Bad Brutal Alpha (Silver Valley Arranged Mates #1)
Chapter 1 - Rhys
“Rhys, we have to do something.”
I ignore Owen’s statement and signal to the bartender. The guy salutes back to me and swings by, topping up all three glasses—mine, Owen’s, and Shane’s.
“Other than that,” Owen mutters.
“And?” I ask, my voice low and rough. “Have you got any better ideas?”
The silence that deepens between us affirms the fact that we most certainly do not have any ideas.
Even though the bar is noisy with laughter, music, and the almost melodic clink of glass tapping on tabletops, the three of us feel sunk into a well of quiet misery that nothing can break.
It’s not misery. It’s panic.
“I had another two go down yesterday,” Shane says. “One was an older lady, but the other was a young kid, only fifteen.”
“Fuck!” Owen exclaims. “That’s the youngest one yet.”
I swirl my drink a little, looking moodily into the amber liquid as if I might spy the solution to all our problems hiding in the shimmering, golden depths.
“Rhys, are you going to sit here and drink all night?” Shane asks.
“We can’t, remember?” I answer. “The elders want to see us.”
“I didn’t forget,” Shane replies. “I thought you might be about to disobey a direct order.”
“It’s tempting,” I mutter, swirling my drink again before I take another sip.
The others look away, and I don’t know if it’s because I’m at my absolute worst or if they just have nothing left to say.
A nice combination of the two.
I take a breath, ready to say something—anything—but there are no words in me.
I can’t even blame it on the booze. I’m just dead inside—or in a state of absolute panic. There is no in between.
“How is the kid?” I ask, softly. “Alive?”
“Yeah,” Shane answers. “But he can’t shift.”
Even though I don’t move, the words hit me like physical blows, and I have to close my eyes to absorb them.
As alpha, it’s my job to care for my pack. But how can I do that when I can’t even protect myself?
“How are your powers, Shane?” I ask.
He draws a sharp breath, the air hissing between his teeth. “I can shift. But I’ve got nowhere near the speed and power I used to have. How about you?”
I just shake my head, not willing to divulge. Owen shuffles forward on his stool so he can look past me to Shane.
“I’m still strong,” Owen says, “and I’ve got excellent ability to heal, but I’m having trouble shifting.”
“We have to do something,” Shane mutters.
I put my glass down on the bar and cover my eyes, pressing my fingers into my eyelids until it hurts.
Something. Everyone keeps saying that, but nobody has any fucking clue what it might be.
My whole life, the Silver Valley pack has prospered. Shane and Owen are alphas from our neighboring packs, Diamond Springs and Kingsville—and they’ve enjoyed peace and success as well.
Up until six months ago.
At first, we didn’t pay much attention. It’s normal for older shifters to fade suddenly as they age, and losing their powers is unusual, but not unheard of. When it started happening rapidly, we were worried, but the last couple of weeks have sent us straight into blind panic.
Because it’s not just the old, the young, or the ordinary wolves… It’s the alphas, too.
I reach for my drink again, trying to avoid thinking about the problem, let alone talking about it.
I can shift, but only just. My healing powers are diminished, and my senses feel dull. I’ve never felt so weak and useless in my entire life.
“So, I guess I’ll ask again,” Owen says. “Are we going to the meeting?”
“Sure,” I reply, finishing my drink in one long gulp. “I can’t see any reason why not, except that it’s utterly fucking pointless.”
“They said they might have a solution,” Shane says.
I shrug. “Wouldn’t be the first time they’ve said that,” I say. “And still, here we are, with a nameless epidemic slowly taking out our packs one by one, and the three alphas wasting away until we have less power than a Pomeranian pup.”
“That’s pretty fucking depressing,” Shane mutters.
I shove back from the bar suddenly, getting to my feet in one swift move. I’m almost hoping someone picks a fight with me, because my temper is simmering right underneath my fear, ready to boil over in a righteous display of bloody violence.
I could go all out against a human in this state, too… probably barely even hurt him with the piss-weak punches I’ve got going on right now.
“Let’s go,” I say. “We’ll meet the elders and see what garbage they’ve come up with this time.”
“I’m game for almost anything,” Owen says. “I can’t lose another one.”
“I’m going to hold you to that,” I reply, chuckling. “Especially if their advice is… unpleasant.”
“Wouldn’t expect anything else from you,” Owen chuckles, slapping my shoulder.
We leave the bar without getting into a fight and split as we cross the parking lot to go to our own vehicles. My mood lifts a little when I see my old Viper waiting for me.
I spent years fixing up the old girl, and she’s still the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen.
My boys and I only became alphas fairly recently. We’ve always been friends, with our packs in Silver Valley, Diamond Springs, and Kingsville very close together, and with a long history of cooperation.
All of us knew we’d be candidates for the alpha positions, but none of us thought it would happen so fast—or all three of us at the same time.
I pull out of the lot, seeing Owen’s truck ahead of me as we take Cedar Ravine Road out of Silver Valley.
The council meets at an old property out in the woods, a neutral location that is outside pack territory.
Any business concerning all three packs is conducted there, and has been since the area was first settled.
As I wind down the window to let the crisp night air wash across my face, I see the faint glint of Shane’s headlights behind me. The stars above scatter pale blue light across deep black, a pretty sight that does nothing to soothe the turmoil in my soul.
Whatever plan they’ve come up with, it better fucking work.
The road narrows and becomes rougher, and eventually we turn off to a smaller dirt track. The way is guarded by thick trees that are allowed to grow naturally around the path to conceal it. As we approach the manor, the forest peels back, opening into a wide space that surrounds the old house.
It was built by the first settlers, and legend has it that witches and wolves worked together to build it. As the community of shifters and magic workers grew, they spread into the nearby towns, and the manor was left as a community base.
Until The Rift.
Gravel crunches under the wheels of the Viper as I pull up next to Owen’s truck. By the time I get out and join Owen by the door, Shane has arrived. The three of us stand together for a few moments, standing under the shadow of the great house.
Three stories high and built of timber and stone, the place is foreboding more than it is impressive. The creative architecture of towers and box balconies should add character, but it creates an unnerving effect, as if the place were chaotically thrown together instead of carefully planned.
“Ready?” Owen asks.
I nod as Shane steps up behind me, and we go inside.
The huge wooden door creaks as it swings open, the hinges shrieking as if the steel hasn’t been oiled since the founders’ days. I wince a little as Owen shoves the door. It slams shut, making all the locks and chains jingle.
I sweep my eyes around the foyer, the narrow stone staircase spiraling up to our right. I take in the thick, dark walls with bolted wooden shutters and the massive hooks on the backs of the door to hold barricades of heavy steel.
Were they afraid of being attacked? The place is a fortress.
I don’t have time to ponder as I follow Owen down the hallway to the left. The glow of the only torch fades behind us, and we walk into a darkness so complete, it’s almost like going blind.
And I should be able to see better than this. My eyes are going, and I can’t even feel my wolf in my soul.
As we turn a corner, a soft flicker of light appears, and we follow it to the room at the end of the hall. Torches are hung above the door, and several oil lamps give light around the wooden table in the middle of the room, illuminating the six elders sitting around it.
No electricity out here. The manor is still stuck in the dark ages.
As I leave the shadows of the hallway behind, it almost feels like they reach for me, and I have to fight the urge to jump away.
This place feels alive, and not in a good way.
“Rhys.” Faye Valentine gets up from the table and hurries over, her long skirts rustling as she takes my hands and kisses my cheek. “It’s so good to see you.”
“And you, Elder Valentine,” I answer.
She shakes her head with a faint tsk. “No need to stand on formalities with me, boy. I’ve known you since you were a screaming toddler.”
“But now you’re the elder, and I’m the alpha,” I say. “And this is an official occasion, isn’t it?”
“Not completely,” Rafe says, beckoning me over. “If it were, we’d have other prominent pack members here as well. There’s no need to be formal.”
I let Faye lead me to the table, and I sit down next to her, greeting the other elders. The six of them were chosen by vote in each pack—two elders per pack, making a shared council of six. Rafe and Valentine are the elders from Silver Valley, my pack.
No decision can be made without the full consensus of the council and the alphas, and the pack must abide by their decision.
“So, why are we here?” Owen asks, looking around the table. “Please tell me it’s not another meeting where we list what’s going wrong but don’t do shit about it.”
Sylvie, an elder from his pack, shakes her head. “No, Owen. We might have found something.”
“I’m not sure I agree with this,” Thorne, her partner, says.
“And you all know I side with Thorne,” Darla, from Kingsville, snaps. “We’ve been stuck out here for four days, and I would like to get the hell out of here rather than burrow around in this old castle looking for more moldy books.”