The Alpha Assassin novel Chapter 37

I waited back for Sam in the library after I forced myself to eat a sandwich in the kitchen. The chatter was less about the food now but more about the challenges and their predictions on the next Alpha.

I flipped through the books again about challenges and went to see if there were any we missed. I must have been there for hours, but I didn’t notice the time pass; I was buried in my research.

Sam knocked and entered. I didn’t have a guard today because it was assumed I would be with Dominick. No one, not even his mother, came to check on him while I was with him, and I popped in all day, making sure I would be seen in case any of his family checked, which they didn’t.

Sam strolled up and handed me a note with a white wax seal and a swirl of dark red. I took a deep breath; it worked.

They responded.

I took an unlit candle from the mantle and dipped it into the embers of the fire. I carefully held the seal over the flame. It sparked and hardened and released its hold on the paper. I handed Sam the candle and read the words on the paper.

We will answer your call.

I felt as if I could cry. It wasn’t much, but it was something; it was proof that my pack still held power. More important than the response, though, is that I trusted Sam as completely as I could now.

If someone tried to open it without putting the wax to flame first, the paper would burst into ash in the traitor's hands. It was how I knew that Sam didn’t try to open my message, didn’t try to read it, or the one he brought back.

It was said only two packs knew of this, and this was how they communicated, and I believed it now more than I did this morning.

My Father reminded me time and time again if I ever needed help, we had a debt to call in. He explained how to make the seal and how to open any seals that came from them. Always marked with a drop of blood only and no pack seal or other markings. I thought he was half-joking, I thought I would never need that in this modern age, but I sent a thank you to him anyway, even if this wasn’t the intended use.

“How?” Sam asked, motioning to the seal.

“An old pack secret,” I whispered through a smile.

“He did that too, put the seal over the fire.”

“How did he seem?” I asked.

“Like he saw a ghost, he was completely stoic and then seemed angry that I dared show up.” Sam almost shuddered, so unlike an Alpha. “But when I handed him the note, he was shocked. I didn’t know that man had an expression that wasn’t anger.”

I stood tall and faced Sam, ensuring I had his full attention. “I will challenge him if I have support,” I said, but there was a lump in my throat filled with a thousand what-ifs.

He took a step back. “You are an heir,” he continued, “You have every right to want to. But I don’t want you to even think of this. I want you to live. I want to help you create a new life. I want to help you escape and somehow move on.” I fought the urge to dip my chin, fought the person I created and was for so long, and held firm. It felt wrong but good.

There would be no moving on; I didn’t intend to move on elsewhere.

“I will challenge him,” I said more resolutely. My plans shifted and changed and solidified. I nodded more to myself. “Help me gain support. Do I have yours?” I asked; my mask cracked, and I became a future Alpha once more.

“You do,” he said, and I felt a bond snap into place.