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Artem

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“You’re going to rue the day you took this pack Artemis. I will see to that.” The small man who was cowering in the corner yelled at me. “This pack ran just fine without you needing to get involved in the damn politics. Just let us go back to how things were, how they used to be.”

I just stood there, lividly staring at the man who was ranting at me. He was just slightly above a mid rank wolf. He was nothing more than one of the numerous Lambdas that filled the bottom of the upper echelon. He was short for a wolf, just barely five feet nine inches tall. And his graying hair was far from the only proof that he was approaching fifty years old, his wrinkled face made him appear older than he should have.

It was assholes like this that made me want to be the Alpha in the first place. My family was prominent in this pack, and I was born powerful enough to make it into the ranks of the Deltas by the time I was fifteen. My family had never bred an Alpha before, but I knew what I was capable of. That, and I refused to let this pack continue the way it had been going.

Don’t ask me when it all started, or who even started it, but this pack was different from all the rest.

We were remote out here in the forests of Northern California. So remote that we rarely ever came across another pack unless we traveled. I hated the way things were when I was growing up, the way my fellow pack members and even family members were treated.

In this pack, rank was everything. If you weren’t born strong you weren’t worth anyone’s time. It was for that reason that most weaker and lower ranked pack members were treated like shit, like they were garbage, no less than garbage.

Why did that bother me so much? Why did I feel the need to change it all and rescue those of lower ranks? Well, there were a few reasons really.

Reason number one, who would help them if not the strong. Was it not the responsibility of the strong to look after the weak, to protect them? That’s what they teach us about morals and life and responsibility. The weak, who cannot protect themselves need the strong to survive. This is a give and take relationship.

Reason number two, it was immoral. Why did they feel like it was ok for them to beat, abuse, and persecute their family, their neighbors, or even complete strangers just because their wolf wasn’t as strong as theirs? There was always someone stronger than them too, should those higher ranked wolves be subjected to the same fate as the Omegas? If they were going to keep up their shit then I thought they should be.

And lastly, reason number three, one of my closest friends when I was a kid, Lenny, was an Omega. His family was embarrassed by him, they thought he was worthless.

Lenny and I were only a week apart in age, he was the older one, but he was so much smaller than me. It didn’t have anything to do with ranks or strength though. No, Lenny’s parents didn’t care enough to feed him regularly, or let him outside once they knew his rank. We played together constantly from the time we were three until we were seven, and that’s when things started to get really bad.

I still saw him from time to time over the following year, until we were eight. When I saw him, Lenny tried to be positive about it all. He tried to stay strong and hide the bruises that they left on him. But one day Lenny just wasn’t there any more, and he never came back.

Lenny’s uncle, a nasty, ruthless man, had beaten him to death. He claimed it was the only fitting thing to do with a useless Omega like him. I didn’t care that I was only eight years old, I saw red. I could have killed that man that day and not thought twice about it.

It was also that day that I had my first shift. I was the youngest wolf in pack history to shift that young. I couldn’t tell you about shifter history as I don’t know much about my own kind outside of my own pack and the one near where I went to college.

When I shifted that day I actually tried to attack Lenny’s uncle, but I was held back by my father. He didn’t want me to get in trouble because that man, that murderer, was a Delta and that meant he was of a decently high rank.

I made my decision that day. I was going to get stronger. I was going to rise up in the ranks. And I was going to take control of this pack and become the Alpha, even if I had to take it by force and kill the previous Alpha, I would do it.

And that’s exactly what I did. The Alpha, the spineless asshole that allowed murder and abuse to happen in his pack, that actually encouraged it, was nothing more than a stepping stone to me. And now, he’s nothing more than a distant memory. He would never darken my doorstep ever again, and I could finally rescue those who were being abused.

I had been lost in my thoughts, my memories of the past as I watched that piss ant cowering on the floor. I could still hear my Gammas tearing through the house, looking for anyone they might be trying to hide.

I was on a mission to rescue everyone I could, I would grant them their freedom by force if I had to. If I had to beat the shit out of their family or captors myself then I would. If they still refused to free their prisoners, then I would kill the sons of bitches and still rescue them all.

“Where are they?” I asked the man I had been glaring at. “Where are you hiding your victims?”

“What makes you think I have anyone here?” He looked smug, like he thought I wouldn’t sniff out his little secret.

“Because you were bragging about how badly you beat the boy recently. What is he, fifteen, sixteen?”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” He had the audacity to try and lie to me, to lie to my face.

“You know Albert, unless you or someone else in this fucking pack is strong enough to kill me, I am your Alpha now, and you will listen to me.” I fixed him with an intense gaze, my eyes piercing through him and all the way to his soul, or so it seemed like. “There are only so many options you have right now. Fess up. Get the shit kicked out of you then fess up. Get the shit kicked out of you then leave this pack. And lastly, you can die. Pick one and stop wasting my time.” I put that ring of authority into my voice, the command that made it so he had to listen to me or suffer. It worked.

I watched as the cowering, trembling man before me seemed to crumple in on himself and fall to the floor. His eyes which were red and rimmed in unshed tears, also held an intense hatred for me. That was fine. I didn’t need pus like him filling my ranks or fouling the air around me.

“They’re behind the trick wall.” His voice was weak and shaking.

“Now was that so hard?” I purred at him as I spoke, just to annoy him. “Get up.” I dragged him by his collar and pulled him to his feet. He was going to open their cage himself.

Five minutes later, after having had Albert press his little magic button that slid the bookcase aside I was standing outside with my Gammas and three shivering kids. The oldest looked maybe fifteen, if I was being generous with the numbers. The youngest couldn’t have been more than five. These people were sick.

“You’re all safe now.” I told them, my voice soothing and my eyes as calm as I could make them. “You won’t have to suffer anymore.”

“Do you kids want to come back to the pack house and have some dinner? You can also get cleaned up and have a proper room to sleep in.” Toby Collins, one of my two Gammas, was coaxing them out of their shells. He was always better with kids than I was.

“Th-th-th-the p-p-pack house.” The middle of the three boys stuttered, fear in his eyes. He was maybe eight years old, the same age as Lenny was when he died.

All three of the boys looked scared now. They seemed to be frightened of the pack house. I seemed to remember hearing stories, things that they would tell the weaker wolves. They conditioned them to be afraid of Alphas. Was that why all the people I had saved so far were scared of me at first.

“You don’t have to worry. I’m not the same Alpha that was here before. I’m here to protect you like a real Alpha should. I’ve turned the pack house into a sanctum for you. A place where you can all feel safe. There are others there as well.” I was kneeling before them, smiling gently and hoping they would believe me.

My smile and kind words must have done its job because the youngest little boy walked to me, albeit very hesitantly. Soon, he had wrapped his tiny, too thin arms around my neck and was holding on for dear life. I could hear him quietly sobbing into my left shoulder as he shook against me.

“Shh. Shh.” I shushed him as I rubbed soothing circles into his back with my large hand. My hand basically covered his entire back so the circles were very small.

The second little boy, the one that reminded me of Lenny, came over to me next. He pressed his face into my other shoulder, his sobbing and tears joining those of the first one. I wrapped my arms around them and stood up effortlessly, cradling them to me while I looked at the older boy.

I had heard that the older boy was a teenager, nearing adulthood, but he didn’t look older than ten, given his size.

“I will protect you guys from now on, all of you.” I was looking at the oldest one as I said this. “Are you coming too?” I asked him. He just nodded his head but he looked a little jealous of the boys in my arms. “Want to ride on my back?” I asked him. He nodded eagerly “I will carry you all to the car, or even all the way to the pack house if you want, whatever makes you three feel the most comfortable. Which do you want?”

“I-is the p-p-pack h-ho-house far?” The oldest boy asked.

“A few miles, nothing I can’t manage.”

“I-I don’t w-wa-want to b-be outside that l-long.” I nodded, understanding what he was saying.

“They won’t be coming for you, not ever. But I will drive you to the house and then my friends and I will help you to settle in.”

“O-ok.” He smiled.

I crouched down, holding the two smaller boys in my arms still.

“Come on, climb on.” I encouraged the oldest boy. Thankfully, he didn’t hesitate. He was already starting to trust me, and Toby too.

The drive back was quick and quiet. I had Toby drive while I sat in the back seat. The oldest boy was nestled in the middle, between my knees while the other two sat on my legs, one on each knee. I wrapped my arms around the three of them easily, offering them the first comfort they’d probably had in a long time.

They were all asleep by the time we got back. I let Toby and Morgan, my other Gamma, carry the smaller boys and I carried the larger one. They would wake up when they were ready. When they did, they would see what life could really be about.

I had just walked out of the room we put the kids into when I saw Kent, my best friend and Beta, running toward me.

“I found another one, Artem.” He looked like he was in panic mode.

“Let’s go to the office and talk.” I whispered, not wanting to wake or scare the kids inside the room. Kent nodded and led the way.

Once we were inside the room, he turned to start talking again. He didn’t even give me the chance to sit down before he was in full explanation mode.

“I found someone else we need to save.”

“Where is he?” I asked him.

“It’s not a he.” He blurted out. That part made me do a double take and look at him with shock clearly written on my face.

“Come again.” I ran a hand through my light, copper brown hair then fixed him with my bright, spring green eyes. “All the weak pack members we’ve saved so far have all been boys.” I didn’t know if the girls had died or if they weren’t kept prisoner at all, but I hadn’t found any yet.

“I know that, Artem, but I came across a girl tonight that needs help.”

“What happened?” I needed to know it all, everything, if I was going to fix her situation.

“It looked like she was running away and she ran right into me. She looked scared and about to scream but she just got up and started running again. That was when I noticed the massive bruise and swelling on her leg. I think she was running with a broken leg, and she was moving fast.”

“So she’s determined, that’s good.”

“But there were people chasing her. A man in his thirties and four others in their wolf forms.”

“Who was the man?” I needed to know.

“I don’t know yet, but I memorized his scent, as well as the others. And I will remember his face.” He looked confident in that, and I had no reason to doubt him anyway.

“Did he say anything to you?”

“Yeah, he basically told me to mind my own business or he was going to get rid of me.”

“Hmph.” I scoffed at his words. “So he threatened you?” I just laughed. Kent was strong, almost as strong as me. Chances were, he could probably take that guy down no problem.

“Yeah, he did. Then he grabbed the girl and dragged her back by her hair.”

“Seriously?” That was fucked up, how much damage did he do to her head. “Did she have a talisman?” She probably did. All the ones we saved so far did, it’s how we sealed away wolves in this pack. A magic talisman that was taught to us long ago by a sadistic warlock named Gannon.

“I didn’t see one, but that doesn’t mean anything.”

“That’s true.” I nodded my head. “Let’s track them down, then it will be time to save her. Good work Kent.”