Psychotic

The day of the gathering was supposed to be the day Alec would welcome the new members of their pack as the future alpha, but that duty was ignored because a more pressing issue occurred. Something traumatic happened, and theyve been scouring the perimeter around the town to see what exactly had caused it.

Usually, there would be a few members of their pack guarding the territory for any unwelcome visitors or to deter humans away from venturing further into the dangerous woods where anything could happen. It was their territory. Their place. And their safe haven.

Turns out it isn so safe anymore. Not until they figure out what was lurking in the shadows.

Although he gathered up their best men, they couldn find anything amiss even when they spent nearly two days just searching. Thats all they ever did, and he could tell everyone was getting tired of just running around with the tension only growing, but their only lead is five men who couldn speak.

There was a reason why they couldn . A very good reason.

They
e dead.

Five of the best fighters he knew, five who were together at the time from what he gathered from the scene, and five who are by no means inexperienced for something to maul them like that.

There were many possibilities, and the most likely one is a group of rouges. Sometimes they do group up, but thats not really a common occurrence. It was definitely another werewolf, the wounds on the men suggested claw marks, but there is just one tiny problem with his theory…

A group would leave a trace. Footsteps. Scents. Anything.

There was nothing but a pile of dead bodies.

Although things couldn sound worse, these were experienced fighters. They had seen things and were ready to attack if they faced a strong enemy, and they should have won considering they were together, but they hadn and some of them looked terrified. Thats what worried Alec the most. Their terrified faces.

Someone appeared behind him and he looked back to see the worried face of his friend and most trusted comrade, Jaxon.

”Whats the news? ” He asked already knowing the answer from Jaxons expression.

”Nothing. We looked everywhere. ”

Trying not to show the frustration that was piling up, Alec nodded his head crossing his arms as he debated on what to do. This was a matter that required his fathers attention, but his father wasn present at the moment so it was up to him.

His men had been restlessly searching for clues, and no matter how hard they looked they couldn find anything. For now, it seemed like a fruitless search, so the best course of action was to call it off but stay alert for any unwelcome insiders.

”Alright, lets just end it here. ” As he spoke, all he could think of was just sinking himself into a warm bath and just relax after all this running. His muscles were tense and so was he. ”Just make sure to tell everyone to stay on guard. ”

Jaxon breathed out a sigh of relief. ”Finally, it is over. ”

”It is not. We still don know who did this. ” Alec told him firmly, but Jaxon was too excited about the search ending to care as he quickly dashed away to spread the news.

Thinking it was about time he headed back as well, Alec was about to go back towards town before he caught a whiff of an unfamiliar scent and stopped.

”Whos there? ” He called out looking around cautiously and was immediately on alert when he heard the bushes rustle.

”I didn say knock knock. ” A tall guy walked out from his hiding spot behind the trees with a pout and a playful tone. ”Come on, let us redo. I have a great joke. ”

”Who are you? ” Alec asked not feeling like entertaining the stranger. ”You
e on our territory, you should know better than to just waltz in like that. ”

Without a single hint of worry, the guy approached him without taking his eyes off of Alec. ”Baby, why so angry? ”

Alec quickly slammed the guy into the tree when he got close enough with practiced ease and pinned him there making sure to be very forceful. He was not in the mood for jokes, especially not with the current situation. ”You better leave. ” He growled but the guy merely smiled.

”And miss out on a big strong alpha slamming me into things? No, I am staying. ” Despite his words, the guy – whoever he was – was taller than Alec himself and was also another alpha. He was provoking him.

It was honestly the nonchalance and ease in the guys manner that made Alec falter, not his words. This single moment where he loosened up his hold on the guy for just a fleeting moment was the moment he found the situations reversed and it was him who was pinned by the neck to the tree.

It was done so swiftly, so expertly that Alec almost had whiplash. Never in any fight or training session was he bested like this, and suddenly he wondered exactly what situation he had brought on himself.

”It is certainly not your intelligence that is making me swoon here, babes. ” Alec glared up at the guy and attempted to knee him in the stomach, but somehow the guy read that and avoided the attack almost instantaneously. This guy was seriously dangerous, he realized belatedly. ”Listen, I don want things to escalate. Lets talk. ”

Alec coughed when the guy let his neck go and held his throat with a clenched jaw. ”Then talk. ”

”I am here to help you. ” The guy told him seriously. Any playfulness from before was suddenly gone as if someone else had possessed him. ”Youve been looking for someone who killed five of your men, and I know who it is. ”

What the guy told him made his anger dissipate as he stared in shock and spoke to the guy with urgency. ”Then say it. Who was it? ”

”Yeah, definitely not intelligence. Who do you think? ” Just as soon as it appeared, the serious manner he adopted disappeared. ”It is me, dumb-dumb. Who else? Would a guy seriously just risk going into a territory thats on high alert just to be helpful? ”

”You asshole! ” Alec lunged at him, but the guy was too fast and too relaxed for him to even manage to touch him.

”I kill five of your men and your first thought is to attack me. I like you. ”

As hard it was to admit, he was right. This wasn a fight Alec could win. In fact, this wasn a fight any normal person could win. There was a huge gap in skill here, and Alec was by no means an inexperienced fighter, but this asshole was no joke. He killed five men.

Five.

This was a feat that could only be achieved by skill, a lot of strength, and a whole lot of crazy that Alec didn have. He was smart enough to know when to step down form a fight he couldn win.

”Alright, okay. You made your point. What do you want? ”

”I get to make demands? ” The guy grinned circling him like a cat playing with its prey, and Alec could only glare at him without saying a word back. He didn know the guys temperament, and he didn want to test it. When no other response came from Alec, the guys body slacked and he sighed. ”You
e a bore. ”

With clenched teeth and balled fist, Alec spoke. ”Just spit it out. What do you want? ”

”An omega, thats all. ”

Alecs eyes widened. The newcomer. ”You can be serious. ”

”Oh, but I am. I want him. ” The guy told him seriously, and Alec didn doubt he meant it. Not one bit. ”I just love this timing. I come back here and get the news that some omega joined your stupid pack. It is perfect. ”

This guy, this lunatic, killed five people just for that. This subject could have been approached in so many different peaceful ways, but this asshole chose to do that instead. Alec never met the omega who recently joined them, and he doesn even know what he looked like. All he knows is that hes now a member of his pack and there was no way in hell Alec would hand him over to someone like this.

Deciding to be bold, Alec looked the guy in the eye as he spoke.

”Good luck with that. Hes under our protection. ”

The guys response was an amused smirk. ”You say it like it matters. ”

Somehow Alec knew that it didn . That whatever it was they were going to do, this asshole would find a way around it. There was just so much confidence and not a single hint hesitation in his manner. Even though his claims are bold, Alec knew he wasn bluffing.

But hell be damned if he didn try his best to stop him.