Ryan Wesley stood in front of his bedroom balcony in Sandgate city and stared into the starry night. In his right hand, he swirled a glass of vodka. His other hand was perched in his pocket while he waited for an anticipated call. His phone buzzed and he yanked it out of his pocket.
"Did you find them?"
"Yes sir." His beta replied. "We found the gang."
Ryan clenched his teeth as he recalled the image of brutally slaughtered werewolves splashed across the news and how humans cheered in victory. Now, the mafia gang responsible for that massacre were going to pay the same price.
"Listen to me carefully, Cody. Make it slow. Make it painful but most importantly, make it…"
"Memorable. I got you, alpha Ryan. I am not a rookie."
"Great. Make me proud." He hung up and sipped his drink, letting it slide warm down his throat.
Humans killed by werewolves never made the news in the city because the government didn't want the masses to panic and lose faith in the system's promise to eradicate threats posed by supernatural beings in the city.
There were so many secrets hidden from the public and not all of them was for a noble reason. For example, the masses were unaware of the existence of a peace treaty signed between the government and influential supernatural beings, from vampires to even werewolf packs like Ryan's who kept the city's coffers full in exchange for a peaceful and secret cohabitation amongst humans. Hence, the government's promise to rid the city of supernatural beings was a big, fat lie.
For the wretched supernatural beings that couldn't pay for protection, a peaceful and long life in the city wasn't guaranteed.
Few werewolf packs paid the government while the rest considered it an insult to the moon goddess' ability to protect her own as well as an admission to the superiority of humans over werewolves.
The Silver Moon pack led by Ryan 'the godless' (as he was infamously nicknamed in the werewolf community) was despised by other packs because of this. However, Ryan had his reasons for paying up.
Firstly, he didn't believe in the moon goddess and preferred to actively ensure the protection of his pack than to watch them dying like flies because of their blind faith. Secondly, he was very wealthy and could afford to pay so why not?
Those were the reasons he arrogantly gave when asked by other werewolves but there was another silent truth he kept to himself.
It was the fact that he was sick of the mockery of his kind. What made the humans so special anyway? His kind were faster, stronger, didn't fall sick and whatnot. What gave frail creatures like humans the audacity to reign supreme? The least they could have done was coexist with werewolves, not hunt them like animals.
Ryan's eyes glowed red as he tightened his fingers around his glass. While his pack enjoyed protection, so many werewolves were being killed on a daily basis, dwindling their numbers. Paying for protection was just the first phase of his plan for Sandgate city and their hypocritical government. Soon, the city would be overrun by werewolves as it ought to. The humans will be the isolated race.
The bloodshed of his kind had gone on too long and Ryan realized early that he couldn't deal with the problem if he was on the outside looking in. Hence, he decided to play by the rules and secure his place as an influential personality in the city even though it ruined his social image within his community.
He didn't care for anyone's validation, neither human nor wolf. He only cared about doing what he felt was right for his people and at the moment, ceasing the attacks and killings by humans was top on his list. He had lost a few good ones to their brutality. Sometimes, he suspected his fated wolf might have even been killed by them.
He had met her on his eighteenth birthday at the Annual Werewolf Gala. He felt everything his father had told him he would feel for Nyla. He couldn't describe the attraction and pull towards her.
His heart sank when she rejected him and preferred to remain the chosen mate of her best friend and alpha to be, Zain Priestley. That punk stole his mate. Ryan had narrowly survived the pain of his rejection. He was livid at the moon goddess for not punishing Nyla for her disobedience in following her fate. He wished Nyla would be made to regret her decision that night.
Then he heard that she had died tragically. Though he was still hurting at the time, his feelings for her made her death another difficult pill to swallow.
He hadn't meant for the moon goddess to kill Nyla. He had only wanted her to regret choosing Zain over him and come crawling back. He wanted to make her pay for rejecting him before he finally accepted her back. He sank deeper into depression afterwards and cussed at the moon goddess for being deaf to his prayers and weak as well.
Thankfully, he had his supportive parents by his side to help him find purpose again. With time, he proved himself strong again and won hearts in his pack as a formidable werewolf. His father surprisingly chose him to be the next alpha instead of his twin brother, Rick Wesley.
Rick felt cheated because he was the older twin. He had hated his family and turned away from the pack that night.
It's been seven years since Ryan had seen or heard from his twin brother. Rumors swirled that Rick had joined a band of pack less werewolves notorious for going on a werewolf and human killing spree every now and then. They were lawless and preferred to live like that. Hence, they called them, The Lawless Pack.
Ryan wasn't apologetic for his ascension as alpha. His father saw his growth, leadership and other skills before choosing him on those merits while Rick partied away, confident solely on the fact that he was the older son. To Ryan, Rick bearing a grudge was childish.
However, the alpha didn't let his guard down. His brother was no fool. He must be longing to usurp Ryan's position especially given its fame as the wealthiest pack in the werewolf world. What's more, Ryan managed to run his pack without a Luna.
Since his rejection, he stopped being a slavish believer in the moon goddess. If she could let werewolves reject the mates fated to them and watch the victims suffer in pain, then he would lead his life his own way without blindly following her rules. Since Nyla's death, he had watched a lot of werewolves reject their fated mates without consequences. Why did Nyla have to die? Was the moon goddess partial?
Every now and then, he indulged himself but he refused to pick a Luna. He had been flying solo since he became an alpha but due to his wealth and the iron fist with which he ruled, his pack dared not question him. They all knew no other alpha could protect them the way alpha Ryan did.
Ryan enjoyed the night view and inhaled the fresh air into his lungs. A small smiled crept into his face when Cody sent him a picture of the massacred gang members with their ripped-out hearts stuffed in their mouths. He dialed a number.
"Did you find him?"
"No boss. We found and tortured members of the lawless pack but they still won't say anything about the identity of their members or their leader. We don't know for sure if Rick is a part of them. They're fanatics that prefer to die than snitch on each other."
Ryan gritted his teeth. "Do I have to teach you how to make them talk, Dante? Figure it out before my next call or you'll be the one in my interrogation chair. How about that?" He hung up and inhaled deeply. His body hardened as a familiar scent filled his room. He slid his phone into his pocket.
"Drop the tough guy act, kiddo." Someone said behind him. "Save it for your whores during role play."
"It's been seven years. You should know better than to creep up on me without masking that scent of yours." Ryan drained his drink and swiveled to face the uninvited guest in his bedroom.
"Hello baby brother." Rick replied with a devastatingly handsome smile as he sat cross-legged on the bedroom sofa, brandishing a gun which was undoubtedly loaded with silver bullets.