Alpha Killer Ch. 21-25

Randall Meechum's POV

La Crosse Pack House

Tania was stronger than I expected; the interview continued through lunch, getting her whole story out. Luna Teri was updating her husband with relevant information, but after the Beta took her wolf, things got murky. She could no longer tell who was human or werewolf with her own wolf gone, and the slave traders were expert at hiding their names and locations. The people she encountered only had first names, and she was never outside or exposed to radio or television.

The whole story crushed my soul, it was so similar to other cases my unit had investigated. The slave training and auction ring was a ghost; they had auctions twice a year, and the clientele of these auctions was discreet and deviant. I asked as many questions as I could, looking for details I might use with my team back in Dallas. I called a halt at two in the afternoon, when it was clear Tania was exhausted. Teri took her back to the guest room while Bobby ran outside to take care of business before returning to her room.

I gathered my material and met the Alphas and Betas in his office. "The only werewolves I can verify were part of this right now are Alpha Todd in the Tomah pack, and Alpha Justin and Beta Jack of the Copper Mountain Pack," I said. "I don't know how much knowledge Luna Rhoda had of the kidnapping; she might be the ringleader, or she might have thought her mate used a surrogate."

"She had to feel it over the bond when he was fucking someone other than her," Luna Teri said.

"I'm surprised he didn't use artificial insemination, but if he did, we might never know his name," I said. "Where are we on the Council?"

"The Council Chair is coming along with his Lead Enforcer and Chief Counsel. Their plane will be arriving at the airport at five," Alpha Clark said. "I will go to the airport and bring them back. Teri, we need to make sure the kitchens are ready to host VIP's and the rooms are ready for them."

"Already in progress, we'll be ready," she said.

The phone rang, it was a private line only used for official Alpha business. He answered it on speakerphone. "Clark Grissom here."

"Alpha Clark, good, I caught you at your desk. It's Chairman Lewis Wolfe. We're going to have to reschedule our meeting, I'm afraid. The Alpha Killer has struck again."

"Where," he asked.

"Copper Mountain, Colorado. She's kidnapped the Luna and Alpha Heir of Alpha Justin's pack. We were already in the air when I got the call, so we're diverting to Cedar Rapids to refuel then on to Colorado." The Council was headquartered in western Pennsylvania, near Pittsburgh.

"No. Continue here," Alpha Clark said. "You need to see me before you go to Colorado."

"Why?"

"You have to trust me, Mr. Chairman. I'd never ask this of you without reason."

He didn't respond, we could hear muffled conversations mixed with engine noise. "All right. The pilot can refuel in La Crosse, we'll be on the ground for thirty minutes. This better be good, Clark. Alpha Justin is going nuts, as are the other Alphas in the area. Having the Alpha Killer around is bad enough, having her kidnapping kids is a whole new level. We've got Enforcers who will be in the air within the hour, and we have to get on-scene to coordinate the manhunt. She's not going to escape us this time," he vowed.

"We'll meet you at the airport," Alpha Clark said. "Thank you." When he hung up, there was a sigh of relief. "We have to find Talia before the Council does, or she's dead."

He was right. There was no more time to build a case, I needed to find my mate before I didn't have one. "Erica was given a number to call if she ever needed to leave a message for Talia. I think it's time I called it."

Alpha Clark just nodded. "We need to leave for the airport in two hours, and we need the evidence to be convincing enough that he stays here," he said.

"I can edit the files, but nothing is more convincing than Tania," I said. "She's stronger than we thought. If we can get her to meet with them and tell them in person her story, it might be enough."

"She's exhausted," Teri said. "Make your preparations as if she isn't coming, and I'll wake them in an hour and ask them if they will come along."

The meeting broke up, and I walked back to my room to start putting things together on my laptop. I found the number in my notes and made the call. "Hello," a French-sounding voice answered after a few rings.

"Hi, my name is Randall Meechum, I need to get a message to Talia Stillwater. I was told you might be able to do that for me?"

"I can try," she said.

"Thank you. Please ask her to call Randall Meechum at 555-867-5309." She repeated the message, then hung up. I looked out the window. "Please, my reluctant mate, PLEASE talk to me before it is too late."

Ch. 23

Randall Meechum's POV

La Crosse Pack House

I was busy on my computer, editing the video testimony that Tania had given and downloading them onto jump drives with the other evidence I had gathered. I had one drive for Alpha Todd, and another for Alpha Justin. Both contained enough evidence to justify an arrest warrant in the human world, but in ours? Arresting an Alpha was not something the Council liked to do. It threw the entire Pack into disarray, and often the Council would have to take over. The loss of confidence in leadership often lead to Packs fracturing, even disbanding as members sought stability elsewhere.

The trust between a Pack and its Alphas was not easily forged but breaking it could happen quickly.

I was finishing up work on Justin's file when my phone rang. I didn't recognize the number, and I was hoping it wasn't one of those annoying robocalls. "Randall Meechum," I said as I picked it up.

"You wanted to talk to me, mate?"

My heart skipped a beat as my wolf surged forward. "Talia?"

"Yes." I could hear aircraft noises in the background, it was difficult to hear her over the engines. "You know who I am, Randall?"

"I know who your sister thinks you are. I know what your Aunt and Uncle and your Grandfather think. I know what the Council and the other Packs think. I know a lot about you, Talia, but I know nothing about you."

"I'm sorry, Randall. The Goddess really screwed you over in her choice of a mate for you."

"I'm not so sure. I need to find out, though. I'm not going to throw away the woman meant for me without trying like hell to work things out." I thought about what to say, she was the toughest woman I'd ever heard of, and yet she was a scared little bird when it came to love. "I want to see you, Talia. I need to talk to you."

"You're FBI, you're investigating the shootings and you're working with the Council. How can I trust you?"

It was a good question. "I knew as soon as I arrived on scene in Fort Worth that my mate was there. I searched for you, but you must have just left. I protected you, Talia. Nobody in the FBI knows that you are involved or the real name of your sister. I have them looking for a professional killer, maybe the Cartels or Mob. As for the Council, they don't know anything yet. My parents asked for the latest information from the Council, but it was a routine inquiry. The La Crosse Alphas know with their leadership, but they are out for blood as much as you are."

"They can't get involved," she said.

"They ARE involved. You can't expect them to ignore what Alpha Todd did to your family, to their family. That's why I was here, I was investigating your sister's disappearance and the accident your parents were involved in. I was already putting together evidence to take to the Council before Tania arrived. Now that she is here, we have all we need to arrest both Alphas."

"I'm not waiting for them. I made a blood vow, and I will fulfill it."

"I understand that, Talia, but you don't have to do this alone. You've stirred up a hornet's nest in Colorado, when if you had talked to me and your Uncle, we could be arresting Justin right now. With Tania's testimony and a DNA test, it would be irrefutable. What did you do with them?"

"They are both with me. I told Tania I would return her son to her, and I will do that. Luna Rhoda is mine; I will find out what she knows, and she will suffer for what she has done."

"Work with me, Talia. Let me help you, let me find a way to get the Council's warrant against you voided and have a life together. I just need a chance."

"There is no chance for me, and when you truly know me and what I have done you will understand why it is better we reject each other now." She was choking up, I could tell her mind was saying this, not her heart. "I will bring nothing but pain and death to you."

"Meet with me," I said. "Look into my eyes and tell my why we cannot be what we are destined to be. I love you, Talia."

She didn't say anything for a bit. "I'm landing at the La Crosse airport in twenty minutes. Meet me there, just you and my Uncle. My sister, too, if she wants to come."

"Can she bring her mate?"

"Wait, what, her mate? She's human!"

"That doesn't matter to my little brother Bobby," I said. "His wolf recognized and claimed her as his mate, though he hasn't told her yet. He hasn't told her anything, because he's been with her in wolf form since last night. It's cute, she feels safe with him and she doesn't shy away from him like she does with other males."

"He wants her? He must know what they did to her!"

"He knows everything. I took her statement today, she told of everything that had happened over the past four years. He was with her the whole time, head in her lap, her fingers scratching his ears and fur. He'd never hurt her, Talia. She's starting to heal with him."

"Wow." She didn't say anything for a moment. "You better head to the airport."

"I guess. Can I... can I talk to you after you deliver your nephew and the Luna?"

"Only if you ride bitch on my Harley," she said. "Ride with me and we can go somewhere safe to talk."

"Deal," I said. "Call me when you land, mate."

"For now."

She hung up, and I just stared at the phone for a moment before I started moving. I pulled the jump drives out of my computer and grabbed the hard copy files, then ran out of the guest room. I knocked on the Alpha's door and was called in. "Alpha Clark, I just talked to Talia. She's bringing Luna Rhoda and Phillip to the La Crosse airport now, we have to go. Just the two of us, maybe Tania if she wants to be there."

He linked a few people, then looked back at me. "My car is being brought around, and Teri is going to wake up Tania to see if she's coming."

"We may have to drive separate," I said. "We can't wait." We were already out of his office; the Luna would be ten minutes behind us with Tania and their Beta. We jumped into the waiting SUV and took off for the airport.

We were still in town when I got another call from the unknown number. "We just landed," she told me. "Send the Alpha and Tania to the plane, Hangar Four. They're both still out, I left a note in her pocket with the time and doses of sedatives they were given for the Pack Doctor."

"Alpha Clark and I are close, I will send him to the plane. Teri and Tania are ten minutes behind us."

"No one else?"

"No. You don't have to worry about us, we aren't going to arrest you or turn you in, Talia. We want the same thing you do."

"I think you seek justice, I seek revenge," she said. "Have him drop you at the main gate, I'll be in the parking lot outside the terminal on my Harley. I hope you're not scared of riding a motorcycle," she said.

"Hardly, I've been riding them on my family's ranch since I was six," I said. "I'd love to ride with you."

"Talk, Randall. We need to talk, so you can realize why this thing between us will never work. I'll see you soon."

"Love you, Talia," I said. She hung up without replying, but I meant what I said. She was my mate, I loved her, she was MINE and I wasn't letting her go. I didn't care what she thought it was that would drive me off, it wouldn't.

Fifteen nervous minutes later, we were pulling through the gates and into the La Crosse Regional Airport. I was looking around for my mate, and I spotted her at the other end of the parking lot. "Let me out here," I asked.

"Good luck, Randall. Treat her right."

"Yes sir," I said as I unbuckled and jumped out. I walked across the lot towards her, every emotion in the world going through me at the same time. My wolf was forward, he smelled her, he wanted to smell her, run with her and mate her. I pushed back the images he sent as I walked towards the beautiful, strong woman that Talia had become. In the daylight, she was a vision. She was wearing black jeans with a silver belt, calf-high boots and a black Harley T-shirt. She was leaning against the seat of her motorcycle, a Softtail with metallic purple paint. Her blonde hair blew away from her shoulders in the late afternoon breeze, and Ray-Bans hid her blue eyes from me.

She was everything I could ask for and more.

She got off the seat of her Harley as I came closer, biting her lip nervously as she looked at the ground. "Hello," I said as I came up to her. "Smooth, boy. Real Romeo." I shut my wolf up and reached out, my fingers lifting her chin up to look at me.

Tingles ran up my arm as I touched her, and she let out a soft gasp. I moved my hand to her cheek, the tingles multiplying, as she stood frozen in front of me. I reached my left arm around her as I moved close enough for her body to press against mine. I bent down, burying my nose in her hair as my hand pulled her nose into my shoulder. "MATE," my wolf confirmed. He was over the moon having her in his arms, and he couldn't wait to run with her. I took a deep sniff, sorting through the complex scent that was my mate. The part my wolf recognized was prominent, but underneath it was something else; something that smelled of death, but not quite.

I pulled back from her, sorting things out in my brain, when it finally hit me. It had been years ago, I was just a pup, but the smell of the blood on my father's skin came to my mind. It couldn't be. "Talia?" I cupped her face in my hands and looked in her eyes. "Why do you smell like vampire blood?"

She looked away from me. "Not now," she said. "Hop on."

She straddled the low-riding Harley and I got on behind her. Wrapping my arms around her felt wonderful, and I enjoyed every moment of our ride. She took us back to the Interstate and up Highway 61 a few miles until we turned off. "Great River Bluffs State Park?"

"We need to talk, and if you argue with me, I can toss you off the cliff," she said. I just snorted and pulled my arms tighter around her muscled stomach.

She paid for a day pass and drove to the parking lot. We got off and she led me up the trail. "I need to tell you my story," she said. "It isn't easy, and I'm not going to lie to you. If you want me, if you love me like you say you do, you'll let me explain everything."

I reached out my hand for her. "I'll listen to everything you have to say, but you have to promise not to run from me. One way or another, we come to a decision today. I don't want another night to pass without knowing if my mate will accept me."

"All right," she said with a shy smile. Her hand felt perfect in mine. "When Tania disappeared and my parents were killed, I was is shock. I was sixteen, I never expected to be in that situation, and I didn't know what to do. My aunt and uncle kept me at their Pack for my protection, while Beta Todd took care of things at Tomah. In retrospect, that was the worst thing that could happen, because my Pack looked to him for leadership instead of me."

"I'm pretty sure Beta Todd is behind your parent's death, but I don't have proof yet," I said.

"He's going to die, I might keep him alive long enough to find out who else was involved." The trail got steeper as we climbed up from the river valley, it was beautiful here. "By the time I tried to assert my leadership, the Council and Todd worked together to make sure it didn't happen. None of them were comfortable with a female Alpha, much less one my age, so I was given an ultimatum. Mate with Beta Todd to unify the Pack, or he would take it with another at his side. I issued the challenge. I wasn't going to take him as my mate ever, and I wasn't going to let go of the Pack. I fought as hard as I could, but I lost."

"Erica told me how bravely you fought."

"Erica was braver than I was. When I woke, I had been exiled. The backpack she left for me helped me make it to a gas station, and that is where I met someone who would change my life. For their protection, I'm not going to give you their real names or their location."

"I won't say anything, not unless you let me."

"It's better you don't know. I was injured and weak, and who pulled into the gas station I was sitting at but a female vampire."

I froze, forcing her to stop. "A vampire? She didn't kill you?"

"I amused her, evidently, and I was in no shape to fight. She offered me refuge, and I took it. I traveled with her to her coven and met the leader. I had made a blood vow to avenge my family, and he offered to train me, so I was strong enough to do it. What had I to lose? I was a rogue, I'd lost my Pack and my family, and I couldn't do it as I was."

"You joined the Coven?"

"I agreed to perform services for him in exchange for training and his blood." She stopped and turned me towards her. "Vampire venom is deadly to werewolves, and ingesting their blood is distasteful but harmless. However, the blood of a Vampire Master, injected into the body of a werewolf, creates a hybrid."

"His blood is in you? Wait, you have a heartbeat..."

"The changes that occurred were like changing a human into a wolf, but much more painful. It was like nothing I'd ever experienced; the pain lasted for days. When I woke, I was different. I'm not a vampire, I'm still a werewolf, but the blood made me a little, well, vampire-ry."

"Like a hybrid?"

"Exactly. I'm stronger than a werewolf, I gained vampire speed, my aging has slowed and my bite is toxic to werewolves now. It doesn't kill them quickly like a real vampire bite would, death takes a week or so. The change is permanent; I didn't regret it until I saw you that night, because to bite you now would doom you to a slow and painful death."

She would never be able to complete the bond. No wonder she thought I would reject her. "You can't bite me, but I could still bite you?"

"I think so. It's not like we have a lot to go on, this had only been done a dozen or so times in history before me and most of them died in the transition. It was worth it, because as you know, I can defeat Alphas easily now." That was true, she waded through Packs like a hot knife through butter. Fast and brutally effective, she was an unmatched fighter. "I trained for a year, then I started killing the people he wanted me as my part of the bargain. They weren't good men, and the Vampire Council wanted them dead without starting a war. Using me gave them deniability. I did what I was told. As I got older, I spent more time searching for my sister and finding ways to make money so I wouldn't burden the Coven. I had just finished winning a private poker tournament when I found my sister."

"You don't know how happy I am that you did, because that led me to you."

"I just was happy she was out. I took her back to the Coven and got her through the heroin withdrawals, then I took her home. I got enough information to her to know her son was alive in Copper Mountain territory, so I knew I had to get him first. Now that he is home, I'm going to kill Alpha Todd and Alpha Justin. I can't do that with you, I'm untouchable. Even being seen with me is enough to put you in danger. If I mate you, they'll still kill me, and that will kill you." We had reached the East Overlook, it was empty and the view was amazing. "That is why you must reject me, here and now. I am an abomination, a creature with the form of a wolf and the bloodlust of a vampire. I will never be accepted by a Pack, I will never be an Alpha. The Council will never forgive what I have done at the behest of the Vampire Council. If that wasn't enough, I can't even complete a mating with you." She looked at me, tears in her eyes. "I love you enough to let you have a chance at life, Randall. I, Talia Ann Stillwater, reject.."