Song of the Alpha Read online

  Song of the Alpha

  Full Moon Series

  Mia Rose

  Book

  9

  Edited by

  Natasha Lind

  Contents

  1. Pop the Hood

  2. Born to be Wild

  3. Spaghetti Incident

  4. Final Destination

  5. An Old Face

  6. Dream Land

  7. Button It

  8. Shooting Hoops

  9. One on the Kisser

  10. Thirst

  11. Hunger

  12. You Mean to Say

  13. Me and Mrs. Bones

  14. Pea Soup

  15. Troubleshooter

  16. A Woman’s Work

  17. Now that’s Magic

  18. Busted

  19. A Moment of Clarity

  20. Aggressor

  21. Out of Stock

  22. Redeemer

  23. Tyrant

  About the Author

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  Chapter 1

  Pop the Hood

  “A new sunrise shows every flaw, paying for the night before.”

  Everything looked milky. Megan dabbed her eye, and it all still seemed milky. The nurse was right. She was losing her sight, and the scar down her cheek was there for the long haul. She tilted her head back and squeezed the dropper. The icy cold drop hit her eyeball and scattered. A small bead of tear welled up in the corner. Megan closed her milky eye and looked at herself (with her one good eye) in the mirror.

  “You know Gab; it’s got me. I mean, what the hell that shaman used to scratch me, I can’t even get my head around it. This isn’t going to heal up, for fuck’s sake.”

  “We should be thankful it never killed you,” he replied, now fumbling with his cell phone. “It must be some dark, weirdo, woo-woo, voodoo crap that’s put a spell on you or something.”

  Gabriel spun the phone in his fingers and said he was going out for a walk. He wanted peace while he spoke, and all he needed was a peaceful area where he could sit. It’d been a long time since he’d sat on the window sill in the Towers and he missed the solitary atmosphere.

  He walked to the motel they were staying at and he made his way to the bar. Willy leaned in. He was talking to Kelvin, and Maria was bathing Dustin's head with a damp cloth.

  “Willy, is there anywhere peaceful around here? I need to make a call.”

  “End of the garden. My cabin. There’s one of those big, hanging, wicker chairs you can relax in.”

  Gabriel walked past the pool and made his way between the trees. His hand twisted the handle and he stepped inside. He flicked on a sidelight and slipped into the comfort of the swinging chair. He huddled himself between two huge cushions. He peered through the large glass doors and watched the rest of the pack milling around by the rear pool bar area. Gabriel scrolled through his cell until he got to Declan's number. He hit hands-free and rested the phone on top of the cushion.

  As the phone rang, Gabriel thought of everything that had gone on. The final stage of becoming his wolf again now added up to a big fat zero. That was as far as he thought; Declan answered the phone quicker than he’d expected.

  “Hey there, buddy! You got good news?” Declan asked.

  “Dec, what a pile of shit that’s gone on here,” he replied.

  Declan didn’t want to sound as if he was being mocking in any way, and he was a little unsure about how to sound sympathetic.

  “I take it you’re not back to your old self?”

  “Very fucking far from it. I’m getting the impression I’m going to be a human for the rest of my life.”

  “No way! I had the exact same thought, and then I had a glimmer of hope when I went to Miami. You gotta hang in there.”

  Gabriel snorted a small laugh. “I’m glad you think that way because we're coming down there. You’d better keep your eyes open. I think Sanders is heading your way. He’s found out Kelvin isn’t a hybrid at all, his sister is, and she’s one mean motherfuc…” he started to say as Megan walked into the small cabin.

  “Who’s there?” Declan asked.

  “Hi, Megan,” Gabriel said, so Declan could hear.

  Declan knew Gabriel wouldn’t say too much with anyone else around unless it was Dustin, Maria, or Kelvin. It was strange why everyone trusted Kelvin no matter how unruly and damned crazy he was. But at the end of the day, he was loyal, despite his extreme behaviors.

  “I’ll see you in a couple of days and we can catch up. I’ll check this end and see if there’s anything we can do to help,” Declan said into the phone. “Stay safe, brother.” He cut the call.

  “What are you doing?” Megan asked. Her eye was covered.

  “Thinking. I wanted to call Declan, but he never answered,” he replied as he lied, spinning the swivel chair.

  Gabriel grabbed his cell and leaped from the chair as it spun in Megan’s direction. She faced him with a red and white motif bandana; it was pulled down over her milky-white eye. The scar was still sitting a good inch or two under the red fabric. She would be scarred for life.

  Gabriel gave a half-smile before he spoke. “We’d better get our shit together. We need to hit the road.”

  Gabriel roused everyone as they returned to the motel. He was down in the dumps. He hid the feeling deep in the pit of his heart, which right now, should be full of jubilation at becoming a wolf again. But he wasn’t. He longed for the taste of warm salty blood running down the back of his throat and pumping through his veins like magic. Now he would have to wait a little bit longer, though. He hoped it would come back soon.

  “Are you fit to travel?” he asked Dustin.

  Dustin said he could travel and that he would be “…right as rain by the time they reached half way, if not before.”

  It was only deep bruising and some holes underneath his fingernails that was still causing the pain. He wasn’t driving, that’d be taking the piss, so Gabriel was the nominee to take his place and get behind the wheel for
a while. The van was loaded —Dustin’s van had been delivered from the gas station where they swapped. As far as they knew, Sanders was ahead of them and on his way for Drake, and they were more-than-ready to rock and roll.

  Willy stood in the main yard with a small tear in the corner of his eye. Maria walked up and told him that he was a big boy now and he could definitely take care of himself.

  Willy scoffed at her mockery (although he liked it) and retorted. “I won’t be missing you,” he whimpered. He sounded similar to a puppy that was losing its mother.

  Maria kissed him on his cheek and gave his groin a gentle caress. “I bet you do, though,” she whispered into his ear.

  Gabriel inched the van closer to the large gate. Willy dragged the steel rollers over the tracks. The van rocked as it paused next to him.

  Kelvin lowered his window and leaned one arm on the top of the opening. “We couldn’t have done any of this without you,” he said as Willy smiled. “If you need anything, head to the club. I’m sure my aunt can sort you out with the best girls.” Kelvin frowned. “My sister’s not included in this equation by the way.”

  “I’ll swing by to keep an eye on them.”

  A faint voice came from the top of the van. Willy looked up. Kelita crouched silently. “Maybe I can keep an eye on you instead,” she whispered.

  Kelvin raised his arm and Kelita took his fingers. She shook and gripped them. Kelvin felt his big sister’s protection and her loving affection for him.

  “I’ll see you soon, sis,” he called from the window.

  Kelita bounded from the roof of the van to the wall of the motel. She turned her head and cast him a huge grin.

  She saluted. “Lil’ bro, not if I see you first.” While muttering those very words, Kelita sprang like a jack in a box and vanished into the branches of the trees.

  “We’ll be back when all this is over!” Kelvin shook Willy’s hand.

  “I’ll keep the rooms ready.” He hit the side of the van. The bang echoed around the inside.

  Maria’s voice boomed as she called to him. “WILLY!”

  He smirked. “Come on, you lot, GET OUTTA HERE.”

  Gabriel made good headway. The entire trip should only take a little over a day with one stop. Now it seemed they were the hunters and that Sanders was in front and had become the hunted. The text which arrived on Megan’s vibrating cell said something a little different to that, though.

  Sanders: Delayed. You need to slow down.

  Megan slipped her cell back into her pocket and rested her head back against the mattress. Her milky-white eye oozed with tears which soaked straight into the bandana. Megan had a thought; that if the old woman was still alive, she could’ve killed her for blinding and scarring her. There was nothing the doctors could do for her except give her pain relief.

  A four to five-inch scar which showed no sign of vanishing and an eye which couldn’t see anything and was pretty much freaking useless.

  “Where’re we going to stop for the evening?” Megan asked, trying to sound as happy as she could.

  Gabriel looked at the clock on the dash of the van —once Kelvin moved his hand from tuning in the radio. He thought for a moment and saw it was a little after six. A few hours and then they’d look for somewhere.

  “We’ll see… by eleven. That’s about right. Four or five hours behind the wheel is enough for anyone.”

  Maria piped up from the rear of the van as she stroked Dustin’s head (he rested on her lap). “We need somewhere we can make a kill and feed. I think it’ll do Dustin a world of good to change into his wolf for a while.”

  It was a consensus of opinion. Drive, stop, hunt, kill, eat, sleep, all apart from Gabriel, he’d have to settle for a steak or a burger.

  The traffic lessened as night closed in. Headlights dazzled as they moved up the opposite side of the expressway like fairy lights. Megan was relieved she’d had the night to hide her adversity to sunlight. Now she had another excuse (rather than the migraines she said she had before). This time, it was a real excuse. Her eye wept (like a damned leaky faucet) in intense light. She still couldn’t see fuck all, and it watered, so, theoretically, it could give her a headache.

  Kelvin twiddled the nob on the radio. Eighties disco was enough to drive anyone insane. 105. “Hip-hop, yeah boi,” Kelvin yelled to the dismay of the others. “It’s either this or religious crap.”

  “NO!” they all yelled.

  Maria pulled the hood of her sweatshirt over her head and closed her eyes. Megan buried her head into a cushion and Dustin slept. Gabriel had no choice but to listen. Kelvin bounced around in his seat, making gangster signals and belting out hip-hop tones to the crackling sounds coming from the speakers. Gabriel looked at the clock. Thirty minutes to go. He stared at the road and Kelvin's (crappy) singing faded.

  Gabriel decided he’d call Declan again, once they’d touched down at a motel. He’d never had a chance to explain the whole situation. Once Gabriel began to speak, Declan would quickly guess Sanders was after Drake. But what he wouldn’t know was: Sanders now had a considerable number of vlads on his side. That was the fundamental problem that now faced them all.

  Fifteen minutes to Tallahassee, the next most-significant place on the route. He started to slow as the exit approached. The first motel would be the place where they stopped for the evening. He swung the van down the exit ramp and saw the sign at the bottom.

  “La Quinta.” That’d do nicely. “Here we go,” he said, now craning his neck to the rear of the van. He slowed as he entered the parking lot. It seemed deadly quiet, even though it was still before eleven.

  Gabriel and Kelvin stepped into the reception. A sizeable, portly woman stepped from the rear room of the motel’s reception. Her hand parted the beads which hung from the arched doorway. Her fingers were firmly gripping a slice of pepperoni pizza. They watched her teeth chewing wildly on the bit she’d taken a bite from as she stepped through the beaded curtain with her mouth full. She wiped her mouth on the back of her plump hand. She did a poor job of wiping away the tomato-based sauce. It smeared from the corner of her mouth toward her cheek.

  “Three rooms. Two double and a single?” Gabriel asked.

  The woman placed her half-eaten pizza slice on the counter. She licked her thumb, twice. The first time she noticed there was tomato sauce, and the second was to make sure she wouldn’t smudge the book. It looked well-smudged from where Kelvin and Gabriel stood.

  “You’re in luck. Just enough, but the single will have to be a double,” she said, reaching for her pizza slice.

  Gabriel agreed and pulled out a roll of notes. He didn’t want any hiccups so he paid in advance, and in full.

  “Four-four-four, fifty five, and room seven. Sorry, they aren’t all together. First come, first serve,” she replied, handing the keys over the counter and crumpling the notes in-between her large fingers.

  They walked back to the parking lot. Dustin sat hunched in the rear of the van and was staring at the asphalt. Maria leaned, swinging on the passenger door, and Megan ambled around the parking lot. She was kicking small pebbles toward the curb. Her back covered the glow of her cell as she typed.

  Megan: Stopped for the night in Tallahassee. La Quinta Motel.

  Sanders: Still in Orleans. Can’t leave until morning. Make sure you slow them down.

  Megan: No problem. I need to see you. I’ve got a sc…

  She hit send as Gabriel called her. She spun and slipped her cell back into her pocket. Gabriel tossed her the keys as he parked the vehicle. They all agreed to meet in fifteen minutes. Four would go and hunt and he’d find a local place to grab a burger or something.

  As Dustin stood in the center of the motel room his shirt remained off. Kelvin began unwinding the bandages from around his ribs. The blackberry color had faded and now looked more like an ink smudge, rather than a severe black. He held his hands out and spread his fingers. Kelvin removed the white and blood-soaked gauze. Dustin blew on his fingertips
and sucked in air through slightly gritted teeth. His fingers wiggled, and then he gently clenched his fist.

  “The pains a…” Kelvin grabbed Dustin's finger and squeezed it. Dustin whacked Kelvin up the side of the head. “Almost gone, I was about to say.”

  Kelvin rubbed his head and apologized. He explained he was excited at going hunting with Dustin again. It had been too long since they’d run free together, into a night full of anticipation as to what they might find to eat.

  “You’re telling me,” Dustin agreed.

  They stood in the parking lot. Maria exited the reception with a screwed-up face. She asked if they had seen the motel manageress.

  Kelvin nodded. “It seems she has a soft spot for pizza.”

  “The hidden valley,” Maria explained. “We can hunt past there. There’s a smallish wooded area. It’s not far, the manageress told me, and we can get access further down the street.”

  They made their way down the sidewalk. Gabriel kept his eyes open for a food place which might be open. A sun-like glow appeared against the night sky and high above the oncoming headlights. A diner.

  “Well, it looks like I’ve got my place to feed from.”

  Megan pulled her arm from his and rubbed her eye with her bandana. She peered into the distance. She might only have one eye, but it was a good one. “There are no trees around here,” she said.

  Standing close to the diner, they turned as the doorbell whoop-whooped, and a local guy walked out with a box full of late-night pancakes.

  “Where’s the hidden valley?” Maria asked as he pushed the remote to his car.