Chapter 35: Chapter Thirty-Five--The Alpha Has Spoken

“My mother would’ve slaughtered a weak whelp without thought. Lexi was everything my mother hated. That was the beginning of the end for us. I came between them, fighting for her at every turn. Until my father shoved Lexi at me and told me she was now mine. If I failed to keep her out of my parents’ way, Lexi was dead.” His hand clenched over mine. “I had no idea how to be a parent. Quinn, Syber and I had already separated ourselves from the pack, brothers of blood and circumstance: a pack within a pack. Raising a girl was no different, even if we had no clue what we were doing. But others in the clan viewed these concessions as weaknesses on the Alpha pair’s part. Anarchy was on the brink of the Cobanes. Then the hunters appeared.”

“How?”

“My father had planned the biggest hunt yet. He had collected so many humans, but not all of them survived the kidnappings. He’d driven the Omegas and Betas into a frenzy, and they’d killed, leaving the bodies too close to home. Once they were found, humans decided wild animals were running amok and had to hunt. By morbid consequence, they picked the night of full moon to go into mountains.”

Bile climbed my throat. “And they found your Clan during their own hunt.”

“The humans expected mountain lions or wolves, but they weren’t prepared for several dozen jaguars during bloodlust. My people weren’t ready for the gunfire and machetes.” His voice deepened, becoming haunted. “When the remaining members of the Clan started to shift for the attack, the hunters saw what we were. The kidnapped screamed for help, but by the night’s end, the hunter’s had killed all of them in madness, not trusting that they were not of our race. So many on both sides died. The survivors fled in all directions.”

“And now they’re back.”

“Yes. I’ve kept tabs on them. They’ve hunted other areas and found other Clans. Their numbers increase every day. They stayed away from Hell’s Gate, until the last few months. After that night, a majority of our clan left. The hunts stopped. We did not go into town. We didn’t give any reason for them to think any jaguar still roamed these hills.”

“So that’s why your parents abandoned you.”

“I wanted no part of them. Regardless, Lexi and I weren’t invited to leave with them. Syber’s family died that night. Quinn hasn’t had any blood relatives in as long as he can remember. Both chose to stay with me. My father hated them for that. He tried to fight me, to exterminate me. In the end, Lexi came between us and almost died for the action. The courage startled him. I think part of him finally admired her. He took his people and left. And I, changed.”

“Changed?”

“I was the leader now, of my own small Clan. No one contested me. The term Alpha inspires fear in and of itself. But to be given the title by right, is unimaginable power—with benefits, and downfalls. The four of us would survive, or die, because of the decisions I made. We built a peaceful existence, filled with rules no cat had ever lived by. Rumors of my existence spread all over North America. Soon enough, Carmen stumbled to my door, starving, dirty, and near dying. Roman and Dorian came a few years later. Sadie and Bianca, just last year. They didn’t care that I wasn’t a part of their race. Their desperation fueled need I couldn’t even fathom. They wanted peace and quiet. To stop the bloodshed and abuse.”

“Sounds horrible.”

“Exactly. Since I came into power, I’ve been determined to lead my way. And anyone who doesn’t agree with that can leave. I will not hesitate to toss them out if they jeopardize everyone else’s way of life.”

Uh huh. I heard the name shouted behind the statement. “So how does Bianca fit into all of this exactly?”

“Bianca is a…special instance. She and Sadie came to me by way typical circumstance and turmoil. They are sisters of circumstance, sharing the need to survive. For their entire lives, they were owned by the same Alpha, who surrounded himself by female slaves, who existed to serve his needs. He followed no code, or rule, but his own. No one had succeeded in escaping him, but that didn’t stop the females from trying. If I hadn’t been wandering, I wouldn’t have found them in time, hiding in a dumpster in a town on the other side of the mountains. I brought them here, but the Alpha tracked them.”

“So, you gave them your protection?”

“No,” he said quickly. “I rarely if ever make that command so formal.” He rolled his shoulders. The memory of Bianca screaming that she hadn’t obtained his protection returned to me. “I killed him.”

“Oh, well, good. I think?”

He laughed bitterly. “He threatened me, and what I mistook as innocent females. But Bianca is not and never has been an innocent. I gave her everything she needed, and she appeared thankful and scared. But she pretended, fooled even me, enough that I’d begun to fall for the female I thought she was. A fatal mistake of man or beast is to be taken under the influence of false flattery. Her act changed when she figured she had me. She used my position as if I’d already made her my mate, and my Clan’s Alpha. She pushed Lexi away me, tried to make Syber and Quinn her footstools.”

“So why is still part of the Clan then?”

He tucked his hands underneath his head. “I’ve thought about removing her. But Sadie has done nothing wrong, and I’ve come to consider them a package deal. Why punish both, for something one did? Is it not better to impress upon a stubborn female that I do not want her. That she will never be my mate, than throw them out into a world they don’t understand? That they’d probably die in, if it wasn’t for me?”

True, I guessed. To admit anything else was selfish. Maybe he could get Bianca to fall in line, move on. Who knew? More shocking things had happened. “So, how long did you fall for her act?”

“A few months. Occasionally, even I have moments of great stupidity, which balances my infinite brilliance.”