The Making of a Dark Gamma - Book 1

Alpha Vincent enters his office, quite satisfied with Antonia’s progress, her fighting ability, in human form, has only accelerated as her wolf has grown stronger, the power of her wolf, flowing easily into her human form.

From now on, he won’t allow her to fight against his Beta anymore, she’s getting stronger by the day and he doesn’t need her to know just how strong she’s becoming, not that he’d allow a fair challenge, but her skills would be wasted in that position.

Damn, if only she’d been his child, what an Alpha she’d have made, he chuckles, actually, he’s glad she’s not, he has no intention of handing over this pack for another twenty years if he can help it, the power and position are still his to enjoy.

Only weak Alphas give that up just because they hit their forties, and if Antonia was his, she’d probably force a fight once she’d been of legal age.

No, better than that she was just his to command, a puppet to be moulded.

Entering the pack registration system, he checks her record, luckily the Royal pack didn’t update her photo when she became a ward of theirs and he has no intention of doing so now.

If he could only get it removed, that would be far better, but he’s fine with her child photo being in place, all the better to hide how she looks as she ages.

The one grating factor in her return was that she was a ward of the Royal Pack, while he could ensure her schooling was finished early, he would need their approval to appoint her to a ranked position before seventeen and that was almost too long, he couldn’t wait two more years.

His frustration starts to increase, there has to be a way around this, if she hadn’t run he would have had ultimate control.

His coffee mug shatters into a myriad of pieces, the last of his coffee is now an ugly stain on the wall, he didn’t remember thinking before he launched his mug seconds before, but it felt good to let it fly.

When he got this frustrated there was only one release, she would need to be punished, after all, if she hadn’t run, his hands wouldn’t have been tied in this way, so ultimately, it was her fault, she might have been back a few months now, but he hadn’t yet forgiven her for the trouble she caused.

He sits back, first, he needs to decide her punishment, and then he has to set her up to fail, the latter part is always the hardest to do, her wolf learns fast and adapts easily, he has to be sly about this.

Deep in contemplation, he almost doesn’t answer his phone, until he sees the caller ID, rolling his eyes.

“Vincent”

The voice on the other end of the line is as brusque as ever, but then he is as well.

“Yes”

“How is her progress?”

Alpha Vincent sits back a smug smile comes over his face, every month for the last six months he’s had the same questions, he could predict this whole call, but maybe not this time.

“Why don’t you come down and see for yourself?”

His voice is sly, yes he’d like that, to find out who this mystery man is, let him get his own hands dirty he thinks, knowing full well he won’t.

“We have an arrangement, I alleviate issues and provide payment for her services and you allow me access to her unique .... how do I say it, skill set.

Vincent may be feared, but the way the man on the call talks, sends chills down his spine, he releases an audible sigh

“She’s exceeding expectations.

Today she took down five fully fledged warriors in wolf form, not easily, but she takes the injuries in her stride so she’s physically more than ready to take the role.

Mentally, she’ll cope, she’s tenacious and strong-willed, plus it’s her destiny”

He concedes in reply

“What’s stopping you?”

“What do you think, her fucking wardship, as a minor, they technically control her future, including ranked positions.”

Vincent’s annoyance is clear, seriously, he can’t believe that this moron even asked him the question.

“Is that all?”

The voice on the other end of the line laughs dangerously quietly

“They won’t refuse if you prove she’s capable of holding her own against adults.

You prepare her, leave the rest to me.

I am here to remove blocks after all, that was my side of the bargain was it not?”

Alpha Vincent is left staring at the phone, the asshole just cut him off, who the fuck does he think he was talking to.

He slams his office phone back into the cradle

“Yvonne”

He barks at his assistant

She walks in ashen-faced; anyone can feel the anger coming off the Alpha and as his assistant, she has to bear the brunt of today’s anger.

He points to the mess on the floor that was once his coffee mug.

“Clear that up”

and make sure there is no stain left over or it will be deducted from your wages!”

He stalks out of his office leaving Yvonne on her hands and knees cleaning up the mess that Antonia had caused, at least in his mind she was at fault, she was the root cause after all.

It worried him that his Gamma had got her wolf so early, there was something strange about her, something at the back of his memory that he should remember, but he couldn’t put his finger on it, like an irritating itch he couldn't scratch.

But it didn’t matter, other packs would be the ones that should be worried, he was the one that controlled her, she would never be allowed to leave, not while he was Alpha, that made him smile, being in control of such a wolf, his pack could only prosper.

His plan is simple, fleece the caller for all the money he can, while tracking down who it is, then blackmail him.

When the caller was no longer useful, it would be Antonia who took care of him, he grinned evilly oh yes, that would be the way he did it, the irony would be sweeter than the actual kill.

Vincent barks out a laugh of triumph, those around him looking carefully away, no one would dare stare at him, not now, not ever, but how delicious would that be, when he had nothing left to gain from the little arrangement that he’d entered into, to send his pet assassin, his gamma, to go kill him, oh yes, that’s how he’d do it.

For now, he had to let him think he had the upper hand, playing the person that thinks they hold the cards, before ripping it all away, that was the sweetest victory ever.

He looks over to where his son is training with his Beta and Michael, the Beta’s son.

He watches on critically, Robert wasn’t bad, he was just too soft and no matter how much he’d beaten him, he knew that the toughness was an external façade, the only time he’d been proud of him was when he whipped Antonia, then, he’d shown he was merciless, there’d been no hesitation and the strikes he’d made that day cut deep.

He shook his head, he planned to remain Alpha for years yet, so it shouldn’t matter, but he’d been single for the last decade, he needed to start looking for a new mate, one he could mould into his ideal submissive bitch, maybe if he did, he could have another son, remove him from his mother’s influence earlier, that’s where he’d gone wrong with Robert.

This time he’d take a leaf out of the old Gamma’s book, and train them from two, it had made Antonia ruthlessly efficient in fighting and hunting, yes that’s what he’d done this time, then when it was old enough, he’d make his sons fight for the title, a little bloodshed would show him who was cut out to be his replacement.

All he needed to do was find an appropriate she-wolf, with the right breeding, but weak and young enough to do his bidding and not question him, he’d planned to get rid of his last mate after his second son was born, deciding that she’d ruined Robert for him, but alas that bitch everyone called the Moon Goddess had taken them both.

It didn’t even occur to him that any she-wolf he picked may not want to be his mate.

“Alpha Vincent”

Yvonne’s scared voice breaks into his thoughts.

“You had better have finished cleaning up, if you have the time to interrupt me” he growls.

“Yes Alpha, but I have the Royal Alpha on the phone for you about Antonia” He can tell she’s trembling.

IF she had better genes he could have made her his second mate, she was terrified of him, so would be easy to manipulate, good-looking always trying to please him, but just nothing remarkable in her bloodline to elevate her to that status.

The closest decent Bloodline was Antonia’s relative, a weak-minded she-wolf and her average brother, but he didn’t trust that family and having to deal with her father soured that idea, plus they were the runts of that line he didn’t mate with runts.

“Get me a new coffee and bring it to my office”

Alpha Vincent turns on his heel and stalks back to his office, looking at the clock as went in, two hours had passed since the earlier call, had that really been enough time he thinks

Plastering a fake smile on his face, knowing it would carry over to his voice.

“So sorry to have kept you waiting Royal Alpha,

I was observing training, it’s important that a leader is present for these things, don’t you think?”

Lies trip off his tongue easily, but he has to keep the Royal Pack at least sweet until Antonia is twenty, with just over five hellish years to go it won't be easy.

“I agree Vincent and it’s just Nate when we are alone.

It was about pack performance that I wanted to talk to you about”

His words bring a smirk to Alpha Vincent’s face, had his contact worked fast if he had, he would be proving his worth.

He’d need to find out who this ‘benefactor’ was, while he was useful, it would be easier to do while he wanted something from Alpha Vincent, and he needed that information if he wanted to kill him, eventually.

Alpha Vincent didn’t like people thinking they could play him, but he could let this play out, if he’d got this set in motion so quickly, then he had proven his worth, for now, he wasn’t above using people.

“Of course, Nate, how can I help?”

“We were very impressed with Antonia’s performance at the pack when she stayed with us, we saw improvements in just a few days.

So I was looking for an update on our Ward, how she is doing, both with performing and settling in?”

Vincent sits back smiling

“Well, it may be something you are better placed to come and judge yourself, she’s slotted back into the pack as if she never left.

I have her training alone, her skills are far too good to be against those her own age and as you know, we aren’t supposed to train minors with adults, so it’s hard to judge how well she is doing.

Honestly, I’d put her in for a Gamma assessment in a couple of months if she were an adult, to really test her for you, but as you know, those are binding and as she’s both a minor and a ward of your pack.....”

He leaves the rest unspoken before speaking more brightly as if the idea had just come to him.

“Maybe if you were to supervise, as her guardians, you could step in if you felt she was at risk at any point, plus you could see her skills directly.”

“Tell me about the assessment you’d run if you were allowed”

Nate asks after a long silence.

Vincent grins, once you hook them, you just have to reel them in gently