Behind The Alpha Book 2 WES
Chapter 22

(Chapter song ‘Where The Dark Things Are’ by Kerli)

WES

“I don’t know about this. Can’t I just tell you?” Thea looks up at me as I walk with her to the council room.

“Baby. I barely understand it myself. You’re the expert on all things Shapeshifter. Look. All you have to do is sit down and answer questions. I’ll be right beside you. They won’t hurt you.” I sling my arm around her neck.

“You sure? I did some pretty bad things.”

I feel her nervousness. “I promise. Grey will be there and Mia. We’re all behind you. Don’t worry.”

I open the door to the council room and walk in. The entire room turns to us. They immediately stare at Thea.

I look at the Alphas and turn back to Thea. I put my face close to hers. “It’s fine. Relax. You’re safe here.” I whisper.

She presses her lips together and nods. She walks with me to the table and I sit her down. I sit right beside her.

Bastian leans on the podium. “Thea. I have to say. This is not how I expected meeting someone from your species.” He eyes her.

She swallows. “I’m sorry for everything that I did. I only wanted to keep you safe.”

“So Wes tells me. He also tells me you were the one stalking him.” Bastian tilts his head forward.

“Um…Yes…I was.” She answers.

“But she didn’t know it was wrong.” I interrupt.

“Ok. What about now?” He asks.

Thea nods. “Yes. I’m working very hard to understand this place. Wes is helping a lot.”

“I bet he is.” Luke says under his breath.

“You got something to say, Jackson?” I scowl at him.

“Nope.” He shakes head and sucks his teeth.

“Good…”

“But, if I did…” He sits up.

“Luke…” Jayson leans back and rolls his head to him.

Luke holds up his finger to him. “So, your girlfriend messes with our heads. Traps us in here. Endangering our Lunas and we’re just supposed to sit here and listen to what she has to say?”

“You’re free to leave, Jackson.” I snarl.

His lip also curls. “I won’t be the one leaving, Beta.”

I flash my eyes. “You just pull fucking rank? On me?” I point to my chest and stand.

“Yeah. What are going do?” He growls and his eyes glow gold. He stands and flicks his black, leather jacket.

“I don’t know, Alpha. Why don’t you come over here and replace out?” I growl back.

“OK!! Wes. Put your damn wolf away. Luke you too.” Grey stands. He points to Luke. “Luke, you don’t fucking talk my brother like that.”

“I’ll talk to him any way I damn well please. He almost got Alexi killed. He’s lucky he’s fucking breathing.” Luke gives me a death glare.

Jayson grabs Luke’s shirt. “Sit the fuck down.” He pulls Luke down and he slams into his chair.

Luke scowls at him. “Don’t be so rough. Damn.”

Bastian throws his hands up. “Enough! It’s obvious the moon is still affecting aggression levels. So, can we please, just get through this meeting without bloodshed? There’s been enough of that already.”

I close my eyes and push my wolf down and Luke does the same, but we still throw daggers at each other.

“Thea didn't know what she was doing…” I start.

“Come on…” Luke protests.

“SHE DID NOT know about the moon or what it could do.” I say as I talk over him. “She deeply regrets her decision and I believe her.”

“No offense, Wes.” Mica says. “You’re sleeping with her. Of course, you do.”

“Hey! I will not tolerate that kind of disrespect! Especially from you.” I throw a finger at him and he puts his hand up. He knows what he went through for his girl and has no business putting his mouth on mine.

I look around the table. “I have sat here and watched all of you make some really shitty decisions for the women you love. Some endangering the rest of us. I will not listen to hypocritical statements from anyone in this room. Now, Thea has owned up. She saved your asses. If it wasn’t for her, you’d all be out there destroying your mate bonds or dead. So don’t act like she didn’t do your asses a favor.” I lean on the table and eye them.

They all lean back in their chairs.

“Now, I believe we have a friend to replace, don’t we?” My eyes meet Bastian’s.

He clears his throat. “Yes. Thea, you want to tell us what we’re up against?”

“Yes.” She sits up and I grab her hand. “A shape shifter or mimic. They’re born human until three months of age. They shift to a form and back to original form with ease. They can do this with one touch. A brush, a tap or anything that will get your DNA on them. Once they do, they can take your form right down to your scent. The only thing they can’t perfectly mimic is personality and memories. Unless the shifter needs a brand new identity, he will not kill his victim. He keeps him alive to absorb his memories and perfect the mimic.”

“So, River’s still alive.” William says.

Thea nods. “I imagine so. He will probably try to use his likeness again, but once he knows we’re looking for him, it won’t be long before he disposes of him.”

“Where would he have him?” Bastian asks.

“Somewhere secluded, dark and close. He can only read River’s mind from a distance of around a hundred miles from where he is. If he knows he will be beyond that, he will move him unless he’s not needed. Then he’ll either abandon him or kill him. Either way, Rivers life is in danger.” Thea informs.

“How can we detect him?” I ask.

“Yeah. You’re a shifter. Can’t you tell us who he is?” Luke says.

Thea shakes her head. “We don’t have that capability. We are visual only. If we shift to a form other aren’t use to, we will not recognize them unless they reveal themselves. It protects us from being used as hunters.”

“Ok. So, how can we detect him?” I ask.

“Shifters burn and can be killed by a mix of iron and mercury. If you fashion something that has these elements, you’ll know if you cut him.” Thea looks around the room.

“We have the iron. I’m sure we can get the mercury.” Grey says.

“I can get on Operations to make some weapons.” Jayson supplies.

Bastian nods. “Ok. So where do we start?”

I look at Thea and back at him. “If he hasn't moved from the 100 mile radius around this building, we start there.”

“You're look for a coffin of sorts. It will be only big enough for River. These areas make him easy to hide. As for Artemis, he might be around.” She looks at me. “We need Nala.”

“How do you know Nala?” Bastian asks.

“She’s my sister.” Thea answers. She seems a bit nervous to say that.

“Nala’s your sister?” I question.

Thea nods. “Yes and we will need her skills to beat Artemis.”

Bastian stands up straight. “I’ll call Zander.”

****

“These are iron and silver blades. They’re not totally effective for detection, but they’ll slow him down.” Jayson hands out the blades to the us and we add them to our wolf packs.

He holds up a bullet. “This…” He walks around in front of us. “Is an iron, mercury bullet. This, hopefully, will kill. For detection, don’t make a kill shot.” He smirks as he hands out the full clips as well.

“Zander is waiting in the deployment area, so if there’s anything else, we better go.” Bastian informs.

The rest of us shake our heads.

As we walk, Jayson gives the plan. “I’ve sent Ops Unit 2, 3, and 4 to the north, east, and western quadrants. Ops 1 will field the south woods. Links are open and red level alert has been issued.”

“Good.” Bastian says. “Let’s get this bastard “

We enter the deployment area where Operations Unit 1 is preparing for River’s search and rescue.

I reach into my wolf pack and pull out two neural links. I smoothly move Theas hair. “This will allow you to link with me at all times.” My lips tick up and I place it on her temple. It lights up as it detects her neuro network for linking. I kiss her forehead and put mine on. ‘Can you hear me?’

She smiles. ‘Yes. I love hearing you in my mind.’

I cup her cheek. ‘If things go the way I think, we won’t need tech for that.’

‘What do you mean?’

‘Well talk later about that. Right now, let’s get our heads in the game.’ I lean to her.

‘Right.’ She nods briskly and puffs her chest out. The most beautiful soldier in this place.

I chuckle, grab her hand and join the Unit.

‘Alright! Live communication silence. Links only. Stay in line and your men beside you are your targets. Do not lose sight. Do not separate. If you do, you will be subject to testing. If you see anything that doesn’t seem right, link it out. Do not engage alone.’ Jayson instructs.

‘Move out!’ Bastian orders.

We leave the Unit deployment area and walk to the woods behind us. The other units are searching the city.

We all walk in a line, looking for anything that may look like a shifter stash. We check the base of large trees, rocks and brush.

Step by step, we kick the forest dirt.

‘River!’ People link out. If he’s alive, he should hear it.

‘GOT SOMETHING!’ A soldier links.

We run to the spot he’s at. When we reach him, he’s holding a wolf pack. I take it and search it. ‘Yeah, it’s River’s.’ I look around the trees. ‘He said he had to fight his way here.’

I turn to a trunk. I see something on it. In over and see huge claw marks on the trunk. ‘It was here. These aren’t wolf claws.’ I run my finger tips in the very large, thick claws that dug deep into the trunk.

We realign ourselves and start to walk again. It’s not long before we come to an old water run off drain. The concrete slab is buried under leaves and dirt. The cage on top is rusted. ‘Thea. Nala.’ I look at them both.

Nala leans on the edge and peers into the dark. She nods slowly. ‘It’s possible.’ She links.

We hook ropes to the cage and several of us pull. The cage breaks out of the concrete. Pieces of it fly in all directions.

‘There’s a dark feeling down there.’ Thea says.

Bastian and Zander look down. Bastian turns to Zander. ‘Can you read any minds down there?’

Zander places two fingers to his temple. He stares into the black. He tilts his head. ‘There’s minds down there. They’re clouded. I can’t tell what they are.’

‘Vamps?’

‘God, I hope not.’ Luke says as he pulls out and cocks his gun.

‘It doesn’t smell like vamps.’ William says.

‘Thank God for that.’ Gideon rubs his stomach as his face turns white.

‘Nala. You can’t sense anything at all.” Grey asks.

Nala shakes her head. “Unfortunately, no. My intuition feels like this may be the place where we replace your friend, but I cannot be sure.’

‘Only one way to replace out.’ Jayson says from behind us. He ties a rope to a tree and throws it down the hole. ‘Alphas first.’ He smirks as he repels down into the hole.

‘Uh, more like shifter bait first.’ Luke looks down as Jayson dangles in the hole.

‘Ha ha.’ Jayson says sarcastically.

We all repel one by one into the hole. ‘Keep together and watch each other’s backs.’

We pull weapons and look around. I had to call my wolf sight to see. It seems to be an old underground sewer system. There’s tunnels left and right. The floor and walls are slimy and it smells moldy. There’s no smell of death so that’s a good sign.

‘Thea, what are we looking for?’ I ask her.

‘It’ll be out of the way. It’ll be sealed in a white crust. Like an egg. Inside, River will be in a substance that keeps him subdued. He may not be able link.’ She supplies.

‘Oh great. Pod people.’ Luke growls.

‘That’s aliens, idiot.’ Jayson links.

‘Yeah, so?’ Luke snips.

‘So, aliens aren’t real and these aren’t pod people.’ Jayson grits

‘He's a person in a pod. Pod people equals aliens.’ Luke shoots him a snarky look.

‘Oh my god! No!’ Jayson throws his hands up in the air.

The rest of us internally groan and shake our heads.

We step carefully down the dark tunnel. Water splashes under our military boots as every sound is suspect. Every rat is scrutinized. My gun and light scan every spot.

We move as a solid group. Nobody is trailing behind in the 6 foot wide tunnel. The old brick is covered in streams of water as they leak from the forest above.

The smell of wet dirt and leaves is thick around here. As we press on, I look up to a hole in the ceiling. I see the light of day and the canopy of the forest as I pass.

We stop at a junction. Bastian looks left and right. Zander turns to Nala. ‘Which way?’

Nala looks both ways. ‘To the left. It’s darker.’ She motions to the left tunnel.

‘Why do these things always have to live where it’s dark?’ Luke growls.

‘You scared, Jackson?’ Grey snorts.

‘Shut up, dick!’ He shoves Grey with a scowl.

Some around them snicker.

We all cautiously turn the corner in a tight pack. We’re making damn sure Artemis can’t shift to one of us.

About 50 feet down the tunnel, it opened up to a cavern in the rock base of the forest. It was curved and rugged. Like water had been cutting through here for centuries. Thea pushes her way to the front and looks around the area.

‘There.’ She points to an off white area on the wall close to the floor. It looks like a new and badly done stucco job.

A few soldier run to it and try to rip into it. It really is a hardened shell. They have to resort to the but ends of their guns to dig into it. ‘River! Say something bud!’ They call.

They bust into it and slimy liquid spills out like he was in some sort of amniotic sac. “Shit!” the soldiers jump back to avoid it. It’s milky white and stinks to high heaven.

Thea looks at me as she covers her nose. “It’s made in the stomach that’s why it smells so bad."

“OK. I could have gone my whole life without knowing that.” I choke on my own vomit.

“Amen, brother.” Severely say with green faces.

“River!” They reach into the embedded pod and pull him out.

My eyes bug out and my jaw falls when I see him. My head slowly turns to Grey and I swallow.

He smirks at me and eyes flash gold. “Didn’t know your twin as well as you thought, did you Wesley?”

“Oh fuck!”