An Alpha's Obsession

Chapter 3

Ella rushes up to me mid-game, “Mid-life crisis at the alpha house? I smelled something fishy around it. Even though my pack senses aren’t all that great.”

            The fact that Ella was a female speaks volumes. She got the human gene from her mom and is now what most of us call a gene carrier. Carrier for short. I’m a gene holder. Most people refer to my kind as ‘having the gene.’           

            I squint as the headlights sweep the field. “It was alpha business. They saw me…well… you know the drill.” I half-heartedly do a toe touch and ruffle my pom-poms to get the coach off my back.

            “Is that all to tell?”

            I shake my head vigorously, “The alpha that was there kissed me.” Coach Oates looks over and sees us talking. Her eyes narrow and Ella rushes back to her spot. So much for getting Oates off my back.

            I wasn’t able to talk to Ella anymore than that, I'm afraid. I left her with a bad impression. Ray drops me off at my house and I hurry to my bed. I'm not going near those men, or my family for that matter, until that stranger pack is gone.

            I wake up breathing heavily. I often have nightmare, so I'm very used to them at this point, but this dream in particular is so realistic. The nightmare leaves me sweaty and scared.

            I sit up in my bed and my hair tumbles into my face. I swear quietly, even after the game, all the sweat, and 2 showers with fragrant shampoo, I still smell of Tony. “Calm down, Kay. You need to just go back to sleep. The dream wasn’t real.” I encourage myself and lay my head back down on my soft pillows.

            I give up trying to go back to sleep five minutes later. I drag myself out of bed and shuffle silently outside. The sky has no traces of clouds, and the moon lights up the night. I inhale the fresh air free of wolf scents and push it out in a gentle sigh.

            It is a perfect night for a run, and I can almost hear the moon calling me. I walk deeper into the woods behind my house.

            The woods are the only place the pack can run freely as wolves. The humans are scared to venture out this far because of the legend. The legend is about huge monster that are larger than wolves living in the woods. They prey on small children and old people. I thank my many ancestors everyday for not being careful and being spotted by humans. The rumors just circulated quicker with the whole eating people part. We never eat humans, it’s inhumane.

            When I am positive that no one decided to walk at night and if they did, they cannot see me, I take my pajamas off and place them under a tree. I start running as fast as I can to the heart of the woods.

            Before my tenth step, my feet aren’t touching the ground anymore. Four big, hairy, brown paws are instead.

            I really enjoy being a wolf. I have loved it since the first time I shifted. When I was a kid, I used to stay as a wolf in the comfort of my own home, but after my 11th birthday, I realized my wolf was simply too large to romp through the house without breaking something.

            I run, run, run. No directions, no place to go, just the wind blowing over my fur. Running has always been what I like to do most. And I am pretty good at it, even the fastest wolf in the pack has to try really hard to keep up with me, and even then, they can’t do it.

            I stop running and sniff the air. Someone is here. I sniff again, trying to figure out who. Whatever it is, it’s not pack, I realize. The scent was metallic, like the taste of blood. It is moving close. I sniff one last time. The scent is metallic, old, and it smells dead.

            Vampire. I realize it a little too late. I have no time to hide. It knows I'm here. Then I guess I have to stay and fight. There are no other options.

            Lupina are capable of killing vampires. But vampires can also kill Lupina. In a fight between a vampire and a full-grown male Lupina, the chances between kill or be killed are half and half.

            Wolves have to decapitate the monster and leave the body out for the sun and the head has to be put in a different location. If it is too close, the vampire will come back with a vengeance. The vampire will not rest until it has caught the Lupina and drink its blood until the Lupina is dryer than the Sahara.          

            I can do it, I tell myself. But I'm not a full-grown Lupina nor am I male, another part of my brain says dryly. I'm so screwed.

            The vampire emerges with a feral smile. It is a tall and skinny man. Anyone who sees him walking around would think that he cannot do much harm at all. well he is a vampire, he looks to be in his mid-forties, but I’ll go out on a limb here and say he is way older than that, and he will kill tonight.

            “Oh, what is such a pretty dog doing outside at this time? Did your owners forget to leave the doggy door open again?” He laughs harshly. I can sense him blood thirst.

            I growl at him, baring my sharp, white teeth. He backs up, but in less than a second, he recovers and flashes his elongated fangs. He comes rushing at me, prepared to kill me the first chance he has.

            The first thing I do is get out of range of his teeth, and clamp down on his shoulder with my strong maw. He screams out in pain and reflexively grabs my throat with his other hand. He struggles to pull me away from his shoulder, but I refuse to let go. No matter how much it hurts.

            He changes his holding by grabbing my ruff and yanks me off of him. Once he accomplishes this, he throws me off of him with a scream. He notices a large chunk of meat I took off of him. My paw lands under my body. Pain ricochets up and down my back  as I continue to move and hit a large boulder. I can no longer move.

            My sight starts to fade, and I cannot think straight, but I certainly am not hallucinating when a white wolf comes out of the wooded area and tears the vampire’s head off in one fell swoop.

            The wolf shifts back and turns to face me as a human. In his vibrant blue eyes, I can see how anxious he is. He runs to me, talking to me, telling me to stay awake.

            My body shifts back, attempting to heal slowly, “I can’t…” my voice trails off with fatigue. My back hurts so much. I feel paralyzed. My eyes shut slowly, letting my consciousness slip away from me. “Tony…”

            “I'm right here, Kaya.” Is the last thing I hear.