Free Falling for the Alphas: Part One by Cassie Wright

Chapter 1
     
     
    The moon cleared the
clouds, and lit the ruined street in shades of silver. It shone on
the shattered glass that littered the sidewalks, gleamed dully on
the ruined fire escapes, and made the shadows where it didn't reach
all the more menacing and dark. In the distance, an ambulance siren
sang its plaintive call, but here in the once booming industrial
heart of Fort Brixton all was silent.
    Dylan stood on the corner
of a flat roof four stories above the street. The cold wind off
Lake Michigan pulled at his shoulder length hair, plucked at his
jacket. He didn't shiver. Instead, he gazed out over the dark
block, at the abandoned factory buildings, the dead street lamps,
the rusted hulks of cars. His frame betrayed coiled anger. As if
this urban decay were a personal insult.
    Footsteps behind him. They were just
shy of silent, but his senses were unnaturally sharp. His jaw
tightened and he turned to see Kayden walking across the roof
toward him. Dylan watched in silence until his former packmate
stopped, only ten yards away.
    The air between the two
alphas crackled with barely controlled tension. For a long while
both men simply stood, chins raised, shoulders back, hands curled
into fists, until finally Dylan spoke.
    "Kayden. This is your last chance.
We've run out of time."
    The other man narrowed his
cold blue eyes. He wasn't wearing a jacket against the cold. Curls
of a tattoo emerged from the neckline of his shirt, tribal glyphs,
and wrapped around his forearms. "You know I won't step down.
You're wasting my time."
    "Kayden." Dylan stepped
forward. There was urgency in his voice. Frustration. "We need to
unite the packs. You know this. Bring your people back to the
Cairn. Return to us. We can be whole once more, strong. United, we
can defeat the enemy."
    Kayden curled his lip in
disdain. "Return to the Cairn? What Cairn? You found a new totem
spirit I don't know about? The action is here, Dylan. In the city.
This is the frontline of the war. Why would we leave? Why would we
return to Manistee?"
    Dylan took a deep breath
as he fought against his anger for patience. "We can't abandon the
Cairn, totem spirit or no. And our kinfolk live there. You want us
to abandon them too? We come into the city to fight, but we do not
stay." His tone grew cold. Harsh. "You know this."
    Kayden laughed, but it was
a lonely sound, bitter. "You still scared of being polluted by the
city? By the filth and corruption here? Scared of losing your
connection to your primordial wolf?" Before Dylan could speak,
Kayden took a step forward and shifted . Iron-hued fur exploded
across his body like a forest fire, and his bones thickened and
grew. Sinews popped, his legs buckled back, and his clothing melted
away like mist. In less time than it took to blink, his human self
was replaced by a nine foot tall monster from legend. Massive jaws
hung open showing dagger teeth and lolling crimson tongue, and his
tattoos showed black against his gray fur. Golden eyes looked down
at the now dwarfed Dylan.
    Kayden took a step forward
and the menace in the air doubled. In the harsh tongue of
werewolves, he said, "Do I look like I have lost the wolf,
brother?"
    Dylan gazed up at the
monster before him without fear. He crossed muscled arms over his
broad chest. Sadness crossed his face. "We need you back. We need
your people. Or we shall all die."
    Kayden lowered his massive head until
he was eye level with Dylan. "Then step down as alpha. Roll on your
back and show me your throat. Join your Silver Song pack to The
Vengeance."
    Dylan clenched his jaw. "You know I'll
never do that."
    Kayden reared back up to
his full height. "Then you waste my time. The Vengeance will not
leave the city. We won't return to Manistee to hide with our tails
between our legs by a pile of spirit-dead rocks. We're staying and
fighting until we destroy the enemy here."
    Dylan felt a great weariness wash over
him. He shook his head. "You leave me no choice."
    Kayden's golden