The Alpha's Warrior Princess

Ch. 9: Puzzle Pieces

(Alex’s POV)

I'm lying in my bed thinking about everything from last night.

It’s crazy to think, but when we first arrived, and Ken mind-linked me about April calling our Dad “Uncle Teddy”, I could swear for a minute she had heard him. I was sure he’d said it over mind link so I was a little freaked when she laughed. But when we looked at her she just looked so innocent I kinda just shrugged it off.

Then when my little bro. mind linked me again about how pretty she was, I could've sworn I saw panic flash in her eyes. It was so fleeting I really couldn’t tell, though. I spent the rest of the night trying to trip her up but got nothing. I want to just dismiss it as my imagination, like Ken did, but something tells me there’s more to April Storm than anyone knows.

Normally, that would be a major turn off for me. I don’t go digging around trying to figure girls out. But then again, April wasn’t a normal girl. In two days' time, she had somehow managed to get under my skin so badly that I couldn’t even think about touching another girl. Believe me, I tried. Twice. Both times I wound up sending the she-wolf out and taking a f**kin cold shower! I haven’t done that since I was, like, THIRTEEN.

That’s not even counting the fact that these past two nights I haven’t slept a wink. Nor have I been able to get a decent nap without her infiltrating my dreams. She was driving me absolutely insane.

Then I’ve got this psycho b*tch running around telling everyone we aren’t really broken up, we’re just on a break till my birthday so I can “get some things out of my system”. Austin told me she's even telling people that we’re fated mates. That, because I’m an Alpha, I can sense it already.

I know this because he came to me wondering if it was true. You should have seen the look of utter relief on his face when I told him it wasn’t. But I can tell you this... If I hear that b*tch saying sh*t like that I’m gonna go ballistic on her sorry a**.

Allison didn’t used to be like this, though. She was a good girl. In the honor society, a decent fighter. Respectful, kind, generous. Then, about two years ago, she suddenly changed. Like, overnight. She became this shrew. Always screaming at people and trying to bully her way into getting what she wanted. She started turning her back on her real friends and hanging out with those superficial little sl*ts on the cheer squad.

Not that all those girls are bad apples, but you know the type. The snobby little b*tches that think they can sleep with the entire football team and that’s okay, but let another girl even look at her current bed-warmer and she goes all “Mean girls” on her, calling her a sl*t and a wh*re and bullying the h*ll out of the poor girl. That was never Allison before. Allison used to be the type that would pick-up for the girls being bullied. Now she’s just a cold hearted b*tch herself.

“Alpha Alex! We got rogues on our western border again!” Conner called through mind-link. I shot up into a sitting position, grabbed my shorts, and bolted from my room as I answered back “on my way! Have you notified Dad or Beta John yet?” “Yes, Alpha. They’re on their way as well!” Conner responded.

I had really good up and coming ranked members. Conner was one of my future Delta’s, though I sometimes think about making him a Gamma instead. He’s extremely loyal and a really good friend. He takes excellent care of our pack, even if he is a bit immature otherwise. All my guys do.

Running out of the packhouse, I wasted no time in shifting and heading toward our western border. We are the largest pack in the eastern United States. Located in upstate Pennsylvania, we boast over five hundred members and hold the largest territory in the U.S. As a result, most packs, and even rogues, don’t dare to mess with us.

Which makes this whole situation all the more confusing. Our pack is now so large that Dad's taking on a second Beta to help run things. That’s why Uncle Ty came back.

Uncle Ty was actually Dad’s Beta before he left all those years ago to be with Crystal. I’m not sure why they moved away completely, but they've visited each other over the years and Uncle Ty helps with security and training techniques. He was still Dad’s first pick for Beta, though. And with good cause. Uncle Tyler is the best MMA fighter in the world. In both the human and the supernatural realms.

Before you ask, no. It’s not unfair for him to fight humans since he doesn’t use his wolf abilities. How can he do that, you ask? Easy. Before every fight with a human, Uncle Tyler is given a dose of wolfsbane which is administered by an elder to be sure he follows all our laws. The wolfsbane effectively puts his wolf to sleep, which basically turns him human for the duration of the match. Making it as fair as two actual humans being matched up.

As to why he’s the best? Well, that’s simple. He’s never lost a fair fight, in or out of the ring, in his life. He is, obviously, my favorite adult fighter in the world.

There’s only one other fighter I like to watch more and that’s Herricane. Like Uncle Ty, she’s an awesome fighter who’s never lost a match. But she’s also one: a girl. And what self-respecting guy doesn’t like watching a girl kick a guy twice her size’s a**? And two: She’s right around my age! It’s hard to tell because the league she’s in makes all their under eighteen fighters wear masks for their safety, but a few years ago, this eighteen-year-old dude named Dante’s Inferno tried to take her out.

He was in an older class, so they were never matched up, but he tried to publicly humiliate her. Things didn’t exactly go his way that night, but he did wind up getting his match. I watched that fight, too. She wiped the floor with him. It was awesome!

As I approached the western border I could hear the snarls of our wolves as well as the rogues and hoped that these one's were stupid enough to try and fight us off this time. We really needed to capture at least one of these a**holes so we could try and get some answers. But as I bounded into the clearing, the rogues took off. “SH*T! Get after them!” I shouted through mind-link as we gave chase and just as I was about to tackle one of them to the ground I was knocked off my feet by another, larger, rogue who just turned and ran off.

How the hell he knocked my huge, black wolf off his feet I don’t know! And I mean huge, too. Max was only slightly smaller than Ajax, Dad’s wolf, which is pretty impressive. Max was P*SSED!

I shook out my fur and as I gained my bearings again I shifted back. As I stood upright, Austin handed me a pair of shorts which we kept hidden in some of the trees for such needs. “Please tell me we got one?” I said, my frustration clear in my voice. “Sorry, Alpha. They got past us again.” My future Beta, Jake, says. His voice was also filled with frustration as our Dads came up behind us. “It’s okay, boys. We’ll get them. We just need to be patient.” Dad said, but we all just gave disgruntled responses as we headed back to the packhouse.

All I kept thinking was that these rogues were slick. Too slick. Rogues aren’t typically the smartest of wolves. Nor do they normally work together like that.

“Dad? I really don’t get what their game is! Why court death like this just to play a bit of cat and mouse?” I asked with a growl, Max making himself known as well. He didn’t like anyone challenging him like this.

Nothing in this world could make his Alpha blood boil faster than blatant disrespect or open mockery. He took both as a challenge. “I have to admit, this one has me stumped too. If I didn’t know any better I’d say they were after something. I just can’t fathom what.” Dad’s Beta, Jonathan, said as he reached up and ran his hand through his dark brown hair.

“I get that feeling as well, John.” My Dad says, causing me to raise a brow at them both, encouraging them to continue with their musings. “What the h*ll could they be after? We haven’t changed anything in our pack in years.” Conner pointed out with a heavy sigh. And he was right.

“Dad, this all started with the attack in town the other night. Could they be after something personal from you or me?” I asked curiously as I mimicked John’s actions and ran a hand through my hair in frustration. “I mean this is the fourth incursion in three days. Something is drawing them in!” Jake said as he looked around.

We started walking back toward the packhouse as we continued to speak. “We won’t know until we can capture one of them. I’ll give them this much: they’re smarter than the average rogue. It’s almost like they’ve got help, like they know our routes and schedules” My Dad says, sounding more like he’s thinking out loud than commenting to us.

“Dad? Are you thinking we have a traitor?” I asked, shocked to my core. Though I have to admit it made some sense. I just didn’t want to believe one of our pack members would betray us this way. “It’s certainly a puzzle”, John added quietly, as he sighed.

I hated puzzles. Especially when the pieces don’t fit together right.

And now I had two on my hands. Yayyy me!

(April’s POV)

Today was Monday. Uncle Wyatt said he didn’t know when he or Aunt Lily would be able to visit again this week because he had some sort of business conference to prepare for.

It was next weekend and apparently they were hosting the event so they had oodles of stuff to get done. I overheard Dad and Uncle Wyatt whispering about it while me and the guys were playing COD. Their conversation was kind of weird, so it caught my attention. So, I zoned the guys out a bit and listened in.

It started out with Dad asking “Wyatt? Are you sure Wednesday is a good day for us to stop by? We can postpone it till the following week if it'll be easier.” “Don’t be ridiculous, Ty. We’ve already got everything set for the day. Lilly and Crystal are all excited about it. No backing out now.” Uncle Wyatt said firmly, and I started to get excited too.

Were we really going to go to their house? God I hoped so. But then Dad had to go and say “Wyatt, I just don’t think they’re ready yet. Crystal, she…” “She’s fine, Ty. It’s YOU who has misgivings. Stop holding back. The girls deserve the truth and April is old enough, and strong enough, to handle this. Give them a chance.” A chance? A chance at what? What was Uncle Wyatt talking about?

As I was trying to figure it all out, Dad sighed like he had the weight of the world resting on his shoulders and said “I will. I just hope you’re right.” I almost laughed when Uncle Wyatt responded so off-the-cuff with a sincere “I’m always right.”

So today I figured I’d get my room together and help Mom with anything she needed to unpack downstairs while Dad worked in his home office. He'd mentioned before bed last night that he’d be home all week to get his new office in order, so I planned to stay out of his hair.

Dad didn’t like anyone touching his work stuff. Even Mom. Unfortunately, I did NOT plan to be up before dawn this morning. ‘I thought fresh air was supposed to make you sleep better?’ I thought to myself, only to hear the dizzy b*tch in my head giggle at me.

Shrugging her off, I just climbed out of bed with a good stretch, got my clothes together, then headed for the shower. After about an hour of doing my whole morning routine, I went downstairs to start getting breakfast together. We hadn’t gone shopping yet, so there wasn’t much in the way of food, but we had coffee, eggs, and bacon, so that sounded like a good enough breakfast to me.

I had the bacon already in a pan when zombie-Dad came walking in and shuffled over to the coffee pot. It would take him a good three cups to actually grunt out a coherent word to Mom. Forget me. Dad never spoke to me in the mornings. He would just sit and read his newspaper while sipping his coffee, which he took “black, like my soul”, to quote him. I even gave him a mug with that saying on it for Christmas once.

Still, I gave him a pleasant “G’mornin, Dad” and went about finishing up breakfast. Twenty minutes later, Mom came in and started setting the table. As always, she was cheerful and bright as she kissed Dad’s cheek, then gave me a hug, all as she cheerfully said “Good morning, my lovelies! Isn’t it a beautiful day?” “G’mornin, Mom” I said cheerfully as I hugged her back.

She got the table fully set and poured us all some juice while I finished cooking. Mom took the food to the table and I grabbed my plate, loaded it up, then grabbed my coffee and juice and headed up to my room. “If you need anything from me just yell, Mom. I’m just gonna unpack some of my things.” “Okay, dear. Be mindful of that arm, though.” “I will!”

Mom was a bit of a worry wart. But I loved her.

Going into my room, I sat my food down on my vanity and picked up a piece of bacon which I nommed on as I looked around, trying to decide where to start. My eyes landed on a brown box under my desk which had my printer sitting on top of it. I could have sworn Dad threw that out.

Shrugging, I went over to the box and pulled it out. “You don’t look like you belong here.” I said as I sat crossed-legged on the floor. Sparks came ambling over and climbed onto my lap, batting at the piece of bacon still hanging from my lips, making me laugh at her angst before breaking a piece off and giving it to her as I said “Here yah little pest. Now go eat and let Momma see what this is all about.” She ambled away a little as I opened the box.

Okay, I admit it. I was a little disappointed. Turns out the box just held boring files from my Dad’s office. I was just gonna put the lid back on and put it in the hallway when I noticed one of the tabs sticking up that read Storm, April. Okay. Maybe not so boring. Why the h*ll would my Dad keep a file on me?

Tugging the file from the box, I opened it and my brow immediately lifted. The first thing I saw was a picture of me and him from when I was like, two. I don’t even remember this occasion, but in the background was my Mom, Aunt Lilly, and who I can only assume is Alex because Aunt Lilly seemed to be chasing him about. My Dad has this look on his face like he’d rather be doing almost anything else but holding me while I’m looking at him like he’s the sun, the moon, and everything in between.

There were also a few of my old school ID’s, all my tournament awards which were in chronological order, my social security number card, the little hospital bracelet from when I was born, and my birth certificate. It was the birth certificate that caught my eye, though.

Lifting it from the folder, I was shocked when I read it over. It listed me as being born in Wolfe County, PA. I just blinked at it. I had to be reading this wrong. My parents always told me I was born and raised in Philly. Not born in sleepy Wolfe County, PA! What the actual f**k!?

I didn’t want to take too much time looking this stuff over when my parents were here, so I hooked up my printer and loaded some paper in the tray, then made two copies of everything and stuck them in the drawer of my desk for now. Then I put everything back in the folder the way I had found it and put it back in the box. As I did, I stopped dead in my tracks. “What the f**k?!” I whispered softly as I stared at the folder just behind mine.

The tab on it read Storm, BB.