The fall of the Alpha

Chapter one

The snow crunches under their feet and I held my breath. I took the dead body of my mother and hid under her, trying to seek comfort and warmth, but she was dead. Dead. Dead, mauled and mutilated by the others. The only warmth was the blood oozing from the gash in her head and the hole where her heart should be. I shivered and tried not to cry. It was then a man, who looked a little younger than my own father, walked over and I froze. His eyes met mine and I couldn't stop the tears from flowing or my body from trembling. His eyes were grey and they bore into my violet irises. He knelt down in the snow, dried blood stained his hands, forearms, and most of his clothes. That blood was the blood of my family, my friends, my pack. He was a monster and I was so afraid that I was paralyzed. The weight of my mother was too much and even if I had wanted to run, there was nowhere for me to go anymore.

"Listen to me." He'd said, "Do not cry." His voice was stern and again he reminded me of my father, I wondered where he was. My father couldn't be dead, but if these outsiders broke past my father and his warriors...there was no way he would live to let that happen.

"I'm not gonna hurt you, but you must stay hidden." He told me and I could see he was feeling regret and shame for what his pack had done to mine. Maybe that is why I chose to listen or it could have been that he was my only real choice.
"Whatever you do, do not leave this spot. Stay here until night falls, my pack will be gone by then. Run. Keep running and do not stop no matter what. There is a hunter that goes by the name of Thomas Holmes. You will find him at a local bar on Clark Street." He paused and then added, "it's across the street from that ice cream shop with the playground right next to it The Scoop. You've been there with Terry and Max- I mean- your mom and dad, right?" He looked at me for some type of confirmation and I whispered hoarsely "Yes."

"Go into the bar and ask for him. Stay on your old territory for as long as you can, do not cross the border into the blood moon pack. My father is still the Alpha and he will show no mercy." I nodded and stayed still. I knew exactly where The Scoop was, on weekends when my parents weren't too busy with pack business the would take me and my brother there, we had always walked there in summers and stopped by the pond to feed the ducks pieces of an extra sugar cone on our way back. I only had to cross into their territory for less than a minute to get to the neutral- more human- part of town.

The man suddenly brought his forehead to mine and squeezed his eyes shut as if he were in pain. "I'm sorry." The agony he felt seeped into his words and he the brought one of his hands up to my face and cupped it before he moved away. "If you can, hide your eyes." He moved away slightly and then left completely. I laid there for a while, gripping onto my mother's body as I buried my face into her neck and sobbed. I remember that I had reached a point where no tears would for but I still was hiccuping and I was so overwhelmed my breathing was ragged, only muted by my mother's cold skin. It had been so long and so quiet I thought they had gone, that is until I heard a struggle, and then I heard my father's deep voice. I wiggled out from my mother and kissed her cheek before running towards thick bushes that would bring me closer to my father, I had never known my father to lose a fight. Once, he stopped the bad guys we could leave and go back home and maybe he could help mom so she could get better.

"What have you done Rory?" My father bellowed
"I have done what was necessary." Alpha Rory said
"This is wrong Rory, you slaughtered my pack. We keep the peace between all of the packs. You have done something irreversible." He'd said
"Terry, don't be daft. It doesn't suit you. I have been around long enough to see that your pack is a threat to mine. My pack is the warrior pack and what are we to do in a time of peace? Hm? Train, wait, be preyed on?" He growled ripping a tree in half
"I'm sorry about your mate, Tasha was a sweet woman, but she broke the law and that is what got her killed. We can't go to war with the hunters because they killed one person. Think about it, if we'd gone to war we would have lost hundreds maybe thousands of people. How would we explain that to the populace? We'd be exposed and the hunters would win either way-"
"They ruined her! She'd lost a child and they showed no compassion-"
"Your youngest son was reckless and risked exposure not to mention he killed his own mate. A crime that was punishable by death. I gave him mercy on your behalf, but when he killed that human girl he violated our most sacred law." My fathers voice swelled in conviction and righteousness "I had no choice but to hand him over to the hunters. But know this Rory, your son was dead long before that, all that was left was the animal."
"Enough!" Alpha Rory's canines extended and his eye became the ink-venom red in which their pack was known for.
"Bring out the boy." He said with feigned composer,
It was then I saw my older brother being dragged across the field
"Let him go!" My father demanded as he was held back by the beta and delta
"Dad!" My brother wailed "They killed mom." Tears ran down his face
"Gavin, Where is your sister?"
"Dead." The man who had given me mercy stepped forward
"Luke, please, you must spare my boy's life. Stop your father."
"I can't he is my Alpha, I must do as he asks." The man, Luke, responds. Though this time there is no trace of sorrow in his voice and his face is void of guilt and grief.
Alpha Rory walked over towards my brother and snapped his neck while staring my father dead in the eye. Father screamed and broke free only to be grabbed again and given a syringe of what could only be wolf's bane.
"Now you know what it's like to lose a wife and son." The Alpha said
"And what of my daughter and my pack? You killed them all. The other packs will not stand for this." Father responded
"The cost of betraying me is a high price, Terry. Nobody will stand against me once they've heard what I've done to the eclipse pack. Your pack."
Rory looked to Luke, "Kill him"
"The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for good men to do nothing," my Father said staring at Luke
"I'm sorry old friend." Was all he said before he extended his claws and raked them across his stomach. My father dropped to the ground.
"To bad the last good man is a dead man." Alpha Rory said
"Come, my Son, we must prepare for your ceremony. Tonight you will become the next Alpha of the Blood Moon pack!" The warriors cheered with a thunderous war before they shifted and left.
I couldn't bear it, I wriggled out from under mama and ran toward father.
"Daddy!" I whimpered as I hugged him "please you have to get up we have to run."
"My sweet girl." He smiled
"Come on dad, we have to go" I tugged on his arm
"I love you."
"Dad please, we need to run." I pushed him again
"An Alpha never runs, Iris." His eyes started to droop "An Alpha stays and helps remedy the crisis."
"No! Dad, please. Get up!" I shove him hard
"I love you, Iris."
"Get up." I try and pull on him "Please don't leave me!"
"Please, I need you. Don't leave me alone." I whisper as the sun starts to set "I don't like the dark, you promised you'd stop the closet monsters! You have to come with me I can't go alone!" I continued as the sky started to darken past dusk
He didn't move. And it dawned on me that he must be tired from the wolf's bane and that's why he was lying so still.
"I'll get help, just hold on dad! Just hold on..." I got up and ran as fast as my feet could carry me. I went on the sidewalks and kept on running I saw the big spoon logo for the ice cream shop and looked across from it and saw a place that was dimly lit with colorful bottles on display behind a counter with a neon sign that read "open". I bolted across the street hearing a horn honk and tires screech but I kept going. I opened the heavy wooden door and then went inside, the warmth of the room blanketed me.
It was then I realized was still in last nights pajamas and had no shoes on. I was wet and cold and hungry. My bones felt sore and damp, I shivered. I walked up to the counter and climbed on a stool, nearly falling over. A woman came over and told me to get down while she made a drink, she looked over to tell me again but stopped.
"What the hell!" Her voice was shrill
" I need to talk to Thomas my dad needs help," I spoke
"Somebody call 911!" She shouted
"What no! I can't go to a human doctor! Please, I need Thomas!"
"Calm down kid, I'm right here." A man walked up behind me and then took in my appearance
"What happened?" His voice had softened
"My dad needs your help! Please!" I begin to cry
"Can you show me where he is?" I took his hand. He and a group of men followed and got into cars and I showed them the way. When we got there the only light came from the pack house, which was still in flames.
"My God." Thomas signs the cross and then said "search for survivors"
"Please, you have to help my dad." I showed Thomas where my father was
"Dad wake up, Thomas is here and he is going to help us" I pull on his arm
"Dad come on" I went to pull again but Thomas stopped me
"He's gone."
"No, he's just sleepy from the Wolf's Bane," I said clutching onto fathers hand
"Why don't you go sit in my car and I'll have a buddy of mine look him over? Okay?" He sighed
"Okay," I said as we headed towards his car
Thomas stopped, "why don't you say goodbye before we go...just in case?"
I nodded and walked over to my father and gave him a hug and kissed his cheek. "I love you, daddy, please don't leave me."
I sat in the car and looked out at the pack grounds, the window was cracked open so I heard the men and women whispering.
"There isn't a living soul here Thomas." A man said
"Give Terry a look over will you Jack?" Thomas replied. Jack looked at father and back to Thomas
"But Tom he's..."
"Just do it, Jack." Thomas sighed
Jack knelt down and put his fingers on my father's wrist the shook his head. "I'm sorry."
"Me too. Me fuckin too" Thomas kicked up some snow
"What'll we do now?" A woman said they all looked at me from where they stood
"I'll take her. Terry was a good man and a good friend. I'll take her home while we figure all this out." Thomas said
"We must prevent exposure, don't touch the bodies but start making some calls, we need some way to explain this massacre. Maddie, I need you to do something for me." He turned to the woman and whispered into her ear, she nodded and went toward the pack house.
"And somebody put out the fires for Christ sake." He rubbed his face
"Tom, take the girl home...I'll take it from here," Jack said
Thomas nodded and walked towards the car. He didn't say anything and he didn't need to, he knew I'd heard every word.
"You're Iris, right? Terry and Maxine's youngest?"
I nod.
"You'll need a new name. We can't have anybody knowing you're alive."
"Okay" I sniffed
"Remedy," I said
"That's not a name, that's a word." Thomas chuckled
"It's my name," I yelled out directing my anger at him
"Okay, fine. Remedy it is. I'll have someone make up some paperwork tonight."
We drove in silence after that and I fell asleep.
"We can't just leave her Tommy."
"Cass, we can't take in a kid right now. And she's a wolf, child or not, she could be dangerous and how are we gonna explain any of this to Caleb and our unborn child?"
"She needs a family. We can't trust anyone else, Max and Terry were our friends."
"So were Luke and his mate, now look at them."
"All the more reason, she can stay with my parents until this all blows over. Caleb said he wants a baby sister so what's wrong with maybe having one? I make more than enough money for just the four of us. We'll adopt her, Tommy, it's the right thing to do. It's what Max would want us to do..."
I got up from my place on the couch. And walked into the kitchen.
Thomas looked at me and then Cass, his newly-pregnant wife. He picked me up and took me upstairs. He tucked me in bed and wished me goodnight, leaning against the door before he walked out.
"Remedy Holmes sound good to you? Do you wanna stay with me and Cassidy?"
"Yes"
"Damn it all to hell." He sighed with a small grin
"Well, we'll have to do something about those eyes."
He shut the lights off and left the door cracked so the light would come in from the hallway. But I wasn't scared anymore, I knew the closet monsters were in the woods tonight.