The Alpha Killer
Battle of Pittsburgh

Talia’s POV

Werewolf Council HQ

“Talia, I order you to open this door!”

”Sorry, Dad. It’s too late now.” My conscience would not allow for him to fight, not now. Our plan was fatally flawed in a way familiar to the French and their Maginot Line. We had put everything into defending against a ground attack, and instead they had gone around them. Fighting hand to hand in a building like this was a losing strategy, and the screams from above me bore that out. We simply could not regroup in time to do anything, and my Enforcers were dying.

“We’ve locked down the upper level, Talia. We show a dozen or so vampires entering from the rooftops. We’ve made a dent but not enough.”

“Have those who can fall back to our position and lock the rooms behind them, so we have time to prepare,” I sent back. The Pack House was fortified inside and out for just such a reason. Doors locked and steel barricades slid into place, cutting each floor into quarters and isolating the stairwells. It wouldn’t stop them but each barricade to breach would slow them down. The vampires arrived in the room first, followed by the Enforcers they were embedded with.

“They will take a few minutes to break through,” he told me.

“Stay behind me,” I told the remaining men and women. “You are to protect the safe room and the backs of the Masters.”

“We wish to fight,” one of the vampire females hissed.

“You have your orders,” Nikolai said softly.

Of course, at the worst possible time before battle, my phone rang. I pulled it out in annoyance, only to smile when I saw the video call was from my mate. He had blood on his face and behind him looked like a slaughterhouse. “Are you all right?”

“We’re fine, love. The rebels failed, we lost Mistress Edith and the third floor of Vampire Headquarters will need a complete remodel, but they are all dead.”

“I have to go, our attackers are almost here.”

“Put it where I can watch and leave the line open, love.” I thought about it, he deserved to know what happened so he could congratulate or avenge me. I set it on a table next to the door, pointed forward. “What is your status?”

“We will win,” Nikolai said. “Randall, Lukaku, you have proven your worth again."

“Talia, I have heard back from Sulphur River, they have repulsed the attack as well.” I could tell there was something he was holding back, but there wasn’t time. The last door to the basement was blown open.

I shifted to my hybrid form, guarding the entrance to the safe room. It was a safe haven for the people in it; the lock could not be opened from either side for ten minutes, and the thick steel would take hours to breach.

“We make our stand here,” Nikolai said as his talons extended. He moved to the center as I took his right. Leonardo moved to his left and we all took a ready position. A few seconds later, the vampires at the lead of the attack entered the room. There were sixteen of them, and they looked more like soldiers than vampires. Dressed head to toe in black body armor, they would have some protection against both bullets and teeth. Instead of attacking us, they quietly lined up against the wall by the door. I could sense their power; these were not the men in charge, they were troops. “You will all die today,” Nikolai said.

“I don’t think so,” a man said as he entered the room. He was tall and handsome, his black hair perfectly framing his classic features. His suit was expensive and immaculate, and two other men followed behind him. These men were dangerous, my senses told me. “Today we settle this dispute with your blood.”

“Master Vincent,” Nikolai said. “You are a long way from Boston, and far too young to think you are a match for me. Nice of you to bring Master Esteban and Master Hermann with you, that will save me a trip to wipe them out.” The two Masters stood just behind them, suddenly not quite as confident. The troops were keeping a close eye on each other, muscles tensed and ready for the fight. This place was a powderkeg and we were all carrying torches.

“I go where I am needed,” he said. “It is not like the Council respects those who are not senior enough to sit on it. We will not sit back and watch you destroy our kind with your foolish plans.”

Nikolai shook his head. “Which part was it you objected to?Making peace with the Packs, or Talia?”

His look as he turned to me was a mix of disgust and fear. “You were a mistake, one that Nikolai and the Council failed to rectify for four years. You and all like you must be killed.”

I couldn’t answer with my jaw shifted, but Leonardo could. “Why? She has proven herself to both Councils.”

“Because that bitch offends me by her very existence. The Masters who discovered this could be done ages ago killed them once they saw the monsters they had created.”

Nikolai shook his head while I watched the others standing back. “The Council has spoken on this. The creation of hybrids will only happen with our permission.” He stared at him, death a promise in his eyes. “The hybrids are a key to our future, because they bridge the divide between our species. Not only can they be mates, as Erica and Eduardo have proven, they can reproduce.”

“How can that be? Vampires are sterile.”

“Maybe the Gods are smarter than we are. Maybe if we would put aside our prejudices and hatred, we would embrace the chance the Moon Goddess is giving us.” The men looked confused. “I am the world’s oldest vampire. Every person I knew before I was changed has been dead for thousands of years, and those who I care for are gone unless I cursed them to be like me. Unable to age, unable to reproduce, unable to find the person destined for me until now. Eduardo proved that there are mates to be found among the werewolves. She took the change, so she lived past his bite, but the mating bite she gave him changed him as well. He is no longer a vampire like us, he is alive in a way we aren’t.”

“Wait, he’s a hybrid?”

“We don’t know all he is yet, but we have proven he has viable sperm. He will be able to have a family, children, a legacy. Do you have any idea how much I would give for that? Who among you does not regret the part of the change that took that away from them forever?” I could see them thinking. “Only a fool would reject that.”

“Then a fool I must be, because I’d rather die than live with these… these monsters you have created.”

“We are the monsters, Vincent.” He stared at him, then the other two Masters, then the men behind them. “The Masters came here as part of a larger plan to take over the Council, a plan that has failed miserably. The attack on the Sulphur River Pack has been repulsed and Master Snow has been captured. The attack on the Vampire Council has also failed, all but a few of them are dead and those that fled the area will be tracked down and killed before sunrise. You lost the element of surprise, and now you face two of the strongest Vampires in existence and a Hybrid who is the match of a young Master. If any of you kneel before me and pledge your loyalty to the Council, you will not be destroyed with the others.”

“He LIES,” Master Hermann said.

He motioned to one of the men, who brought my phone forward so he could hold it out. “Chief Enforcer Randall Meechum, another hybrid, is with us right now. Randall, what’s the status?”

“The bodies have been bagged and we’re into cleanup,” he said. “We’ve managed the humans, but the pool table and bar area are pretty much toast now. Hey, let me get someone for you.”

The next voice was Master Jarrod’s. “Ah, I see you have people over as well. Our guests could not stay long. As you can see, they couldn’t hold things together.” I later found out they had stacked the heads of the vampires and had shown that to Master Vincent and the others.

“Well, we shouldn’t keep our guests waiting, it’s rude to talk on the phone and not include them. I’ll call you in a few minutes, this won’t take long,” Nikolai said. He handed the phone back. “You’ve lost, Vincent.”

It was the men behind him coming to give themselves up that triggered the battle. An enraged Hermann decapitated one, and we were on the enemy like a duck on a June bug.

Vincent barely got his hands up to stop Nikolai’s attack, and I lost view of their battle as I rushed towards Master Hermann. He slashed towards my neck, a move I expected and blocked with my left forearm. He didn’t expect the speed of my reaction to match his, and wasn’t ready for my right hand as I dropped down. My hybrid claws slashed across his stomach, slicing four long furrows across his suit and into his stomach muscles.

His eyes flashed in anger as I jumped back, avoiding his left hand. I moved to my right, knowing my Enforcers and allied Vampires would have my flank. I focused on Hermann as the room exploded in an orgy of blood and body parts.

He attacked with the confidence of a man who considered himself superior to me, thinking my size and sex would be a huge disadvantage. I smiled as I avoided the best he had, and he was becoming frustrated. Unlike him, I had been fighting vampires and werewolves for years, and Marceline was more of a challenge than he was. With every attack, I used my lightning-fast counters to draw blood. I had a few deep cuts, while he was bleeding in dozens of places.

The room was suddenly quiet, but I couldn’t take my eyes off him. I could see Nikolai and Leonardo standing behind him as the remaining defenders circled us. I could sense Hermann’s fear as he realized he was the only one left. I shifted back to my normal form so I could talk. “You underestimated me, just like the others, and that is why you will die.”

“It wasn’t personal, Talia. I did what I had to do.”

“So will I.” He lunged for me and I stepped under his attack, using my left arm to swing around his chest as I launched myself onto his back. My legs wrapped around his hips while my right hand stabbed into his neck from behind. A claw punched through the base of his head and into his brain stem. He lost control of his body and started to fall before I could pull my hand away. He was dead, but I made sure. Slicing across his neck, I severed his head and kicked it aside.

Standing up, I heard a slow clap building as Master Nikolai and the others saluted me. I looked around; the attackers were all dead along with a half-dozen of our side. Five vampires were on their knees, hands over their head, having given up when the fight started. In the corner, two Enforcers and one vampire were sitting, their wounds being tended by the others. “It’s over?”

“It is,” Nikolai said.

“Good, now someone get a shirt on my Mate before I lose my shit here,” I heard from my phone.

“They know I’m yours,” I said as I walked to a cabinet by the door. Shifting and losing clothes was common, so many rooms had a cabinet with spares. I pulled a long T-shirt over my body then walked to the phone. “I’m fine, really.”

“You’re bleeding.”

“It’s nothing.”

The door to the safe room had been opened, and Brent rushed out and embraced me. “You should have let me fight,” he said.

“My job is to protect you, even from yourself,” I said.

“Baby, I’ll call you back when things calm down, we’ve got some cleanup here too.” I closed the conference and checked on my Enforcers. When the last had been sent to Medical with the doctors, Brent ordered me to follow. “Why? I’m going to be fine, it’s just some slashes.”

“Humor me,” he said. “And if you can’t do that, it’s an order. We’ve got plenty of people who can take care of this mess.”

I reluctantly walked to the Clinic, my Vampire healing closing the wounds as I waited my turn. Patty came to sit with me and we started to talk about my wedding plans. “Have you picked a date?”

“Mom, he’s not even asked me to marry him yet!”

She waved her hand. “He mated you and he got you a ring, I bet you’re wearing it within a day of him returning to you.” She was probably right; Randall was one of those ‘know what you want and get it’ types. “Just don’t wait too long.”

“You know there are plenty of other sons and daughters who are newly mated, you don’t have to pressure me to give you grandchildren.”

She just smiled as the Doctor approached. “Please sit and remove your shirt, Chief Enforcer,” she said. I walked into the exam room as Patty said something in her ear. She smiled and came in, closing the door behind her. She cleaned the blood off, amazed that the deep cuts had already scabbed over. Testing my range of motion, she found the muscle was already healing as much as a werewolf would in two days. “Well, at this rate you’ll be fine by morning.” I could have told her that, vampire healing rocked. “Now give me a sample, the bathroom is through there,” she said.

“Why?”

“This is as close to a physical as I’ve been able to give you since you arrived, and I am responsible for your medical care.”

I took the cup and went to the bathroom, filling it before bringing it back out and washing up. She pulled out a test from a drawer and my eyes bugged out. “Is that a…”

“Pregnancy test. You’re newly mated, so you’re sexually active?”

“And adventurous,” I said.

“With only two female hybrids, I intend to monitor you closely to see if your body works differently than a normal werewolf female when it comes to heats and reproduction. Have you felt any symptoms of a heat coming on? Restlessness, night sweats, excessive sexual arousal?”

I blushed. “No physical symptoms, and if you saw my mate you’d understand it’s anything but excessive.”

“Well, if you don’t want to start a family, you should think of using birth control. You are young and healthy, so you have a good chance if….” Her timer beeped, and we both looked down at the test.

A faint plus sign showed in the panel. I was pregnant.

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