The alpha 2, p.25
The Alpha 2, page 25
“You’re a pretentious asshole,” I growled. In my chest, I could feel the hot anger bubbling up and over in my heart, and it ran through my body like an electrically charged current. “You tried to kill me. This ends today.”
I decided I’d punch this asshole in the face and get him to chase me out of here. Then, once we were in the woods, my pack would surround him, and I’d tear his ass to shreds.
“How cute!” Gray scoffed. “You know, Jesse, I warned you not to fuck with me. I’d say this falls pretty comfortably into ‘fucking with me’ territory. But even though you’ve sullied my property with your stench and killed off my scouts, I’m feeling a touch of grace today. I’ll give you exactly thirty seconds to get you and your little gang out of this restaurant before I fuck you up.”
“We’re not going anywhere,” I said.
“And so the wolf chooses violence.” Gray flashed a dark smile. “Very well, Jesse. Violence it is. Betas? Attack!”
I was kinda surprised he was blatantly attacking us in the early morning light on fucking Main Street, but then the five patrons of the restaurant all jumped up from their chairs and sprinted toward us. Then the seams of their clothes ripped and shredded away as they shifted into coyote forms. The waitress to our right shifted suddenly, too, and her uniform exploded from off her body as she dropped to all fours and let out a small howl.
The fire in my chest erupted, and I felt a shift of my own consume my body as I went into my full wolf form right along with the werecoyotes. Nikita and Benji shifted, too, and I heard the omega let out a roar as she and Benji charged forward into the fray.
Then I heard a silky tear and whipped around to see Gray changing into his own coyote form, and the jewelry he wore flew off from his body and struck the tiles in a cacophony of bouncing silvery coins.
I threw my head back and let out a howl so loud that the windows shook. Then I charged at the alpha.
The restaurant quickly became a confusion of noise as the fighting broke out. The beta werecoyotes threatened to swarm Nikita and Benji, but the two tag-teamed and knocked over an array of tables and chairs to split up the group.
I hit Gray head-on and sent him down to the tile with a thwack, and the two of us slid across the tile floor as we wrestled. The alpha snarled and gnashed his teeth as he attempted to grab my throat in his mouth, but I just beat Gray back with my paws, and the alpha rolled off to the side.
Are you two okay over there? I hopped up onto my feet and snarled as Gray rose back up as well.
Focus on Gray, Jesse! Benji shouted back as he sparred with two betas at once. We’ll keep these clowns out of your way.
Gray charged for me, and he lifted his paw in a high swipe and aimed for my snout. I rolled back and levied an attack of my own, and with a snarl, I landed my sharp claws into Gray’s side and raked them across him.
The alpha howled as blood erupted from the wounds, and he staggered back out of my range when I went for another blow. Then Gray ducked under a fallen table, and I ran forward in pursuit.
A beta coyote launched itself onto Benji’s back, and he let out a yelp, and then Nikita shot forward and knocked the adversary to the ground. The beta went still below her and was knocked out cold, so my two packmates flipped back around and took on the horde side by side in a flurry of claws and growls.
Then Gray popped out from a side of the table I wasn’t expecting and caught me off-guard as he swung his paw in a small arc and slammed my head into the ground.
Son of a bitch! My mouth filled with blood as I accidentally clamped down on my tongue.
Gray pounced on me fully and struck me again, and his sharp claws ripped into my chest in a jagged line. I howled in pain and lifted my hind legs to kick the alpha off me.
Jesse! Nikita cried out.
I’m fine, I assured the omega.
Gray lowered his head and bared his bloodied teeth as we started to circle slowly in the small bit of open space where we fought.
Benji took out another beta werecoyote, and I caught the captain slamming the body down onto the ground with a forceful slap before the beta coyote went still.
Gray pawed a little at the ground, and his eyes darted wildly around as though he was mentally plotting his next move. I didn’t give him the time and shot forward at him with a ferocious howl, and even as the coyote attempted to jump out of the way, I snatched his throat in my mouth and lifted him up from the floor.
Gray snarled and flailed his feet around frantically, but I dug my teeth into his neck and shook him like a wet umbrella. Then I let the alpha go and watched as he slammed into an overturned Formica table. He laid still for a few moments, and I prepared to go in for my next blow.
Suddenly, a beta werecoyote leapt in between us and parried me back away from the alpha. The beta snarled and dove for my ankles, but I smacked him back with a low-swinging paw and savored his little yelp as I broke flesh.
Then Gray hopped up to his feet and bolted, but he wasn’t aiming for me. The alpha turned his body and barreled toward the glass door of the restaurant.
Duck! I shouted.
The sound of shattering glass exploded through the air as the tiny shards shot out of the window, and they tinkled like chimes as they struck the street outside. When I looked up again, Gray was halfway across the street, and he stopped for only a moment to throw his head back into a mighty howl.
C’mon! I called to Benji and Nikita.
Mindful of the broken glass, I ducked out of the broken door and dashed into the street in pursuit of Gray. My companions followed me out, along with the last two standing betas from the restaurant.
I heard a chorus of dissonant howls and whipped my head to the left to see a swarm of werecoyotes as they sprinted toward us. I counted at least ten of them, and my heart sank at the sight.
There was no way Nikita and Benji could take on all these betas alone.
Just then, I heard a yowl from the other side of the street, and I turned to see my own mountain lion betas charging toward the werecoyotes.
I barely managed to get out of the way before the two groups converged, and war broke out in the street. Mountain lions and coyotes sparred amongst each other in a mess of shrieks and fur. The coyotes zipped between their legs and landed inconvenient blows, but my betas had strength on their side, and they struck back hard against the coyotes.
The smell of blood and sweat hit the air at once as they struggled, and all I saw was a mess of fur tumbling across the road.
Take that, assholes! my omega cried with glee.
Nikita and Benji battled the coyotes right along with the others, and a strange sense of pride filled my chest as I watched.
I’d always known my pack would be a cohesive unit in battle, but seeing it play out in front of me was unlike anything I could have imagined.
Then Gray seized my distraction as an opportunity to attack, and a moment later, I was on the ground as the alpha dug his claws into my shoulders. I kicked violently underneath him, but the coyote alpha managed to land a bite on my shoulder and rip it open.
The pain shot through my body in a violent shock, and I let out an agonized howl as I bucked the alpha off me and into a wall. Gray clambered back up to his feet and glared at me, and his beady eyes glowed in the morning light as he took in shallow, ragged breaths.
My eyes watered as I spat out a mouthful of my own metallic blood. Then I shook out my shoulders in an attempt to quell the pain, but it only seemed to stoke the irritating flames that gathered on my back and legs.
Gray pulled back his lips in what I guessed was the coyote equivalent of one of his trademark smirks, and he looked eager to finish the fight, so I puffed out my chest and dredged up all my strength as I prepared to launch myself at him.
I couldn’t let the bastard think he’d won.
Then the beta werecoyote’s words from last night rose up in my mind.
He’s too absorbed in his own talents to fully consider his opponent. He underestimates them.
Maybe I could afford to let him think he had me after all.
The coyote alpha charged for me again, and I decided to go for the bluff. I struggled just enough to make it seem like he’d somehow overpowered me, and it looked like his lips curled up into a wide smile as he moved to tower over me.
And he left his lower body exposed.
I waited for Gray to lift a paw up in what he imagined to be his big blow, and then I flipped around just enough to bite his leg.
My enemy’s blood flooded my mouth, and Gray let out an enraged howl, but I had the alpha where I wanted him. I yanked his leg until he fell hard onto his side, and his head bounced nose-first against the ground with a crack.
If the alpha had been pissed before, now he looked downright furious, and rage quivered through Gray’s frame as he sprinted toward me in a thoughtless flurry of swipes.
I blocked all of his moves and landed a few more of my own, and the alpha grew more erratic as we struggled. Blood dribbled from his ankle and nose onto the sidewalk in puddles like some kind of violent Rorschach test, and the crimson liquid was smeared and streaked across the ground as Gray and I stepped and slid in the pungent mess.
Gray’s apparent anger filled me with a surge of energy, and I channeled the alpha’s weakness into my own strength as we fought.
After several minutes of struggling, Gray let out an enraged roar, and I watched with shock as the coyote suddenly shifted before my eyes.
Gray rose up onto his two back feet as his muscles rippled and grew, and his paws expanded into something closer to human hands with silvery claws stretched out several inches from the tip of the nail. His smashed face stretched a little, but the final form of the snout looked strangely lumpy from the blunt force trauma. Then Gray’s chest expanded into a barrel form, with sculpted, fur-covered muscles running down his bloodied torso. His eyes burned as he roared again, and he looked down at me from his perspective several feet in the air.
Holy shit, Benji gasped from the battlefield.
Now he was going full monster hybrid in the middle of town?
Well, two could fucking play that game.
But before I had the chance to do a hybrid shift of my own, Gray scooped me up from the ground and chucked me as far as he could.
I sailed through the air for several yards and then came down in a mess of flailing limbs on the sidewalk, and I rolled several more feet before I finally stopped against the wheel of a black Ford F-150. I gasped as I tried to force air back into my lungs, and my right side screamed in pain from my freshly fractured ribs and road burn.
Damn it! My vision spun and flickered in and out of focus, and I saw Gray drop down onto all fours and run toward me with a newfound gusto.
Two of my betas appeared in front of me, and they barreled toward Gray as they yowled a unified battle cry. The two cats each went for one of Gray’s legs and tackled him, and though there was no way they were going to bring the hybrid coyote down, they did manage to distract him from me.
“Fucking betas!” Gray snarled in a deep, thunder-like voice, and he kicked them back like they were nothing at all.
The werecats rolled against the ground, but they hopped back up to their feet and ran for him again.
Jesse, you have to make your own shift! Nikita shouted. It’s the only way you’ll be able to stop Gray.
I don’t know if I can, I said as I panted breathlessly. The amount of focus it takes, I don’t know if I can do it through all this pain.
Jesse, you’ve done it once, my omega insisted. You can do it again. I know you can.
C’mon, Alpha! Benji chimed in. Show this guy what that chosen one prophecy is all about!
I took a shuddering breath and forced myself up onto my feet. Then I clenched my eyes shut and imagined the hybrid form. My side claimed too much of my attention, though, and I couldn’t keep the image in my mind for long.
Fuck! I snarled, and I swayed on my feet as the pain threatened to swallow me up.
Out on the battlefield, I saw my betas had lost quite a bit of ground. The coyotes were pushing us back slowly, and I realized that if it kept up, they would overtake my pack, and we would be on the losing side of this battle.
Gray batted both of the werecats away, and when they dropped this time, they stayed down and sucked in ragged breaths. Their torsos were lined with claw marks, and they didn’t look like they were going to be able to hold out against the alpha.
Then the hybrid coyote turned from my betas back to me, and he broke out into a dark smile and threw his head back in a manic laugh before he charged for me again.
Alpha! Nikita and Benji screamed.
I clenched my eyes shut. If I rolled over and gave up now, Nikita, Benji, and the rest of the pack would lose. They’d be assimilated into Gray’s numbers and have to live at the mercy of the egotistical maniac for who knows how long. I thought about Karina and the young spitfire Allison, and how Gray would not offer any of them the same kindness as me with the omega situation. And what about Aunt Eva? I was practically her son. She’d be ruined. I couldn’t stand to let her suffer or mourn me if I lost this fight.
Then the image of Arielle rose up into my mind, the beautiful, alluring omega who flirted with me during my audition and could hardly keep her eyes off me when we first met. I remembered the bruise on her cheek and the terrified looks on her face whenever Gray put a hand on her, and I realized that if I gave up now, she’d never get out of the horrible situation that trapped her.
Fuck that.
I opened my eyes wide and flared my nostrils in renewed fury. No fucking way. I couldn’t let this guy win. Not after what he’d done to my pack and my friends, and certainly not after all the hell he’d put poor Arielle through.
The alpha nearly made it to where I stood, but I wasn’t scared anymore. I found a new fire in my chest that burned in a brighter ball of rage, and I harnessed that energy as my hybrid form erupted from my simple wolf appearance.
My body expanded in the blink of an eye, and the shift rebuilt my imposing form into an even scarier-looking creature as my snout extended and my claws shot forth. The wounds stretched and pulled along with me, but the pain was now nothing more than a dull buzz, like a pesky gnat in my ear. Adrenaline took its hold as my scorching hot insides pushed out and completed the shift, and I flexed my fingers and smiled.
I’d completed my hybrid transformation.
And now it was time to end this.
“Raaaagh!” Gray jumped forward with both his fists curled, but I grabbed them like they were nothing at all. We slid back against the sidewalk, and I felt the concrete splinter and crack below my feet, but I kept a hold on the alpha and pushed him back with my insane strength.
Excited yowls surged through my pack, and I knew my hybrid shift had filled them with a fresh wave of confidence as well. They pushed forward against the coyotes with fervent attacks, and we started to regain our former upper-hand.
“So, you can reach this form, too,” Gray snarled at me in his burly voice. “You surprise me in so many little ways, Jesse.”
“Give up while you can, Gray,” I spat right back. “Maybe I’ll keep you around as an errand boy.”
“I’d rather die than answer to you, you insufferable bastard!” Gray roared.
“Then die, bitch!” I hooked a punch and connected it with Gray’s jaw.
The hybrid coyote staggered back several feet and clutched his face, and then he turned to me with an absolutely savage look in his eyes and charged.
We sparred for several minutes and alternated between throwing punches and taking swipes with our claws, and I raked Gray’s arms with my own claws before he connected a fist into my stomach.
The alpha broke out of my grasp at one point and dashed away yet again, but this time I saw that the coward ran toward the gap between the fire station and the police station where the woods stretched out beyond.
I remembered what the beta coyote said about how Gray had optimized some parts of the woods, and I knew his dash toward them would be a trap. He would use the home field advantage against me, and I’d be fucked.
I couldn’t let him get into the woods.
I let out a howl as I ran after the alpha, and I managed to catch him just as he crossed the tree line. I sank my claws into his shoulders and ripped him back to me, and Gray let out an agonized wail as he fell to the ground.
The blood loss started to catch up to me, and I was beginning to feel just a little woozy, but I pushed through the haze and struck the alpha across his chest with my claws.
“You little brat!” Gray grabbed me and threw me into the ground with a forceful blow, and we wrestled between the trees as the battle of the betas rang out just behind us.
I clawed his face and felt my nail dig across his right eye. The alpha let out the loudest howl I’d heard from him yet and released me, and his hands flew up to his face in horror as blood rushed out past his hairy fingers and down to his wrists.
I pulled back my lips in a wolfish grin and tackled him to the ground.
The alpha struggled below me, but I could tell his injuries were catching up to him, too. Blood coated his orange-brown fur in a sticky, slick goo, and the alpha wheezed underneath me in a frantic attempt at catching his breath.
“You really like to take what doesn’t belong to you, don’t you?” Gray rasped, and then he turned his head and spat out a mouthful of blood. “In what universe is a wolf fit to lead a pack of coyotes?”
“In this one,” I growled. “You’re done, Gray. And then I’m taking your pack and your omega, too.”
“My omega…” Gray laughed. “Take her, you fool. You know she isn’t a real one, right?”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I snarled.
“Arielle is infertile, you idiot.” Gray smiled at me like a loon. “The bitch doesn’t go into heat. She’ll never be able to bear me a pup, and the only thing I get from her is a bitchy attitude. I pretended to have claimed her for the power, but even her scent makes me sick.”
I shook my head. It couldn’t be true. She smelled incredibly alluring, and hell, I’d seen the woman’s irresistible attraction to me with my own eyes back in Professor Collins’ office.
