Alpha Female - Book 1 -Under Major Editing-

Chapter 15

Nicole and Aldrich laid in bed, tangled in the sheets as the tv played quietly in the dark room. Aldrich laid awake, Nicole lying fast asleep on one of his arms, the other propped up behind his head. They hadn't left the bed much that whole day, and it was nearly ten o'clock when Nicole had finally dozed off to sleep. Aldrich glanced over at the clock on the bedside table, noting that it was a quarter past three. He had laid there lost in his thoughts, worrying over things he hadn't wanted Nicole to worry herself about. She had enough on her as her father was getting worse and on top of that, the rogue issue. He instead decided to keep his thoughts to himself with all that in mind.

He had had drifted off to sleep shortly after Nicole and found himself being thrown into a dream. It had started out unusual, but beautiful nonetheless. Nicole's mother and father popped up into his mind. They were at the beach, and a small Nicole was running around chasing her mother, attempting to splash her with water. Luna Nicollet screamed in fake surprise as she had slowed down so Nicole could splash her. Nicole cried out in happiness and called out, "Mama!"

Luna Nicollet had stopped and began making her way to her daughter, when suddenly, the scene began to change. The beach slowly faded into the forest, and a large solid white wolf fought beside a wolf Aldrich recognized as Alpha Andrew. They were fighting against a group of rogues alone, and were quickly being over powered. Alpha Andrew turned to his Luna and nudged her behind him as he snapped at the rogues in front of them. She growled and tried to move around him, but a ferocious and loud growl sounded through his chest. Luna Nicollet's wolf whined, before turning and running the other direction. Aldrich had realized that Alpha Andrew had commanded the Luna to leave.

The dream continued with the Luna running through the forest, the sounds of rogues howls bouncing off the trees as they excitedly chased her. Out of nowhere, three rogues ran out in front of her, cutting her off. She skidded to a stop, crouching down into a protective stance as they spread out, three others appearing behind her doing the same. All at once, they pounced on the Luna, tearing into her and easily overpowering her. Her once white fur was completely stained red once they had finished with her, and the Luna laid dead in the dirt.

  It was as if Aldrich was really there as he seemingly stood to the side, watching as one of the six rogues shifted back to his human form. He walked up to the dead Luna, bending down to lift her head up. Pulling her wolfs lips back, he grasped onto her large canines, ripping them from her gums and tucking them into his pocket. Aldrich felt a growl rip through his chest at the sight. Taking the canines from a dead wolf was one of the most disrespectful things you could do to them or their family. Standing back up, he nodded to one of the other rogues, who shifted also. He walked over to a tree, grabbing a skinning knife that had been stabbed into it. He walked back over to the Luna, beginning to skin her as the others stood guard around them.

   Aldrich's chest tightened as he fought the urge to run to the rogues. He knew it would do no good, and instead opted to stay where he was and search each of the rogues faces and wolves, looking for any he may know of. None of the wolves looked familiar to him, and it filled him with aggravation that he couldn't place a face or name to any of them. Shortly after the Luna had been skinned, the first rogue who took her canines walked over to the other rogue and took the pelt from him. He mind linked something to the small pack of rogues, and they all nodded as they began walking away from the body.
Aldrich felt himself grow sick as he heard Alpha Andrew screaming his mates name from a couple hundred yards away. He was quickly coming up on the area Aldrich and Luna Nicollet's body were in, and Aldrich wished he could hurry and wake up to avoid watching Andrew find his mates body. That was only wishful thinking tho, as soon, Andrew burst into the area, stopping dead in his tracks as he saw his mate. He immediately fell to his knees, tears streaming down his face as his screams tore through the trees. He sat there, screaming for his mate, his hands burying into the dirt below him, and a mixture of cries and growls tearing through him. His beta, Richard, came running from the trees with a couple pack warriors following behind. He stopped as they entered the area, his arms shooting out to stop the warriors behind him from going any closer. His eyes widened as he saw his Alpha sitting on the ground, screaming. His eyes began to fill with tears as his gaze landed on the Luna laying a few feet from them. A collective gasp came from the warriors as they all realized what had happened.

Andrew had stopped screaming, and his cries of agony were met with anger filled growls. He had his head bent down, his eyes a darker shade of brown as his wolf came to the surface. His finger nails had extended into claws, and patches of hair had sprouted up on different parts of his body.

Richard took a slow and cautious step towards the alpha, not getting close enough to spook or set him off. "Andrew, calm down. You're partially shifted, and you know what happens when you partially shift." He spoke in a clam and gentle voice, knowing that Andrew was fighting to control his wolf.

Andrew was shaking at that point, his face beginning to turn into that of his wolfs. Deep and dangerous growls tore through him, his claws dug into the dirt as he tried to control his shift.

"They skinned her!" he growled out, his voice a mixture between a growl and his naturally deep tone.

"I know, Andrew. And they will pay for what they have done to Nicollet. But remember your little girl, Alpha. She needs you. You have to remain in control, for her."

At the mention of his daughter, it was like something snapped in Andrew. His growls died down as he began to regain control of his wolf, and soon, he was completely human again; the cries had come back, just not as extreme as they had been. Richard slowly walked up to him, placing a hand on the alphas shoulder. "Come on, lets get you some clothes." He paused and looked over to two of the warriors. "Gather your Lunas body and take it to the burial grounds. She will be buried tonight."

The two warriors paled, but nodded, slowly making their way over to the body. Richard helped Andrew up, letting his friend lean on him as they slowly made their way back to the pack house; the remaining warriors formed a wall around them, protecting their alpha in his fragile state.

  Aldrich's eyes had shot open as he gasp for his breath. It was a little after midnight when he had woken up, and he had yet to be able to go back to sleep. Everything about the dream, or nightmare, had shaken him to his core. Surely there wasn't something deeper to the dream? Aldrich decided he needed to see Andrew, and soon.