Two Alphas, One Mate

Damian

“Silver ready?”

“Yes Alpha!” The two rows of men yelled in unison as they made adjustments to their rifles. The back of this armored truck was large enough to fit more of us, but I wanted only a select few to accompany me on this mission.

“Do we really need to wear these Alpha?” Adonis, one of my younger warriors analyzed the thick black helmet sitting on his lap.

“This is a recon mission, I want no one’s face caught on any camera, plus, these are bullet proof, you won’t survive a silver bullet to the head will you?” I questioned.

“No, I guess not...” Adonis placed the helmet on his head, which not only covered his skull, but also shielded most of his face, literally making him unrecognizable, it was almost robotic looking.

“We’re not far now boys, I can practically smell the Crimson fiends from here.” I could feel the bumps in the road intensify, so I knew we were almost there. The edge of the border was rough terrain, but I was fully confident we could make the time, even with all of our gear. We were covered head to toe in black combat gear and gun holsters, which added an extra 50 pounds to carry, but thankfully, it didn’t matter; we were werewolves and our strength, was a hundred times a human’s own.

I peered over at the six men, still fiddling around with their holsters. I analyzed their faces, ensuring that they were mentally ready, because today there was no room for mistakes. Even know I personally trained each of them, I know first-hand how fear can take over one’s mind.

My team was comprised of some of my best warriors in the pack; handpicked for todays mission. The Crimson pack hasn’t been penetrated in decades, and it was about time that I paid them a visit. Alpha Holden has been free from justice for too long, and it was about time I exposed some of his dirty secrets. My father was always too hesitant to attack, which was another disagreement will always fought about, but now that he was dead, it was my decision to make.

“Remember boys, no changing to your wolf unless ABSOLUTLY NESSESARY. I want this to look like a human attack. Thank-fully our scent will be untraceable, but only for a few hours.” An old trick my father taught me when doing reconnaissance missions; it was a concoction of herbs gathered by the nearby forests, comprised of balsam, bellflower and milk thistle.

“4 minutes Alpha, oh, and by that way, can you add some bourbon to that nasty concoction next time? It tasted literally like dog shit.” Eric, my Beta, not even looking up from his computer screen, smirked while he continued typing furiously on his keyboard.

I shook my head and chuckled. He was right, it did take like shit.

“I’ll take it that you agree with me then?” He grinned, but this time he brought his head up from the screen he was buried in, looking at me with his striking blue eyes.

He had a hard exterior; one scar that almost left him blind in one eye. It traced from his forehead, all the way to his cheek bone, just barely grazing his eyelid. It was left by a traitor, and every time I looked at it, I felt a slight sense of guilt.

I had a small scar on my cheek, from a rogue attack years ago, but mine was not nearly as bad and just barely noticeable, while his, stuck out like a sore thumb.

Eric always shrugged it off, calling the scar a ‘battle wound’ that he could brag to the ladies, but deep I was remorseful. I let the traitor go, and Eric got wounded in the process. Sometimes I found myself lurking around in the forests at night, looking, and hoping his traitorous red fur would poke through the bushes so I could finish him off once and for all.

“2 minutes ahead of schedule Alpha- you alright?” Eric voice suddenly snapped me back to reality. He furrowed his eyes brows, with a look of concern. “You sure you’re alright?” He asked again.

“Yea, a-hem,” I cleared my throat and shook my head to regain my composure, “I’m fine, let’s get back to business.”

Eric was the only one who could read me like a book, and to be honest, he was right, I wasn’t myself. The past few days were restless nights; my dreams felt as though they were real, like someone was trying to reach out to me. It was a dark haired woman, but I had not the slightest clue who she was and she constantly consumed my mind.

Eric always joked that a witch was stalking me, but I shrugged him off, my life was for only one purpose and that wasn’t to play games with a woman.

“If you say so,” Eric glanced back at his screen and continued, “I got confirmation last night that Alpha Holden and Beta Iris are visiting Alpha Cyrus, in Red Blood territory– at most, they can get back to their own pack border within an hour, tops. That gives us enough time to achieve our objectives. The house is only filled with warriors and working omegas; no one else. I had a few drones survey the area, and the infrared scans confirmed it.”

“Good work,” I patted my hand on his shoulder as he continued typing on his lap top.

The intel that he gathered for me regarding this mission was invaluable. We were planning to attack when they were most vulnerable, and now, we got confirmation that their Alpha and Beta were both gone. This was a perfect time to strike.

I stood up, and I could see that my men were looking ready; their hardened expressions and rifles were tightly clasped in their arms.

“Remember our mission, we get in, take the intel, then we leave. No extra side missions, and NO killing unless absolutely necessary,” I glance at the few trigger-happy warriors who wouldn’t think twice about it.

Suddenly, Alex, our youngest warrior, stood up with big smirk on his face, “They all deserve it, who cares if a few extra drop.” He glanced around to see if the others agreed with him, but instead their eyes narrowed at the floor in submission.

“EXCUSE ME?” I roared.

I immediately stood up, taking a step towards him, towering over his body like he was nothing. I felt my blood boil with rage; ignorance will be tolerated, especially from my pack warriors.

His cocky grin immediately turned blank, while his already pale face, turned completely white. I could also sense Eric glaring in Alex’s direction, probably surprised he would be so foolish to speak back to me, his Alpha.

“Your ignorance will get us all killed, BOY! You are only here because you are talented with a gun, but it seems your cockiness is getting in the way of your brain.” I grabbed the collar of his vest with one hand, lifting him up with ease. His eyes widened in horror, realizing the mistake he just made.

“This is a warning, question me again, or I’ll ‘DROP’ you instead. You got that Alex?!” My deep demanding voice was followed by awkward silence. Everyone’s eyes were looking to the floor, as Alex remained motionless, his face looking down in shame.

“Yes Alpha.” He mumbled in embarrassment.

I immediately released my grip on his collar, dropping him to the ground. Ares, another young warrior, got down to help Alex. I could see a look of concern on his face as he got Alex back to his feet, like he was seeing a family member get hurt. To be honest, it seemed unusual to see them so close for the past few months, like they were more than friends, but I always brushed it off.

I scowled in his direction as he sat back down beside Ares, his face still looking to floor in shame. I never enjoyed disciplining my warriors, but as the Alpha, you needed to strike fear to maintain the balance of the hierarchy. Wolves needed a leader, not a friend.

Suddenly, there were two loud bangs against the door that separated the cab to the front of the vehicle.

“Alpha, we’re here.” Our driver announced.

“Helmet’s on, it’s going to be a long night.” As I opened the door, everyone began gathering their weapons and gear. I was the last to leave, taking one final glance to make sure nothing was forgotten.

“Perimeter clear Alpha,” I heard Ares voice from outside the truck.

So far so good.

As I stepped outside I was immediately met with a strong gust of wind, the fresh air felt nice, but this was the last place I wanted to be. It reeked of our enemy, and all I wanted to do was get this mission over and done with.

I pulled on Eric’s shoulder as he was making last minute adjustments to his rifle, “Eric, tell the driver to meet us back to extraction, but if things go south, we’ll shift and run back to our territory.”

“You got it.” He nodded and headed back towards the truck.

“Everyone else, its now...” I glanced down at my wrist watch, “02:24, so this mission can no longer exceed 03:24. Assuming Alpha Holden will find out he is under attack, he WILL come, and I do not want to be met by him or any of his commanders, not yet, not until I have the intel. I have confidence you can take on hundreds of warriors, but do not under estimate this Alpha or his superior fighters. If he catches wind that his pack house is under attack, HE WILL COME. It is mere one hour run to get back to his house from Red Blood territory, so every minute counts.”

I unclicked the safety switch under the barrel of my gun, “Safety off boys. Let’s try to do this quiet.” I immediately heard the clicks of everyone’s’ rifles as they disengaged their safeties. Their faces, all focused on me, ready for the signal to go.

“Alpha, our driver is leaving now.” Eric stepped beside me, entering the semicircle of men.

“Eric, any final words before we go?” I peered over at Eric, who had his arms crossed, analyzing our group of warriors.

“Sure thing, um-“ he cleared his throat before continuing, “I have drones still surveying the area, like I said, we are pretty clear, but this pack house is literally a fortress, guarded to a tee. We must stick together to get to the office, located on the second floor. But, on a brighter note, it seems most of the warriors are gone with the Alpha, so this should be a straight forward mission, but knowing how these things go- it might get a little, MESSY.”

“What are we extracting from the office exactly? A hard drive?” Alex asked.

“Oh yes, this hard drive will have to be extracted with my laptop, unfortunately this will take several minutes. Assuming Alpha Holden is paranoid, he will have a fail safe for these type of situations. If I don’t extract the hard drive properly, it will automatically delete itself. Rendering this mission...”

“Useless?” Ares questioned.

“Well, I guess...” Eric replied.

“Sounds like fun.” Alex sarcastically remarked.

“Enough chatter. Barak, Nic, you’re on point with me.” The two older warriors nodded and proceeded to walk in my direction. They have been running missions since the days with my father; they were warriors of extreme class that no one would fuck with, and this was the exact reason they would run point with me in the front.

I glanced over to the remaining younger warriors, “Adonis, Ares, Alex. Take point with Eric, you will be our rear look out until we get into proximity to the house. The forests will most likely be riddled with Crimson border patrols, so lets keep this quiet while our scents are still covered.” The three younger warriors nodded as they stepped towards Eric.

“Business as usual Damian, always to the end.” Eric mind linked to me, as he glanced in my direction.

I nodded back to him. “Always brother, til the end. But I’ll see your ass back at home, drinks on me. No one’s being left behind.” I smirked.

Eric smiled back before falling back with the others; leaving me, Barak and Nic in the front of the squad.

As a leader, I always had to preach confidence, but sometimes, it felt like it could be our last day to live. It was another burden I had to keep to myself, for the sake of my pack.

“Quiet night.” Barak looked up at the trees, swaying back and forth from the strong wind. Other then that, the forest was silent, like the calm before the storm. It was so quiet, not even the animals were scurrying around, and just maybe, they sensed the impending carnage.

“Just like any other night Barak.” I patted his back before continuing forward.

I glanced back to see Eric, already a few hundred yards behind us, but keeping pace with the three young amigos.

“We are already across the border. I guess the patrols haven’t figured we are here yet. I guess that shit tasting concoction of yours worked after all.” Eric mind linked.

“Eric’s right, thankfully they haven’t detected us. We are WELL across the border now, so from now on, only communicate through mind link. I don’t want any border patrol’s hearing our voices.” I linked back to all of the warriors.

“Yes Alpha.” They replied in unison.

“They may have their guard down if they think we are human, but remember this, NEVER underestimate your enemy.” As I said this, I clutched my gun tightly against my chest, focusing in on our surroundings.

“Fenrir to the end Alpha.” I wasn’t sure who spoke those words, but it didn’t matter. I had a million thoughts entering my head as we continued our pace towards the pack house.

It was still an oddly quiet night, like everything around us was dead, or scared. I wasn’t sure, but it didn’t feel right. I couldn’t explain it, but deep down my mind was pulling me closer to the house, and the urge to get there was increasing by the minute.