Chapter 5: Alpha Rising

Neal held the door open for Tina at Gracie's Diner, just as a loud shattering of ceramic ripped the air from inside the small cafe. He forced his way into the diner and past several customers, Tina right behind him, as he tried to discover what happened. As soon as he managed to shove a path through the onlookers, he saw Alanna Bradbury standing over one of Bane's men, her hand around his throat as she pressed him down on the table she had apparently just dumped him on. By the look in her eyes, the wolf inside of her was the one about to shred the man's throat.

"Alanna!" Neal yelled as he moved to her side, grabbing her arm and trying to force her off the other man before she shifted and caused even more of a scene. He had no idea what the guy's name was or why the redheaded wolf shifter was ready to kill the man, but Neal wasn't about to tolerate this type of madness in his town. "Get off him!"

Alanna turned to face him, her eyes holding the hunger of a predator ready to make the kill. "Go away," she growled. "This doesn't concern you."

"I'm alpha of Bull Creek," he reminded her in a harsh whisper as if that alone would make her realize the crazy factor of her behavior and back down and obey him. "This very much concerns me." He glanced around at the other customers, giving them a smile he hoped would reassure them that everything was under control. "You don't need me to call Sheriff Einstein, do you?"

Alanna twisted her head threateningly as she sneered at Neal. "He'd do a hell of a lot more for the people of this community than you ever will." She turned back to the man on the table, growling at him. "You need to watch your mouth, or your boss will be minus one henchman." She pushed at him as if she could shove him through the table and then backed away, facing Neal. "You're not the alpha of this area, and you know it. You're merely a pup on a leash, and we both know who's pulling the chain on the other end. I will not stand by and watch decent people get hurt or bullied." She moved around the table until she stood in front of Neal, her head cocked to the side as she raked her gaze over him. "If you were actually an alpha, then schmucks like this jackass wouldn't feel the freedom to insult others."

The man she had accosted slid from the table, giving Alanna a wary glance before slinking away. If he would have been in his coyote form Neal knew the man's tail would be between his legs. Alanna had that effect on people at times, even him. Neal couldn't help it; he squirmed under her scrutiny, worried she was about to attack him and make a bigger scene in Gracie's Diner.

No one knew why Alanna Bradbury found her way to Bull Creek. She appeared one day, surly and easily agitated, keeping mainly to herself. She had few friends and was usually found in a corner at Everglades, a paranormal bar in Holopaw, which was the next town over to the west. Neal tried approaching her once to uncover her mysterious tale, but she merely told him to fuck off and walked away. They stayed clear of each other ever since.

Until now.

Neal took a deep breath. "Bane doesn't run Bull Creek," he said, once he knew his voice wouldn't tremble. "I do."

Alanna gave a small snort of laughter, then pointed to Tina. "She runs you, and Bane runs her. Therefore, Bane runs Bull Creek. That won't work for me. I'll run myself thanks. I didn't leave one failing pack just to get stuck in another. You're not my alpha. You're not anybody's alpha. You're merely a pawn in someone else's game."

"Neal is the alpha of Bull Creek," Tina snapped as she moved closer to Neal, trying to insinuate herself between him and the redhead. "You'd do well to watch how you speak to him. Show some respect."

Neal touched Tina's arm, holding her back as he turned to the other patrons in the diner again, smiling. "Sorry for the disturbance folks," he said. "Enjoy your breakfast." He pulled on Tina's arm, steering her toward a table in the back. "Let's sit down, love. I'm sure Alanna has things to do."

"Respect is earned," Alanna said, ignoring Neal and facing off with Tina, barring her from passing so easily. "And Neal has earned nothing but scorn and ridicule." Alanna turned her gaze up to Neal. "I'll never stop standing up for the people of Bull Creek. Someone needs to stand in the gap between them and Bane, and that someone certainly isn't you." She shoved by them, pushing Neal so he spun sideways slightly.

Tina started to snatch at the woman, but Neal caught her arm and kept her from connecting. "Let her go. This isn't the time or place for this."

Tina spun on him, her mouth open in disbelief, eyes narrowed. "You're just going to let her talk to you that way and leave? She needs to be put in her place."

"She needs to cool off," he said as he turned and made his way to the table, asking the server he passed for coffee. "Everyone has a right to their opinion. She just doesn't see the bigger picture." He shrugged before sliding into his seat. "Alanna's always had a soft spot for the underdog. I think it has something to do with why she's here. Remember how she was when Eve Hartlow first arrived?"

"Eve is weak, humanly weak," Tina said from her side of the table. "Another reason she shouldn't be in Bull Creek. Coddling her will only get her hurt."

Neal shrugged, doing his best to remain calm and help his mate see what he saw. "You say coddling, but I bet Alanna would say protecting. It's all a matter of perspective."

"You're agreeing with her?" Tina stared at him with disbelief covering her face. The other diners had returned to their meals, the dramatics over, as two teenage boys cleared up the broken dishes.

Neal shook his head. "No. I agree with you, but I can see Alanna's point of view. It's part of my job not to remain closed off to other views. Bull Creek is full of predators, especially since your coyote pack arrived. However, don't you think everyone has the right to make up their own mind whether living here is worth the risk or not? We can't decide where people live."

"Bane says we can," she said as she settled back in her chair. "He says as alpha, it's your job to send people away if they can't survive here among the supernatural to protect them. He says you're failing them if you don't send them away. He says you have to make people obey you or they'll never see you as their alpha."

Neal gave a soft laugh. "Seems Bane says a lot."

She shot her gaze up at him, eyes wide as she sat straighter in her chair. "He's alpha of a pack. He knows the responsibilities that come with your position."

"He may know some of those responsibilities," Neal told her. "But he doesn't know them all. His goals differ from mine. Running an entire town is not the same as running a pack. You have to take more things into consideration, especially different personalities like Alanna's."

"She doesn't respect you," Tina said with a shake of her head. "I don't like it. What if others follow her example?"

Neal reached out, taking Tina's hand in his and squeezing it. "I appreciate you wanting to defend me, but I promise, I'm fine. I don't need Alanna's respect, just her restraint when it comes to making scenes in public."

"You need her obedience," Tina pushed. "It sets a bad precedent. Others may think they can do whatever they want and then this will be just like any other town, and the humans will once again hunt shifters. That's not what we want."

The server arrived then with their coffees, and Neal decided it best to just let the matter drop. He glanced toward the front of the diner where Alanna had disappeared. She didn't understand the danger to humans around predators like Bane as much as he did. She held a naïve view of the world, and it clouded her focus. She couldn't see that Neal was really trying to protect the humans by helping them to see they were safer if they lived somewhere else. At least, that's what he kept telling himself.

Hopefully, he would start believing it himself.