Chapter 40

Leaning against the front of the building housing his office, Tristan scanned the clearing, searching for the first sign of Rudy. It had been quiet until Reeve reported that Rudy and his men had chosen the trail that ran between his land and Jackson’s old pack land. Then, one by one the squad leaders confirmed that it was the only access point being used, Tristan issued orders to Heath to move his men to the woods surrounding the clearing. A few minutes later, he received another report.

“Groose, here: Rudy’s men are now following behind him in a tight formation on the path since the brush and undergrowth are too dense for them to walk through. My men have fallen back to avoid detection.”

“Reeve, where are you?” asked Tristan.

“Reeve, here: I’m with some of Groose’s men and we’re guarding the northern flank just in case Rudy changes direction.”

“Heath, are any of the squads guarding the southern area?”

“Heath, here: Five of our squads are concealed on the side with a clear view of where the trail ends at the clearing. The rest are spread out in the woods on the east side of where you are.”

“Okay…keep sharp,” Tristan warned. “Be prepared for anything, but do not move in until I give the word.” After all units had acknowledged his orders, Tristan stood up, but kept his body relaxed and loose. It was time to set the trap .

Rudy knew nothing about Tristan other than he was Josiah’s first born son and thought he was a weakling. After all, if the Alpha had rejected him, he was probably going to be a pushover. And besides, he’d always regarded himself as invincible, a miscalculation that many like him throughout history had made, much to their chagrin.

But Tristan had learned early on in childhood that every bully had an Achillis heel, a vulnerable part of them that, if exploited cleverly by an enemy, could bring them down. It was usually their belief of superiority over others and they maintained that illusion by always picking on the smallest and weakest around them. A bully to the core, Rudy had used his power to extort money from weak and frightened pack members.

Pulling back his Alpha Power so only the smallest amount could be detected, Tristan was counting on Rudy to size him up as a weak Alpha—someone easy to overcome. Hunching over, keeping his body as small as possible, he’d chosen to stand in deep shadows, which gave the appearance that he was afraid. Then, like a spider, Tristan stood motionless, waiting for the fly to become entangled in his web.

~/~/~/~/~

Cloaked by Sawyer, Mystia stood with Oracle on the far side of the clearing, watching Tristan. Chuckling, she murmured, “I can’t imagine anyone would be tricked by Tristan’s efforts to make himself look small and weak. His Alpha Power is too strong.”

“You would be surprised by how many would be fooled by it,” Oracle replied. “The mind can easily override the other senses, making one ignore what they are telling you. ”

“I guess,” Mystia replied, turning her attention to the very faint noises to her right. “Are you sure the one we are looking for is with Rudy?”

“Yes…the Fates have assured me.

“Does Remy know about our mission?” asked Mystia.

“Not yet, but I promise to tell him once this is over.”

Nodding, Mystia remained silent. She doubted Remy would object, but there was always the chance he’d view their actions as an effort to step on his toes.

Laying her hand on Mystia’s forearm, Oracle smiled at her. “Trust me, Remy will understand the necessity of our actions tonight.”

“I know…but…”

“Speaking of the Ruler, can you tell if his spells are working?”

“I feel the magic, so I’m sure they are,” Mystia murmured.

Nudging her friend, Oracle exclaimed, “There he is!”

Looking in the direction Oracle was pointing to, Mystia sucked in a breath when she felt the evil swirling around the one known as Pocus. “He has killed many.”

Grasping Mystia’s hand, Oracle asked, “Ready?”

“Yes,” Mystia whispered as she raised her wand and, with a wave, transported them, plus the demon who was using a magic-user’s body, to the Fates.

~/~/~/~/~

Emerging from the trees, Rudy checked out the clearing, finding it empty except for a small man standing in front of the Silver Point Pack’s administration building. Carefully studying him, he concluded it had to be the bastard son, confirming his opinion as to why Josiah had ignored his first-born. The man was small and had far less Alpha Power than Kahn. Two sons—both failures as far as Alphas went. It just reenforced his belief that he was meant to be Alpha of the Silver Point Pack. Too bad Josiah never saw it.

Shrugging off those thoughts, Rudy sniffed the air, but the only scent he could discern was coming from the weakling in front of him. Lowering the gun that had been pointed at Tristan since he’d emerged from the woods, Rudy called out, “Do you know who I am?”

Shrugging, Tristan replied, “Sure…a murderer and an escaped prisoner.”

“At least I’m not a bastard,” Rudy snarled.

“Better to be a bastard, than a wanted man,” Tristan replied, drolly. “At least I don’t have to keep looking over my shoulder, wondering if the High Council is on my tail. Why they might even be hiding in the woods right now, waiting for you.”

Pausing for a moment, then Rudy smirked. “For such a small, weak Alpha, you sure do have big balls.”

“Maybe, but if I were you, I’d hightail it off my land before I’m forced to throw you off myself.”

Bursting into laughter, Rudy turned around and said to his men, “Can you believe the audacity of this bastard? He’s gonna throw me off land that rightfully belongs to me.” Turning back to Tristan, he smirked. “I think it’s time for you to go…and, because I’m such a nice guy, you can have a five minute head start.”

“Seems fair, but I have a better proposal.”

“Oh yeah? What’s that? ”

“I’m challenging you for the Alpha position of the Silver Point Pack,” Tristan announced loudly. “And just so there aren’t any misunderstandings…the fight will end when you die.”

Stunned, Rudy stared at Tristan. It took several moments before he understood exactly what had been proposed. Josiah’s son was not only weak, but stupid, too. Winning the title of Alpha in a formal challenge would make it impossible for the High Council to do anything except to acknowledge Rudy as the true and rightful Alpha of the Silver Point Pack. “I accept,” he sneered.

Handing his gun to one of his men, Rudy murmured, “If you get a clean shot, shoot him.” Stripping off his shirt, Rudy stepped to the middle of the clearing and beckoned Tristan to join him. He half expected the man to chicken out after seeing the size of him.

Tristan nodded, then slowly straightening up and stepping out of the shadow, he removed his shirt. Taller than Rudy by six inches, he flexed his arms, letting Rudy see how big his muscles were. Then, as the piece de resistance, Tristan unleashed his Alpha Power, flooding the clearing with a power so strong every man submitted until there was only Rudy left. Increasing his power, Tristan watched as Rudy struggled against it but eventually was forced to tilt his head.

Anger coursed through Rudy. The bastard had tricked him into accepting his challenge. When Tristan finally pulled back his Alpha Power, giving Rudy the freedom to act, he grabbed a gun from the man standing next to him, aimed it at Tristan, and fired it. Expecting to hear the noise of a bullet leaving the barrel, Rudy heard only the sound of a click. Surprised, he pulled the trigger again but the results were the same. Angrily throwing the gun down, he grabbed another, but had no better luck with that one, either. Fury twisted his features as he shouted to his men, “Fire! Kill the bastard!”

Tristan stood still, smirking at the sounds of multiple clicks of as triggers were being pulled, and yet, not one gun fired a bullet. Nice work, Remy . Then, speaking softly, he said, “Reeve, Groose, Heath…now!” At his command, the squads of men emerged from the woods, surrounding Rudy and his men. “You’ve lost, Rudy,” Tristan growled.

Wildly glancing around, Rudy found his men meekly laying down their weapons and raising their hands in surrender. “You fucking fools!” he raged. Finally, looking at Tristan he snarled, “I accepted your challenge…you have to fight me or else you forfeit, according to the law.”

“Oh, so now we’re going by the law, are we?” Tristan laughed. “Well, in that case, you lost your bid as soon as you attempted to use your gun to kill me, instead of shifting into your wolf.”

Staring at Tristan, Rudy’s body began to shake, fury turning into uncontrollable rage when he realized it was over—his dream of being Alpha, his life, everything—gone. “Fuck you!” Rudy screamed, shifting instantly and rushing towards the man who stood in his way of his imagined destiny.

But before Rudy’s shift had been completed, Tristan’s wolf emerged to answer the call to fight for his pack. With a powerful leap, Tristan’s wolf landed on the back of Rudy’s wolf, sinking his teeth through the fur and into the flesh and around the spine. Then with a mighty snap of his huge jaw, he bit down, causing Rudy’s wolf to stumble to the ground and lie there, unable to move .

Tristan’s wolf stalked around Rudy’s wolf until he stood at his head, staring into the wolf’s pain-filled eyes; yet he had no sympathy for him. He listened to the whimpering pleas Rudy made, begging to be spared from the killing bite of Tristan’s wolf, but they fell on deaf ears. Any mercy Tristan might have felt, had disappeared when Reeve explained Rudy’s roll in the massacre of the Fox River Pack. The younger siblings of Jackson and his brothers were his cousins and they deserved justice. And then there were his own pack members who all suffered terribly under Rudy’s iron fist, a rogue enforcer who was supposed to protect the pack, but had used it instead to enrich himself.

When the images of the starving and sick pups of his pack filled his mind, Tristan’s wolf grabbed the throat of Rudy’s wolf and tore it out. Then lifting his snout, his wolf announced the kill with a loud and long howl that echoed around the clearing and into the woods.

His front paws resting on the body of Rudy’s wolf, he proudly howled again and again in victory, assuring his pack that their Alpha had bested their enemy.

Then, one by one, the Silver Point Pack members who had stayed to fight alongside their Alpha, shifted and gathered around Tristan’s wolf, joining in with their own howls of victory.

Heath looked at his mate’s wolf and knew Tristan was waiting for him. Turning to Reeve, he said, “Tell the High Council to come and get their prisoners…and tell them to hustle.” Not waiting for an answer, Heath shifted and bounded over to his mate, nuzzling Tristan’s face with his own. The joy felt by the pack upon the death of Rudy was contagious and prompted Heath to lift his face and let loose with a series of howls, th anking the Fates for his mate, the Alpha of the Silver Point Pack.

~/~/~/~/~

Tristan watched as the prisoners were loaded up into the buses and handcuffed to the metal bars running up the aisles to prevent them from shifting. When the job was finished, he asked Reeve, “Anything else you need?”

“Nope, the prisoners don’t seem to have any aggression left in them.”

“That’s good. It’s should make it easier for you.”

“Yeah…” Reeve said, glancing at the escapees before turning back to Tristan. “I’ve never seen anything like it…they lost their desire to fight, all at the same time.”

“Maybe they saw Rudy for what he really was,” Tristan conjectured. “Someone who didn’t care what happened to them just as long as that fucker got what he wanted.”

Shrugging, Reeve replied, “I’m not complaining if that’s the case. What about the rest of your pack members? Are they staying the night in San Fransico?”

“I decided to let them stay where they are for the night. Kahn told me the pups are asleep along with their parents and the older members, my grandparents included. The rest will be taking turns standing guard.”

“They don’t have to,” Reeve said. “My men will be there.”

“I know…but it’s important for my members to take responsibly for each other…to get back into a pack mindset…something Josiah and Rudy stripped from them, forcing them to develop an ‘every man for himself’ attitude .

“My pack will face other enemies in the future so the sooner they come together as one, the stronger the pack will be to fight off and defeat the ones who seek to destroy what my pack has.”

“Your pack has already begun to change,” Reeve pointed out.

“I know…and it’s a good sign that they’re headed in the right direction. And because Rudy was universally hated, it was easy for my members to choose the pack over themselves. But what happens when that isn’t the case? Will my pack fight together or will they revert to thinking only of themselves? Only time will tell,” Tristan said. “But enough about that for now…Kahn is waiting for you and I promised I wouldn’t keep you any longer than necessary. So get out of here.”

Chuckling, Reeve said, “I’ll see you tomorrow.” Then, heading to the first bus, he swung up through the open door, he said to the driver, “Time to go.”

After the buses were gone, Tristan headed into the Community Meeting building, eager to see his mate, but stopped when Groose approached him. “You leaving?” he asked.

“We are…Remy will be here shortly,” Groose replied.

Nodding, Tristan said, “Thanks for your help…it made all the difference in the world.”

Chuckling, Groose replied, “Anytime, Alpha. The Silver Point Pack is fortunate to have you as their Alpha and it was an honor to serve under you. Good luck, sir.”

Stunned by the compliment, Tristan stared at Grosse as he headed over to Remy and joined his men before they all vanished. Shaking himself lose from his thoughts, he continued on his way where his men and mate were waiting for him.

Entering the building, Tristan was greeted with shouts and smiles. While weaving his way through the crowd, he shook each of his enforcers’ hands and patted his pack members on the back, thanking them for staying. When he finally reached the stage, he grabbed Heath’s hand and let him pull him up onto it. “Wow! Is this how it usually is after a fight?”

“Yup…especially when the pack’s kick-ass Alpha annihilates an enemy like Rudy as thoroughly as you did.”

“I didn’t do it alone.” Tristan replied.

“No, I know…but you made everyone believe they could beat Rudy and that was critical. You passed your first test as an Alpha with full marks,” Heath said, leaning close so he could be heard over the noise. “Do you know how hot that makes you?”

“Nope…show me.”

“Here? Now?”

“No, silly, in our bedroom,” Tristan replied, licking his mate’s sensitive spot on his neck.

“Stop that,” Heath growled. “Let’s run first then you can bend me over and fuck me silly.”

Images of his cock buried in his mate had Tristan yelling to the group. “Time to run!” Then tugging Heath through the crowd and into the clearing, he glanced at his men spilling out of the doors of the building, stripping as they did. Pulling his mate close to him, Tristan crooned softly, “Shift babe…and run by my side…together, forever. ”

Heath knew it was going to be a glorious night for a run after seeing Tristan’s fur glisten under the full moon. His mate had risen to the occasion and completed the task the goddess of the moon and Fates had given him. Rudy was dead, killed by Tristan and, because of that, no one would ever question his mate’s right to be the Alpha of the Silver Point Pack.