Becoming Alpha

Chapter 11

Dagger

I arrived trying to go unnoticed. It was always difficult in small packs, as any outsider would be noticed right away, and they normally patrol their borders with care. But there was no one to block my way. That should have made my job easier, but as I moved closer I noticed something big had happened, and I couldn't stop from getting involved. I moved closer to an old lady and tried to find out what was going on.

"Our princess fell into the river," the old lady explained to me when I asked. "She was out with her brother and she fell close to the rapids. She couldn't get out of the water in time, and she was dragged by the current. They said the last time they saw her she was falling in the waterfall, but no one saw her after that," she was at the border of tears.

"You think she drowned?" I asked.

"I hope not, but they haven't found her. Are you going to help with the search?" I haven't planned on that, but I needed to get involved. If she was alive, she was most likely injured and in need of help. We needed to go find her.

"I'll do my best," I promised her, and moved in the direction she gave me.

When I was close to the river, I finally found the people I was looking for. A few warriors were walking down the river bank, and eventually one of them noticed me.

"Who are you, and what are you doing here?" he came at me aggressively. I could understand he was angry, and that he needed someone to fight, but he had chosen the wrong target.

"I'm Dagger, from the UberPack," I said, letting my Alpha aura out, it was so strong he fell on the ground as if a huge weight had fallen on him. "I came here to talk to your Alpha, but I couldn't find anyone, and I was told you were searching, so I came to see if I could be of help," I contained my aura, allowing the warrior to move again. There was no point in trying to go incognito, my priorities had changed. I had to throw out all my plans and go on instinct.

"We lost our princess," he said mournfully.

"The Alpha's daughter?" I asked.

"The previous Alpha's daughter. Our Hope. She had been having some problems, she had a few hard years. She was having a stroll with her brother and fell into the river. We are looking for her, she must have come to shore at some point, but we haven't found her yet," I could tell the warrior was truly worried about the girl, he cared for her.

"The Alpha should know where the members of his pack are," I said. It had been long enough for him to make a connection to his territory and the people in it. "Where is your Alpha?"

"This way, let me take you to him."

I followed the warrior to the waterfall and there I found a man who had to be the Alpha with a group of people around him.

"Alpha, we have a guest," the warrior introduced me.

"I don't have time for guests right now!" the Alpha roared, but he didn't impress me much. I just moved closer to him, testing his Alpha aura and finding it wasn't as strong as mine.

"I'm Dagger, my cousin Ice came here a while ago. I'm just following up on his visit. I heard you need help?" I tried not to antagonize him, because I wanted to be involved in the search.

"I appreciate it, but no help is needed, my people are already taking care of the situation. Why don't you head off to the Pack House and wait for me there," he dismissed me.

"Part of my job is to help packs in need. But I'm surprised you haven't found her yet. Can't you feel her location? Do you think she is already dead?" I whispered to him. I could feel him tensing up, but I wasn't sure of the reason.

"I won't believe she is dead until I find her body," he replied.

"You would be able to feel the death of a member of your pack, right?" I insisted, already feeling something wasn't right about the situation.

"Look, kid, I appreciate your offer of help, but this is my Pack, so let me take care of this myself. I apologize for not being able to entertain you, but right now, as you see, I have other things to do. Take him to the Pack House and make sure he has everything he needs," he told the warrior that had taken me there.

"Of course, Alpha," the warrior said. "Please follow me," he told me, and I followed him. I wanted to help, but I couldn't cause trouble, it would only affect the other's actions and take from the search.

We got to the Pack House, and I saw on our way many people worried about what was going on.

"It looks like everyone is worried about the missing girl."

"We all love her. She had a hard time after her mother's death, and despite everything her father did, she was having a hard time with his death too. We have barely seen her these last weeks, and now she is gone." I felt bad for him because I could tell his pain was real. "I'll go back to help with the search."

"Of course, thank you for bringing me here, and good luck."

I went inside the Pack House, and I found a young woman in the kitchen.

"Who are you?" she asked, and I could tell he was ready to fight me if needed.

"Dagger from the UberPack, here for a visit," I explained.

"We already had some of your people here," a man said. He had a bruise on his face. "And right now it's not a good time. My sister is missing," he said mournfully.

"So you are the son of the previous Alpha. Tell me, did you get that bruise trying to rescue your sister? And for that matter, how did your sister fall into the river?" I asked.

"Look, it's been a difficult day and I'm not in the mood for interrogations. My sister might be injured or, or... look. Just make yourself at home and don't bother us, okay?" he said before walking out.

"You sure picked the worst time to visit," the woman said. "This has been very difficult for my mate and my brother."

"I understand about your mate," I said, guessing she was the Alpha's daughter, "but why would this be hard on your brother?"

"Because he wants her to be his mate. He is going to be the next Alpha of this Pack, and everyone loves her. They are a good match. So yeah, he is worried about her."

I was reminded of Doom's mindset and his anti-True Mates propaganda, and I understood he was still up to his tricks.

"Are they True Mates?" I asked, and I think that she understood her error when I asked. It was a sign of how worried she was that she had said as much as she had.

"Neither has found their True Mates, so I think they should look for a match instead. But there is still time for that, he is only fond of her, as we all are. Now, if you excuse me, I need to go talk to my mate and my brother."

She left, and I knew she was running away. She had said more than she wanted to say, and now I knew of their intentions.

I was starting to suspect that there was something more behind this accidental fall, but there was no way I could find out more about it here. I needed to wait and talk again with the Alpha, and then head back to the UberPack and report the situation.

I couldn't talk with anyone for a couple of days until they finally gave up on the search. They had all assumed that she had been dragged down the river beyond the limits of their territory. I heard they were planning on going outside the territory looking for her, but I had the feeling they weren't going to find her. Something about the situation reminded me of Menace.

"I'm sorry that we couldn't give you the welcome you deserved," Doom told me during breakfast.

"No worries, I was just here to see how things were going, and it looks like your pack is working. At least it looked like they were all working well together during the search. It's a pity that such a young woman has gone missing, I truly hope you find her."

"We will, I'm sure she is alive, she can't be dead, there's no way," her brother said, and again, it struck me as odd that the Alpha wasn't able to know her whereabouts, or at least tell if she was alive or dead.

I needed to go back and tell them about this latest development, no one had been happy to know about Doom's background, and the fact that everyone seemed to like this missing girl, was something to consider.

I don't know why, but on my way back I decided to stop in a nearby town, one that was also on the side of the river. I had a good breakfast at the pack, but still, I wanted to stop at the town's diner and get something for the road. I had no idea what would be waiting for me there.