Serving the Alpha at His Whim novel Chapter 1

Jessica-Lyn awoke with a start. Someone banged on her front door in the middle of the night. That was never a good thing. A quick check of her old alarm clock told her it was three in the morning. Groaning, she climbed out of bed and crossed her one-room cottage to the front door.

Pulling the door open she found Hannah, one of the Pack’s omegas, standing there half-dressed and panting. “You need to come. They’re back. It was a slaughter. Everyone is in chaos. Your brother and Chris are missing, possibly dead. The Iron Ridge pack is everywhere.”

“What do you mean back? Back from…” That’s when Jessica-Lyn’s sleep-addled brain kicked in and remembered her brother’s last visit, where he ranted about wanting the land on the other side of the river. He’d complained that the Alpha of the Silver Ridge Pack would not concede the land to him. She’s suggested he try buying the land, but that was a mistake. He didn’t want to part with any money for it. “He attacked the Silver Ridge pack?”

“Yes, only a handful of members returned. Jessica-Lyn, they lost. I don’t think we have an Alpha or Beta anymore.” No hierarchy within a pack meant no pack. If this went before NARC (North American Ruling Council) the pack that won would get the choice of absorbing the loser to recover losses. Or they could take revenge and kill them all.

The Iron Hill Pack always was small compared to other packs. The pack dwindled after her brother took control of it. He’d banished one member after another for questioning his decisions. His wrath didn’t know a limit, and he turned it on her too. She now lived alone on the edge of their pack lands. Being his sister, he could use her to form a bond between packs if he found some other Alpha that wanted to ignore the fact, she wasn’t his mate.

“Damn it. I hoped he’d forget about that stupid idea. The Silver Ridge outnumber us ten to one. Let me guess. He thought he’d go in during the night and catch them off guard?”

“That’s what I think. Everyone that’s left is meeting at the Packhouse. I think the Silver Ridge Pack’s Alpha is coming. My orders are to tell you that fleeing isn’t an option. They will hunt everyone down.” Hannah’s eyes never lost their big-eyed stare. Jessica-Lyn knew Hannah was in no mental state to stand up for herself.

“Fine, but I am getting dressed first before facing this.” They both knew before this; the Pack lived on borrowed time. There weren’t enough members to keep a pack healthy over the long run. Most members were ageing or too young to function as a full member. Jessica-Lyn figured they might have fifty members left, if that. She didn’t know the exact numbers with members dead in the attack.

Hannah paced outside of Jessica-Lyn’s cabin as she got ready to find out the full consequences of her brother’s ill-advised actions. He’d seized power after their father died. Their mother passed away the year before. This was normal in wolf shifter society. Shifters rarely lived long after their mate died.

Jessica-Lyn left her cabin. Hannah walked with Jessica-Lyn back towards the Pack’s House. It looked like all the lights were blazing when they arrived. Sure enough, there were four dust-covered black SUVs outside of the Pack’s House. She didn’t recognize the vehicles and could only assume that they belonged to the Silver Ridge Pack. Their Alpha was already here.

Jessica-Lyn could feel her stomach turn in reaction to expecting the nasty encounter that was just minutes away.

The front door lay wide open and a trail of blood led through the entrance. “Well, someone made it out alive. Let’s go see if they need any medical attention.” If they lived to need attention. Jessica-Lyn stepped into the lit interior and heard shouting from further in the house. Only it was one-sided.

Jessica-Lyn felt her stomach drop in reaction to that voice. Dread strangled her. Her instincts didn’t want to hear his displeasure. This was the difference between an Alpha and a True Alpha. She’d never felt like this with her father or her brother.

Distracted, an unfamiliar shifter now blocked her path. His ash-blonde hair flowed over his shoulders in a mess. He needed to look down at her, to stare her down. Jessica-Lyn needed to force herself to stand her ground.

“What the hell has my idiot brother done now?” It’s all she could say as questions battered at her mind.

“Got himself killed along with quite a few others. You are here for judgement in your culpability in this incident. Who are you?”

“Who are you? Sorry. Jessica-Lyn Kilian. Alpha Hector is… was my brother.”

“Where have you been?” The male was high ranking and didn’t seem impressed by her. He seemed disgusted instead.

“Sleeping. I knew nothing about this attack plan.” That wasn’t true. She knew he was thinking about it. But Jessica-Lyn didn’t believe he was crazy enough to act on it. They didn’t have the numbers and their people didn’t have the skills. This was a nightmare.

“Sleeping. Is that what you call it. If you’re his sister, why weren’t you living here?”