The Alpha 8: Protect. Procreate. Prevail., page 13
But as we reached the top of the hill, the werecoyotes were nowhere to be seen. They could have been anywhere, and without knowing the forest very well, it would have been almost impossible to find them.
Fuck, what do we do now? Kiri asked as she slumped down onto the ground.
I don’t think there’s much we can do, I sighed.
We could create patrol groups to keep watch? Leo suggested. They might return, so it’s best that we have patrols in place for whenever that happens.
We’ll definitely do that. I nodded. Fortunately, there’s enough of you in the house to keep a close eye on the area, but also enough betas with me to work as security.
But what if they overpower us? Benji asked. They probably ran off because they knew they wouldn’t win, so they’ve decided to return to their pack to get backup. If these werecoyotes are from the pack that Hazel told you about, then they’ll easily outnumber us.
Which is why we need to think about what we’re doing before we do it, I replied. Kristina found an entire cellar full of guns, and she’s willing to teach everyone how to use them. Everyone has to stay alert, and I don’t want anyone to wander off by themself. But all of this needs to be discussed back at the house, and we need to get back there, just in case your theory is right, Benji.
It normally is, I am quite smart, Benji snickered in an attempt to lighten the mood.
And it worked.
As strange as it felt to walk away without defeating our opponents this time, my paws were tied on this one. No good would come of us heading closer to their main base and ample number of betas. We were outnumbered and in unknown lands. Plus, I hated the idea of being away from my omegas, especially if the werecoyotes did plan to return.
You know what? Kahn asked a few minutes later. Maybe they were simply trying to tease us.
Tease us? Thomas queried.
Yes, Kahn replied. Some coyotes are known for being tricksters. They like to have fun, especially if they’re bored and want something to do. So it could be that they were out for a run, didn’t realize we occupied the house, and decided to make a game of it when they noticed us running through the trees. That would explain why they didn’t attack.
Kahn makes a good point, Brenden replied. There were times in the past when we just had to leave Gray’s house before we blew a fuse. We didn’t tease and trick other shifters, but we would chase wild animals through the forest to help us calm down. It was never our intention to hurt any of them, but the thrill was still there.
I suppose that would make sense, I mumbled.
But the nearest pack of werecoyotes is hours away from here, Benji said. They would have had to run for a long time in order to reach us. I personally think they’ve got a plan up their coyote sleeves.
Either way, let’s be prepared, I announced. If they were just toying with us, then we won’t see them again, and that’ll be the end of it. But if they are out to stalk us, then we’ll be ready for when that time comes. Fortunately, the front and back of the house is nice and open, so the coyotes can’t just sneak up on us. And if there’s someone constantly looking out with a rifle in hand, the motherfuckers won’t make it to the driveway before they’re shot.
I just want everyone to be safe, Kiri muttered. We came here for the orchestra, we didn’t come here to start a fight and to steal territory off of another alpha.
Don’t worry, I won’t let anything happen. I smiled. Unless we shift back, we can’t talk openly with these werecoyotes, and obviously no one’s going to shift and put themselves at risk. But hopefully they’ll realize we don’t mean any harm, and you’re just doing your duties as my betas. As long as they keep a safe distance, then we’re not going to do anything to threaten them. They should know that arriving at our house could potentially get them killed, so if they’re smart and it was just a game, then they’ll leave us alone to enjoy the rest of this vacation.
Yes, a vacation… Benji snorted. The only thing that’s changed is the scenery. This feels like a standard Thursday to me.
It will if you keep thinking like that, Brenden let out a laugh-like yip. What about the pool party you wanted us to have?
That was before we had to check for paw prints in the forest, Benji scoffed. But you’re right… We can still do something fun inside, and maybe Aunt Eva and Arielle could cook us up a meal.
Damn, I told Jack Nolan I’d go to the Thai restaurant for dinner, I grumbled. Oh, well, I’m sure I can make up an excuse.
I thought you told him you’d try to make it to the restaurant? Benji asked. That’s what I heard you say, anyway.
Yeah, it’s probably a good idea for me to get to know the orchestra more, I replied. But it’s fine. There will be other dinners, and I’m not about to leave the house before I know exactly what’s going on. Or at least until an official plan is in place.
Yeah, just say there were holdups on the road, Brenden suggested. Or you lost track of time, you were an hour away, so you wouldn’t have made it to the restaurant until ten o’clock. Something believable.
He probably won’t even ask why you weren’t there, Benji chuckled. So let’s focus on these werecoyotes instead of Jack Nolan, yeah?
You make a good point, Benji, I replied.
I know, he said casually.
Once again, Benji helped to lighten the mood as we continued through the forest. Fortunately, it was easier for us to retrace our steps, so it wasn’t too hard to find our way back to the house. We could also smell the chlorine from the pool, so that helped to give us an indication of where to go.
We kept a close eye on the trees around us, but we never spotted the werecoyotes, so Kahn became even more convinced that they were just messing around and trying to tease us. I still wasn’t overly sure, but I was just desperate to return to my omegas.
As we arrived back in the yard, I asked for someone to find some new clothes for Benji, Brenden, and I. Our ripped outfits still littered the lawn, and I knew Aunt Eva would be itching to clean up the mess, but at least I could tell for sure that no one had stepped out of the house while we were gone.
I could see everyone bunched together in the foyer, including the betas who had been in other parts of the house when we first arrived. It was nice to see them all again, but I would have preferred to have seen them without the amount of stress that coated the air.
“Jesse!” my omegas shouted from the back door.
“Is it safe to come out now?” Hailey asked.
All four of them were bouncing on the tips of their toes, like they were literally holding themselves back from running at me. But I knew that feeling, because I felt the exact same way.
It should be safe now, I replied.
In the time it took for my omegas to race around the pool, I shifted back into my human form, and I opened out my arms as they threw themselves at me.
“God, we were so worried, Jesse,” Nikita mumbled into my shoulder.
“It all happened so suddenly,” Arielle said. “No one knew what to do, or what was going on. We just had to stand there and peer out the windows.”
“I’m sorry I worried you,” I replied as I gave all four of them a kiss on the head. “Nothing bad happened, and the werecoyotes vanished as soon as we arrived, so I’m hoping that’s the end of it.”
“I may have ordered Kristina to show me how to shoot a rifle,” Blair snickered. “But she said no.”
“That’s a sight I want to see,” I chuckled. “But I’m glad she didn’t show you. That needs to happen when we’re calm and collected.”
“I’m just happy you’re all home safe,” Hailey said as she wiped a tear from her cheek.
“I’ll always do my best to make sure that happens, you know that,” I replied.
Once everyone calmed down, and I’d changed into a pair of Marco’s shorts and t-shirt, I made everyone gather in the foyer as we explained what happened.
Brenden, Benji, and the betas had also shifted and changed into fresh clothes, and I was pleased to see that the cut on Leo’s foot had completely healed. There wasn’t even a scar left in its place. Kristina still had a rifle in her hands, and she never took her eyes away from the back yard while we went over the series of events.
“How long were you near the boulders for?” Aunt Eva asked midway through the conversation.
“From the second Jesse, Benji, and Brenden had arrived in the trees,” Thomas answered. “The werecoyotes were around us the entire time, yet they never entered the clearing, and they just remained in the trees.”
“How odd…” Eva muttered.
“Kahn thinks they might have been playing with us,” I said. “Benji believes they’re planning something bigger and harder to fight off, but it’s hard to tell what’s really going on.”
“Coyotes are known to act like that,” Arielle replied.
“Yeah, that’s what Brenden said.” I nodded my head slowly.
“But there’s also the theory that the coyotes were the ones causing the strange feeling in the car earlier,” Benji spoke up. “Maybe the SDD is nowhere near us, and it was the werecoyotes all along.”
“But that’s just speculation, right?” Marco asked. “We have no physical evidence.”
“Well, we have the information from Hazel Wise,” I replied. “SDD agents are constantly watching alphas, especially ‘threatening’ ones, so it makes sense for them to have followed us. We also have the issue right now with the werecoyotes.”
“And what about the men in the airport?” Hailey asked.
“It’s unknown whether they’re shifters or agents,” I said. “But it’s got to be one of them.”
“I’m going to put my money on them being SDD agents,” Nikita said firmly. “That makes the most sense in my eyes. We were all the way up in Oregon, why would Cali shifters be watching you way up there? They probably wouldn’t even know you exist.”
“True,” I agreed.
“Either way, we’ll get an answer somehow,” Benji said with a light shrug. “For now, let’s do what we can to keep everyone protected.”
“Yes.” I nodded. “I want everyone in this house to create separate groups of four of five. One group will survey the back of the house, another will watch over the front, and each group will take turns keeping watch. That way, if these werecoyotes have planned to return again, you’ll spot them before they even reach the house.”
“And what about when you’re in the hotel?” Jackson asked.
“I have the betas there to keep watch,” I replied. “But until this is sorted, we’ll come to the house after rehearsals and before performances. You won’t be left here alone, that’s for sure. I also just want to make it clear that if you need to stretch your legs, then there needs to be a group of you going. I don’t want anyone to be left alone.”
“Of course, Jesse.” Kristina nodded.
“Oh, and try to stay within a mile of the house,” I added. “The last thing we want is for something to happen, but you’re too far away to inform everyone else. That kind of fucked us over today with these werecoyotes arriving.”
“Sorry, Jesse,” Kiri sighed. “We just wanted to get a firm idea of the lands out here and decided to get a good look at what’s out there…”
“I understand,” I assured her. “That would have been totally fine if these other betas hadn’t shown up. Now, we switch gears.”
“Don’t worry, we’ve got this,” Brenden said with certainty. “Kristina can teach everyone how to use the rifles, and not a minute will go by without someone watching over the house.”
“Good,” I said with a sigh. “I know it’ll be hard, and it might feel like house arrest, but it’s for the best. We don’t have the luxury of having enough betas on hand to run patrol groups right now, so we just have to go with what we’ve got.”
I also decided I should inform the rest of my pack at home. I wanted everyone to know what was going on, not just those in California, but before I could locate my phone, the rumble of a car engine was heard pulling up outside the house.
“Who the fuck is that?” I growled as I placed a protective arm around my omegas.
“I’ll go and look.” Kristina smirked as she lifted the rifle into the air.
It wasn’t like in Monroe when I constantly had people turning up at the cabin. My group back at the hotel didn’t have a car to drive, so I knew it wasn’t them, and my first thought was that it could have been a friend of the Jansens. Maybe they frequented the house often before Jonathan and Amber died, and now they were curious to see why the house was being used again.
“Who’s this dude?” Kristina whispered as she slyly peeked through a window.
“What can you see?” I asked.
From where I stood, I couldn’t see through any of the windows, so I could only rely on Kristina’s answers.
“It’s just some guy.” She shrugged. “He’s glancing around, but he’s headed straight for the front door.”
“Is it locked?” Benji asked.
“Locked and bolted,” the mountain lion replied as she ducked down to stay out of sight.
“What do you want to do, Jesse?” Aunt Eva whispered.
But I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do.
Did we just wait until he drove away?
Kristina, I said silently. See if you can tell whether he’s a shifter or not.
I can’t smell anything at the moment, she replied. And normally I would have caught on to a scent by now.
Maybe one of the coyotes from earlier? Kiri suggested.
Or maybe one of the Jansens’ friends, Benji said. Sorry, bro, I may have listened in on your thoughts.
That’s okay, I said with a small smile.
All of a sudden, the man lightly tapped his knuckles against the door, and the sound echoed around the entire mansion.
Do you want me to answer it? Kristina asked.
I mean, he’s probably seen us standing here, I replied. So answer the door, see what his business is, and then he’ll leave. Oh, and maybe hide the rifle. If it’s just some dude, we don’t want to scare him half to death.
Oh, yeah, good point, Kristina snickered as she hid the firearm against the wall.
Kristina subtly cleared her throat, and then she unlocked the door.
“Can I help you?” she asked as she cracked the door open slightly.
“Is Jesse Rafe here?” the man queried in a smooth voice.
Why does he know your name? Benji frowned.
“Who’s asking?” Kristina queried.
“My name is Connor Mackenzie, and I–”
All of a sudden, Arielle’s heart rate began to boom in my ears, and my omega began to tremble as her breathing became rapid and labored.
“Arielle?” I asked in a panicked voice. “What’s wrong?”
My omega brought her hands to her chest, and she stared at the front door with a look of pure fear in her eyes. It was like she was watching a horror movie, yet she couldn’t take her eyes off the screen regardless of how scared she was.
The scent of uncontrollable anxiety rolled off her in waves. Arielle was visibly shaking, and it pained me to see her in such a state without knowing how to help her.
Nikita, Blair, and Hailey tried their best to get Arielle to talk, but nothing worked, and all Arielle could do was tremble.
Her skin began to pale, and she slowly began to wobble back and forth like she’d lost the ability to stand up. I automatically grabbed a hold of my omega, and from the sheer weight of her breaths, I knew I had to get her to the floor before she collapsed.
Arielle needed my comfort, and if she was in the middle of having a panic attack, then she needed to know that she was safe, and the fear she was experiencing was all in her mind.
“Is it the baby?” I asked as I lowered us to the floor. “Are you in pain? Please, please, tell me what’s wrong.”
“Arielle?” Hailey asked as she brushed the omega’s cheek.
But still Arielle wouldn’t reply. Her head bobbed from side to side as she lost the strength to hold it up, yet she never took her eyes off the door. Arielle stared straight ahead like she was stuck in some violent trance. She was absolutely fine before that guy arrived at the door, yet everything changed within a matter of seconds.
“Is it something to do with Connor?” I frowned.
But then it all started to make sense, and I began to realize why Arielle had reacted so badly to his arrival.
Connor and Gray Mackenzie had the same surname.
And it couldn’t have been a coincidence.
With a murderous look in my eyes, I stormed over to confront the motherfucker who dared to even breathe the same air as my omega.
Chapter 8
It felt like I had tunnel vision, and all I could focus on was the man who stood in the doorway.
Something about Connor had caused Arielle to freak out, and I wasn’t about to become friends with someone who caused any of my omegas to react like that.
I needed to know if he really was related to Gray Mackenzie, and if he was, then I was half-tempted to use Kristina’s rifle myself.
A small smile appeared on Connor’s thin lips as he saw me walk over, but that expression quickly vanished as he spotted the deadly look in my eyes.
Then without even thinking, I hauled the man inside and slammed him up against a wall as I pressed my hand around his throat.
“Jesse, stop,” Benji called out.
“Come on, Jesse, don’t do anything rash,” Aunt Eva warned.
“Are you related to Gray Mackenzie?” I snarled.
“I… I…” Connor stuttered from the pressure in his throat.
“Answer my fucking question,” I demanded.
“Y-Yes, h-he’s–”
“Actually, forget what I said, kill the fucker,” Benji growled.
The betas around me all started to snarl, and the color drained from Connor’s face, probably because he realized the dangerous situation he had found himself in.
But we could have also been in danger at this very moment. Just because Connor appeared to be alone, this didn’t mean that was necessarily the case. Connor and Gray were related, which meant Connor was also a werecoyote.
The exact shifters we’d just had an issue with in the forest.
