I howled into the air in excitement, the children and teen were running right behind me in the bright daylight late in the afternoon. People stopped to look at us strangely, startled by the sudden large group of teen and children running together. We were on our afternoon run, enjoying our bonding time together. It has been one month since the day I been coronated as the Alpha.  My pack was called the White Raven Pack. The White part was from Jaz who stated that she wanted something that represented me in our pack name. While Ray brought in the idea of an Raven, he stated that we as a whole are intelligent, clever, survivors, versatile, and can live anywhere in the world without trouble.

I didn’t mind the name in actuality I kind of liked it and agreed with what both of them. So far the pack had swelled in size, becoming up to twenty people. Two-thirds of them being children under the age of thirteen while the other remaining were past thirteen, but stopping short under seventeen.

So far we have at least five including me who could shift without much problem, though I believe we need to more shifters to protect the young ones. With just five, it’s not enough to protect us from the adult rogues that seem to crawl around the city floor.

Since the day I changed into an Alpha, I could feel a swell of power coursing through my veins. The ceremony of Alpha initiation was simple and direct. All I needed to do was share my blood by cutting into my hands and shaking with the people I wanted to connect with.

I learned that not everyone could just become an Alpha with a snap of a finger. The reason is a bit more complex. If I understood Ray’s words, it all comes down to the ability to lead, unify, and handle the large amount of power that floods into me since the first bond. As more and more werewolves come in contact with our beehive like mindlink, the ability to support such connections without breaking down is the number one thing an Alpha needed.

If I didn’t have such ability to not crash from the swirling mindlink, they were a high chance of my mind becoming broken, or worse death. The responsibility of the pack mind is splitted ways and given power to each wolf in certain order, allowing the heavy burden to spread and be shared among the pack itself.

Other than that the rest is magic mojo that I didn’t quite understand nor did Ray himself. He just shrugged it off and said it’s magic, that’s all to it. The beehive like mind was a welcoming experience, the telepathy link helps us out a lot, allowing us to communicate in far distances through our territories that we have established. So far a small northern part of Chicago is my pack’s territory.  Outside the territory is a little bit more difficult to control, but possible.

The land isn’t large, but big enough to fit three football field side-to-side. With only five wolves who know how to shift and fight, we have just enough territory for now for us to take care of. Any bigger, and I fear that it would put my pack in danger.

So far we were lucky with not a single  rogue invasion stepping into our land. There were a couple of close encounters, but majority of the adult werewolves stay clear of our territory.

There is one problem that I didn’t expect to happen and that was for Seline to go into a deep slumber the moment I became an Alpha. So far she hasn’t stirred awake and instead silently sleeps away, almost as if she was never there. The only reason I know she’s still there is the slight stir whenever she shifts uncomfortably when she’s sleeping. Other than that, my mind has been quite quiet for the past month.

Ray had to ween me in on the role of an Alpha and even he had become my second in command, a Beta. I kept the Gamma and Delta seat vacant for now and instead focused on our team work. So far the bank notes and genuine gold coins came in handy, I kept the gold coins for back up for the possible future and exchanged the bank notes.

So far, I have enough to feed my pack for a seven months and buy some new clothes. Other than that, we needed income fast. Right now my focus was to get my pack well fed, strong, and able to fight. The first two weeks weren’t easy, seeing them so feeble and willowy. Now after they have gained weight, I could see how ravenous they were. Their appetite and mine has been increasing everyday.

“Alpha!” Jaz ran up next to me in excitement. She was a bundle of energy and doesn’t seem like she would stop anytime soon. We all slow down and stopped. “When are we going to eat? I’m hungry~”

“Jaz! That’s not something that you should be asking!” Ray chastised Jaz. He was not pleased that she would ask something like that wouldn’t realizing her position. I could tell that Ray was starting to round out, giving him the muscles that he dearly needs. A couple of times that I have seen him half naked, there were a bit of muscles that fleshed on his skinny arms and legs. I felt quite proud that he was getting better.

“B-b-but I’m hungry…” She stopped and chaste her head on the ground embarrassed.

“You need to understand that we can not leech off our Alpha for the rest of our life! Have you no shame Jaz?”

“B-b-but-”

I held up my hand to stop him. “It’s alright.”

“But you’re being too nice, Alpha. We can’t keep mooching off of you like some kind of leech. We’ll contribute in some way, I promise.”

I could tell that Ray was getting frustrated in mooching off of me in the little amount of money that I had left. Honestly it made him more frustrated that he couldn’t help much more than having a part time job to accumulate the little amount of money that he could get.

“Like I said, don’t worry about it. Call me Tila. The Alpha thing sounds so weird. Plus right now, I’m investing in all of you. With that being said, all of you have been going to school correct?”

The kids went silent and even some started to look away from me ashamed.

“I take it that you haven’t.” I frowned even deeper. Trying to get each one to look at me, but majority of them failed. A deep sigh escaped my lips, and I scrunched up my eyebrow.

“Why do we need to go to school? It’s so pointless!” A young boy named Jamie shouted disgruntled.

“It’s not. If you want to climb the ladder of society you will need education.” I spoke gently, trying to help them understand why they needed to go. “Plus don’t you want to live in a warm home, better food, and our own pack territory with endless woods?”

Everyone eyes became brightened at the thought of living in a better place away from the bustling city life. The tight confines of not being able to change made it a lot more difficult for the older teens to subdue their wolves instincts. I had to plan out an all weekend excursion to run in a national park to allow our wolves to roam free.

“Yes.” They all sang with hope at the thought of running around freely without the fear of getting caught.

“Well than, we need money to do that and money we need educations to understand how to tackle on the world. Putting ourselves in a more favorable position to deal with people who could help us get jobs through networking will help us get what we need. A school is only just a stepping stone. So when you enter, make sure to make as many friends as possible by keeping tabs on the humans who could help us expand our pack. You don’t have to go to college, but you need at least the basic knowledge about this world, especially human world. They run majority of this world, we’re only a small fish in the pond.”

Each and everyone was holding on to my words. The kids were so cute, but I know that I can’t just let them be running around as street rats, leaving off of scraps. So far the public schools near where we live allows us to go without much problem, the reason was simple. It was because of the principal. He himself is a werewolf, a rogue one at that. I was quite surprised to meet him and what surprised me even more was that he has been in control with battling against turning full rogue for ten years now. Someone mentally strong like him was a rarity in itself.

It didn’t take long for the principal to allow us into his school, though it seems he didn’t want to be in my pack as of yet. The solitude life as a Rogue had set in for him, and he been doing fine in keeping his sanity in check. There were a couple of times that I worried that he might go crazy, but so far nothing like that happened.

“Look.” I raised up my hand to brush back my hair. “I’m very sorry that I can’t provide you guys with everything. Honestly speaking by the end of seven months we won’t have anything to eat.”

The kids look down in shame and understood what I was getting at. I know I was blunt, but I had to tell the truth. Doing everything by myself was impossible, I needed help and a job to provide for my pack that I had. Seeing them starve to death and die was something that I would never allow to happen, plus I took advantage of going to school and graduating without much of a problem to just get the high school diploma by taking quite a lot of test. I passed with flying colors, and got what I needed. In this time of age, high school diploma seems to be a requirement to find job in the first place.

“Really?” One of the younger girls had worry on her face. I could tell that she was seriously thinking about what I had just said.

“Yes, and I need everyone’s help to make our pack into something better. I can’t do this by myself.” I bowed my head towards them. Alpha’s don’t bow their head to anyone, but for me I didn’t feel like a true Alpha. I was more…human.

The children and teen shouted in outburst at me lowering my head. Some of them even stifled in a cry, seeing me giving them respect that they had never gotten in their whole life. Each and every one heart swelled and eyes showed with dedication, respect, worry, and awe.

“Alpha! Don’t bow your head anymore! We’ll make sure to help you!”

“Yea!”

Everyone cried out in unison in vigor. I could tell that my words cut through their heart, helping them burn with desire for a better future. My lips turned into a gentle smile and I couldn’t help but feel prideful of my pack and the love, loyalty, and dedication that they were giving me. I felt like a very scary brainwashing hitler for a moment there, I knew I had to be very careful not to walk down such dark path. Ever.

I rummaged my hands into my pocket and threw Ray my debit card. “Go buy grocery and make something for them to eat. You know the usual budget, try not to go over too much.”

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Ray snapped the card in the air and nodded. I could see the silly smile on his face. “Got ya, Tila. Is there anything that you want?”

“Yea, get me a bag of cheetos. I been suddenly craving for some.”

“Will do.”

“I’ll meet you guys back at the pack house, I’m going to take a longer run.”

“I’ll seed Ross along with you.”

“It’s fine. I’ll be okay.”

“No. That’s a very bad idea. You haven’t lived here in Chicago for very long time, but there are bad humans lurking around the city floor.”

“Do you really think that a human can overpower me?” I look at him funny.

“Absolutely not, but you’re our Alpha. We don’t want you to die.” His words trailed off into a whisper. The other kids and teen stood and begged at me not to do something that would get me killed. Some of them were whimpering when they heard the word die, and started to tear up.

I closed my eyes and groaned. Seriously I being persuaded by them way too easily. Seeing them so distraught over me made my heart swell up into happiness, but at the same time I knew that I could take on many problems by myself. The power of being an Alpha was no joke, it came with many benefits including speed, power, and even the ability to overwhelm someone with pure dominance of presence, but it came with a huge responsibility. There was no more me, it was us and that was the mentality that I needed to be in.

“Fine. Ross can come.”

Many gave out an exaggerated relief. Ross came forward and stood next to me. He was a scrawny little fellow, but that didn’t mean he wasn’t a mean fighter. For a fifteen year old who haven’t hit his growth spurt yet, he fights pretty dirty. Growing up in the streets had mentally forced him to grow up fast, and his street sense was way above the average teen. He knew the ins and out of the back alley, streets, and underground as if it was his own back yard.

Was he body guard material? Not really, but he was our fourth strongest out of our group. What I counted on him was for his resourcefulness and his quick thinking.

“Keep her safe.” Ray clapped Ross shoulders, and he nodded vigorously. For a moment there I thought his head would fall off.

“I’ll see you back in a couple of hours.” I waved and turned around, ready to go for the much needed run. It took twice as much energy to be burnt off than the rest of the pack, maybe its the Alpha thing but I get antsy if I stay still all day. The group parted ways, leaving me behind with Ross. We started out as a simple jog, then went into a full out run.

I enjoyed the cold windy breeze that brushed against my cheeks when I ran through the city streets. The swirls of lights, colors, and sound passed by us in a blur. Ross kept up pretty well for his small stature, there were a couple of times when I almost lost him. I had to slow down to allow him to catch up. Running too fast, brought unwanted attention, and I still needed to control my full strength that I was still getting use too.

“This way Alpha.” Ross called out, we cut through corners, zig zagging through the buildings. Eventually we came to the back alley, where the shadow of the building loom over us completely, making it dark and damp.

Suddenly Ross stopped in a halt, pulling up his hands in front of him. I stopped, confused why the sudden stall. He pointed towards the direction where I saw three thug looking man, surrounding a wealthy man in expensive clothes.

I couldn’t get a good look, but I could hear the thugs shouting at the man.

“Give us the money!”

“Calm down, we don’t want your panty in a bunch you know.” A deep charismatic voice rung out, catching me off guard. It was a sweet, poisonous voice that barbed at my conscious. For some reason, I took a step forward towards the man that was in trouble.

Ross suddenly grabbed me, holding me back. He shook his head. I knew that it was a very bad idea to go in and help, but at the same time I really didn’t like to see injustice in front of me.

“We know you have the money. Why don’t you be a good boy and just hand it over or I’m going to shoot your measly brain out.”

I suddenly heard the gun cock and the bullet load. A bald man with crooked teeth raised up his gun and aimed it directly at the wealthy man’s head.

“Now. Now. We can be a bit more civil. Blowing up people’s brain’s is not going to get you anywhere.” He sounded unusually calm for someone who was being threatened.

“That’s what you think.”

I peered over towards the side. All of a sudden, I caught the person’s eyes that were being mugged. With a gasp, I felt a strange draw from the man. His eyes gleamed with a mischievous glow, they were no fear, but I could tell that he didn’t want any conflict. For a split moment, he was surprised that I was there, but his sharp gaze turned away.

His black hair was slicked back, pale skin that made him look a bit sickly. Even his red lips were bright red with a drop dead gorgeous face. One would think he’s some kind of model from how he look. Even the clothes he wore were considered classic. Black coat with fur, a hat, black pants, and black dress shoes.

“Cover me.” I spoke in a whisper. A burst of energy washed over through my legs, giving me the power that I needed. Not even under three seconds, I was on top of the one that had his gun on the man’s head. My hands pulled the thug backwards, causing him to squeeze the trigger. A gunshot went off into the air, startling the other two thugs.

Left hand pulled back, I slammed a heavy punch downwards into the thug’s head, causing him to blackout. The other two started to pull out their gun as well. Ross lunged forward towards the one on my right, stopping the thug from firing his gun at me. Instead a sickening sound of bone breaking could be heard and a high pitched scream followed after.

I lightly side stepped to the right, moving out of harm’s way. With a heavy spin kick, I knocked the gun out of the thugs hand.

“Fuck!” The thug cursed. He fumbled around his pocket, a pocket knife was brought out and was waved in front of me.

“Is that the best that you can do?” I snorted at the feeble attempt. One foot forward, I ducked, and sprung forward. My hand pulled back, blocking the slash with my left, I punched him square in the face.

The thug stumbled backwards dazed and with a broken nose. Blood dripping off his face like a runny nose. My foot shuffled forward, I allowed my Alpha power to coarse through my veins, giving me the extra power that I need to knock him out in one hit.

The battle was over in matter of minutes. My instincts on overdrive as I felt blood rushing through my head and body. I could feel the power that coursed through my veins, allowing me to make inhumane movements, and giving me the advantage that I needed. Everything was starting to slow down, and my breath became steady. It took a couple seconds more until I had a handle of myself, till finally I turned around and stopped with a sharp intake.

Seriously the guy in front of me was dazzling and sexy. I wonder how in the world, someone like him ended up in the back alley. It just seem too out of place. No, the whole thing was just surreal.

“Alpha!” Ross shouted and he ran in front of me. He spat and growled with a threatening tone of voice, pushing me backwards away from the man.

“What’s wrong?” I was utterly confused. For Ross to suddenly step up in front of me like this made me wonder what was going on. He never did this before until now.

“He’s a blood sucker!”

I cocked my head, looking at Ross and then back at the man. “Blood sucker?”

“Vampire.” Ross spat in front of him in disgust, leaving behind a small spit on the ground a couple inches away from his pristine shoes.

My eyes became wide with surprise at the sudden meeting of a whole new fantastical creature in front of me. The famous vampires that has been in countless movies and legends that it took a bit of time for it all to click.

“Well, if it isn’t the mutt.” The man voice rung out with clarity and he pulled off his black gloves. “I suggest you to stop snarling like an animal and let me speak with your princess.”

My eyes squinted, looking at him carefully. Princess? I’m no princess? I snorted.

“We don’t deal with vampires. Alpha, we should leave before we entangle ourselves with these blood suckers.”

I placed my hand on his shoulder, and pulled him back. “It’s alright. Let me talk with him.”

“But-”

“I said, I’ll talk with him.” My voice sent out an Alpha tone and Ross pulled back not liking how I was putting myself in danger.

Stepping forward, I raised up my power outwards. I didn’t know how strong vampires were, I didn’t take any chances for him to have the upper hand, so I my Alpha tone.

“My name is Tila, leader of the White Raven Pack.” I held up my hand in front of me, hoping for a handshake. I could tell that this vampire followed some form of code, because of the way he tried to deal with the humans in a civil matter.

“My name is Dr. Adam Julius Everston. Elder of the Velvet Rose Coven. You can call me Adam. I heard about an Werewolf pack living in the city, but who would’ve thought it would be someone as beautiful as you.”

Ross let out a sharp gasp from the sudden name that he just heard. I on the other hand coughed and look at him strangely. Beautiful? Me? I turned towards Ross, who seem even more on edge. His eyes were bulging, and palms sweating. Any moment now, he look like he was ready to sprint, but he didn’t because of me.

“If you are a vampire, how are you able to stay out in the sun?” I couldn’t help but ask.

“I am an Elder. No sun harms my body.”

“I see.” This was a whole new news for me that I didn’t know about. From Werewolves and now to vampires, seriously it made me wonder what else was out there that I didn’t know of.

Adam took my hand, and brought it up to kiss it. With a gentle kiss on the back of my hands, I felt a shiver run down my back, putting me on edge. Something about him felt very powerful and ancient, and that small kiss on the back of my hand made me feel the power that he kept hidden away until that moment contact.

“You have such beautiful sweet blood scent on you.” Adam inhaled deeply, his fang slightly grazing on my skin. I pulled back my hand away from him, cradling it for the fear that he might of sunk his teeth into it. A smirk appeared on Adam’s face, when he saw me on edge.

“Well than, now that we know that you’re okay. I think we’ll be going now.” I started to back away. I felt like a fool in helping out someone so dangerous.

“Please, I mean no harm. I really don’t.”

“How do I know that? You’re a vampire.”

“And you’re a werewolf. A strong one at that.”

“Touche.”

“Plus I never met a werewolf like you before. All the other mutts that I have met had the stank of wet dogs and polluted blood, but you.” Adam licked his red lip. “Remind me of finest wine.”

I took another step back, not liking one bit on how he was looking at me. Was it hunger? Lust? I don’t know, but it was giving me the creeps.

“What do you want? I save your life, so wouldn’t you say you owe me one?” I boldly stated, but in my heart I was cowering. Sometimes I have to wonder where half my courage even come from.

Adam chuckled. “Yes. You did and for that, I owe you something back.”

“Like?”

Pale white fingers tapped his chin. He grazed across my body and stare back at me. “I would like to buy your service.”

“What are you looking for?” I carefully asked. I prayed that he didn’t ask for anything to demanding that would make me feel horrible about myself.

“Maybe some exchanging of blood, a little scuffle in bed, and a possible date?”

My eyebrow crinkled, my lips became a deep frown, and a snarl erupted from my throat. “Are you out of your mind? I’m sixteen you pedofile! Plus that’s not doing me any favor at all!” In seconds my muscle tensed, and my fingers curled up into a fist.

Adam burst out laughing. His head was thrown back and a sexy smile erupted on his face. “I was teasing, my little angel.”

I crossed my hand in front of me. “I am not little nor am I your angel.”

“But you are. You came down from the heavens to save me from those vile humans.” He snickered.

Rolling my eyes, I knew that he could’ve taken care of himself. The amount of sheer power he had, probably was more than mine. “You could’ve taken care of them just fine. I feel stupid in helping you out.”

Adam feigned to be hurt. His hand clutched his heart, and he wavered as if he got struck by an arrow. “Oh no. My heart. You have impaled me so.”

“Sure~” I huffed, getting slightly annoyed at his theatrics.

In seconds, Adam strengthened himself and gave me a devious smirk. “Well than, instead how about a business proposal with you.”

“Why so suddenly?” The word business proposal caught my ears. This could actually be the ticket to getting my pack into a better position, even though it was a vampire that we were talking about.

“From my little sources, I heard that you’re in need of a little money.”

“If I say I do?”

“I might have a good job that you’re kind are good at.”

“That is?”

“I want you to do a body guarding job for me for a couple of days. Depending on how well you and your group does, I’ll have more coming your way.”

“The pay?”

“A hundred thousand.”

My jaws dropped and stared at him speechless. This vampire was seriously loaded. All that money made my heart hum with delight.

“Alpha. You shouldn’t trust a Vampire, especially an Elder.”

I shook my head, the words already spilling out of my mouth, before I could stop myself. Just thinking about my pack starve in the future made me cringe. “I’ll take the deal. Where should I meet you?”

“That my little angel will be at the lobby of Willis Tower in a week from now. 6:30 PM Sharp.”

“Sears towers? Why there?”

“Sears Towers? Ah, yes. I completely forget that is another name for the building. Its just an iconic buildings where you can find easily. Like I said, you’ll be doing a job. Now then, I’ll see you there.”  He winked and left, leaving me and Ross behind.

“Alpha, Are you sure this is a good idea? This could get you killed.”

“I don’t know, Ross. I don’t know.”