Claimed by Her Alpha (14 page)

“Tie their legs too. We don’t want Saki getting away before her sister gets to meet her real self.”

“Please don’t do this, Dax. I did everything you said. Just let her go. She doesn’t know what she did. Please Dax, I’m begging you.”

Dax looked away as the boys took Saki and her sister into the shack. As they quickly bound them, the wolves felt the first shots of pain from their turning. They got out as quickly as they could and tied the door shut. The only source of light were speckles from the holes in the thatched roof.

“Don’t do this, Dax. Please, I’m begging you! I’ll do anything. I’m begging you!” Saki yelled before screaming in pain.

“Saki?” Marnie called out to her sister.

The pain subsided long enough for Saki to ask a question. “Why?”

“We came to rescue you. We’re following your plan.”

Saki yelled again, feeling the burning in her skin and her muscles tensing to the point of breaking her bones. “I told you not to. Why didn’t you listen to me? Why…”

She couldn’t speak anymore. She felt the bones in her jaw snap. Her body pulled at the ropes, causing them to cut into her skin. It was her worst nightmare come true. Her wolf acted on instinct. After years of resentment and anger, her wolf would seek revenge.

Marnie watched, horror etching lines into her face. Saki’s body contorted and cracked uncontrollably, while she screamed. Hair rapidly extended from her skin. Marnie screamed in terror, and the wolf seemed to feed off of it.

Marnie‘s heart beat erratically as the last of her sister transformed. She had become a monster. She wasn’t quite a wolf, yet she wasn’t quite anything else either. The creature that now wiggled and struggled, fought free from its binds. And in moments, the snarling dangerous beast was on all fours, approaching her with its teeth showing and in a position ready to pounce.

“Saki?” Marnie asked through the fear. “Saki, it’s me. Don’t you recognize me? I’m sorry,” she said through the terror. “You’re right, I should’ve listened. Saki, can you hear me?”

With each passing second, the wolf got closer to Marnie. It growled and ground its teeth. Never taking its eyes off of Marnie, it lowered its head, sneaking nearer to the young girl’s tied feet. Slowly, it opened its mouth and placed its razor sharp teeth in the space between Marnie‘s pudgy legs and the twine. Clamping down, it nipped and pulled until with a snap, the twine broke.

Marnie whimpered with disbelief. “Saki? You recognize me. You recognize me.” She stuck out her wrists for the wolf to free. The wolf moved in the same slow-motion, carefully positioning its teeth on the twine next to Marnie’s skin. Like she had done before, she freed her sister.

Saki looked at Marnie through what felt like a haze. She felt confused by what was going on, but her mind was clear enough to recognize who it was in the room with her. Saki didn’t want to hurt her. She wanted to protect her. Freeing her was all she could do.

Marnie climb to her feet. Saki turned her attention to the door. She approached it as slowly as she had her sister. Sniffing through the crack underneath it, she tried to smell who was behind it. No one was out there. If she could get out, she might be able to stop someone. Maybe it was Dax who needed stopping. She couldn’t be sure, her mind was still in a haze. But she was certain that she had to get out.

Saki scratched the door, turning back toward Marnie.

“You want to get out, don’t you?” Marnie asked. “Let me try. I might be able to do it.”

Saki backed off. Marnie pushed on the makeshift knob. The whole wall wobbled under her pressure. Marnie pushed harder. Finally, she threw her body onto the door, bending the wood until the straps released with a crack. Before she was completely out of the way, Saki pushed past her and bounded into the bush.

Saki did her best to clear her mind. Who was she after? Lane, she kept thinking. No, she wanted to save Lane. She was after Dax. She had to do whatever was necessary to stop Dax.

Pausing briefly, she caught a whiff of his scent. It was both of them, actually. No, it was Lane and all of Dax‘s pack. She took off after their scent, allowing it to weave her between the trees.

Saki ran as quickly as she could. They had a lead on her, though their path was erratic. It zigzagged back and forth almost as if the chase was just a distraction.

Saki slowed, allowing her mind to clear. Marnie had said something. What had she said? She had said something about a plan. What had been Saki‘s plan, the wolf wondered.

She remembered. It had to do with a medallion of some type. A medallion that did something to wolves. But what?

Suddenly, she had it. She didn’t know it, but her legs moved, knowing where she wanted to go. She abandoned the trail left by the wolves’ scent. She was headed somewhere familiar, but she wasn’t sure exactly where. But she did know that she had been there before. Something had happened there. Something that stood out in her mind. Something that had shocked her later.

When Saki caught scent of Dax‘s pack, things became clear. It wasn’t Torque’s wolf that she smelled. It was the human Torque, as well as the human Ben, Scully, and Dwayne. When she spotted Lane‘s wolf 100 feet away, headed in the same direction, she understood something was about happen.

Saki looked behind Lane. Dax and all of his pack were after him. Lane was in full stride with three body lengths separating them, but the other wolves were closing quickly. Saki looked up ahead and saw the human version of Lane‘s pack waiting for him. They looked dazed, but their naked, hairless human bodies were turned toward the approaching wolves.

With Dax almost on Lane‘s tail, Lane seem to slow down. With his full force, he launched himself into the air, breaking through the invisible barrier of magic. Lane transformed into his human form before he even hit the ground, landing 20 feet ahead of Dax. Dax rolled as if tripped by a wire. His pack tumbled after him. When each of them looked up again, they were all human.

Ben, Dwayne, Torque, and Scully went right to work. With Gully, Frank, Patrick, and Mark still dazed, Lane‘s pack grabbed them and began beating on them. Saki slowed to a stop, watching. It was the element of surprise. Someone had talked about this plan, but she couldn’t remember who. Nonetheless, the plan worked.

Lane was the next one to get up. Staggering around, he set his sights on Dax. With Dax flailing, Lane struck him again and again across the face and chest. Dax looked defenseless, Hunched over with his knuckles almost dragging on the ground, he took hold of Dax‘s head and dragged him farther into the invisible barrier. The pouch, still strapped around his chest, dragged through the sand. Lane dropped him to the ground.

That moment of relief was too much, though. Landing on the ground gave Dax just enough time to orient himself to what was going on. Getting to his knees, he threw himself at Lane. Lane fell backwards and suddenly the tide turned. Dax struck Lane, Lane‘s jaw whipped around, and Dax scrambled for his chest pack.

With his naked body sitting on top of Lane‘s, he fumbled for the zipper. He’d taken too long though, because that was all the time Lane needed to roll them over and get on top of him.

Lane struck him again and again. Dax was slowing. He threw out his fist and caught a lucky blow. Lane stumbled, rolling off of him. Dax reached for his pouch again. This time, he managed to open it. With his hand tightly gripping the handle, he withdrew his gun and aimed it at Lane.

About to win, Dax froze when Saki let out the most haunting howl that any of them had ever heard. It was instinct that made Dax turnaround. That split-second was enough. Lane recovered and tackled Dax as hard as he could.

Dax‘s head whipped back with the force of a car crash. His hand fell back and opened, sending the gun flying. With the breath knocked out of him, Dax turned around, looking for his pistol. It was 10 feet away. All he had to do was crawl 10 feet, and he would be able to end this for good.

To his surprise, Lane didn’t follow him. When he was just a foot from the gun, he discovered why.

The first thing to turn was his paw. Next was his head and body. He hadn’t expected this transformation, so he couldn’t control it. It didn’t happen quickly. His body contorted and cracked just as if he were a normal werewolf.

But free of the barrier, his mind cleared. Surveying the grounds and finding his pack pummeled and defeated, he began to shift back into a human to grab the gun.

As he bent down with a snarl, Saki attacked him. She tore and ripped at him. He was confused; she moved fast, and her razor-sharp teeth were everywhere. Dax had only one escape. Transforming back into a wolf, he rolled onto his paws and sped away.

Saki wasn’t going to let him go, though. She chased him. Even injured, he was fast. He pulled away from her, but it was clear to her where he was going. He was headed back to the camps. If he got there, he would have unlimited backup.

But that wasn’t where he went. His scent didn’t go toward the other wolves; it headed for her sister.

The answer was clear as soon as Saki arrived. The human Dax had Marnie in his grips with his hand digging into her neck. Saki came to a quick stop.

“Oh yes, you know what’s going on. You see what I’m doing. If you take a step, I’ll rip her throat out. So what do you want, a dead sister or a wolf sister? Cause if you take one step closer, you’ll get one or the other.”

Saki heard him and understood but couldn’t stop. She wanted to protect her. She wanted to keep her safe. But she also wanted Dax. He owned her life, and the only way she would get it back would be here and now. So, taking a step forward, she watched in horror at what happened next.

Dax, who didn’t flinch, dug his nails into Marnie‘s neck and ripped as hard as he could. Marnie let out a scream and fell back into Dax‘s arms. Her weight was too much for him though, and she slipped by him. Marnie reached for her throat, struggling for air.

Rage rippled through Saki. She had never experienced anything like it before. It was like her sister’s pain was reshaping her. As it did, everything around her changed. The ground shifted away from her. Her limbs felt more mobile. Her head raised farther into the air, giving her a perspective she had never had through her wolf eyes.

More to the point, her mind was clear. Her body still felt strong like a wolf’s, but she felt human. Not completely human, but somehow better.

Dax froze, staring at the thing before him. It was part human and part wolf. He had seen it before. It had scared him off of her the night before. She was something else. She was something that neither his human nor wolf could defeat.

Backing up, he transformed into his wolf and sprinted into the woods. Without thinking, Saki went after him. In an instant, she was down on all fours, and again, she was the wolf.

Dax could only do one thing to stop her. With it just out of reach of Lane‘s pack, it still had to be there.

Dax spotted it just where he had left it. Launching into the air, he transformed into a human, grabbing at it. Saki, who quickly came up behind him, transformed into the werewolf and pounced on top of him.

As a human, Dax had no chance against her; he returned to his wolf form. She did as well. Still with the advantage, she tore at his flesh.

Continuously shifting from human to wolf, Dax did everything he could to get away. He couldn’t. Finally, he threw his body to the right, rolling it within the magic barrier. As soon as he did, Lane grabbed him, going in for the final blow.

“I give up,” Dax declared. “I submit. You win. Please, have mercy. Lane, please.”

Lane, stood over him, staring down at the boy Lane had known since they were kids. Lying below him, Lane hesitated. He couldn’t throw the final blow.

Saki, who stood just outside the circle as half-wolf, half-human, marched inside to finish him off. As she did, her full human form returned. She grabbed Dax, and he didn’t resist. She didn’t have her claws or teeth to kill him, though. All she could do now was grab his throat and squeeze.

As she choked the life out of him, Dax didn’t fight back. Staring down at him, his eyes watered and became bloodshot. His beautifully tanned face turned red, and Saki, for the first time, realized what she was doing.

She was killing him. It is what she had threatened to do for so long, but she was doing it. Seeing the life slowly drain from his eyes, she realized she couldn’t. Without thinking, she released him and watched the bright red drain from his face.

As soon as he could, he repeated it. “I submit,” he choked out. “I submit. You win.”

Saki‘s exhausted body heaved on top of him. She looked up and found everyone staring. Both packs had seen it and most of them looked at her with surprise. They had seen her beat him. For Lane‘s pack, it was with her plan. For Dax‘s pack, it was with her strength and will. She had defeated the alpha, and she had done it by transforming into a shifter herself. None of them had ever seen anything like her before. All of them knew that she was now the strongest among them.

“Saki?” Marnie gurgled like a whisper in the breeze.

Saki immediately looked up. She heard her. Getting off of him and stepping outside of the barrier, she shifted back into the wolf and ran toward her. Entering the clearing, 20 wolves surrounded her. Saki launched into the air and landed in the middle as the half-human, half-wolf.

Leaping by her sister’s side, she presented her claws and crouched, waiting for any of them to make a move. They didn’t. Having never seen anything like her before, they backed off. She lunged at them, and they turned and ran.