The Alpha & Beta's Regret

CH 5

(6 and a half years after leaving the Black Forest Pack.)

Luci POV

Luci lay in her bed, staring at her beautiful twin boys, so very precious to her. Alari and Kali were excited, they believed their boys would have their first shift soon. They were only 6 years old though, and Luci didn’t think this would happen. She’d not gotten Kali till she was 18. Two years after she was supposed to, and Alari had not arrived until she was 21.

Wolves generally didn’t shift until their humans were 16 and she’d been a later shifter herself, though Alari told her most Sirens were born as Sirens, and she had to wait because of what she was. That, to her inherited knowledge, half Sirens only got their Siren through loss and sadness. She had not thought she would be allowed to be born at all. But had been there in the back of her mind, always watching on but unable to interact or communicate.

Luci did not really understand it at all, she could shift and let Kali run free out under the full moon into the woods, and she could shift into Alari and let her swim in the lake, and it got a little noisy inside her mind at times. But mostly now, when one or the other wanted out of her, she had little control over it. It was always a concern to leave her precious children alone, when the shifter side of her clawed its way out and left them alone and vulnerable.

But Alari and Kali never went far away, and her boys, they were very special. Just looking at them, anyone in the shifter world would be able to tell. She could feel already how much power they held. She herself had been an Alpha female once. Well, still was she guessed. Had gone from an Alpha to a Concubine.

Watched as both their eyes opened at the same time, as they both stretched and then yawned in the exact same manner, so very connected to each other. One had the deepest, darkest blue eyes you’d ever see, and the other, deep dark green like the depths of forest, saw them both smile up at her “Mamma,” they said in unison.

Luci touched her lips to both their foreheads one after the other, “my precious boys.” she smiled down at them and they both giggled up at her. The sound sent a shiver down her spine, at the slight melodic sound of their laughter, that Siren part of them could already be heard, when they laughed. Alari loved to hear it.

Up they all got. It was a school day today. Breakfast in their bellies, Luci stepped outside the hut to have her morning coffee. She could see the pack from here, just barely, but it was there at the other end of the lake. She had not gone far. This part of lake, though, belonged to the humans, but Alari had claimed it as her own, as it was where she was born. She was an Alpha-blooded Siren, and that lake was now hers as far as she was concerned.

The twins themselves had been born right here inside this one room hut. She’d never returned to the Black Forest Pack, didn’t want to see them with their Mate’s and didn’t want the boys being upset that their fathers loved another, or not understanding why they weren’t with them or Heirs to their father’s Pack.

Which they would not be, not when they were born to their father’s concubine and not their Mate's. Didn’t want them to feel like bastard children, who would likely be shunned by the Luna and the Beta’s Mate. No, she did not want them to feel that. Here was better, close to home if something happened. But not so close as to warrant attention from the Luna and her sister.

Part of her wondered if they had children now, it was likely it had been a long time, and most did not wait on producing an Heir to the pack. Although her boys would be older and should be first in line, those two wolves over there, they had no idea about the twins. She had never told them and was going to keep it that way. There was no need for her to go back. Not when they had Mate's.

Luci hadn’t gone home to her mother and father either, not after it was her father who had tried to Mate her off to a sick twisted Alpha. Then called her foul names when she’d refused to go with him, had run for Rafe and Jack to be safe from him, who her father had then sent her to be a concubine, had washed his hands of her.

The Nightfall Pack was not her home anymore either, and her little brother Thatcher would take over soon enough. He’d be 19 by now, and who knew at what age their father Orien would allow the boy to take over, she hadn’t been home since she was 20. Hadn’t even visited after being sent away.

As she stood staring out across the lake at the pack, Luci didn’t even know if she was still a part of that Pack or not, she never felt any mind-link from the pack to her, was likely too far away for that to work anyway. She’d also not had a single moment of contact with anyone from the pack since Alari had come along.

Didn’t even know how long she’d been down there on the bottom of the lake, had simply emerged from the water right here in front of this fisherman’s hut. It had been run down and looked like no one used it, so they had claimed it for herself. No human had ever come to kick her out and so she stayed, had fixed the place up over time and now it was a nice little home, small by all means, but they were okay with that.

Her eyes moved along the pack territory border and Kali was suddenly up inside her mind, her hearing was attuned to the sound of lots of movement. It was all around her or soon would be, she realised, stepped hastily back inside her hut and closed the door; a feeling of foreboding all around her.

Alari moved forward and started to sing softly, both boys were suddenly at her side, holding her hands. They knew something was wrong, the song Alari was singing was one to divert anything away from them, not to draw them in, soft and subtle likely barely audible to anyone. But she was a powerful Alpha Siren, and she used all her instincts.

Luci twitched the curtain ever so slightly and looked at the edge of the lake, following the shoreline when Alari stopped singing and there, she saw wolves moving on mass in the direction of the pack. There was no way to warn them while Alari was in control and her only thought was to protect her precious boys.

An attack was imminent on the Black Forest Pack. What could she do, nothing was what. She’d not been back in six and a half years, she’d seen and felt the occasional rogues go by. Alari had dispatched one or two herself, and in a way that had shocked both her and Kali, but not the boys, it seemed.

Whatever they were, they understood that they were both Wolf and Siren and accepted it, without issue. Such sweet little boys till one got angry that was. Already little Rafe had an Alpha’s temperament and little Jack was much the same as well, “Mamma?” she heard them say in unison.

Luci squeezed their little hands in hers, for reassurance. This was not the first time she’d watched on as the pack had been attacked, but it had gotten worse of late. There were rogues attacking the pack in larger groups over the past year. But today it was different. These wolves were all in human form. They were not rogues. This today, whatever it was about, was a Pack attacking another Pack. A deadly game.

Kali was anxious, and Alari finally stopped singing. It was barely past sunrise, who the hell was stupid enough to attack in broad daylight and so close to the human world. The Black Forest Pack was not a small Pack either, one of the largest there was, but from what she could tell, so was the pack attacking, and they were moving with a purpose.

“Stay inside.” Luci told her boys, turned and squatted down to look at the both of them. “I mean it.”

“Are they in trouble mamma?” both boys asked, worry etching in their words.

“Maybe, Alari and Kali are going to go and see. Please boys stay inside, do not go outside, not for any reason, no matter what you hear.” ‘are they in trouble’, could only mean their fathers. She had never mentioned them to the boys, but it seemed they already knew.

“Yes mamma.” they both looked worried.

They both knew what to do, if she did not return, but she would. Stepped outside after making sure the boys were safe and out of sight. Turned her eyes to the pack at the far end of the lake, stripped off her clothes. Alari was very fast in the water, they only needed to get within Mind-linking range of the nearest border patrol.

Ran down the jetty and dived into the cold water, Alari shifted to her Siren form, and she was swimming with a fury, towards the other end of the lake. Kali was still anxious, her anxiety was filtering into her and Alari both. If it was war, they might be needed.

As much as Alari had kept them safe and hidden over the years, even from their own pack, today might be the day her Alpha and Beta saw her for what she truly was, a double shifter with incomparable abilities. Strong and fast, stealthy under the water and she Alari was deadly when it came to protecting what was hers. Showed no mercy.

She swam close to the surface, she had caught up easily to the advancing pack. They were not running, saving their energy for the upcoming battle. Shot a head of them, a little deeper in the water so the water would not ripple with her movement and give away her position to any that happened to look towards the lake.

Reaching out with her mind and there it was, the connection to her pack, long ago abandoned but not rejected, slipped up to the surface and focused upon the border, looked at the patrolling wolf and established a mind-link to him. Saw his wolfs head snap right up ‘War is coming now. Eastern border, maybe thirty minutes out, tell the Alpha.’ her words were clear and precise, and urgency filled every word she spoke.

Knew by the way that wolf looked around, they had no idea where it had come from or who, but also knew he would do his job. No one wanted war.

This border was the furthest from the packhouse, it would take them almost an hour to get here, even in wolf form. It was that way on purpose to keep unwanted humans finding the pack and to keep young wolves from unwittingly strolling into the human world, especially the newly shifted.

Alari moved closer to the pack, just her eyes above the surface, watching and waiting. It took only a minute for her to hear their Alpha’s deep rich voice inside their minds. Full of authority as it came down a pack wide mind-link. His voice sent a shiver of pleasure and sadness through the three of them. They’d not heard his voice in years, it brought both pain and a longing to them instantly.

They waited in the water and watched, not willing to reveal themselves unless necessary. Their boys must be kept hidden and safe. They were too young yet to protect themselves from the dangers that might befall them, due to their mixed breeding. Their Alpha blood.

Although Alari and Kali had no doubt they would be amazingly strong, they were still vulnerable at this time. Not yet shifted and had not gained the full powers of Wolf and Siren. Both Alari and Kali agreed the boys would have a full union of their two species. Likely to be the first of their kind and unlikely to be accepted, might be hunted and killed, so hidden is what they were.

Patrolmen were gathering along the edge of the border, a dozen of them, they were not going to be a match for the hundred or so she could see now standing at the ready. Luci watched through Alari’s eyes as a tall blonde-haired man stepped forward. He was the Alpha leading the war; Alpha Victor Sampson of the Bloodless Moon Pack.

Luci huffed. She even knew that sick bastard from her past, one of her father’s poorly chosen allies, but not an ally to this pack. No, Rafe and Jack did not like this man, they also knew neither did she. He was a brute and used underhanded tactics and rogues to do his dirty work.

Her eyes moved back to the pack’s territory. Those patrolmen were all going to die. She could do nothing to save them, at this point. Hoped and prayed that more warriors would come soon. Finally, there was movement, though not many, those closest to the border, she supposed. Another dozen.

Slipped beneath the surface and moved closer, until she was inside the pack’s territory, felt the connection to the place and closed her eyes. All three of them sighed, it had been a long time since they were home. Felt almost comforting, probably would have been, if not for the situation brewing on land.

She stayed beneath the water’s surface, heard the battle begin, it was loud and aggressive, slipped above the surface and saw a m******e happening, a hundred or more wolves and one Alpha and his Alpha Unit all in wolf form now, killing all those trying to defend the border.

Her Alpha and his Unit were not there yet, but the howling in the distance said it all, they were on their way, and it was not just him and his unit, it was likely all he had.

‘Alari please.’ Kali whined at her.

‘Wait Kali, we need to wait for the right moment.’ she stated calmly and matter of factly. Like the s*******r she was seeing before her, meant nothing to her. Luci could feel a cold indifference coming from Alari. They were not her kind, she had no attachment to them, or not really. She was here to help but would not out herself unless absolutely necessary.

Kali herself was itching to be out, to help her fellow wolves. She was an Alpha Wolf and trained to fight for many years. She knew she could help, but even Luci knew that Kali would be no match for that many ‘He’s coming Kali, they are coming.’ she tried to reassure her wolf, who was now prowling around anxiously inside her mind wanting to aid the pack. Knowing her true nature, she actually could. They all could. But only when Alari allowed them to. She was in full control and would be, even when the actual time came, it would be Alari who dealt out the damage.

Something no one around these parts had ever seen before, no one left alive to report it anyway, Alari never left one injured to take back the knowledge of their existence.

‘Here they come.’ she told Kali, seeing wolves from their pack finally racing through the woods and launching themselves into the fight. It was brutal and bloody. Rafe’s big black wolf, Solar, was in the lead with his Alpha Unit right behind him. Jack’s wolf Flare, just as large and impressive as the Alpha Wolf himself. One might even think he was an Alpha Wolf, if one didn’t know them, was the same size, just pure white instead of black.

Alari turned her eyes away from them, as pain touched Luci and Kali at seeing the two of them, for the first time since that dreadful day when their entire world had fallen apart, and a deep-seated loneliness had etched into their very souls. Never to be theirs again, and they themselves would never be anyone’s, didn’t want anyone else, could never have another. It was too late for them.

‘Let it go. I need to focus.’ Alari demanded of them. It had been their heartbreak and sadness that had allowed Alari to come forward that day and she alone could push past it and console them.

That battle raged on. Victor was winning, it seemed. His men were all working in groups of 4, taking down Rafe’s Warriors like precision Alpha Units.

‘Please.’ Kali whined loudly, scratching at their minds, desperately trying to get out. Alari had a firm hold on all of them, she was the strongest of the three. Could hold both of them off if she so chose to.

‘It is time.’ Alari finally agreed, lifted herself waist high out of the water using her tail, to balance along the lake’s sandy bottom, and took in a long deep breath, ‘First, Kali, we will separate and then s*******r together.’

‘Agreed.’ Kali roared inside her mind, ready to join in on the battle.

‘Luci?’

‘Do it.’ Luci agreed also, this would out them to not just their pack but the attacking pack as well. Victor would surely see them, and that vicious bastard would want them for sure, but Rafe was going to lose this battle, it seemed.

Alari’s hands flattened on the surface of the water and she took in a very long and agonisingly painful breath, filled her lungs until not one ounce more of air could be brought in. It was excruciating, her eyes felt hot and Kali and Luci knew they were glowing. She focused on the battle that was raging ‘Alpha step your men back now.’ they roared down the mind-link with all three of them speaking in unison, all of their Alpha Aura flooding down the link at him and his wolf.

Her lungs were burning, as they held in that air, saw his wolf Solar turn and look right at her, Alari did not look all that different from Luci from the waist up, he should recognise her to some degree. Her authority, however, was unmatched and he did listen. All his wolves suddenly retreated back, fled almost. Her words had come with a deadliness, a threat and warning in her tone.

Victor’s wolves stilled not knowing what happened.

The moment their packs wolves were clear, they finally released that breath she had been holding in, causing them to be in agony themselves. A massive sonic whistle emitted from her. It was long and high pitched, it was aimed right at Victor and his wolves, saw him and all of them being force shifted by the shear pain she was causing them, to their wolves' super sensitive hearing, not to mention she was rolling all their Alpha Aura down the sound as well. Intensifying it, tripling what a normal Siren could do.

Did not stop, when they were all shifted back, simply turned her sights on the closest to them and dropped the pitch to a deadly subsonic whistle. Watching on as the wolves started screaming and actively holding their heads, blood was starting to pour out of their noses and ears, then they were falling down one by one as she took direct aim at each one in turn, they were dying before their very eyes.

Not only were those wolves dying, they were turning towards her, drawn to her. She could hear Victor yelling at his men to cover their ears, but that would not help them as much as he thought, and only those far enough away for their call to be faded to them would not be drawn to her.

One third of his men down and dying, and Alari was done with her call. Her eyes moved right to Victors. He was a savage man, who Luci had hated even as a teenager, a good ally to have. He loved a killing field, her father’s most trusted and reliant allied packs Alpha. How he got to be allies with that man she did not know.

He was staring right at her and Luci wondered if he recognised her after all these years. She hoped not, she had nearly been forcibly mated off to that man. All because her father had been mad at her for sleeping with Rafe and Jack when they had gone to her pack for a visit. Did not care for him to recognise her to be honest. Shifted them to their other form, their true form, a fully united wolf and Siren species. Just like the boys would be one day.

Something no one had ever seen before or gotten to tell tales of. She was a large partially humanised wolf who stood tall like a pure-blooded Alpha wolf, who could be half shifted to his beast. She had no fur, still had Alari’s opalescent scales, a hairless half-shifted female Alpha Wolf with the appearance of a Sirens skin.

She stood there staring that man down, her eyes were all black like Alari’s with iridescent green iris’s that shined Kali through as well. All three of them stood staring at the evil man in their true form.

Stepped towards the battlefield and did something only rarely done and only something a pure-blooded Alpha Siren should be able to do, something that for them, they needed to be united to do, because they were a half breed, pulled on the Alpha in all of them to do. Raised their hands up and along with them came the water of the lake, all their fingers outstretched, separating the water into many large drops.

Then they snapped their hands out towards Victor and his remaining army. The water shot across the battlefield at their enemy in a hundred razor-sharp icicles, slicing through and embedding into those wolves before falling away as water once more ‘Now Alpha.’ she roared to her own Alpha and the battle began again.

She stood and watched on from the water, pain ripping through all of them at the power they had used, had to let go of their form and reverted back to Alari, collapsed down into the water, felt like their head was splitting open.

Their eyes, however, never left the battlefield, they were done, a one-time deal so to speak, the only thing left to them, her Siren call. Could see now that Rafe and his men were now winning the battle, having time for the rest of his warriors to arrive, to regroup themselves and were now attacking in much the same manner that Victor had been. Only now her Alpha had more men on the battlefield, they had turned the tide of the war.

Watched as Victor and less than half his men turned and fled from the battle, it was done, over for now. She slipped herself back into deeper water, turned and swam away the moment it was over, felt both her Alpha and Beta try to connect with her. Severed it at will and headed home, swam away along the very bottom of the lake, so not a single ripple would appear on the surface.

No one, to know where she had come from, or where she had gone to. Home to her precious boys. Shift back to Luci the minute they hit the shoreline outside the front of their hut, stepped inside their hut and collapsed down onto the floor “Boys.” she whispered, and they both appeared.

“Mamma?” and sank down on to the ground next to her, one on either side of her. She reached for them both, they were safe, closed her eyes “no school today.” she managed to murmur before darkness claimed her completely.