Luke

In this world, you move forward or you become obsolete and die. Everyone knows this, but most choose to ignore it. The mundane world is peaceful enough that a person could lie to themselves and pretend that everything’s hunky dory.

In our world though, death is the price you pay for weakness. It may not be your own life, but someone will always have to pay the price for weakness.

I paid the price for my father’s weakness once. Never again, never will I let it happen. I’ll forge a path forward till I stand at the apex or die trying. I don’t care what I have to trample on my way to get there, but get there I will. Pete might think of me as a monster, but he’ll be stronger because of me.

The power of an alpha was like an investment. You had to spend money to make money. I had to invest a certain amount of power to grow my pack and as the individual members of the pack got stronger, I became stronger, sort of like cashing in on a long term investment. Right now, my pack consists of three warrior class wolves and one concubine wolf.

While the warriors under my command increased my physical strength, possession of Layla served to increase my willpower and aura. But Layla was the weakest member of the pack and she wasn’t yielding me much power. That’s where I planned to make use of Pete. The ritual of changing him would be so arduous that if successful, it’ll push my willpower and aura to the next level.

The risk of failure was also high. The price of failure, at the very least, would result in the loss of my alpha powers. But there were no rewards without risks and I for one would rather die than stagnate or regress.

Pete

I was lying facedown on my mattress. It felt weird, since it wasn’t usually the position I liked to sleep in. I groggily looked up as I tried to get my bearings. My brain felt fuzzy as I looked out the window. It looked like it was past noon. What was I doing sleeping past noon?

I sat bolt upright as things came flooding back to my head in an unwelcome cascade.

‘Oh my god, I was attacked….they…they tried to kill me…and I…I…’. At that moment the vivid image of a sharp knife entering a man’s belly came to my mind. I ran to the bathroom and dry heaved into the toilet.

‘Oh god..I..I killed someone..Wait no..no.. it wasn’t me it was him.. Luke, he was the one responsible for their deaths. He was much more dangerous and unhinged than I’d ever imagined. I had to get out of here. I…I’d go to the authorities. I was the victim here’

I rinsed my mouth and washed my face. As I looked at my pale face and bloodshot eyes in the mirror, my next course of action was clear.

Unauthorized use: this story is on Amazon without permission from the author. Report any sightings.

I strode back into the room and immediately froze as I saw Luke standing by the doorway, casually leaning against the frame.

“Hi Pete, I see that you’re up” he said, not a hint of fear or worry on his face.

‘How the fuck can he be so calm? He killed someone yesterday.. Wait, does that mean he’s done this before? Is he a fucking psychopath?’

I felt fear creeping up my veins as I considered this.

“Have a seat Pete” he said, indicating towards the bed. I was frozen in place.

“Sit down,” he ordered. There was a strange weight to his words as I found myself sitting down on my bed.

Luke pulled up a chair as he sat across from me.

“Is there something you wanna tell me first Pete? You look like you’re about to burst”.

“You … You killed him”.

“No Pete, WE killed him”.

“No, No…I had nothing to do with it, it was you..”

“Oh.. It was all me, was it?” Luke’s tone betrayed a hint of anger.

“Tell me Pete, Why were they in my shop? Who was responsible? You came to me asking for help to save your life. And I did just that Pete. Or, have you already forgotten what they were about to do to you before I intervened? They would have never stopped coming after you, had they been left alive”.

I couldn’t come up with a reply immediately. He had a point. I’d probably be dead if he hadn’t come to my rescue. But that didn’t mean that it was okay to just kill someone like that. I just wanted to get outta here. He seemed to be reading my mind as he replied “ Your first impulse would be to get the hell out of here. But I’d advise against it. You could just run. Even though your attackers may be dead, their organisation is still active. They can and would track you down with ease and finish the job those two came here to do in the first place.”

He paused before continuing

“Or, you could go to the authorities, and try to pin the murders on me”.

He said murders, plural. That meant that they killed the bald headed guy as well.I swallowed guiltily as his eyes zeroed in on mine with laser focus. “In that case, the cops will find no evidence that connects those two to any of us. What they might find though, would be the murder weapon, with your fingerprints and blood on it”. Luke said with a slight smile.

I flinched back as I remembered that I was the one holding the knife last night while Luke was wearing gloves. The small gash on my right hand index finger served as a painful reminder of how I cut my finger on the knife last night. I looked up at Luke, feeling horrified.

“You don’t have to worry Pete, I don’t mean you any harm. That knife will never see the light of day as long as you don’t betray me. But it does, sadly, mean that I can’t let you leave and it would be inadvisable for you to try and leave. Don’t worry Pete, this state of affairs won’t last for long. I’ll find a way to get the target off your back and find a way for you to repay us for protection.”

He smiled at me as if expecting an answer. SInce I didn’t trust my voice yet, I settled for nodding. He got up and left the room, closing the door behind him. He may have tried to sugarcoat it, but I was his detainee and I had no option of leaving here. Even if they let me leave, I couldn’t survive and they could pin a double homicide on me whenever they wanted. I was well and truly fucked.