SWNOVELS Chapter Chapter Nine: The Old Alpha
“Well?” Dustin asked as he watched the witch.
Pearl frowned. “He was under a spell when he crashed. Something he’d eaten… no drank… no… oh Lord.”
“What?” the others asked at the same time.
“Did he eat or drink it?” Daryl asked.
“Both,” she whispered with a sigh. “He breathed it in.”
“Like smoke?” Dylan asked.
She shook her head. “Fog. It was in the fog.”
“But there hasn’t been fog in days,” Maddy said as she pulled up her weather app.
“It wasn’t nature’s fog; it was witchcraft.”
“A murdering fog, great,” Daryl grumbled.
“Brother,” Dustin warned.
Daryl growled, then bit down on the inside of both lips.
“Where do we go next?” Raj asked as he stood against the back wall, Lyvia against his chest.
“Give me a moment.” Pearl pulled something from her bag and placed it on Mr. Kraftman’s chest.
“Shit!” Dylan hollered as he jumped back.
“Ah, my boys.”
“What is that?” Daryl demanded as he pointed at the face above the object Pearl had placed on their father’s chest.
“A spirit locator,” Pearl said, looking at the others.
“Is that really our dad?” Dustin asked as he swung his hand through the head.
“Of course, it’s me, boy. Get your hand out of my head.”
“Fuck,” Dustin cursed as he moved back.
“What is it you want from me?” Mr. Kraftman asked, looking at the witch.
“Did you see anything before you died?” Pearl asked.
The spirit snorted. “Other than the tree? Oh wait, there was lots of fog. I remember thinking, damn, the weather didn’t call for fog.”
“Did you see anything in the fog?” Pearl asked.
The spirit looked to be thinking, then looked at Pearl. “You’re one of my boy’s mates?”
“Mine,” Dylan said, moving to stand next to Pearl.
The spirit nodded. “I think there was a shadow of a man in the middle of the fog. I don’t know; it’s very blurry. I do remember having this uncontrollable urge to crash into the tree.”
Pearl nodded. “The curse was in the fog. Were your windows up or down?”
The spirit thought for a moment. “Up. But the fog got inside….”
“Yeah.” Pearl nodded.
“Is that all you want from me?” the spirit asked.
“No,” Daryl said as he stepped up to the spirit. “How could you think we would run off with you after you abandoned us?”
The spirit looked Daryl up and down. “The new Alpha.”
Daryl snarled. “Answer me!”
All but three in the room fell to their knees, and Daryl grunted.
The spirit laughed. “Looks like you have a lot to learn about being an Alpha, boy.”
“No shit,” Daryl growled. “Because I had a dead-beat father who abandoned us and never taught his oldest son how to control his Alpha abilities.”
The spirit looked around the room. “Son, I taught you all you needed to know. You just need to remember. And your clan is much larger than mine was. Are they all Fated Mates?”
“Yes,” Daryl answered.
The spirit nodded. “You will do well by them,” he said, then he was gone.
“What the fuck is that supposed to mean?” Daryl growled.
“Uh, Brother,” Dustin grumbled.
Daryl turned to his clan, who were still all on their knees, all but the two vampires and Rolando’s friend.
“Stand,” he said, then left the room.
“Maybe I won’t need to get hold of my friends after all,” Pearl said as she watched Daryl leave the room.
“How’s that?” Dylan asked.
She looked up at him. “Didn’t you hear your father? All I need is a memory potion.”
~🧹~
“How do we do this?” Daryl asked as everyone sat or stood around in the large hotel suite they’d rented for the night.
“Just drink it and think about when your father was around,” Pearl said, handing him a vial of red liquid.
Daryl took a deep breath, then downed the liquid. They watched as he laid back and closed his eyes.
“How long will this take?” Dustin asked.
“As long as he needs to find what he’s looking for,” Pearl said as she stood.
“We should all get some sleep,” Dylan said as he stood beside his mate.
Everyone started yawning as they stretched, then headed to their beds.
~🧹~
Daryl opened his eyes and looked around the hotel suite. It was morning, and everyone was still asleep. He stretched as he stood from the couch. His body ached from the way he’d slept, but he felt good. His father hadn’t been lying. He’d taught him everything he’d needed to know when he was a cub, and now—he remembers it all.
He picked up the phone to call room service and ordered breakfast for everyone.
“Time to get up!” he called with his Alpha voice.
His clan came out of their rooms in different arrays of dress. He chuckled when Dustin blocked his mate from the rest of them. Some hadn’t put clothes on before falling asleep, including his brothers.
“Daryl!” Dustin hollered.
“Okay, get dressed. Then we’re eating,” Daryl said with a laugh.
“Man, this isn’t funny,” Dustin growled as he pushed his mate back into their room.
“Did it work?” Pearl asked, no shame on her face as she stood just outside her room, completely naked.
Daryl nodded. “Thank you.”
She nodded, then ducked back into the room. Daryl looked at Dylan and grinned; Dylan rolled his eyes and smiled back.
~🧹~
By the time everyone was dressed, breakfast was delivered to the main room. They ate silently for a few minutes, but then the pressure was too much for them.
“What happened?” Dustin asked first.
Daryl smiled. “Dad wasn’t lying. He’d taught me a lot before he’d left. It was as if he’d known he would be leaving.”
“Maybe he’d been with that guy longer than Mom thought he was,” Dylan said before he placed a fork full of food into his mouth.
Daryl nodded. “Maybe. Or he knew something was going to happen….” He stopped and looked at Pearl. “Could someone have warned him about something?”
Pearl nodded. “Very possibly.”
“Do you think Mom would know?” Dustin asked.
“Doubtful,” Daryl said, shaking his head.
“Where to, next?” Dylan asked his mate.
Pearl shrugged. “Not sure. I was hoping something would come to me in my sleep.”
“Should we check out the accident again?” Daryl asked.
She looked at him and shrugged. “Couldn’t hurt. Maybe we’ll find something we didn’t before.”
“Like where the fog came from,” Dylan said.
“Let’s finish eating so we can head back out,” Daryl said as he returned to his breakfast.
~🧹~
An hour later, they were back at the site of the accident. The car had been towed away, but they didn’t need it this time. Pearl searched the road for any indication of the fog and paused when she found a broken vial in the middle of the road.
“What’s that?” Dylan asked as he walked up to her.
“The potion that killed your father,” she said as she bent down to examine the vial.
“Don’t touch it,” Dylan said, watching her.
Pearl smiled up at him. “I know what I’m doing.” She looked back down at the vial and sniffed the air around it. “It’s exactly what we thought it was,” she sighed.
“So, now we need to find the fucker who did this,” Dylan growled.
Pearl nodded. “Yes, and I think I know who,” she said as she stood.
“Who?” the others asked.
She looked up at them. “The same dark witches who sent the dark wizards after Maddy and Josie.”
“The same ones who’d gotten the warning,” Dylan growled.
“The very same.” Pearl nodded.
“I don’t think they liked the warning,” Shar said as she watched them.
“No,” Pearl said, turning to Shar. “No witch likes to be told to back off, especially ones who think they have nothing left to lose. Because when we win, they lose.”
“Right,” Maddy said as she moved closer to the vial. “And if we lose our Alpha, we’ll be lost.”
“Wouldn’t it go to me?” Dustin asked. They all looked at him, and he threw up his hands. “Not that I want it.”
“Even if it was passed to you, the damage of losing one of your brothers would already be done,” Pearl said.
Dustin nodded. “And we’d be too afraid to lose another….”
“But all of us are Fated Mates, aren’t we?” Drezden asked.
“We are.” Dylan nodded. “Senshire said as much.”
“Then what do we have to worry about?” Dustin asked.
“Nothing. But they don’t know that,” Pearl said.
“So, they’re going to come after me next?” Daryl asked.
Pearl nodded. “Until we take them all out, or you find your mate. Then they’ll just find something else to come after us with.”
“I vote we go after them first,” Dustin said, raising his right hand.
“Second,” Shar said, raising her hand as well.
Hands went up into the air as everyone agreed.
“What of your cousin?” Pearl asked, looking at Raj.
He shrugged. “She had something going on and couldn’t make it. She got excited when I told her what was happening and promised to join us in a day or two.”
Pearl nodded. “We’re going to need all the help we can get.”
“Did you call your Alpha friends?” Daryl asked, looking at Pearl.
She nodded. “Yes. Though you have found what your father had taught you, I think you should still talk with them. They have been Pack Alphas for more than a hundred years.”
Daryl nodded. “I would be happy to learn what they know. And we could use the help.”
“Indeed, we could,” Pearl said with a smile.
“So, another tiger and two more Alphas. Think this is enough to take out the dark witches?” Dominic asked.
“Maybe not wipe them all out. But we can put a big dent in them and take down some of their affairs,” Pearl said.
“Affairs?” Everyone asked.
Pearl nodded. “They have some nasty businesses that should be taken out. And while we’re at it, maybe more of you will find your mates.”
“Where do we start?” Dylan asked.
“We start with….” Pearl stopped talking as the world turned black.
Dylan caught his mate before she fell to the road. “Pearl?”
She moaned as he held her. She must be having another vision from the Goddesses; he hoped it wasn’t about another mate being compromised.
When her eyes fluttered open, she looked up at everyone.
“Vision?” Dylan asked.
She nodded. “I’ve had this one before, but it was different.”
“How so?” Dylan asked, holding her.
She looked up at the others. “Something is going to happen to the Fated Mate the Goddesses showed me the other day. It’s time to find them and set them free.”
“Set them free?” Daryl asked, confused.
Pearl nodded. “Yes. This Fated Mate is in captivity.”
“What?!” everyone shouted at the same time.
She sighed as she tried to stand. Dylan helped her to her feet and held her upright.
“Remember, I said that the dark witches and wizards have nasty businesses? Well, this is one of them, and one of ours is in there, and if we don’t get them out, we’ll lose them.”
“Well, then let’s go,” Dustin said, pointing at their cars.
“Whose mate is it?” Shar asked.
Pearl shook her head. “You know I can’t tell you. We’ll need a change of clothes and lots of cash.”
“No problem with either.” Dylan nodded.
“Do you know where this mate is?” Daryl asked as they walked toward the cars.
Pearl nodded. “Las Vegas.”
“Las Vegas!” they all shouted, then started laughing.
“Is she a dancer or a stripper?” Dominic asked as they opened the doors to the cars.
Pearl giggled as she shook her head. “You know I can’t tell you anything.”
“Is she in immediate danger?” Dustin asked.
Pearl shook her head. “We’ll get there on time if we head there now.”
“If she’s in captivity, why the fuck is she in Las Vegas?” Gerald asked, his eyebrows furrowed.
Pearl shrugged. “It’s where they have several shifters. We’re not going to save just the Fated Mate.”
“What?!”
Pearl looked around at her new family. “We’re going to break up a ring that has been going on for far too long.”
“The dark witches are in charge of it?” Dylan asked.
She nodded. “They are. And we’re going to take out that coven.”
“Fuck, then what are we doing standing around here talking? Let’s get to Vegas,” Daryl said as he opened the back door to Dustin’s car.
“Is this what the Goddesses want?” Dylan asked, pulling Pearl aside.
She smiled up at him. “They want the Fated Mate rescued; this one is pretty important to them too.”
“And the coven?” he asked.
She smirked. “That’s something we’re doing for ourselves and our fellow Fated Mates, who never got the chance to experience what we have,” she said as she wrapped her arms around his neck.
“I don’t want to know what they feel. I don’t want to know what my life would be like if I didn’t have you.”
She smiled as she gently touched his cheek. “And you never will.”
He leaned down and kissed her.
Pearl sighed deeply and kissed Dylan back with all the passion she’d harbored for this man for more than two hundred years.
“You’re mine,” he said with a soft growl as he lifted his head from the kiss.
She smiled up at him. “And I will always be yours. As you are mine.”
He kissed her again, and they both got lost in the love and passion they shared for each other.
“Come on, let’s get going. We have a Fated Mate to rescue!” Daryl called from his seat in the back of Dustin’s car.
Dylan pulled back and gave his brother a nasty look.
Pearl chuckled as she smiled at her mate.
“It’s okay, my love; I will see you in your dreams.”
This book may be over but their story is not.
THIS SERIES IS A LONG INTERTWINING STORY THAT IS OVER 250,000 WORDS. I DIVIDED IT INTO 13 BOOKS, SO THAT EACH FATED MATE COUPLE HAD THEIR OWN BOOK. SO THE BOOKS ARE SHORT (BUT SWEET). ENJOY!