The Alpha's Fight

Chapter 9 - This Individual Could Be Tricky

Scott, Jayden and I gawked at the landscape in front of us. The few late summer blooms caught the light of the near-full moon among the grasses in the meadow. The fresh scent of crisp air flowing down from the hills carried no trace of a werewolf scent. We were definitely clear of Monkshood Moon pack borders. We hadn’t clambered our way for too long, half an hour maybe at most, so we couldn’t be more than a mile past the scent markers denoting our boundaries. But we would be far enough should anyone we knew need an escape.

‘Do you think anyone knows about this?’ Jayden asked, her wolf head and nose twitched at all the new scents.

‘I doubt it. There’s nothing in the air that suggests anyone has been here in a while. All I see are animal trails through the meadow,’ Scott answered, casting his keen eyes over the area.

‘Not to be a buzzkill, but we’re on the clock here,’ my wolf interjected. ‘If the patrol catches us, we’re royally f****d. And you can kiss this secret escape goodbye.’

Damn, Hawk was right. And if any of our parents had trouble mind-linking us, they'd know it was because we had strayed well away. Mine and Scott's wolves were barely a year old and still developing. Our mind-link was still growing, expanding; we couldn't yet communicate at the same sort of distances that the more mature wolves could.

‘Come on, let’s get back before we’re busted,’ I urged, leading us towards the crevice we had emerged from.

At the original opening we had entered, I told the others to wait and allow me to go first to make sure the coast was clear. Once the passing patrol had gone, we moved out, high-tailing it back to our respective homes.

‘We should go back to that spot some time, just get away from the pack,’ Jayden mind-linked as we ran.

No,’ I rushed out. ‘We need to keep it as unused as possible. We can’t give any indication that there’s anything there.’

‘I’m with Hunter on this,’ Scott agreed. ‘It could be a handy escape for us, if we need it.’

‘I was actually thinking bigger than that. It could be a way out for others, pack members like us.’ How many other ‘secret passages’ were we likely to find? This could be the only way out.

*

*

*

“So what do you think?” I asked Imogen as we walked to school together the following morning.

"If your Alpha wolf managed to fit, others would too. Sloane thinks she might have found a guy on the tracker team," she emphasised the word 'guy'. "But it'll take a while for her to buddy up till he tells her anything. He's from the other pack."

She whispered her last words in my ear. White Leaf pack, the pack to our north that had been captured for their she-wolf Alpha heir, was a name banned from being spoken aloud.

To say Imogen had been terrified of me a few short days ago, you would never have known it now. She comfortably had her arm linked around mine and she chatted away happily. Had this been any other she-wolf, with the exception of Jayden, I'd have wanted to run as far as possible or the familiar feeling of self-disgust would have raised its ugly head. But I could honestly say I almost enjoyed her company.

We parted ways at my locker where Scott and, surprisingly, Jayden were stood waiting for me; we had most of our classes together today. She pulled me down to kiss my cheek goodbye and strode away to her own locker just down the hall. I found I didn't mind it at all. She was like a cute little sister, even though she was a few weeks older. I turned to grab what I needed for first period, only to find my two friends staring at me, dumbfounded.

"What the f**k did we miss?!" Scott hissed, trying and failing to keep his voice down.

"Huh?" I replied, confused.

Jayden waved her hands, pointing in Imogen's direction as though it should have been obvious.

"Oh s**t!" I finally realised. "I never told you!" Jayden's shift last night had completely taken precedence.

"Yeah. We figured that one out already," Scott whisper-yelled.

‘Not here though,’ I glanced around, seeing the equally astounded faces of other students that were brave enough to look my way. Including Bernice's. Damn, she had better not give Imogen any grief.

I pulled them both into an empty classroom, making sure the door clicked closed behind us and that no one was listening in from the other side. I told them everything about Sloane and Imogen offering to be my 'beard', without revealing their relationship. Just as I hadn't told the girls of Jayden's situation, they weren't my secrets to tell. However, my two friends in front of me easily guessed what was truly going on between the two women.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa. Are you telling me you're having some three-way with a pair of lesbian she-wolves?" Scott stared at me in awe. "Goddess, can I just be you for one day and live out this fantasy!"

"You're a sick pup," Jayden punched him in the arm.

"Damn straight… oh ha, get it?!" He laughed at his own dumb unintentional pun.

"Sorry to burst whatever perverse bubble you got going, but there is literally nothing romantic going on," I raised a brow at his ridiculous notion he had conjured up.

The bell rang, signalling it was time to head to class. "We'll talk later and I'll introduce you to Imogen properly… and maybe tell her to give you a wide berth," I shoved Scott playfully.

'How come you're in today, anyway?' I mind-linked Jayden, now that she had the ability and we weren't safely secluded anymore.

I would have thought she'd be off school for a few days while she recuperated from her shift last night. It normally knocked most new wolves out for a chunk of time. I slept for a full 30 hours following my shift.

'My dad's at home,' she huffed. 'So it was either suffer there or suffer here. School felt the lesser of two evils, even though I'm dying to go pass out in an empty classroom.'

For lunch later in the day, we all sat outside once more, given the warm sun above. Under the trees in our usual spot away from others, Jayden hadn't wasted a second in asking Imogen outright about her and Sloane. And Imogen had been incredibly understanding of Jayden's predicament too, not that I anticipated anything else. She had just finished telling them the tale of how we came to be in this arrangement and my complete initial cluelessness of what a 'beard' was.

"...And he actually blushed! He's so adorable and innocent," Imogen grinned, pinching my cheek.

I completely stalled, "Hey! I…uh…"

'Have no argument whatsoever, do you?' Hawk ridiculed my stuttering state.

"I… I'm not adorable," I frowned, slightly regretting that I had lost all my intimidation factor in front of her now.

'Wow… you definitely told 'em,' my wolf slow-clapped.

"Oh my goddess! You're even cuter when you sulk," Imogen, completely delighted, poked my cheek.

"Quit it!" Goddess, this woman had a fixation.

"You're in the phase of 'wondering how you ever found him frightening' aren't you?" Jayden grinned her way, and the two of them shared some knowing look.

"Yes!" The little she-wolf burst out laughing once more.

I was regretting this whole arrangement. This was going to be my life now.

'Can you keep an eye on her? Just in case any of the other wolves hassle her or start mouthing off in jealousy,' I mind-linked Scott as we walked back to class after lunch.

'Sure, but I doubt anyone will risk pissing you off. I take it you'll do more than pout at them,' he sniggered.

Yep, my entire image had gone up in flames. It wasn't as though he didn't know what I was truly like, anyway. In front of us, Imogen was busy talking Jayden's ear off, not that she looked like she minded.

"...You have to meet Sloane! She'll love you! And if you want to try with the trackers, she'll be a big help. Plus, she has amazing taste, so maybe she can help figure out your style and what not?..."

I could tell that now they knew the truth of each other, they were going to become incredibly close friends. Jayden really needed some female friends too. Scott and I were useless when it came to anything remotely feminine and could offer no help or advice.

Although, maybe there was one thing I could help with. I had been thinking on it all day and had secretly searched on my phone, using incognito mode to avoid anything on my search history. Puberty blockers could be the first step in helping prevent her from developing the masculine traits she was dreading. The initial shift triggered an entire chaotic mess of hormones to surge, like a second puberty that werewolves, unfortunately, had to endure. Such treatments were never going to be found in the pack and would have to come from outside.

And there lay the problem.

My father had recently been dealing with a talented but somewhat secretive individual. One who seemed able to procure virtually anything he was tasked with; a black-market data broker. If anyone could get hold of something like puberty blockers for a werewolf in an oppressive pack, it would be that individual. Only, I didn't know his name… or his number… or really any way to contact him… or if I could trust him… or if he would even help… the idea was increasingly coming under the heading of 'seemed like a good idea at the time.'

"Why don't you guys go ahead? I need to talk to Jay about something," I said to Scott and Imogen as we set off out of the high school grounds having gotten through the day.

"...What's up?" She asked once we were alone, sounding a little perplexed.

'I was thinking on something all day but it's probably a really stupid idea…' I began and explained everything I had looked up and about the potential guy that could help. Unsurprisingly, she had already looked into puberty blockers and even cross-s*x hormones in addition. '...It could be dangerous. He might try and cheat you, or worse, we might be found out… but he also might come through.'

I could see the war taking place in her eyes, the internal argument taking place between her and her wolf.

'I… I don't know about any of this…' she looked as terrified as the day we first spoke.

'I'd never tell who they were for. The risk would all be on me,' I reassured. 'Even if he went running to Nicholas, I'd never give up your secret.'

'I can't ask you to do that, Hunter.'

'You're not. I'm offering to be an i***t,' I tried to make her laugh at what was a shitty and tense topic.

'I'll think about it, ok?' She eventually said, slipping into silence immediately afterwards.

My next issue was how to find out the phone number when I had no idea where my father kept it. The most likely place would be his personal cell phone, but how the hell would I get hold of it and go through it?

This black-market data broker could be tricky…