Gamma No More - Book 3

Toni shakes her head at her warriors as she moves away, not letting Leif get closer.

“Guys, I am just going outside the door to get some fresh air and think, stay and grab some food with the rest of them.

Once I am back, we’ll finish the talk with Raine and then we’ll head off. The meeting has destroyed any hunger I had, and the night is almost over.

Dimitri’s wolves are still on watch, so I will be safe.”

Sometimes Toni feels hemmed in by the guards, it’s not their fault, nor Karl’s who insisted she had with her when she was off pack land, she had just led so much of her life alone she hadn’t yet acclimatised to having them around.

She hadn’t exactly sneaked off before when she’d gone to do her broadcast from the Royal Pack, but her Beta had seemed to accept that was something she needed to do alone and would probably have been riskier with a guard group.

When she tried to argue her point with him now, all he’d answer with was, ‘That was unfinished business from before you were the Alpha. It is no longer a valid excuse.’.

Unfortunately, it was her respect for him and the weight of responsibility she felt for the pack that kept her from not just heading off alone on trips like this, of course, Karl would just send a detail after her the moment she stepped off pack lands, even if it was unlikely they would find her if she didn’t want to be found, but it put more people at risk that way.

She laughed to herself. Occasionally she had to admit she had felt freer when she was the Gamma, apart from the killing part of her job, she had far more time to herself she silently acknowledged.

For now, she needed to avoid Leif and think, to understand his motivation for not being honest with her. Grabbing her cloak, she headed for the exit.

Taking a few deep breaths, she pulled her hood up and began strolling around the perimeter of the building. She was trying to clear her mind, but thoughts of a possible abduction by a wolf prodded at her mind. Based on all the facts they had, it seemed likely that it was indeed a wolf causing trouble. This raised concerns about another potential war between species. The real question was: why did someone feel the need to protect their house with wards? It couldn’t be a house on pack land. That was something Toni was sure of.

Even though packs like hers, Alpha Dimitri’s, and the two smaller neutral zone packs were not direct targets, conflicts often lead to mistakes, violence, and mistrust that can harm innocent individuals.

Plus, if the wolf population was still significantly lower than before the last war, as the books she borrowed had informed her. What would be the effect of another war? If wolves started a war, would any wolf survive? Or would the humans and vampires decide between them that wolves were too much of a risk to peace?

The information needed to go to the Royal Pack, but Raine had discussed over the phone, this matter with the current temporary Alpha, the old Beta Dan who had promised to look into it, but she’s concerned that they would only look at the facts in isolation and not link it to the civil unrest.

She had to admit it didn’t surprise her that the King hadn’t yet agreed to the meeting as yet, a single missing witch who said she was going to the wolf territory was hardly solid proof of anything, either way, she couldn’t exactly waltz in there and ask them herself.

Smiling, she wondered what additional security measures they may have put into place after her last visit and how Karl would react to her wanting to visit them and she wonders if she should raise it with him as a joke.

Looking up, she realises she’s walked further than she planned, sighing; she turns back, she never wanted this kind of responsibility and wonders, if she hadn’t found out what she was a Lycan, whether she would have ever taken this position, or just lived solo, until she thinks of her pups and the individuals that make up the pack and deep down, she knows the Veiled pack would always have become her home, it just felt right.

It’s the one decision she had taken that she knows was all hers, even if she regrets at times the limits it puts on her, she could never really regret that decision, nor the feeling of being part of a larger family, not just for her, but for her pups, the thought makes her beam and seems to lighten her heart.

“Antonia,”

Without thinking, she looked over as her name was called with some familiarity, as she did, she stilled, a sense of unease settling over her as she finally recognised the voice.

In front of her, about fifteen feet away, is Alek, acting Beta and former Chief Delta of the Royal Pack along with three other wolves who all look like trained warriors.

She watches them spread out slowly across the road in front of her, creating a roadblock between her and her destination.

If she pulled out her guard, technically it would even up the fight, but she didn’t want to involve them in this little interaction, avoiding a fight was preferable, especially as this was ultimately down to her actions and her life before she joined the Veiled pack.

Slowly, she backed up a few steps, already deciding she wouldn’t try to bluff her way out. That option was pretty much over once she acknowledged her name.

She will own her life and choices, but she’s already letting her eyes search her surroundings, under the hood, for a way out, at least cloaked the direction of her eyes won’t be so noticeable.

She needed to buy herself time, formulate her escape plan.

“Beta Alek, congratulations are in order for the promotion, however temporary it may be. You and your wolves appear to be blocking my direction of travel. Is there a problem?”

‘Guys, stay in the meeting room. Royal pack outside. If I don’t get back to you in ten minutes, leave for the pack, will rendezvous back there. Do not engage and do not come to me.’

She puts command into her mind link. Ironically, she wonders if she had been with her warriors as a group, would they have caught Alek’s attention, or was it her reputation for wearing a cloak and being solo that did it?

“Antonia, as I am sure you are aware, there’s a Royal Warrant out for your arrest, so we will have to ask you to come with us.”

As Alek takes two fluid steps forward, she takes two more steps back, as if it’s part of some well-rehearsed dance, they stop together, he with the grace of a warrior who has complete control over his body, she with the innate grace of an assassin whose body was under her complete control, trained to respond without hesitation.

He briefly glanced behind her, eyes moving in different directions. Either it was a great bluff or, more likely, other wolves coming in from behind.

“Toni,”

Alek calls out to her far more softly than she expected.

I know what he’s doing. He’s trying to build a rapport and probably stalling for backup.

We both know I have a ‘reputation’, only I know if it’s truly deserved, but what he doesn’t know is that I am also trained in how to disarm people verbally, and break down barriers, as well as fight, so I know exactly what he’s doing.

He wants to get me comfortable around him, drop the suspicion and relax, either to negotiate with me to come quietly, or to distract me, before I am taken in via force or overwhelming numbers, he’s probably using the ‘3D’ solution, disarm, distract and disable is his plan, the other tools deflecting and domination I am sure he won’t use, he knows me too well to think they would work.

His next move is to find some common ground to build rapport or some way to distract me.

If he tries the former, then he at least wants to negotiate. The latter and he’s stalling for time and it’s going to be an overwhelming force he calls in.

It’s time to dance with the devil and see who the winner is. Now which one of us is the devil… well, that would be telling, wouldn’t it?

Now be a sport and turn up the music. Let’s see if you can help distract him for me instead!

“So how do I address you as I hear you carry a few titles, Beta? Temporary Beta? Chief Delta?”

Toni kept her voice calm, controlled and friendly, as if they were the only two there, using the same tactics back on him

There’s three behind us

Tyra growls out a quiet warning to Toni in her head.

“Alek is fine. We go back some years now. I’m sure we can drop the formalities.”

He pauses for a moment, clearly deciding on what route he will take.

“But you should know, there’s a sweep through the Neutral zone looking for you, so there are a few teams here, all searching for you.

I’m telling you this as I don’t want anyone to get hurt Toni, not you, nor anyone that is here to search for you.

But…”

He looks like he doesn’t want to say the next words, as if he doesn’t believe them.

“Your assault on the Shadow Stalkers’ pack resulted in teams being dispatched to carry out your arrest warrant, The King has given us permission to use any means necessary to bring you in, but I’d prefer we did that peacefully, I feel you deserve that respect.

I actually think he was planning to revoke the warrant until your most recent actions against one pack.

Trouble follows you, it seems.”

His voice is calm and measured, trying to create the peaceful environment needed for trust and cooperation. He’s shown his hand, offering her a peaceful way out and deep down, Toni knows that force will be his last resort.

The simple offer of using his first name with no title, and showing his hand by telling her about the other teams. He’s trying to make them seem equals, comrades in a problem that they need to solve together.

It’s a good plan, she acknowledges to herself, if you gain rapport the other party is less likely to attack and Goddess knows, her reputation alone will make people more likely to escalate the situation.

So there’s a large part of her that is relieved she is facing Alek at this point and not some hotshot who wants to make a name for themself, she wants to avoid any more deaths to her name if she can.

“Seems like we have a mutual agreement. You don’t want to hurt me, I don’t want to hurt any of you either. Maybe we should all just walk away.”

There’s a hint of humour in her voice. She knows it won’t happen, but nothing ventured and all that.

“And have you ever wondered, does trouble follow me, or do I follow trouble? Maybe I am on the side of right?”

All the time, she had been playing through her options for escape, this wasn’t an area she knew well, but traversing the rooftops was almost like using trees and, just further to fall and less able to hide, no branches.

But most of the surrounding buildings were three stories, so that would not only give her a better view but also make it easier to track her movements.

On the ground, she had to deal with an unknown number of hunters, but possibly, could lose herself in the crowds. But that’s a riskier strategy, she acknowledged to herself.

She had at least an initial plan, but now she needs to throw them off a little. Maybe make it seem like she will capitulate to distract that.

“Toni, you and I both know we can’t let this go. We need justice for the two wolves that were whipped under your orders. And the four pack members that were taken from them need to be returned,

I need to know where they are. Remember, their testimony could also help you.”

Toni can’t help the surprised laugh that comes out of her, almost like a bark, shaking her head at the way the story had been told.

Wolves approaching from behind

Tyra warns

“Tell the three wolves behind me that if they take a step further, I will address their incursion into my personal space. Being a lone wolf makes me jumpy, and we want no accidents as we talk, right?”

Toni wants to emphasise she worked alone without making it obvious; Alpha Randall of the Shadow Stalkers’ pack doesn’t seem to have pointed a finger at anyone else yet, probably wanting to limit the knowledge he’d taken two wolves illegally.

Alek nods his head at the wolves behind her and she can hear them stepping back, but only slightly.

“Tell me you didn’t do the investigation in the Shadow Stalkers’ pack. If you did, I’d be very disappointed in you, Alek. Those charges are ludicrous. Do you really believe I could hold four wolves against their will?”

Alek sighs

“I did not do the investigation, but we both know it’s not the only charge you have to face. You abducted members of the Royal Pack almost eight months ago,”

Toni has a wry smile on her face that Alek cannot see, but it comes out in her voice.

“Abducted.

I’m not sure that term applies if you never left the building you were in and I didn’t threaten or use violence on you.

I’ll have you know I carried you all carefully, rather than dragging you by your feet!

Granted, I restrained you in chairs, but you technically owned them so again, legally I don’t think abducted fits…

But restraining you was a safety issue, my safety over your issues with me!”

Alek couldn’t help the twitch his face did, trying to hide the smile; she had the most inappropriate humour, a spark of the wolf he saw so long ago.

“Toni, you drugged the Crown Prince, Alpha, Beta and me. You may wish to argue the semantics of whether it was technically an abduction, but you cannot deny it was illegal.

The only way to resolve this is for you to come with us. We can investigate your side and I will do everything in my power to make sure it’s a fair trial, I promise you that.”

Toni nods

“Well, we don’t appear to have a Crown Prince at the moment, so excuse me for discarding him, but the rest of you, I guess you may have a small beef with me.

Let me ask you this: what is a fair trial? Will it be public or behind closed doors?”

Alek doesn’t answer her initially, but she’s sure that it would be a sham trial. Finally, he answers.

“That would be up to the King, he intended to be involved directly.

I’m sure you could request it was an open trial. He wants the packs to see fair justice should be available to all.”

Toni hums loudly

“You are probably right, but I fear it will never be a fair trial unless the Royal pack does a genuine job of scrutinising the claims thoroughly. Since you want to arrest me for the incident, that suggests you haven’t done that so far,

But it seems there is only one solution to avoid injury, but as long as you will investigate it properly.”

She paused and makes a few small steps forward with her hands held in front of her as if offering herself up to be handcuffed, she can see the warriors around Alek relax a little, bodies no longer tense, but wisely, still alert.

“Call me when you have and we’ll talk again!”

She bolts down the side alley she had stopped in front of; it had a tall fence at the end, but that’s never stopped a werewolf, she launches herself at the chain link, pulling herself up and over quickly, her cloak almost snagging, she quickly pulls it free, using the cords to ball it up, out of the way, she can’t afford for her cloak to slow her down.

As she makes it to the other side, she can hear the sounds of several wolves following her, but there’s a metallic clang on the fence and she sees a dart falling to the floor, she jumps on the window ledge of the building closest to her, using it to jump to the ledge on the floor above, and then to the top floor as the wolves with Alek pour over the fence and she can see more coming from the adjacent roads.

Alek is commanding four of his wolves to surround the building, and the other two seem to make their way into the building, but Toni is unconcerned as she swings herself onto the roof, unlike the flat roofs found in pack houses which often have an access point, this sloped roof doesn’t.

She runs over the ridge, along the building, hearing the shouting below her, she’s keeping herself crouched low, making it hard for anyone close to the building to fire another dart in her direction, eyes searching the surrounding buildings, planning her route.

‘Alpha,’

Delta Ezra’s voice breaks her concentration

‘Leif says if you can make it to the vampire border, he’s got Thrall’s positioned to take you into custody. He doesn’t think any other wolf will cross, so you should be safe.’

Toni acknowledged him and changed the direction of her gaze before leaping to the next building, scrabbling over the peaked roofs or going around the edges. She tried not to be predictable, with either her method or direction. All the while she’s trying to lose sight of those on the ground, but there were more wolves below and she hadn’t managed it yet, the only upside was no other wolf had ventured onto the roof giving her time to think about the direction she was going to take.

The action and shouting of the wolves below her has drawn a crowd, mostly humans from the scent they give off, but from their builds there’s also an odd wolf interspersed, Toni isn’t sure if they are friendly or not, but she doesn’t intend to go down and find out, at least not yet.

It’s slowed the floor-based trackers down, but she’s the crowd’s current entertainment. The downside is that they will follow her, making the direction of travel that much more obvious.

Her biggest concern isn’t reaching the border, which is a feat in itself, but it’s getting too light for any vampires to risk coming out, so she’s relying on the human Thralls being enough to stop the wolves from following her.

She has to admit to herself she doesn’t share the same confidence that Leif does, not with the ever-increasing number of wolves that appear to be involved.