THE LAST ALPHA FEMALE (sequel to Reign of the hybrid)

Chapter 3

It was Jefferson’s idea to start with the vampires. Among all the supernatural species, they were the most dependent on humans for food. They survived entirely on blood. Without blood they could be weak and vulnerable prolonged starvation for newly turned could risk even death to the immortal brings. Unlike their counterparts the werewolf whose main problem was anger issues once in a while on a full moon when they morphed into vicious bloodthirsty beasts on four limbs. The dangerous ones were the newly turned, those who were undergoing their first metamorphosis. As for others they had control. They gave birth, grew old and died from old age like normal humans.

"Grace I presume", James said getting from the SUV in the middle of the convoy.

The army men moved with him. Dressed in black suits with black goggles. White microphones on their ears. Even the vampires were scared of the kind of security he was carrying around.

"Yes who's asking" Grace said her hands still raised up in the air.

"My name is not important. Drop your damn hands, we are not here to hurt anyone. Is there anywhere we can talk?" James asked.

Grace and her men dropped their hands after James promised peace. Grace welcome him and the professor. He couldn't go alone in the crocodile’s mouth. A couple of guards followed them. Grace had no objection. They had every right to feel afraid of entering the coven. For them they had to turn the safety off, c**k and shoot but for her and the others a second was enough to slit their throats and disappear leaving them bleeding to death. Besides she checked his pulse, James wasn't lying.

"Feel free stranger now that your name is not important"

"Call me James brown my friend is Professor Jefferson, am here to discuss your future as a kind" James went straight to the point.

"We're not animals you see, we know how to treat guests" She said and left the room.

James and his company saw a blurry image of her body go up the staircase. She came back with two bottles, one of wine and the other of whiskey. Another vampire went for glasses.

"Let's talk over a drink, shall we?"

"Okay thank you"

The guards checked the wine before pouring a glass for the professor. James preferred whiskey. Then Grace poured herself a glass of wine took the seat opposite theirs with her legs crossed. She was wearing a red skirt with a blue top. Her hair was curly dropping on her shoulders.

"You have to control your boys and girls. As from now any human that dies in the hands of a vampire you will be answerable” James said.

"No objection Mr. Brown but what if another kind does the killing will I still be held accountable?" Grace asked.

"This applies to the others, your recent war has raised a lot of concern among the humans. Most of them have died as collateral damage. Cops and civilians this madness has to end or we will start to hit back for every soul lost" James said.

She thought about it for some time. James and Jefferson gave her time to wrap her head around it. Hoping she wouldn't turn violent. They had the order to shoot to kill in case there was any minimal resistance. And they had Carried enough armor to cause an impact. Some of his men would have died in the crossfire but they would have taken a better share of vampires with them to the grave.

"I will keep my end of the deal. But as you know my kind survives on blood how are we going to feed?"

"About that, there should be no holding human blood banks within your coven. The state will organize blood banks to offer you blood, controlled intake" Jefferson spoke for the first time since they arrived.

"Deal, I will let my people know" Grace said relaxed.

"Then we have nothing else to discuss here", James said getting up on his feet.

She walked them back to their cars. Jefferson offered her a sheet of paper. She had to give out the total number of vampires or any other supernatural in her coven. She also had to report new entrants and any cases of vampire disappearance. Before they left, she asked James for a private talk. He told the guards to stay around as they went back to the house. James trusted her already. If she was dangerous as her description she would have shows any signs of resistance but instead she agreed with everything.

"Before he died Eric was building a school for supernatural kids, I would love your input to see it becomes a reality. That's the only way we will eradicate this conflicts from the grass root level" She said handing over the blue prints of the school.

"I underestimated you grace, this is a brilliant idea... I will discuss this with my superiors", James said scanning the plans.

"Please do" she said escorting him outside.

"Another thing... You will represent the vampires in the council from now on we have a council of your kind. I will represent mine" James said boarding the vehicle.

As the Fleet of SUVs left the compound Grace couldn't help but wonder what the humans were up to. Offering them free blood in exchange for peace? And the council. Who was going to represent the werewolf’s. She hoped it wasn't Steve, Don was better off than Steve even though she was just like Steve. Both of them were testing the waters with leadership. Although she couldn't stand any of them but all in all she loved the idea of peace. Only one worry, she hoped they were ready for Tina. Because as she knew Tina was not going to obey the rules of engagement. She could only understand one language. As a matter of fact two. Vengeance and violence. For Grace she did not regret leaving her in old fort with bodies of her entire family to burry. Just like the humans they were collateral damage and being a wolf she was well aware every war had collateral. Her previous war it was their pack that suffered the wrath of Don's claws, all of them. But Mother Nature was good at balancing the equation of life. They did not survive Don, they just delayed the inevitable.

*******

Don was losing direction in life. It all began with losing his sister Veronica. His life started crumble long down from there. Then the vicious attacks from the vampires that forced him into an alliance with the same man who had killed her. Before then he never knew if he could forgive him, forgiveness for killing Veronica who had separated herself from their family never crossed his mind. But he did. His judgment was based on the fact that Kylan’s family had nothing to do with his inter pack vengeance. But he was wrong. Being nice took him nowhere, well at least he was at Ariella’s castle hiding from his longtime friend and beta who wouldn't rest without his head on a spike. The same family (Kylan's) had made his nephews life a living hell. Then they repaid his kindness by helping Steve take away his pack from him.

"Argghh" He growled splitting a huge piece of wood into two with one swing of an axe.

His mistakes were haunting him. The demons of the past reminding him of the right thing he should have done. He should have followed his nephew. His only raining family to the old fort war. Maybe together they stood a chance. He should have not trusted his childhood friend Steve and Kylan. Don regretted staying away from his sister like she requested. He should have kept watch maybe Veronica could have been alive. He was seething with rage as he cut every piece of the large trunk of wood.

"Enough!" Alyssa shouted from behind.

He was bare chested showing off his six packs. Well-built physique. Short black suit hair, well shaven sideburns. Lazy eyes with, pink banana shaped lips. Sweat trickling down his neck.

"It's not your fault, you cannot keep blaming yourself for the misfortune of your entire family", Alyssa said cupping his face.

She did not care about his sweaty face. She loved him. With his weaknesses and strengths. Whether he was an alpha or a homeless werewolf running from an egocentric beta. Alyssa was sticking by him come rain come sunshine, in sickness and in health, because he was her mate and together, together they were unstoppable and they were going to build a pack no one ever imagined. Lydia and the others were keeping their distance, watching from far.

"The Don I fell in love with is in there, I need him we both need him and if you don't set him free I will kill you before Steve does", her iris glowed blue.

Her arms were around his neck. She was choking sense into him and it was working. He could remember the last time he tapped into his wolf side. His iris glowed red, their lips met. Both of them were breathing heavily as they kissed. Caught in the moment they did not see the army of wolves approaching. Mike and Hillary formed the first line of defense. Don did not set her free. They kissed their way up to the stairs, Lydia and Debbie ran to help Hillary and Mike fight with a group of angry wolves. They didn't have to ask them where they were from. They were Steve's. As Romeo and Juliet had their first in a long time s*x upstairs the rest of their friends were fighting tooth and nail. Mike having been bitten before was taking very good care of himself. Keeping distance as he broke bones.

Lydia was not a war veteran like the others. Most of her life she spend hiding her magic and when she got a chance to use it Ariella kept her within the walls of her castle. She set them on fire. Debbie happy to have her magic back tossed them off like a buck of empty cans. But they kept getting up and coming back for more. When she saw they stood no chance. They had their backs on each other, Lydia did the only thing she thought fit. There was no time to explain. As witches they knew what they were doing. Hillary being the strongest she used him as an anchor. He froze. His eyes could move but not his body. Debbie grabbed the other arm and the three formed a small circle. Mike was having a hard time keeping them off. He owed no one his loyalty and yet he kept fighting. He knew Leon was not coming back to feed him from his vein in case he got bitten. Poor Mike was surviving on instinct and impulse. More wolves attacked him from side to side. He was hoping whatever the witches were up to was going to work quickly. Broken bones healing, necks twisted out of place. Blood everywhere but no one injured. The two witches changed in unison. Hillary closed his eyes. And when they were almost done Debbie broke free and pulled Mike in the middle of the circle. When the wolves tried to intervene, there was no entry.

A magic dome was surrounding them. But how long were they going to hold the dome? Outside the wolves waited. Their eyes glowing their claws drawn. Their fangs ready to pierce through anything. It was then or never. They had turned every stone in the four towns with no sign of Debbie and Don and now they had found them. Their rebellious leader was losing patience. Just when they thought the four were trapped, Romeo came back from his honeymoon. He was still kissing Juliet at the entrance. Their bodies intertwined and covered in a brown sheet. For the wolves it was total disrespect from their former alpha. They let him have his fun. After all it was his last. Poor wolves used to fear of an iron fist leader forgot that before fear there's love. The strongest emotion of all. When the sheet dropped two wolves moving in blurry motion came towards them. Most of them were half human half wolf. They couldn't morph at will but the two. It was different-they were full wolves. Now the dome felt safer that the outside. For long he had been running. Not anymore. Alyssa’s wolf dragged, ripped off and tossed her former pack members like a possessed demon. While Don pounced on them clawing their heads off. It was a messy scene. Blood everywhere the few who could escape used the chance to save their lives. Death was better in the hands of fear than love.

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

The rebuilding of the demolished buildings was underway. Every remaining pack member worked back to back. The torn chain-link fences were reinforced those that couldn't withstand even a howl of wind were replaced. Overseeing the work was Tina with the help of some elders. She had been away from the pack for long even though she grew there some changes were made that she needed to be updated about.

"I want a list of all our books and magic artifacts that were lost during the war", she said getting to the library.

"Morning auntie", a young girl said happily walking towards her

The mother tried to restrain her but Tina gave her a glare. In that young girl she saw two people. The first one was herself some few years back and the second one was her own slain daughter. As she walked Tina could see young Aubrey. She almost cried or maybe she thought so.

"Why are you crying auntie?" the girl asked.

It was shameful but she was part human. The other werewolves in the library turned to stare at her.

"Back to work I want that list now!" She ordered to change the topic.

"Am not crying dear something fell in my eyes" Tina complained rubbing her eyes.

"You know I won't tell anyone", She promised with an innocent smile on her face.

"Cheeky... Tell me what's your name dear?" Tina asked getting up from where she was kneeling.

"Annette" She said.

"Good, Go help your mum with the books and toys" Tina instructed.

"Here", Annette’s mother said handing her the list.

Tina stared at the long list. Most of the lost items she had no idea what they were capable of doing. Except for the totem that restrained Ariella’s powers and the knife to hell that Ariella used to stab her husband, the rest were as new as they looked to her. If the knife that killed Kylan was out there, no supernatural was safe. It could kill anyone including herself. There was a reason to think twice before going for revenge. Grace might as well been having them in her possession. She asked for the pack witch to explain the rest of the artifacts.

"Most of them are dark magic artifacts that your father Milton had confiscated. Whoever has them witch or not is dangerous", she said worry written all over her face.

"That means we're still in danger," Tina said pacing up and down the room like a caged lion, "Is there some way they can be found maybe by magic?" She asked biting off the nail of her index finger.

The pack witch or shamla as they called her didn't know Tina very well. The biting finger thing was a clear indication of the panic mode. If she wasn't already in it she was headed there. And a panicked Tina was liable to making mistakes some which she couldn't come back from. Before then her husband was there to identify the panic attacks and counter the mistake even before they actually happened. Yet she didn't need him. From a Luna of a pack that perished in the hands of Don she was the Alpha now. Leading and building from the ruins a pack of her own. There was no room for mistakes again. This time it was her own family legacy. A legacy that her father had built, then her brother and now it was her time to go down in history books as not only the first but the greatest female alpha there could be.

“Am afraid not", Shamla said sadly.

"Don't be, we can figure something out. Meanwhile you're in charge make sure nothing else gets lost", Tina said massaging her forehead as she walked outside of the library.

"Actually" Shamla said.

"What? Did you say something? Am sorry am under a lot of stress right now I can't tell apart hallucinations from the things happening around me", she apologized turning to look at her.

Shamla could see it. Tina didn't have to explain anything. From a woman's perspective she knew Tina needed help. She was taking care of everyone but no one was taking care of her. Not that they didn't care. No. They cared about her. Since she had eloped with Kylan Milton changed a lot. It was clear Tina was her favorite child and they all loved her. It was the responsibilities and the loss that she had suffered. They were driving her nuts and shamla knew she needed therapy to get out of it. Pretending everything was fine was actually making the situation even worse. She was risking flipping the switch that separated her from a werewolf to a jungle wolf.

"You're not hallucinating, how about this," Shamla suggested holding Tina's arms into hers, "You stay here I bring you some food and water then I will tell you how we can get them back. All of them and please don't say no" She finalized forcing her to seat.

"You know she's right aunt Tina you need rest, water and food", Annette said from a corner.

"It's not like I have an option", Tina said pessimistically.

"Annette! Let's go bring her some food and water" Shamla called out.

As Shamla and Annette ran out to bring food the rest of the women in the pack library surrounded her. Their faces were sad. As women they knew the pain of losing children at a very young age.

"Bring it in I really needed that", Tina said breaking into tears.

They all hugged and embraced her in one big group hug. Even superwoman needs superman sometimes, the Alpha female needed the girls.