The Alpha's Guardian

"Do you know what happened to Alpha Liam?" Joseph asks

"I stabbed him somewhere in his face, but we didn't find a body" I answer

"Sh!t." James rubs his temple. "Well, we will try to find him."

"What happens when you find him?" Ali asks.

I slide her a glance but she avoids eye contact. I love and hate the mate bond. I love that I have finally found my mate, but unfortunately for me, Ali still has a connection to her first mate.

Even though the bond was severed and never acknowledged, that tiny thin thread will always be present for them. I try to restrain my jealousy, be a united front in the committee's presence. But her concern for his well-being after everything is a hard pill for me to swallow.

"That is up to Alpha Wade, as the Justice member he is the one in charge of coming up with the appropriate punishment."

"I highly suggest making him an omega," Rita says. James and Joseph groan in annoyance. "Rita we have-"

"No," I interject. "Never again will that punishment be approved by this committee when I am on it. And I plan to try and look for a way to cure the omegas who have been wrongfully turned." "Oh, such ambition" Rita mocks.

"Rita, I understand you carry authority as a committee member, but if you are incapable of being respectful during committee matters such as these. And continue to step on my toes when I try to do the very job you asked me to do, I will make a concerted effort to be sure you aren't involved in justice matters."

"Well, I-"

"Rita, he is right. You are being disrespectful and unagreeable." Joseph says.

Rita huffs and reaches out for a bottle of water angrily drinking from it and capping it.

"I believe I need some air. Garth, come along." She says looking at her guardian. She then stands and slips out the door.

"Is she always so sweet?" Nick asks sarcastically.

"Rita was a very logical and reasonable person. Until Samuel's betrayal. I think his breach of trust has really thrown her into a tizzy. It is hard when we all worked so closely for many years, she and Samuel were very close."

"They were best friends," Ali adds. "When I started training after he found me she came over often and spent time with him. They weren't intimate as far as I could tell but she really respected and trusted him."

"If you have known her for so long, why is she treating you like trash?" I ask. I reach over and take her hand in mine.

"Because she associates me with him. He betrayed her, he acted like he cared for me as a father figure therefore she is taking it out on me as if he and I are the same" She gives my hand a squeeze.Nôvel/Dr(a)ma.Org - Content owner.

"The further we dig into Samuel the more we find. Honestly, he didn't really try to hide things. I think that was all a part of the thrill for him. Hiding in plain sight."

"Sounds like a psychopath to me," Nick says. I chuckle.

"I'm fairly certain that is a part of the personality profile for serial killers and psychopaths that the humans use," Joseph says.

"But don't human serial killers keep trophies as reminders? Werewolves are just prone to violence and get addicted to the kill. Serial killers in our race seem so..." James says.

Ali looks down and takes her hand back. I know what she is thinking, where her mind has gone.

"Evil and unlikely." Joseph finishes.

"I was his trophy," Ali says quietly.

"What?" James says, his eyes going wide.

"He murdered my parents and followed me around in the woods for days. When I didn't think I could go on he swooped in like a superhero and saved me. He kept me around like a trophy and reminder of his murders. He loved when the daughter of his victims looked up to him. Then he turned me into him. He trained me to kill people and taught me I was protecting them. He made me a murderer." Ali's eyes tear up.

"Excuse me," she says standing up abruptly making her way out of the room.

I jump up and chase her to the end of the hall catching her hand, pulling her roughly to my chest. Grunting quietly, I bit back my pain at the collision of her body against mine and she falls apart in my arms. I cup the back of her head as I hug her closely, wanting to just absorb her pain and make it my own.

"You are not like him, Ali," I whisper kissing the top of her beautiful head.

"You don't know how many lives I have taken" She mumbles into my chest.

"I don't care how many lives you have taken."

"That's because you're my mate. You literally HAVE to love me."

"Nope. I loved you and accepted you when you were still mean and rude to me before the bond ever took effect."

"I don't want to be like him, Wade." She says looking up into my eyes. My heart melts at the sadness I find there. Leaning down I kiss the tears away.

"You aren't" I answer honestly. "Do you really think Samuel ever cried about hurting someone? I mean honestly, when he was trying to kill me he laughed a few times." I say trying to make her laugh.

"He laughed?" She asks, looking serious.

"Yeah, like a starving hyena, from that one lion movie that the human communities love so much."

She smirks at me. "Did he sing too?"

"Oh yeah, terrible voice though," I say smiling.

"Excuse me," Rita says, clearing her throat behind me. I groan loudly, not even trying to cover my frustration with her interruption.

"What is it, Rita?" I ask spinning but keeping Ali snug in my arms.

"I would like a word with Ali." She says.

"Speak, she is right here."

"Alone."

"I think not." I frown at her. She sighs but nods her head.

"Aliauna. I need to apologize." She says, sounding defeated. "After having a rather heated conversation with Grant, it would seem that I was too swift in my judgment."

"Grant had to clue you in?" I snort.

"I once thought of Samuel as a dear friend. And I watched Ali dote on him and do everything to always stay in his good graces. Forgive me if I am finding it hard to draw a line between the two." She says, sounding snarky. Taking a minute she breathes in deep and lets out a sad sigh.

"Looking back, I can see the red flags that I missed. He enjoyed torture sessions and was very good at them. Training of his guardians always looked perfect and amazing, but Grant divulged that Samuel was grueling and cruel to those who were not up to standard. He even made mention that a few guardians who weren't up to standard suddenly disappeared. Grant claims to have come across a few of them on his earlier missions and found them to be omegas."

The only thing I can do is gape at the horrible things she is sharing with us. I look down at Ali who looks equally stunned by the revelations from Rita's personal guardian.

"I didn't know..." Ali says.

"It is all a lot to take in and very hard to swallow. I am a proud woman, Ali. I was the Alpha of my pack and I have worked hard to be where I am. Learning that I was taken advantage of, manipulated and I didn't know it..."

"It's, demeaning," Ali says, looking sympathetic.

"Indeed. I guess I'm not asking for forgiveness. I'm asking for grace. I am trying to sort through the many years of lies and the terrible things I supported without full knowledge of what they were."

"I think I can muster up some grace," Ali says, hugging me tighter.

"Good," Rita says, looking around uncomfortably. "I suppose that's all then. I am sure I will see you in the coming weeks. I however need to head back and try to sort through all of the things Samuel did and come up with solutions." She turns on her heels and clicks away down the hall.