3rd Person
Sinclair was tired of fighting his instincts. Ella was looking up at him with heavy-lidded eyes, the scent of her arousal heavy in the air. Why was he fighting his desire for her? So she was human – she was also beautiful, spirited and bright, everything he could want in a woman. It was exhausting trying to rein in his wolf, and he was tired of denying himself. The fact was that Sinclair wanted Ella more intensely than he could remember wanting anyone. The logical part of his brain insisted it was just the pup growing in her womb, but the more time that passed the more the Alpha believed it was the woman herself.
Sinclair dipped his head until their mouths were mere inches apart, and Ella sighed and tilted her chin up – offering her lips for the taking. He was about to claim them when a knock sounded at the door, followed by a low squeak and a familiar man’s voice,
“What on earth?”
Sinclair turned to look at Hugo, who was frozen in the doorway, staring at the food-splattered kitchen and the couple on the floor in abject shock. “Not now.” Sinclair growled, his wolf clamoring just beneath the surface of his skin.
Hugo met the Alpha’s piercing gaze, “Dom -“
“I said not now.” Sinclair repeated fiercely.
“Trust me.” Hugo stated resolutely, “you want to hear what I have to say.”
Grumbling with annoyance, Sinclair looked back to Ella, sorely tempted to tell her not to move a muscle until he returned.
However he knew that if Hugo was being this persistent, he probably wasn’t going to be back anytime soon. It filled him with regret that he wouldn’t be able to lick all the chocolate from Ella’s sweet body himself, or even help her wash away the remnants in a steaming shower. His mind was overflowing with all the sensuous possibilities, but the best he could do was promise the little human that, “we’ll finish this later.”
He helped Ella to her feet before taking his leave, grabbing a dish towel on the way out to wipe the flour, chocolate and syrup from his face. “What’s up?” He asked Hugo, once they were alone.
“There’s been a rogue attack in old town.” The Beta shared gravely. “It looks like there’s quite a few fatalities.”
Sinclair cursed, “any hints on who’s responsible?”
“Witnesses say the attackers came out of nowhere. They burst onto the canals and started wreaking havoc.” Hugo explained.
“It’s clear they were sent to harm, no one reported having anything stolen.”
Sinclair’s wolf – already fighting for control – reared up inside him, overwhelmed by urgent concern for his pack members. There hadn’t been a rogue attack in a very long time, and he highly doubted that the timing of this incident was a coincidence. “I’ll shower as fast as I can, and I’ll be right there.”
_________________________
The scene of the attack was worse than Sinclair could have imagined.
Moon Valley’s old town was normally an enchanting place at this time of year. With its idyllic maze of canals woven through historic buildings and blanketed in thick white snow, it should have looked like a winter wonderland – if it weren’t for all the blood.
Ever since the river froze a few weeks earlier, the waterways became bustling thoroughfares dotted with pop up shops to be navigated by humans and shifters on ice skates. They weren’t as grand as they’d be after the solstice celebrations began the following week, but they certainly shouldn’t have looked like this.
At least a dozen bodies littered the ice, and thick crimson pools steamed then froze solid on the glassy surface. Keening filled the air as shifters mourned and injured beings suffered on the sidelines, tended to by concerned bystanders and emergency responders. Sinclair scanned the carnage – noting that all the victims were wolves, not that this came as a surprise. This part of the city was dominated by estates passed down through generations of wealth which, combined with the steep rents on new properties and high end businesses, all but guaranteed the inhabitants were shifters.
Moon Valley’s human mayor was already on the scene, but she was only there for appearances sake. Human tourists might visit to take in the natural splendor, but old town was strictly under Sinclair’s jurisdiction. Sighing with resignation, Sinclair approached the austere woman. “Madame Mayor.”
“Alpha,” She replied tersely, “I presume this was your kind’s doing?”
“Definitely a wolf attack.” He confirmed, ignoring the clear disdain in her voice. “My investigators are on the case.”
“You know this isn’t the kind of press our city needs – just before the holidays too. It’s high tourist season.”
“It’s the holidays for us as well,” Sinclair reminded her. “And you would do well to recall that I don’t blame you when humans wreak havoc in the territory.”
“That’s because my kind is no threat to yours.” The mayor quipped.
Sinclair scoffed, “Right, that’s why we exist in secret – because humans are so accepting of those who are different.”
The Mayor, like all human mayors of Moon Valley, had been less than amused to discover the existence of shifters when she took office two years earlier. Nor could she ever fully wrap her mind around the power dynamics. It never ceased to confuse her that the monarchy resided in Moon Valley but did not rule the pack directly, rather delegating power to the territory’s Alpha.
Sinclair, on the other hand, thought it was pure stubbornness on her part – since she had no problem understanding state versus federal governance in her own society.
“And I suppose this has nothing to do with your campaign?” She questioned. “The Prince’s statement yesterday was quite damning.”
Sinclair blinked. What statement? Had he really been so distracted by Ella that he missed an important development in the race?
It was a silly question. As soon as he asked it of himself he knew the answer was yes. He’d become so preoccupied with the lovely human over the last couple of weeks that he’s thought of little else – including the campaign. Sure he kept his appointments and appearances, but his mind was rarely focused on the matter at hand. It was permanently locked on Ella. In fact, now that he reflected on it – he’d scarcely thought of anything else since she’d come begging for her sister’s job – even before he knew about the pup.
If he’d missed a major statement by the prince, then she wasn’t only a distraction, but a dangerous one. If he’d been paying attention, would he have seen this attack coming? He could imagine the kind of drivel the statement included – was the Prince behind the attack too? He wouldn’t put it past him, and there was no doubt this was going to hurt him. At the end of the day this was his city, not the Prince’s and the attack would make him look like an Alpha who couldn’t protect his people.
Guilt washed over him in a tidal wave. The criticism would be true either way. Whether a political scheme, or a genuine rogue threat, he had failed to secure old town. He had failed to protect his people, and the death surrounding him was his fault. The lives of all Moon Valley shifters were in his hands, and he’d let these slip through his fingers – worse, he hadn’t even noticed it happening.
If not for Ella this might never have happened. He wasn’t blaming her, far from it – he knew he was the only one to blame. It was his distraction with the human beauty which allowed this to happen, and if it was a princely plot, then it was his heir and his campaign which were responsible.
The mayor, seeing Sinclair had disappeared into his thoughts, shifted away to make a statement to the media, leaving the Alpha with his guilt. He’d always hated seeing any of his people hurt – but this was the first time he knew without a doubt that they were hurt because of him. Suddenly the reasons that he’d been fighting his instincts when it came to Ella and his desire, came rushing back to him like a wildfire. His wolf might want her, but taking his eye off the ball at this stage in the game was dangerous to all of them.
Even as he thought this morbid fact, his eye caught on a flash of silver in his periphery. Turning, he looked up at the raised street running parallel to the canal. There was a sleek town car parked near the bridge, and a crowd of shifters gathered at the railing, looking down on the bloody tableau so many feet below them.
Sinclair recognized the Prince immediately, with his sleek blonde hair and gaudy clothes. The other man gazed over the crime scene with cold disinterest, until he finally met Sinclair’s gaze. He arched one blond brow and shook his head, as if in disappointment, but he couldn’t keep the smirk from his face. A moment later the human mayor appeared at his side, murmuring in his ear.
Ice froze the blood in Sinclair’s veins, and he looked to Hugo, a grave expression on his handsome face. “Tighten Ella’s security as soon as possible.” He commanded. “I want eyes on her at all times.”
