Alpha Prime: Her Retribution

Chapter Three

TWO DAYS LATER

I was this close to taking the gun and emptying the round into Samara. We had spent two whole days doing the same stupid thing: breathing exercises.

"I sense hate in you. You seem to be holding onto a lot of anger and rage."

If a homicidal maniac killed your family, you would too, woman.

I was already sick and tired of hearing her rave about the wonders of the sight. It was nothing but a glorified network between Eda and the people she deemed 'worthy'.

I did not want to access it; I did not want to talk to the moon goddess, not now, not ever. To add to my frustration, I had witnessed little to no activity in the Mont Blanc area. Samara had filled me in on the existence of werewolves, and I had to fake being in awe. Either I was a really good actress or she was gullible; I was starting to think it was the latter.

We were seated outside today, and as usual, Samara was droning on and on about the gift when the snap of a twig caught my attention. My breath caught in my throat as a large wolf and a man walked out of the trees.

"Good morning, Samara." The man greeted me with a frown on his face as he glanced at me before pulling something from the bag attached to the wolf; it was wrapped in brown paper.

"Good morning, Gary. This is my niece Emma." She introduced me as she collected the package. I had to hide my surprise as to why she introduced me as her niece.

"I had no idea you had a niece," he asked, eyeing me.

"Her mother's Lauren, you and I both know Lauren and I aren't on the best of terms. After her death, she came looking for me." She explained, and he nodded, satisfied with the answer.

"It's nice to meet you Emma."

"Nice to meet you too, Gary." I replied, shaking his outstretched hand. It almost felt like I was committing a crime by interacting so civilly with a member of this bloodthirsty, murderous pack. He turned his attention to Samara.

"Is the bræw still at the back?" He asked. She nodded, and I watched her lead him to the back of the cabin, the wolf following behind them.

A few minutes later, they came back; the wolf had been secured to a wooden wagon, the barrels loaded in them.

"Goodbye Samara. It was a pleasure doing business with you as usual." He said, tossing me one more glance, but I kept my head down. I didn't like the attention he was giving me. They walked back through the trees, and I turned to Samara, who had gone into the cabin. She came back seconds later.

"So you make transactions with the pack?" I inquired.

"Why don't you really ask me the question that is on your mind?"

I sighed.

"Why did you tell him I was your niece?"

"They don't take kindly to strangers in these parts. If I had said you had stumbled onto this place, he would have killed you before you could offer an explanation." She explained.

"You might not be of the same skin colour as me, but Lauren was white, so you have absolutely nothing to worry about."

I wanted to ask her more about the pack, but it might look suspicious, so I smiled at her.

"Let's get back to the breathing exercises then." She said, My smile soured at that.

*******************

I knew all the stupid exercises were going to have an adverse effect on me, and they did.

I found myself in a familiar cave.

Great, just great.

"Hello Adelaide."

"Eda," I sighed.

"You've been avoiding me." I turned to the glowing white light.

"Well, can you blame me?" I asked, sitting on the floor.

"You should go back home." She said, I scoffed.

"Not a chance. Not when I am this close."

"It won't end well. Turn back and live your life as peacefully as possible."

I saw a flat piece of stone and picked it up, toying around with it.

"Why?"

"It will be for the best."

"For who exactly?" I asked, not bothering with getting an answer from her, before stabbing the sharp end of the rock into the palm of my hand.

*******************

Jolting awake, I looked around. I was back in the cabin. The sting from the cut made me look down at my palm. Sighing, I got up from the bed and walked out of the hut. There was a small drum of water. I gently wiped the cut, hissing and mentally cursing her for making me cut myself.

I felt a pulse in my hindbrain. She was not happy, but I couldn't care less. Glancing at the area, I bit my lip. I was tempted to walk through just to see what was beyond the tree lines. I made my way to the back of the hut and saw the barrels of bræw. I could easily poison it and be done with the entire pack, but I was no mass murderer. I was not going to sink to Jacob Mont Blanc's level.

Sighing, I walked back into the cabin. Curling up on the bed, I drifted off.

*******************

"Here you go." Samara tossed me a cloak. "What's this for?" I asked.

"We are going into town." She replied, I had to stem the excitement in my veins. This was it—the moment I had been waiting for. I shrugged on the cloak, braiding my hair to keep it away from my face.

"Stay close to me and keep your head down." She instructed. Locking the door, we walked towards the border.

This is it.

We crossed onto the land, and I half expected wolves to come lunging out and attack us. The forest was just like any other one; we walked along a trail, and if I peered through the foliage, I could see wolves; some were walking while others were watching our every movement.

We approached a wooden building with two large pillars on each side of the trail.

A checkpoint

There was a red-coloured wolf and two shirtless men standing guard at the shack.

"Good day, Samara," the blond-haired man said.

"Hello, Michael," she replied.

"Who is this with you?" He asked, jerking his chin in my direction.

"My niece Emma We are heading in to get meat and foodstuffs," she explained. He grunted before letting us through.

I couldn't help but wonder whether the men were part of the people who murdered my family. The thought had me fisting my hand, trying everything possible to stop myself from getting furious and blowing my cover.

We were stopped at two more checkpoints before the trail gave way to a cobbled pathway. We walked for a bit before we came across a massive stone arch. I gaped at the size of the structure.

"What is this?" I whispered as we passed by. I reached out my hand to touch it when I saw the runes carved on it.

Runes?

What could a werewolf pack possibly be doing with runes?

"I have no idea; it appeared here years ago. The people say only Alpha Prime knows what it really is." She explained pulling me away from it.

If it had anything to do with Jacob, then it certainly was no good.

The cobbled path widened as we walked further until we started seeing cabins—simple wooden cabins. I could hear the laughs and screams of children playing.

The cabins gave way to more houses and buildings.

We reached the community square. There was a lycan statue made of ivory; however, what caught my attention was the woman lying under the lycan's powerful hind leg. Her mouth opened in a silent scream, her features twisted in agony. The lycan's left hand was wrapped around a man's neck; the contorted snarling mess that was the man's face told me who he was.

Vampire.

I had never personally encountered a vampire before; they were considered extinct, having been wiped off the Earth a long time ago. I couldn't imagine facing a bloodthirsty creature of the night.

The thought sent a chill down my spine. Just what on Earth was this statue, who was the woman, and why was she being crushed by a lycan?

We got to the market square, and it reminded me of the farmer's market back at Ridgeway Valley. A feeling of nostalgia filled me. I missed home.

You'll be home soon. Just finish the job, and you can go home and never have to leave.

"This way." She whispered, leading me to a stall.

"Hello Samara!!" A plump middle-aged woman greeted her.

"Hello Gladys, how are you?" Samara asked. "Fine, fine. I got the potatoes you wanted." Her gaze met mine.

"This must be Emma," she commented.

I tensed, wondering how she knew, then I realised the wolves at the first checkpoint must have communicated it to the rest of the pack. That meant…

Oh goddess…

He knew I was here. Well, he knew Samara had brought her niece into his territory.

I suddenly felt very nervous, glancing around as Samara and the woman talked about potatoes. I could feel eyes on me; my skin was crawling, and the sensation in my hind brain was back. For the first time in history, I felt out of my league.

For Silverstone. I repeated it over and over till the feeling passed.

We moved to another stall, the butcher grunting a greeting at Samara, his eyes moving to me and nodding in greeting. We passed by the rest of the stalls and headed back to the square.

From the square, I could see another paved road with a massive cottage house at the end of it in the distance. It was a rustic three storey building which stood out among the other houses that lined both sides of the road.

No one needed to tell me whose house it was.

Jacob Mont Blanc.

I studied the house, my vision though inhibited could still make out details. Steps leading to a wide porch which wrapped around the main level of the building, the first level had a balcony on one side with huge glass windows on the other side, the second floor has a smaller balcony almost like that of a penthouse. I couldn't see any guard stationed.

I made a mental note to check the map when I got back to Samara's place. A cry caught my attention, turning around, I saw a small boy who looked not a day over eight being dragged by two men. A small crowd had gathered with the men and the boy in the centre.

What on earth?!

From where we stood, I watched as the boy was flung to the ground, crying out in pain when his head hit the cobbled path.

"You think you can steal from me and get away with it?!" The man thundered.

"I... I'm sorry." The boy cried out.

"I'll teach you wretch!!!" The other man snarled, morphing his hand into a claw. I fought every part of me that wanted to interfere.

This is not your business Adelaide.

I felt Samara's hand on mine.

"We should leave."

I nodded in agreement just as the boy started screaming.

"This is not right." I whispered.

"It is not, but that is their way." She replied as we headed back into the forest. I wanted to correct her that it was not the way of all werewolves but that would be suspicious, so I kept quiet.

We walked back to her hut in silence, my mind heavy and filled with thoughts. Yes, he stole but there should be a way to punish him that isn't brutal. It made no sense, wasn't there any form of control? Was he actually going to get away with harming the boy?

Right there and then, I decided I was going to do this, not just for my family but for these people, they didn't deserve to live under such a cruel Alpha.

No one did.