Alpha Squad: Boot Camp

Chapter One

Chapter OneAdam King could hardly contain his excitement during the five hour drive to Sevenoaks. This was their first assignment. The first time Alpha Squad had been sent off-base on official business. Even the cramped conditions in the back of the squad Land Rover weren't enough to dampen his spirits.

They’d made it. After seemingly endless weeks of training and numerous tests and challenges, followed by a month-and-a-half of waiting around for their first deployment, they were a real task force. This was their chance to prove themselves.

And with that, it was also the first time Adam felt he had become part of something bigger than just himself. He was part of a team which could really change the world. As such, he would do everything in his power to ensure he and his team mates did not fail this first real-world challenge.

"What are you smiling about?" Eric—Adam's older brother and superior on the squad—asked.

Adam scanned the inside of the vehicle. Three pairs of eyes were fixed on him.

Along with Eric, there was Cooper—the human Border Force agent who had struggled the most throughout Alpha Squad's training—and Blackwood, a slightly naive but nice enough werewolf from the Rannoch clan up in Scotland.

Meanwhile, Bentley—the oldest and by far the grumpiest human of the group—was doing his best to ignore the goings-on inside the Land Rover. He was probably still raw about being passed over for second-in-command. His previous experience in the Special Forces had instilled within him a sense of superiority and entitlement, which made it difficult for Adam to sympathize with him.

The remaining two team members and only females on the squad were their leader, Major Janine Williams, and her petite and somewhat shy assistant, Private Callahan. They sat in the front cab of the vehicle, out of view.

Adam shrugged.

"It's good to finally be off-base, isn't it?" he asked. Of course, that was only a small part of why he felt so cheerful, but he'd never been one to share his thoughts and emotions. Least of all with his older brother.

"It's been a long time coming," Eric agreed and sat back, folding his hands.

"What do you think we're meant to be doing in Kent?" Cooper, the only human other than Bentley asked.

"Help out with the refugees, I dunno," Adam said. "I'm sure you know everything already, don't you, bro?"

Eric closed his eyes. "We'll all be briefed by local police when we get there. But I can tell you that yes, it does kind of relate to the refugee camp."

Adam shrugged again. Eric had always been the more serious one. It did not come as much of a surprise that he was unwilling to share what he knew.

"I've never been to Kent," Blackwood, the wolf, said. "What's it like?"

Adam stared at him for a moment. He was an odd guy, that wolf. From their previous interactions, Adam had already found out that Blackwood had grown up in a very different place than the rest of them. Wolves famously kept to themselves. And Blackwood's pack, which made its home somewhere in some remote Scottish forest, was no different.

"I dunno, it's like any other place in England. Lots of greenery," Cooper spoke up. "The seaside's nice."

Adam leaned forward, attempting to catch some of the views outside the window. There was precious little greenery to be found. Perhaps things would improve once they got off the motorway.

Once they finally left the motorway and entered the town, the scenery improved only slightly before deteriorating yet again. As their vehicle headed straight for the local police station, an unwanted welcome committee had already arrived, clogging up part of the road. Considering the size of the modest town, a largish crowd had gathered outside the station, carrying banners and shouting slogans.

'Send them back!'

'Protect our children!'

'Sevenoaks for humans, not animals!'

These were just some of the messages these supposedly concerned citizens were trying to spread. Adam inhaled sharply and kept his eyes fixed on the ground as he and the rest of the team disembarked. Although he had grown up in the city, his base instincts still did not appreciate crowds, especially not angry mobs. It was obvious that whatever they’d been called in for had the local populace sufficiently riled up that matters could escalate at any moment.

The team, led by Major Williams and Eric, carved a path through the protesters, marching straight for the front door where two skittish looking policemen waited.

"Alpha Squad. Here to see your chief." Major Williams flashed her ID.

The policemen exchanged a sheepish look.

"What's Alpha Squad?" one of them said after a short pause. His question was hardly audible over the chanting mob behind them.

Adam glanced over at the major, who had adopted an imposing stance with her legs planted squarely and shoulders pulled back. Although he could not see her expression, she would undoubtedly be annoyed already. Although limited, any interaction he'd had with her throughout boot camp clearly demonstrated that she did not appreciate having her authority questioned, least of all by two lowly local policemen.

"We are here on official business and your chief is expecting us," she snapped. "Step aside or I'll have your jobs."

Another confused look and short pause later, and finally the two men gave in and opened the doors for Major Williams and the rest of the squad.

Even after the team entered the building and the doors closed behind them, the chants from the angry crowd outside could still be heard. As uncomfortable as Adam had felt outside, it was worse now. They were in unknown territory and surrounded by enemies. And although they had trained for a lot of things during boot camp, this was something else entirely.

"Major Williams, Alpha Squad," the major introduced herself at the reception desk while the rest of the team, including Adam, stood by sheepishly.

The man in his early twenties who sat behind the counter blinked a few times, then looked around, as though someone would magically show up to tell him what to do. When no help was forthcoming, he picked up the phone from his desk and turned around, cupping the receiver in his hand, possibly to muffle the sound. That made no difference to Adam's super-human hearing, of course.

"Yes, I have some people here. Alpha Squad. Yes, Sir. No problem, Sir."

The young policeman looked even more flustered when he finally turned around again.

"I do apologize. Please go inside."

Major Williams didn't hesitate. She went straight for the doors toward the left of the reception desk and led the whole team into the heart of the police station. The spacious room was abuzz with activity. There were uniformed policemen as well as those in civilian clothes. On top of that, there were also a fair number of people who seemed to be either suspects or witnesses.

It was especially the latter group of bystanders who eyed Alpha Squad apprehensively, almost fearfully. Adam looked down at himself and suddenly felt conscious of his own uniform. All black commando gear, combined with his already imposing stature… All of it was a bit over the top. The shock he could see in people's eyes told him as much.

"Major Williams," a rotund middle aged man said, approaching the team, his hand held out in greeting. "Chief Inspector Huddersfield."

The major accepted the gesture and nodded. "My team is at your service and ready to get to work straight away."

"All in good time. Why don't you make yourselves at home first? Have a cup of tea after your long drive down from…"

Major Williams didn't answer directly. Perhaps she intended for the location of their base to remain a secret. "I can assure you we are well rested. If we can get the briefing underway, and get ourselves set up in a suitable workspace, we'll be out of your hair in no time."

Adam instinctively glanced at the Chief Inspector's receding hairline as the major finished speaking. An unfortunate turn of phrase.

"Very well," the man conceded. "I'll have my lead detective on the case hold the briefing."

The major nodded, and the whole team watched as Chief Inspector Huddersfield marched off and disappeared in one of the offices leading off from the room they found themselves in.

The conversation had been civil and polite, at least on the outside, but Adam had picked up on an undercurrent of something else. The man did not seem pleased with the squad's arrival here.

Neither did the rest of the force. Although the initial shock had passed, and the various police officers had resumed their regular work, the little glances and whispered exchanges around them spoke volumes.

They were not welcome here.

Adam glanced sideways at Major Williams, who stood confidently in the center of the room as though she was oblivious to it all. It had to be an act on her part. Next to her, Adam's brother Eric was constantly scanning their surroundings for any sign of a threat.

Even Cooper, the least intuitive of the team, had a subtle frown on his face as he stood there with his arms folded and back straightened. They were all aware of the vibe in the room, they just had different ways of showing it.

Thankfully, they didn't need to wait long before two men in suits approached. They were an odd pair. One, in his thirties, was almost as tall as Adam himself, and broad shouldered to boot. His shorter, older partner looked almost scrawny by comparison, even though he must have been about six feet tall himself and quite lean and athletic for his age.

"Major Williams. I'm Detective Nye, and this my partner, McMillan," the older detective spoke. "If your team could follow me into the conference room…"

The major nodded and gestured at everyone to follow the two men.

Adam couldn't stop staring at the younger detective, McMillan. He might have guessed the man was one of them: a shifter. If only Adam's nose wasn't telling him otherwise.

As soon as the team made it into the conference room, the two detectives started their briefing. From their body language, it was abundantly clear that they did not welcome Alpha Squad's help.

The way they presented the case, starting with images of mutilated livestock, progressing to a man and a woman—both torn to shreds—and finally ending with close-ups of the last victim who had been discovered only this afternoon, made it obvious that they were aiming for maximum shock value.

Adam couldn't deny that the photographs made an impact. He had not seen anything like it in his whole life.

"That makes three human deaths in total so far, all killed in the same brutal fashion. As you can imagine, we are looking carefully at the inhabitants of the local refugee camp," the older detective concluded.

Adam's body grew tense at the man's final statement.

Major Williams stepped up to the white board with the photographs. "We do not wish to step on anyone's toes, but we expect to be kept in the loop throughout this investigation. Any evidence you find, share it with us. We will do the same."

The two detectives exchanged a dark look. Finally, the chief inspector stepped in. "That will be all. I'm sure you want to get home to your families."

The older detective nodded and headed out, while the other one lingered in the door just a bit longer.

"We will need space to work. I would be very grateful if you could arrange for that," the major addressed the chief inspector.

"As you might have noticed, increased manpower coming in from the Metropolitan Police to help out with this investigation means we are a bit short on space ourselves. I will need until morning to work something out." The chief inspector nodded at Major Williams and folded his arms.

The message was clear. Nothing would happen until the following day.

Major Williams and Eric exchanged a look and seemed to come to an understanding without even speaking a word. The latter turned toward the rest of the team, including Adam.

"We will leave the local police to it for the evening and come back fresh in the morning," Eric said.

Adam frowned. It was unlike either Major Williams or Eric to just accept it when they were being pushed aside. Then again, it wasn't for him to question their orders either. He shrugged and took the lead out of the conference room, then crossed the room they had waited in previously.

Again, all the policemen and women present, as well as any other bystanders, stared at Adam and the rest of the task force suspiciously. They only seemed to resume their normal activity once they all had their backs turned and were almost out the door.

"Um… you can leave from the back exit if you like," the young man from reception spoke up as they almost passed him by, pointing to the other door behind him.

The major nodded and changed direction. Before they knew it they were outside, at the backside of the police station. The protesters' chants that had greeted them upon their arrival could still be heard, but they were a safe distance away and out of view.

"Apologies if this is out of line, but we’re not actually heading to the inn just yet, are we?" Bentley broke his silence.

It was clear to Adam that the former Special Forces man had reached the limits of his patience.

"Of course not, Bentley. But it's obvious that these people are not in a mood to help us. Whatever we do here, we'll have to do it on our own," Major Williams said. She tapped a few numbers into her phone and held it up to her ear. "Callahan, please bring the car around to the back of the station."

"Where to, then?" Adam asked.

Major Williams looked up and smiled briefly.

"The scene of the crime, of course," she said.