[HOURS BEFORE PAUL SEES RAVEN IN THE CELL] Paul and Dom led the enforcer group to the central-west club. Down near the old Canadian National Expedition western gates. Streets, small, reminiscent of horse-drawn carts, not cars. Street cars ran east to west on the streets and buses north and south. These were not streets where wolves could wander free in their fur, let alone tear one another apart. But since the city grew past the tiny villages and hamlets into each other and became towns, then cities, and now the Greater Toronto Area, GTA. Wolf shifters and others lurked on every street with businesses alongside those belonging to humans. The social club was one of those businesses. It claimed to be a member only social club. What they meant was they were a social club for supernatural creatures. Here, long before it became legal, alcohol, and gambling ran. People here gamble with more than money. Alpha Jones could buy many things and his buyers often
Hilary stayed on the outskirts and the hidden spots near the Pack House until Alpha Jones departed for business. Hilary entered the Pack House. She couldn’t find Raven anywhere to deal with her. No one would speak to her about Raven. Hilary knew no one would have a problem with her removing her competition from existence. Raven was no competition as she wasn’t a Pack member, but a possession. Alpha Jones’s attention Raven stole from Hilary’s caused her problem. Hilary couldn’t learn about what business Alpha Jones went to deal with or how long he’d be gone. She didn’t know what to do. They didn’t want trouble, so they gave her what she wanted. How could Alpha Jones act like that to her? She had beauty and breeding, unlike Raven, the gutter trash wolf. Raven was all but a rogue. If Hilary spoke, Raven would turn rogue. Hilary knew what it took to lead the Pack. Her mother drummed everything she needed to know into her at an early age. Born and raised
“No, I don’t want you. Leave me alone.” Alpha Jones pushed her away again before he turned to his Beta. “Paul, get me my Pet. Only she is allowed to care for me. It’s her job. Tell her I command it if she gives you any trouble.” “But I’m here to help and care for you Alpha. Me, Hilary. I’m here and I want to assist you like a chosen mate should.” Hilary realized her mistake when speaking to her injured Alpha. He tried to sit up but failed and Hilary cried out in surprise at his actions. The enforcers the Beta mentioned entered to see their Alpha lunging at him. “He’s delusional. Help me.” Hilary said. As she burst into tears as she cried out. “I said LEAVE Hilary! I meant it. You aren’t welcome here. Paul, remove her and ensure she doesn’t return.” “You need someone watching over you Alpha. She’s willing.” “I said bring me my Pet now. She will look after my needs.” Hilary’s outrage packe
Raven didn’t argue with the Beta. She felt glad to leave the cell behind. The stairs were a lot. The Beta led her by the arm. He’d focus on scolding her first, which meant he’d keep hold of her and prevent her from falling. Four floors later, Raven entered Alpha Jones’s living quarters, and the Beta led her into the Alpha’s bedroom. “Where’re the guards? They should be here guarding the Alpha.” He grumbled under his breath. The Beta’s anger was visible to Raven as he pulled her along. “I’m sorry. I don’t know where they are.” Raved had wished to ask why they guarded inside the Alpha’s living quarters and not outside the entrance to it. Raven got her answer when she saw the Alpha in his bed. Alpha Jones looked pale. He’d the look of a wolf in a forced healing state. As an Alpha, his importance to the Pack meant he couldn’t afford downtime for illness or injury if a healer could avoid it. Reality lent its science to this aspect of shifter
“It’s simple. I’ve never had the power to resist in this group. Without Pack status, there was nothing to protect. If I had fought back or tried to defend any claims.” Raven said. She shrugged her shoulders as she watched the Alpha hold her hand. “I had to care for my little belongings, as nobody else would. No, it wasn’t easy. I had to search beyond the Pack to stay alive. If I retaliated against Hilary, I couldn’t control my anger. I’d have killed her.” Her emotion went unnoticed by Paul, which was not to his liking. His wolf’s instincts screamed in his brain that the missing emotion was a red flag. She avoided saying something to him.“The Alpha claimed you refused to join Pack or him. Paul said. He felt his curiosity rise when it appeared as if her words and the Alpha’s didn’t match. He wanted to know how she explained the conflicting explanations. “Is that what he told you? I wonder if he knows how wrong that is. Or did someone lie to him about that, and h
“This is insane. How dare they invade and establish themselves in our territory? Alpha Klyne asked. “The nerve of these humans was unbelievable to him.” Local humans hated the Red River Pack so much that he’d do anything to push them out of the area. The Pack needed their territory and baring keeping that, they’d need fresh territory. Yet, the Humber Valley Pack had already established their claim on that territory. “They claim they inherited the property and have reclaimed it.” Dale, his Beta, spoke over the phone with him. Alpha Klyne felt disheartened and annoyed with Alpha Jones. He’d never expected things to unfold as they had, and he’d come unprepared for a fight. “That’s ridiculous. It’s impossible. Our Pack has existed in this territory for five generations. Shifter generations, not humans. These humans are liars.” Alpha Klyne said. He protested the unfair treatment of his people by their long-time neighbors. The humans screamed and complain
Raven sat beside Alpha Jones as he rested on his bed. She couldn’t do anything else because he wouldn’t release her hand. He gripped it to his chest, relying on it as a lifeline or tether. Releasing it would mean being lost somehow. That’s the impression Raven had of Alpha Jones’s actions. Raven doubted he knew how his wolf acted. She was unsure if he acted as a wolf and his wolf tried to claim her as his. While his human half ignored and resisted their mate bond. When Alpha Jones awoke, Raven knew nothing had changed between them. No one told her how he received his injuries or what state his injuries were in. So, there she sat. Watching him to ensure that he didn’t take a turn for the worse. Unknowing, what would signal a turn for the worse? Raven could feel an ache in her heart from the fear she might miss something. She had no right to demand answers or actions. She was to blame for putting herself in a position like this. Nothing new there. Rav
“I’m on it. I’m sorry and I’ll get this fixed right away.” The Delta returned to his computer and began working. He should his head in disbelief at what he’d learned. Alpha Jones had announced yesterday that he didn’t have a chosen mate. Hilary campaigned to ensure every Pack member knew she believed herself the next Luna by becoming his chosen mate. “I want her confined and waiting for Alpha Jones before he awakens. Am I understood? I need to know who disobeyed my command. Heads will roll. Hilary disobeyed my command for the third time. I won’t have her running around her attacking people and lying about her position within this Pack. Get this fixed.” He left the command center. The kitchen was his next stop, and it didn’t take him long to have a tray of food prepared and he delivered it in person to Dom’s living quarters. When he entered, he found Dom sleeping undisturbed, with Raven in what appeared to be a death grip. She slept on top of the covers at an awkward angle, not