Maximus

Maximus  I look down at the paperwork on my desk, being the King Alpha of all the reigning alphas in the territory I have a lot of work to do, all the damn time. It is extremely boring and half the issues are so petty, it’s a waste of my time to have to go to the packs to sort them for their alphas. Alphas are supposed to be commanding and powerful. Not relying on others to fix their mistakes. The problem at hand is from Alpha Conrad, he has been having rogue sightings every other day and they keep attacking his land. He has asked, no, begged me to come help him. As  King Alpha I have a duty, an obligation to help my packs out in anyway I can. I will be leaving tomorrow morning for Conrads land, a mere four hour drive. Still I was not excited.  All I want to do is relax at home, watching the young ones play from a distance. I long for my mate. I became Alpha so early, when my Father Alpha before me died in a rogue attack, protecting his family. My mother and I survived. I shifted the next full moon, taking over his role as Alpha. The youngest Alpha in history at the age of twelve. I am twenty-four now. Werewolf’s usually find their mates at the age of eighteen, but I have had no luck.  I close the folder on my desk and mind link Kayden, my Beta ‘Make sure everything is ready for tomorrow, we leave at sunrise’  ‘Of course Max. I’ll have it all ready’ He mind links back. There are only three people I allow to call me Max, my mother, my Beta Kayden and my Gamma Nathan, they are brothers. Max, short for Maximus, the name means ‘Greatness’. I have a reputation of being the most powerful werewolf of our time. Even my name demands power. I sigh and stand up, my back cracking from sitting at my desk all night. I want to go for a run, let my wolf out but I have to get some rest.  Maybe tomorrow, I say to my wolf, Storm. He just grunts at me. He is not very sociable. We have an understanding that I don’t bug him if he doesn’t bug me, it’s been working out fine so far.  I walk through the pack house to my room. I live on the third floor, by myself. My Beta and mother are on the second and the people who wish to live in the pack house are on the main level. I don’t demand all my pack to stay here if they don't want to, they can move into homes of their own. The only ones who are currently here are the of age unmated wolves. There’s about fifteen of them. I get to my room having a shower before I crawl into my oversized bed. It feels so empty without someone to share it with. With great difficulty I fall asleep, it’s past 3AM when I finally drift off. Morning comes too soon. I hear a soft knocking on my door. I get out of bed and open it up, brushing my hand through my hair.  “I tried to mindlink you but you were out cold. We are ready to go” Kayden says as he hands me a coffee cup. I gladly take it from him, chugging it down. I get dressed quickly. I never overslept, this was unusual. Maybe I am just over tired, I tell myself. I feel my wolf stirring inside me. He is anxious but I put it to not being out in week.  We get in the trucks and head to the Pinewood Pack. The name alone makes me want to gag. Who would name their pack after a tree. It shows no power, unlike my own pack. The Night Riders pack instilled fear into the hearts of men. I am bored already, an hour into the drive. I pull out the folder on the pack again scanning it over. “Do we have any idea why the rogues keep attacking this particular pack?” I asked “They probably pissed off someone” Nathan my Gamma says.  “It would make sense” I agree. After another few hours we finally arrived at the borders, the patrol waves us through without so much as a second glance. That is a problem, I thought to myself.  “Make a note to speak to Conrad about his patrols disregard to outsiders coming and going from their territory” I say out loud to my Beta and Gamma. They stay silent, but I know they are making a mental note.  My wolf starts to stir up again, I tell him to settle down. We will go for a run when we can, we are here to work. We get to the mansion, if you would call it that. It looked more like a large farm house. Tattered and worn away. It was a large house, about three floors with a patio that wrapped around it. There were children playing on a tire swing tied to an old tree. It was a nice view. Conrad emerges from the house with his Luna, Tracy. They walk towards me, both bowing.  “Thank you so much for coming on such short notice King Maximus” Conrad says as he straightens up.  “I don’t know if you remember my mate, Tracy” He gently pushes her forward, she gives a nervous smile. She avoids eye contact with me, I nod and greet her. “Luna.”  She bows once more and excuses herself from us.  “So we need to start immediately. We should hunt them down tonight!” Conrad exclaims. “You dare give your King orders?” Kayden growls at him. “I- I no. I was j-just thinking. We can take care of the problem once and for all now that you're here. Please forgive me King. I meant no disrespect..” He stampers out, he is terrified and I haven’t even done anything yet. Good. I walked past him up the steps.  “I would like to rest for a while, before deciding what I’m going to do” I say as I pass him “Y-Yes of course..I’ll show you to a room” He hurries behind me.  ‘Ask sound for anything suspicious’ I mind link Kayden and Nathan.  ‘You got it’ They both reply.  Conrad leads me through the house, it’s like a maze, every turn looks like the last. My wolf is going crazy now, I get a very soft scent tickling my nose. Pineapples and Lilacs? It is very faint, almost non existent, but due to my heightened senses, a normal werewolf would have missed it, but I don’t.  Conrad shows me to a dingy room, before walking away in a hurry. I wait a few minutes before sneaking out of the room, determined to find the source of the intoxicating smell. I walk through the halls, following my nose. The house is mostly empty, the few people I come across give me a low bow before scurrying off. I go up a flight of stairs, through more hallways, then another set of stairs. I come to a stop outside a door, it’s locked. I quickly gripped the handle giving it a swift tug, it opened under my strength. I walked down a small hallway, coming to a second door, the smell was stronger now, intoxicating me completely..  Storm was starting to freak out, trying to come to the surface.  “MATE!” He cries in my mind. The door has a slot in it, and a window, it’s latched closed. I gently pry it open, it creaks.  “Hello?” A small weak voice calls out. “Hello” I say, voice cracking as I speak.  “Who is that? What are you doing here?” She speaks again, her voice is weak but she sounds like an angel.  “My name is Max, what’s yours?”  “Annie…” She whispers. “That’s a beautiful name” I smile, repeating it in my head. Annie. “You shouldn’t be here. You will get in trouble. I’ll be in trouble”  Panic is laced in her voice. “Why would you be in trouble?” I am suddenly outraged by this.  “I’m not… allowed to speak to anyone”  I grip the door handle tightly. I have to hold myself back from ripping it off the hinges.  “I’ll be back Annie” I say as I turn back down the hallway. I need to figure out why she is up here. Hidden away. I need to calm myself and my wolf down before I scare her.  I mind link Kayden.’Find anything interesting?’  ‘Not really, what about you?’ ‘My mate.’  ‘What??? That’s awesome!! Where are you?’ ‘Coming down, meet me in the yard. We need to talk’ I quickly make my way outside, finding Kayden and Nathan both waiting for me. “Wait, I thought you found your mate, where is she?” Kayden asks, surprised. “She’s locked up in the attic. I want to find out why”  “Locked up?” Nathan is just as confused as I am. “Yes, I am going back up, and getting her out of there. Go find Conrad. He has some explaining to do”  I turn on my heels, going back to the house. I make my way back upstairs, up to the attic.  “Annie?” I ask “Max? I told you, you need to go. I don’t want to get in trouble.. I can’t handle it…” Her soft voice breaks. I sense she is crying. I rip the door off the hinges and step inside.  The room is dingy, dusty and dark. There is a lamp on a small table, it has an empty plate and glass sitting on it. A small cot is in the corner of the room. A bucket is on one side of the room, I smell urine.. Don’t tell me she has to relieve herself into a bucket?  The other side of the room holds a second bucket, it has a washcloth draped over its side. The rest of the room is empty. How long has she been up here for? Why was she here to begin with? She looks up at me, she is so small, and bony. She has long brown hair, coming to her waist. Big hazel eyes stare at me. She is curled up on the floor, looking like a small cat. “What are you doing?” She asks “I’m taking you away from here!” I  close the distance between us, standing in front of her now. I long to touch her, to hold her. She is beautiful, even in this sickened state.  “But why?” She asks bewildered, her pale face and lack of meat on her bones, makes her eyes pop out of her head a little bit.  “Because you are my mate”  She clutches her chest with her hand, forming a fist. She starts to breath heavily, in a panic like state. She is hyperventilating. After a moment, I feel a sudden pain in my own chest. Like my heart is in a vice grip, being squeezed. The pressure makes me stumble, I look at her, realizing it’s not my pain, but hers. I am feeling what she is feeling. Being a strong Alpha I can feel the emotions of those around me. It’s never been this strong before though, I’ve never felt physical pain before, the mate bond must be connecting us.  She passes out, her small body falling, I reach out and catch her before she crumbles to the floor.