Two Alphas, One Mate

Damian

We climbed down three more floors to the twenty first and not a soul was seen. There were countless empty beds, and rooms, clearly evacuated from previous patients. Remnants of patients’ belongings littered each floor, telling Adam and I that everyone left in such a rush they never had the time to pick up anything. Purses, bags, clothes, and even food trays were left to turn cold.

I wondered if this was all Holden’s doing. Did he really evacuate an entire hospital for Diana?

“There’s something wrong, it’s too quiet, and not a word from Eric or Aaron.” Adam was losing his patience, kicking a tray full of fruit and soup to splatter across the empty hallway.

I followed a rogue cherry that travelled near my foot, then looked backed to Adam who was breathing heavily. “We still need to be sharp, don’t lose your cool. We’re getting closer, I can smell her.”

“I can too… I just don’t understand why this entire building is empty.”

Among all the fruit Adam knocked over, there was something that caught my attention. I picked it up and realized it was an empty shell casing. It was out of place considering that there were no signs of bodily injury, and as far as I could tell, every floor we explored so far has looked normal apart from no signs of life.

I inhaled the metal casing, closely holding it up to my nostril. It was fresh, and the metal was warm, which meant that we weren’t far off.

“Was someone shot you think?” Adam looked over my shoulder to the shell casing that I was examining.

“No.” I threw the piece of metal to the ground and kicked it away. “It was a warning shot.” I looked up to the ceiling to see a bullet hole, not much the size of a penny.

“Silver?”

“Of course, I can smell it all around us. He knew we were coming.”

“Then where the fuck is he?”

“Damian? You there?” Eric’s voice suddenly entered my mind.

“Eric?!” I paced the hallway by the elevator entrance in a panic. “Where the fuck have you been?! I thought you were dead.”

“I’m sorry… I went back for Loki… Long story that I can tell you afterwards because we need to get out of this building ASAP. I don’t know how Holden managed to get a call out, but he has reinforcements enroute from his territory, and I’m afraid if we don’t vacate in twelve minutes we will be completely surrounded.”

“How is this possible? Where the hell is Aaron? Did you at least send him up in our direction to find her? We are on the twenty first floor, working our way down.” I replied.

“I sent him up to find her before I left to get Loki….” There was a short pause then he continued, “Damian… She’s located on the twentieth floor. The comms are down, so I haven’t spoken to him yet, but I’m sure he is getting close to finding her, just as you are.”

I looked over to Adam and anchored my eyes down, “Holden must be with her then.”

“The cameras are damaged on that particular floor, and he’s no where else in the building, so I’m sure your right.”

I nodded to Adam, then looked to the stairwell door nearby.

“I’ll meet you on the main floor lobby, prepare the men to evacuate.”

…………………

Climbing down the one flight of stairs felt like an eternity. I couldn’t wait to set eyes on her, but something in the pit of my stomach wasn't sitting right.

Adam was right behind me as we paced cautiously down each step. “So what’s the plan? Just kill Holden and be done with this mess? Seems too easy…”

“Once their Alpha falls, they will run like rabbits.”

“Let’s hope you’re right.”

Just as Adam finished speaking, we arrived at the final step before the door.

The number 20 was right above the steel emergency exit, and on top of that, I couldn’t deny the scent. She was so fucking close I could taste it, but at the same time, I could smell that bastard.

I gripped onto my rifle a little tighter as I hovered my hand over the door handle.

“Ready?” I looked back to Adam who looked exactly how I was feeling.

Anxious, but ready for anything.

He breathed in heavily, “Let’s do this.”

As I pushed onto the door, a loud creaking noise echoed throughout the hallway on the other side. I stepped through, and Adam followed suit.

Just like all the other previous floors, it was quiet, no staff, no warriors, just an empty shell of a high-tech hospital.

Adam looked down each side of the hallway and sniffed the air, “You smell that?”

“Blood,” I muttered under my breath. I could smell it the moment I stepped foot on this floor. “And fresh by the smell of it.”

“You think Aaron got here before us?”

“Maybe, look,” I pointed to a dead warrior at the end of the hallway. He was partially changed to his dark grey wolf. Adam and I cautiously paced down the hallway towards the dead warrior. He was a young man, and his lifeless eyes were wide open, looking like he just seen a ghost.

“What the hell happened?” Adam went through the door and was met with a whole pile of bodies. The stench was almost unbearable. Many of the men and women warriors were partially changed to their grey wolves, and even some, fully shifted, only to have bite marks and bullets ripped through their flesh.

“Traitors to their new Alpha, got a little messy, but you know how these transitions work.” A women’s voice came behind us, causing both of us to jump back and turn our rifles in her direction.

I couldn't deny the red hair and the smug attitude as she stood confidently at the door way with her arms crossed over her chest. She was wearing a white lab coat, and it was partially covered in blood.

“Who the fuck are you?” Adam stepped in closer, pointing the barrel of his gun to her head.

A large devious smile grew on her face as she looked directly to me, “The new Alpha of course.”

“ARIA.” I dropped my gun and locked eyes with her. I was ready to shift and tear this bitch apart. I heard the stories, and I knew she had a hand in everything that Holden has done over the years.

“And you must be Alpha Damian.” She flirtatiously smiled and spun a strand of hair around her finger.

“Where the fuck is Diana?!” My jaw clenched tightly as my hands started to shift. I stepped in closer, my canines were already hanging outside my mouth.

Anger wasn’t the right word. I was fucking furious.

“Easy does it now champ,” She took a step back, “Diana didn’t mention how much of a resemblance you have to your brother, and might I say, you look quite…” Her canines extended as her smile grew, “RAVISHING.”

That’s when I completely lost control. I took a one large step towards her, too fast for her to catch my extended arm heading straight for her jugular. I latched onto her neck and rammed her body as hard as I could into the wall, causing bits of dry wall to crumble to the ground. I squeezed tightly, restricting her to breathe.

“Do you want to fucking die by my single hand?” I tightened my grip to the point where she started to choke. Her hand came onto mine to loosen my hold, but she was no match to my strength. “I’ll ask again BITCH, where is Diana, and where is your pathetic Alpha!?” I could already see blood dripping down from my claws piercing into her neck. The smell of her blood was intoxicating, and my beast wanted more.

My heart was beating so fast, and the anger was at its tipping point. I was so close to just ripping her throat open to ensure she could do no more harm to anyone else.

“If you let go, I’ll take you to them,” she gasped.

I kept my hand on her neck while staring into her dark red eyes. There was something about this woman that was off, her mind, her thinking, all wrong, maybe borderline psychotic. I could see it in the way she looked at me, and one thing was apparent, she wasn’t afraid of dying.

I quickly glanced back to Adam who was growing impatient.

“If you don’t let go, she’ll DIE!” Her voice suddenly turned into a horse, rash tone, like I was speaking to a witch.

I paused for a moment. I couldn’t let this woman trick me, but at the same time, what if she was telling the truth?

The word ’die’ kept echoing through my head, and eventually, it caused me to loosen my grip.

“What are you doing!?” Adam placed his hand on my shoulder as I slowly released Aria.

“Stand down Adam!” I looked back to Adam who was ready to finish what I started. His hands were now claws, and his body was tensed as he hovered us closely, staring at Aria with cold dark eyes. I turned my attention back to her as she patted the dust off her shoulders.

“Do you enjoy this?” I gritted between my teeth.

“Only when it’s in my best interest big D," she winked.

I scoffed and shook my head, “Your pathetic, and you’re a narcissist, just like Holden. A match made in heaven.”

“I’m done dealing with his shit, I don’t need Holden anymore,” she snapped back.

“You’re a leech. You suck on others success and call it your own. Your nothing but a servant that envies anything above yourself.”

“Your insults are just words Damian. Imagine if you and I ruled together? It’s a pity your too strung up on one single girl.”

“At least I can live for someone. You only live for yourself. You will die alone, you will enter the afterlife, ALONE, who knows, maybe the devil himself will be your mate.”

She chuckled lightly, “Oh Damian! Imagine the fun we would have, but then again, I wonder if the Devil is single...”

“Kill this crazy bitch!” Adam shouted out. He was still holding his gun up with his partially shifted claws. He was losing control fast.

“You’ll never succeed as an Alpha. You’re a mere Omega whore that thinks your good enough to be a leader.” I tried my best to insult her, and maybe it worked for a brief moment, but her soured face quickly turned into a flirtatious smile.

Her voice deepened as she stepped towards me, lightly placing her hand on my shoulder. “It always turned me on when your brother talked dirty to me.”

I immediately slammed her back into the wall causing the damaged drywall to completely fall to the ground, exposing the wooden and steel beams behind it. “I’m going to enjoy killing you when this is over."

She was winded from the impact of my hard push, and remained hunched over to regain her balance. She got to her feet and cleared her throat, “We’ll see about that.” She dusted herself off, and casually walked out of the room like nothing happened.

“Crazy bitch,” Adam grunted.

I started my way through the doorway, cautiously following Aria down the narrow hallway. “Stick to the plan,” I muttered under my breath.

He nodded in agreeance and walked directly behind me with his rifle still tightly clutched in his hands.

Aria slowly entered a brightly lit room at the end of the hallway. The door was opened a jar, and I could see the shadows of others from inside. She entered first, and I briefly looked back to Adam. His face was darkened, and his eyes were solely focused on the room. I gave him one more nod before turning my attention back to the door.

I held my breath for a moment. I had no idea what I was walking into, and on top of that, Aria was threatening to kill Diana, so I was nervous how everything was about to play out.

I stepped through the door cautiously. It was the large patient room, with two beds in center, but only one was occupied.

“Where the fuck is she?” I looked to Holden passed out on the bed. He wore a blue hospital gown partially stained with blood, and there was a large syringe sticking out of his arm that dangled lifelessly to the ground.

My heart started to race, and I tossed my head side to side to figure out where she was. Her scent was strong, she was here, but I couldn’t figure out where.

“Damian!” Suddenly, from the corner of the room behind me, came her voice that I desired to hear after so long.

Her voice filled my ears, sending nerves to trickle down my arms like rain, but she didn’t sound like her usual self, her voice was slightly rasped, like she had just been awoken from a long sleep.

“Di!” I whipped myself around and took a few steps forward, but immediately stopped my pace when I realized her circumstances.

She wasn’t standing alone. She was standing in front of a large man still slightly submerged in the shadows. She wore a hospital gown just as Holden did, and much to my surprise, her stomach was showing more then the last time I saw her.

Werewolf pregnancies were somewhat similar to humans, but considering the Alpha pups that were growing inside her, it was only a matter of time until she started to show. On top of that, the circumstances of Diana’s powers created a unique situation that doctors would never be able to understand.

She needed me to get through this, and I was going to fucking die before anything happened to her or the babies.

Once I got a better look at her, I started to tremble from the pain. It was hard to explain how I was feeling. I’ve experienced physical injury, near death experiences, but never something like this. It was a pain that dug into my soul, my mind, and in some ways, my body. Seeing her in the condition that she was in almost brought me to tears. Her eyes were reddened, sunken in from the stress and exhaustion. Her usual tamed black hair resembled a tousled rat’s nest. Her face was looking malnourished, her cheek bones more prominent telling me that she wasn’t eating much. She could barely stand, almost to the point where she looked like she was going to fall hard to the ground.

When she caught view of me, her eyes widened, and her body filled with a newfound energy to resist the man’s arm lock across her neck, but she was too weak, and I couldn’t do a fucking thing about it. I couldn’t make any sudden movements in fear I would hurt her or the babies.

“Show your beautiful face my love.” Aria smiled to me then looked to the man holding Diana as a human shield. I gripped my hands tightly into fists, piercing the palm of my hands with my own claws.

The man stepped forward into the light as he continued to hold Diana tightly in his arm.

I gasped when I caught view of who it was.

“Aaron you bastard! How could you betray us?!” Adam pounced forward, but quickly froze when Aaron sunk a large syringe in Diana’s neck.

"NOO!" I put my hand out, but was too scared to reach in further in fear he would hurt her.

“What the hell is this about?! What are you doing!?!” I took another step towards them with my hands up to show I wasn't going to make any rash movements.

I kept my eyes on Diana who looked just as panicked as I felt. I was so fucking close. How could I lose her and the babies like this?

A large grotesque smile grew on Aaron's face as he inhaled the side of Diana's neck. He not only looked like a monster from the burns on his face, he turned into one too.

He was the very thing we were all fighting to destroy, and now my mate's life was in his hands.

I was at his mercy.

Tears were falling down Diana's face, but she kept her swollen eyes on me the entire time.

My heart was falling.

My throat tightening up as time started to go in slow motion.

She knew she wasn't getting out of this alive. She was barely living as it was, and now, I wasn't sure what was going to come next.

As Aaron looked to me, his thumb softly traced the plunger of the syringe. “What I should have done along time ago.”