Thylacine Alpha Ch. 03

This is a continuation of earlier chapters, so you need to read them first.

Sorry for the long break. Sometimes life shits on you, then laughs its arse off at your attempts to keep going. This is a fairly short chapter as I hope to build up some momentum in writing again.

Recapping: the Were Tasmanian Tiger Alpha and his wife had been murdered, and the second son David had a filed attempt on his life. The older brother Reginald has taken on the alpha position until a voting ceremony can occur on a full moon night. David and his friends believe Reginald to be behind the attacks.

Thylacine is the name for carnivore marsupials in Australia known as Tasmanian tiger or Tasmanian wolf. Possibly the best known is its cousin the Tasmanian devil, with his knife and fork in the Bugs Bunny cartoons.

This story concentrates on the Tasmanian Tiger (or Wolf), now extinct, and their still surviving cousins the Tasmanian Devil. Being marsupials they bear no relation to dogs or wolves, but are only similar by having what is called convergent evolution. Being called tiger was only because of stripes on their back and not related to the big cats either. Tassie devils are found only in the wild on the island of Tasmania. There is a virus borne cancer threatening the devil population in Tasmania so they hope to keep the species alive.

The closest to an Australian canine is the dingo which reportedly arrived from Asia thousands of years ago. Were-Dingoes also make appearances later in the story, although I have limited them to the eastern half of the continent.

Yes, I am Australian. So bear with the non-US speech and spelling.

I have set this in Western Australia, but paid only basic attention to the real place. Sometimes reality gets in the way of fiction.

This story is about Were humans. I will call them interchangeably as, for example, Were, Were-Tiger or Tiger. Capitals denoting the shape changer. Lower case tiger refers to the marsupial animal, in this particular case it is the Tasmanian tiger, not the Asian cat.

No sex in this chapter.

Hope you enjoy the story.

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THYLACINE ALPHA

PART 3

Things did not go as David had hoped since his parents burial. He had managed through his friend Brian to identify the group of humans who had attacked him on the road after his parents death. A group of mercenaries willing to take payment for any dirty job had flown in from Sydney. He was organising a trip east when advised that all travel out of the state was vetoed by Reginald. Being the acting Alpha he had the power to do this, and David had to comply or face ostracism, at best, from the pack. From what he picked up from others in the pack, Reggie had stopped any of the other Alphas from visiting for his ceremony to be named Alpha, which was to be within a week's time.

Dave guessed that his brother was not as secure in the outcome as he wanted everyone to believe. It would also be a major problem to have a tenuous hold on power in front of the other leaders. They would sense that he had very little personal Were power, and might take this as an opportunity to replace him with one of their own stronger Betas. This was on the proviso that anyone local was not strong enough to take the position. It all gets rather messy with politics and power. It was also obvious that the acting Alpha did not have a life partner. A Were with a partner demonstrated he was open to commitment, settled and able to sire heirs. Illegitimacy was frowned upon for leadership so a legal heir, with a spare, is preferred. Having this before taking the leadership made things easier.

It was surprising to Dave that Reggie had not just organised for a woman to become his mate like he controlled everything else. The actual partnering with a spouse added power to the male, and it would be obvious that he had gained nothing in a forced mating. It would thus not be a true union of souls.

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They arrived at his house where Dave asked the pair to wait while he checked around in case anything dangerous was waiting. As he got out of the car the other two were already out and walking towards the house.

Nicola looked over her shoulder at him with an eyebrow arched up, "What. You expected us to hang back while you put yourself in danger?"

David shrugged his shoulders, "That was the idea. I don't want either of you to be hurt for me."

Trent had arrived at the front house and inspected the locked door, then carefully looked through the windows where the blinds had not been fully closed. Dave was about to put his key in the lock when Trent pushed in front forcing Dave back.

"Dave, wait for me to do my job. Wait here while I check the house. Keep an eye out for anyone who could pose a problem."

Trent had carried a backpack from the car and now pulled out two handguns and passed one each to Dave and Nicola, "Don't shoot each other. Back in a minute."

He went around the side of the house keeping a careful watch. Dave waited impatiently with Nicola until the front door opened much later than expected, Trent looked grim as he stood inside the house. Looking around Dave noticed it was exactly as he thought he had left it except for a bundle of stuff beside the doorway.

Trent smiled as Nicola made a beeline for the guest bathroom and then belatedly advised them, "All clear," then added, "There were explosive devices at the front and back doors wired to the locks. I doubt it would be enough to kill you outright, but would have made a mess of you. I just have the garage to go."

The men checked the garage and David's bike for any hazards, succeeding in finding and disarming another explosive connected to the garage door. He also found an electronic device on the bike which he guessed was a tracker.

Trent led David and Nicole outside again where he spoke, "David, I would advise you take extreme precaution from now. I can make a guess as to why you are being targeted and by who. My hands are tied in this as we still need to follow pack law, and it all comes down to having no evidence to make any allegations. Nicole and I have lost our previous standing in the pack, so we are now just two regular members. But I am still allowed to help a friend, and you are my friend. At this time I think the only course of action is for you to challenge to be the Alpha."

David looked at his friend and gave his words thought for a minute before speaking, "I know what you mean but I cannot honestly see my brother having the ability or guts to organise the death of father and mother, let alone the multiple attempts on my life. However it seems he is running things for now. I never wanted to be Alpha as you know, but I guess if it is a choice between him and me, it has to be me. It also seems I probably would not live long if he got full power anyway. Will you be able to call me forward at the ceremony?"

Trent was pleased his friend had agreed and grabbed his forearm in a grip of comradeship, "I would be honoured to call you forward for selection as Alpha by the pack."

Nicole put a hand over their clasped arms, "I would be honoured if you allow me to second your call."

David released the grip to take his friends into a companionable hug as he said, "We just have to stay alive till then."

Trent pulled back as the hold was released, "You need to disappear till then. Nic and I can stay in sight as we are of no importance now. He reached into his bag to pull out two phones which he switched on and went through the start up to activate them. After checking the phone details he programmed the number of the other into each phone and handed one to David.

"Use this to contact me if necessary. It is best we do not know where you are, just as a safety precaution."

David took the phone with a bemused look on his face, "You just happen to have new phones in your bag? How about a roll of cash as well?"

Trent smiled and reached back into the bag and handed a thick envelope to him, much to the amazement of David.

"This should be enough to keep you going. We will leave now and you must look like you are staying here, but go as soon as you can. Get new transport and a place that is safe. Stay out of sight even though your instinct will be to handle this head on. Contact if you need us. We will be at our loft in the city, it is as safe as anywhere for the two of us. We will see you at the ceremony, make sure you get there safely. Your pack needs you."

Nicola gave David a long hug and followed Trent to the car and they left. David suddenly felt exposed and vulnerable although his beast was wanting a good fight. He went inside making certain the house was locked and secured before packing some essential items into a backpack. He ate a simple meal and then kept watch until darkness descended. Deciding it was time, he left out the back door, carefully locking it behind himself. He slowly ghosted through the surrounding area keeping to the shadows and behind any sight obstacle, hidden from any watchers. He reached the local town centre where he knew there was a small hotel with basic rooms for rent. The next day he sought a small used car yard where he paid cash for an older 4WD that had a decent powerful engine. He might need the extra power in an emergency, and with a body covered in red paint and brown rust it tended to be ignored. The car itself was a popular make and model in its day and would not be the type normally associated with him. Best of all, it was cheap and did not make a large dent in his stack of cash. He only had to show a driver's licence to buy it in order to keep the salesman happy who was just happy to have the clunker off the property. There would be no official record of his ownership until he sent in the paperwork, which he had no intention of doing for a long time if ever.

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Before he headed to a small, out of the way place where he knew he could stay, David wanted to check on Jessica. She had been on his mind as her injuries were caused by association with him. He knew her location in the hospital so made his way there. Keeping away from the main entrances and areas he carefully ghosted into and through the hospital. He got into her room closing the door behind himself. No alarms had been raised and he had not been questioned as to why he was there. Jessica was lying on her back hooked up to machines and drips. She had not yet regained consciousness since the explosion and looked to be in a peaceful sleep.

What first struck him has how beautiful she looked even with the scars, then the breath was sucked from him and he collapsed to the floor struggling to take in air. His beast started coming out as the pain of a shift intermingles with the abnormal sensations pummelling into him. He had heard of this occurrence and known of others having it happen to them. Never had he personally experienced it, but then he was still single. He regained his breath and slowly reversed the unfinished shift to regain his human self. This was the first time in his life that he had lost control to his animal half. The Tiger inside him was snarling to be let free and save the female. David managed to stand, looking in awe at the woman before him. He has been with her so many times in the past but never with this reaction. He had no idea why this should be happening, but knew he had to do something soon. His Were could become too wild to control and burst forth with what would be devastating consequences for himself, his pack, all Weres and for the innocent people in the building.

Not sure about the action he should take and just doing what his beast wanted could alert his enemies to his location. Stealing a patient in a coma from a hospital would have all sorts of ramifications. Even with the resounding logical thoughts in his head his beast did get its way, but not how he thought it would do. His Were sensed the echo of death in Jessica as she was nearing the end of life. The injuries sustained in the explosion were too much for her body to recover from. David knew what had to be done and he had to do it now. Instructions were almost ingrained into his DNA on what to do with normal humans in this situation.

His beast went into a frenzy, taking total control of their shared body. David was strong, but against this type of emergency he was almost helpless. He managed to keep silent as the change occurred, faster than he would normally allow it. The pain because of the speed almost made him pass out, but his determination kept him quiet and awake. The Tiger, now in full control, did what it knew was needed after disentangling the clothes still covering him. He bit the female on the neck almost severing the jugular veins and windpipe. Without the enzymes, excreted from a special gland in the animals mouth, in the Were saliva a normal person would have died within minutes. As if the beast was not satisfied it pawed at the sheet covering the female to expose her body, where it mauled into her fleshy abdomen. Again this allowed more saliva to mix into her bodily fluids. Sensing it had done enough the Were sat back on the bed to watch the next stage. Never once had he stopped being on alert for anyone interrupting his activity. He sat there unmoving for nearly ten minutes until it was satisfied with its handiwork. Dropping back to the floor the beast relaxed allowing the human half to return. This time slower so David could be in control, conscious and naked.

He rose to be standing to watch the woman recover before his eyes. What would have been mortal wounds had almost healed themselves. He could sense her system coming to full health. It was lucky they had not been discovered so far and knew this would not last for long. One of the nursing staff was bound to be doing rounds on patients at some time soon. Jessica would soon be waking as the Were enzymes made her healthy, although she would be only partly cognisant for a while.

He picked his clothing up and could see the futility of wearing them again. His beast had ensured that they came off its body the fastest way it knew how, by shredding them with tooth and claw. He even gave a small chuckle at the dilemma facing him. He had to get a semi awake woman out of the hospital whilst naked, or wearing clothes as though he had survived a savage dog attack. The woman was only just covered in a hospital gown. Not to mention he would need to remove the tubes and leads connected to her arms, and lower region as he saw a clear plastic bag half filled with liquid beside the bed.

He was overtaken with the compulsion of his nature. It was most important had to get her out of here and finalise this. It never occurred to him if she would agree or not, his beast was adamant and had become strong enough for now, at least until afterwards when David's humanity could again rise to supremacy. His Were knew that he had to be quick and that they needed to save the pack from whatever was happening to it. David was just a bit slower than his other half.

Taking a deep breath he had to think about what to do next, although the most important thing was flowing through his mind.

He had found his mate.

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Hope you liked this chapter and story.

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- GfG.