THE LAST ALPHA FEMALE (sequel to Reign of the hybrid)

Chapter 4

When word got to him that Don, Debbie and Alyssa were hiding behind the doors of Ariella’s castle, Steve was almost bursting with joy. This time he wanted to go get them himself with an army he could get. The next day anyone who could fight, young or old as long as they could throw a punch that could break a twig was briefed on the mission objectives. They were simple. Very simple.

"We bring Don and Debbie alive, unharmed and kill anyone or anything who will stand in our way"

The injured, feeble and fragile had no option. It was not the same Don's reign that they could be spared a war for their service to the pack. If there was something Don respected was a werewolf injured protecting the pack. Unlike Steve who was blackmailing them to fight Don actually apologized for the injuries, the ugly scars they got on the battle field. Their families were prioritized in everything. The fallen alpha spent most of his time in the packs infirmary after a war than he spend on anything else. Funny how the same warriors turned against him the day Steve overthrew his leadership. And some were even sent to kill him and obliged even without blackmail of being thrown out of the pack to survive on their own with the vampires growing in numbers. It was a hakiri to even think of living without a pack.

"Should we free the prisoners to join the fight?" A guard asked Steve who was enjoying a bath with two sexy human ladies.

The sadness in their eyes could tell they wanted no part of it. He was young handsome, rich and powerful but still they couldn't fake a smile around him. It was not his fault. The attraction to "feeble humans" as he started to call them soon after becoming the Alpha was the only thing he had learnt from his predecessor.

"Is there a chance they will escape when we leave?” He asked blowing the smoke of his cigar in the guards face.

Being a none smoker the poor guard coughed and sneezed before he could feel his tongue again. Steve laughed hysterically and even shed some tears of joy.

“No...” He stopped to cough," They can't we have guards”, he added clearing his throat.

“I said everyone is going didn't you see what he did to a small group we sent? Which guards are you talking about? "Steve asked angrily.

The girls stopped massaging his muscular body in the tab. He turned his attention to them. They continued washing his body immediately. The guard was standing attention with his gaze to the roof top when he talked. None of them needed to be reminded staring at the Incumbent alphas nudity could earn one a marvelous decapitation on the least a prison sentence in the dungeon with wolf's bane on their veins.

“The private security you hired Sir”, he said maintaining his Composure.

“What’s your name again?” Steve asked tapping his cigarette on the ash tray on the left side of the tab.

“Oliver, the one that picked you up from the dungeon...” he had not finished when Steve interrupted him.

“When I passed out... I know you don't have to repeat such shameful and traumatic events. Get the cars ready the private security stay but we may need them as back up I don't trust my love with Magic”, he said sending him out with a hand gesture.

Like a dog being chased away, Oliver walked out of the room to rally the troops. They had close to sixty werewolf’s, thirty were strong enough to fight, around five were teenage amateurs who had recently turned and psyched up by hormones for a fight and the remaining fifteen was comprised of the wounded and elderly who had their mouths closed. They needed every last breath they had to beg Don for mercy.

They waited for their leader Steve to lead the way. As usual he spent more than an hour preparing. Upon emerging from his palace the sovereign leader of the Green view Wolf pack was dressed in blue beach shorts and sandals. A white shirt with pictures of palm trees, a blue scarf around his neck. Blue sun glasses and a hat. They were confused if he was going for a war or a holiday. By his side were the two human girls in matching blue dresses holding his mighty arms for him.

"Don't Gove me that look, after killing all of them I heard there's a beach overlooking the castle. We camp there and swim... Hopefully not in their blood because that will be disgusting isn't it?" He asked the girls.

They nodded quickly and in unison.

"Let's go people wheels on terrain in zero minutes!" He shouted happily taking the back seat of a black Chevrolet SUV.

********

It was evident, being the only people that were last seen supporting Ariella and Leon no one wanted anything to do with them. They had each other's backs. With the boundary spell active they expected Steve to show up with a Calvary and spend nights begging them to come out. It was impenetrable. Lydia and Debbie together were like Kong and Godzilla fighting on the same side, nothing could go past them.

"Knock knock!" Debbie said standing at Lydia's room.

"We both know you're already in", Lydia said closing an ancient book she was reading.

Her room was not well furnished as per the standards of back then. Being an abandoned castle one could do much to turn it into a magnificent palace. The walls were bricked with clippers and lichens growing on them. It had a huge well-made bed with white sheets and two pillows, a study table and like Eric’s room expensive art collection gracing the walls. Hanging above it was a chandelier made from candles powered by magic, they never went off. And it had large windows bringing in the cold of the night and warmth of the day. Debbie had never been in there. Like a visitor she kept looking around as if her next words depended on what she would have seen or read from the portraits.

"Done with exhibition?" Lydia asked when she realized Debbie's mind was miles away from the room.

"They're beautiful!" She complemented.

"Ariella's collection, she wasn't always an unruly pitiless witch you know. She loved to write, collect flowers", she explained pointing at banquets on the bedside table,” she loved painting and collecting art, sometimes she cooked for us sang and danced", Lydia added her voice becoming nostalgic.

"You miss her", Debbie said holding her in a tight embrace.

She could hear Lydia sob. It was the same thing happening to her. Even though she wasn't weeping but at heart she pitied him. After Interacting with Leon for a few days she could tell he deserved another shot at life. Then how he tricked them into the castle only to take himself to old fort. Of the hundreds of deaths of supernatural that were reported Debbie was sure had they gone with him some of them could have been people they both cared about. Even the monsters and villains of everyone's stories had people that cared a lot for them. While the rest of the supernatural community was celebrating their deaths, a small group was in mourning because monsters of their time were good at making friends. Fighting for the safety of those they loved even if they didn't say it loud and ironically, they expected them to miss them when they were gone.

"We will find them, people don't just disappear", Debbie said.

"Where will we start from?" Lydia asked breaking free.

"That's why am here" Debbie said.

They took the bed and sat there telling stories. Lydia was curious enough to know what Debbie had found out that could have helped them find her mistress whether dead or alive and the love of her life. She still couldn't explain how they fell in love but every time someone brought up the magic disappearance topic she remembered the promise he had made to her.

"When we were doing the magic dorm spell my mind drifted to something I have read once", Debbie explained with a lot of hope in her voice.

"What was it?"

"The magic prison”, she said confidently.

"I thought that only applies to witches, and when they are dead but..."

"Exactly Leon was a hybrid and Ariella was a witch when they got swallowed into another realm. Not to mention she was not dead at that time", Debbie interrupted.

"So we have nothing" Lydia said exhaling sharply.

"No, that's not how I see it. We have somewhere to start from" Debbie said holding her arms.

"Now I see it too, where have you been all this time", Lydia complemented.

Mike came in with in super speed. He looked ashamed and lost before Lydia asked him to state the reasons for his visit.

"Am not interrupting something am I?” He asked avoiding eye contact.

"Come on Mike it's not funny" Debbie said setting Lydia free.

"Okay, James wants to talk to all of us", he said and disappeared out of the room.

They didn't have a chance to ask any unnecessary questions. They knew Mike was already waiting for them downstairs. As they walked down the stairs, the two becoming best friends held each other's arms. Hillary was the first one to give them the weird look and then Don. Alyssa ran to hug them.

"You've changed!" Hillary commented stating at James head to toe.

"Not that much am here to check on you guys and also to let you know..."

"Wait a minute! Who’s the guy in specs??" Don interrupted leaning forward to get a pellucid look at the professor.

James was irritated but he couldn't do much. They were like friends and he expected it to take time before they realized he was actually working and unlike the last time Leon fooled them into staying behind in the castle, he was not a sheriff anymore.

"My name is professor Jefferson, James and I come from the newly formed department of super human conflicts", Mike and Don laughed, Hillary forced a smile and the girls were keenly listening to the professor, "I don't know what's funny but as I was saying, due to the recent unrest among you superior species a lot of innocent humans have lost their lives. Our job is to ensure you live in peace and in secret among humans or if you fight amongst themselves any human that gets hurt we will hit back"

There was some silence. They acted astonished and as usual Mike was the first one to start the mischief. He clapped for the professor who was not glad to see him. He was still a bully, Leon had changed nothing by transforming him. James had to come in. This time he showed them a letter from the secretary of state.

"Guys this is not a joke" He warned.

The small family gathered around the power couple, Don was holding the paper. They read through it almost word by word. He was actually checking for authentic seals. They were all there. Don nodded in agreement passing the letter to the doubting Thomas; Mike. He and Hillary read through it again.

"So who will represent the vampires, wolves and witches on the super council?" Lydia asked.

It was a very hard question. James had expected conflicts to arise in terms of representation in the council. Not that soon but he saw it coming.

"Let me answer that," Jefferson offered, "It will depend with numbers" He said briefly and kept quiet.

"I that all professor?" Debbie asked surprised. She looked at James. He avoided eye contact.

"Do you two realize that we don't have the numbers and our kind that should represent us are actually looking to kill us? We have no representation which is only fair to say we're not part of the damn agreement", Don announced.

His friends supported with "Yes" Chants. When they kept quiet the two gentlemen still had nothing to say that could leave them happy like they did with Grace. She was the first and the easiest to convince into reaching an agreement. Don was right. Some lines once crossed there was no coming back. James did not expect him to go back to his pack and be the Alpha he was, come to the council to represent the wolves. It was both impossible and utopian. Mike and Hillary as another example. They were known Leon allies. Everybody wanted to kill them. The same applied to Lydia. All the supernatural community wanted Leon and Ariella totally obliterated from the surface of the earth and that included any of their friends and family.

"We can get to an amicable solution" James said scratching his head for any ideas, "We can get to an agreement", clearly there was none.

One of his guards saved him the embarrassment of repeating himself over and over again. But what can go wrong will go wrong and at the most unexpected of times. He wasn't carrying good news either.

"Okay assemble the boys, stop them use force if necessary", James whispered in the guards ear.

The guard left James looked at his disappearing figure leave the front door of the castle. Upon turning around they were still looking at him. Waiting for the solution he had earlier on scratched from his head.

"We have some unwelcomed visitors,” he said taking a sigh of relief.

"We know" the whole group said in a chorus.

"Okay, you win. One of you will represent the rest of you on the damn council. Choose as for vampires they already have Grace...."

"Puta!" Alyssa interrupted expressing her dismay in Spanish.

"Steve the werewolves and Amelia the witches that's final now let's see what your visitors want", James said leading the way.

Only the professor followed him. The rest of them remained seated. The barrier was still active as long as Lydia and Debbie were alive and safe inside the castle. There was no need of attending the party they were not welcomed, not after the last one that left them with a hangover.

"You said he’ll come with a Calvary", Hillary teased watching from the window.

"I grew up with guy he can't outwit me, when hell freezes over!" Don said pouring himself another glass of whiskey.

"Drink up baby let me hang with the girls", Alyssa said giving him a warm kiss on the cheek.

While the girls went upstairs to watch the whole drama unfold the boys remained in the living room drinking and telling stories as though nothing was happening outside, a few meters from where they were seated. An amateur in the battle of wits might have thought they were hiding from the powerful and self-appointed king of the super natural world alias Steve. But Don and Hillary had planned on Steve's visit tactically part of the plan was zero action, zero contact and then they'd wait for him to make an irrational decision now that he couldn't get past the barrier.

"Who the f**k are you?" Steve asked getting rid of his sun glasses, "These cowards hired private security?" He asked rhetorically bursting into a mockery laughter.

No one answered him. Even James and the professor could already see he was a joke. And when he realized they were silently laughing at him he got even angrier and signaled his boys to attack. According to him, just five were enough for the humans. He did not want to ruin his beach costume by joining the fight. The guards walked right towards James and his special envoy standing at the front porch of Ariella’s castle. The head of security looked at James for sanction to drop them right where they were. He nodded in agreement. Only five bullets were fired. Perhaps Steve and his men didn't know they were military grade weapons. They were bullets made with SAM technology. None of them could dodge the bullets no matter how fast they were. The five dropped to the ground, completely immobilized and writhing in pain as the glow of their irises went from yellow to faint. They were not even close to getting where James was. He felt what power could do. The mankind was back on top of the food chain as usual.

"Now do I have your attention?" James asked standing still.

"Hell no!" Steve said arrogantly and send in another lot.

This time he raised his arm twice to signal ten of them. Maybe the first ones were lazy. The same thing happened.

"We can do this until the very last one of you is down and vulnerable then Don and his cronies may or may not come out to finish the job or you can come in and have a civilized chat, your choice Steve", James said confidently.

He thought about it pacing up and down. For years he had thought there was no silver bullets that he couldn't get past. That humans were weak and feeble. Now a human was giving him options. It was embarrassing in front of his men. He needed to act fast before losing Don and Debbie forever.

"No mate, you don't tell me what to do. I call the shots here I want Don and Debbie right here right now before I drop you where you're!" he ordered his wolf growling.

Was it anger or embarrassment? They had carried enough guns with silver. If it was lethal to werewolf then it was surely more lethal to men. James had forgotten one thing. Steve didn't need to shout for his boys to get the job done. He just needed to but then enough time. The whole time he was using the mind link to prepare the armor. Even the military missed that on their radar not to mention they were not bullet proof. The last thing James and the professor saw was their elite security guards falling like dry leaves on a tree before they passed out.