Shadow Of The Wolf Ch. 11

Alex was horrified. She knew about the deaths of some shifters, but to learn that humans were being turned against their will was unconscionable.

"How m-many?" Her voice broke. She couldn't imagine what those people went through before death visited them.

"Fifteen in the place we raided. There are bodies in the other locations too." He paused, debating whether to tell her the rest of it. With a resigned sigh, he relented when she arched a brow at him. "There's a total of seventy-three bodies found so far."

"My God!" Alex exclaimed in shock, one hand covered her mouth. So many lives cut short because of one demented shifter's delusion.

Staring at Rance, thoughts rapidly cycled through her mind. How could they possibly tell the families of those killed that their loved ones were dead at the hands of a shifter? Those poor people waiting for news would remain ignorant of the demise of their loved ones.

"We can't afford to have word any of these human and once-human bodies leak out. It would compromise the security and secrecy of the existence of the Shifter community." Rance answered the question running through her mind.

Alex shook her head in negation, unbelieving eyes brimming with horror.

"I understand how you feel, Alex. But we need to protect our Pack," Rance insisted. "The bodies discovered were all in stages of shifting. The anomalies in their physical appearance would lead the government to dig deeper. We cannot afford to compromise the secret of the Shifter community right now. Maybe in the future we could reveal ourselves and all live peacefully with humans, but right now, I don't think the humans are ready to accept our existence."

Tears gathered in her eyes as she continued to stare at Rance's determined features. She understood where he was going, but her heart broke for those who awaited news of their missing loved ones. Tears rolled down slowly her cheeks as she nodded infinitesimally.

"I understand," she said in a subdued tone.

"Come here," Rance rasped, as he pulled her up on his lap. He wrapped his arms around Alex as she cried silently for the dead. She cried both for the people who were killed as well as the broken ones residing in the clinic who suffered horribly.

Rance held Alex tenderly, willing his strength and presence to infuse her with comfort. His mate had a gentle and tender heart. He knew this even in the short time they'd been together. Though the dead were strangers to her, still she grieved for them. He rubbed his hand slowly up and down her back while she hid her face in the crook of his shoulder.

"I know I'm being silly," Alex murmured, "but I can't help feeling sad for them."

"I don't think you're silly at all. You're all kinds of good and sweet. It's normal to cry when confronted with such a tragedy."

"But I should be strong. Like you." She lifted her head and looked at him.

Rance cupped her face with one hand and proceeded to wipe away the traces of tears on her cheeks.

"No, babe, you are strong. Don't ever think otherwise." Rance slightly shook her. "Being impassive is my forte. We both know that you're no weakling. You can kick ass anytime," he joked, "but you are also a gentle soul, with a sweet heart. Compassionate and tender-hearted when the situation asks for it, but strong and fierce when injustice is done," Rance held her gaze. "Shedding of tears is not a sign of weakness but of great strength. That means you are not callous and unfeeling, that you care even for those who are strangers to you, those who are weaker, the unfortunate ones who require protection." He smiled into her eyes. "You have the mark of a true Alpha. Never doubt that."

Rance held Alex's gaze for an endless moment until Alex straightened her shoulders and took a deep breath. Collecting herself, she sent a watery smile Rance's way as she looped her arms around his shoulders and laid her head on his wide chest.

"You did great in helping getting those women situated in the clinic." Rance continued to hold Alex in his lap even as Alex' tears dried up. He loved holding her in his arms. He knew the rumbling of his voice lulled and comforted her. Unbeknownst to Alex, Rance drew comfort from her presence too. She soothed the raging of his beast inside him.

His wolf was wildly enraged at the rogues. Earlier that night, as each body was unearthed, his wolf growled ferally and tugged at him to be let loose. He wanted to go to the holding cells and tear each rogue apart. His wolf wanted to disembowel and mutilate their carcasses. The rage that he was experiencing was such that he knew if he let the beast control him, then there wouldn't be anything left of the captured rogues.

Only the thought of Alex's horror kept his wolf's bloodlust at bay.

Breathing her delicious scent calmed the beast. Although the desire to extract justice from the rogues was still there, it was not as all-consuming as it was before.

Earlier, after he got back from the raid, he purposely closeted himself in his study and called all the other Alphas. He did not want to be near any of the rogues knowing his wolf thirsted for their blood. Tomorrow would be soon enough for torture and interrogation.

Alex and Rance sat in comforting silence, each drawing strength and solace from one another.

"What did you do with the bodies?" she asked quietly.

"We brought all of them here. The exhumed bodies will be autopsied by Armand. Each one will be examined. Samples and DNA will be taken. This will help us determine if they were all pure humans before they died and what kind of species were they changed to. We need to find out what sort of experiments were done to them. I have never seen the likes of it in my long life...it was as if they were caught mid-shift. The agony in their faces..." He paused and held her gaze, "the baffling thing is that all of them exhibited several characteristics of different shifter species."

With a puzzled look, Alex asked, "What do you mean different characteristics?"

"They are not pure. They are a mish mash of animal parts. Abominations..." Rance uttered starkly. "After Doc is done with the bodies we will incinerate them. There are still so many questions unanswered by the rogues. We still don't understand why this pretender thinks he's the Promised One. I won't rest until we have identified him." Laying his hand on her lower belly, Rance somberly said, "I need to eliminate the threat to you and our baby."

Rance touched his forehead to Alex's. Staring in her eyes with such intensity, "You are my life," he said with such emotion. "You and the baby are now my world. There's no way that I could live in this life without you. We are just starting our life together and yet we are besieged by unseen enemies who threaten our life together and that of our unborn child."

Alex smoothed the frown that marred Rance's brow with her fingertip. Looking soulfully into those glittering emerald eyes, she saw how much it bothered Rance to not know the identity of their faceless enemy.

"We'll be fine. You, me, and the baby will get through this." She smiled as she laid a soft kiss at the corner of his unsmiling mouth.

"I believe in the destiny that was promised for our child." She took his hand and laid it on her stomach where their baby lay. "We just need to be strong and ready for anyone or anything that will challenge the fulfillment of Luna's promise. Together, with our Pack, we will face and overcome any threat to the Promised One."

**********

Things were settling down into some form of normal at the Estate after the past several days of unending activity brought on by the capture of the rogues. All the women rescued were still healing slowly from the injuries sustained from the hands of the rogues. Physically they were on the mend, but the emotional scars would take time to heal. Sadly, one woman passed away. Her injuries were too severe and her organs shut down right after she arrived in the Pack clinic. The youngest one came out of her coma just two days before and was still extremely weak.

After delving into their backgrounds, one thing all of the captives had in common was that they were all alone with no family or close friends to miss them once they'd gone missing. These women kept to themselves and didn't socialize much. It made it easier for the rogues to snatch them unbeknownst to human authority.

The Pretender's plan was simply diabolical. The women they were able to interview explained that he planned on raising his own army of abominations using these hapless women as incubators.

Information that Rance squeezed out from interrogation and outright torture of the rogues did not help in tracking the real identity of the Pretender. It was obvious that most of them truly had no idea who they were following. Even the ones captured in the other raids proved ignorant of the Pretender's identity. Their interrogation and testing proved though that more than half of the rogue army were newly turned humans.

Rance demanded that Ralph conduct a thorough background investigation on each rogue captured.

Rance's visage grew grimmer after every bit of information was unearthed as the investigation progressed. To a one, all the humans-turned-rogue had criminal history. Petty and hardened criminals, all of them, except for one whom had become a puzzle for Rance.

The boy captured with them at the raid that night was a mystery. The youth did not fit the profile of all the rogues he was with. Rance did not like mystery, so he left instructions that the boy be separated from the rest and be treated well until such time Rance could deal with him personally.

Rance's week was full of conference calls with other smaller wolf Packs and the other shifter Alphas. He learned that they were all successful in routing the rogues in the different hideouts and dens, but they still failed to capture the elusive mastermind.

In his pursuit of the property trail, Ralph unearthed more bogus companies used as fronts to hide the real person behind the money. Each business address was carefully checked and re-checked, all leading to a dead end. Whoever was funding the rogues did a hell of a job in covering his tracks. But, Ralph was very tenacious and almost gleeful at the challenge presented to him. Rance had every faith that they would find the identity of this Pretender soon.

Alex kept busy visiting the women at the clinic, answering their questions about the Shifter community, and lending her inner strength to those who had problems adjusting to their present reality. She reassured them of their continued safety at the Estate, although she acknowledged to herself that what to do about a new crop of humans and newly turned weres who knew about Shifters where they should not, even if through no fault of their own, was a dilemma Rance and the other Pack, pride and clan Alphas would have to address at a later date.Pack

She had engaged Grace's assistance in talking with the traumatized women. It was slow going at the most, but every bit of progress with them was an accomplishment in which she took delight.

Almost all of the women showed fear in the presence of her guards, so she dismissed them whenever she came to visit, entering their rooms without Troy and Malik. This helped calm the women's skittishness and quiet their fears.

They still had a long way to go before they could trust any male shifter near them. Only Dr. Armand was able to approach them without most of them getting quite hysterical.

Alex's brothers had long since left the Estate and returned to their duties, promising to come back for the wedding if they were not in some hush-hush mission somewhere in the world. Meanwhile, her parents were in the middle of their Italian cruise and kept her appraised of their daily adventure by phone or through their social media account. Although Devon needed to commute every day to school, he was now a permanent fixture at the Estate. He had decided to stay and learn more about the shifters. He asked Dr. Armand if he could work with him in preparation for medical school. He was a great help with the traumatized women, representing normal in a world gone awry.

Security was elevated more since the Pretender was still at large. Although the rogues' number were greatly diminished, they wouldn't take any chance in the security of the Estate. Betas both in wolf and human forms patrolled the Estate's perimeter constantly. It was a little difficult to do since the Estate land was vast. More security cameras had been mounted and the community was on heightened alert.

**********

Alex slowly opened her eyes as she felt butterfly kisses strewn along her shoulders. She roused earlier when she heard Rance come in. She went back to sleep anyway, knowing that he would get into the shower first before getting to bed. It had been this way since the raid. Rance usually came to bed very late at night, or very early in the morning. Now, laying on her side, Rance's heat radiated at her back as she felt him feather his lips down her exposed arms. Apparently he was feeling amorous as evidenced by the steely rod prodding her nether cheeks. With a sleepy smile, she turned and opened her arms for her naked lover and mate.

"What time is it?" she asked huskily.

"A little after two in the morning," Rance replied as he nipped her lower lips.

"Ummph...that late?"

"Or early, if you think of it," he said cheekily.

Alex's raised brow brought a repentant smile to Rance lips. "Will this be the norm for us now that we're already mated? You coming to bed so late?" She teased him back, "If that's the case, I need to call Pam and ask her to stock me up with dildos and vibrators."

She bit her lip to keep from laughing out loud at Rance's outraged expression. Although both of them had been busy lately, their sex life never really suffered. Rance always found a way to corner her somewhere in the estate and passionately ravish her at least once or twice during day hours. He found different places to drag her, satisfying both their bodies' need for each other. It was a great advantage that he could keep track of where she was at all times through their mate bond.

"I'll show you what happens to an impertinent mate who questions her partner's capacity to perform his duties." Rance play growled then pounced on Alex, pushing her on her back and tickling her relentlessly.

Alex writhed on the bed hollering in laughter with Rance crouched on top of her.

"Call uncle and I'll stop," Rance said with a laughter-laced voice.

Alex thrashed as she tried in vain to dislodge Rance's bulk. Rance caught both her arms and trapped them above her head with one of his while he straddled her. He repeatedly tickled her with his other hand.

"Okay! Okay! I give!" Alex rasped, breasts heaving from her exertion. Rance stopped, and his hands started to roam caressingly over her curves. He lowered his head and nipped her lips lightly. He laved the seam of her full lips with his tongue, teasing her mouth open for him. A smile still curved her lips as she allowed his tongue entrance. Rance immediately took advantage and dipped into her luscious mouth, engaging her tongue to duel his.

A muffled moan broke from Alex as Rance thoroughly kissed her. He sucked on her tongue and thrust his in and out, encouraging her to do the same. The kiss was hot and hungry. Desire burned fast and bright as the two kissed endlessly.

"So beautiful...," Rance whispered as he trailed kisses along her face, across her cheeks, and down the curve of her neck. "You make me burn for you. I can't wait to have your pussy wrapped around my cock," he breathed hotly in her ears. He nudged her with his massive erection. "See how eager I am for you? Feel how hard you make me."

Alex's breath caught at Rance's crude words, but she could not deny that those words made her hot and caused her body to spill more cream between her thighs. The walls of her pussy pulsed in anticipation. She arched her back to rub her belly to Rance's hard shaft. It felt so hot, that it seemed to burn her skin. Precum leaked freely from its tip and painted the skin of her belly, leaving glistening trails up and down as Rance rocked on top of her.

Rance gaze was riveted at the succulent mounds that were almost spilling from the bodice of Alex's negligee. Seeing his eyes dilate and his nose flare in hunger, Alex slowly licked her lips. She watched with great expectancy as Rance lowered his head and nuzzled hard between her breasts. Nipping and licking the exposed creamy flesh.

Her eyes closed in delight when his warm wet tongue licked between her breasts. With a moan of surrender, Alex grasped Rance's head to her heaving breasts. She pushed down the straps so Rance could have full access to the needy peaks that begged for attention. Her nipples seemed to throb in tandem with her racing heartbeat.

Rance helped her by pushing the negligee down her body. She lifted her hips so Rance could pull it free of her. He threw the garment behind him, heedless of where it landed. Eyes burning with feral hunger, he feasted on his mate's erotic beauty displayed before him.

"Hmmm. I can never get enough of you," Rance growled low as her ran his big calloused hands on her lush figure. His eyes glittered like burning flames in the darkness as it met Alex's hooded gaze. With deliberate slowness he leaned down, extended his tongue and swirled it round and round her right areole without touching the distended nipple. His gaze never leaving hers, Rance lowered his lips and nipped the bud sharply with his teeth.

"Ooooh," Alex groaned at the pleasure-pain. Rance pulled the captured nipple away from Alex's body, watching closely how Alex responded to the stimulation. He was rewarded by the increase of her breath and warm flush of her arousal covering her whole body. Even her sweet pussy released more of its nectar as her body was thrown into an elevated level of arousal.

Clutching at Rance' arms, Alex panted, "Rance."

"Yes?" He let go of the nipple, but caught its twin with his finger and twisted and pinched. "Tell me what you want now, my sweet Alex," he crooned into her flesh.

"I want you." Alex gasped out on throat that felt dry and scratchy from her panting. Rance always got her so hot so fast. It was unfair how he could take her to the brink in a matter of minutes.

Rance nudged her closed legs with his turgid length. "You want me? What about the dildos?"

She narrowed her eyes on him. "Maybe I'll ask Pam to get me the biggest one yet. Since you're all talk and no action." She wiggled her brows at him while trying to open her legs and arch her hips to get the best friction with his cock. If she could nudge him down a little then her clitty would find some relief.

Rance locked his eyes on his mate as she wiggled under him. Her slithering around trapped his cock between their bodies. So, he kneeled over her and took hold of his dick. "Hmmm, since you want a dildo then I guess I have to take care of this by myself then," he teased, running his fisted hand leisurely up and down his throbbing cock.

"Don't' you dare!" Alex sat up from under Rance, pulled her legs from under him and grabbed his cock with both hands. "This is mine!" she snapped, a little irked since she was all hot and wet with arousal.

With a satisfied smirk, Rance palmed her between the legs. "And this is mine." He parted her folds and delved two fingers inside her wet cleft. Pleased at her pleasured moan, he fucked her with his fingers, first with a leisurely pace, then with increasing speed. He coaxed her clit out of its hood with his thumb and polished it with finesse until it stood out like a small penis. He could visibly see her wetness flow and paint her labia lips and inner thighs.

"Yes! Yes. Ooohhh...." Alex was helpless as she was buffeted by the electrifying pleasure of Rance's big fingers tunneling in and out of her needy pussy. Her grasp on his cock grew slack, until she finally let go of him. Surrendering to the sensations coursing through her flushed body, Alex could do nothing more than cling to Rance's muscular arms as she tottered on the verge of orgasm.