The Alpha 8: Protect. Procreate. Prevail., page 22
I think we should let the omegas, Benji, and Eva join you, Jesse, Brenden replied. We can meet up with you afterward, but I think you should spend this time with your family.
But you’re all family. I shrugged subtly, but I made it look like I was just sorting out my jacket.
Hey, Alpha, do what we say for once, okay? Kristina laughed.
Okay, fine, I snickered silently.
But honestly, that was really good, she replied. Well done.
Thank you. I smiled.
It wasn’t until I left the stage that I noticed how hot and sweaty I was. I hadn’t realized how hot it was with the constant bright lights shining down on me, and I had the desperate need to get some fresh air.
While I packed away my violin, I took some more anosmiacs, and I had a brief conversation with the other musicians and congratulated them on their performance.
“Are you coming up to the bar with us?” Samantha asked.
“I sure am.” I smiled. “But I’m going to step outside first, and then I’ll join you up there.”
“Sure,” she replied. “But just to warn you, Jack loves red wine, so be prepared for him to hand you a glass when you get there. He doesn’t tend to ask, he just assumes everyone likes it.”
“Red wine is fine with me,” I laughed. “I’d probably drink anything at the moment.”
“That’ll be the adrenaline,” she chuckled. “You’ll calm down in a minute. Oh, and if you want to go outside, there’s a fire exit just over there. But make sure to keep the door wedged open, otherwise you’ll get locked out.”
“Thanks for the advice,” I said with a smile.
Then I shrugged off my jacket, placed it neatly over my violin case, and wandered off to find the fire exit.
I’m going to get some fresh air, and then I’ll join everyone in the bar, I informed my family.
No problem, bro, Benji replied. Do you want us to get you a drink?
It’s okay, I’ll get one when I come up, I said as I wedged open the door. I’ll only be a couple of minutes.
There was a slight bite to the wind, and a smile formed on my face as the heat of the evening slowly left my body.
I could have stayed out there all night, and I simply walked around the empty area as I allowed myself to cool down.
It was so peaceful being outside on my own, and the only thing that surrounded me was a staff parking lot and an empty alleyway in the distance. There was no one else around me, I had just completed the biggest musical performance of my life, and I knew it would have taken a lot to rip the smile off my face.
I drew a deep, relaxing breath as I glanced up into the sky, and I spotted something dark perched on the roof of the auditorium. I hadn’t noticed the statue before, but it could have been because it was invisible from the front of the building.
Yet I was determined to work out what it was.
It looked like a gargoyle on a church, and perhaps it was some sort of symbol for the concert hall.
But then the statue moved, and it stretched out an enormous wing before it folded it back into its body.
I instantly knew what it was.
It wasn’t a statue, it was a bald eagle.
And before I knew what was happening, three enormous birds appeared in the sky, and they swarmed down toward me with their curled talons out and ready.
Chapter 13
I had about three seconds to try and think of a plan before the bald eagles attacked, but there wasn’t much I could have done.
I was on the opposite side of the parking lot, so I couldn’t rush back inside to take cover before the eagles attacked. I also couldn’t shift into a fucking werewolf with so many humans only meters away from me.
So I was pretty much up shit creek without a single paddle in sight.
All I wanted was some fucking fresh air. Was that too much to ask for?
I looked everywhere as I tried to find a solution in the open parking lot, but before I was successful, the first bald eagle attacked, and they were gnarly motherfuckers.
The birds must have been at least three times bigger than regular bald eagles, which meant their talons and beaks were even stronger and sharper than normal.
Two eagles grabbed at my arms as the third aimed for my head, and their talons ripped through my skin like it was made of water. The desire to shift bubbled through my veins, but I did everything I could to channel my anger, and I used that energy to swat the shifter birds away instead.
But it was literally like a mouse up against a lion.
And for once, I was the fucking mouse.
I need assistance! I shouted out to my army. Staff parking lot. Now!
Jesse? Benji asked with a panicked tone. What’s going on, dude?
Bald eagles! I replied as I ducked and dodged the attacks. Four of them.
The eagle on the roof hadn’t joined the others yet, but I felt confident he was going to appear at some point.
We’re on our way, Brenden said. Just hold on, Jess.
The bald eagles screamed and called as they aimed for me over and over again. My pristine white shirt was now ripped and covered in blood, and I felt something warm trickling down my forehead, which I assumed was more blood.
I still tried to think of a plan, and I considered slowly making my way toward the fire exit door. But I also knew that I had to face this fight head-on, otherwise the motherfuckers were going to hang around until we headed back to the hotel.
The bald eagles needed to die, but I somehow had to do that without shifting.
At one point, I’d managed to wrap my hand around one of the eagles’ thighs, but before I could pull the bastard to the ground, he snapped at my head with his beak, and he freed himself almost instantly.
“Fuck!” I spat.
I hit, punched, and swatted the eagles away, but they felt as solid as a concrete ball, and their talons and beaks were as sharp as blades. They had well and truly ganged up on me, and the overwhelming urge to rip myself from my clothing caused the anger to build up even more.
Then all of a sudden, Benji, Blair, Hailey, and Brenden ran into the parking lot, and I felt the pressure of the birds lessen as two of them aimed for their newest victims.
Do not shift, I ordered as I battled against the lone bald eagle. We’ll have to work as a team to defeat these assholes, but we’ll have to do that in our human forms.
Everyone else is keeping watch out front, Brenden said as he threw his fist into the side of an eagle. They’ll catch any more birds arriving, so hopefully it’ll just be these three we need to tackle.
There’s a fourth on the roof, I growled. He hasn’t moved from that spot, but he’s watching the entire scene.
They’ll be nothing but a pile of feathers when I’m done with them, Blair said as she launched herself into the air in an attempt to grab one of the eagles. They’re making me jump in my heels, so now I’m really fucking angry!
As the attack continued, the desire to shift became harder to fight off. I constantly had to remind my group to stay in their human forms, but there was only so much we could have done. We had very little protection, and even when I blocked my head with my arms, the bald eagle would grab at my flesh like an innocent fish in the water.
Regular bald eagles were powerful, and their grip strength was impressive, but it was nothing compared to these fucking shifter birds. If I didn’t do something quickly, the eagles could have easily broken our bones, and I started to fear that they could even kill one of us.
The eagle flock had an advantage, whereas we didn’t have anything.
So as much as I didn’t want to shift in the parking lot of the concert hall, I also didn’t want anyone to die, either.
The longer we remained in this position, ducking, fighting, and swatting the eagles away, the more likely it was that one of us, or all of us, were going to die.
Hailey, I said as I wiped some blood away from my eyes. Are there any security cameras out here?
Uh… my omega mumbled.
It’s okay, Hailey, I’ve got this, Blair said as she pretended to push up her sleeves. Go!
Benji and Brenden battled against one eagle, I was trying to kill another, and Blair was letting out all of her anger on the third. We had them covered, as long as the fourth eagle didn’t come into play, so Hailey was able to sneak off to search for the cameras.
The last thing I needed was the concert hall security watching a recording of us attacking bald eagles, stripping from our clothes, and then turning into wild animals.
That would have been difficult to explain.
There are two cameras by the fire exit door, Hailey said a moment later. They’re pretty old, and neither of them are facing this way. If we can keep the fight over here, we should be good.
Did you stand in front of the cameras? I asked as the eagle took another slash at my arm.
It hurt like a bitch, but I tried not to focus on the pain too much.
No, I stood in its blind spot, she replied. There’ll probably be a third camera at the entrance of the parking lot, but that’ll be the entire place covered, so you should be hidden.
Let’s hope so, I mumbled.
A few minutes later, Hailey announced that the third and final camera was facing outward toward the street and not back near us. As soon as she said those words, I kicked off my shoes and began to unbutton my shirt and pants. However, that proved to be quite difficult when I had a bald eagle pecking and grabbing at my already sore body.
My shirt had been completely torn to shreds, there were cuts all over my arms and shoulders, and I wouldn’t have been surprised if I’d had chunks of hair missing, too.
Benji and Blair, you join me, I ordered. Hailey and Brenden, you guys will stay out here and keep watch. Let us know if you see anyone approaching the parking lot, and don’t forget to look out for the eagle on the roof, too. He could still come down and join us.
We’ll sort it out, Jesse, Brenden replied. You kill those birds, and we’ll watch your backs.
That was all I needed to hear.
So once my clothes had been thrown to the ground, I allowed my anger to break through as I shifted into my primal form. My muscles ached, my head was pounding, but I didn’t give myself the time to stop and focus on the tiny details.
As soon as my paws hit the ground, I launched my wolfy body into the air and locked my teeth around the eagle’s thigh. The bird screamed, but now that I had it in my clutches, there was no way for the eagle to fly free.
It was time to turn the tables on these feathery assholes.
Blair and Benji followed on behind me, and it wasn’t long before the three eagles had been trapped between our teeth.
The bastard on the roof is still watching us, but it’s not moving, Brenden informed me. I think he’s going to stay where he is.
Part of me thought that maybe the eagle on the roof was simply there to watch the entire ordeal, and perhaps it was their job to report back to their alpha once the job was done. Whether that meant telling the alpha that we had died, or focusing on our fighting skills so they knew how to overpower us, I wasn’t sure.
But either way, I was going to make sure the flock of bald eagles died before they tried this sort of shit again. I wasn’t going to allow them to continue spying on me and attacking my family.
They’d made a big mistake aiming for me, and I was about to send the avian alpha a very clear message.
Into the alleyway, I ordered as I sprinted through the parking lot. We’ll kill the birds there and dispose of their bodies somehow.
The bird in my teeth flapped their enormous wings and pecked at my face in desperation, but I had received so many injuries by now that a few more didn’t make much of a difference. My strength had already increased, so by the time I shifted back into my human form, the majority of the cuts would have probably healed anyway.
Which was probably a good thing, seeing as Jack Nolan was still waiting for me to have a glass of red wine with him.
The performance had only finished about twenty minutes ago, so I hoped I wasn’t away for too long to make up the perfect excuse to explain my absence.
Once we were in the shelter of the alleyway, I thrashed my head from side to side as I smacked the motherfucker off the wall. Benji injured his eagle in roughly the same way, whereas Blair held the bird down on the ground as she pulled at the brown feathers that covered its stomach and legs.
When it came to terrorizing my victims, I often liked to torture them for a few minutes, just so I could really make them see what was about to happen. However, I didn’t have that sort of time to play around with. I knew I just had to kill the bird before any passersby came along, or before a member of the orchestra came outside to see if I was okay.
I could just imagine the look on their face if they saw two werewolves and a lynx battling together to kill off three enormous bald eagles.
They’d probably send themselves straight off to the psych ward.
Once the eagle had been knocked unconscious, I dropped the bastard onto the ground and held him down with one paw. His wings were sprawled out on either side of him, his blood-soaked talons were curled into his body, and his beady, angry face was covered in blood. Probably my own blood.
I felt nothing but pure anger toward the winged asshole. His original intention may have been to kill me, but the tables had turned, so I didn’t wait a single second before I decapitated the avian with my teeth.
His rancid blood seeped into my mouth, and a white feather was caught between my teeth, but I tugged on the neck of the bird until his head separated from the rest of his body.
You okay, Jesse? Brenden asked.
I glanced up from the massacre to see my beta captain standing at the entrance to the alleyway. Blair was still plucking feathers from her eagle, and Benji had gone down the same route I had. He’d ripped the eagle’s head straight from its shoulders, too.
Yeah, I’m good, I sighed. What about our guest on the roof?
He hasn’t moved once, the werecoyote replied. He turns his head back and forth, and then it’s almost like he becomes a statue again.
So do you think he’s just watching and taking notes? I asked.
Potentially. Brenden nodded. But the guys out front haven’t seen anything, so I feel pretty confident that there’s only four eagles in the area.
Let’s keep it that way, I growled. I want there to be a patrol group wandering around the hotel at all times, and I’ll take even more betas with me to the next city. This strange attack from the eagles needs to stop now, but we also have to make sure that we’re safe, too.
Of course, Jesse, Brenden replied. Once we’re sorted out here, I’ll go and talk to the betas and make up a plan for you.
That would be great, thanks, I said. For now, can you and Hailey bring our clothes over?
I’m already on it, Hailey answered with a sweet tone. Apart from your shirt, the clothes seem to be in good condition, so you should be able to wear them inside without anyone asking too many questions. Harry is going to lend you his shirt, and I’ll do my best to sort out your hair.
What would I do without you? I asked rhetorically.
Not a lot, my werewolf omega giggled. Oh, and I found a dumpster you could throw the birds into. There are some trash bags in there, but we can remove them and hide the birds at the bottom.
It didn’t sound like the best hiding place to me, but there was nothing else we could do. We didn’t have the luxury of burying the bodies under a tree in the middle of a forest, and we couldn’t exactly walk around in public with three dead eagles in our hands.
It was a fucking federal crime to even take a feather from a bald eagle, let alone harm or kill them.
Maybe empty three of the trash bags and then tie the birds up in there, I suggested. The dumpsters should be emptied at some point anyway, so they shouldn’t be in there for too long.
I’ll do that now, Brenden said as he walked away.
Hey, does anyone want a spatchcocked chicken? Blair chuckled. Look at this thing!
I turned my head to see Blair with a dead, naked bald eagle in her teeth. The gnarly shifter looked pathetic without its mighty feathers, and it had an alien-like look to it. The featherless wings looked like a larger version of something I’d order at a BBQ restaurant, and the beady face didn’t look anywhere near as angry without the tuft of white feathers around its head.
Ha, it’s literally a bald eagle, Benji snickered.
Then he, Blair, and I shifted back, and we took the empty trash bags from Brenden to shove our victims inside.
We cleaned up the alleyway as best we could, and we made sure to gather all of the feathers that littered the ground before we added them to the bags, too. The eagles were extremely heavy, and we had to use all of our strength to lift them, but we finally managed to throw the eagle-filled bags back into the dumpster.
“Alright,” I said with a sigh. “Let’s clean up and head for the bar, yeah?”
“I definitely need some tequila after that,” Blair grumbled.
“Me, too,” Brenden chuckled. “And I barely did anything.”
Blair, Benji, and I changed back into our outfits, and once I’d received the shirt from Harry, Nikita silently asked if we needed any sort of assistance, but I was pleased to say it had all been sorted out.
I was so thankful that Nikita and Arielle had stayed with Aunt Eva in the bar. Although my omegas were strong, without being able to shift, they would have been easy targets for the avians. The curled talons of one eagle would have been enough to kill our unborn child, let alone all three eagles together.
It was not worth the risk.
But having them up there also meant they could give Jack Nolan an excuse as to where I was, or why I hadn’t appeared yet.
“Hey, look,” Benji said suddenly as he pointed up to the roof. “It looks like our little friend has left us.”
I hoped that the avian hadn’t witnessed us killing the eagles, shoving their bodies into trash bags, and then throwing them into the dumpster, otherwise he could have really fucked things up for me if he reported anything.
