The Alpha Shifter

Chapter 2 - Leo

I was in the backyard with the pups, watching as they trained when I heard a howl of agony coming from the the forest behind me. Immediately all my senses were on high alert, my first priority was getting the pups inside and away from any potential danger. Once I was sure that all the pups were safe and in the house I ran towards the forest, and with a leap changed into my jet black wolf, following after the yelps of my injured pack mate.

I came to a skidding halt when I found the grey wolf limping, struggling to get over a fallen tree. Hurrying to shift I ran over to the wolf, looking over his injuries. "Who did this? What happened?" as I reached out to apply pressure onto his wound he mind linked me the answer to my question.

Shifters.

The shifters had done this. They had hurt one of my pack members and left him in the forest to bleed out and possibly die. With a low growl I mind linked my Beta demanding that no one were to leave the pack house, and gather everyone into the meeting room, while getting the pack doctor to prep the medical room.

I slowly reached out to pick up my now shifted pack member, carrying him as gently as I could to the pack house as to not inflect anymore pain onto him. Upon reaching the pack house, all the enforcers were outside awaiting the injured pack member, with the pack doctor standing front and centre ready to look at her newest patient.

"Get him into the medical room, it looks like the bones in his left leg have been snapped. Probably bitten while in wolf form."

I quickly passed the fallen pack member off to the medical aid and headed into the meeting room, expecting there to be a mass panic about the most resent attack on our pack. However this was not the case at all. When I walked into the room it was dead silent with all eyes on me. Waiting for me to give the orders to go and send an attack on the shifters. Making eye contact with my Beta Alexander, I gave him a slight shake of my head indicating that there will not be an instant attack on them.

I had other ideas for this shifter.

Looking around the room I saw looks of respect and trust in what I was about to say. Just knowing that my pack had so much trust in me made my heart squeeze, because I knew they wouldn't like what I was about to say. But everything I do is for the safety of the pack and they will soon realise this.

Just as I was about to start the meeting, a scream followed by a grunt stopped me. Startled everyone looked towards the stairs, where the noise came from, only for the pack doctor to walk down with a slight grin on her face. "He'll be fine. We just snapped the bone back into place, he should start healing in a few minutes"

"Will he be able to join the meeting and give us information on what happened?"

"I'm fine Alpha." Announced the fallen wolf, who could now be identified as one of the enforcers, Grant, as he didn't have dirt and blood covering his face. With a nod of respect from me, he made his way down the stairs carefully, not putting much pressure on his left leg and stood at the front of the room next to myself, ready to inform the pack, of the attack by a shifter.

"Firstly, I was not alone, I was with three others from the pack. We were following the shifter child who just got banished. We thought it would be easier to put him out of his misery than to let him turn rogue." Grant hesitantly made eye contact with me after stating this.

I returned his look with a hard glare. I hated how our pack dealt with shifters just because they were born 'different'. I knew I couldn't change the tradition of abandoning them, or banishing them from the pack. But to go after them and kill them was out of the question. Being werewolves, we had different morals to that of humans, but I still found it too extreme and inhumane to be killing our children over something they couldn't help. Something they were born to be because their parents carried a recessive gene.

"Secondly, it was not a single shifter who attacked, but what looked like the making of a pack."

After heating this, the room erupted in a series of gasps and shouting, asking how this could be. Some even thinking we were going to die as the shifters grew stronger, forming a pack just to attack us. The yelling continued to get louder and louder as people talked over each other all fighting for my attention. All eyes on me seeking instruction on what to do, all relying on me to keep them alive and safe.

"Please let him continue." I yelled over the voices, and instantly the room fell silent. Sometimes I loved the power I had over my pack, but I would never abuse it, because the pack was my family. It just made meetings so much easier to deal with when everyone would fall quiet just to listen to what I had to say, but then it scares me. Scares me because all these people turn to me for guidance, putting their safety in my hands.

"How many did you see Grant?" I asked, turning my attention back to the brown haired man, waiting for him to tell me what I was dealing with so I could take care of the problem, and fix his mistakes.

"Five. The leader seemed to be the jaguar, it was in control of the attack. There were also two lionesses, a tiger and a leopard. They came out of no where, and defended the child shifter. They seemed to want to protect him and make him one of their own." Grant looked around the room, addressing everyone. Lastly he looked into the corner of the room where an older lady sat listening. "I'm sorry Peggy, but your boys came with me too. I don't think they made it out alive. I didn't know what else to do, I just tried to get home."

Grant found a seat to signify that he had nothing else to say, while I remained at the front of the room trying to figure out what to do with the information given.

"Alexander, I want you to round up all the children and elders and take them to the safe house, If the shifters thought of this as a personal attack they may strike, and I need them safe. I however, do not want an attack on the shifter pack right away. We need to figure out what they are doing and how they have formed. I will be establishing scouts, to go and retrieve the bodies of our wolves to bring home, while also gathering information on this apparent pack of shifters. Alexander, Tessa or myself will be part of each scout, but never all of us. I want the house under protection, nothing comes in or out. Do you understand?"

After my short speech everyone nodded and bowed with respect, showing that they will follow everything I have to say, entrusting me with everything. When they realised I had nothing else to add, they slowly started to move from the meeting room. The elders and children to their rooms to gather important items so they could move to the safe house. And others to resume their daily duties. All that remained was Tessa, Alexander and Peggy. With a deep groan I approached them.

"How could you not do anything about this?" Peggy exclaimed wildly. I could see she was close to shifting and sighed. I knew she wouldn't support this, after all it was her children that payed the price for their actions. But she didn't see it that way. All she saw was that shifters had killed her children. She had taken it personally. With a shake of my head she ran out of the room and burst into a bright golden wolf and took off for the forest.

I slumped down on the nearest chair with my head in my hands and breathed deeply. "Don't worry Leo, she will understand." Tessa, my Theta tried to comfort me. "Please make sure she doesn't do anything stupid." I replied. With a stiff nod she jumped up and ran after the golden wolf.

"I'm on the first scout, I need to know what we are dealing with before I send others out. Look after the pack in my absence." I told Alexander as I stood and walked to my room, needing to clear my head before the first scout was to be dispatched.

It was only midday, but it felt like years have passed since this morning, where me and the pups were playing around and training. I soon realised that this was going to be one long week.