"What the fuck are you doing?" The large man growled even louder than Walt had. This growl shook the whole room.
"Sir, she…she…she." Walt was now the weakling stumbling over words and scanning the room for an escape. "She came unannounced on our territory."
"So, you were going to rape her?" The large man snatched Walt up off of his feet as though he weighed nothing and slammed him against the wall.
"It's within the law of the packs." Walt's voice was high pitched now, like a scolded child.
"That's the old law!" The man threw Walt to the ground and then picked him up again and pinned him against the wall once more. "We are the new law. I am the law. I am the Alpha of this pack. I say what is your law and I forbid the old laws years ago! You have betrayed me. You have betrayed the laws. You betrayed your pack, and for that, you will be punished."
"Daron, take him to the barn." The Alpha directed a man that had entered behind him. "I will deal with him there."
The other man, Daron, just as large and intimidating as the Alpha, grabbed Walt by the back of his neck and pushed him towards the door.
"And all of you who didn't dare to stop him, go to the barn too. You will see firsthand what happens when you go against me or this pack's laws." The Alpha motioned for everyone in the room to get out and they hurried away with their tails between their legs.
Lacee started to get up to leave the room, but the Alpha dropped down to his knees in front of her and she feared he'd now deal with her as well.
"Are you hurt?" He asked as he looked her over. Lacee wasn't sure of his intentions, so she hesitated to answer or move one bit. "Did he hurt you?" His hand reached for her, but Lacee smacked it away and braced herself for a fight.
"Don't touch me." She snarled at him.
The Alpha looked shocked she had swatted his hand away, and she feared he'd hurt her in retaliation, but instead a smile stretched across his face, and he laughed.
"You are a feisty one." He smirked. "Don't worry, I will not harm you. Nor will I allow anyone else here to hurt you. He stood up and took his shirt off. Lacee looked at him, confused at his actions, but then he tossed his shirt at her and told her to cover up.
It wasn't until that moment that she calmed enough to notice just how magnificent this man before her was. He was gorgeous, taller than any man she'd ever seen, and had a perfectly muscular body like a Greek statue. His hair was straight and black, going down his back over his tanned dark skin. She fought the urge to run her fingers through his hair to see if it felt as silky as it looked.
"Why are you here?" He asked.
"My boss's birthday party." She stood up and realized he was even taller than she had thought as she stared up into his brown eyes.
"Why didn't you check in with our pack's local chapter? You know that is against the laws. You know that is dangerous." He circled her, sniffing the air as he looked her over.
"I don't know what you're talking about." Lacee watched him carefully. "Shouldn't we call the police? I don't think attempted rape and assault should be overlooked."
"Police?" His brows went up and he sniffed again.
"How long have you been away from your pack? You don't have a pack scent; you barely have a wolf scent at all." He leaned in close to her neck and took a deep inhale of her skin. Lacee was weirded out, but she was also in awe of the man as he got so close to her. She couldn't help but feel her body tingle inside from her belly down to her thighs.
"What is a pack?" She asked him as he face was so close to her mouth that her breath blew through his beautiful black hair and caused it to fling up for a moment.
The Alpha stared at her with an intense glare before laughing loudly.
"You can't be serious." He backed away from her and laughed some more. "You have to be joking."
"Sir, I just got beat, groped, and almost assaulted by those men. Why would be joking about anything right now?" Lacee was beginning to grow inpatient with this whole situation. "Look, I am so thankful for you rescuing me, but if you don't call the police, then I will. I'm leaving."
Lacee headed for the door, but he grabbed her arm and gave some kind of weird look her way. She pulled away and continued to the door.
"Wait." He jumped in front of the door. "How are you able to resist my aura?"
"Oh, Jesus. Just get out of my way."
"But,"
"You said you wouldn't harm me." Lacee reminded him. "I just want to leave."
"As Alpha, I forbid you to leave her until I know what's going on." He told her.
"I don't even know what that means. Move." She attempted to push him aside, but he didn't budge.
"Do you even know what you are?" He took her face in his hands and pulled it up gently to look into his eyes. Lacee couldn't deny that her body was attracted to his, but she had enough brains to ignore her desires.
"What does that even mean?" She asked him.
"Do you even know the wolf you hold inside?"
"Alpha." Lacee shook her head and sighed. "Let me guess, you're pretending you are a werewolf, and I am under your spell and command. What is this some kind of weird role play for you? You people are sick."
Lacee sighed and rolled her eyes. The man opened his mouth and roared an ear-pounding howl as canine-looking teeth began to emerge from his gums and his eyes turned a glowing yellow. She backed up so fast that she fell to the floor and scooted away from him. Unable to take her eyes away, she watched as long sharp claws came out from his knuckles and fur sprouted from his skin. The worst part of it; she was turned on deep inside, even as she denied her body's urge to reach for him and take him inside of her right then and there.
"Have you seen enough?" The Alpha asked, his voice more of a growl than human.
Nodding, she stood to her feet and backed away a bit more.
"I don't understand." Lacee sat down at a chair nearby. "What have I got myself into?"
"You are one of us." He announced. "You have the wolf within you. You were born with it's howl in your heart, and it's fight in your bones."
"That doesn't make any sense." She shook her head. "I'm not…a werewolf."
"Yes, you are. We know one another. Sure, your scent is faint, but it's there. It will always be there. Being with our packs and running the moon makes our presence stronger. You don't have family? A pack? Who are your parents? What is your name?"
So many questions were flying her way, but her head was spinning. Werewolf? Seriously? That was the most absurd thing she's ever heard, yet her body was overwhelmed with a sudden sense that she knew this man was telling her the truth. Plus, a memory from when she was a child kept replaying in her head.
She couldn't remember a lot about her childhood with her mother, but she did have a blurry memory of waking up one night and seeing her mother walk naked towards the woods, the moonlight illuminating her bad body. What came next, she had chalked up to a child's imagination all these years. It seemed as though her mother had turned into a wolf and ran into the woods. Over the years she had shaken that memory away, believing it was only a dream or her young mind seeing things.
"Your name?" He asked her again.
"Lacee. It's Lacee Evans." She put out her hand awkwardly and he leaned in and kissed her cheek instead. She fluttered between her legs as a burst of heat rushed over her.
"My name is Rinc Blackrock." He told her. "The Alpha of this land's pack."
Lacee had seen enough movies and shows to know what an alpha was, but this still all seemed surreal.
"How have your parents never shown you the ways of the pack? How did you survive all these years without knowing?" He seemed genuinely concerned. "Our people are very careful about keeping track of our kin."
"My mother died when I was seven, and I've never known my father." She explained. "If my mother knew, she never filled me in."
"Hmm." He pondered for a moment. "Well, you're lucky no one has ever harmed you before now for being in their territory."
Lacee thought of her sister all alone back at the apartment and her stomach sank.
"I have to go." She jumped to her feet.
"Wait, we have a punishment to hand down." He took her by the arm and led her out the door.
Lacee knew that the logical thing for anyone to do after all she had just been through would be to run and get the hell away from all these people, but this man around her made her leave all logic behind just by the touch of skin on hers.
A few of her co-workers, including Dan, watched as she walked by with Rinc. Lacee turned away from Dan's glare. Dan stood dumbfounded in front of the door for a moment as they approached.
"Get the fuck out of the way." Rinc demanded. Dan snapped out of his shock and hurried aside for them to pass as Rinc opened the door for Lacee to go through first.
"I really should get home." Lacee tried to tell him.
"We'll get to that. Now, let's go deal with Walt." He led her around the back of the building and down a hill. It was dark, but she could see a barn ahead of them next to a lake. "I know what you are about to see is going to be hard, but it is necessary for our pack."
"What's going to happen?" She asked, but Lacee didn't need him to say the words, she knew what was likely going to happen.
The Alpha grabbed her and pulled her lips to his. His kiss was rough, and his tongue was warm, but the passion was stronger than anything she'd ever felt in her life. Her hand grabbed his neck and she leaned into him, feeling him harden against her body. She never wanted to part from him.
A cough interrupted them, and Rinc gave a low growl to whoever it was.
"I'm sorry, sir, but I wanted to warn you that your father is here as well." The man told Rinc.
"Good. Daron, this is Lacee. Lacee, this is my Beta, Daron." Rinc introduced them. "Now, Daron, guard her with your life while I finish this."
Daron came beside Lacee and she recognized him as the man that showed up with Rinc earlier and dragged Walt away. Rinc went into the barn, and she heard the people inside cheer and howl.
"What's going to happen?" Lacee asked Daron.
"They're going to battle to the death," he said casually. She gasped, even though it was what she had known deep inside. "Don't worry. It won't be much of a fight. Walt is a great fighter, but nothing like our Alpha."
"Shouldn't you go in and protect him, in case?" She questioned. "Aren't you his Beta? Isn't it your job to have his back?"
"He wants you protected."
"Then he should've let me go home, not lead me down here to this bloodbath." Lacee headed into the barn, even though Daron suggested they stay outside.
Rinc and Walt were in the middle of the barn, pacing in circles around each other. Around them, dozens of men and women, even a few children, watched with excitement and thrill. Some were up top in the loft of the barn, some were standing in a crown around the two men as they were readying to fight.
"He's choosing that bitch right there, over a member of his own pack!" Walt suddenly yelled out as he pointed at Lacee. "I've been a member of this pack for over fifty years, and this feral whore wanders on our territory, now I'm being punished? Kane, you would allow your son to do this? I served you loyally all those years!"
An older man with hair long and black like Rinc stood up.
"My son is your Alpha now. You were to obey his laws. Walt, you brought this on yourself." Kane told him. The man nodded at Rinc and I could see the huge resemblance the father and son had.
Many of the members in the barn were now looking at Lacee as though she were an enemy. Daron pulled her behind him and closer to the wall.
"We need to go." Daron warned her.
"Not without him." Lacee was surprised by the words as they left her own lips. Why should she stick around in harms way?
"No one touches her!" Rinc screamed the words so loud that it seemed to rattle the old lumber of the barn. His pack seemed terrified, and most turned their eyes away from her and back to Walt.
Walt took advantage of the moment and lunged at Rinc. But the Alpha was too fast and strong for the weaker man. He grabbed Walt and pounded three punches to the side of his head. Walt stumbled to the ground and the crowd roared with excitement for the blood. Lacee peeked around Daron, watching the Alpha beat the man with ease, but just as it seemed the fight was quickly coming to an end, two of the men that had grabbed her earlier jumped on top of Rinc, joining in the fight.
Lacee cried out. But just as fast as the two betrayers had jumped in, Daron and Kane joined the fight as well. The fight was fair again, as the Alpha, his father, and his Beta fought the three men. She had never seen anything like it. Of course, she had watched MMA fights and boxing matches, but this was a different scene. This was a killing. This was like animals in the wild fighting to the death and she knew that at least three of the six men would not be making it out of the barn alive.
Suddenly, a woman ran at her, the look of murder across her face. Lacee clinched her fist, but from the side another person tackled the woman and began slamming the attackers head into the dirty ground. The person that had saved her from the attack was the beautiful, bronzed woman from earlier, Victoria.
Lacee watched in horror as Victoria smashed the woman's head one too many times and the sound of her skull cracking in half was the only thing that stopped her from continuing. Victoria stood up; blood splattered over her otherwise perfect face. She was about to thank her, when the beautiful woman disappeared into the crowd again.
"Rinc." Lacee went back to the fight in time to see the Alpha rip Walt's throat out with his bare hands and drop the man's lifeless body to the floor.
Beside him, Kane and Daron each finished off the men they were fighting as well, leaving the bodies bloodied and defeated on the cold barn floor beneath them. The Alpha began to howl up at the sky, and his people all followed him in a tribe-like chanting of animalistic howls.
"I am your Alpha!" He screamed out as he smeared the dead man's blood across his own face. "If you disobey me, I will wear your blood beneath the moon!"
The pack howled around him so loudly that Lacee could feel their rhythm pounding amongst her heartbeat. To her own horror, a howl left her lips, and she covered her mouth with her own hands, shocked at her participation in this celebration.