Alpha Killer Ch. 41-45

"They'll see we had to do it," Councilman Pierce said. "We're facing an exigent threat here."

"We have no evidence that the Sulphur River Pack is creating hybrids, only that Talia, while a rogue, was changed by a vampire. Based on their familiarity, we can guess it was Jarrod Covington. If the Coven has been hiding her, they must be friendly to her. Is it all that surprising that she would bring her friends to meet her mate's family? There must be a lot to work out. Imagine if you roll in there, guns blazing, and it's just a mating party with Vampire guests."

"We can't take that chance," I said.

"Legally, you have a process before force can be used against a Council pack. You have to file charges, the Alpha must be given a chance to respond in a hearing before the Alphas, and only if found guilty can force be authorized- and even THEN only to arrest the Alpha and Pack leadership. There is nothing in our laws that allows us to wipe out an entire Pack. The very idea is monstrous, and I'm shocked we're sitting here discussing it."

"We don't have time for Council procedures," Pierce said.

"We don't have time NOT to do it. Imagine your little scenario fails, and the Alpha Killer is out there. Every one of you will be on her hit list, along with the Alphas of every Pack who participated. Who wants to go first? You?" Kendall glared at the Councilman. "Let's not forget that the Vampires will be killed as well. What if the Vampire Council knows of Jarrod's visit to the Sulphur River Pack? Wouldn't they use this mating between a Alpha blood werewolf and a hybrid as a chance to open a line of communication with their enemies? Luna forbid this Master is on an official diplomatic mission and we roll in there and kill him and his Coven. We could have all-out war with the Vampires then."

This was the value of Lawrence Kendall to my staff; when we started heading off somewhere, he'd pull out the map and show us we were lost. "So what do you suggest? Surely we can't sit back and do nothing while Jarrod and Brent build a hybrid army."

He sat back and looked at the camera. "Why are you so afraid of Talia Stillwater?"

Councilman Ricardo looked at him like he was an idiot. "You've seen the tape, right?"

He shook his head. "Talia Stillwater was a sixteen-year-old kid when she was exiled and changed. By seventeen she'd killed her first Alpha. You see her there. She's what, maybe five-foot-eight and a hundred and twenty pounds?"

"She's deadly," he said.

"You respect her as a fighter, and you should. Who wouldn't want that strength in their Pack? It's not her hybrid nature that scares you, it's that her loyalty isn't to you. Imagine if that same power was placed in someone of Alpha blood, a male twice her size and strength, with a century of fighting experience. How much more deadly would that be?"

"Order of magnitude," Ricardo said. "She's still a pup, not even of drinking age yet, and as a woman she'd never be as strong."

"You guys are looking at this all wrong. As the Chinese proverb says, 'In every crisis, there is opportunity.' Look at this situation another way. What opportunity do we have before us?"

It was Chief Enforcer Jones who put it together first. "A Vampire Master. Capture him, and we can make all the Alpha Killers we want."

Now Kendall smiled broadly. "Exactly. We turn a single trained Enforcer and we have something far more powerful than Talia Stillwater, plus we deny the Sulphur River Pack the chance to create any on their own. It also puts a halt to any unsanctioned peace efforts. Hell, the Vampire Council might blame Alpha Brent for the loss of their Coven and take care of the Pack themselves. Meanwhile, we have what we need to not just maintain power but make our power unassailable. Even the Vampires will have trouble fighting one of our hybrids."

"It would be a game changer," Jones said. "Right now, we need five or more Werewolves to take on a Vampire, since we have to control the limbs without being bitten. Covens aren't that big, if we could take them on one-on-one we'd be able to wipe them out."

"Made easier because the hybrids can walk in the sunlight," I said. "You've convinced me of all but one thing. How do we capture a Vampire Master without the Vampire Council blaming us?"

"We don't capture him," Kendall said. "Another opportunity walked through the door this morning."

I smiled. "Todd Aldridge. A wanted former Alpha, on the run from us with a grudge against the Alpha Killer. We couldn't be blamed if he gathered a rogue army and took her and her friends out." I clapped Lawrence on the shoulder. "You're a fucking genius. If he fails, the link back to us dies with him." I looked at the camera. "Call the Packs back. Tell them the Alpha Killer is in the region, and they need to increase their own readiness. Ask for a ready reaction force, a few dozen warriors, who can respond if directed. We may need them to swoop down afterwards and clean things up. Jones, get the Enforcers geared up and heading for Texas." The call ended and people took off, we had things to do.

"Jones, let's go down to the cells and have a talk with Todd, shall we?"

It didn't take much. Jones would be his liaison, providing him with money, weapons and intel. No one outside the Council would know he was working for us. In return, he wanted a pardon and one more thing. "I want a chance to become a hybrid like Talia, then I want you to give her to me."

"Why?"

"The biggest regret of my life is kicking her out of my Pack instead of keeping her for my own. I'm going to kill her mate and take her for my own."

What the hell, he'd never live to make the change. There was no way I'd give that kind of power to someone who wasn't loyal to me. "Agreed. Bring me Jarrod and Talia, and you may be the first to change and take her as your mate."