Alpha. I couldn’t talk to her with anything but respect. “Everyone is agog here, researching Loup sightings that correlate with bodies of water. Although it might just be a tiny lake here, so we’re probably chasing our tails, so to speak.”
I rolled my eyes at the imagery. I’d never chased my tail in my life. “I have a question.”
“Go on,” she said fast.
Well, I would have done that if she hadn’t interrupted me to begin with. “Do you know any legends about Alpha Loups?”
“Of course, but they’re just legends. Alphas don’t become Loups. Only lone wolves.”
I took a long breath. “What if that’s not true? What if the fact that this one can do all the things he can do is because he never was your typical Loup to begin with? What if he was an Alpha to begin with? All the ways you can control your pack, all the ways that you do things, take the Loup factor and you have Ross. Alphas can live a long time. Maybe that’s how he’s done this… Like, he’s Louped all of us. Alpha’d all of us or some shit.”
She was so quiet, I wondered if she’d lost the connection, but at last, she spoke. “My skin is tingling. I think you’re right. I think this is right. You’re really on to something here. How did you come upon this?”
I stared at Donovan driving. “It’s good to have pack.”
“It sure is. You know what this means, right?” I could hear conversation going on in the background. I needed to be there, not in this car. Patience had never been my strong suit.
“No, Miranda. I don’t know, unfortunately.” I wasn’t really annoyed at her, but keeping it from seeping into my voice was going to be a test I was unfortunately losing.
A car passed us fast on the right. I growled. We were going eighty miles an hour. That asshole was going to kill someone. She finally answered me. “He needs to be Alpha challenged.”
“Well, as soon as we find him, you can go ahead and do that, Miranda. I’ll even applaud.”
She laughed, a loud sound that stopped all the talking behind her. “Oh no, darling Rainer. This one? This one belongs to you.”
I hung up the phone. She was right. This one was mine. I was taking down that Loup. Alpha to Alpha. I might not have wanted the job, but now that I had it, I’d eat him alive. Drinking his blood while I did so. My mouth watered.
MacKenzie
I watched the shouting man I didn’t know as he disappeared. I had no idea who he was. Or did I? I rubbed my eyes. Things were sort of confusing. Still, I was having sort of an important conversation, and as long as I had to be caught here, I might as well finish having it.
“What do you mean, we let you down? How did we do that?” I reached out to touch the man’s arm. He was in pain. I burned to do something to help him, but I wasn’t sure what that was exactly. What could I do?
He visibly swallowed. “I was in so much pain. So much. And the Omegas didn’t help me. Why didn’t they help me? That’s why…that’s why the second I could, I got rid of them all. I am Alpha. I decide what happens. Even with the humans. They don’t know I can control them, but I do. And every werewolf ever born. I am the strongest of them all.”
I dropped my hand. Something about that just felt wrong. The water looked lovely, serene, almost too much. As though I needed to throw a pebble into it to make ripples, just so that it would be less perfect. Instead, I sat down on the edge of the dock and stared forward.
“Don’t ignore me!” he shouted.
I turned toward him. “I’ll be happy to speak to you when you are not saying ridiculous things. If you want me to answer, stop saying braggadocious things. I don’t have a clue what you’re talking about anyway. It all seems like nonsense.”
His face became a shade of orange reminiscent of a pumpkin. Yes, he didn’t like what I’d said, and much as my hands burned and I wanted to do…something…I didn’t really care that he was having a temper tantrum. Any second now, he might stomp his foot.
Instead, he sat down next to me. “You not remembering things is actually a gift I’m giving you. I’m afraid you might go insane