Alpha Mate: BBW Paranormal Shifter Romance (4 page)

“
Yes, Alpha.” Jett unfolded his arms and
stood to his full height. At six and a half feet, he was an inch
shorter than Lucas. Lucas was taller and broader, and when they
sparred, Lucas was faster and stronger than Jett. But that was no
slight to the human trainer. That Jett could hold his own against
the alpha wolf was proof enough of his abilities, agility and skill.

For a human, his Chief Trainer was tough, rough and
fast—mentally and physically. Jett was a master at strategy,
and he had infiltrated and busted quite a few large smuggling and
money laundering rings during his time with the NMPD.

Lucas seriously doubted that the greedy warlock was a
match for his cunning Chief Trainer.

Obeying his Alpha, Jett pushed back from the table and
began to speak, addressing the PAC respectfully and authoritatively,
“The trainees in the Enforcement Unit have to go through two
stages of training before they can graduate as a rookie Enforcer.
The basic training involves pure physical training, where we make
sure the trainee builds up his or her speed, strength and stamina.
When they are deemed ready, they will be made to go through their
first obstacle course. There is a grueling obstacle course in the
PAC training headquarters that the trainees have to run, jump, lift,
punch, swim and crawl their way through. Not all trainees make it
through this obstacle course. Those who make it get to try their
hand and claw at another obstacle course—an outdoor one.”

Jett paused, looking round the table. “The
trainees will still have to run, jump, swim and crawl, but this time,
they will be battling the elements while they do it. They will be
running across desserts and jungles, fighting sandstorms and wild
animals as they try to reach the endpoint in time. They need speed,
endurance and skill to survive. Their swimming and climbing skills
will also be tested. They have to swim through a raging river,
wrestle crocodiles along the way, and climb a mountain, without
climbing gear. For the human trainees, they have to use just their
bare human limbs. Paranormal trainees can use whatever capabilities
they have at their disposal. Vampire trainees would have to avoid
the sunlight and yet get to the endpoint in time. Shifter trainees
can shift into their animals, but as you know, some find it more
difficult to navigate the obstacles while in their animal forms. I
can assure you that it is extremely challenging to scale a mountain
as a platypus. Some witch trainees use their spells to help them,
but as Samantha can tell you, spell casting is draining, and after a
bout of spell casting, some of the witch trainees succumb to heat
stroke and lose consciousness, thereby losing valuable time. Some
don't make it to the endpoint by the allotted time. Those who fail
this basic training, don't go on to the advanced level.”

Lucas leaned back and glanced around the table. He and
Jett had been the architects behind the training program, so what
Jett was reporting was of no surprise to him. But he saw that some
of the PAC members were wide-eyed and whispering among themselves.
Keagan Slater the weredragon was rubbing his chin thoughtfully. The
werebear Blake Madden was nodding and speaking in a low, rumbling
tone to Ella, who was frowning hard and shaking her head. Helen was
scowling beside him, and he didn't know if she was showing her
displeasure at what she was hearing, or disapproving of Jett's
training methods. She was always disapproving and disagreeable, but
all in all she meant no real harm.

A sudden thought struck him and it almost made him choke
out loud. Helen was much like the mother-in-law he would never have.
He had lived for three hundred years and his mate was nowhere in
sight. It was very likely that he would live for three hundred more,
and never find her. So no mate meant no mother-in-law. Ah, was it a
curse or a blessing? He narrowed his eyes at the strange turn of his
thoughts at a PAC meeting. But he suspected that this would make him
regard Helen in a more sympathetic light.

Most of the PAC members were unmated as well. Except
for Helen, Grayson and Samantha, the rest of the Council members were
all unmated.

And what the hell was he doing mulling over his unmated
status at a PAC meeting?

Lucas cleared his throat a little too loudly, making all
heads turn towards him. They were all looking at him curiously.
Lucas let out a growl and said gruffly, “I'll take it from
here. Thank you, Jett.”

Jett nodded and took his seat.

Lucas coughed into his fist and tried to get back to the
matter at hand. Which was—

“
The advanced level of the training,” Lucas
said pointedly to his PAC members, directing their attention to where
it should be. Council matters. Training of the Enforcers. Not his
personal life, or the sore lack thereof.

Lucas looked round the table and stated, “The
advanced level is where we hone the trainees' mental strength and
capabilities. To hunt and fight rogues, the Enforcers must be able
to out think and outsmart them. Relying on pure speed and strength
alone is not enough. As we well know, rogues are almost always very
powerful, even more so than your average paranormal. Most
paranormals are willing and able to control their powers. They
maintain control over their powers and abilities at all times. But
rogues are uncontrolled, untamed, unpredictable. Their inability and
unwillingness to rein in their prowess makes them unleash their
powers in destructive, violent ways. Some of their bodies and minds
are destroyed in the process, and they become a warped version of
themselves. Some rogue shifters are stuck permanently in a half
shift, stumbling about with half their minds and half their bodies.
They are trapped in their half human, half beast forms and their
blood lust becomes uncontrollable, shattering their minds and
conscience. Some rogue demons morph into their demonic forms, and
indulge in their insatiable demonic lusts, killing many innocent
humans and paranormals before they are tracked down and destroyed.
These rogues are very dangerous, and very powerful. It is near
impossible to overcome and defeat them physically. So an Enforcer's
mind must be honed to be a lethal weapon as well. An Enforcer's mind
must be stronger than his or her body. That's the only way to win.”

Lucas met every pair of eyes in turn, noting the fire
that burned behind the demon's black eyes. Zorath had personally
slain a couple of rogue demons that had raped and murdered hundreds
of human and paranormal females. Lucas had heard that Zorath had
snapped the rogue demons' horns right off their heads when he caught
them, so great had been his rage. Zorath was attending the PAC
meeting in his human form, so his horns were retracted and hidden
under his jet black hair which was neatly sleeked back. He was the
only Council member in a designer three-piece suit, replete with
white hanky in his coat pocket. The vampire Glenn Constantine was
the only other member in a jacket, but his shirt was unbuttoned at
the collar and he wasn't wearing a tie. Lucas was dressed in black
jeans and a black long-sleeved shirt. He had rolled the sleeves up
to his elbow, and his top two buttons were undone. Keagan and Blake
were also in jeans, but while Keagan had on a t-shirt which stretched
tight over his broad chest, the burly werebear was in a gray
wife-beater.

Grayson and Samantha were both in cloaks. Maybe that
was the standard dress code for mated paranormals. Once you're
mated, you don a cloak. Lucas glanced at Helen and saw that she was
not in a cloak. She was dressed in a smart, tailored pant suit with
a string of pearls around her neck. Lucas found himself breathing a
sigh of relief. He didn't relish the thought of finding himself in a
long, flowing cloak. Though he did relish the thought of finding his
mate. But that thought was more like a dream. A dream that would
never come true. Perhaps the likes of him didn't deserve a mate.

He had always been a hunter. Brutal, relentless,
lethal. He had hunted and slaughtered rogues as an Enforcer. And
before paranormals arrived at a truce, he had fought and killed
vampires in the turf war between vamps and weres. There was a lot of
blood on his hands.

Lucas's claws sliced out unconsciously. Lucas was old
and powerful enough to control every aspect of his wolf, so that he
could draw upon his wolf prowess while in human form. His claws were
usually his first weapon to be unsheathed when faced with danger or
pain. It was like a reflex, his body's instinctive defensive
mechanism kicking in to enable him to fight and survive. Lucas
curled his fingers under the table and forced his claws to retract.
There was no danger here. He breathed in deeply and suppressed a
growl. He had been experiencing this ache in his chest for some
time, but it was becoming more acute and frequent. Perhaps he was
coming down with something. Or—perhaps he should get his heart
checked. There had been reports of paranormals collapsing from heart
attacks. Unheard of in the past, but with their increasingly
sedentary lifestyles and high cholesterol diets, many paranormals
were succumbing to diseases which used to plague only humans. It was
inevitable in a way. Living side by side with humans, the
paranormals gradually adopted the same city lifestyles and diets as
their human neighbors. They watched the same television programs,
were bombarded with the same advertisements for junk food, and the
vampires even had to drink that high cholesterol human blood for
sustenance. Hi-fat blood was the only thing on the menu in most
blood bars these days. And most civilian shifters tended to shift
into their animals forms even less frequently than the recommended
three times a week, for at least twenty minutes each time. It was no
wonder that the healers were reporting that the number of paranormals
suffering from high blood pressure and diabetes was going up at an
alarming rate.

He rubbed his chest, hoping that he wasn't having a
silent heart attack, and made a mental note to start a health program
for paranormals. His gaze swept round the table and stopped at
Blake. An image of a huge grizzly bear in leotards and sweatbands
leading an aerobics class for overweight paranormals flashed before
his eyes.

Lucas pressed his knuckles to his mouth and adopted the
thinking man pose in order to hide his smile. He got his man.

Enough of the distraction.

He was about to let the PAC know what the Enforcer
trainees were made to go through for their advanced training before
they were assessed at their Final test. He knew that the training
regime that he and Jett had designed was tough as hell, and he was
quietly proud of the trainees who had made it through.

Lucas pushed his chair back and started to pace round
the table.

“
To test them,” he said, walking and talking
at a steady pace. “The trainees are pitted against their
trainers. But you can say that it's not exactly a fair fight. While
their trainers can fight using any method and weapon of their choice,
the trainees are shackled. They have to fight with one arm locked
behind their back, and one leg shackled to a weight. Sometimes they
are blindfolded as well. Almost all the trainees are beaten bloody
by the end of the fight, but they are not allowed to stop. They are
only let out of the ring when they have succeeded in striking the
target points on their trainer's body. The target points are the red
dots on the trainer's protective and monitoring gear. These are over
the trainer's heart and neck. That's how you kill rogues. Stab them
in the heart, or take off their heads. With their physical
capabilities severely curtained and compromised, the trainees will
have to use stealth and strategy to hit their targets. It is not
easy, I assure you, and only the best make it out of the ring.”

As Lucas resumed his seat, Keagan leaned forward and
said, “So if they clear the advanced level, they graduate as
rookie Enforcers. But that's not the end, right? There's a Final
test.”

Lucas looked at the dragon shifter and answered, “Oh,
the Final test is the easiest level. We simply send them out on the
field.”

At that, several brows and voices were raised.

“
It's a lot like learning to drive. To be able to
drive and get your license, you've got to hit the road. So our
rookie Enforcers have got to hit the streets and learn to deal with
the traffic,” Lucas finished with a shrug.

“
So you just turn them loose and let them run amok
on their own?” Grayson said, his voice rising a notch to
indicate his righteous indignation.

Lucas regarded Grayson with studied patience. And
studied his patience was. He hadn't always been able to hold his
temper quite so well. As Alpha, he had quickly realized that there
were many issues at play in the PAC and within the paranormal and
human communities. There were inter-species sensitivities. There
were political battles. There were commercial and community
considerations. New Moon City was a big melting pot, with tensions
always simmering below the surface. If he wasn't careful, the pot
might just boil over, spilling blood and guts everywhere.

A quick temper would not serve an Alpha, the PAC or the
city well.

“
First, the rookie Enforcers do not, and will not,
in any circumstances, run amok. They are given strict instructions
on how to conduct themselves on their first patrol. No running,
unless giving chase to a rogue. They are to walk at a steady pace,
keeping their weapons sheathed at all times, so as not to cause
unnecessary alarm and panic.” Lucas paused, taking in the
silence in the room.