait passively for another attack to happen. No one had a clue how widespread the conspiracy to derail the treaty was. They all needed to work together to end the killings.

"How sure are we that this is not a personal vendetta meant to strike at the three of you?" asked the catamount alpha. He personally did not like the three alphas in front of him. He found them to be so smug and arrogant. There was something that rubbed him raw when dealing with the wolf alpha. His cat fairly bristled with hostility when in the same room as Rance. His pride, whose numbers were less than the other Were species, were to his opinion, always getting the short end of the stick. It is not his problem if the wolves, panthers, and bears were being picked off one at a time. Good riddance, that's what he would say. They were too numerous and needed to be taken down a peg or two anyway.

Every eye zoomed in on Rance. Since he was the one who called the meeting, they wanted to hear him answer a valid question that most of them thought, but hesitated to ask.

Manuel, the catamount alpha, has always irked Rance. True he had the right to question before any conclusion was reached, but to disregard the threat to Weres generally rang of gross incompetence and irresponsibility. As alphas, it was their job to secure, protect, train and help their people prosper and live in this modern world without fear of being hunted and killed senselessly.

"Are you willing to pay the price if and when they attack your people?" Rance queried, "Will you do nothing and wait like cattle for them to take it as weakness and strike at you?" Rance's voice rang with vehemence. He is infuriated that some of the alphas are regarding each other already with suspicion and distrust.

Manuel looked at him belligerently. "You dare intimate that we do not care for the welfare of our weres? I for one do not want to have my pack vulnerable to attack nor do I want all-out war between Weres to break out if we can avoid it. What I do not condone, is being manipulated into getting involved in your personal crusade." He stood up in agitation. The tension in the room ratcheted up as two alphas faced off. The enforcers around their alphas prepared themselves for any possible physical confrontations. Bodies taut, some had partially shifted. Hostility mounted as their animal halves bristled with aggression.

Rance remained in his seat. His rigid body and fisted hands revealed barely leashed bellicosity. His wolf howled in rage. It perceived the other alphas aggressiveness as a challenge to him. Rance restrained his wolf's penchant for violence. His father had taught him that a good alpha seeks peace at all times and lead with strength and an open mind. However, a great alpha employs both, and complimented them with wisdom and diplomacy.

Annawon's calm voice cut through the thick tension in the room. "No one in this room questions your leadership of your Weres, my friend Manuel. Calm yourself. We are here to seek a peaceful consensus to the matter at hand." He looked directly at Rance and Manuel. Rance slowly nodded his head in accord as Manuel sat back in his chair. "We want to inform all the alphas of what is happening and not leave you in the dark about the attacks." Annawon continued in a soothing manner. This time he looked at each alpha in the eye. "The peace treaty is being put to the test. If we cannot work together and agree on how to deal with these attacks then the treaty is already on the brink of total breakdown." He leaned forward in earnest appeal to them. "We have worked hard together to bring peace and unite all weres under our cumulative leadership. These senseless attacks are meant to weaken us! It made us question our brethren's motives and innocence." Annawon folded his hands palms down in front of him and regarded each one with piercing eyes. "Are you willing to work together for the apprehension of the perpetrators of these vile crimes?"

The repercussion of the treaty breaking down would be disastrous. Open war would be waged and bloodshed like never seen before would commence. The wisdom of working together was not lost on the alphas, but being half animal, they were prone to posturing and aggression when they felt threatened. Cooler heads needed to reign at this moment. After a time of prolonged silence used by each in contemplation, one by one the alphas nodded their head in agreement. They all agreed that they were not going to wait for further escalation. Even Manuel reluctantly nodded his head.

Rance then stood up to address them all. His grim visage conveyed how the attacks weighed heavily on his mind. If the Weres involved continued to attack and murder humans, then the Were people would be in danger of exposure. That would spell disaster for them, and the humans would more likely take arms and hunt them all. "I propose that we form a task force involving one of each of our betas. Their sole assignment is to investigate and determine who perpetrated these crimes. Any lead, any evidence will be equally disclosed to the council of alphas." He paused. "We know that the bodies were left in places where it could be easily discovered. There was no indication of an attempt to hide or bury their crime. Nothing was found on or near the bodies that can point us to the villains. What it does indicate though is that it was meticulously planned and flawlessly orchestrated." He continued gravely, "The lack of genetic evidence and scent marker points to a Were or Weres. Humans, as we know, are unaware that we can hunt by scent alone, so there was no reason to mask their scent." Rance leaned forward on the table. "I doubt that this is a work of one individual. The crimes are too fucking perfect!" He exclaimed and breathed deep to keep calm. His wolf is riled up at the thought of helpless weres massacred in their bed, such deeds screamed of cowardice. "We are looking at a group of Weres. They have one leader who plans and mastermind everything, while others do the grunt work. I am still at a loss as to the objective of it except to derail the Peace Treaty."

Establishing the need for haste to act on a plan of action, they've finally decided to have three groups working independently of each other, which would then report to the Council of Alphas. The alphas then deliberated who would be included in the task force. As the alphas discussed and argued, Rance decided to check on his mate and "see" if she was already awake, having earlier blocked the mental link between them to focus on business.

With the alphas' rumbling discussion serving as a background, Rance opened his bond with Alex. His mate was awake and eating at the moment. He smiled at the thought of making her hungry again. He sensed her slight panic. He didn't blame her in the least for her reaction, but they would work through it. He was confident that goddess Luna had prepared her to be mated to an alpha shifter. This time he left her thoughts unread, not wanting to breach her mind or disrespect her privacy. He will give her some time to adjust their ability to communicate mentally and read each other's mind.