Master Alpha

Lincoln was leaning against the wall near the couch, his arms crossed over his chest. His broad shoulders were tight with stress as he observed the people in the room. His father had taken the news of a sick Nanta as well as he knew that he would; being told that such information had been withheld had rattled his father. Lincoln had seen the concern in Mother’s eyes as well, but she did not know the anatomy of a Nanta as intimately as she knew a Decant. Lincoln knew that if this had been a Decant child, his parents’ roles would have been reversed. His parents compartmentalized the lecture that he knew that he would be receiving later, the same lecture that he would have to give to Rhea. His jaw tensed lightly at the thought. He hated treating his relationship with her like a business relationship, but he constantly reminded himself that it was. She was his guard before his friend; he could not do his job as Master Alpha properly if she was not doing hers.

Rhea had pulled a chair directly in front of the couch and was sitting before Lillian’s parents. Exhaustion was carved into their faces, their light skin washed out in response. The mother’s eyes were dimmed, her arms wrapped around her body for comfort. The father’s eyes were dull yet hard, focused on Rhea expectantly. Rhea’s deep auburn eyes were muddled with concern and concentration. She raked a hand through her long hair as she inhaled.

Lincoln’s parents stood on either side of Rhea, which Lincoln noticed attributed to the nervousness in Rhea’s posture. His parents were well liked and more understanding than most rulers, which helped their people respect them, but they were still powerful people. His parents radiated that power everywhere that they walked, together or separately. Father told him stories of how Mother made him a stronger Master, that his mate assisted in bring out his strengths. Mother had told him the same stories, especially how they had realized that they were stronger together than apart.

Mother’s long, blonde hair flowed down her back against a blue t-shirt and jeans. The tanned skin that Lincoln shared with his mother intensified the brightness of her blue eyes that reflected the worry from Lillian’s mother. Father wore a black t-shirt with jeans, his height making him tower over everyone present except Lincoln. Father’s black hair was cut short, messed lightly a top his head. Father’s emerald eyes were hard and concerned, stress settling into his shoulders like Lincoln. Lincoln was constantly surprised at the similarities that he inherited from his parents, a true blend of both of them.

“It’s serious, isn’t it?” Lillian’s mother asked softly. Lincoln pulled himself out of his thoughts to observe the woman. Her empty, brown eyes flickered from his parents, to him, and back to Rhea. “If Master and Luna needed to pay me a visit, it is serious,” the woman said.

“It’s been serious, our daughter is sick,” the father mumbled.

“Diana, Levi, they are here so that I can explain it to all of you at the same time,” Rhea said as she sighed. “No one is disputing the seriousness of your daughter’s health.” Lincoln noticed Rhea flinch ever-so slightly at her own words. She realized that she should have checked in sooner, Lincoln thought. Rhea sighed and continued. “Lillian has ingested poisoned blood.”

“No,” Diana replied instantly. “That isn’t possible.”

“It is,” Rhea nodded slowly. “She and some friends wanted to explore a farm that they found. The size of the animals intrigued them for food, but the farmer had barbed wire fence around the property.”

“The nearest farm is almost two hundred miles away,” Father said.

“Rhea nodded. “From the sounds of it, she didn’t eat before the journey. She needed to eat to make the trip home and settled for a wild coyote that she said tasted funny.”

“The poison,” Mother realized as her eyes widened.

Levi cursed under his breath as Diana spoke. “The poison that the farmers are using to keep wild animals away?”

“Yes, the animal must have eaten some recently. It was still fresh enough in its blood stream when Lillian ate.”

“I thought Decants were more susceptible than Nantas,” Diana said as her eyes shifted to Mother.

“We are, by default of being in our wolf forms, but the poison passes through the bloodstream,” Mother replied. “All of us are at risk.”

“Which is another reason that the children are not allowed around humans unsupervised,” Father added, a tint of frustration in his voice.

“We never thought to tell her about the poison because we are so far from the humans,” Levi growled with self-directed anger. “We should have.”

“Don’t do that,” Diana said softly as she grasped Levi’s hand. “Is there a cure?” she asked Rhea.

“With Lillian not being able to stomach blood at all, our options are limited,” Rhea said.

“What?” Lincoln and Father asked in unison. Lincoln pushed himself off the wall to stand up straight. He had never heard of a Nanta, or a Decant, for that matter, unable to feed. The situation was more serious than he had realized, and the rage burning in Father’s eyes told Lincoln the same. Father’s jaw twitched slightly, as if he was going to speak, but his mouth remained closed. Rhea is screwed, Lincoln thought, his own anger bubbling inside of him. She kept something so serious, damn near fatal, from all of us. Lincoln fought back the urge to reprimand her himself, but he understood why Father remained quiet. This is not the time or the place, we are here to help a sick child, Lincoln thought.

“What are the options?” Diana asked, panic etched into her face in response to Lincoln and Father. Probably just scared the woman more than she already is, but it is that serious, Lincoln thought. Our kind cannot function without blood. Rhea sighed and raked a hand through her hair again. “A Nanta can last up to two weeks without blood. It is not easy, and, aside from it hurting like hell, it is dangerous. An adult Nanta will fight with himself to prevent harm to another. A child Nanta has not developed that level of control and discipline until he is at least eighteen. Before that, anyone and anything that carries blood is in danger.”

“What are you saying?” Levi asked.

“We have about five more days before Lillian becomes all about survival, before she becomes feral. She will do whatever it takes to feed. With her current status, she will reject the blood that she does ingest, which will further fuel the animal within and create a vicious cycle of feeding and rejection.”

“She will just keep killing,” Lincoln said softly.

“Yes,” Rhea whispered. “And when that happens…”

“She will be put out of her misery,” Lincoln finished gently.

“No,” Diana whispered. “No, no, no.”

“This is my daughter!” Levi bellowed and jumped to his feet. Rhea instantly stood up to match him. Lincoln quickly settled himself behind Rhea protectively, and he noticed her body relax slightly. He knew that Rhea could take care of herself, but a distraught parent was a different enemy. He noticed that Mother had taken a few steps backward as Father kept himself planted beside Rhea. Mother may be the Master’s mate, but her getting involved in a fight with a Nanta was still not ideal. The same logic applied when Father would meet Decants with Mother, he would allow her to handle physical conflicts amongst her people. Lincoln understood why, which was why he only fought as Nanta against Rhea; one species has advantages that the other does not, which would make it appear as an unfair fight. Truthfully, it was discrimination in itself, Lincoln thought bitterly. A Decant striking a Nanta, and vice versa, was still rather controversial, even after all these years.

“There is a treatment that I would like to try,” Rhea said calmly. The ferociousness in Levi’s eyes diminished suddenly as he looked at Rhea. She extended her hand to motion for Levi to take a seat beside his mate on the couch. Levi slowly lowered himself back down, his eyes locked on Rhea’s. Rhea remained standing and crossed her arms over her chest. “Lillian cannot stomach ingested blood, so she will need to be hooked up to an IV for a transfusion. I can obtain the materials from my contacts at the hospital, but the hard part will be the blood itself.” She inhaled slightly and then continued. “Your daughter essentially has a blood disease now that her body cannot fight off. All of us have tainted blood from years of feeding. I think the best blood for her transfusion would be virgin blood, pure blood. It would flush out the foreign toxins while giving her Nanta blood time to regenerate.”

“But that treatment lies on human virgins, and they reproduce like bunnies,” Levi growled lightly.

“I can check with the hospital, but, with the amount of virgin blood that we would need, I’m not sure they would have enough,” Rhea said softly.

“I know someone who can get it for us,” Mother said. “Alpha Xavier and Heir Elias.”

“That isn’t a good option,” Father replied slowly, his jaw hard.

“It may be our only one,” Mother answered.

“Then we need to take it,” Lincoln said. He had heard the stories of how Xavier treated Mother, how Xavier threatened Lincoln in the womb, but overlooking the past may be necessary to save a child’s life.

“It’s settled then,” Rhea said, nodding to Levi and Diana. “We will be back in a couple of days for your daughter’s treatment. For now, please keep trying with the blood that you have here. It will not cure her blood disease, but it may help diminish her hunger in the meantime.”

“Of course, of course,” Diana nodded feverishly. She quickly jumped to her feet and embraced Rhea in a hug.

“I can’t guarantee for sure that this will work, but it is our best shot,” Rhea said as she hugged Diana back.

Levi stood up and Lincoln instantly stepped closer to Rhea as Diana released her. He noticed a shudder roll down her spine and wondered if she was reacting his proximity or Levi standing in front of her again. “I’m sorry for how I acted, Rhea,” Levi said. “I know that you mean well. Hell, you’re part of this family. I just—”

“Levi, don’t,” Rhea smiled as she shook her head. “Lilly is your baby. If the roles were reversed, I probably would have reacted the same way. I understand.” Rhea took a step forward and hugged Levi briefly, then nodded to him as she released him. “If you both will excuse me, I need to meet with our leaders to plan a trip to Alpha Xavier’s property.”

Lincoln placed his hand on the small of Rhea’s back and pressed lightly, signaling to her that they needed to leave. Rhea turned and began exiting the residence as Lincoln followed behind her. He heard his parents’ voices converse with Diana and Levi, but his thoughts were louder than their voices. He raked a hand through his hair as he sighed. For fear of his own safety, his parents had never introduced him to Alpha Xavier or his son, Heir Elias. Mother and Father had been able to salvage a civil relationship for resources, but that was as far as it went. Xavier’s pack was kept separate from Mother’s, the civil relationship the only protection against Father’s people. Lincoln knew that Xavier’s pack would not retaliate against the Decants that resided with Father’s people, Decants are valuable to Xavier regardless of who they follow. Nantas on the other hand? Lincoln rubbed a hand over his face. We do have a truce there, but virgin blood is a very hard resource to obtain for a race that he does not even like, Lincoln thought.

Lincoln closed the residential door behind him as he exited the house behind Rhea. She leaned against the wall beside the door and looked at Lincoln. “Let me hear it,” she said.

“Ray, this is serious. It was serious the second that you found out. And the child not being able to keep blood down?”

“In that defense, they didn’t tell me that until I arrived today.”

“Rhea.”

“Look, I’m sorry,” Rhea said, her poker face beginning to break open. Emotions flooded her face as she struggled to keep her composure. “But this is my family here. Diana and I have known each other for decades, and I’m basically her daughter’s aunt.”

Lincoln stepped forward beside Rhea, his body a shield of her face from view in anticipation of his parents exiting behind them. He leaned his shoulder into the wall beside her and crossed his arms over his chest. Rhea shook her head, as if shaking her emotions off her face. Lincoln appreciated her poker face under pressure, which prompted him to act as her protector in the rare instances that her emotions were raw. “I understand, Ray,” Lincoln whispered. “But to be a guard of your leaders, your personal bias is irrelevant if the information is important. You can’t keep secrets like this from me. One day, I will rule, and I can’t rule if my own guards don’t trust me.”

Rhea’s eyes widened and she turned her body into Lincoln’s. He dropped his arms in surprise as he looked at her. Her chest was touching his as she looked into his eyes. “Linc, I do trust you. After all of these years, how can you doubt that?”

“Because you kept this from me. We are allowed personal secrets, but if the secret endangers our people, your personal secrecy is no longer valid. If you have a repetitive problem distinguishing between the two, I cannot have a guard that I cannot trust,” Lincoln said tersely. He despised more than anything the thought of losing Rhea, but who he was superseded who she unsheathed in him. He would rather live his life successfully as Master Alpha with distance from her than fail his people by blind faith that she will confide in him and she does not. He watched a new wave of emotions roll across her face as the severity of his words sunk in. She simply nodded as she replied, “Yes, Master Alpha.”

Lincoln nodded in acknowledgement. Rhea’s face resorted to its neutral, unreadable state as she continued to speak. “Do you think that you can convince Master of the same with Xavier? We’ve all heard the stories of Luna’s treatment at his hands, and how you almost…” her voice trailed off as she inhaled sharply.

“I hope so,” Lincoln said as he smiled softly at her concern. “He has to put his emotions aside for Lillian, him and Mother are the ones that taught me that same importance.”

“Then what troubles you about this?”

“I’m going to be the one to meet with Xavier,” Lincoln said firmly. “It’s time.”